Trojan Athletics certainly made its mark on the City of Chandler in the last year. Valley Christian found itself represented eight times on C-Town Rivals list of top 50 sports moments in Chandler prep sports for 2013-14.
46. Trojans and Wolves Break Scoring Records. The Trojans eclipsed 60 points three times, and in a record setting performance against Paradise Honors, they set a school record with a 73-0 blowout. Cory Kasperson led the Trojans with 213 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns. The Chandler Wolves’ record setting performance came against section rival Gilbert in a shocking 76-6 outburst on the road. Chandler had 411 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns on only 26 carries- meaning each time a Chandler Wolf ran the ball, it was worth and average of 16 yards and 2 points.
42. New Coaches, New Results. From Jeff Rutledge to Fred Mann to Mark Nold, some of the new coaches hired in Chandler this season made all the difference for their teams.
33. Ashley Harrison Runs, Jumps Her Way to Two Titles. Harrison dominated at the state track meet in both the 100 meter hurdles as well as the triple jump, winning a state title at the division 4 level, and was named to the All-Tribune Girls Track First Team.
28. Valley Christian Building Something Special. A revolutionary, glow-in-the-dark playing surface in their gym, breaking ground on a new softball stadium, and plans for a new state-of-the-art field house have lots of people talking about 2013-14 as the year Valley Christian has taken a huge step forward in athletics- a department they never fell behind in.
22. Mara Kemmer, Strikeout Queen. She was named small schools softball player of the year, averaged 16.5 strikeouts per 7 innings, and batted an absurd .646. The question is, could Mara Kemmer get a hit off of Mara Kemmer?
15. VC Girls Basketball is Near-Perfect. No seniors. A team with NO SENIORS ran off 33 straight wins only to have their first stumble come in the state final. They’ll only have 3 seniors in 2014-15, and no team will have a bigger target on their back in girls ball this year.
10. VC Boys Basketball Wins it All. VC might have had a boys championship in 2013 had it not been for the powerhouse that was Gilbert Christian beating them on four separate occasions. This year, they mowed down the competition behind big performances from TJ Widner and Brandon Haagsma on the way to Cory Kasperson’s career high 24 point performance in the final basketball game of his career.
3. Greg Haagsma Gets Win 500. Greg Haagsma, 7 time coach of the year, had his sweater vest immortalized as he captured his 500th coaching victory at Valley Christian High School. It’s rare that a coach reaches 500 games coached in a career, much less 500 wins.