Dysart Celebrates 9 Athletic State Championships

DYSART SCHOOLS - The Dysart Unified School District ended the 2021-2022 school year with nine state championships in high school athletics, up from six the previous year. The year’s State Championships for Dysart Schools include: 

•  6A Girls Basketball - Valley Vista High School (VVHS) 
•  5A Softball - Willow Canyon High School (WCHS) 
•  Division I-II Coed Cheer - Shadow Ridge High School (SRHS) 
•  Unified Athlete Track and Field - VVHS 
•  Division I Decathlon - Kaden Passey, SRHS 
•  Division I Track, 100 meter - Blaise Nelson, VVHS 
•  Division I Track, 200 meter - Blaise Nelson, VVHS 
•  Division I Boys Tennis - Kai (Cassius) Mills, SRHS 
•  Unified Badminton - VVHS 

 “Athletics are absolutely on the rise in Dysart Schools,” said Dr. Jim Dean, Acting Superintendent. “While academics is always our primary focus as a school district, we know that extracurricular opportunities, like athletics, are often a driving force in keeping students fully engaged in school. We have made a focused effort to prioritize our athletic opportunities for our students, and it’s outstanding to see the progress we’ve made in just a few short years.”  

Dysart launched competitive athletics classes in the 2019-2020 school year, for high school students participating in after-school sports (baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, spiritline, volleyball) to help students hone their athletic skills and abilities during the school day. This year’s wins are repeats for three of the titles - girls basketball, softball and decathlon. It is the third year in a row that Valley Vista High School girls basketball has won the state championship, and the fifth time in six years. In the 2019-2020 school year Dysart had one state championship, which grew to six last year and nine this year. 

Nationally, Willow Canyon High School won the USA Spirit Nationals for CoEd Small Varsity Show Cheer Advanced, and came in second for the Small Intermediate Song Pom Division. The school’s girls soccer team was honored with an AIA Sportsmanship Award, along with the Dysart High School boys volleyball team. 

Individual player accolades also abound, with multiple conference and region players of the years in various sports, a unified athlete of the year, along with the highly coveted Gatorade Player of the Year for Valley Vista High School Girls Basketball’s Jennah Isai. This is the second year in a row that Dysart has boasted this honor. Coaches were also highly recognized this year, with several region and section Coaches of the Year, as well as a rare High School Coach Hall of Fame Inductee for Valley Vista High School’s Girls basketball coach Rachel Matakas. 

Aside from high school athletics, Dysart’s middle schools competed in the Valley Junior High Athletics Conference and won three championships in the league, all with undefeated seasons. Dysart Middle School won the Boys Soccer Championship, and Sonoran Heights Middle School took the Boys Basketball and Baseball Championships.