2008 IN REVIEW -- The Faces: Unsung Heroes

Pom Brown - MP badminton coach

Staying in the background, Pom Brown was  part of every one of Mountain Pointe's seven badminton state championships.

As a head coach she led the Pride through two undefeated seasons until the streak ended in a 5-4 loss to Corona del Sol in the title game.  

Shawn O'Connell - DV swim and dive

Desert Vista's boys and girls swim coach guided both of his teams to second-place finishes at their respective state championship meets. He was named coach of the year for both boys and girls in Class 5A-I.

Cole Pembroke - DV football

In the most unselfish move of the year, the Desert Vista senior gave up his spot as starting quarterback for DV to move full-time to defense, where he finished with 49 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.

Austin Lahr - MP Football

Despite a shoulder injury that had his arm in a sling for one game, Mountain Pointe starting quarterback Austin Lahr couldn't take being in the sidelines and did his best to rally a 2-8 football team.

Brian Holmes - DV soccer

At times, Holmes willed Desert Vista's boys soccer team to victory. One of those times was against Gilbert Highland in the Class 5A-I semifinals when he had two goals and sparked his team to the state championship.

Molly West - DV volleyball

Desert Vista's girls volleyball coach knows the X's and O's of her sports. It's why the largely inexperienced Thunder finished runner-up this season. She also has the intangibles as a coach down: along with Mountain Pointe's Fred Mann, she was behind Dig Pink in ‘Tukee.

Michael Rabasca - DV soccer

As coach of Desert Vista's boys soccer team, Rabasca runs a tight ship. It's worked. His teams have been among the most successful, and the Thunder finished runner-up in early 2008 to Brophy College Prep.

Brian Lee - MP volleyball

After three years of switching between basketball and volleyball, Mountain Pointe middle blocker passed on his final season of basketball to put his energy into volleyball and help the Pride win the boys 5A-I state championship.

Ryan Tolman - DV volleyball, basketball

One day, Ryan Tolman will be a head varsity basketball coach - and a successful one at that. For now, Tolman is Desert Vista's head JV boys basketball coach, assistant varsity basketball coach and head boys volleyball coach, and looked up to by every one of his players.

Dexter Scobee - DV volleyball

The best player on Desert Vista's boys volleyball team last season as a libero, Scobee was also no slouch in the classroom: he finished his senior year tied for first in class rank, then headed off to Princeton.

Wayne Brimley -  DV tennis, basketball, football

Brimley is the guy you always see at every single Desert Vista athletic event. Brimley was on staff for the Thunder's boys basketball state championship, is the head boys tennis coach, an assistant with the girls basketball team and also helps out on the football staff.

Danny Mullarkey - DV football

Overlooked at times because of the guy who played next to him on Desert Vista's defensive line - Devon Kennard - Mullarkey was easily the best player on the field after Kennard went down with a season-ending injury. He also is an excellent student and will go on to play college football.

Brandon Buck - MP baseball

There is no better endorsement of a coach than how successful his players go on to become after they're out of his program. Mountain Pointe baseball's Brandon Buck is the shining example of that, and J.J. Ethel (soon to be at Louisville) Bobby Ethel (now at San Francisco), C.J. Cron (Utah), Philip Konieczny (Pittsburgh) and J.J. Sferra (UNLV) can attest to that.