In the 2018 spring and fall seasons, Fountain Hills High School attracted new athletes to different sports as well as added an entirely new sport to its lineup, swimming.

What follows is the second of a two-part series recapping Falcon sports from the past year.

Baseball

For the FHHS baseball team, 2018 could best be described as a season of ups and downs.

The season started in late February with the Falcon Invitational Tournament, where the local squad suffered a tough loss to Seton Catholic, 19-2, to kick off the year.

The season progressed with FHHS rotating between wins and losses until it ended with an 11-14 overall record, which was just shy of qualifying for the playoffs.

A highlight of the season was the Falcons’ offense, as the team batted an average of .267 to score 177 runs.

Softball

The 2018 Fountain Hills High School softball team had a “foundational” year, adjusting to a new coaching style and younger squad of players.

The Lady Falcons only had one senior player on the team who was ill for part of the season. Another hurdle for FHHS was only having one pitcher, Sophia Buckley, throughout the season.

Play started off with a win against Parker, 10-8, but the team struggled from that point on to end the season with a record of 5-13.

Like the baseball team, a highlight this season for softball was the team’s offense, putting up a solid batting average of .320.

Tennis

It was a tough year for the Fountain Hills High School tennis program with the girls team finishing with a record of 3-7 and the boys squad finishing 1-8.

On top having a young squad of players – there were only two seniors – the Falcons only had enough players for a varsity team this season.

Head coach David Phillips said he believes that, on top of facing the toughest competition he has experienced in his three years of coaching, the young team also had some mental barriers to overcome.

“At the start of the year it took a set for our players to realize they were in a match and capable of winning it,” Phillips said as the season was wrapping. “By the end of the season we approached matches with a much better attitude”

Track

School records and personal bests were broken throughout the 2018 track and field season.

Runner Alina Olmstead broke the school record in both the 200m (26.8) and 400m (59.27) events. Her teammate, Amara Feyrer-Melk, broke the record for the triple jump (35.5’) as well as the javelin throw (103’11’’).

On the boys’ team, pole vaulter Sam Aker continually improved throughout the season and set the pole vaulting record at 13’1”. Javelin thrower Darren Smith also set the boys javelin throw record with a 142’ throw.

Multiple FHHS athletes qualified for the state meet but only Olmstead placed in the 400m at second.

Volleyball

Coming off two back-to-back state championships the Fountain Hills High School volleyball team had similar hopes for its 2018 season but fell just shy of its goal.

The Lady Falcons started their season with a five-match win streak and continued to rack up the wins until finishing the regular season with a 26-9 record.

Once at the state tournament, FHHS won a terrific game against Horizon Honors (3-2) but lost in the semi-finals to Northwest Christian (3-0).

Lady Falcons Corrin Schulze and Alyssa Barbagallo both ranked on top for aces in the 3A Division.

Cross country

The 2018 Fountain Hills High School cross country team had a small group of runners on the team, many of whom were new to the sport.

So new head coach Mary McDonald focused a lot of her training program on increasing her runners’ endurance.

With a flock of newcomers learning from his experience, veteran Lucas Elwood qualified for the state meet where he finished 55 out of 236 runners with a time of 18:06.

Football

The 2018 season was perfectly split for the Fountain Hills High School Football team, which ended its run with a 5-5 record.

The young team started the season with a stumble, losing the first game of season to Northwest Christian 63-0.

The Falcons snagged their first win against Payson (13-6) two games later but were never able to settle into a comfortable flow.

FHHS made it to the playoffs but was eliminated in the first round by Snowflake (32-0).

Despite the first round playoff loss, FHHS had players who led the 3A division in various stats. Ahmed Momoh had the most tackles for a loss in the division with 30, as well as being second for most sacks with 12. Momoh’s brother, Hafeez, also was in the top five for tackles for a loss and overall tackles.

Swim

The idea for a swim team came about when FHHS student Deven Meyers approached the administration about creating the program. After getting their support, Meyers put in the work to make the team a reality.

The aquatic Falcons had a terrific first year of competition, finishing the season ranked 23 out of 61 teams.

FHHS qualified four swimmers to go to the state meet including Grace Clark, Kennedy Muhs, Annika Clark and Erin Morley.

Muhs ended up placing fifth in her division for the 500m freestyle.