Sept. 14, 2012 - Desert Vista High School

DVHS Mission:
Desert Vista inspires a community of learning by demonstrating excellence in academics, arts
and extra-curricular activities.
DVHS Vision:
We strive for excellence by engaging our community, promoting accountability, fostering
responsibility, and encouraging life-long learning.
Hello Thunder Families,
During the week of Homecoming, Desert Vista will recognize the first Hall of Fame and Tradition of
Excellence winners. We are excited about the first honorees and have planned many exciting events for them to
experience on Friday, October 19, 2012. The amazing Hall of Fame members include: John Rattay, Bobby Wade,
Brett Miller and Brent Miller. The Tradition of Excellence Award winners include: Dr. Joe McDonald, Alex Teves
and Mr. Eric Holden. More information about these wonderful people will be sent in a future letter.
Congratulations to all of them and I want to thank the Desert Vista coaches, Athletic Department and the Desert
Vista Site Council for working hard over the past two to three years to create Desert Vista’s Hall of Fame and
Tradition of Excellence Awards criteria.
Thunder Bolts:
Desert Vista National Merit Semi Finalist 2012-13: “These students have the chance to advance in the
competition to try for some 8,300 scholarships worth more than $32 million that are being offered next spring.
About 1.5 million juniors in over 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by
taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Students are required
to submit a detailed scholarship application which includes information about their academic record, participation
in school and community activities, how they demonstrate leadership abilities and honors and awards that they
received. According to a press release, about 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to earn Finalist standing
and over half of the Finalists will win scholarships and earn the Merit Scholar title.”
(http://www.mcall.com/news/local/northampton-sd/mc-national-merit-scholarship-program-northampton--
20120917,0,1893809.story)
Way to go DVHS! Desert Vista is among the top schools with the most National Merit Semi Finalist in the state,
second to Tucson University High School with 25, which has a required institutional entrance policy, including an
exam. This achievement also exceeds private schools in the valley. (Just so that you know) � Congratulations
to these students. They are amazing and their teachers are pretty fantastic, also!
Thomas Anderson, Durward Benham
Jenny Chen
Zakary Ferrara
Kohinoor Gill
Crystal Cockerill
Kai Flowers
Mitchell Hammer
Alena Chang
Thomas Doehrman
Jonathan Gauthier
Mina Park

Richard Lin
Amodini Pathak
Suhitha Verra velli
Rohan Murty
Christina Seideman
Hong Fan Wang
Parker Peelen
Ryan Smith
Anran Yu
Mr. Tom Lambke: Is a phenomenal security guard at Desert Vista High School. We were fortunate to hire Tom
last school year. He is a wonderful staff person, who loves his position, serving the Desert Vista Community. Tom
has a caring heart for children and appreciates the opportunity to work with DV students, staff and community
members. Additionally, Mr. Lambke is an author. One book that he authored is called Spirit, Courage and
Resolve: A Special Olympics Athlete’s Road to Gold. Tom is very active with his son and wife. His book recounts
his experiences, including his families’ blessings with his son, Bryan. We are proud of you, Mr. Tom Lambke!
Desert Vista Site Council: Please nominate a teacher, staff, student or community person for a Desert Vista
Thunder Site Council award. Please copy and paste this URL into your address. Thank you.
http://www.tuhsd.k12.az.us/dvh/SiteBaseCouncil/SITEBASECOUNCILAWARDFORM08.pdf
PARENT COMMUNICATIONS:
A Parent's Guide to the Common Core Standards: The Desert Vista teachers, staff and administration are
currently planning for the new Arizona Common Core Standards. While many are working collaboratively to
incorporate the 21 st century standards, it is very important that parents are informed, as well. Please copy and
paste the following URL and read more about Common Core Standards and the changes that involve learning in
schools.
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/parents-guide-to-common-core-standards/

DESERT VISTA ACTIVITIES:
DV Hockey: The Desert Vista Hockey Club kicked off their regular season this weekend. Friday night the
JV team hosted Hamilton, and came out on top. The 3A team lost to Corona on Saturday night at the Arcadia Rink.
Also, Friday night in Chandler, the Thunder’s 5A team hosted powerhouse Pinnacle Pioneers. It was a touch and
go- game all night, and ended with Pinnacle finally coming out in front 3-2. The Varsity 5A team would like to
thank all of the students that came to the game to support them and show some great DV school spirit during the
game.
Go Big Blue!
DESERT VISTA ATHLETICS:
DV Girls Swim and Dive: Pre paring for next week’s big Xavier meet, DV’s girls swim team tuned up with a 74-20
victory over Mountain Pointe in a weather-shortened meet at Kyrene Pool on Thursday. Despite being called half
way through, DV still got a double win from Sophomore Cece Kowalski (200 Free and 100 Fly) and individual race
victories from Junior, Bailee Blankemeier (200 IM), Senior Emily Ankeney (50 Free), and her sister Freshman,
Annabella Ankeney (100 Free).
Despite an outstanding effort, the Desert Vista girls swim team lost its dual meet versus defending State
Champions Xavier on Wednesday afternoon at Kyrene Pool by the relatively close margin of 102.5 – 83.5.
In strongly challenging powerhouse Xavier, DV was led by dual winner sophomore, Cece Kowalski (200 Free, 500
Free). Other DV race winners included Freshman Annabella Ankeney (100 Free), Junior Bailee Blankemeier (200
IM) and, in a strong portent for success at the Division I Championships in two months, both the 200 and 400 Free
relays.

DV Boys Swim and Dive: The DV boys swim team cruised to a 48-38 over Mountain Pointe on Thursday in a meet
shortened by a dust storm that hit midway through the event.
In the six swims that did occur, DV won five with Senior, Cole Miller factoring in three (anchoring the 200 Medley
Relay, winning the 50 and 100 Free). Sophomore, Dieter Benz (200 IM) and freshman, Marshall Dowell (100 Fly)
accounted for the other wins.
A very deep and strong Brophy team defeated Desert Vista 126.5 – 59.5 Wednesday at the Kyrene Pool. DV got a
race win from Junior, Trey Roggenstein (tied 1 st 100 Breast), two second places from Sophomore, Dieter Benz (200
Free, 500 Free), and seconds from Cole Miller (100 Free) and Connor Bagnall (100 Back). DV will look to bounce
back in its meet next Thursday
DV Boys Golf: Although this week was slow compared to the last few weeks, it was a successful week for the Boys
Golf team. On 9/11, the team proudly placed USA flags on their golf hats as they hosted a match with Mountain
View and Casa Grande, led by Matt Liringis' 33 on the front nine at Club West, the team shot 147 and remained
undefeated in match play. More importantly, it was the fifth time the team qualified for the State championship
so mark your calendars for October 29 and 30! This year's championship will be played at Aguila golf course in
Phoenix.
DV Boys Cross Country: Desert Vista Cross Country enjoyed an impressive weekend at the 32nd Annual
Woodbridge Cross Country Classic Saturday night, Sept. 15, in Costa Mesa, Calif. The state of California traditionally
produces the nation’s best boys teams, but competing against 180 schools and several thousand competitors in
one of the nation’s biggest meets, DVCC finished second out of 32 freshmen teams, third out of 37 senior teams
and 11th out of 31 varsity teams. Carter Macey finished 27th in 15 minutes flat in the sweepstakes race that drew
the best runners across California and the Southwest. Ryan Smith (15:32), Jacob Walimaa (15:33), Tyler Bonebright
(15:34), Alec Hoyt (15:40) and Kyle Havriliak all finished in less than 16 minutes and in the top 100, and Mitchell
Bogushefsky wasn’t far behind in 16:09 on the three-mile course. In the senior Blue race, DVCC had five of the top
44 runners: Zach Smith (20th, 16:03), Austin Tielke (21st, 16:03), Ryan Dykstra (26th, 16:08), Dylan Smith (30th,
16:11) and Spencer Clason (44th, 16:24). Nick Terreri just missed a sub-17-minute run and Dylan Quintanar
grabbed the final top-100 ribbon for DV, with Chris Tang and Zack Hubbard coming agonizingly close at 101 and
102 out of 218 runners. In the freshman race, despite uncommon California temperate in the high 90s, Xavier
Esparza (16:04) was runner-up, D.J. Harris (16:34) was sixth and Chris O’Brien (16:51) was 12th. Matt Anciaux,
Jessen Harbertson, Jackson Snedecor, Anthony Ramirez, Joe Kretschmar, Nathan Chan and Brian Kwiecinski gave

DVCC 10 of the top 100 runners out of 349 competitors. Zever McGary and Ethan Tang finished in the top 100 out
of 321 sophomores and Andrew Hermanski (16:09) and Kyle Herrig (16:33) placed in the top 40 out of 276 juniors.
In all, six DV runners finished in less than 16 minutes, 17 in less than 17 minutes and 26 in less than 18 minutes.
“It’s good to check out the big fish in another pond,” Coach Chris Hanson said. “California runners definitely
humble you, but I believe it’s the best we’ve ever finished here. We were hoping for top 10 for varsity, but we
were 16th last year, so overall we improved.” And bright times are ahead. The freshmen’s second-place finish
equals the showing by this year’s super seniors back when they were ninth graders. DV is back in action at the Ojo
Rojo Lions Invitational in Chandler Sept. 22.
DV Varsity Football: Desert Vista’s Varsity football team defeated Mesa Westwood 41-13 this past Friday night.
Kaleb Germinaro caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Young and he also had a 10-yard
touchdown run. Running backs Zach Gonzalez and Isaiah Kilby both added touchdown runs. Running back Cullen
VanGosen finished the scoring with a 66-yard touchdown run. Matt Young, who completed 13 of 20 passes for 203
yards for the night, also had a touchdown run. Desert Vista accumulated over 500 yards of total offense for the
night. Austin Hicks had an interception for the defense. Next Friday night Desert Vista will play host to the Corona
del Sol Aztecs.
DV JV Football: DV vs. Westwood: To open the game the Tamburo does an on sidekick and recovers it. Number
20 Sharp scores with a 25 yard run in the second quarter. Number 15 McDonald scored a touchdown to bring the
score to 25 to 6 with two minutes left in the second quarter Alex Farina throws a pass to Jensen for the two-point
conversion. Cade VanRapporst runs a 40 yard touchdown to make the score 33 to 6 Alex Farina scores a 2 yard
touchdown, Tamburro with the extra point to make this for 40 to 29. On Thursday the team travels to Corona.
DV Freshman Football: The DV Freshman Thunder football is rolling again. Wednesday's winning score of 17- Zero
over the Westwood Warriors is not indicative of the Thunder’s dominance. The game was very physical and
Westwood was able to hang on because of DV mistakes. The defense stopped every drive Westwood started. The
offense was led again by Johnny Johnson who scored two touchdowns. Connor Culp added the extra points and a
32 yard field goal. Connor also kicked two kickoffs deep into the end zone for touchbacks. In the game new faces
contributed to the Thunder line-up. Nate Devore and Marcus Dickson played well. Our tight end Clay Villa–Gomez
caught two key passes from QB Kare (ka-ray) Lyles. Coach Boyarski added, “This is a big step for us and our
season.”
The Freshman Lightening dominated the Corona del Sol all game winning with a definitive score of 38-6. A very
exciting Lightening game started off with the kickoff and DB Morgan Taylor had a key tackle on the initial Corona
drive that left them on the 1 yard line that led to the first TD by Ty Vlaming. The collective offensive efforts
included 3 touchdowns and a fumble recovery by Ty, Cameron Rayford rushing all day long in multiple plays
including a 30 yard run, as well as the rushing efforts of Chad Farmer and a key fumble recovery just before the
end of the first half by Kyle Mc Hugh. Passing was led by Deric Hancock connecting on several passes from QB Alec
Baldwin, who in addition to keeping the team on task all morning, also ran in tight 4th down plays when needed.
Kicker Peyton Theisler sharp all day with points after touchdown’s (PAT) in addition to a Field Goal in the 2nd
quarter. On the Defense Sam Mason was all over the field with a sack in Q1, and several key tackles. Kaleb Dickson
also had several key tackles, and Isaiah Flord blocked the only Corona PAT in Q1. Joe Yslava rushed for a TD to
bring the score to 38-6.

Thank you, Thunder for rolling with Dr. Battle
“EXCELLENCE THROUGH PERFORMANCE!”
This is how Thunder rolls!
Remember... “Give your all in all that you do. When you need your best, it will be there for you.”