Sports

Basha’s Cole Martin joins suicide prevention effort

BY ZACH ALVIRA

Sports Editor

Basha junior defensive back Cole Martin is one of 15 Arizona high school football players who have pledged to raise awareness of teen suicide in Arizona.

Martin, one of the top players in the country in the 2023 class, is starring in videos that carry messages of hope to teens struggling with depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts.

Often these teens feel like they have nobody to talk to.

Martin and the 14 other players, in partnership with Teen Lifeline and the Grand Canyon State Gridiron Club, hope to show them that is not the case.

“They help teens that are in need with suicide support,” Martin said. “It’s a great thing that I’m excited to help with. It’s something that, when they asked. I was more than willing to step up for. To be able to have my voice and have Basha High School be there to help support teens in need, it’s something I was excited to be a part of.”

Martin joined Sandra Day O’Connor linebacker Brandon Craddock in a video posted earlier this month about teen suicide. They told them about Teen Lifeline and the availability of people they can turn to.

More public service announcements will continue to through the end of September. They are primarily posted on social media, where Teen Lifeline Clinical Director Nikki Kontz says they are the most effective.

“People have reached out on the hotline after seeing the videos on social media,” Kontz said. “Sometimes all it takes is the right person at the right time to be listening to that video on Insta(gram).”

Kontz has been involved with Teen Lifeline for 27 years. She began volunteering with the group when she was 16 years old as a sophomore at Xavier Prep after losing a close friend to suicide. She continued working with the group through college while she obtained her degree.

Since then, she has made a career out of helping teens.

“I immediately fell in love,” Kontz said. “As a teenager, it’s hard to know or feel like you’re making an impact and that your voice is also recognized as important. Teen Lifeline was that for me. I felt like with every phone call I could make a difference in someone’s life.”

Teen Lifeline provides an anonymous phone and text line for teens struggling with their mental health.

Just in 2020 alone, the organizations received 23,341 calls and 11,497 text messages from teens struggling with mental health. Kontz said the pandemic, which forced teens to be isolated and take online classes, played a major role.

Of those calls, Teen Lifeline says 23 percent were from teens 13 or younger. Thirty-seven percent were from those ages 13-15, and 31 percent from teens

Left: Teen Lifeline Clinical Director Nikki Kontz became involved with the organization 27 years ago as a sophomore at Xavier Prep after one of her close friends died by suicide. Since then, she’s made a career out of making sure teens know they aren’t alone in their fight with mental illness. Right: Basha junior Cole Martin is one of 15 Arizona high school football players involved in an initiative with Teen Lifeline creating public service announcements for teens struggling with their mental health. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff)

See SUICIDE on page 39

Hamilton golf seeks third consecutive title under Kanner

BY DREW SCHOTT Contributing Writer

2020 was a statement season for the Boys Varsity team at Hamilton High School, as the Huskies won their eighth state title and third national championship.

Since its opening in 1998, Hamilton has grown into one of Arizona’s best high school golf programs. Its alumni can be found on college golf rosters, as well as on professional tours across the world.

A constant of the Huskies’ success: coach Steve Kanner. At the helm of Hamilton’s program for 21 of its 24 seasons, Kanner grew the program into a destination for local players and those who recently moved to the Grand Canyon State.

From 2005 to 2009, Kanner led his squad to five straight state championships. Heading into this season, raising another trophy is the goal.

“We have some hopes to do it again this year for the third year in a row, but it’s not gonna be easy,” Kanner said. “There are some really good teams out there that will give us a good challenge for sure.”

The Huskies already can infer who their main contenders will be when the postseason arrives. Brophy College Preparatory has won the first two tournaments of the season, something that Kanner said separates them from other teams in the state, including his own.

Yet there is a lot of time between now and the state tournament in November. Hamilton, attending in-state events as well as the Bart Granger Memorial Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, fields a talented roster. The group is led by senior Mahanth Chirravuri and junior Anawin Pikulthong, who Kanner called a “one-two punch.”

Chirravuri, committed to the University of Southern California, finished with the best score (-10) in the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division I Boys State Championship last fall, while Pikulthong finished third at -3. He is committed to Arizona State.

Meanwhile, Kanner said senior Nick Lippe and sophomore Vincent Cervantes are two players who have improved recently and will be contributors to Hamilton’s quest for more hardware. Additionally, junior Wyatt Chapman, who transferred from Casteel High School in Queen Creek, has been practicing with the team and going through qualifiers.

Chapman, whose performance has been separating him from teammates, is a good fit in the starting lineup, according to Kanner. The Bart Granger Memorial was his first tournament with the Huskies.

“I think this program can achieve a four-peat,” Chirravuri said. “We’ve already got two, aiming for one this year. And then I think next year, we should be in good hands as well. I think a four-peat would be the biggest thing we could accomplish as a team.”

That goal is realistic for a coach like Kanner, because he has done it before in the mid-to-late 2000s.

However, Kanner’s biggest emphasis, according to Pikulthong: staying “cool” on the course.

Chirravuri added that his coach

Left to right: Vincent Cervanyes, Wyatt Chapman, Kush Shah, Nick Lippe, Mahanth Chirravuri and Anawin Pikulthong, all part of Hamilton’s golf team, recently competed in and placed first at the Bart Granger Memorial, a premier high school event in Texas that pinned them up against some of the best programs in the country.

(Courtesy Steve Kanner)

SUICIDE from page 38

ages 16-18.

“I’ve known a couple of people, my friends, who have struggled,” Martin said. “It’s people that I’ve been close to, people I’ve known. It means more to me than just helping anybody else out. It’s a change I want to help start. I’m just happy to hopefully be able to help.”

Just in the last year, the Arizona high school athletics community has felt the unfortunate eff ects of mental health struggles from some athletes.

Last spring, Perry sophomore Zyon Anderson died by suicide. He had struggled with his mental health leading up to his death, and repeatedly received help from his mother, Nailah Hendrickson.

“This has been emotionally, fi nancially, and mentally devastating,” Hendrickson said last April. “This caught us by surprise and it’s not something we had planned for.”

The Desert Vista High School community was shaken by the Aug. 31 death of senior Owen Weldy. He died by suicide, according to the Maricopa County Coroner’s Offi ce.

A day ealier, a Red Mountain High School girl died by suicide. In all, 50 East Valley teens have died by suicide in the last four years.

Owen's online obituary said he was an accomplished violinist and ran cross country and track for the Thunder. In their fi rst race after his death, the cross country team wore special ribbons in his honor.

Kontz hopes with the help of football players like Martin, teens will realize they are not alone.

“Sometimes it’s that one kid who sees a player and thinks, ‘Wow, this kid who has no problems and is living the dream through high school and they’re sending me this message. Maybe I can do one more day,’” Kontz said.

“I think that’s so empowering and so powerful. That’s why we started this partnership. These players realize they have a role. Wearing that uniform, people see them in that uniform and look at them diff erently.

“These players want to use that and make people realize they aren’t alone.”

Teens who are struggling are encouraged to contact Teen Lifeline (602) 248TEEN (8336) or (800) 248-TEEN. They can also text with a teen peer counselor at (602) 248-8336 between noon and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. on weekends.

The Teen Lifeline hotline is staff ed by teen peer counselors from 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. daily with trained, professional counselors available at all other times.

GOLF from page 38

helped golfers develop a strong mental skill set during his time at Hamilton. Having mentored players such as Andrew Yun — a former Stanford golfer who won the 2021 Rolling Green Championship — and helped golfers to 27 collegiate programs including USC, ASU, the University of California, Los Angeles, Brigham Young University and Harvard University, Kanner’s resume is one of the strongest in the state, if not the country.

In 2020, he was named the National Boys Coach of the Year from the National Federation of State High School Associations.

“Here we are 24 years later,” Kanner said. “We have eight state championships in (a) pretty short timeframe and (are) hoping to keep building on that. We have some really good young players and there seems to be a good competitive push amongst the players to get better and better.”

One of the early tests for the Huskies was the Bart Granger Memorial. Pikulthong said it is the team’s only outof-state contest this season.

“We play in diff erent conditions, different weather, diff erent atmosphere,” Chirravuri said. “(The tournament) is 50-something schools. It gives us a huge advantage going into states that we’ve competed at the biggest level.”

The Huskies won the event, fi nishing with scores of 279, 271 and 285 for a total of 835, seven more than the second place team (Houston Memorial.) Facing 52 schools, Kanner said the team was -18 after the fi rst two rounds and held a ten-shot lead on Friday. Some of the top performances included Chirravuri shooting a 65 in the third round, Pikulthong earning a 66 and 67 on the fi rst 36 holes and Chapman fi ring a 67 in the second round.

Conducting its practices at Lone Tree Golf Club in Chander, the Huskies are preparing for the second half of its season ahead of the state tournament at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course. With the early success of Brophy and contenders like Red Mountain High School, there is urgency on their quest towards another championship. Kanner said that he is looking to solidify Hamilton’s starting fi ve golfers soon.

In addition to winning a third state title since 2019, another record is at stake for the Huskies. The team has qualifi ed for the state title for the last 22 years, a streak that Hamilton looks to continue.

As Kanner’s squad chases another successful campaign, his players are ready to fl ourish on the fairways and the greens. While doing so, they will look to express one of their coach’s key tenets: character.

“It’s really us being good kids and (having) good character on and off the golf course,” Pikulthong said. “Just respecting the course, respecting the people and just being good people.”

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