Shadow Mountain High School is a public high school located in the north valley of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The school is part of the Paradise Valley Unified School District. The school's athletic teams are known as the Matadors. Shadow Mountain's school colors are navy blue and gold. 1,475 students attend Shadow Mountain as of 2014. It opened in 1974.
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Extracurricular activities
Band
Shadow Mountain High School boasts the largest music program in the Paradise Valley Unified School District. Most notably, the SMHS Marching Matadors finished the 2006 competitive marching season with a several caption awards and having earned three Superior awards over the course of the season, with their King Kong marching showing arranged by then-director Jan M. Gardner II. In 2006 they finished the season earning a Superior with Distinction at the state competition, the highest rating attainable in the ABODA Marching Circuit. The Matadors performance of their show "Music for a Darkened Theater: The music of Danny Elfman" received captions in Visual Performance, Music Performance, General Effect, Percussion, and Music General Effect.
In 2016, the Marching Matadors performed their field show, "Oliver Twisted" which contained music from the musical "Oliver!" They scored a rating of Superior at the ABODA State Marching Band Festival and 4th place at the ABODA State Marching Band Championships. They also performed in the 46th Annual Fiesta Bowl Parade and the 64th Annual Parada del Sol Parade, receiving a 3rd place award along with a rating of "Best Marching Band," respectively.
The Marching Matadors also participated in the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Parade in December 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. They were chosen to represent the USS Arizona that sank during the Attack on Pearl Harbor. In addition to performing in the parade, the Marching Matadors also played on the USS Missouri for a tribute performance.
Academic Decathlon
The Shadow Mountain Academic Decathlon team hosted the Arizona Region II competition on February 2-3, 2007. The team beat out 28 other schools and took first place with 39,200 points, narrowly defeating South Mountain High School. The team tied for first place in the 2008 regional Super Quiz Competition.
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes club is number one in the nation for raising the most money for six years running to help pre-maturely born babies.
AFJROTC
Shadow Mountain also has an AFJROTC (Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp.)
Athletics
Shadow Mountain's main athletic strengths are in cross country; track and field; basketball, and swimming.
Swim and dive
The Shadow Mountain swim team is one of the top-ranking teams in the state. Misty Hyman (Olympic Gold Medalist) swam for Shadow Mountain.
Baseball
Formerly a perennial state title contender, in the 2011 and 2012 seasons the Matadors posted back to back winning records for the first time in 10 years and missed the playoffs by one game both years. Two former Matador players are now coaching in the major leagues. Scott Emerson is the pitching coach for the Oakland Athletics and Greg Sparks is the assistant hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox.
Cross Country
The Shadow Mountain Cross Country teams have combined five state championships, three for the girls and two for the boys. The boys team won its state titles in 2001 and 2006. The years between, before, and after state titles have been successful, as well. The boys team has three state runner-ups, two 3rd-place finishes, two 4th-place finishes, and two 8th-place finishes in Arizona since 2000. The girls team's highlights were in the late 1980s when it won the 1986, 1987, and 1988 Arizona state championships. The current coaches for the Shadow Mountain Cross Country boys team are head coach Gregg Pestka and assistant coach Ashton Gill. The current coaches for the girls team are head coach Mathew Shannon and assistant coach Ryann Kraiss. Coach Pestka ran for Shadow Mountain in the late '80s and followed up his running career at Glendale Community College and Northern Arizona University. He is in his 18th year coaching cross country at Shadow Mountain. Ashton Gill ran for Shadow Mountain in the late 2000s. He has continued his running career in road races from 5k's to 10k's. He is in his 4th year of coaching at Shadow Mountain. Matthew Shannon ran for Shadow Mountain in the mid-2000s and is in his 9th year of coaching at Shadow Mountain. Ryann Kraiss is in her 1st year coaching cross country at Shadow Mountain. She is a former Kansas State National Champion.
Track & Field
The Shadow Mountain Track & Field team has been one of the more successful programs on campus. There are many standout records for Shadow Mountain Track & Field. In 1999 former NFL player Shaun McDonald set the school record for the 100 meter dash at a time of 10.55. He also has the schools 200 meter and 400 meter records at time of 21.48 for the 200 meter and 49.22 for the 400 meter. Shaun McDonald went on to play for the Detroit Lions in the National Football League. In 2001 Joey Heller ran a school record time of 4:12 in the 1600 meter race. Joey Heller won the state championship in the mile that year as well as the 4x800 meter relay. He went on to run for Arizona State University. The 800 meter record is held by Gabe Lewis at a time of 1:55. One of the older records is held by Scott Pestka in the 3200 meter run. He ran a time of 9:19 in 1985. Scott Pestka later ran for Northern Arizona University where he was the 5th man on the 1988 Northern Arizona Cross Country team which placed 2nd overall in the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships. On the girls side of the team there are some notable records as well. For the 1600 meter run the current record is 5:04, set by Tracy Jarmen in 1988. Tracy Jarman also holds the 3200 meter record at a time of 10:53, also set in 1988. The current record in the 100 meter hurdles is held by Tiffany McDonald at a time of 14.03. The current coaches of Shadow Mountain Track & Field are Matthew Shannon, Mike Steinkemper, Ashton Gill, Ryann Kraiss, Brittany Willock, Brett Mallette, & Matt Howard.
Basketball
Basketball at Shadow Mountain High School is most widely known for Mike Bibby who had a nice NBA career. Shadow Mountain Basketball has won state championships on the mens side in 1996, 1999, 2014, 2015, & 2016. The Girls won the state championship in 2011.
Notable alumni
- Mike Bibby, former basketball player for Sacramento Kings.
- Scott Emerson, Major League Baseball pitching coach
- Misty Hyman, gold medalist Olympic swimmer, coach for Shadow Mountain High School swim team
- Curt Schilling, former pitcher for Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Boston Red Sox
- Marc Kroon, former Major League and Japanese League pitcher, drafted 72nd overall by New York Mets in 1991; in 2008, led Japan Central League in saves with 41; owns record for fastest pitch ever in Japanese baseball pitching 162 km/h (101 mph).
- Tory Nixon, former NFL football player for San Francisco 49ers
- Shaun McDonald, football player
- Robbie Findley, soccer player for Nottingham Forest
- Buddy Rice, race car driver and 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner
- Amy Davidson, actress on TV series 8 Simple Rules
- Ryan Slattery, actor in film and TV, most notably for Sleepover
- Ashley Roberts, former member of Pussycat Dolls
- Joey Heller, National Champion at Arizona State University
- Dillon Rizzo, professional "Rocket League" player, eSports champion
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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