# Sabino High School

Sabino High School is a public secondary education school located in Tucson, Arizona. Located on the northeast side of the city, it is a part of the Tucson Unified School District. The principal is Kevin Amidan.

## History

The school was established in 1972 in response to the boom of Tucson, Arizona's east side in the 1960s and 1970s. It is named after nearby Sabino Canyon. Contemporary establishments Santa Rita High School and Sahuaro High School have similar facilities. Starting with grades 9 and 10, it finally had a full graduating class in 1975. This class chose the school colors purple and gold, and chose Sabercats as the mascot. A committee of freshman at Sahuaro who were going to transfer as sophomores into Sabino came up with the choices put up to a vote of all of the incoming sophomores. The other option was maroon and silver, with the mascot of the Toros. In the early years of the school, a junior high (grades 7 and 8) was located on the same campus.

## Sports

Sabino has a rich sports tradition, mainly in the sport of football. Apart from football Sabino has also won team state championships in volleyball (1989) softball(1991) cheerleading (2004, 2010) golf (1986), baseball (1997), men's (1995, 2005) and women's soccer (1996, 2008), swimming and diving, cross country (2007), and track and field, and individual state titles in wrestling and tennis.

### Early years

Sabino struggled through its first two decades. Coached by Don Holley in their first varsity seasons, the Sabercats struggled for wins, culminating with an 0–20 record in Coach Holley's last two seasons. Those struggles were soon forgotten with the arrival of Arizona high school coaching legend Ollie Mayfield, who had led perennial state championship contenders at Tucson High School. Mayfield instilled a sense of pride and commitment that spurred Sabino to its first playoff game in 1977 against cross town powerhouse Amphi. Mayfield was still quite popular at Tucson High, so end zone bleachers at Rincon High School were added to accommodate the overflow crowd. Sabino lost, but it was the beginning of a superpower football program in Arizona. In 1978, Mayfield led Sabino back to the playoffs where the Sabercats stunned No. 1 ranked Sunnyside 24–7. Sabino advanced to the state playoffs for the first time, but lost to Phoenix Washington 7–3. Mayfield continued with his successes in 1979, again moving the team into the playoffs with a first round win against Tucson's Salpointe Catholic High School, eventually losing in the quarterfinals to the Mesa Jackrabbits in a hard-fought game at Westwood High School in Mesa. Those teams generated several All-Star, All-City and All-State selections, thus creating the foundation for those who would follow. Mayfield had set Sabino well on the path of its winning ways with 3-year totals of 23 wins and 12 losses, the latter being primarily attributed to his first season.

### 1990s

In 1999, the Arizona Interscholastic Association reclassified the school as 5A due to enrollment growth. That year they became the first team in state history to move up a class and make the state title game in the same year.

### Rebuilding

After their dominance in the 1990s, Sabino began a new decade with a new coach. Doug Holland, a longtime assistant under Scurran, led the 5-A Sabercats to a respectable 7–3 record, however the team missed the playoffs for the first time in 9 years. 2000 also marked the end of the Sabercats conference winning streak at 42 games in a row. Holland stepped down after one season and the Sabercats were left without a coach. In 2001, Gary Buer was hired to take over and rebuild Sabino's program. After two seasons, Buer left the Sabercats to build a new college football program at a small, private liberal arts college in Virginia. With new head coach Jay Campos and a realignment back to the 4A Conference, Sabino brought the program back to elite level status. In 2005 they made it back to the state title game for the first time in 6 years but lost to Glendale's Cactus High School. In 2006, while compiling a 12–2 record, the Sabercats again reached the state championship game but fell to Scottsdale's Saguaro High School at then-new University of Phoenix Stadium. In 2009, Sabino made it to the State Championship game again but fell short to Canyon del Oro High School.

## Notable alumni

* Carrie Gerlach Cecil, American author and businessperson
* J. J. Hardy, Major League Baseball shortstop
* Dan Hicks, sportscaster
* Jacques Servin, activist artist and author, co-founder of the Yes Men
* Jonathan Paton, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives
* Brooks Reed, NFL linebacker
* Robert Sarver, former owner of the Phoenix Suns