For the first time in recent memory, the Mingus Union High School Female Athlete of the Year award was shared between two recipients.
Marauders coaches agreed that seniors Nikki Zielinski and Hannah DeVore were both worthy of the award, while Justin Link was honored as the Male Athlete of the Year. They were recognized at the Mingus Union High School District Governing Board meeting on Thursday, May 17.
“The coaches, with the performances between the two athletes, Hannah and Nikki, they thought it would be best to recognize them both for their amazing achievements,” Mingus Athletic Director Yancey DeVore said. “Because both of them had done some extraordinary things this year.”
Yancey DeVore, who has been at Mingus since 2004, did not recall a vote for the award being so close. As Hannah’s father, he did not vote.
Zielinski played three sports for Mingus this year: Volleyball, basketball and softball. She was an outside hitter on the volleyball team, and as a forward for the basketball team, she was named Second Team All-Grand Canyon Region.
On the softball team this spring, the sport Zielinski grew up playing most, she was named the Grand Canyon Region’s player of the year. Recognition for the All-Conference 4A teams was not posted before press time.
As the leadoff batter all season long, Zielinski led the Marauders in nearly every key offensive statistical category.
She led with a batting average of .467 with 40 RBI and 39 runs scored, and was second with 49 hits, including 12 doubles, six triples and 11 home runs. She drew nine walks and struck out just once in 28 games played.
With 27 stolen bases, Zielinski had more than twice as many as any other Marauder. Defensively, she committed eight errors and finished with a .908 fielding percentage. She signed a letter of intent to play softball at the College of Southern Idaho last winter.
Hannah DeVore ran cross-country and track and field. In cross-country, she was the lone Marauder to compete in the Division III state meet last November. She finished 86th with a time of 22:30.
DeVore made her mark in the track and field season this spring. She won the Division III 100-meter hurdles title in 15.52 seconds and was third in the 300-meter hurdles in 45.94 seconds, a personal best. The following week at the Meet of Champions, DeVore ran a personal best 15.17 in the 100 hurdles en route to another first-place finish.
Those personal best times landed her 18th-fastest in both events in all of Arizona this year.
Apart from excelling in their respective sports, both maintained good grades in the classrom and were involved in other extracurricular activities.
“Those are things that we think about as well. They’re both top-notch students and student-athletes, both of them were just very involved and very connected in the school, and it just was a really hard decision to make, so the coaches settled on co-athlete of the year,” Yancey DeVore said. “They just did some extraordinary things in their sports that the coaches wanted to recognize.”
Justin Link, who played football and baseball this year, was the Male Athlete of the Year. Link also won scholarships throughout the year, including one at the football team’s trip to San Diego and another at the National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete banquet on March 24.
Link helped lead Mingus to a 20th region title this year for football. He had seven solo tackles and 35 assists, as well as three passes defended and one forced fumble while playing linebacker. On the baseball team, he played catcher for most of the middle part of the season while batting .370, scoring 12 runs and collecting 16 RBI.
He hit a home run to help defeat rival Flagstaff High School at home in five innings, and was an Honorable Mention All-Grand Canyon Region selection. He was Honorable Mention in football as well.
Note: This version was updated on Tuesday, May 22, to include information about Justin Link.
