Sebastian Kupis is an ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism student covering Mountain Ridge High School for AzPreps365.com.

Student-athletes can comfortably say that teachers or coaches preach the idea of constant hard work, never giving up and not being satisfied with good results. This can result in those students trying to better themselves in the classroom, weight room or on the court/field. Now just imagine the possible improvement of the campus feeling overall if this same mindset endowed its administrators and official leaders.

Well, that’s been the case at Mountain Ridge High School, and ever since 2021 the uptick of this self-improving trend has just been up, up and up.

Getting the campus to the state it's in today, where it can host state playoff games and tournaments, has been a collaborative effort led by the school faculty. It kickstarted in 2021 with the hiring of Athletic Director Tony Miller. Just one year later, the athletic department was awarded the AIA Director’s Cup for outstanding overall athletics department. 

Spending time in the same role at Bradshaw Mountain and more recently Coronado, Miller is constantly finding new ways to extend Mountain Ridge’s remodel. At Coronado High School, he implemented features now seen at Ridge like a Hall of Fame and more active relationships with alumni, with the most recent Mountain Ridge hall of fame class including the likes of Jade Carey, Matthew Liberatore and more. 

“I think one of the keys is, and I've got to redo facilities a few times now, you have to take your time. You have to let the process kind of work itself out, and you have to rely on the professionals that do these kinds of things for a living because they're good at what they do,” said Miller. 

More than just the Hall of Fame in the gymnasium lobby, upgrades to facilities on campus include new sound systems for the indoor gym and outdoor track and field area, a renovated indoor gym with updated banners, flooring and a shot clock. The astroturf, improved weight room, outdoor lighting, windscreens and branding/aesthetics round out the list of renovations accomplished in the last three years. 

“When your school believes in you and invests in you, it is easier to believe in yourself and what you can accomplish,” says Christian Jensen, the head coach of both girls and beach volleyball. 

Jensen saw the upgraded beach volleyball court and the complete overhaul of the gymnasium as tangible boosts to where she coaches throughout the year.

Athletes on campus want to compete, and getting the means to compete at the highest level is such a beneficial aspect of the relationship between school and student-athletes. Take Coby Neville for example, a junior on the varsity baseball team has been around to see the newest improvements and changes take effect over the last few years, and evidently he’s used them to his advantage. Hitting two home runs on the year with a slugging percentage close to .400 is an accomplishment most high schoolers would take, let alone a junior.

“The new weight room has been really good for the baseball players to get in because we have a ton of equipment that helps us get stronger to compete at a higher level on the field,” said Neville. 

The past three years has been a process if anything, but one that has been exceeding expectations. Getting the campus to a point where every single program will have seen some sort of improvement was slated to happen in a five to ten year window, not three. 

It’s been important to get to the current point of pride that Mountain Ridge staff are currently feeling, especially with the recent hardship some of the focal programs have been enduring. The football team went through a playoff drought in the 2010’s, posting a 21-58 record during that time and the basketball team only reached the playoffs three times during that same span. 

Not to say it was an enduring period for every program, the baseball team has seen plenty of playoff success in the past and present, while the marching band has been able to walk away with three state championships in the past five years. 

Since the turn of the decade and the start of this new era at Mountain Ridge, the football program has made the playoffs three of the past five years and has posted a record over .500, with teams like badminton, baseball and volleyball consistently ranking in the top ten in 6A. 

During times of great change like this, the perspective of someone in sight of it all becomes more valuable. Head basketball coach and P.E. teacher Craig Marcus has been at the school for 19 years, it’s safe to say he’s been one to see some great change on campus. 

“It definitely feels as if we are making athletics a bigger focus at our school. It is great to see these things, and I know it makes the players/students more prideful in their sport and being a part of the school…For coaches, it's great to see the investment the school is putting in. It helps us make our programs the best they can be. We have tools to help our student-athletes be successful in their sport,” said Marcus.

Marcus has not been the only one ecstatic about the improvements either, Dustin Fechner, the head coach of the boys soccer team, has been able to witness first hand just how his players feel about their improved facilities. 

“Tony Miller has done an amazing job with the school’s facilities… The boys soccer team absolutely loves the turf on the varsity field and playing under the lights with the new sound system pumps up the players and the crowd as well. Tony really takes care of his athletes,” said Fechner. 

Renovating both the baseball and softball fields with new padded backstops and more as well as overhauling the training room to help athletes recover round out the list of some of the accomplishments that have taken place at Mountain Ridge. 

As far as the next upgrades to see, after talking with Marcus, Miller and other staff members, a team meeting room is in the works. It will be a place to watch film, bond and prepare for games, with another addition to the school being new pads and an updated look for the wrestling room, much needed for a program that spends long hours in just one area. 

There aren’t many better feelings for a student to come back and see just how different campus appears to be, and the leaps they’re taking to make sure the next graduating class has something to be proud of that other students didn’t get to claim. It adds a separate layer of hard work, work ethic, and appreciation to see the effort students put into their craft populate into something real on campus. 

Not every student or athlete will have the opportunity to play with the new and shiny upgrade, but they will have the opportunity to implement a culture of work ethic and dedication that leads to the renovation of a campus, and ultimately a community. That fulfillment from students and staff alike, is the reason facility upgrades at schools like Mountain Ridge has been so rewarding.