Sun Athletes of the Week: Chris Gutcher and Vanesha Bailey

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2001 | 10:06 a.m.

Named on Feb. 1, 2001

Male Athlete of the Week: CHRIS GUTCHER

School: Bonanza

Class: Senior

Sport: Basketball Last week: Gutcher, a 6-0 guard, scored a career high 23 points to lead the Bengals to a 74-64 upset of then-No 4 Clark Friday night. Gutcher came off the bench to make 8-of-9 shots from the field -- including all three 3-point attempts -- and 4-of-6 shots from the foul line. He also finished with two assists, two rebounds and a steal. "He usually shoots fairly well, but that was one of those games where he goes unconscious," Bonanza coach George Jaekle said. "It was his night, so we kept him in there and he played extremely well."

Female Athlete of the Week: VANESHA BAILEY

School: Cimarron-Memorial

Class: Senior

Sport: Soccer

Last week: Bailey, a starting striker, tallied seven goals to lead the Spartans to a pair of Northwest Division victories over Mojave and Palo Verde. After finding the net five times in a 13-0 thrashing of the Rattlers on Friday, Bailey scored twice to help Cimarron to a 2-1 win over the Panthers on Saturday. Her second goal came in the final three minutes and proved to be the game-winner. For the season, Bailey has 34 goals and 15 assists. "She is trying to reach a goal of 40 (goals), and more importantly, she wants the team to pick it up because we're close to playoff time," Spartans coach Tom Hrdina said.