The Honor Group Issue 182

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Las Lomas-Walnut Creek senior Kasey Carlson competes in the 100 breaststroke at the 2010 North Coast Section Swimming Championships —the first championship event SportStars covered. This photo appeared in SportStars' very first issue 19 days after it was taken. Carlson won the breaststroke event as well as the 50 freestyle that day. Her 2009 breaststroke time of 58.75 seconds remains the NCS record. She would go on to a decorated collegiate career at USC. Photo By Chace Bryson

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What A Ride

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ometimes it’s crazy to think about all that has transpired since I sat down to write the very first of these columns.

I didn’t have any kids at the time, though I knew one was on the way. Now I have two.

I firmly believed my beloved Chicago Cubs would never even reach the World Series. Then they won it all in 2016. More of you probably care about the Giants winning three titles, though. Which is OK, I guess.

The Warriors were a seemingly doomed NBA franchise constantly repeating mistakes of their past. Now they have three NBA titles.

A lot can happen over 10 years. But here’s one thing that didn’t change: the caliber of athletes that compete for Northern California high schools, and the men and women of character who coach them.

My first column was built around the motivational quote, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

Leaving the newspaper business (speaking of changes, the newsroom building I left is now a mega sportsplex) to manage a start-up publication on teen sports was definitely not a slam dunk. It was a jumper from Steph Curry distance. But much like Steph, it was a shot I was taking with confidence.

There’s a passion that courses through high school sports. And if you can find writers and photographers who are equally passionate about covering them, then good things happen.

For SportStars, 10 years happened.

We’ve been thinking about how we wanted to celebrate this occasion for quite some time now. In the end, I didn’t think it needed to be any more complicated than showcasing several of our favorite images and having our staff members share some of their favorite memories.

Of course, we did spice things up a little bit by building a list of the top 10 male and female athletes of the era. We have no doubt they will spark some debate. Which we welcome.

But in the end, it’s the shared stories and memories from our writers and photographers that best encapsulate our first decade. I took that first shot, but I definitely wasn’t able to do it alone. We actually needed two pages of this issue (P. 46-47) to get in all of our acknowledgements.

But there’s another set of Thank Yous that need to go out before we get this started. Thank you to the athletes that continue to amaze us with their work ethic, drive and talents. Without you, this issue would be about 62 pages smaller. Thank you to the coaches for your support of those athletes, and your constant support of us.

Finally, the loudest Thank You goes to all who’ve read and shared us throughout the years. The way we bring you our stories may change as the publishing world continues to move into an uncertain future, but our passion for telling those stories will still burn bright. Here’s hoping we have another 70 pages to share 10 years from now.

And a couple more titles for the Cubs while we’re at it.

YOUR TICKET TO CALIFORNIA SPORTS ADMIT ONE; RAIN OR SHINE This Vol. #11, June 2020 Whole No. 181 is published by Caliente! Communications, LLC, PO Box 741, Clayton, CA 94517. SportStars™© 20102014 by Caliente! Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. Receive FREE Digital Subscription in your inbox. Subscribe at SportStarsMag.com. To receive sample issues, please send $3 per copy, or $8 total for bulk. Back issues are $4 each. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of Publisher is strictly prohibited. The staff and management, including Board of Directors, of SportStars™© does not advocate or encourage the use of any product or service advertised herein for illegal purposes.

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What Comes Next?

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igh school sports can seem insignificant during turbulent times, but it does play a role in the many events of the world, nation and state since many of the leaders deciding what to do next have been shaped to varying degrees by their participation in them.

One of the best examples of that is California Governor Gavin Newsom, a former basketball and baseball player at Redwood-Larkspur. Former U.S. President Barack Obama famously was a sixth man on a state championship basketball team in Hawaii while many Republican leaders also have been former high school athletes, including Bakersfield’s Kevin McCarthy, the current Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. He played football for the Drillers.

Here’s more random thoughts from all we’ve been through in recent months: The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in March was so much worse for spring sports athletes than those few from the winter who basically just missed playing in CIF state finals. Some schools in Northern California began football workouts on Monday, June 8, but those are being done with strict guidelines such as one coach working with a minimum of 10 players and no equipment (such as a ball). That obviously leaves a long way to go before full practices and games.

As of this writing, all options for the CIF and its sections seem to be on the table regarding fall sports. It might be a good idea to follow the developments in some of the larger school districts in the state and Northern California. Those districts will set the bar. We were shocked only a few days into the shutdown in mid-March when the William S. Hart Unified High School District in northern L.A. County declared spring sports to be over. It turns out that every other district followed. By April 3 the CIF had no choice but to cancel everything for the rest of the school year.

Spring sports athletes have all suffered with seniors also not getting to experience those things everyone previously took for granted. A special shout out should go to those Class of 2020 seniors at Paradise High who were on the football team in 2018 that had to drop out of the section playoffs after their town was destroyed, and then had their senior spring sports wrecked by the pandemic. Based on published rosters, the three football-baseball seniors at Paradise who were on those teams were Owen Kopka, Josh Alvies and Tyler Hooks.

As the state was starting to open back up, the entire nation was smacked in the gut by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. At Cal-Hi Sports, we stand with the peaceful protesters and support police department reforms. Racial inequality from a high school sports perspective can be addressed by the inclusion of more people of color as prominent coaches and officials. That’s why it was heartening to see a prominent program like Bellarmine Prep-San Jose hire 32-year-old Jalal Beauchman as the replacement for retiring longtime football coach Mike Janda. This is no way to suggest that he’s not qualified. Beauchman, a former leading receiver at San Jose State, coached the Bells freshman team last fall to a 9-0 record.

Looking over a list of the 55 teams that won CIF section football titles in the state from last season, just two in Northern California and two in Southern California were coached by African-Americans. The NorCal duo were Michael Peters at McClymonds-Oakland and Anthony Ghoston from San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno. Plus, out of all the CIF sections in the state (other than San Francisco and Oakland), there has never been an African-American commissioner, nor has there ever been a black CIF state executive director, either. We have to start seeing people in the pipeline to step into these roles as others retire.

It doesn’t seem likely that any other CIF sections will go to a football playoff format like the one that the North Coast Section is going to this season. That’s the one in which the loser of the NCS Open Division championship is going to be allowed to play the NCS Division 1 champion for a NorCal regional playoff spot. With just four teams in the NCS Open, that gave the section some scheduling flexibility to benefit the NCS Open runner-up. Everyone in the state knows that in the NCS, where De La Salle-Concord has been ruling since 1992, it’s an extremely unique situation. Everyone also knows that if the Southern Section did something similar that the loser of the annual St. John Bosco-Mater Dei final would just destroy any other teams it would face in a similar scenario. What would be the point of that? Those two teams seem likely to play each other twice again in 2020 with the winner of the Southern Section Div. 1 final going on to probably play De La Salle as a big favorite once again.

Finally, I want to end this column with a note of congratulations to publisher Mike Calamusa and editor Chace Bryson for the 10th anniversary issue of SportStars. There are a few other regional high school sports magazines we’ve seen over these 10 years (not just in California) and SportStars is by far the best for its graphics, layout and its tone. It’s quite difficult to have a high school sports magazine these last 10 years, but Mike and Chace have done it. Keep ‘em coming.

Mark Tennis is the co-founder of Cal-Hi Sports and publisher of CalHiSports.com. Contact him at markjtennis@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @CalHiSports Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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inaugural issue

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STARRING CONTRA COSTA COUNTY ATHLETES • JUNE 10, 2010

VOL. 1. ISSUE 1

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AND WE’RE OFF!

Deer Valley’s Chizoba Okodogbe sprints towards Olympic dreams El Cerrito baseball makes unlikely run Lauren Goerz helps Monte Vista lacrosse stay perfect

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or a magazine setting out to focus on high school sports, we did pick a curious time to launch — the last week of the academic year.

It ended up being a blessing in disguise, however. It stretched our focus for feature topics and showed readers we were willing to highlight any sport, not just the high profile ones. That started with our very first cover athlete, Deer Valley track 400-meter star Chizoba Okodogbe.

Knowing our first issue would release on June 10, it made sense to build our cover feature around an athlete with a shot at winning gold at the CIF State Track and Field Championships.

Though Chizoba wound up with silver and not gold, she turned out to be a truly engaging profile.

The first generation Nigerian-American was extremely gracious with her time and access. She ended up having a pretty darn good Pac-12 career at the University of Oregon as well.

Our first four issues or so really allowed us to showcase the diversity we wanted to bring to our coverage. We highlighted diving, tennis and Little League softball over our first two months. It was a summer that allowed us to really dial in what we wanted to be as a magazine, and left us ready to hit the ground running for our first school year.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: California-San Ramon high jumper Andre Rawls clears the bar at the NCS Tri-Valley Meet; The 2010 CampolindoMoraga girls volleyball team poses for a preseason photo (they would win a state title that season); A copy of SportStars’ first Football Preview issue is tucked in the pocket of an East Bay football coach during an early-August scrimmage.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: 14-year-old Pittsburg amateur boxer Jose Delgado Jr., whom we featured in October 2010, detailing his success after recovering from injuries sustained in a severe car accident; El Cerrito’s Tino Lipson celebrates a putout during the 2010 North Coast Section Div. III final; Monte Vista-Danville future Olympic gold medalist Maggie Steffens eyes her next move during a mid-season match.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Antioch’s Nick Novero and Pinole Valley’s Donovan Henderson (10) share a sideline laugh during the 37th Annual AllStar Football Classic in June 2010; Pittsburg quarterback Malik Watson scrambles into the open field during a scrimmage with De La Salle; San Ramon ValleyDanville pitcher John Hochstatter poses in his Team USA threads; Campolindo-Moraga senior Mary Vaccarro celebrates a big point in the CIF Div. III state final.

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we pick norcal’s top 20 teams PG. 6

VOL. 2. ISSUE 30

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AUGUST 25, 2011

ENDURE | EXCEL | ACHIEVE

CALIFORNIA

previews, predictions & more! top players, top teams we know who they are & let you in on the secret

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allsection teams

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portStars first Sac-Joaquin Edition of its Football Preview came in the fall of 2011. The area’s marquee player at the time was Grant-Sacramento star Shaq Thompson, a super-athletic multisport (baseball, track) star that would be wearing the Pacers’ coveted No. 1 jersey. Thompson, who now plays for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers at linebacker, was a two-way phenom that could beat you at quarterback, running back, cornerback or safety.

My first memory of Shaq was meeting him after practice to learn that he did not get the message to have his game uniform for our photo shoot. But I could not even begin to be mad at a Always More To Read at SportStarsMag.com

high school senior that was as soft-spoken and polite as he was athletic.

Photographer James Leash (who I met for the first time at the photo shoot) and I took the hiccup in stride and were not disappointed with what Thompson gave us. Shaq patiently answered every question and gave us every pose and action shot we asked for. Following him that season — a season in which he was slowed by injury — and beyond has been a pleasure. It was made all the more special knowing that my first football preview cover feature subject would star in college and be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A shot from our 2011 Football Preview featuring QBs Zach Kline (San Ramon Valley-Danville), Bart Houston (De La SalleConcord) and Jeff Lockie (Monte Vista-Danville); St. Mary’sBerkeley track star Trinity Wilson hurdles De La Salle wrestler Jon Jay Chavez in a downtown Walnut Creek shoot; Amador Valley-Pleasanton softball star Johanna Grauer fires a pitch; Casa Roble-Orangevale softball players embrace after winning a section title; Lamorinda Water Polo Club’s Colin Chiapello, J.D. Ratchford, Grant Sivesind and Thomas Carroll.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Amador ValleyPleasanton senior Joey Moroney slides safely into home plate during a showcase game against Elk Grove at the Oakland Coliseum; Photographer Bob Larson captures the start of the varsity girls race at the 2011 Ed Sias Invitational; St. Mary’sBerkeley state-champion hurdler, Trinity Wilson.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: James LoganUnion City track & field star Ciarra Brewer runs beside a train near Jack London Square during a 2011 photo shoot celebrating our Spring Athletes of the Year; AlhambraMartinez pitcher and future Cincinnati Red, Robert Stephenson locks in on his target; Albany girls volleyball player McKenzie Giblin celebrates a hard-fought point for the Cougars.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Gabrielle Palmieri tries to grab a moment of zen despite the antics of her St. FrancisSacramento volleyball teammates (L to R) Hannah Liserra, Allie Wegener and Loni Kruen; Amador Valley-Pleasanton’s Jenna Pianin pushes her way through a driving rain during the 2012 NCS Cross Country Championships; Buhach Colony-Atwater lineman Aaron Cochran poses as running backs Stefon Gold (left) and Leon Miles leave blurs in the background.

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: AlhambraMartinez softball stars Shannon DeVries (left) and Kylee Perez take a feature photo at twilight; Archbishop Mitty-San Jose hoops star Aaron Gordon poses during a cover shoot prior to his junior season; Fairfield High star hurdler Daje Pugh has her Spring Athlete of the Year photo shoot at Vanden Air Force Base.

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ith one Football Preview Issue under my belt, I was ready to kick it up a notch for the next extravaganza. The cover for the Sac-Joaquin Edition would feature a defensive monster to balance the Bay Area’s star running back cover.

Placer-Auburn defensive end Eddie Vanderdoes had a personality as big as his 6-foot-3, 295-pound frame and was an instant classic in my career of prep sports coverage. “Big Eddie” had been nicknamed “The Floor Safe” by the Sacramento Bee’s Joe Davidson and he already had a burger named after him at the town’s popular Local Heroes eatery.

With that knowledge, we went all-out to secure an actual floor safe for the shoot. Yeah, I also made sure to try a Big Eddie Burger for a sidebar. The photo shoot was one of my all20

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time favorites for more than just the looks on the faces of Vanderdoes and his Placer coaches and teammates as the safe was unloaded and placed on the natural grass field at Ralph LeFebvre Stadium.

Big Eddie’s charisma was evident in the pictures we got and also on the field. The Hillmen claimed their first league title in years with a narrow win over rival Center-Antelope. In the immediate aftermath of the victory, Vanderdoes handed out hugs and high fives to everyone in sight, including me, to cement his legend in my mind.

Eddie went on to a successful career at UCLA and started 13 games for the Raiders as an NFL rookie in 2017.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The CampolindoMoraga girls water polo team shares a giant group hug after defeating rival Acalanes-Lafayette 8-7 in the NCS Div. II championship match; A young skateboarder takes flight as friends watch during a cover shoot by James K. Leash at Epic Skatepark in Rocklin; Players from the James LoganUnion City softball team celebrate their NCS Div. I championship win over Amador Valley.

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How do you begin to build a list of the best NorCal boys athletes of the past 10 years?

Well, the first step is knowing some folks aren’t going to agree with you.

Probably more than some.

We’re OK with that, though. The bottom line is they’re fun to build – once you get past the stress and anxiety of making the tough cuts. They’re fun to read, and they’re fun to argue about.

After tireless research, a fair amount of flip-flopping, and a full yellow legal pad of scribbled stats and facts, we settled on these 10 guys. We weighed high school and post-high school accomplishments rather equally. We know there are plenty others who could slot into one of these 10 spots (heck we list 10 others who were on our short list, and probably could easily list 10 more), but it’s also hard to look at this list and not say, “Daaaang, that’s some talent.”

These 10 athletes left us in awe each time we watched them during their prep career. And plenty more in the time since.

So here we go: The Overall Boys Athlete Big 10, listed alphabetically.

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Liam Anderson

Jake Browning

Cross Country/Track | Redwood-Larkspur ‘19

Football | Folsom ‘15

Cracking this list as a distance runner was going to be hard. Unless of course one can

begin his sophomore season at Stanford next fall.

Cal-Hi Sports’ Mark Tennis, generally recognized as the state’s authoritative high school sports historian, called Browning “definitely the greatest quarterback in state history, statistically.” In his three-year Folsom career, he set or equaled national marks for career TDs (239) and single-season TDs (91) and the state mark for career yards (16,775). He threw for 10 TDs in his first varsity game in 2012. In his last game, he threw for six TDs and rushed for one as Folsom went 16-0 and won the CIF Div. I State Bowl Championship.

He’s now with the Minnesota Vikings after setting numerous school records at Washington, including career yards (12,296, 4th-most in Pac-12 history) as well as season (43) and career (94, 6th in Pac-12 history) TD passes. He’s one of only six Pac-12 players to account for 100 or more touchdowns (passing and rushing) during a career. He had 110.

Jared Goff

Aaron Gordon

Football/Baseball | Marin Catholic-Kentfield ‘13

Basketball | Archbishop Mitty-San Jose ‘13

Goff was on varsity in three sports at Marin Catholic. He played basketball as a soph, and was part of NCS champion baseball teams as a sophomore and junior (he was a combined 4-for-6 with 4 runs, a double and an RBI in two section finals). He was all-football his senior year and threw for 3,692 yards and 40 TDs, rushed for 332 yards and 8 TDs, and led the Wildcats to an NCS title and the CIF Div. III State Bowl, where he threw for 262 yards and contributed 5 total TDs in a 38-35 loss. In three seasons at Cal he set 26 school records, including career marks for passing yards (12,220), TD passes (96) and completions (977). As a junior he set Pac-12 single-season records with 4,719 passing yards and 43 TD passes. He was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. The twotime Pro Bowler led the Rams to an NFC title and Super Bowl appearance in 2018.

Gordon is the most dominant boys basketball player in the SportStars Era. Gordon won two CIF Div. II state titles and was named Cal-Hi Sports Mr. State Basketball after his junior AND senior seasons. As a senior, Gordon averaged 21.6 points and 15.7 rebounds in leading Mitty to the CIF Open final (a 50-45 loss to Mater Dei). In three state finals, Gordon averaged 24.3 points and 20 rebounds. His Mitty totals of 2,386 points and 1,666 rebounds are both Central Coast Section records. He was the MVP of the 2013 McDonald’s All-American Game (24 pts., 8 reb.) before one season at Arizona where he was named first team All-Pac12 and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Gordon was selected 4th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft and has enjoyed a six-year career with the Orlando Magic. He’s averaged 16 points and 7.6 rebounds over his last three seasons.

make it look as effortless as Anderson. Anderson closed his high school career with a truly epic senior season. He won his second CIF State Div. III championship, though that was just a prelude to the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland where he set the 5K course record and became California’s first champion in the event’s 15-year history. His track & field career at Redwood included five North Coast Section titles, three in the 1,600 meters and two in the 3,200 meters. He claimed the CIF State Championship in the 1,600 as a junior. As a senior, he took second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600. Anderson will

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Najee Harris

Ivan Rabb

Football | Antioch ‘17

Basketball | Bishop O’Dowd ‘15

In three seasons as Antioch’s starting running back, Harris rushed for 7,783 yards and 93 TD. He also added 84 two-point conversions. Alabama earned his commitment as a sophomore, he was named Mr. State Football as a junior and was the nation’s No. 1 recruit before his senior year. As a junior he led the Panthers to their first league title since 1984 and first undefeated regular season since 1977. That team’s lone loss was a 55-54 instant-classic NCS semifinal loss to Foothill-Pleasanton in which Harris rushed for 390 yards and scored 40 of his team’s points. Alabama handed him the starting job in 2019 and he responded with 1,224 yards and 20 totals TDs (13 rush, 7 receiving). He was a second team All-SEC selection and is expected to be on preseason watch lists for several awards in 2020.

For three straight years, Rabb ruled East Bay basketball. Cal-Hi Sports named him it’s State Sophomore of the Year in 2012-13, State Junior of the Year in 2013-14 and Mr. State Basketball after a 2014-15 senior year in which he averaged 24.5 points, 16.3 rebounds and 4.5 blocks over 32 games. That season he also led O’Dowd to its first CIF state title since 1981, as the Dragons defeated Mater Dei-Santa Ana 65-64 in the Open Division final. He had 19 points and 21 rebounds that game, and sank the game-winning free throw with 0.8 seconds left in overtime. He was a McDonald’s All-American and a unanimous regional player of the year amongst Bay Area media. After two All-Pac-12 seasons at Cal, the last of which he averaged a double-double of 14.2 points and 10.5 rebounds, he was selected 35th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

Shaq Thompson

Luca Urlando

Football/Baseball/Track | Grant-Sacramento ‘12

Swimming | McClatchy-Sacramento ‘20

For three seasons, Thompson was a two-way star for Grant. He entered his senior year ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 1 safety in the nation and No. 4 overall recruit afterrushing for 1,882 yards and 25 TDs as a junior. As a senior, injuries (including his own) led to the Pacers using him at QB. He totaled 1,134 rushing yards (15 TD), 57 tackles on defense and passed for nearly 900 yards and 8 TDs. In track, he won the Sac-Joaquin Section 200 meters as a sophomore and was third as junior. He played baseball as a senior, hitting .305 with 7 doubles, 5 triples and a home run. His junior year with Washington he won the Paul Hornung Award for the nation’s most versatile player (rushing for 456 yards with 81 tackles, 4 fumble recoveries and an interception). He was selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.

SwimSwam.com ranks Urlando as the No. 2 overall senior recruit in the nation. Which means NorCal was robbed to see what he might have done in his final postseason with McClatchy. Instead he heads to the University of Georgia as the current national public school record holder in the 100 butterfly (45.88 seconds), which he set last year at the SJS Championships. He won five SJS titles across three events and owns the record for each. In addition to the 100 fly, he also holds the 200 IM and 100 backstroke marks. In June of 2019, Urlando broke Michael Phelps’ 17-18 National Age Group Record in the 200-meter butterfly. The swim made Urlando the third-fastest American all-time in the event. Urlando did not attend any CIF meets, choosing to train for summer long course events.

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Nikko Villarreal Wrestling | Gilroy ‘14

Ryan “Rowdy” Tellez Baseball | Elk Grove ‘13

Villarreal is the only NorCal wrestler in the last decade to win three state championships.

He’s also only the fourth NorCal wrestler to ever accomplish that feat along with David Lee of Bella Vista-Fair Oaks ’84, Louis Bland of Central Catholic-Modesto ’08 and Jason Welch of Las Lomas-Walnut Creek ’08. Villarreal was twice named the Dave Schultz Champion of Champions at the CIF tourney. Villarreal was also a two-time Fargo AllAmerican and ended his senior campaign ranked No. 8 in the country. Villarreal was also a four-time CCS champion, and won 54 matches in his senior season, which included his six wins at the CIF State Championships. Four of those state wins came by pin, including a lightning-fast 13-second stick of Clovis’ Jared Hill. Villarreal wrestled three years at Arizona State.

Isolating one baseball player for this list might have been the hardest task we had. The number of big league and collegiate standouts that have spawned on NorCal diamonds in the past 10 years has been astounding. We ultimately landed on a current big leaguer, the Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter and first baseman. Tellez homered in his major league debut back in 2018. He ended up hitting .314 in 23 games that season, then returned as a regular in 2019 to hit 21 home runs, 19 doubles and collect 54 RBI. His high school numbers at Elk Grove are what put him over the top for us. In four varsity seasons, Tellez combined to hit .477 with 176 hits, 43 doubles, 27 home runs and 176 RBI. Yes, he averaged an RBI per hit. The Thundering Herd reached two SJS Div. I finals during his tenure, winning it all in his senior year.

Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically, pictured alphabetically starting at upper left))

Arik Armstead Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove Football + Basketball/Oregon & 49ers, Football Jabari Bird Salesian-Richmond/Cal, Basketball Austin Hooper De La Salle/Stanford/Atlanta Falcons, Football Marcus Lee Deer Valley-Antioch Basketball + Volleyball/Kentucky + Cal, Basketball Tak McKinley Kennedy-Richmond Football + Track/UCLA & Atlanta Falcons, Football Joe Mixon Freedom-Oakley Football + Basketball/Oklahoma + Cincinnati Bengals, Football Tommy Thompson Granite Bay/Indiana/SJ Earthquakes,Soccer Henry To’oto’o De La Salle/Tennessee, Football Spencer Torkelson Casa Grande-Petaluma Baseball + Football/Arizona State, Baseball Andrew Vaughn Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa/Cal, Baseball Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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EDITOR’S NOTE: With zero volleyball happening these days, our friends at the NCVA haven’t had their usual treasure trove of content to shine a light on. So we’ve been playing their greatest hits. In the national climate surrounding racial tensions, we thought this story from last September was an appropriate one to bring back.

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istory has been made with the addition of men’s volleyball to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, thanks to a $1 million grant from First Point Volleyball Foundation and USA Volleyball.

The news was announced Sept. 3 by USA Volleyball and the SIAC. The move, which champions diversity and inclusion in the sport, means men’s volleyball begins in the SIAC with the 2020-21 season.

SIAC member colleges adding men’s volleyball are Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio; Benedict College in Columbia, S.C.; Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia; Kentucky State University in Frankfurt; Morehouse College in Atlanta and Paine College in Augusta, Georgia.

“We are extremely pleased to receive this generous investment from the First Point Volleyball Foundation and USA Volleyball,” said SIAC Commissioner Gregory Mooree. “I am convinced that the impact of this gift will not only be felt on the campuses of those participating SIAC member colleges and universities, but ... also serve as a catalyst for increasing African American participation in men’s volleyball throughout the United States.”

The addition of the SIAC schools fosters diverse collegiate volleyball opportunities as players from the Northern California Volleyball Association and other regional volleyball associations advance to the next level of their educational pursuits. It comes at a time of great popularity for boys volleyball, the fastest growing team sport in the nation for high school boys, which has seen 22 percent growth over the past five years.

NCVA officials are encouraged and proud to see the news, which addresses strategic initiatives for diversity set as priorities by both First Point Volleyball Foundation and USA Volleyball. The SIAC is a Div. II conference comprised primarily of historically black colleges and universities that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“USA Volleyball is proud to be supporting this SIAC initiative to bring men’s varsity volleyball programs to six HBCU schools,” USA Volleyball CEO Jamie Davis said. “I applaud the leadership and vision being shown

by Commissioner Moore and all six of the schools’ presidents and athletic directors, which will surely increase the participation of African American men playing volleyball and lead to new athletic and academic opportunities for young boys.”

The six SIAC schools will receive $150,000 over three years from First Point Volleyball Foundation and USA Volleyball as part of the grant program. First Point Volleyball Foundation is a nonprofit started by UCLA and U.S. Men’s National Team head coach John Speraw.

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VOL. 4. ISSUE 65

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O

ne of the things that stands out the most over the many years of covering athletes for feature shoots was all the wardrobe/equipment malfunctions.

There were a lot of forgotten jerseys, shoes and balls etc., and trips to wherever to retrieve them so we could shoot.

Case in point: For Issue No. 65 (May 2013,) writer Jim McCue and I waited anxiously in the Woodcreek-Roseville parking lot for senior pitcher Stephen Nogosek. He was returning home from Berkeley after watching Cal baseball face his future school, Oregon. Jim and I continued to wait as the sun inched closer and closer to setting.

Luck would have it that he arrived in time. The shoot was goAlways More To Read at SportStarsMag.com

ing to take place in the wetlands behind the school to create this cover that expressed his two greatest passions, baseball and waterfowl hunting. He arrived with the essentials like waders, camo shirt, duck calls, decoys, face paint and younger sister — who came up clutch by rushing home to grab his ball cap and glove.

Stephen made his major league debut with the New York Mets in 2019, and remains an avid hunter.

For all of our shoots, we always got it done no matter what was thrown at us. And I can say it’s been a pleasure to work with the literally hundreds of high school athletes and coaches over the last decade.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Christian Brothers-Sacramento volleyball star Nastassja Bowman knew exactly where the camera was during this 2013 match; College ParkPleasant Hill’s Cameron Peterson (left) tries his best to slow down Acalanes-Lafayette’s Mark Helfrich; SalesianRichmond McDonald’s All-American Jabari Bird takes flight over the camera during a Winter Athlete of the Year shoot.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Members of the Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland girls basketball team line up to order Big Macs from teammate and McDonald’s All-American, Oderah Chidom; Campolindo baseball’s Robbie Tenerowicz holds a flaming bat in front of (L to R) Brett Stephens, coach Max Luxhurst and Trent Shelton; Members of the Franklin-Elk Grove girls soccer team rejoice after winning their first ever section championship following a penalty kick shootout.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The No. 4-seeded Amador Valley-Pleasanton baseball team celebrates its 2013 NCS Div. I championship upset win over De La Salle-Concord; Folsom High’s champion hurdler Austin Carter competes at the Sacramento Meet of Champions; Granite Bay girls volleyball players (L to R) Taylor Nelson, Nicolette Pinkney and Maddie Deters share a laugh during a preseason photo shoot. Their 2013 team would finish 45-0; San Ramon ValleyDanville water polo standout Kat Klass smiles during a shoot.

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began my Bay Area journalism career with the Contra Costa Times in the spring of 2001, which means I was only around for the last 26 games of De La Salle football’s famous 151game win streak.

In those days, the Times’ prep sports staff was massive. It had a dedicated DLS football beat writer, and if you were 15th in seniority you weren’t dispatched to Owen Owens Field on Friday nights. Actually, my first De La Salle game in a working capacity was as a stringer for the Fresno Bee in 2004 when Clovis West-Fresno came to Concord the week after The Streak ended.

Clovis West won, dealing the Spartans their first home defeat in 15 years.

It was a rocky beginning to my time covering De La Salle football, but I eventually rose to the newspaper’s DLS football beat role from 2007-09 and built great relationships while learning a ton about the program’s recipe for success.

Once at SportStars, I needed to spread my football coverage around throughout the Bay Area. That meant my Spartans viewings dropped to just their two or three biggest games of the season. In 2012-2013, though, we got to use my history with the program to build great coverage around Bob Ladouceur’s monumental retirement (after 399 wins) and the dawn of the Justin Alumbaugh coaching era.

Attending the Ladouceur retirement press conference was definitely something I won’t forget. It was a national news story in our own backyard, and everyone in the De La Salle auditorium that day could feel the gravitas of the moment.

Eight months later, in August 2013, I spent the entire day with Alumbaugh on his first game day as head coach of America’s most famous high school football program. Chronicling that day for SportStars remains one of my favorite memories from our first 10 years.

I remain grateful to Alumbaugh and the rest of the De La Salle coaches for letting me tell that story and give SportStars readers a little peek behind the Green Curtain.

SportStars Editor Chace Bryson spends the day with De La Salle’s new head football coach, Justin Alumbaugh, as he takes over for a legend

J

How to take over for a legend in nine easy steps: Step one: Play basketball.

Unwind.

Step two: Meet with your assistants.

Photos by Jonathan Hawthorne 14

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ustin Alumbaugh is already nearly eight hours into his day — a day he admitted started a little earlier for him than usual.

“I woke up pretty early this morning,” he says. “Definitely got up a little earlier than I intended to. That’s a good thing, though. I’m excited.”

Other than that, this day — Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 — is set to pass like any other early-fall Friday he’s experienced over the past decade of teaching and coaching football at De La Salle High.

With a few very notable exceptions.

Today is his first game day as the varsity head coach. Today is also the first game day coach Bob Ladouceur — who with a 399-25-3 record in 34 years of heading the Spartans program, is arguably the greatest high school football coach of all time — is NOT the head coach. Alumbaugh has officially been the head coach since Jan. 4, when Ladouceur called a press conference to officially step down and, essentially, appointed Alumbaugh as his successor.

Lunch period is nearly over as the 33-year-old Alumbaugh strides purposefully across campus, past the main office on his way to the faculty room. In the first of four different wardrobe combinations he’ll sport over the next 10 hours, he wears black slacks with a plain white polo shirt.

Inside the faculty room he visits his mailbox and finds it nearly overflowing, mostly with large white envelopes sporting the logos of various high-level college football programs. It’s the type of mail haul one would expect the head coach of a nationally-ranked, four-time defending state champion program to receive — and recycle — on a daily basis.

As a teacher who splits time in both the English and Social Studies departments, Alumbaugh doesn’t have a permanent classroom. Due to an abnormal schedule, he’s teaching his Period 3 Freshman English class in the Period 5 time slot. Today the class is to go to the library computer lab to participate in the state’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) testing.

“I’m going to thoroughly explain to them before leaving (the classroom) how to log on, and what they need to bring,” he says. “But I’m going to be bombarded with questions as soon as we get there. Watch.”

He’s right, of course. But his passion for interacting with kids, even to the point of occasional exhaustion, is obvious.

He strikes up a conversation with one student about the “Freshman Mixer,” a freshman-only social event that’s the reason behind the day’s alternate schedule.

“You going to make the magic happen?,” Alumbaugh asks with a big grin. “Get a few digits?”

“Sure, we’ll see,” the student replies.

“Good talk,” says Alumbaugh.

The following period is a prep period for Alumbaugh. He takes long,

brisk strides as he walks across campus toward the locker room. He has his own cubicle in a coaches office that’s approximately 18 feet by 12 feet and features five other desk/cubicles shared by more than 20 coaches across the program’s three levels.

The only other person in the coaches office when Alumbaugh arrives is Ladouceur. The legendary coach has not retired from teaching, or coaching for that matter. He remains on the varsity coaching staff as the most over-qualified assistant coach ever. Alumbaugh’s desk faces Ladouceur. For some, Ladouceur’s presence would be an intimidating reminder of expectations, but not for Alumbaugh. Nobody has been a bigger champion of Alumbaugh’s credentials to take on the role than Ladouceur.

For the next 50 minutes, Alumbaugh will sit at his desk and look over some notes he’s made as well as notes left by assistant coaches.

Up until the kickoff against visiting Clayton Valley Charter-Concord, Alumbaugh’s game day routine will play out very similarly to the many which have come before. After kickoff, there will be one fairly significant difference, he’ll be calling the plays on offense.

“The main difference is that I’m calling the plays, and that’s a big difference,” Alumbaugh explains. “So right now, I’m getting the plays right in my head — the plays that we want to run first and what we’re looking for. I just want to get the wheels turning a little bit to where I’m comfortable with what we’re going to be doing.”

He knows there won’t be any big rah-rah speech before taking the field.

“By now we’ve either prepared these kids well enough, or we haven’t,” he says.

It’s at this time that assistant coach and Dean of Students, Joe Aliotti, walks through the coaches office.

“You better win,” he cracks at Alumbaugh. “You better freakin’ win.”

Alumbaugh fields the ribbing with a grin and shake of the head. It’s not the first time he’s heard similar remarks made in fun this day, and he knows it won’t be the last.

Time for the first wardrobe change. This ensemble involves high-top sneakers.

On every game day for approximately the past 10 seasons, members of the coaching staff have played pick-up basketball right after school.

Ladouceur never participated in the games, according to Alumbaugh, but just about every other Spartans coach has at one point or another.

The games also feature football alumni as well as a few current students who play basketball for De La Salle.

“A lot of us have a hard-time sitting still and waiting for the game,” Alumbaugh said. “This is something that lets us take our mind off it for awhile.”

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: From left, Brooke Watson, Adlee VanWinden, Brie Gathright, Nastassja Bowman, Torrey VanWinden, Abby Jensen and Mikaela Nocetti of the Five Starz Volleyball Club team have some fun during a 2014 summer shoot; River City-West Sacramento pitcher Breanna Victor fires a pitch during a mid-season game; Members of the Manteca baseball team embrace following their SJS Div. II championship win.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: San Ramon Valley-Danville senior Jerry Karczewski is carried off by the student body after sinking a gamewinning basket; Clayton ValleyConcord’s Sean Vaisma leads the team in a prayer before the start of the team’s CIF Northern Regional bowl game against visiting Oakdale; Archbishop Mitty-San Jose and future Cal Softball star Jazmyn Jackson beams during a 2014 preseason shoot.

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FROM TOP DOWN: Elk Grove softball standout Kaitlin Pires is photographed as part of a preseason shoot; Rocklin volleyball teammates, from left, Maddie Haynes Julianne Miller and Megan McBroome can’t keep it together during a preseason photo shoot; Jesuit-Sacramento soccer player Diego Buenrostro showcases his best bicycle kick for photographer James K. Leash.

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I

nterests and talents off the playing field are always fun to discover and learn more about.

While interviewing Folsom point guard Jordan Ford for a brief SportStar of the Week feature, I asked an innocent question about any hidden talents most people didn’t know about. Ford shocked me by sharing the fact that he was a California state chess champion at age 7 and a top player for several years before basketball became his priority.

It was a great treasure to unearth and share with our readership, and it made Ford more human than just a basketball star in my eyes. It also gave me a little more joy watching him lead the Bulldogs on a pair of memorable state playoff runs. That was something he had a knack for it seems, which he showed at Saint Mary’s College.

I will be thrilled to see what kind of chess moves a former SportStar of the Week might make in the NBA.

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When we began this 10-months-long anniversary project, we looked at these specific lists with a fair amount of dread. Just what made us crazy enough to think we could narrow down 10 years of phenomenal NorCal female athletes to a list of just 10 names?

Obviously, these lists are meant to be fun and be conversation starters. Can a case be made for different athletes to be on this list? Absolutely. Just listing the honorable mentions made us blush.

That being said, we feel pretty good about these next 10 athletes. We tried our best to balance high school impact and success with the player’s collegiate and professional prowess as well.

Perhaps most importantly, each of the following athletes were great kids to deal with. They returned texts and calls. Answered endless questions. Stuck around for that extra half hour to let our photographers get that perfect shot. They’ve all been easy to root for in their post-high school careers. We certainly consider ourselves lucky to have had a platform to amplify their talent.

Here’s The Overall Girls Athlete Big 10, listed alphabetically.

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Nicole “Sis” Bates Softball/Basketball | Ceres ‘16

Brittany Boyd Basketball | Berkeley ‘11

Despite having played just three full seasons at the University of Washington, Bates was recently voted onto ESPN’s All-Time Collegiate Softball Team. Let’s first start with a Ceres High career that ended with her being named Cal-Hi Sports’ Ms. State Softball after a senior season in which she hit .571 for the Sac-Joaquin Section Div. III champions, and put her name in the state record book for career runs scored (171) and career hits (205). In three-plus seasons at Washington, Bates has a career batting average of .384 with 172 runs and 113 RBIs in 202 games. She’s a two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association First-Team All-American, and a two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. She was named to the US Women’s National Team following her sophomore year in 2018. (And she also played hoops in high school, averaging 18 points as a junior).

Boyd was an absolute force in high school. After getting just half a sophomore season

Chelsea Chenault Swimming | Carondelet-Concord ‘13

Sabrina Ionescu Basketball | Miramonte-Orinda ‘16

It was just weeks before we published our first issue when Chenault burst onto the high

Ionescu is arguably the most popular female basketball player in America. She was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, and her New York Liberty jersey sold out in six hours. Before becoming a household name at Oregon, Ionescu led Miramonte-Orinda to three straight 30-win seasons, three NCS titles and one CIF NorCal Open Div. championship. Her senior year she averaged 28.5 points, 9.7 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 5.5 steals for a 32-1 Matadors team that lost its only game in the state final. In four years at Oregon, Ionescu rewrote the NCAA and Pac-12 record books. She’s the first player in NCAA history (male or female) to reach 2,000 career points, 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career assists. Her 26 career triple-doubles dwarf the previous NCAA record for male or female (12). She won every major national player of the year award as a senior.

school swimming scene with four NCS titles and record swims in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle — as a freshman. Her senior times in those events remain the current records.

She graduated with her name on five NCS records; she is also part of the current 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay top marks. She claimed 12 NCS titles with the Cougars and helped set two national relay records. She competed for Team USA and won FINA World Championship golds in 2013 and 2017 as a member of the 800 freestyle relay team. At USC she set the Trojans’ 200 freestyle record as a junior. She also won two Pac12 titles and an NCAA title.

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with Berkeley due to transfer rules, she spent her junior and senior seasons leading the Yellowjackets to a combined 58-6 record and claiming two North Coast Section titles and a CIF NorCal title. She averaged 15.7 points, 6.7 steals, 6.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists as a senior. She stayed in Berkeley and attended Cal where she was named to the AllPac-12 team and All-Pac-12 Defensive team three times each. She became the conference’s first player to reach career totals of 1,400 points, 700 rebounds, 600 assists and 300 steals. She’s had a five-year WNBA career with the New York Liberty after being selected ninth overall in the 2015 draft.

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Haley Jones Basketball | Archbishop Mitty-SJ ‘19

Taylor Nelson Volleyball | Granite Bay ‘14

Not only was Jones the first female to finish No. 1 in SportStars’ annual list of the Bay Area’s top 75 athletes, she did it back-to-back. Upon Ionescu’s graduation, Jones immediately took on the mantle of the Bay’s best player. In four years, she led Mitty to 105 wins, four Central Coast Section titles and one CIF NorCal Open title. She was considered the nation’s No. 1 recruit by her junior season and graduated as Mitty’s all-time leading scorer (2,127 points). Her senior year was her most dominant, as she averaged 26.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.7 steals. She earned her second Gatorade State Player of the Year honor, and was also named USAToday’s California State Player of the Year and Cal-Hi Sports’ Girls Athlete of the Year. Despite playing just 18 games in an injury-shortened first season at Stanford, Jones earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors three times.

Her four-year varsity career was great, but Nelson would have gained consideration for

Fiona O’Keeffe Cross Country/Track & Field | Davis ‘16

Lindsay Rood Softball/Soccer | Monte Vista-Danville ‘16

this list based on her senior season alone. She had 46 assists in a four-set state finals victory (to complete a 45-0 season) and finished 2013 with 996 assists, 192 kills, 135 digs and 90 aces. She was named PrepVolleyball.com’s National Player of the Year, CalHiSports.com’s Ms. State Volleyball and Gatorade’s State Player of the Year. Nelson attended Cal Poly where she closed her four-year career as the 2017 Big West Conference Player of the Year. Her 4,280 career assists for the Mustangs rank second on the program’s all-time list. Her 1,196 assists in 2017 rank ninth. Nelson spent 2019 playing

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professionally in Germany.

There was no distance runner more dominant over the magazine’s first 10 years. When we create our Big 10 lists for cross country and track & field, O’Keeffe will have a strong case to appear on both. Cross country is a no-brainer. O’Keeffe won two Div. I titles and never finished worse than eighth in four CIF State Cross Country Championship meets.

In track and field, O’Keeffe won a CIF state title in the 3,200 meters as a senior. She also had a runner-up finish as a junior. One month after graduating from Davis, she obliterated the meet record while winning the 5,000 meters at the U.S. Junior Nationals. She’s already a six-time All-American in three seasons at Stanford, and is coming off a junior season in which she won the Pac-12 Cross Country championship and was the conference’s Female Athlete of the Year in the sport.

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Rood makes this list as its one true two-sport star. She was a four-year varsity player in both softball and soccer at Monte Vista. While softball was her “primary” sport, she could’ve easily gained a Div. I scholarship for soccer as well. She netted 37 goals and added 16 assists over 74 games for the Mustangs. She tied for the team lead in goals as a senior, and was second on the team as a junior when Monte Vista won an NCS title and closed the year ranked No. 1 in the nation by StudentSports.com. She ended her Mustangs softball career by hitting .529 with 17 extra-base hits and 19 RBI. She went on to become a four-time All-Pac12 selection for Cal with a career batting average of .361 after 710 at bats. Her 50 career doubles are the most in Cal history, and her 189 runs and 96 stolen bases both rank second.

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Maggie Steffens Water Polo | Monte Vista-Danville ‘11

Sasha Wallace Track & Field | Castro Valley ‘13

The very first girls athlete we ever honored, Steffens was our East Bay Fall Female Athlete of the Year. She was on the cover of issue #10 in 2010. About a year and a half later, everything stopped in the SportStars offices when the U.S. Women’s Water Polo team took the pool during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Steffens powered the team to a gold medal. She tied an Olympic single-game scoring record with seven goals in her first Olympic match.

She scored 21 goals overall, and was named MVP. She was a FINA Women’s Water Polo Player of the Year before even enrolling in college. She did it all again in 2016, leading the U.S. to Olympic gold in Rio and again winning tourney MVP after 17 goals on just 24 shots. Her Stanford career ended with a game-winning goal in the 2017 NCAA Championship. Her 229 career goals rank third in both Stanford and conference history.

Wallace was a hurdles and field event double-threat during three year at Holy Names High in Oakland and then her senior year at Castro Valley. That senior year with the Trojans she won double-gold at the CIF State Track & Field Championship meet for the second straight year. She defended her state titles in the 100-meter hurdles and the triple jump, becoming the first East Bay girl to ever repeat at state in the same two events. She also repeated as the State Girls Track & Field Gatorade Athlete of the Year. Her four-year Oregon career was just as impressive, capped with an NCAA indoor championship in the 60-meter hurdles. At the Pac-12 Championship from 2014-16, the nine-time AllAmerican never finished worse than second in the 100 meter hurdles (one title) or worse than third in the triple jump (one title).

Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically, pictured alphabetically starting at upper left))

Elena Bruckner Valley Christian-San Jose, Track & Field + Volleyball/Texas Track & Field Aquira DeCosta St. Mary’s-Stockton/Baylor, Basketball Alexa Edwards St. Francis-Sacramento Volleyball Kate Formico Archbishop Mitty-San Jose/ Stanford, Volleyball Johanna Grauer Amador Valley-Pleasanton/ UCLA, Softball Jazmyn Jackson Archbishop Mitty/Cal, Softball Nicole May Foothill-Pleasanton, Softball Milan Moses Dublin Basketball/Pleasanton Rage Soccer/Univ. of San Diego, Soccer Briana Perez Alhambra-Martinez/UCLA, Softball Jurnee Woodward Vacaville/LSU, Track & Field Follow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

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T

he coronavirus-driven cancellation of the CIF State Basketball Championships in March ended a personal streak of 18 straight years of covering the event.

Having gained the boys basketball beat early on in my newspaper career, the two-day state hoops spectacle is easily my most-attended CIF title event over the years. I’ve got some truly great memories of covering state champion basketball teams for SportStars, but none that top the two days at Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion for the 2015 state finals.

There were a number of different factors that contributed to making that weekend on the Cal campus so special.

It started with the venue. Due to a scheduling conflict, CIF was unable to book the event’s semi-permanent home of Arco/Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. Haas Pavilion won the bid and the state championships returned to the Bay Area for the first time in 20 years — and the crowds reflected a community thrilled to have the games back on its home turf. Boy did the 24 teams put on a show for those crowds.

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Seven of the 12 games were decided by single-digit margins, five were decided by four points or less. Four of the games needed overtime; three of them needed TWO overtimes.

There were six first-time state champions — including the San Ramon Valley-Danville boys and McClatchy-Sacramento girls — and five other schools who played in their first state final.

Finally there were the two Open Division games, both won by NorCal teams (for the first and only time to date). Both games featured the state’s top two ranked teams. The St. Mary’s-Stockton girls won the program’s first Open title and seventh state crown overall. Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland boys defeated Mater Dei-Santa 65-64 after McDonald’s All-American Ivan Rabb sank a game-winning free throw with 0.8 seconds left in OT. So many close games and great stories, topped by a future NBA talent clinching a state title in his final prep game on what would be his collegiate home court. It was all too good.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Future NCAA phenom and WNBA No. 1 overall pick, basketball star Sabrina Ionescu is mobbed by the Miramonte-Orinda student body after leading the Matadors to an NCS championship; Members of the Modesto Christian girls soccer team celebrate a goal against Capital ChristianSacramento; Antoine Custer smiles on the De La Salle campus after the two-way standout was honored as SportStars’ 2015 Fall Male Athlete of the Year.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The Pittsburg High Marching Show Band yucks it up in the stands on a Friday night; Members of the Monte Vista-Danville volleyball team erupt in celebration after winning a point during a highly-charged match at cross-town rival San Ramon Valley; Albany’s Claire Chuang returns a shot during an NCS Doubles match as partner, sister Allie, waits in the background.

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VOL. 6. ISSUE 107 OCTOBER 2015 NORCAL

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F

ootball is obviously the primary sport we cover and the highest profile sport in high school athletics. However, memorable and decorated athletes come from many of the sports that are overlooked sometimes.

Davis cross country star Fiona O’Keeffe burst onto the scene as a freshman and won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Masters title before winning the CIF State Division I championship as both a sophomore and junior. In the fall of 2015 — while she was preparing to run for a third state title that would eventually be denied primarily by injuries — I had the opportunity to meet Fiona, younger sister Olivia, mother Liv, and the family dog at one of her favorite training grounds.

As she ran effortlessly with the sun setting behind her, I was impressed by the calmness she seemed to draw from running. It was a calmness and ease that translated to her character.

While she missed out on a state three-peat that fall, she still closed her high school career with state gold six months later. She won the 3200 meter final at the CIF State Track and Field Championships by more than 10 seconds.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Folsom High siblings, from left, Max, Mason and McKenzie Forbes grew up as students of the game thanks to their dad, Sterling Forbes — a former Harlem Globetrotter; Players sprint from the Serra-San Mateo bench after the Padres clinched the 2016 CIF Div. II state title; Carondelet-Concord’s Madeline Duncan gets her mind right as she readies to take a penalty kick.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Antioch boys volleyball players, from left, Jake Perkey, Josh Johnson and Ramon Mayorga give a lift to teammate Jordan La Bier; Pittsburg High running back Montaz Thompson gets his gear on before an October 2016 cover shoot; Salesian-Richmond point guard James Akinjo gets creative during a preseason photo shoot.

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TOP TO BOTTOM: Freedom-Oakley softball’s Shannon Coston belts out a triumphant yell among her teammates following their emotional NCS Div. I championship victory; Devin Spencer (11) celebrates a goal with his Monte Vista-Danville teammates during the 2016 NCS Div. I final.

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his is officially Issue #182 of SportStars, but counting regional editions and our SportStars Digital Weekly issues, we’ve produced more than 300 covers in these first 10 years.

My favorite by far was the Bay Area cover of #121, our 2016 Football Preview featuring Antioch High’s Najee Harris. Najee, who will begin his senior year at Alabama this fall, was then a senior for the Panthers — and the No. 1-ranked recruit in the country. Period. While we’d covered his first two standout varsity seasons, this was the first time we’d be giving him the full-cover feature treatment.

The cover that came out of that photo shoot, wasn’t necessarily what photographer Phil Walton and I went in expecting to get. We were set to meet Najee outside of the Antioch High locker room around 10 a.m. on a morning that was already teetering toward a blistering hot day in late July. He lived near campus and had walked, but had forgotten to bring a ball and some of his other equipment. I offered to drive him back to his apartment to grab them, and by the time we got back to campus the heat had fully arrived.

We wanted to photograph Harris looking as though he was ripping apart an old football that we’d pre-cut near the seams. He couldn’t rip it all the way though, because it was the only prop we had. So each time, he had to act out the aggression as if he was tearing it for the first time. It wasn’t exactly easy for him, but he kept doing it — smiling through it all. After countless pictures of fake-ripping, Phil asked Najee a question: “How much do you care about that t-shirt? Would you be willing to rip it, Hulk-style?”

“Sure,” Najee said. “Let’s do it.”

He only had one shirt, so we had to get the shot on the first try. Najee and Phil nailed it. We knew we had our cover.

We then walked to the football field where Harris gave us another hour of his time taking photos in his uniform. Great kid. Great shoot. Great cover. The last of which SportStars designer Mike DeCicco deserves credit for.

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For three weeks in May, SportStars asked fans to determine their favorite cover of the first decade. they couldn’t choose just one

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maria Kelley remembers her excitement when Cosumnes Oaks High volleyball coaches told her and her teammates that a magazine was coming to practice for a cover shoot.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, this is dope.’ I was really excited.”

Her 2018 cover came with the headline ‘Power Pack’ — which would also be a great name for the mass of supporters who voted for the cover. Kelley’s cover started as one of four No. 2 seeds in a field of 32 of our favorite covers, and after more than 380,000 votes across three weeks, she was one of two co-champions. And though she shares the title, she can lay claim to the fans’ favorite Sac-Joaquin Edition cover, and their favorite cover featuring a female athlete.

The CoverMadness event was a perfect distraction for Kelley’s competitive drive as she was stuck at home in Elk Grove waiting for a chance to play volleyball again. She’s holding out hope her sophomore season at Fresno State will be able to take place.

“I thought it was cool, initially, but after I got past the first round I started telling myself, ‘I want to win this thing,’” Kelley said. “By the time we got to the semifinals and the unlimited voting, I was passing that link out to everyone I knew.”

The cover photo was shot by David Gershon — in his first assignment for the magazine. The photos were to be used with Steven Wilson’s feature on the Wolf Pack that was highlighting our girls volleyball season preview package. Cosumnes Oaks was an SJS favorite that year, led by hitters Amaria Kelley and Dalia Mays, along with their setter Haley Burdo.

Kelley, who ended up on the cover, remembers the photo shoot following a particularly grueling practice.

“We had a very rough practice,” Kelley said. “When Dave arrived at the end of practice, I was like ‘Oh, I’ve got to hit another 20 balls and make sure we get the shot.’ I was just hoping he’d get a good shot in the first 10 frames because I was dead.”

Cosumnes Oaks coach Lisa Fowkes was extra accommodating to Gershon, letting him take Kelley, Mays and Burdo into a separate gym for the shoot. With no one to distract them, Gershon was able to get the best of all three girls, despite their fatigue.

“Amaria was very outgoing,” Gershon recalled. “She enjoyed the shoot and was very willing to work with me to get a great image. You could see the great connection between the girls from the start. They were very relaxed, which made them easy to shoot.”

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ackson Pavitt was initially excited to see his 2019 SportStars cover show up as one of our 32 favorite covers entered into the CoverMadness tournament.

Maybe not quite as excited as his parents, though.

“At first it was kind of relaxed, and then I started getting spammed by both my parents telling me I needed to get this link out now,” Pavitt laughed. “Once I started trying, I figured I should really try to win the thing. When the (finals) vote passed 100,000, I was shocked. It was pretty cool.”

After a three-week competition that garnered more than 380,000 votes, Pavitt’s cover was one of two co-champions.

Though the photo was taken in September 2018, it didn’t land on our cover until June 2019 when it graced the front of our Yearbook Special Edition. While it technically shares the CoverMadness title, this cover can stand as the fans’ favorite Bay Area Edition cover, and their favorite cover featuring a male athlete.

The photo was taken by Ike Dodson on Sept. 24, 2018, as Cardinal Newman hosted Sutter. SportStars assigned Dodson and videographer Derek Nguyen to attend the game — which was Newman’s first on its campus since the Tubbs Fire destroyed portions of the school while ravaging the Santa Rosa community.

“It was really important to us to capture the emotions of that game,” Dodson recalled.

“You could see in the faces of the players that it was important to them to be there” Pavitt remembers it as the game where he began to truly feel comfortable at quarterback.

“It was just my second varsity start and I remember Sutter was a very good team,” Pavitt said just days away from moving to San Luis Obispo to begin his first voluntary workouts with Cal Poly. “It was a tough, physical game and I think a point where I decided that there was a level of toughness that I needed to play with — being tougher, running harder and finishing runs.”

The cover image captured some of that physicality and toughness. Pavitt recalls the play as a QB sneak initially called to the right. After that path got stuffed, he darted back to the left side and felt a Sutter lineman grab his leg, leading him to dive forward.

And the conditions were ripe for the shot.

“I was trying to get a unique angle at the far end of the field,” Dodson said. “I was lucky there was still enough daylight too, because when night falls that part of the field can be a lot darker than the rest. That Herculean-like diving effort was really emblematic of the whole emotion of that game.”

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Vacaville hurdler and future SEC standout at LSU, June Woodward sits in the starting blocks during a 2017 spring cover shoot; Del Campo-Fair Oaks softball pitcher Brooke Larsen shares a laugh with teammates; SportStars’ 2017 NorCal Defensive Player of the Year, Monte Vista-Danville’s Nate Landman, adds some teammates and a few props to his photo session.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Bear River-Grass Valley student and world-class archer, Abby Weir, notches an arrow; Inderkum-Sacramento receiver Isaah Crocker breaks into laughter; Lincoln-Stockton golfer Madeline Zunino follows the path of her shot during the 2017 CIF NorCal Championship Tournament; Then just a sophomore, St. Francis-Sacramento volleyball star Alexa Edwards showcases the thunderous right arm that would lead her to become her school’s leader in career kills; Grant-Sacramento’s Wesley Jones showcases his hang time during a preseason photo shoot.

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ometimes the most memorable sports moments don’t happen during the game itself.

Knowing that the Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa girls basketball team was playing for a championship at the 2017 West Coast Jamboree, I knew my SportStars assignment would be an emotional one. The Cardinals were playing in the prestigious WCJ just two months after the Tubbs Fire destroyed much of their campus and ravaged nearly 37,000 acres in Northern California.

After the Cardinals lost to Dimond of Anchorage, Alaska in the Diamond Division finals, neither I nor anyone else in the College Park gymnasium were prepared for the raw emotion as Cardinal Newman senior guard Maiya Flores was announced as winner of the Jim Capoot Memorial Award. We heard that not only did she lose her campus, but her home was lost in the fire. The special award is named for the former Vallejo High girls basketball coach and Vallejo Police Department officer killed in the line of duty in 2011. The public address announcer’s voice understandably cracked with emotion.

Truly there was not a dry eye in the house.

As players were departing, Flores graciously granted me a one-on-one interview. I was struck by her composure and personal strength as she discussed what she and her classmates had been through.

As reporters, the inspiration we derive from athletes explaining how they have overcome adversity is priceless.

For me, this little awards ceremony provided one of the most poignant, moving moments in my three decades of covering high school sports.

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SAC-JOAQUIN EDITION JUNE 2018 VOL. 9 ISSUE 149

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hooting prep sports has always been a thrill for me, and SportStars has allowed a way for that enthusiasm for athletics to be captured in images that represent the greatest teams/athletes/stories throughout Northern California.

My photography journey with SportStars started with photos from the 2017-18 wrestling season, and continued in the spring with softball features and playoff games. Then I captured images of two-way Turlock football star Gabriel Cordero, who was the 45th Lions All-Star Football Classic Defensive MVP on June 16, 2018 at Tracy High School. Cordero went on to join the Marines instead of pursuing a career at the next level.

I’ve had my photos appear on at least 10 different SportStars Magazine covers, including the image of Jackson Pavitt of Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa that was named a First Decade SportStars Cover Co-Champion. The full version of that photo is remarkably different from the cool crop used for the cover. I’ve had some portraits land on covers (like basketball star Jzaniya Harriel of Antelope), but I am a much bigger fan of the “candid portrait” which captures an authentic moment but can still achieve the same appeal — like the cover shot of Placer-Auburn football star Joey Capra. My first cover photo was of Sierra-Manteca softballer Lindsey Walljasper in June 2018.

I think my favorite cover photo is probably the Pavitt pic. It’s hard to argue with the voters. I would say my favorite all-time photo for SportStars was a shot of Elk Grove wrestler Kendall Frank, who won a big upset just a few minutes after learning his uncle had died. His emotion in that match, captured in a single frame, was really powerful. It was later the cover photo for the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters wrestling program.

I have really enjoyed shooting photos for SportStars and I look forward to getting back out there when the prep seasons get back in action.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Dawson Hurst team surfs as the Del Oro-Loomis football team celebrates its CIF Northern Regional Bowl victory over St. Francis-Mountain View; FoothillPleasanton softball’s power quartet, from left, Hope Alley, Nicole May, Courtney Beaudin and Hailey Hayes, during a preseason shoot; Capital Christian-Sacramento two-way football standout D’Marcus Ross isn’t shy about letting Grant-Sacramento fans who’s No. 1.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland

state-champion sprinter Tierra Robinson-Jones turns a corner during the Sacramento Meet of Champions; Twin sisters Maddy and Elena Denner from Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills congratulate SJS Masters 3200 Meters champion Olivia O’Keeffe from Davis High; The Folsom Bulldogs football team takes the field for a midseason clash.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Bella Vista-Fair Oaks softball’s Anna Lair catches some air as she slides into home in a game against Bear River-Grass Valley; Inderkum-Sacramento defensive back Jojo Mills celebrates a key stop; Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa soccer’s Keely Roy reacts to her CIF NorCal Div. III Championship-winning golden goal against Bradshaw Christian-Sacramento; Players from West Campus-Sacramento burst with excitement following their state championship win.

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ive weeks, three games, a combined five points to crown winning teams in the waning seconds of the playoffs—how could it get better?

The 2018 high school football postseason stands out to me as the most memorable experience covering sports in my career. To this day, I’m thankful SportStars picked three games for me to cover starting Nov. 9 and running through the first week of December. Each contest was decided by one score, beginning with a Hail Mary touchdown pass with 29 seconds left from St. Mary’s-Stockton quarterback Noah May to beat Sheldon-Sacramento, 30-29, in the opening round of the Div. I section playoffs in Stockton.

Two weeks later, Central Catholic-Modesto clung to a touchdown lead in the waning minutes and forced two fourth quarter turnovers — including an interception in the end zone — to beat Inderkum-Sacramento 31-30 and advance to the Div. II semifinals. The third game also came down to the final minute of regulation as CapiFollow Us On Twitter & Instagram, Like Us On Facebook!

2018 GRIDIRON GOODNESS Nov. 9, CIF-SJS Div. I playoff opener – St. Mary’s def. Sheldon, 30-29 Nov. 23, CIF-SJS Div. II playoff semifinals – Central Catholic def. Inderkum, 31-30 Dec. 1, CIF-SJS Div. III title game – Capital Christian def. Placer, 25-22 Bonus: Dec. 14, Div. I-AA CIF State Championship Bowl Game – Folsom def.

Cathedral Catholic-San Diego, 21-14 OT

tal Christian-Sacramento overcame a 22-14 deficit in less than four minutes to beat previously unbeaten Placer-Auburn in the Div. III final.

The Hillmen won 25-22 on a game-winning field goal from Kenyon Bowyer. To top it off, I covered Folsom’s overtime victory in the Div. I-AA CIF State Championship Bowl Game at Cerritos College in mid-December, making that four one-score games in a single postseason—that’s lucky.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Center-Antelope dualthreat quarterback Michael Wortham sets his eyes downfield during pregame warmups; Granite Bay golfing freshman phenom Ellie Bushnell, photographed in a midseason match approximately a month before she won the CIF NorCal Championship Tournament; De La Salle-Concord pitcher Kyle Harrison fires a pitch toward the camera during a 2019 midseason photo shoot. On June 11, 2020, he became the third round draft pick of the S.F. Giants.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Del OroLoomis distance star Riley Chamberlain competes in a midseason race prior to winning her second CIF state cross country title in as many years; Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland girls volleyball trio, from left, Anabella Pirotta, Alexandria Hoglund and Michelle Ohwobete, pose during a preseason shoot; Alyssa Guillen is all smiles while competing for Woodcreek-Roseville’s cheer stunt team.

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have been shooting for SportStars Magazine over the last couple of years. My favorite athlete to shoot was Cooper Hjerpe, the left-handed pitching ace of Woodland High. I photographed Hjerpe in the spring of March 2019 for Steven Wilson’s article “Fastballs for Felix.” My favorite image from this story was the one used in the story’s opening spread.

I enjoy shooting all sports, and I am particularly fond of shooting baseball. Baseball is the one sport my father and I shared. It gave us common ground for us to have a great relationship. My dad was from Chicago and a huge Cubs fan. Even though the Cubs never won the NL Pennant, he never gave up on his lifelong team.

At the end of every season, he would say, “Wait until next year, the Cubbies will take the pennant.” His pure enjoyment of the game carries over into my photography.

In all of my sports photography, I try to capture the emotion of the athlete. I was fortunate enough to spend time with Cooper Hjerpe shooting individual pictures in the workout room.

This well-grounded young man shared with me his passion for the game and desire to play at the next level. He’s a pitcher with great ball movement, velocity and control.

I wanted to get a shot of him pitching and capture his focus and throwing intensity while he was in mid-windup. He had a three-quarter arm slot and had some twist to his upper body with a very smooth delivery. I had an image in mind, and knew the time to capture it was during the scrimmage. I had to set up in the visitor’s dugout about 15 feet down the foul line and shoot just above the dugout fence. I was very happy with the results and knew it would go well with Wilson’s story on Cooper.

Hjerpe dominated his opponents during his senior year. As a freshman pitcher at Oregon State — in a virus-shortened season — he had great stats. In 12 innings of relief work, he went 3-4 with 16 strikeouts. He commented on getting accustomed to playing in front of 15,000 fans in his games against Mississippi State. I look forward to seeing how the rest of his career unfolds.

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TOP TO BOTTOM: Andrew Hill-San Jose senior Laronn Chapman celebrates a TD during the Junior Prep Sports Patriot Bowl All-Star Game; Lincoln’s Jacob Lemus slides safely into home plate during a game against OakmontRoseville.

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he beauty of contributing feature stories to SportStars is the kind of ambition it inspires.

While other publications may be chasing shorter-form storytelling, quick updates and scores, SportStars allows for in-depth journalism that tackles the real inspiring people who make prep sports so fun to watch.

My favorite story may have been about Afghanistan native and Valley-Sacramento wrestler Salahdin Farukh, who was dangerously close to a suicide bombing shortly before his father moved the family to the United States. I enjoyed pursuing the story of the family journey and his father’s courage to aid the U.S. Army during the war in Afghanistan, which ultimately landed the Farukhs in Sacramento.

Wrestling as a whole has been a thrill to cover for SportStars. Not many publications cover wrestling, and some significant publications downright ignore it. The sport has a dedicated fan base that puts eyeballs on content, and I am proud to help SportStars become one of the major players in California prep wrestling coverage.

I also like to diversify my writing, so whether it’s football, stunt cheer or golf, I am always down to chase a good story.

Sometimes the ledes write themselves.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: CampolindoMoraga junior Emmanuel Callas works on his game in his driveway in mid-April after schools had been closed down due to the corona virus outbreak; St. Patrick-St. VincentValley hoops standout Tameiya Sadler takes a seat at a small table outside a classroom on the SPSV campus; Vista del Lago-Folsom infielder Aliana Avila backhands a throw during a preseason practice.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Vacaville’s Isaiah Medina, left, and Oakdale’s Michael Torres battle during the SJS Masters Wrestling Tournament; Gilroy wrestler Chase Saldate gets a giant hug from coach Daniel Cormier after winning the 152-pound state title; A Roseville High softball player lays down a perfect drag bunt in an early-March win over WoodcreekRoseville.

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