Sportstars
SportStars All-City “V Award 2018” Denner Party
Oak Ridge Senior Maddy Denner Has Established Herself As One Of The State’s Strongest Girls Distance Runners Winning a race often takes more than speed or an ability to quickly cover distances. Strategy, mental preparation, and conditioning are just as essential, if not more important than physical training. Oak... Read more
Franklin Finds A Way
Franklin-Elk Grove Wildcats Survive A Frenzied Final Week Of Delta League Baseball To Emerge With Their First Title Since 2015 •   For the last 19 years, the last remaining team in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section North bracket was from the mighty Delta League. Elk Grove, Jesuit, Davis and... Read more
Masterful Communication Aids Elk Grove High Softball
21st Century Clout Coach Amanda Buck operates her Elk Grove High softball team like a finely-crafted marketing plan. The team mission adjusts pitch-by-pitch to the calls of assistant coach Jake Lively, corresponding with color-coded commands on each player’s arm band. Play is often stalled to discuss strategies with coaches,... Read more
Roseville Runs On Cole
Undaunted By Offseason Knee Surgery Or A Fourth New Coach In As Many Seasons, Jacob Cole Leads Roseville’s Push Toward A Title Defense • Injuries can be devastating for prep athletes, but timing plays a big role in their effect on the prospects of college-bound seniors.  Post-commitment ACL tears,... Read more
Gilroy Makes Ultimate Addition by Hiring Cornmier
Gilroy High Wrestling — NorCal’s Premier Program — Makes A Splash With Hiring Of UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier As Its New Coach • Daniel Cormier: One of the biggest names in combat sports — shortened to just two syllables (“DC”) for fight fans. He’s trading his fame... Read more
Berkeley’s Center of Attention
With Talented Center Fielder Michael Dixon Leading The Charge, Berkeley Baseball Is Turning Heads In 2018 • Story By JAMES G. KANE | Photos By BERRY EVANS III Berkeley High School baseball coach Curtis Sandeford put his chin to his hand and gazed his glance downward. A few seconds... Read more
West Campus Girls Basketball on a Championship Run
West Campus Girls Credit Their Track Coach, Conditioning Program In The Wake Of Winning A Second Consecutive State Championship • West Campus Story by MIKE WOOD | Photos by JAMES K. LEASH You might not expect to hear groans, gasps and cackles from a girls basketball team that just... Read more
Full Speed Ahead
With Eight Wins In Its First 11 Games, Dougherty Valley Baseball Has Already Matched Its 2017 Total — And It’s Not Looking Back • Story by MIKE WOOD | Photos by CHACE BRYSON The Dougherty Valley High-San Ramon baseball team had just completed a loss to Monte Vista-Danville, one... Read more
Coach Brian Dietschy’s Journey To State Finals Started In Elementary School
Thirty Years After After Losing A NorCal Basketball Final As A Las Lomas Player, Brian Dietschy Coached A Serendipitous Knights Team Into The State Finals • Brian Dietschy story by CLAY KALLAM | Photos by JAMES K. LEASH The story starts on San Juan Avenue, a quiet Walnut Creek... Read more
Las Lomas Basketball To Its First State Finals Appearance
A Nine-Point Flurry From Senior Devin Payne Helped Lift Las Lomas To Its First State Finals Appearance • For almost three full quarters, Palo Alto High and Las Lomas Basketball teams played the equivalent of a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football game, grinding out possessions and hoping to score. Then Devin Payne... Read more
Pinewood High Won The NorCal Open Division Title
With A Triple-OT Triumph Over Archbishop Mitty, Pinewood Won The NorCal Open Division Title After Topping The Nation’s No. 5 And No. 1 Teams In The Same Week • A 16-point second-half deficit against the undefeated No. 1 high school girls team in the country — especially against a... Read more
Cynthia Lau Paves Way for Tennis Scholarship Recipients
Tennis Star Cynthia Lau Breaks Down Barriers, Sets Influential Example For Asian Women Women’s History Month, now celebrated annually in the United States, grew out of a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture, history and society organized in 1979 within the Sonoma School District. The idea quickly caught... Read more