Sportstars
Promise Fulfilled | Seniors Lead Whitney Soccer To NorCal Title
A Talented 2022 Class Delivered On Long-Awaited Expectations In Leading Whitney Soccer To A CIF Div. I Crown, Cementing The Program Among Region’s Elite • When Joel Williams took over as the Whitney soccer coach, his vision was to help elevate the varsity boys to become one of the... Read more
Ice Surprise | Ellie Kleinheinz Slides Into Success
A Little More Than Two Years Ago, Ellie Kleinheinz Didn’t Even Know What Luge Was —  This Week, The Archbishop Mitty Freshman Will Be Competing To Win Her Second Youth National Title Ellie Kleinheinz picks up the red sled — the one with famous Disney Pixar character Lightning McQueen’s... Read more
NorCal Baseball 2022 | Players To Watch
We’ve Listed More Than 100 Names Of Guys We Expect To Be Impact Players Throughout The 2022 Season Of NorCal Baseball • PICTURED ABOVE: Valley Christian-San Jose pitcher, Jacob Hudson (Chace Bryson photo) As we prepared for our NorCal Baseball and Softball preview coverage to be included in our... Read more
California Love | Bronzini, Cal High Baseball Step Into Spotlight
With LSU-Bound Ace Nic Bronzini Leading The Way, NorCal-Ranked Cal High Baseball Is Ready To Finally Get A Postseason Shot • PICTURED ABOVE: California Ace Hurler, Nic Bonzini. (Chace Bryson photos) California High senior pitcher Nic Bronzini is a massive presence. The hard-throwing southpaw stands 6-foot-3. He struck out... Read more
SportStars’ Season-Opening NorCal Baseball Top 20
De La Salle And Its Arsenal Of Pitching Talent Opens Atop Our First NorCal Baseball Top 20 Rankings Of The 2022 Season • PICTURED ABOVE: No. 1 De La Salle (Jean-Paul Toshiro photo) 1. DE LA SALLE-CONCORD (20-4 in 2021) Good pitching beats good hitting and the Spartans have... Read more
Proving Perfection | Heritage Softball Opens ’22 Ready To Roll
A Team Shouldn’t Need To Prove Itself After Any Undefeated Season, But Heritage Softball Is Ready To Take NorCal’s Best Shot PICTURED ABOVE: Seniors Tianna Bell, Right, And Kasey Aguinaga Heritage Softball made it look easy in 2021.  In a 25-0 season, the Patriots played just two one-run games.... Read more
SportStars’ Season-Opening NorCal Softball Top 20
Led By A Pair Of Undefeated Teams From 2021, The Season-Opening NorCal Softball Top 20 Suggests A Riveting Three Months Ahead Of Us • PICTURED ABOVE: No. 1 St. Francis-Mountain View from March 2020. (SFHS Athletics photo) 1. ST. FRANCIS-MOUNTAIN VIEW (26-0 in 2021) It’s Jessica Oakland’s world and... Read more
Laguna Creek Wrestling | Reversal Of Fortune
How Elk Grove’s Laguna Creek High Suddenly Became A Sac-Joaquin Section Wrestling Stalwart With Three CIF State Wrestling Qualifiers •  This story will also appear in the March 2022 PDF edition out Feb. 24. Until 2022, Laguna Creek High of Elk Grove was to wrestling what socks are to... Read more
Chase-ing Perfection | NorCal Section Wrestling Championships Review
Undefeated Champion, Record-Setting Tournaments Highlight Section Wrestling Championships Weekend As NorCal’s Finest Set Sights On Bakersfield And The CIF State Championships • PICTURED ABOVE: Oakdale’s Michael Torres celebrates his 126-pound Masters title. (Ike Dodson photos) Chase Nutting’s championship mullet had to be styled with performance-enhancing substances Friday and Saturday at... Read more
Grinders In Green | Moreau Catholic Basketball Outlasts Liberty
Hostile Crowd, Lots Of Fouls, And A Very Good Liberty Team Couldn’t Keep Moreau Catholic From Advancing To The NCS Div. I Semis • Moreau Catholic basketball coach Frank Knight stood outside of the visitors locker room on a brisk February evening at Liberty High in Brentwood.  Fifteen minutes... Read more
All Gas, No Brakes | Ponderosa Basketball Revs Up For Act II
As The Playoffs Arrive, The State’s Last Remaining Unbeaten Div. II Team Is Ready To Prove The Last Three Months Were No Fluke • There was always an end game. And the Ponderosa basketball team’s seniors have reached it.  The high school’s 2022 class of hoopers have had high... Read more
Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Wrestling Championships Preview
FORMULA FOR SUCCESS: Ike Dodson Delivers A Weight-By-Weight Breakdown Of The SJS Masters Wrestling Championships That Begin Friday Below is the most comprehensive Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Wrestling Championships Preview you will ever read — mostly because we are the only ones crazy enough about wrestling to write one. With... Read more