Sportstars
Pride & Perseverance | Salesian Girls Basketball Takes Winding Road To Glory
Behind A Strength-In-Numbers Approach, Salesian Girls Basketball Navigated A Frustrating And Demanding Season To Win The Program’s First State Title • PICTURED ABOVE: Salesian senior Kaylie Edge. (David Gershon photos) The morning after winning his first state championship in four tries, Salesian High girls basketball coach Steve Pezzola was... Read more
Fitting Finish | Elk Grove Basketball Makes History
With A Talented And Ambitious Core Of Seniors Leading The Way, Elk Grove Basketball Claimed Its First State Title • There was really no other way for the Elk Grove basketball season to end. The Thundering Herd celebrating the program’s first-ever CIF State Basketball Championship on the Golden1 Center... Read more
Final NorCal Boys Basketball Rankings | 2021-22
Modesto Christian’s 30-Win Season, Regional Open Title Secure Crusaders The Top Spot In Our Final NorCal Boys Basketball Rankings • PICTURED ABOVE: Div. II State Champions, No. 12 Elk Grove . (David Gershon photo) Final NorCal Boys Basketball Rankings. Previous rank in parenthesis 1. (1) Modesto Christian (30-6) Crusaders... Read more
Ike’s Ironmen/Ironwomen | All-NorCal Wrestlers 2022
Oakdale’s Ceasar Garza, Whitney’s Leah Brown Lead The Way As 20 Different Programs Are Represented In SportStars’ Fourth Annual All-NorCal Wrestling Honors • PICTURED ABOVE: Leah Brown of Whitney-Rocklin (Ike Dodson photo) The return of wrestling was a resounding success for many of the grapplers represented by SportStars’ NorCal... Read more
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