Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 5-28-20 E-edition

Cortez, Haney are RHS Athletes of the Year
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
A pair of multi-sports letter win- ners for four years — Danny Cortez and Madison Haney — were an- nounced as Reedley High School’s Male and Female Athlete of the Year during a virtual ceremony broadcast on May 21.
The ceremony was recorded and broadcast as a lifestream on the high school’s athletics page.
Cortez and Haney each earned seven varsity letters, four each in basketball dating back to their freshman seasons. Cortez also came within one vote of winning the North Yosemite League offensive player of the year in football (he was a first- team selection) while Haney also starred for the Pirates’ three-time NYL champion volleyball teams.
Cortez was chosen for RHS Ath- lete of the Year among four final- ists — the others included Matthew Jarrett (cross country, track), Phillip Rico (soccer) and Augie Villarreal (basketball, tennis).
Darren Minami, RHS athletic di- rector, quoted football coach Tony Gates about how Cortez immediate- ly displayed his leadership during offseason weight training. In 2019, Cortez rushed for 704 yards and 10 touchdowns while helping lead the Pirates to a 6-5 season and a berth in the Central Section Division 5 play- offs.
Pirates basketball coach Chris Freeman called Cortez a “natural- born leader” who motivated each player to prepare for games and be mentally locked in. Lettering for
four years, he was part of a core that led the team to a postseason playoff berth.
Haney emerged from a talented pool of five finalists — Abby Delport (water polo, basketball and swim- ming), Meghan Hansen (golf and badminton), Ximena Ramos (cross country and track) and Trinity Toews (track and field, soccer) — to capture the Female Athlete of the Year hon- ors.
Haney reached the 1,000 point career mark in her final varsity bas- ketball game, as the Pirates reached the section quarterfinals. She also had career totals of 500-plus re- bounds, 100-plus assists and steals and 50-plus blocks.
“Madison is kind, courteous, con- siderate, encouraging, hard-working, disciplined, competitive, and most importantly a really good person,” Minami said in reading a quote from basketball coach Matt Wilkinson. Volleyball coach Ken Tatami praised Haney’s passion for the game as one of her strongest traits.
Also receiving special recogni- tion was Delport, who received the Green Pin (I-Pass) award in honor of former RHS athletic director Larry Iwasaki. The award goes to an athlete who played a fall, winter and spring sport for all four years. Delport won 11 varsity letters.
Delport and Augie Villarreal also were honored as CIF Central Sec- tion Scholar Athletes for 2019-2020. Villarreal finished as the Pirates third-leading career scorer with 1,141 points, and had a career-best 48 points in one game and averaged 22 points his senior season.
During the video program, each varsity coach announced their MVP for their respective season. Here were the winners:
FALL
Danny Cortez football; Hunter Shamp, boys water polo; Morgan Gates, girls water polo; Jasmine Gar- cia, girls cross country; Matthew Jar- rett, boys cross country; Rylee Kubo, girls volleyball; Victoria Jaime, girls tennis; Meghan Hansen, girls golf.
WINTER
Miah Paz, girls basketball; Leo Hernandez, boys basketball; Esther Villa, girls wrestling; Phillip Arroyo, boys wrestling; Phillip Rico, boys soc- cer; Celeste Castillo, girls soccer.
SPRING
Adrian Figueroa, boys swimming; Morgan Gates, girls swimming; Christian Cortez, diving; Jyun-Cyuan Chu, boys golf; Trinity Toews, girls track and field; Devin Decker, boys track and field; Caleb Barker, boys tennis; Jocelyn Diaz, softball; Will Gagnon, baseball; Rylee Kubo, bad- minton; Simon Lopez, boys volleyball.
Among coaches, Tony Gates was awarded Male Sports Coach of the Year for football while Phil Marquez was honored as Female Sports Coach of the Year. Marquez has guided the Pirates to eight consecutive NYL championships, all with undefeated records.
Victor Madrigal, longtime RHS equipment manager who is retir- ing after 35 years, received the Paul Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award. Mark Givens, longtime PA voice of the Pirates, served as master of ceremonies for the program.
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
Photos by Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Danny Cortez, left, pre- pared to straight-arm Sanger High’s John Pena in a 2019 game. Cortez was recently named Reedley High School's Male Athlete of the Year.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Eight Apaches receive athletic scholarships to four-year universities
Madison Haney signaled with a smile after a point in a 2019 vol- leyball match. Haney was named the Female Athlete of the Year for Reedley High School.
MVT Staff Report
Eight Sanger High School athletes will be moving on to play at the next level after receiv- ing athletic scholarships at four-year universities. The eight Apaches were honored on May 19 as they each signed their letters of intent.
“Scholarships offered to these students are a tribute to the many hours of hard work that these se- niors have put in over the years here at Sanger High School in the classroom and on the field,” said Athletic Director Brian Penner.
Topping the list of athletes to receive ath- letic scholarships was Kosi Agina. The Apache senior played a key role in Sanger High School’s football and track and field program. He will be playing football for Fresno State this fall after receiv- ing an athletic scholarship to play for the Bulldogs.
From the Apaches’ Val- ley and Northern Regional State Championship soc- cer team, two players will
be joining forces at UC Merced after both receiv- ing athletic scholarships. Freddy Bautista and Luis Villegas will both be play- ing for the Bobcats next year on scholarship.
Also receiving athletic scholarships were Sanger High’s Joe Lebeau, who will be competing on Fresno Pacific Univer- sity’s track and field team next year on an academic and athletic scholarship, and Katelyn Estep, who was the Apaches’ only fe- male athlete to receive an athletic scholarship. Estep will continue her softball career at Missouri Valley College.
Sanger High’s Juan Zamora and Alejandro Mendibles will also be competing at Fresno Pa- cific next season after receiving athletic scholar- ships. Zamora will be run- ning cross-country and track while Mendibles will be joining the Sunbirds’ basketball team.
And rounding off the list is Grant Harrison, who received a volleyball scholarship to play at Otta- wa University in Arizona.
MVT Staff Report
The banquet for this year's induction ceremo- ny into Sanger High's Hall of Fame, originally sched- uled for May 2, has been postponed until further notice due to the COV- ID-19 pandemic. To honor them, Mid Valley Times has provided profiles of this year's inductees.
The 1951 first-ever Valley Championship foot- ball team, which helped to fuel Sanger’s long commitment to Apache football, will be the sec- ond team inducted into the Sanger High Athletic hall of fame, said Brian Penner, SHS Athletic Di- rector and chairperson of the hall of fame commit- tee.
Others in the 2020 hall of fame class include aquatics stars Mark Wal- lin and Scott Jett, three-
sports standouts Tony Herron and Staci Mosh- er, wrestler Jaime Garza, track record holder Diana Macias Copeland, Sanger High program contribu- tor Pat Henry, and coach- es Jack Tiftick and Del Beshore.
As Penner noted, the committee worked to emphasize diversity in sports and eras in coming to agreement on these in- ductees. Comingclasses chosen from the grow- ing list of nominees will continue to emphasize athletic renown, contribu- tions to the overall history of Sanger High athletics, and effect on our commu- nity and its traditions and history.
1951 Valley Football Championship Team
The 1951 team won Sanger’s first-ever Val- ley Football champion- ship against Coalinga with a 26-20 victory on
Photo courtesy of Sanger High School
Sanger High's first ever Valley Championship footbal team will be inducted into the Sanger High Athletics Hall of Fame as only the second team to receive the honor. The 1951 team is credited with establishing a long-standing tradition of Apache football.
Sanger High's Kosi Agina was one of eight Apaches to receive athletic scholarships to play at four-year uni- versities. Agina will be joining the football roster for the Fresno State Bulldogs this Fall.
First Apache Valley Championship football team inducted into Sanger High Hall of Fame
a pass from Nick Papac to Gene Green with 20 seconds left in the game. Team member names dot Sanger history, including Hank “Scooter” Vasquez, later inducted into the
Reedley College
Hall of Fame, Dan
Hightower, Gene Green, a member of Sanger High’s first hall of fameclass, No- el Hildebrand, Jim Flem- ing, Ron Olson, and the
others who contributed to the championship that set the standard that still ex- ists today for Apache foot- ball. The team was led by Clare Slaughter, who later went on to Fresno City
College. Coach Slaugh- ter became a member of Sanger High’s first hall of fame class, as did his as- sistant coaches from that year, Dean Nicholson and Lou Papac.