Page 9 - Mid Valley Times 4-16-20 E-edition

Thursday, April 16, 2020
Pirates' Villarreal, Delport win NYL Scholar Athlete awards
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Reedley High School’s Augie Villarreal and Ab- by Delport have experi- enced an unprecedented final semester of high school along with their fellow senior classmates because of the worldwide COVID-19 crisis. But the pair also have one mile- stone positive memory this spring, as they were selected by the California Interscholastic Federa- tion Central Section as the North Yosemite League’s male and female Scholar Athlete winners.
Villarreal was a three- year varsity member in basketball and tennis, starring for a Pirates hoops team that went 16-11 and qualified for the Central Section Divi- sion 4 playoffs. Delport, meanwhile, was a vet- eran member of the NYL champion water polo squad and a key contribu- tor for the RHS girls bas- ketball team that reached the Division 4 quarterfi- nals.
Although there will be no section Scholar Athlete banquet, both winners will receive a scholarship of $500 and an acrylic award. Villarreal has an unweighted grade point average of 3.7 while Del- port’s cumulative GPA is 3.75.
“It’s an honor to win this,” Delport said. “It’s flattering that they chose me out of so many other qualified candidates.” Vil- larreal also appreciated winning the award, and was excited that he had been the school’s first male winner in the tenure of Athletic Director Dar- ren Minami.
Villarreal finished with 1,141 career points in three varsity seasons, and poured in a career- high 48 points in a triple overtime victory over Fresno High on his way to earning first-team all- NYL honors. He credited all his coaches in his bas- ketball career dating back to fourth grade at Jeffer- son Elementary.
Those coaches includ- ed Chad Carter at Grant
Middle School, Chris Lo- pez (JV coach early in Vil- larreal’s career), his AAU coach he called “Coach Raul,” former RHS coach Travis Ferrell and current Pirates coach Chris Free- man.
Tennis, coached by Randy Lepp, also holds a special spot in Villar- real’s heart. “Actually I like to tell my dad [Jef- ferson Elementary Prin- cipal Agustin Villarreal] that basketball is what I really work hard at. I’m alright in basketball. But then tennis is more like a quiet calm. There’s not a lot of people involved, it’s just you. I really like ten- nis for that aspect.”
When world events return to normal, Villar- real plans to continue his basketball career this fall at Reedley College. He wants to study business marketing with a goal of becoming a financial ad- viser.
Delport’s growing pas- sion for water polo has led to her desire to continue collegiately, as she has given a verbal commit-
ment to play for Fresno Pacific University. She said RHS coach Kara Pav- lovic coaxed her onto the varsity team and her im- proved play has given her the college opportunity.
“I began playing trav- el water polo, and I fell in love with it,” she said. “Coach told me to come out for the team, and it’s been a great experience.”
Delport had played basketball back to sixth grade at Navelencia School, and has been one of the players instrumen- tal into the Pirates becom- ing a winning program. As a senior, she took over at point guard following an injury that sidelined her friend and starter Precious Hawkins.
“I tried to take it into my own hands that I need- ed to push myself harder to elevate my play and help my teammates el- evate their play as well,” she said. “I wanted to make [dishing out] assists my top goals.”
Delport also was a freestyle sprint swim spe- cialist before the season
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Reedley High’s Augie Villarreal and Abby Delport stood outside the high school gym, where they both enjoyed successful senior seasons in basketball. Villarreal and Delport were recently selected as the North Yosemite League’s Scholar Athlete winners for 2019-2020.
Orosi leads the way in WSL selections
Two Sanger High Apaches make all-league second team in basketball
MVT Staff Report
Orosi High girls soc- cer players and the Lady Cardinals head coach
MVT File Photo
Lady Cardinal senior goalie Mireya Lua was named the WSL Best Defensive Player.
dominated the West Se- quoia League honors.
Senior midfielder Emi- ly Gonzalez was the WSL’s Best Offensive Player and goalie Mireya Lua was the league’s Best Defensive Player. Coach Jesse Ca- marana earned Coach of the Year recognition after the first-year head coach guided the team to a Divi- sion IV section crown and a 11-0-2 WSL record.
Making the WSL first team were Melanie Da- vila, Victoria Quevedo, Amber Apodaca and Kim Caballero.
Second team recogni- tion went to Ashley Ruiz, Tudy Venegas and Stepha- nie Figueroa.
For the OHS boys team, senior Eliseo Pina was a first teamer and Kevin Guerrero was on the second team.
In basketball, senior Luzvy Palcios was on the all-league first team and teammate Miranda Mon- teyamor was on the sec- ond team. In boys basket- ball, Jose Ramos made the all-league first team while Arzel Quicio was a second team member.
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MVT File Photo
Orosi High senior mid- fielder Emily Gonzalez was named the WSL Best Offensive Player.
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Joining the ranks of top athletes in the CMAC basketball arena were Sanger High junior guard Luke Dillon (left) and freshman Kaleb Cole. Dillon and Cole were named to the all-league second team in basketball. They joined sophomore guard Jonathan Dillon in all league selec- tions. J. Dillon was the lone Apache to make first team. CORRECTION: An April 2 article incorrectly identified Jonathan Dillon as a junior. He is a sophomore.
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Orosi High girls
soccer player, Emily Gonzalez, is named Athlete of the Week. The senior mid elder was named the West Sequoia League's Best Offensive Player.
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was suspended.
Delport plans to major
in kinesiology and pre- physical therapy with a goal of becoming a physi- cal therapist specializing in athletics. She fell in love with sports medi- cine while participating in the school’s renowned sports med program un- der teacher-coach Kirby Kauk.
Delport credited all her coaches and teachers for her success in sports and the classroom.
“It’s super great to have the support sys- tem of the teachers and coaches I’ve had at Reed- ley High School,” she said. “It really helped to shape me into the person that I am today, and I’m really grateful for that.”
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