Page 11 - Mid Valley Times 6-4-20 E-edition

Thursday, June 4, 2020
Villareal-Harris named DHS
Female Athlete of the Year
MVT File Photos
The Sanger Apaches soccer team won the school's fourth league title this year in sports and subsequently went on to Valley and Northern California Regional championships.
MVT Staff Report
Dinuba High’s Yasmine Villareal-Harris closed out her career as the school’s Athlete of the Year.
Villareal-Harris played volleyball, basketball and was a member of the track and field team. She was a team captain on the volley- ball team and was a Central Sequoia League honorable mention.
In basketball, Villareal- Harris averaged seven points and seven rebounds per game and was a first- team all-league performer. She was also the team’s Most Valuable Player.
Coach Benny Prado stated Villareal-Harris was amazed by her matu- rity and growth as not only a basketball player but a person.
“She grew into a great leader this year while battling tremendous ad- versity,” stated Prado. “I don’t know how she made it through the year but when things got tough, she got tougher, mentally and physically. She could’ve given up on the season and we all would’ve understood but instead she rose to a higher level both on the court and off the court.”
Dinuba finished the basketball season with a 16- 13 overall record and 8-4 in CSL. The Lady Emperors made the section Division III playoffs before falling to Madera, 50-46.
Although the track sea- son was wiped out due to COVID-19, Villareal-Harris was entering the season as a 3-time CSL champion in the discus and shot put events. Last year, Villare- al-Harris had season best marks of 112-0 in the dis- cus and 36-7 1⁄4 in shot put.
Apaches win Gonder Award
MVT Staff Report
Despite having their spring season cut short, the Sanger High Apaches captured four league titles this year. That success was recently recognized by the Central-Metro Athletic Confer- ence as Sanger High was awarded the Gonder Award, given to the league's
top performing school.
This year the Apaches won league
championships in girls water polo, boys cross country, girls tennis and boys soccer.
This is also the third time the Apaches have received the award in the last four years.
MVT File Photo
Yazmine Villareal-Harris played three sports for Dinuba High, including basketball, volleyball and track and field. She was recently named the school’s Female Athlete of the Year.
MVT File Photo
Yazmine Villareal-Harris was named the Lady Emps' MVP in basketball and was entering the track and field season as a 3-time defending league champion in discus and shot put.
The Sanger High girls tennis team captured a league title this year.
The Sanger Apaches boys cross country team won the 2019 league title.
Central Unified names high school after former Pirates' coach
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Fresno’s Central Unified School Dis- trict will permanently honor the late Jus- tin Garza by naming the district’s new- est high school after the former Central High football coach.
In a 4-3 vote on May 26, district trust- ees decided to name the new high school, slated to open in 2021, Justin Garza High School. Garza — who died in February 2017 at age 41 after a six-year battle with cancer — was chosen by the district from list of selections submitted by the Central Unified community.
Garza began his 10-year head coach- ing career with five seasons at Reedley High, where he posted a 25-31 record with three winning seasons including the program’s last victory against rival Sanger High (26-10 in 2007). His great- est success came at Central, where he went 25-13, including a Tri-River Athletic Conference championship and a runner- up finish in the Central Section Division 1 playoffs between 2012-2014.
Garza was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in 2011, and posted 11-3 and 9-4 records with the Grizzlies while bat- tling the disease. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in the 2014 season, and shared coaching duties with Myles Bacon (a former Reedley High player and coach) before stepping down after
the season because of his illness.
With the help of donations of sick time from fellow Central Unified em- ployees, Garza was able to remain on paid leave with the district the rest of
his life.
Regina Garza told The Fresno Bee
in an interview last week that she was “overwhelmed with joy and gratitude” on the district’s decision to name the high school after her husband.
“On behalf of the entire Garza family and especially Justin’s friends and sup- porters, including the board of trustees and administration, thank you for this honor,” she told the Bee after the dis- trict’s action. “Justin was a light...and he continues to be.”
Justin Garza was the son-in-law of longtime Kings Canyon Unified School District superintendent Juan Garza. He met, dated and later married Regina dur- ing his coaching and teaching days at RHS. The couple’s two children, Joaquin and Elena, are now 7 and 4, respectively.
District trustees decided on naming the school the after Garza instead of Cen- tral North High School, which received the most submissions from the public. The new school — located near the cor- ners of Ashlan and Grantland avenues in northwest Fresno next to Koligian Stadium — will relieve overcrowding at the present Central High east and west campuses.
MVT / Reedley file photo
Justin Garza spoke with his Reedley High players during a time out in a 2009 game. Garza posted a 64-53 record in 10 seasons as a head coach, including a 25-31 mark in five seasons with the Pirates. Three years after Garza’s death from cancer in 2017, the Central Unified School District voted to name the district’s newest high school after the coach.