Page 9 - Sanger Herald 6-6-19 E-edition

SangerSports
SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2019
Mike Nemeth, editor
nemethfeatures@gmail.com
Yang and Mitchell named athletes of the year
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Seniors Jeremiah Yang and Cu-Nisha Mitchell stood on stage at Sanger High’s multipurpose room on either side of athletic director Brian Penner still surprised they had been named male and female athletes of the year.
That honor, the pinnacle of achievement for a Sanger athlete, proved especially great for the 2018-2019 sports season because many of their fellow Apaches in multiple sports performed so competitively and achieved much over the year. Penner called them “two very deserving candidates.”
“This feeling is unreal,” Yang said.
And Mitchell said she still felt “a little bit” of that initial shock.
The Night of Champions Awards Banquet on June 3 sent a pile of awards to Sanger High’s athletes. Madalyn Berry and Julian Saldana were named scholar champions by earning the highest grade
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Jeremiah Yang and Cu-Nisha Mitchell won the title of athletes of the year. Here they stand with Brian Penner.
named in his honor, the Dodson Sportsmanship Awards, to swimmer Alexia Beck and basketball player Sal Dhillon. Penner described both as selfless hard workers dedicated to their respective sports. Dhillon said he’s going to Reedley College but plans to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy.
Arrowhead Character Awards, issued to “student athletes who demonstrate outstanding sportsmanship, character and leadership for their teams, school and community,” were given to 26 athletes. In addition to Dhillon and Beck, those receiving the honor included Christopher Castro, Adrian Mercado, Luis Lopez, Zack Stricker, Izaiah Castaneda, Ana Delfin, Ryan Serrano, Saldana, Antonia Perez, Allison Hartsell, David Ayala, Melody Salazar, Kyana Grunberg, Katelyn Estep, Sarah Herring, Natilee Owens, Jennifer Bejarano, John Pena, Cody Patrick, Lynley Montano, Danessa Castro, Joy Xiong, Steven Martinez and
Jennifer Cisneros.
More students, and
coaches, were honored as all league individual champions in the County Metro Athletic Conference. The honors are bestowed by votes from coaches of other schools within the conference.
The athletes of the year were nominated by individual Sanger coaches and agreed upon by all coaches. Yang earned four varsity letters in boys tennis and was a key contributor to three consecutive CMAC championships and two consecutive California Interscholastic Federation Central Section championships, a feat not accomplished by another team in 50 years.
Yang made the first team All-CMAC and qualified for the Central Section individual tournament all four years. He was CMAC most valuable player as a junior and CMAC doubles champion this year.
Mitchell earned six varsity letters, three in basketball and three in track and field. She was
a key contributor to the Central Section runner-up basketball team in 2017. This year she was a first- team All-CMAC member and was selected to play in the City-County All-Star Basketball game. She was an area champion in the 400 meters and triple jump in her junior year and was and area champ in the four by 400 meter relay this year. She was named Sanger High’s B’nai B’rith award recipient this year.
Yang plans to play tennis for the University of Redlands, which is just east of San Bernardino. Mitchell plans to attend Fresno State, majoring in business, and “may run track.”
Football CMAC first team honorees were Jake Boust, Steven Gomez, Isaac Salas and Kosi Agina. Girls volleyball CMAC most valuable player was Mackenzie Jennings. Boys soccer CMAC first team honorees were Saul Sanchez, Luis Villegas and Freddy Bautista, while goalkeeper of the year was
See Athletes, Page 2B
point average during their entire four years. Berry, who played girls golf, had a 4.45 average, and Saldana,
in swimming and water polo, had 4.21.
Coach Dave Dodson handed out the awards
Navo Classic nearly doubles in size
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Daray Bland squared off against Elias Gonzales on one of four wrestling mats set up in the Coach Dean Nicholson Gym at Sanger High.
The Navo Classic Wrestling Tournament had hit high gear May 31, pitting about 300 wrestlers from Sanger’s elementary schools against one another in every weight class. Girls and boys competed. The classic, in its second year, drew nearly twice the 170 participants of its inaugural year.
“Six hundred bouts expected,” said Tim Lopez, Sanger Unified associate superintendent and event organizer.
So many young wrestlers showed that the event spilled over into Tuesday. A late start and the number of bouts forced the schedule to continue another day. Next year, Lopez said participants likely will be split into varsity and junior varsity categories.
The popularity was evident by the crowded bleachers and the parking lots, so full that cars lined both sides of East Annadale Avenue.
And many spectators focused on the far corner where Daray, a sixth- grader from Sequoia, and Elias, a fourth-grader from Sanger Academy, grappled. Daray appeared stronger and had a slight height advantage. But Elias’ technique enabled him to turn the advantage back to his favor multiple times.
They battled. Neither was interested in losing.
Both looked like they could beat the other. When Daray got close to pinning Elias, the younger wrestler escaped and returned the favor. Daray eventually won. Theirs drew a crowd to the edge of the mat.
“Hard,” Daray said after the match. And he said he’s likely to wrestle for the Apaches when in high
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Daray Bland of Sequoia grapples with Elias Gonzales of Sanger Academy in one of the hardest fought battles of the tournament. Right, participation of girls this year was way up.
school. “For sure.”
Elias also said he’s
considering continuing the sport into high school. Asked how he was taking the loss, Elias said, “You can’t complain. You lose, you lose.”
But next time, he said he will take the lesson he learned that afternoon and catalog it, learn from it.
Sanger Academy coach David Gonzales, and Elias’ dad, gave his son one of those looks and reassuring hands on shoulder that only a dad could give. And the elder Gonzales gave the classic high marks.
“The program’s one of the best,” he said. “This is one of the best things they could do for the
community.”
Gonzales said his
team just keeps getting bigger, growing like other programs across Sanger.
“We’re just happy the
numbers have gone up,” said Ramone Rodriguez, assistant Lincoln coach. “Hopefully, in the future we hope to compete against Clovis schools.”
Rusty Wilson, head Lincoln wrestling coach, said the high percentage of girls competing was a good sign. “It’s something that gets the whole community
involved,” he said. “We get a lot of support. It’s one of the only events bringing kindergarten through sixth (together) district-wide.”
Navo, Sanger Unified’s former superintendent and the one whose name adorns the tournament, was pleased with this year’s event. “I think it’s great,” he said, standing just inside the door of the gym and taking in four matches at once. “I mean you’re seeing more kids. The parking lot is ridiculous. I see more dads in the audience than any other sport.”
Navo said Sanger’s starting to experience an evolution in wrestling. “The quality goes up,” he said. “If you can keep up the interest, in three to four years the high school’s going to have some really good wrestling teams.”
And Navo said wrestling is a sport open to anyone of any size and “where a kid who weighs 57 pounds can make the same contribution” as a kid who weighs twice as much or more. Of course that kid would have to dominate his weight class in his program to be the one chosen to wrestle at that weight.
The event also brought out recent alumni as assistant coaches, Angel Alvarez, class of 2015, and Sebastian “C-Bass” Oliva, class of 2016.
Josiah Mickle, a sixth- grader from John Wash, had just won his first bout after a loss the match previous. “I think it’s amazing all you have to do is put your effort in, and it’s a good thing whether you win or lose,” he said.
Mike Morales, coach of the Reagan team that won last year’s tournament, said he’s got four kids in the finals. “If they can pull it off in their weight classes, we’ve got a shot,” he said.
The reporter can be contacted by email at nemethfeatures@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.