League, section championships for local teams, athletes

The Clayton Valley Charter High School boys 4x100 relay dominated the North Coast Section Tri-Valley meet as they prepare for the NCS Meet of Champions this week seeking a place at the State Meet in two weeks. The Ugly Eagles quartet of, from left, Christian Seeley, Gabriel Merritt, Cameron Reynolds and Justin Lowe clocked 42.04. Freshman Merritt joins a trio of seniors on the relay team. (Jay Bedecarré photo)

League, section championships for local teams, athletes

League, section championships for local teams, athletes
Clayton Valley Charter High’s lacrosse team won its first league title since 2012 and first-ever in the Diablo Athletic League this spring. The Ugly Eagles were undefeated in league play and swept the DAL playoffs. The team includes, front row from left, Roster front row starting from the left, Jehric Oblanca, Jack Garner, Connor Lawson, Torin Neal, Dylan Hemus, Abu Alhag, Maci Sekander, Joshua Tancioco, Kyle Qualio; middle row, coach Scott Neal, Jackson Nosrati, Garrett Doolittle, David Llata, Kade Daggs, Jackson Hubbard, Corrie Broadwell, Ronald Bolden, coach Rick Ortiz; back row, Kolby Kawalkowski, Lucas Calica, Anthony Abramov, Casey Barnes, Connor Johnson, Connor Barnes, Darien Masoli and Gunner Oakley. (Photo courtesy CVCHS lacrosse)

There are just a couple weeks to go for 2018-19 high school sports and the drama continues with several local teams and athletes earning medals and championships to culminate a memorable season.

Baseball

De La Salle has won three consecutive North Coast Section Division I championships and five of the last seven. The NCS playoffs begin this week with the finals set May 24-25. The Spartans enter Section play top-seeded with a 24-game winning streak and the State’s No. 2 ranking.

De La Salle hosts 16th seed James Logan of Union City in the first round of NCS. Last week, the Spartans won the East Bay Athletic League playoffs with lopsided wins over Monte Vista and Amador Valley after an undefeated league season.

One of the regular-season highlights for the Spartans was a four-game sweep last month to take the championship at the inaugural All Catholic Classic tournament in Las Vegas hosted by Bishop Gorman. The finals saw DLS defeat the hosts 9-0.

Perennial NCS participant Clayton Valley Charter hosts San Ramon Valley in a 7-10 seed battle Tuesday in another first-round clash. The Eagles finished second to unbeaten Acalanes in the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division.
In Division II, Northgate is also seeded seventh and faces visiting Benicia Wednesday in a section opener.

Softball

Carondelet and Concord have won the last two Division II NCS softball titles and now both Concord schools fine themselves in DI.

Defending Division II champs Carondelet are seventh seeds in DI and host Vintage of Napa in Wednesday’s opener. The Cougars were 10-3 and finished third in the EBAL.

Concord has won four NCS titles since 2010 but are 15th seeds this year and meet No. 2 Heritage Wednesday in Brentwood in their opener.

Clayton Valley Charter is at Napa Tuesday in a 9-8 seed game.

Northgate is seeded 12th in Division II and travel to San Marin for Wednesday’s first-round game.

Lacrosse

Clayton Valley Charter boys won their first DAL lacrosse championship, defeating Miramonte 10-8 in the first round of the league playoffs and then winning 9-2 over Campolindo in the championship game.  The Ugly Eagles were 7-0 during the league regular season.

CVCHS saw its season come to an abrupt end in the first round of NCS with an 11-2 loss to No. 4 seed Redwood.

De La Salle lost 14-6 to San Ramon Valley back in March during EBAL play as the Spartans tied for second in the EBAL behind unbeaten SRV. All that turned around when DLS stunned top seed San Ramon 11-10 in overtime in the NCS quarterfinals.

The upset puts the Spartans into the Section semi-finals Tuesday at No. 4 Redwood in Larkspur. Eighth seed DLS opened the playoffs with a 7-6 victory over Oak Ridge.

The only local girls team in the lacrosse playoffs was Carondelet. The Cougars were ninth seeds and traveled to El Dorado Hills for an 11-10 win over Oak Ridge. That put the Cougars into a quarterfinal against top seed San Ramon Valley, who bested CHS 19-7.

Track & Field

League, section championships for local teams, athletes
The Clayton Valley Charter High School boys 4×100 relay dominated the North Coast Section Tri-Valley meet as they prepare for the NCS Meet of Champions this week seeking a place at the State Meet in two weeks. The Ugly Eagles quartet of, from left, Christian Seeley, Gabriel Merritt, Cameron Reynolds and Justin Lowe clocked 42.04. Freshman Merritt joins a trio of seniors on the relay team. (Jay Bedecarré photo)

The NCS Tri-Valley meet last weekend in Dublin saw many of the local stars continue to shine with Concord High’s Rayna Stanziano and Airiana Dargan and Cameron Reynolds and the Clayton Valley Charter boys relays all scoring a pair of wins.

Reynolds was second in the state last year in the 400 meters and 4×400 relay and swept the 200 and 400 meters at NCS. Teammate Daylon Hicks was second in the high jump at state last year and took first in his event last Saturday.

League, section championships for local teams, athletes
Rayna Stanziano, Concord High champion runner

Concord middle distance star Stanziano will be looking for a potential state title in her final prep meet and warmed up with wins in the 800 and 1600 at Tri-Valley. Her junior teammate Dargan continued her domination of the jumps with victories in the long jump and triple jump.

The Ugly Eagles 4×100 and 4×400 relays each took first in impressive victories.

Other top performances by local athletes included:
Austin Kresley (Northgate) 1st 100 and 2nd 200
Armando Nevarez (De La Salle) 2nd 100 and 4th pole vault
Justin Lowe (CVCHS) 3rd 200 and 5th 400
William Sornberger (NG) 2nd 800
1600 Connor Livingston (DLS) 2nd 3200 and 4th 1600
Andrew McGallian (CVCHS) 1st shot put
Michael Okoye (DLS) 4th shot put
Aryel Coats (Carondelet) 3rd 100, 4th 200 and 2nd long jump
Amy Christensen 4th 100 hurdles and 3rd pole vault
Kelly Kern (Carondelet) 2nd pole vault
Piper Kunesh (Ygnacio Valley) 6th 300 hurdles
Eden Broussard (NG) 4th shot put
Eliza Cashman (NG) 3rd high jump
Jayme Blackard (Carondelet) 4th triple jump
Carondelet 3rd 4×100 relay

The NCS Meet of Champions is this weekend at Diablo Valley College and the State Meet May 24-25 in Clovis.

Boys Volleyball

Northgate reached the NCS DII championship game for the second year in a row and the Broncos fell just short of a Section title once again by a 3-1 score. Northgate won the opening set over Campolindo but the Cougars won three straight sets over the top seeded Broncos for the title.

Northgate had defeated Campo twice while winning the DAL Foothill championship. Northgate’s season didn’t end at NCS as they play in the Northern California championships starting Tuesday at Harker in San Jose.

Swimming & Diving

Clayton Valley Charter senior Niklas Weigelt won the 100 freestyle at NCS and then last weekend took fourth in the event at State for the highest local finish. He also took third in the 200 free at NCS.

Northgate boys were fourth, CVCHS was sixth and De La Salle seventh at Section while Carondelet was third and Northgate 10th in the girls meet.

 

League, section championships for local teams, athletes
Carondelet High senior teammates Courtney Klausen (left) and Kate Cilley finished first and third at the North Coast Section swimming and diving championships in the one-meter diving. The Cougar divers went on to place in the top 20 at State Meet last weekend.

Carondelet seniors Courtney Klausen and Kate Cilley were first and third in NCS diving while their freshman teammate Olivia Cunningham took eighth.

Sophomore Maile Andresen was second in the 100 free and fourth in the 100 backstroke and Northgate teammate Christy Neufeld took third in the 500 free and fourth in the 200 free.

Carondelet sophomore Jessica Davis was third in the 100 back and seventh in the 100 free at NCS and followed that up with an eighth-place finish at State in the back.

Northgate boys were second in the 200 medley and free relays at NCS while DLS was seventh and fourth, respectively in the same relays.

Andrew Rodriguez was third in the 200 individual medley and fifth in the 100 back at NCS. He then placed eighth in the 200 IM and ninth in 100 back at State. The Broncos also were fifth in the 200 free relay at State as the Broncos placed 10th in the boys standings. DLS was eighth and Clayton Valley 10th in a school record time in the 200 free relay.

De La Salle’s Ryan Iannaccone took fourth in the 50 free and then was second in the 100 butterfly at NCS. Northgate’s Adrian Dulay was right behind him with a third place in the 100 fly. Cal Brown of Clayton Valley Charter was eighth in the 50 free. Dulay also took eighth in the 100 breaststroke, one place behind Clayton Valley’s Anthony Vizental.

At NCS, CVCHS took fourth in boys 400 free relay and Carondelet was sixth in the girls relay.

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