2024 Pioneer Newspaper Sports Year in Review
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (Dec. 27, 2024) — When I get an email message from The Pioneer editor saying she would like a Sports Year in Review story for December, the easiest way to start tabulating feats worthy of inclusion is to go through the sports pages of the January to November issues of the paper.
As I began to do that this month, I quickly realized the assignment actually had to start with the front page of the Pioneer. Between January and August, sports stories were prominently featured on the front page on five of those months and 80% of the August front page was filled by two sports stories.
With the Paris Olympics one of the biggest stories in the world during 2024, it’s not surprising that the narratives of three local athletes attempting to make the American team and their subsequent exploits on the wrestling mat and in the water were BIG NEWS and not just locally.
Amit Elor, who first came to prominence just five years ago as a State high school wrestling champion for College Park, became a world-wide sensation, becoming the youngest American wrestler — male or female—to win Olympic gold.
As she has done while winning eight world championships since 2021, Elor dispatched all four of her Olympic opponents to win the first USA gold on the mat in Paris.
Another local wrestler, Peyton Omania, didn’t make it to Paris. The first-ever state champion for De La Salle High, the Concord wrestler competed in the final US Olympic Trials for Greco Roman wresting in the 67 kilograms (147.7 pounds) weight class, which was considered the most competitive of the six weight classes at the Trials with three former Olympians plus Omania, who represented the country at the 2021 World Championships, in the field of 11 wrestlers.
Omania wasn’t able to prevail at Trials to earn a coveted ticket to Paris.
Clayton’s Kara Kohler did earn her third Olympic berth on the American rowing team. She was the country’s single sculler for the second successive Olympics. The 2012 Olympic bronze medal winner in quad took fifth in the Paris Olympic singles finals race in a very talented field.
50th Anniversary of 1974 Concord Swimming Championships
The world of swimming was focused on Concord Community Pool from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1, 1974 when the city “captured the hearts of the swimming world.”
From Aug. 22 to Sept. 1, 1974, Concord Community Pool hosted six days of swimming that was unprecedented outside of an Olympics. The annual United States AAU National Long Course Championships were Aug. 22-25 followed by the United States vs. German Democratic Republic dual meet on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. World records were set each of the six days.
Swimming World, the bible of aquatic sports, went on to say of Concord in a front-page editorial in the October 1974 issue, “You made this a meet that will be long remembered….it was one for the books. It was six days of swimming never equaled in the United States.”
Over those six days in Concord there were 25 world records and 47 American records tied or broken as the two meets drew world-wide media attention. American, Canadian, Australian, Commonwealth, Brazilian, European and GDR (East Germany) records were smashed one after another, bringing thrills to the over 35,000 spectators that filled the temporary bleachers at the pool.
Many more noteworthy stories
Of course, there was so much more sports action close to home during 2024. Here are highlights we’ve selected for this review:
Recreation swimming: Both long-time fixtures on the local recreation swim scene, Springwood and Vista Diablo swim teams, did not host programs this year, putting at risk their long-term fates. It’s very possible that the Springwood pool and property may be sold.
Forest Park dramatically won its seventh County Meet title, this time in Division III while three-time Division I champs Dana Hills were overtaken this year by Rancho San Miguel. DHST did capture the Concord City Swimming Championships A Division for the 31st time in the past 32 meets. Significantly, the meet retuned to Concord Community Pool after being moved to Northgate High School since the pandemic.
Concord High sports team are now the Bears after introducing their new mascot Grizz at a school rally in February.
De La Salle football will write its final 2024 chapter this Saturday in Southern California at the Open Division Bowl Game (See Page B1). With their 32nd straight North Coast Section title the Spartans are 12-0 entering the State finals.
Mt. Diablo High football won the Diablo Athletic League Mountain Division this year. It was the first time Red Devils football won a league championship since they were co-champs with Antioch in 1972. They were last undisputed league titlists in 1963.
Pleasant Hill High School inducted its first class of athletes, coaches and teams to the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, 44 years after the school closed.
Clayton Valley Charter football was returned to the Diablo Athletic League with little fanfare after a contentious move by NCS to the East Bay Athletic League in 2018. The school also named the field in Gonsalves Stadium Tim Murphy Field, honoring the former State championship winning coach.
Clayton Valley Charter diver Molly Gray won the CIF State championship after finishing second as a freshman and sophomore. Her junior classmate Abbi Cooper placed seventh at the CIF wrestling championships following her third straight NCS title.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.