Eight local athletes named winter sports players of the year

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (Mar. 21, 2025) — Six local soccer players and two basketball standouts were named most valuable players when the Diablo and East Bay athletic leagues recently announced their winter sports all-league teams.

Two-sport star Alec Blair of De La Salle is player of the year for EBAL basketball, an honor he shared a year ago. The Spartans finished second at NCS Open Division the past three years but this time they broke that streak and won the school’s 15th Section championship.

The other basketball winner was junior State champion Layla Dixon of Carondelet, the EBAL defensive player of the year.

Concord High soccer defensive stalwarts junior Shay Caban and senior goalkeeper Leo Tolento are DAL Valley division girls and boys defensive MVPs. Goalies Colin Farley of Clayton Valley Charter and junior Ireland Lewis of Northgate are DAL Foothill Division defensive MVPs. Ronding out the defensive honors for local schools are EBAL defensive players of the year Matthew Rajecki of De La Salle and Madeline Roder of Carondelet.

Diablo Athletic League (local schools), Carondelet and De La Salle EBAL soccer, basketball and wrestling athletes getting all-league honors:

Boys Basketball

DAL: 1st team – Antonio Kellogg Jr. (Ygnacio Valley), Zion Grissom (Clayton Valley Charter), David Harris (Northgate); 2nd team- Jett Tran (CVC), Grayson Boustead (NG), Stevie Barnett (College Park); 3rd team – Miles Cooper (CP), Cannon Simpson (CVC), Mateo Ferolino (Concord), EJ Warrick (Mt. Diablo), Jalan Cody (YV)

DLS: Player of the Year – Alec Blair; 1st team – David Balogun; 2nd team – Braddock Kjellesvig, Bryce Patton

Girls Basketball

DAL: 1st team – Ella Scott, Deoujenea Clay (CVC), Maddison Sardelich (NG); 2nd team – Natalie Dance (MD), Hana Neuman (NG), Lamiyah Washington (Con), Sa’rye Starks (YV); 3rd team – Samantha Myhr (NG), Lucy Guitron (CVC)

Carondelet: Defensive Player of the Year – Layla Dixon; 1st team – Sophia Ross; 2nd team – Celeste Alvarez

Girls Soccer

DAL: Foothill – MVP Defense – Ireland Lewis (NG); 1st team – Ava Jara (CVC), Keira Lund, Sarah Burkes (NG), Sophia Voorhies (CP); 2nd team – Tatiana Diaz (CVC), Sophia Fulp, Leah Cooper (NG);

Valley – Co-MVP Defense – Shay Caban (Con); 1st team – Kim Rubio, Damia Nait Challal, Hirana Chavez (YV), Paola Castro, Jocelyne Nunez (MD), McKenzie Corson, Taylor Corson (Con)

Carondelet: Defensive Player of the Year – Madeline Roder; 1st team – Miranda Goldner, Taylor Juroff, Samantha Walker; 2nd team – Mercy Karson

Boys Soccer

DAL: Foothill – MVP Defense – Colin Farley (CVC); 1st team – Walter Galindo, Giovanni Negrete, Rohman Mahmood, Yeshua Guerrero (CVC), Christopher Arzeta (MD), Blayne Ballad, Joshua Sheehy (NG); 2nd team – Cristian Olvera, Anthony Gil (MD), Brandon Hristov, Enzo Valenzuela, Max Sleptets (CVC), Aiden Cairns, Sahil Patel (NG);

Valley – MVP Defense – Leo Tolento (Con); 1st team – Tai Coooke (CP), Ronaldihno Basulto, Osmar Hernandez (Con), Margarito Lazaro, Said Nait Challal, Alan Garcia, Alejandro Avalos (YV); 2nd team – Jake Vensko, Chase Brown (CP), Alexander Villarce, Junior Portillo, Jesus Zaragoza Valencia, Derek Orellana, Mustafa Ahmadi (YV)

De La Salle: Defensive Player of the Year – Matthew Rajecki; 1st team – Ronan Rattigan, Namir Shlah, Rajecki; 2nd team – Flynn Salyapongse, Cian ­Rattigan

Wrestling

DAL Boys: 1st team – Chase Strand, Mashal Shirzad (MD), Matthew Luk, Fabian Torres, Brady Coddington (CVC), Max Otero, Torin Collins (CP), Pratham Sharma (NG); 2nd team – Tyler Jewell, Cyrus Walker (NG), Eric Van Boekhout, Maddox Platt (Con); 3rd team – Dakota Buelna, Gabriel Northrup, Jack Fitzgerald (CP), Almas Shirzad, Jakorey Robinson (MD), Oscar Najera-Loaiza (YV), Jonathan Noguera, Rahman Shair (CV), Marco Clamucha, Zayyan Hansia, Christian Haro (Con)

DAL Girls: 1st team – Avery Seidenspinner, Anabelle Rodriguez (CP), Abbi Cooper, Savannha Talmadge, Alondra Hernandez, Mele Popua Moeakiola (CVC), Symore Jewell, Hailey Liu (NG), Ayaka Naddy, Keirabella Brown, Aaimya Brown (Con), Lea Slander (YV); 2nd team – Danikka Reynoso, Keira Sale (NG), Bernice Lucero (CP), Solei Tello, Isabel Leyva (CVC), Elysia Youngblood, Aleina Sierras (Con); 3rd team – Sabrina Downing, Madison Barrett, Gwen Stroot (CP), Liora Bondon, Joylyn Jayko, Lana Gargenta, Ari Lara, Angelina Petrando (NG)

DLS: 1st team – William Gilmore, Alexandee Ortiz; 2nd team – Wyatt Ferguson, Dom Novosel, Weston Coward, Max Munzinger; 3rd team – Cameron Shirazi.