Banner year for East County high school athletes

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 17, 2009 | by Mitch Stephens

A stellar 2008-09 East County prep season was keyed by the obvious, stellar athletes. Here are the top 20 -- 10 boys and girls - - according to one reporter.

BOYS

1. Aaron Wayne (Deer Valley swimming): Not only did the Stanford- bound standout break a 17-year-old North Coast Section meet record in the 200-yard freestyle (one minute, 38.12 seconds), he also broke another record while taking the 100 freestyle (44.27). Considering the wealth of talent and history of NCS aquatics, those are amazing marks.

2. David Klingsheim (Liberty wrestling): The senior won his second straight 119-pound state crown -- a remarkable feat -- and finished 38-1 overall.

3. Hammed Suleman (Deer Valley track and field): Winning a state title in the triple jump is one thing -- he went 49 feet, 7 1/2 inches on June 6 in Clovis and had the state-best mark all season at 50-3 -- but he also had the state's fourth-best long jump (24-1) on the season.

4. Billy Wardell (Freedom baseball): Finished off a remarkable season (10-1, 1.79 ERA, 114 strikeouts, 66.1 innings) with one of greatest pitching performances in NCS finals history, a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts and no walks in 3-0 victory over De La Salle, Freedom's first section crown in any boys sport.

5. Wyatt Landrum (Liberty cross country, track): He won the school's first-ever NCS individual cross country championship with a Division II crown, before placing fourth at state. He set course records just about everywhere, then reached state track meet in 3,200 where he ran lifetime best of 9:04.06.

6. Ryan Rodriguez (Freedom football): At only 5-8, no one could believe Rodriguez was a standout throwing quarterback, but he completed 192 of 329 passes for 2,955 yards and 34 touchdowns for 10- 3 Falcons. He was also the CIF's Fall Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

7. Josh Meints (Freedom swimming): Another double NCS champion, the University of Buffalo-bound senior won the 200 individual medley (1:54.27) and the 100 breast (56.28). He set nine school records.

8. Jose Cabeza (Antioch soccer): Led the Panthers to their first- ever Bay Valley Athletic League championship. The league MVP had 15 goals and nine assists despite missing several games with an ankle injury.

9. Josh Eagle (Deer Valley baseball): Forget his inspiration story of overcoming a rare birth defect to his left foot, the junior right-handed pitcher led the Wolverines into the NCS semifinals with a stellar season. He tied a school record for wins (10) and set them for appearances (23) and innings (89.1). He had 97 strikeouts, 24 walks and 1.49 ERA.

10. Ryan Rios Waldrop (wrestling): OK, tricky one here. We've melted the names of Ryan Smith (Liberty), David Rios (Liberty) and Nick Waldrop (Freedom) who recorded records of 38-10, 26-5 and 42-6 to win NCS titles at 135, 140 and 145-pounds, respectively.

GIRLS

1. Emily Allard (Deer Valley basketball, softball): She was the Wolverines leader in scoring, rebounding and steals for a basketball team that cruised to a BVAL title and won its first-ever NorCal playoff game. And that was her second-hand sport. She's going to Northwestern on a full ride softball scholarship and received BVAL Player of the Year votes as a pitcher and hitter.

2. Hannah Williams (Freedom softball): The Fresno State-bound hurler finished off a stellar career with another fantastic season, going 23-4 with 269 strikeouts, just 23 walks in 188 innings. She pitched every inning for the nation's No. 10 team according to USA Today. Williams also hit cleanup, batting .390 with team-bests of 25 RBI and six homers. She was the BVAL Player of the Year.

3. Chizoba Okodogbe (Deer Valley track and field): The junior won the NCS 400-meter championship, then finished third in the state in a lifetime best of 53.74, which ranked sixth nationally this year. She also anchored the team's state-qualifying 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

4. Iris Tolenada (Deer Valley volleyball): The BVAL MVP set a school record with 1,113 assists this season to go along with 456 digs, 168 kills and 74 aces for the league champs that finished 37- 5.

5. Khyia Slone (Heritage basketball, track and field): In a league full of talented basketball stars, Slone earned BVAL MVP honors for her all-around play. She also shocked herself by claiming a BVAL long jump title at 18-5 1/2 .

6. Erin Jones (Antioch softball): The BVAL Player of the Year runner-up led the Panthers back to NCS glory, as they reached the semifinals and went 19-9 thanks to the Sacramento State-bound catcher. Jones hit better than .600 in league and struck out just once all season.

7. Aimee Rodgers (Freedom track and field): The talented and consistent senior achieved a rare feat by winning her fourth straight varsity title in an individual event. Rodgers won the girls 100 hurdles by nearly a second with a personal-record time of 14.58, and she won her third league title in the 300 low hurdles in four years.

8. Yessy Martinez (Liberty soccer): She led the Lions to a stellar 20-2-2 record and BVAL title. She was selected BVAL Most Valuable Player as the Lions went undefeated in league play.