It didn’t take long for Scotts Valley graduate Claire Skinner to solidify herself as a force to be reckoned anytime she set foot on the field or hardwood court this past school year.
The Falcon star athlete began her senior campaign in the fall by receiving the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s co-Most Valuable Player award in girls’ flag football.
She followed up with All-SCCAL First Team honors in girls basketball in the winter, and then earned a spot on the All-Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division’s Second Team in girls lacrosse in the spring.
“I really love just pushing myself and improving,” Skinner said. “I really love staying active, and it helps me keep my schedule busy. And I also just really love team sports. I think it’s a good place for me to have a community with other people who like to compete.”
And it takes more than just statistics to shine both on and off the field.
On top of her athletic accomplishments, Scotts Valley athletic director Louie Walters mentioned Skinner’s leadership qualities. Especially when Walters had to coach both tackle and flag football programs at the same time.
Skinner was what coaches, such as Walters, would call the complete package.
“[Skinner] was the ultimate leader, and she was just so athletic and so tall,” Walters said. “She was fun.”
The Press Banner named Skinner its Female Athlete of the Year for her outstanding and dominating effort in sports during the 2024-25 school year.
Skinner was also named the SCCAL’s co-Female Athlete of the Year alongside Aptos graduate Izzy Graff, marking the second time in 48 years there was a tie on the girls’ side.
In 1994, Santa Cruz’s Reggie Stephens and Jermaine Robinson were the best male athletes that year. Aptos’ Hunter Matys and Marcos Reyes were co-MVPs in 2019, while Scotts Valley’s Danica Kelley and Ashlyn Boothby shared the honors in 2024.
Scotts Valley’s previous winners include Domino Parrish (2015), Grace Giguiere (2016) and Sam Boyle (2017).
“Women’s sports is here, and Scotts Valley produces some very good women athletes,” Walters said.
Ever since kindergarten, Skinner has been immersed with sports, such as soccer and basketball. She credits her parents, Todd and Courtney, for pushing her to stay engaged.
“They’ve always been helping me get to practices or games, and just encouraging me to keep playing,” Skinner said.
Skinner led Scotts Valley’s girls’ flag football team to an SCCAL title run by going 8-2 in league play, and a 20-12 victory against Aptos at the end-of-the-season league tournament.
“[Skinner] was just unbelievable whether you put her at linebacker and you had to rush, or you put her in safety and she was roaming the backfield, or you just threw a ball and she’d catch it,” Walters said.
Skinner was also part of the inauguration team that set the foundation for the program in 2024.
“It’s just an honor because I really love playing flag football, even for just two years,” Skinner said. “I’m seeing how it’s starting to really grow. I think it’s going to be such a cool thing in 20 years to say I was part of the first team at my school.”
The Falcon girls’ basketball team went on an incredible SCCAL title run by finishing with an unblemished 10-0 record in league play, and a 24-3 overall record.
Walters said Skinner was instrumental on the court, using her body to snatch rebounds or prevent opponents from driving into the lane. She finished with an average of 9.6 rebounds and 7.3 points per game, according to statistics on the Max Preps website.
“[Skinner] did her role,” Walters said. “She wasn’t there to score a bunch of points. She was there to keep the team from scoring and getting all the rebounds.”
It was pretty impressive for Skinner to perform at such a high level after having skipped organized basketball in eighth grade and the first two years of high school. She returned for her junior year to play on a team full of brand new players who began to bond with time.
“At first I didn’t really want to play,” Skinner said. “I thought that varsity basketball would be really intense and too much for me. But then my friends were saying, ‘You should really play.’ And then I really ended up loving it.”
Skinner capped off her senior year with the Falcon girls’ lacrosse team that finished runner-up in the PCAL Gabilan Division—the top tier of the two divisions within the league. She finished with four goals and four assists, which earned her all-league second team honors.
“Claire is an amazing athlete. Physically gifted, but also incredibly smart,” Scotts Valley girls’ lacrosse head coach Colleen Niklaus said. “You give her feedback and she immediately puts it into action. She is calm and confident, and executes the game plan excellently. Claire is a great teammate. Supportive, positive and a great leader. She is such a joy to coach and makes any team better.”
Scotts Valley was also the lone school out of Santa Cruz County to make the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs.
“It was just fun to be a part of, and play and be able to contribute,” Skinner said. “It was just special to help the Scotts Valley program because it’s really small right now. We would have one or less subs every game. It was just a fun team to play with and everyone was super nice, and encouraging.”
Walters called Skinner one of the most gifted athletes to come out of the school, and possibly in Santa Cruz County, as well. But for now, Skinner will hang up the cleats to attend Azusa Pacific University to focus her studies en route to a nursing degree.
“[Skinner] could have gone and played college sports, either in football, basketball or lacrosse,” Walters said. “She was that good because she was so big and strong, and fast.”
