As the school year winds to a close, memories of the 2010-2011 sports year begin to fade as we begin to look forward to summer and to next years seasons. Though the last year is gone, there are a number of firsts, a collection of championships, and remnants of a year of success for both of our valleys. Here is a look back at what our local schools combined to accomplish this year.
Boys Cross Country:
Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champions: San Lorenzo Valley. Individual champion: Cody Johnson.
SLV swept the first three places at the SCCAL meet and won outright the title.
Scotts Valley took the fourth, fifth, and sixth places at the league finals at Pinto Lake.
Girls Cross Country:
Individual champion: Vanessa Fraser (sophomore, Scotts Valley)
Scotts Valley runner Vanessa Fraser ousted her longtime friend Anna Maxwell by one second on the Pinto Lake course for the SCCAL championships.
Boys Water Polo
SLV finished 0-5 in league play. Cougar senior Curtis Garrett made all league honors.
Girls Water Polo
SLV earns SCCAL co-championship title. Cameron Kellogg is dubbed sophomore of the year. Savannah Prather leads the Cougars to the championship.
Football
SLV sweeps league going 9-2 overall and 6-0 in league play. The Cougars trifecta of offensive weapons in running back Nick Lipperd (1112 yards and 7 touchdowns on 167 carries), quarterback Zack Newberry (1708 yards passing and 22 touchdowns), and wide receiver Nick Gorman (898 yards on 37 receptions) proved overwhelming for SCCAL defenses. Doug Morris was again voted the coach of the year.
Scotts Valley tied for second place in league with a 3-1-2 league record, ending a four year title streak.
Scotts Valley and SLV combined for 17 of the 21 available first team all league awards
Wrestling
Scotts Valley took second in league to Aptos for their best finish in school history. SLV senior Logan Kellogg took second in the Central Coast Section. Teammate Michael Kraft won the 112 weight class. Scotts Valleys Kevin Eddington won the 103 weight class and Drake Smith won the 215’s.
Girls Soccer
The Falcon soccer team under the tutelage of veteran coach Art Munoz won the SCCAL title outright, finishing 10-1-1 in league, and 13-5-2 overall. Team Captain Ally Bothman was voted the leagues most valuable player, teammate Emily Johnson earned co-Goalkeeper of the year award, Coach Munoz warranted the coach of the year award. Scotts Valley lost in the CCS quarterfinals to Valley Christian 1-0 to end the season.
SLV finished the season with a 4-11-1 overall record. Chere Garcia and Lindsay McClish both earned all league honors.
Boys Soccer
SLV: 6-10-2 overall, Scotts Valley: 7-9-2 overall
Falcon Brenny Hillan earned goalkeeper of the year honor, and SLV’s David Kamau was crowned midfielder of the year.
Girls Basketball
Scotts Valley won their first title as they powered undefeated through league play and wound up 23-7-0, on the season. The stellar play of league MVP Liz Munger, all league guard Natalia Ebrahemian, and a talented collection of versatile freshman, prompted the Falcons to the CCS finals where they lost a heart breaker to Notre Dame of Belmont 33-29. The Falcons were then invited to the Northern California Tournament where they won their first NorCal tournament game against Bear River of Grass Valley 82-48, before losing their final game to Piedmont of Oakland 57-48.
SLV struggled on the season finishing 0-12 in league play and 1-24 overall.
Boys Basketball
SLV: 3-9 in league, 8-17 overall. Scotts Valley : 1-11 in league, 7-18 overall.
Both teams were operating under new head coaches, as Marcus Northcutt moved
To the helm for the Cougars, and Drew Snelgrove took over the Falcon program. SLV point guard Blake Bechtle and Scotts Valleys Desmond Balco both made the all SCCAL first team.
Baseball
Scotts Valley: 6-6 but lost first round of CCS playoffs to Menlo 8-0
SLV: 4-8 scored 28 points in first three games but lost momentum in league.
Scotts Valleys Brett Levy was named to the all league team at catcher, and SLV pitcher Nick Lipperd earned an all league spot at pitcher.
Boys Volleyball
SLV: 9-5 in league play, 15-5 overall. Scotts Valley:0-10, 0-11.
The Cougars earned third place in the SCCAL behind Mount Madonna and Pacific Collegiate School. Nick Gorman was voted Senior of the Year, and Derek Wolf earned Freshman of the Year for SLV. Jared Johnson and Xavier Chaves both netted all league honors.
Boys Track
League champions: SLV: Cody Johnson (1600 meters 4:32, and 800 meters,1:54), Johnny Cooper (400 meters 52.1) and Nick Hicks (3200 meters 10:03.07)
Scotts Valley: Evan Hilton (high jump, 6-0) Alex Benko (pole vault 13-0)
State qualifier: Cody Johnson 800 meters 1:54
Girls Track
League Champions: Scotts Valley: Ranae Malone (300 meter hurdles 47.72)
SLV: Cameron Kellogg (shot put, 31-1), Anna Maxwell (3200 meters 10.29)
Maxwell and Scotts Valleys Vanessa Fraser both ran at the state meet in the 3200 meters. (Maxwell set a personal best of 10:29, Fraser set her own top time of 10:37)
Boys Golf
Both schools struggled at team scores but had a number of individual bright spots. SLVs Dan Herrera an Scotts Valleys Colton Mashal both made the all SCCAL team. Tom Flebbe earned honorable mention.
Softball
Scotts Valley: 7-5 league, 15-11 overall. SLV: 9-3 league, 17-12 overall.
The Falcons finished with their best record in school history behind the hot bat of Nicole Whitney. Cougar pitcher Kendra Salangsang was voted pitcher of the year for SLV. SLV won nine of their last ten games losing to eventual CCS champion Santa Catalina in the CCS playoffs.
