Best of South Placer High School Sports 2022

The winter and spring 2022 high school sports seasons produced a number of local section champions, along with numerous memories that will be remembered. This week, we wanted to look back on what was a special start to the 2022 athletic year. Soccer Both the boys' and girls' Whitney High soccer teams won the Sac-Joaquin Section Championship in February, with the girl's defeating Granite Bay High in the Division II game at Cosumnes River College and the boys capturing the Division I title against Modesto High at Heart Health Park. The Lady Wildcats won in a penalty shootout with sophomore Lauren Hunter scoring the winning penalty. Hunter led Whitney High with 19 goals and 11 assists. The boys dominated 5-0 in their game with junior Brayden Goularte scoring a hat trick. Goularte led the Wildcats in scoring all season with 22 goals. The boys' team went on to win the NorCal title with a 3-1 win against Watsonville High on March 5. The Lady Wildcats also did something remarkable off of the field and won the 2021-22 Dick Nelson award, which is a community service award that goes to a team who participated in a project that gave back to the community. The team put together 80 drawstring bags that had items such as gift cards, clothing items, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and other toiletries and gave them to kids in need who go to the school. Head coach Ana Jones took her three senior captains, Aubrey Murray, Angela Shannon and Natalie Eppler, down to Lodi on April 6 to receive the award and Whitney High also earned $750 to go toward its program. The Rocklin Thunder girls' soccer team also earned an award for another achievement off the field: academics. The Lady Thunder won the California Interscholastic Federation Sac-Joaquin Section Girls Soccer Academic Champion award and had a cumulative grade point average of 3.88. Basketball The Valley Christian Academy girls' basketball team won its fifth Division VI Sac-Joaquin Section title at Golden 1 Center in February against Sacramento Adventist. The Lady Lions were led by Gracie and Christelle Williams who combined for 41.6 points per game. However, it was sophomore Mariah Contreras who came up big in the championship game with 28 points. Wrestling Whitney High's Leah Brown and Del Oro High's Elena Ivaldi both won the state championship in their respective weight classes in February. Brown finished the season 30-0 with 29 pinfalls in the 150-pound weight class, pinning her opponent in 39 seconds in the final match and Ivaldi won at 121 pounds, finishing the season 37-0. Emma Meadows and Jazmin Roschmann were the first two female wrestlers in the 110-year history of Roseville High School to compete at the state championship. Roschmann finished in the Top 12 while Meadows won her first match in the consolation bracket and finished 27-12 on the season. Baseball Granite Bay High won its first section title since 2001 with a 4-2 victory against Rio Americano High in the Division II Championship game on May 24. The Grizzlies went on to win their first two games in the NorCal playoffs before falling 4-2 to Archbishop Mitty High in the championship game. The Grizzlies were led at the plate by seniors Preston Fondren and JP Smith and also had solid pitching from Cadden Hunter and Chase Bentley. The Whitney Wildcats won their first Sac-Joaquin Section title in school history in a 2-1 win against McClatchy High on May 26. Whitney High made comebacks in the first two rounds of the section playoffs, including a five-run seventh inning against St. Mary's. The Wildcats had a talented young core and were led by junior Jace Gillmore, who was 11-0 on the mound and batted in 23 runs at the plate. Softball The Del Oro Lady Eagles won their first section title since 2002 and their eighth in history with a 10-9 win against St. Francis at Sacramento City College on May 28. The Golden Eagles had six players who batted more than.300 on the season and the team combined for 42 home runs. Their magical run came to an end in the NorCal semifinals against Clovis High. Boys' volleyball After losing the Sac-Joaquin Section Championship game to Jesuit on May 14, the Woodcreek Timberwolves got their revenge seven days later, winning the NorCal title in three sets against the Marauders. The Timberwolves won the Capital Valley Conference and ended the season with a 30-5 record and ranked 39th in the nation. Offensively, the Timberwolves were led by senior Nico Nielsen with 353 kills. Track and field Sixteen area athletes qualified for the state meet with multiple athletes participating in the finals events on May 28. The top performances came from Rocklin High as sophomore Giselle Kirchner placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and the boys' 4x400-meter relay team came in fourth at 3:15. Whitney junior Katie Kopec and sophomore Juliana Roberson qualified for the finals in their respective events, along with Emily Beasley, Jasmine Beasley and Ashanti Elie for the 4x100-meter relay. Del Oro High senior Riley Chamberlain also competed in the finals and placed seventh in the 3,200-meter race. Swimming A number of local athletes competed in the State Championship, including Granite Bay Grizzlies senior Hayden Ghufran who placed second in the 200-yard freestyle and led the 200-yard freestyle relay team, along with Chris Nihart, Ethan Scifres and Seth Bousfield, to a fourth-place finish. Whitney High freshman Jada Duncan competed in the finals of the 50-yard freestyle, placing second at 22.83 seconds while Del Oro High junior Sean Christianson raced in the finals of the 200-yard individual medley. Grizzlies senior Rosie Murphy placed fourth in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:01 and also came in 15th in the 100-yard backstroke. She was also on the 200-yard medley relay team with Brooke Beauvais, Mary Brooke Chandler and Ella McCarron that finished 12th, and the 400-yard freestyle relay team with Chandler, Skyla Lang and Maddie Myers that placed 15th. Boys' golf The Granite Bay Grizzlies finished second at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet and qualified for the NorCal Regional Championship. While they were unable to make it to state as a team, sophomore Sam Lyons qualified as an individual and shot a six-over-par 77 at San Gabriel Country Club to finish tied for 39th out of 54 golfers. Roseville High also had a great season as the Tigers won their first league title since 1991 and placed second in the Division II Tournament, making it to the Masters Tournament. Rugby In addition, the Granite Bay club rugby team won its first national championship since 2016 against Belmont Shore in Indiana. They defeated their opponents by an average of more than 30 points per game and were ranked Number One for 12 weeks in a row.