Zion Allen and Anthony Sausedo, recent grads of Manteca and Ripon high schools, respectively, are off and running to college, but not before they crossed the finish line of their stellar high school careers.

The Manteca Bulletin All-Area Male Track & Field Co-Athletes of the Year had the opportunity compete with the best in the state, as they competed in the California Interscholastic Federation Championships. They joined exclusive clubs prior to qualifying for the state meet.

Allen, headed for BYU on a football scholarship, made school history by winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes in the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Championships in Davis. He’s the first from MHS to win either event at the Section finale. He’s the ninth Buffalo to win an individual title and the first since Paul Cano (pole vault) and Amanda Dias (300 hurdles) both did it in 1988.

In addition to his double golds at Masters, Allen won both events in the SJS Division III Finals and the Valley Oak League Championships. He was also part of the winning 4x100 relay in the divisional meet.

At state, Allen finished with the 22nd best 100 time (10.84 seconds) and 16th in the 200 (21.78) in the preliminaries. He best wind-legal times of 10.73 in the 100 (SJS Masters Finals) and 21.71 (Sacramento Meet of Champions) are school records.

The Stanford-bound Sausedo was vital in leading Ripon to the SJS Division V championship, just its second for the boys team in school history. Individually, he’s the Section’s overall champion in the 300-meter hurdles, clocking a personal record time of 38.26 seconds in the final heat. He also PR’d in the 110 hurdles (14.88) that day but placed sixth — only the top three earn automatic bids for state.

Sausedo is the fifth Ripon athlete claim an individual championship in the sport and the first since Jonas Bergstrom won the 110 hurdles in 1991. He’s also a standout student, as he is class valedictorian,

Sausedo, however, opted to skip his graduation and pre-recorded his valedictory address so that he could compete in the 102nd CIF state meet in Clovis. He advanced to the 300 hurdles final with the sixth best time (38.72) in the prelims but wound up one spot shy (seventh, 38.67) of earning a top-six medal on the second day.

Sausedo is the reigning SJS Division V titlist in both hurdles events and was part of the winning 4x100 and runner-up mile relay.

 

TENNIS PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

German foreign-exchange student Jonas Mueller made his one year with Manteca High’s tennis team count.

He left his mark along with freshman Yok Chai Ma, as the talented tandem won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II Individual Tournament doubles crown. They’re the first male players from MHS to win at this tournament, snapping a streak of seven losses in the final round.

Ma and Mueller led the Buffaloes to a third-place finish in the VOL, but the team did not have the depth to defend its SJS Division IV championship from 2019.

Instead of vying for the VOL Tournament singles title, the Buffs’ top two players decided to team up and improve their chances of winning the top prize as doubles partners. They conquered the league tourney with little resistance and continued their dominance through the first three rounds of the Section event.

In the final, the top-seeded duo was challenged by No. 2 Avi and Deven Kothari of Rodriguez (Fairfield) and battled to prevent a third set, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

 

GOLFER OF THE YEAR

Ripon Christian graduate Camdan Indelicato was robbed of the opportunity to qualify for the CIF NorCal Regional Championships the past two years, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He came close this year, finishing two strokes shy of an automatic berth and one short of joining a playoff for the final bid. Indelicato was magnificent nonetheless in his final round as a Knight, finishing 2-over-par 73 to lead all-area players in the SJS Masters Championships at Elkhorn Golf Club.

Indelicato helped RC repeat as Southern Athletic League champions and was crowned MVP after scoring a 4-over-76 in the league finale at La Contenta Golf Club. He again carded a 76 at the same course the following week, good for second place in the SJS Division VI Tournament. Indelicato failed to repeat as divisional champion, but the team dominated for the Section banner and a ticket to Masters.

 

SWIMMER OF THE YEAR

After leading Ripon’s boys water polo team to a Section championship in the fall,

freshman Ben Svoboda spearheaded a surprising run to the SJS frosh-soph swim title,

Svoboda participated in four final-round races at the Section meet. He took seventh in the 100-yard freestyle in 50.81 seconds and eighth in the 200 free in 1 minute, 54.57 seconds. He was also part of the sixth-place 200 medley relay and seventh-place 400 free relay with Brody Biedermann, Ben Rodgers, Teo West and Nathan Selna.

Svoboda had a hand in four first-place finishes in the VOL Championships, winning the 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.