Collins Schluer and Taylor Zalunardo pride themselves as multi-sport athletes, but they did not envision themselves standing out in sports they had never played until they were upperclassmen at Sierra High.
A longtime baseball player, Schluer picked up water polo going into his junior year of high school and went out as the nation’s leading scorer while leading the Timberwolves to their best season.
Meanwhile, Zalunardo, who grew up with hoop dreams, joined Sierra’s fledgling flag football program at the start of her junior year and helped spearhead many first-ever moments, including a Valley Oak League championship and postseason victory this past fall.
Both believe that their experiences in other disciplines helped them not just pick up these new sports but excel in them.
Sierra recognized them as the latest Timberwolves to earn the Senior All-Around Athlete Award. Their names will be included on banners honoring all previous recipients of the award. On Wednesday, Sierra administrators gathered in the quad area on campus to honor Schluer and Zalunardo. Athletic Director Les Wheeler presented them with commemorative t-shirts and lifetime passes to regular-season sports events at Sierra.
“Anytime you walk into the gym, I want you to look up at that banner, see your names and know that you always have a home here,” Wheeler said.
Schluer started out playing football in the fall but decided to give water polo a shot after his sophomore year. He also played varsity basketball and baseball, earning all-league honorable mention in each.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Schluer said of earning Senior All-Around Athlete. “Ever since my seventh-grade year, when my sister (Lela) was here, I saw it up in the gym, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s something I could do.’
“It means a lot to me, because I’m not like a lot of people who specialize in one sport. It means that I’m able to face whatever anywhere, in the pool, or the court or on the field. I would say it’s a great accomplishment, and that’s something that you work hard for and it finally pays off.”
With his long frame at 6 feet, 3 inches and a cannon for a left arm, Schluer was a natural in the pool and earned two All-VOL first-team selections.
This past season, he racked up 288 points which included 226 goals — both nation-leading totals, according to stats submitted to MaxPreps. The Timberwolves finished with a program-best 16-15 overall record and downed Beyer 14-9 for their first Sac-Joaquin Section playoff win. Schluer accounted for six goals and four assists.
“Definitely helps having an athletic background and playing a bunch of sports growing up,” Schluer said. “And our coaches here are pretty good. They were able to teach me well. I think genetics helps a lot, being tall and playing baseball.
“I would say it was mainly coaching, because I had no clue what I was doing I didn’t know anything about the sport and the different positions. I thought of it as soccer in water. It turns out there’s so much more to the sport.”
Schluer is heading to the University of Alabama, where he will join his older sister. Although academics will be his focus, he may continue playing water polo there at some level.
Zalunardo helped Sierra’s girls basketball team qualify for the playoffs in all three of her varsity seasons. The scrappy guard was named to the VOL All-Defensive Team as a senior. She also played softball her junior and senior years.
It was on the gridiron where Zalunardo truly shined, and she got to do so with her family. Father Chris Zalunardo has coached the team since flag football became a sanctioned sport by the California Interscholastic Federation starting in the fall of 2023, and younger sister Tessa joined as a freshman quarterback for the Timberwolves’ historic 2024 run.
“I never thought I’d be playing football,” Taylor Zalunardo said. “I’m very thankful for the opportunities that I’ve had here and thankful for all the support I’ve had, as well.”
Although Sierra went 4-10 in its inaugural flag football season, Zalunardo was named All-Tri-City Athletic League Defensive Player of the Year and was among the leading tacklers in the SJS with 72 overall. She also had four interceptions and was a key contributor on offense with 788 rushing yards, 249 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
With city rivals Manteca and East Union establishing their flag football programs last fall, the VOL had enough of its own members to support the sport.
The Timberwolves are the first VOL flag football champions, going 11-1 and 19-6 overall. They routed Weston Ranch 60-0 in their first postseason contest.
Zalunardo was ultra-productive, once again, finishing with the 10th-most flag pulls in the nation with 172. The linebacker added five interceptions and a team-high 20 pass deflections, while contributing 1,081 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns on offense.
Zalunardo is taking her talents to Simpson University in Redding, where she’ll help build another flag football program from scratch.
“My main sport was definitely basketball — I’ve played it for eight years now,” Zalunardo said. “It’s a hard transition (to focus solely on flag football), because I was like, ‘No way I’m going to love something more than basketball.’ And then I started football and just really fell in love with it, and I’m really excited to play at the next level.”
A multi-sport athlete at heart, Zalunardo may not be ready to give up on basketball, just yet. She may try to earn a spot on the Simpson basketball team as a walk-on.
“It’s a great honor,” Zalunardo said of earning Sierra’s highest athletic award. “I wanted it ever since my freshman year. When I first saw the names up there, I asked who those people are, and they said they’re the best all-around athletes who took the time in the classroom and performed on the field or the court. I was like, ‘I want to be one of those people,’ so I just pushed myself to become an all-around athlete. I’m very honored to receive this, as well.”
