The 2015-16 school year may be remembered as the best ever for prep sports in the Manteca area.
It started in the fall, when Sierra’s football team won its first Sac-Joaquin Section and CIF state championships. Injuries ravaged the Timberwolves throughout the regular-season, leading to a 5-5 record and a fifth-place finish in the VOL.
It all came together in the playoffs, as they dominated Liberty Ranch 42-0 for the SJS Division IV title, held off Sutter 17-13 in the NorCal Division IV-A Bowl Game and escaped Chowchilla with a 20-15 win and a state title. With Central Catholic winning a third straight small-schools state title, the VOL became the first league in the state to have multiple Bowl champions in the same year.
Two teams that beat the Timberwolves during the regular season also enjoyed benchmark campaigns. Led by Manteca High graduate Joe Pirillo, Lathrop reached the SJS playoffs for the first time and was awarded the No. 1 seed in Division IV before getting upset by No. 8 Los Banos in the opening round. Ripon, meanwhile, claimed its second Trans-Valley League title in four years, and since its Division V first-round exit head coach 12-year head coach Chris Johnson announced his retirement and later accepted a teaching position at Sierra.
The Ripon boys water polo team dominated en route to winning the SJS Division III title, and Weston Ranch’s boys soccer team earned a second straight section banner, this time in a higher division.
In volleyball, Tiger Shelton returned to Ripon Christian to lead the Knights to a sixth straight Southern League championship, Ripon fell to defending state champion Sonora following its thrilling five-game upset at No. 4-seeded Woodland in the quarterfinals, and Manteca and East Union ended four-year postseason droughts.
Meanwhile, East Union’s Brooke Riley wrapped up her decorated four-year career by making her third appearance in the CIF State Girls Golf Championships, and Iris Carrillo nearly became the first Weston Ranch cross country runner to place at the state meet.
Riley and Carrillo repeat as the Bulletin’s top athletes in their respective sports. Here are the Bulletin’s picks for its All-Area MVPs for the fall season:
FOOTBALL
Mark Vicente, Sierra junior: An unlikely hero emerged in Sierra’s surprising run to the CIF State Division IV-A Bowl championship.
Vicente’s overall stats in his first full season at quarterback — 2,519 yards, 62 completion percentage, 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions; 286 yards, TDs — may not jump off the page, but there is little doubt his improvement during the postseason and clutch plays in the CIF State Division IV-A Bowl Game at Chowchilla elevated Sierra to unprecedented heights.
Trailing 15-14 with 2:28 to work with in the fourth quarter, Vicente completed 26-yard passes on fourth-and-10 and third-and-10 situations to set Sierra up in Chowchilla territory. He then scampered 21 yards to the Redskins’ 9 and found Mark Paule Jr. for the game-winning touchdown on the next play. Vicente earlier had a 65-yard touchdown run on a designed screen play that broke down.
Sierra defensive end Andrew Guevara deserves mention for his year-long excellence. He had 19.5 sacks — 5.5 coming in the SJS Division IV, NorCal Bowl and State Bowl championship games — and was named to the MaxPreps Small Schools All-State first team.
VOLLEYBALL
Samantha McCreath, Ripon junior: The best all-around player on the area’s best team, McCreath shined in her role as the Indians’ go-to hitter. She averaged 14 kills in Trans-Valley League matches and raised her game in the postseason.
McCreath had three late kills to go with and a block as Ripon shut the door on Liberty Ranch in a four-game win in the SJS Division IV playoffs. She racked up 22 kills, three blocks and 25 digs. Then she had 26 kills and 20 digs in the Indians’ thrilling five-game upset at fourth-seeded Woodland.
BOYS SOCCER
Joseph Mayorca, Weston Ranch senior: A two-time VOL MVP, Mayorca completed his outstanding career as Weston Ranch’s all-time leading scorer with 96 goals and 30 assists.
The Stanislaus State-bound striker had three straight hat tricks in league play en route to scoring 42 overall goals for the season.
He scored goals in bunches, but he had a penchant for coming through in clutch moments. That was proven in the top-seeded Cougars’ opening-round match with No. 16 Bethel of Vallejo, which appeared to be on its way to a major upset with a 2-1 lead with less than a minute remaining.
That was when Mayorca netted the equalizer on what ended up being the final play of regulation, and he scored two more in overtime to finish with four total in a wild 6-2 victory.
Weston Ranch dominated from there and avenged its two league losses to Oakdale with a 2-0 win in the Division III title game. Mayorca had six goals and three assists in four postseason contests.
GIRLS GOLF
Brooke Riley, East Union senior: No surprise here.
Riley is a four-time All-Area Golfer of the Year and leaves for Northwestern as the top female prep golfer to grace the links around these parts. She wrapped up her career with a 20th-place finish in her third straight trip to the CIF State Championship at Poppy Hills — a mild disappointment considering she placed third in this tournament as a junior.
Still, she had accomplished a ton leading up to her final round as a Lancer. She’s a four-time VOL MVP, helped lead East Union to their ninth straight league championship last fall and was twice the medalist in the SJS Masters. Riley also established a new nine-hole record for ladies golfers at Manteca Park Golf Course when she carded a 7-under 30 in a regular-season win over Oakdale.
GIRLS TENNIS
Claire Banks, Sierra junior: Banks may be the favorite in the VOL this upcoming fall.
She placed second in the VOL Singles Tournament, losing to Central Catholic senior Amie Ardis, 2-6, 2-6. Ardis was responsible for Banks’ only three losses in league.
Banks had a strong showing in her lone match in the SJS Division II Individual Tournament, where she ran into fourth-seeded McKinna Macias of Whitney and lost in straight sets, 4-6, 0-6.
Elizabeth Tolbert and Koryn Menasco, Manteca: Tolbert, the Buffaloes’ top singles player, teamed with sophomore Menasco to win the VOL Doubles Tournament title with a 6-2, 6-2 sweep of Oakdale’s Danika Brown and Cory Barney.
GIRLS X-COUNTRY
Iris Carrillo, Weston Ranch junior: Carrillo made school history as a sophomore by becoming Weston Ranch’s first girls harrier to win the individual VOL title, win a SJS sub-section race and qualify for the CIF State Championships.
She was even better her junior year. After placing fourth in the SJS Division IV competition, she set a personal record in 18 minutes, 17 seconds at Woodward Park in Fresno, the annual site of the state meet, and took 11th. The top 10 finishers receivers medals.
BOYS X-COUNTRY
Tomas Huerta, Weston Ranch junior: Huerta enjoyed a breakout season in which he was the VOL champion and first-place finisher in the SJS Division IV meet. He went on to place fourth in sections and was a respectable 32nd at state in 16:15.
