Sixty years ago, on April 3, 1952, Manteca High ran up a big point lead to easily defeat Downey High of Modesto in a track meet. The score was 86.5 to 17.5. Mariano Valenzuela was the leading Buff point-getter with firsts in the high hurdles and the broad jump and a second in the low hurdles. Paul Wiggin tossed the 12-pound shot 45-6. 5 to set a new school record in that event.



In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:

10 years ago: April 17, 2002 - On a visit to the Manteca High pool on Tuesday, the Sierra High swimmers swept the host Buffaloes with an 80-52 verdict in boys competition and a 106-64 score for the Timberwolf girls. Andrew May broke his own MHS school record as he took the 500 free. Sierra freshman Pat Windschitl grabbed firsts in the 200 IM, the 100 free and had a part in the winning 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay. Randy Long swam a leg of the 400 free relay team. For the Buffalo boys, May had another win, this one in the 200 free and as a part of the 200 free relay team. The girls division saw Sierra pick up 10 first-place finishes. Melissa Brock had firsts in the 50 free and in the 100 free; Nicole Draa collected firsts in the 200 free and the 500 free; and JaNeil Bragg was a double winner (in the 200 IM and the 100 breast).

Amanda Tucker pitched a perfect game on Tuesday as the Sierra High softball team blanked visiting Sonora High 6-0. She struck out 16 batters and was described by Coach Nicole Burrows as a “one-woman show today”. Roni Castro paced the T-wolf batters with two hits.

Brittany Tachara pitched a two-hitter as East Union High took a 1-0 eight-inning softball win over Tracy High on Tuesday. In the bottom of the eighth, Annie Richards walked, went to second on Ryan Harris’s third hit of the game, was sacrificed to third and came home as Ashley Anderson singled.

East Union High took a 3-0 soccer win over host Manteca High on Tuesday. Kelli Goes scored twice for the Lancers and Jenny Lennert added another goal in the win. EU goalie Kelsey Christeson had four saves.

West High collected a 7-2 win over visiting Manteca High in softball action on Tuesday. Trailing by seven runs, the Lady Buffs scored twice in the final inning as Jenny Hummel’s double brought home Ashley Albert and Emily Hogan.

The East Union High swimmers traveled to Oakdale High on Tuesday and later came home with a split, the boys winning 106-63 and the girls dropping a 97-72 verdict. Three Lancers were double winners as Danny Riolo won the 200 free and the 200 IM, Quinlan Chaves touched first in the 100 free and the 100 breast, while Victor Hucke grabbed the 500 free and the 100 back. The Lady Lancers were led by Erin Pritchard’s first-place in the 100 fly.

Coach Manuel Pires and his Sierra High soccer team came home from Los Banos High on Tuesday with a 10-0 win over the Tiger booters. Cherie Early, Renee Mercado, Marti Teunissen and Katelyn Quaresma each scored twice for the Lady T’wolves, while Jackie Wax and Amanda Bartolomeu netted one each. Los Banos was limited to only four shots on goal.

The East Union High golf team took second place at West High with a 400 score over 18 holes on Monday. Sierra High placed fourth and Manteca High finished sixth out of the nine VOL squads. EU’s Matt Hulbert carded the best score of the day with a 72. Brent Beck’s 81 paced the T’wolves and Jason Gonzales topped the Buffalo swingers with an 82.

With an eight-run fifth inning, Sierra High blanked Merced High 9-0 in baseball action on Monday. Aaron Danley and David O’Brien combined to pitch the shutout. Matt Berezay’s double drove in a pair of runs in the big fifth frame for Coach Jack Thomson’s boys.

An eight-run rally in the fifth inning sealed a 9-0 shutout win for East Union High over Tracy High in baseball action on Friday. Willie Keeler pitched the three-hit shutout for the Lancers. Nick St. Hilaire had an outstanding day as he was 2 for 3 with an RBI and scored two runs himself. Scotty Costa and Nick Taiariol also gathered two hits each for EU.

In a tough day on the courts, Manteca High’s tennis team fell to the undefeated West High team 15-0.

The Sierra High tennis team showed some racket action as they beat Sonora High 14-1 on Friday.

East Union High’s tennis team came through with a huge win over Tracy High on Friday. The 10-5 victory boosts the Lancers’ record. Chris Vaughn paced the EU netters with three wins.

Thursday’s track meet between Sierra and East Union Highs saw the T’wolves edge the Lancer boys 68-67 and down the Lady Lancers 91-44. Timberwolf Daniel Teicheira won the shot put with a 44-foot toss and was part of the winning 4x100 relay team. Darren Dodd was a three-time winner for the Lancer boys as he took the mile, two-mile and 800. In girls competition, EU’s Amy Haapanen won the shot put (41-7) and the discus with a 137-11 toss. Sierra’s Jennifer Hendowski was a double winner, with firsts in the 110 hurdles (17.9) and the 300 hurdles (53.9).

On Friday, Manteca High hosted Oakdale High in a track meet. The Lady Buffs lost a close 69-58 score, while the Buffalo boys dropped a 75-60 decision. Jeff Paneda was a triple winner for MHS as he won the 800, the 1600 and the 3200 races. For the Lady Buffs, Jessica Kuesthardt won the 100 and the pole vault.



20 years ago: April 14, 1992 - Brandy Brock tossed a no-hitter as the East Union High softball team (10-1 overall) pounded Christian Brothers High 10-0 in a game that was called after five innings Tuesday due to the 10-run rule. The Lady Lancers had a big six-run second inning in the Sacramento Tournament game as Leticia Simoni and Kim Clark drove in two runs apiece.

Manteca High rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh inning Thursday to beat host Chico High 13-12 in the championship game of its own tournament. Dain Cilley ripped a two-run double in that inning for the Buffaloes. Peter Gomez then knocked in Cilley with the go-ahead run. Jason Pitts, Paul Gutierrez and Cilley all had a pair of hits to lead MHS.

Behind Mike Costa’s one-hitter, East Union High blanked previously unbeaten Oroville High 9-0 Tuesday in the Dixon Baseball Tournament. Elbert Bartlett blasted a bases-loaded triple for the Lancers in a big second-inning rally.



30 years ago: April 13, 1982 - The Manteca High badminton team won eight of nine singles matches and whipped Ceres High 10-3 in VOL action Tuesday. In singles, Debbie Drury won three times, as did Stephanie Veneman. The MHS doubles tandem of Barbara Haflich and Pam Sukow won twice.

East Union High scored three times in the third inning and once more in the bottom of the sixth Tuesday afternoon as the Lancers cruised to an easy 5-2 VOL baseball win over Sonora High. Adrian Racacho went the distance to pick up the win, his fourth of the year against no defeats. The senior left-hander gave up five hits, walked four and struck out eight. Frank Padilla had two of the five EU hits, including a double.

James Matas and Chris Harris combined for a four-hitter Tuesday as Manteca High won its first VOL game this season, a 7-0 shutout over Ceres High. Matas, counted upon to be the ace of the staff, worked six innings, striking out 12 batters. Coach Jack Thomson’s Buffaloes collected eight hits, two each by Larry Machado and Ron Limas.

The Manteca High tennis team improved its VOL record to 4-0 with an easy 15-0 win over cross-town rival East Union High at the MHS courts Wednesday. In singles action, Greg Toy won all three of his matches, as did Randy Lagomarsino and Eric Swenson. In doubles, Steve Lin and Tim Wun, along with Bob Perez and Kent Talcott, won twice each.

East Union High tallied five times in the fourth inning after two outs and rallied to beat cross-town rival Manteca High 7-4 in softball action Thursday at Northgate Park. Nancy Nunes got two of East Union’s hits, as did Michelle Foote for the Lady Buffs. The Lady Lancers capitalized on 12 walks by three different MHS pitchers.

Ron Redeen and Sean Paschini shot 40 each as Manteca High topped cross-town rival East Union High 205-210 in a golf match Tuesday at Manteca Municipal Golf Course. Dennis Essenwein led EUHS with a 41.

In their first track meet in 40 days, East Union High dropped a 90-44 verdict to Ceres High in action Wednesday. Senior James Mackey made his 1982 track debut with a 54.15 time in the 440, good enough for first place. Mike Kooyman led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 330 low hurdles with a 43.6. The EUHS mile relay team jogged home to victory. For the girls who bowed 67-47, junior Ann Pimentel was a double winner, taking the mile (6:47) and two-mile (14:29.36).



40 years ago: April 12, 1972 - Coach Rick Arucan’s East Union High baseball team upset the VOL apple cart as they surprisingly routed the previously undefeated Lincoln High Trojans 3-0 on the Union baseball diamond Tuesday afternoon. The Lancer victory was paced by the five-hit pitching of Ted Davis and the big bats of Nick Wright and Mike Muratore.

Oakdale High may have dealt Manteca High’s hopes for a shot at the VOL baseball title a death blow Friday afternoon when they pasted the Buffs 11-4 on the Manteca diamond. The untimely loss dropped MHS’s league record to 3-3. John Thissen connected for three hits for Manteca, while teammates Greg Williams and Billy Matas gathered two each.

The Manteca High golf team upset the previously undefeated Lincoln High team 200-206 to move back into contention in the VOL race. The big victory moved the Buffs’ record to 7-2 and 12-2 overall. Bob Bressani, Bob Giest and Gary Lowe all carded 39’s for Manteca.

East Union High’s number-one player Bill Reynolds lost a tough tennis match as the Lancers dropped a tight 3-2 game to the Ceres High squad Friday afternoon.

Continuing its winning ways, the Manteca High track team rolled over Los Banos High 100-26 in a VOL dual meet Monday afternoon. The meet had been postponed from the previous week due to the flooding of the Manteca track, but the delay didn’t seem to hinder the Buffs’ performance. John Peters and Danny Head led the Buff assault that brought home first-place finishes in 13 of the 15 events. Peters grabbed three gold medals and anchored the winning 440 relay team. The speedy junior’s wins came in the 100 (10.4), the 220 (23.6) and the long jump (19-7.5). Head won both hurdle events, the 120 highs (16.1) and the 180 lows (21.3).



50 years ago: April 12, 1962 - Manteca High, led by the two-hit pitching of Eron Grisham, downed Atwater High 4-0 Friday to jump right back into the thick of the VOL pennant scramble. Grisham was near-perfect as he went the route to hurl his first shutout of the season for the locals. The junior right-hander was in complete control throughout the contest and helped his own cause by picking up two singles in two trips to the plate. Gene Rea also had two hits for the Buffs.

Manteca High took its second straight defeat of the VOL tennis season when Atwater High defeated the Buffs 4-1 in a match played on the local courts last Friday. The only win for Manteca came when Wally Mitchell and Jim Waterman won in doubles competition.



60 years ago: April 10, 1952 - The Manteca High baseballers dropped their third straight Valley Oak League game last Friday when they were defeated 3-2 at the hands of Sonora High. Playing on the local diamond, the visitors pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a 1-1 deadlock.



70 years ago: April 9, 1942 - Persons interested in sponsoring softball teams in city league competition at Recreation Park during the coming season had better take action at once, it was announced at a meeting of the Manteca Softball Association held last night. President Harry Lourentzos reported two of the proposed four-team league berths had already been filled by the Kraft Cheese squad, managed by Manuel deSimas, and the Manteca Firemen, with Henry Theiler and Charles Bates as co-pilots.