20 years ago: May 11, 1991 - Manteca High’s Paul Gutierrez hurled a three-hitter to lead the Buffs to a 3-1 VOL baseball win over East Union High Friday afternoon at MHS. Gutierrez had done the same thing in the first meeting between the two city teams. The junior left-hander walked five and struck out eight. Junior Dain Cilley led the Buffs’ attack, going three-for-four at the plate, scoring once and driving in a run.

Alicia Lyon and LaShawn Daniels each garnered four first-place finishes to lead East Union High’s showing in the VOL track finals, while Manteca High’s girls squad placed second and the boys, third. The Lancers took second in boys competition, scoring 125 points, trailing Sonora High’s 150. Lyon won the 400 meters (1:01.7), the 800 meters (2:24.2) and 1600 meters (5:38.4), along with combining with Kirsten Nelson, Darla Perreira and Jennifer Domingo to win the 4x400 meter relay (4:21.1). Manteca High’s Lynn Spradlin won both the 100 (12.2) and the 200 (26.0). Lady Buff Erin Lathrop finished off the list of girls double winners by taking first in the shot put (35-2.5) and in the discus (121-1.5). For the local boys, Daniels won the 200 (22.5) and the 400 (50.8), as well as leading the winning 4x400 relay team with DelShaun Williams, Larry Martinez and John Brooks with a 3:29.6 time. He then led the 4x100 relay team with Williams, Ricky DeShaw and Rudy Bass with a winning time of 44.0. Manteca High’s Rick Asbell repeated as the VOL shot put champion with a heave of 55-4.5, along with winning the discus with a toss of 154-7.

Manteca High’s Julie Gaynor took first place in the finals of the 100 breaststroke Friday at the Sac-Joaquin Section swimming championships at Lodi’s Tokay High pool. The Lady Buff’s time was 1:06.9, a section-best for a sophomore.

On Tuesday afternoon, Manteca High athletic director Walker Vick announced that Martha Dias had been hired to succeed the retired Butch Linn as varsity coach of girls basketball at the school. Dias coached frosh basketball for the past six seasons, as well as frosh volleyball and frosh-soph softball. She will drop volleyball off her schedule next season.

The Manteca High softball team got revenge for a pair of losses to Sonora High and clinched the VOL title in the process with a 12-0 win Tuesday afternoon. The Lady Buffs of Coach Bill Mendosa banged out 11 hits in support of Tracie Sloan’s no-hitter before the umpire pulled the plug in the bottom of the sixth inning due to the 10-run rule. Roni Hart had three hits, including a double, and drove in five runs for MHS.

Needing only a win at fifth-place Los Banos High to clinch a spot in the section tournament, the East Union High softball team played its worst game of the year to lose 11-0 Tuesday afternoon. EU was held hitless after Karina Ward’s first-inning single. The Lady Lancers ended their season at 6-4 in the VOL, 13-5 overall. The unexpected defeat snapped a five-game win streak. Coach Mike Morenzone will have the entire team of starters back for the 1992 season.

The East Union High baseball team pounded Los Banos High 9-1 Wednesday afternoon to win the VOL title for the second straight year. Coach Darrell Hardcastle’s Lancers jumped out to a quick lead with three runs in the first inning. Mike Costa had two hits and drove in three runs for EU and Eric Simoni and Mark Kackley each had two hits and drove in one run in EU’s 10-hit attack.



10 years ago: May 19, 2001 - Sierra High’s junior Matt Berezay holds the title of Most Valuable Player of the VOL’s all-league baseball selections. Manteca’s high schools were well-represented with quality athletes. East Union High’s Adrian Anaya was chosen as the league’s Outstanding Offensive Player. The Lancer junior batted .452 in league play and had a 3-0 pitching record with a 2.67 ERA. Senior shortstop Robert Breedlove was the VOL’s Outstanding Defensive Player. Other locals making the all-league squad included Kyle Raymond and Chris Deitrich from EU and Timberwolves Ryan Teicheira and Mike Loomis.

VOL all-league softball selections placed East Union High’s Ryan Harris and Sarah Cross from Manteca High as co-MVP’s. Harris had a league batting average of .356, while Cross batted .388 in league games. First team selections from the Lady Lancer squad included Mary Norton, Ashley Anderson and Jaime Anderson. EU’s Mike Morenzone was named VOL Coach of the Year for the fourth year in a row. Along with Cross, Manteca High’s first team VOL honors went to pitcher Becci Harnden, with a 1.30 ERA and to third baseman Valerie Placencia. First team honors for Sierra High players went to Amanda Tucker, Vanessa Portillo, Lisa Young and Chyanne Jacomini.

As a result of the finals at the Sac-Joaquin sub-sectional meet at Modesto Junior College yesterday, 25 athletes, 22 finalists and two alternates from Mant eca will make the trek next week to the Sectional Meet at UC Davis. For East Union High in the girls competition, Amy Haapanen had no trouble with the field in the shot put (40-9.5). Other advancing Lancers were the 4x100 relay team of Kim Moore, Anneka Haroldsen, Courtney Williams and Mika Madden, who placed sixth. Another school record fell for Sierra High’s girls. The 4x400 relay team of Lorelyn Pascual, Nicole Bullock, Rebekah Hagan and Brittany Proctor placed second in 4:02.88. Proctor also placed second in the 800 meters (2:22.3), while Pascual ran to a fifth in the 100 (12.64) and Jennifer Sanchez earned a fifth place in the 100 hurdles in  16.54. Manteca High’s Amanda Toon, with a strong performance, placed fifth in the grueling 3200 meters at 12:03.45. Local boys were also successful on the track. Both Manteca High and East Union High had double winners. The Buffaloes’s Charlie Larson earned the number-two spot in both the 110 (15.05) and the 300 hurdles (39.74). Lancer Kenny Hughes qualified in the 200, where he placed fourth in 22.25 and in the 100, where he placed fifth in 11.08. EU’s Ricky Cuevas demolished the field with his first place run in the 3200 meters (9:35.67). Teammate Josh Willingham placed third in the 1600 meters (4:31.07 ) and fellow Lancer Brian Boone was not far behind in sixth place. Manteca High’s Jeff Paneda and Sierra’s Sean Payne-Wilson both qualified in the 800 meters. Another T’wolf, Dejon McIntyre, advanced in the triple jump (42-9.5) for second place.