From soccer to football, read which stories made the top 5 sports stories of the year.
This past year was thrilling, to say the least, when it came to Imperial Valley athletics. From the start of the year up until a few weeks ago, various schools, individuals and athletic programs produced history-making headlines that are worth repeating in this year-inreview feature. Holtville High boys’ soccer wins CIF title on golden goal
Starting things off in the history-making year for Imperial Valley athletics is the boys’ soccer team from Holtville High.
The 2016-2017 Vikings won the school’s first CIF-San Diego Section Div. IV boys’ soccer title in early March in dramatic fashion.
In the CIF final, the Vikings found themselves tied 1-1 against Crawford at the end of regulation.
This sent the game into a 15-minute, sudden-death overtime period.
Scoring the golden goal for Holtville was sophomore Francisco Navarro, who came off the bench to help the Vikings win the game.
Scoring Holtville’s first goal was then senior Nick Torres, who said the following after the team’s win: “We knew coming in here, playing Crawford wasn’t going to be easy. But we wanted this win so bad for Coach (Juan) Arroyo. Everything he’s been through and everything he’s put into the program. We wanted it for him.”
Vincent Memorial football reaches state championship game
Up next on the list of top Imperial Valley sports moments is this season’s performance from the Vincent Memorial High football team.
The Scots went on an unprecedented 12-3 run that included a CIF-San Diego Section Div. V title, CIF State Div. 6-A Regional title and an appearance in the CIF State Div. 6-A Championship.
It’s worth noting once again that the Scots missed the playoffs entirely in 2016, but as they returned nearly 30 seniors to the field this year, were not denied in their quest for a CIF title.
This year, Vincent Memorial also won its first outright Manzanita League title in its short 18year program history.
The Scots were led by Head Coach David Wong on the sidelines, while senior quarterback Eduardo Valenzuela and senior receiver Juan Pablo Ruiz paced the team on the field.
Ruiz reflected on the team’s season just a few weeks ago: “It feels great that even with the little resources we have, we’re doing all this. I mean, we barely have a locker room or weight room, but it’s our effort that’s really getting us here.”
Southwest High football finishes season nearly perfect
Similar to the fourth moment on this list, the No. 3 performance of the year goes to another local football team, this one from Southwest High.
The Eagles and the Scots had nearly identical seasons this year as Southwest also earned its first outright league title this year, to go with a CIF-San Diego Section Div. III title, CIF State Div. 4-A Regional title and an appearance in the CIF State Div. 4-A Championship.
The Eagles went 14-1 this year, falling only in the state championship to Milpitas.
Along the way, Southwest named three players to the AllCIF Second Team list including offensive lineman Jonathan Puga, defensive back Cameron Jungers and running back Tyler Saikhon.
“I give all the credit to these guys. We got Coach of the Year at CIF because of these guys and what they’ve done and what they’ve accomplished,” said Eagle Head Coach John Mitosinka at a Board of Supervisors meeting on Dec. 19 . “They’ll remember this forever and nobody will be able to take this achievement away from them because they earned it and they’re pretty badass kids.”
Royce Freeman concludes stellar collegiate career
For four years, Royce Freeman took Imperial Valley football fans on a fantastic journey that included a Rose Bowl championship, College Football Playoff National Championship appearance and countless record-making University of Oregon and PAC-12 performances.
This year, Freeman made the most of his final season as a Duck after he surpassed LaMichael James as the Ducks’ all-time leading rusher.
On Oct. 21, the 2014 Imperial High grad rushed for 160 yards on 29 carries in a conference matchup against UCLA.
The performance tipped Freeman’s career total to 5,103, ahead of James’ 5,082 posted in the 2011 season.
At the end of this year, Freeman tallied 5,621 rushing yards for the University of Oregon that went 7-6 on the season and 4-5 in conference action.
Additionally, Freeman earned the Kilkenny Team MVP Award and was a Doak Walker Award Semifinalist (Nation’s Top Running Back) and Maxwell Award Semifinalist (National Player of the Year).
Brawley High athletics has remarkable year
While Brawley Union High has a rich tradition of producing league-championship teams, 2017 was a standout year for the Wildcats across a variety of sports in IVL and CIF action.
In 2017, the Wildcats competed for not one, but five CIF-San Diego Section titles.
This year, the Wildcats had CIF title wins in boys’ basketball, boys’ wrestling and baseball, while the girls’ soccer and girls’ wrestling teams finished runners-up in their CIF-SDS title appearances.
The Div. III baseball title was a first for the school, while the Div. IV boys’ basketball title was a chance to redeem the team’s title-game loss from 2016.
The boys’ wrestling title in essence was nothing new as it was the Wildcats 17th-straight CIF title win.
The opportunity for Brawley and other Valley schools to compete in more CIF-San Diego Section championships came about five years ago when the section decided to change its playoff format.
While Brawley Athletic Director Billy Brewer acknowledges his role in the success of the Wildcat’ sports program, he is quick to share the credit with the student-athletes, coaches, administration, school board and the Wildcat community.
“Strong administrative leadership is critical to any success at Brawley High be it academic, activities or athletics,” said Brewer. “The school board and administration is appreciative of the hard work the coaches and players put in and (is) supportive of our efforts … we’re somewhat unique in that aspect and helps define who we are as a school.”