Athlete Spotlight

Steven Marin

Grade: Junior School: Clayton Valley Charter

Sport: Wrestling

The pride of being an Ugly Eagle and representing Clayton Valley Charter is an attribute that junior wrestler Marin upholds in both his wrestling and academic careers. Marin has been working hard at his wrestling endeavors for six years. His dedication earned him a spot on the CVCHS varsity wrestling team during his freshman year. Marin has participated on the Community Youth Wrestling Center team for six years. For the Ugly Eagles he placed at multiple tournaments this year, including fifth place at the Bay Area 59 and Bill Martell tournaments, fourth at the 22nd Mat Classic and second at the Deets Winslow Invitational.

As a young athlete, Marin played baseball and basketball. He notes that those experiences taught him to be a team player at all times. His dedication to wrestling is reflective of his achievements in the classroom, as he maintains an unweighted 3.3 GPA. Marin looks ahead a year when he hopes to attend college with the intention of majoring in

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•Wood Refinishing travels to No. 10 Ukiah (17-7). Carondelet has not lost since Jan. 3 while maintaining a high national, state and NCS ranking all season. Coach Amy Apodaca’s team will meet the winner of Fremont-Foothill in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Clayton Valley Charter and Las Lomas both kept undefeat- ed records for the 2022-23 season when the two Diablo Athletic League squads drew their final league game 1-1 last week in a rare end of the season matchup of unbeaten teams. Now CVCHS is top seed in Division I and Las Lomas is No. 1 in Division II.

Coach Guillermo Zara’s Ugly Eagles will be seeking the school’s first-ever boys NCS soccer championship. They fell in last winter’s semi-finals to eventual champs De La Salle 10. The Concord rivals can only meet in the championship game this year.

De La Salle lost four of six games in a two-week stretch through the beginning of February and need to quickly regain their early January form to progress in this year’s playoffs. The Spartans defeated their opening-round opponents, San Ramon Valley, last week 2-0 in an EBAL game.

9 local basketball teams in Section tournament field

Clayton Valley Charters boys will be after its second successive North Coast Section Division I basketball title as the top seed in Division I while Carondelet will have to win a repeat girls Open Division crown as the fourth seed in the tournament beginning this week.

They are two of the nine local high school teams to qualify for the NCS playoffs this winter.

BOYS electrics. Marin is very grateful for his wrestling coach at CVCHS, Michael Clemmensen, who continues to push him past his limits. He is also thankful for his club wrestling coaches Stevie Gee and Robbie Smith.

CVCHS student journalist Katherine Pugh wrote this Spotlight.

The Pioneer congratulates Steven and thanks Athlete Spotlight sponsors Dr. Laura Lacey & Dr. Christopher Ruzicka who have been serving the Clayton and Concord area for over three decades at Family Vision Care Optometry.

Do you know a young athlete who should be recognized? Perhaps he or she has shown exceptional sportsmanship, remarkable improvement or great heart for the sport. Send your nomination for the Pioneer Athlete Spotlight today to sports@pioneerpublishers.com.

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Open Division – De La Salle (20-7 overall, 7-2 in EBAL) is the second seed to first-time East Bay Athletic League champion Dougherty Valley. Both teams received a bye to the Open Division semi-finals next Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Division I – CVCHS (224, 10-2) opens defense of its 2022 championship at Mt. Eden (15-11) in Hayward. The Ugly Eagles defeated Mt. Eden 53-45 in December. No. 14 College Park (14-12, 3-9) visits third seeded California (17-10) in San Ramon.

Division IV – Ygnacio Valley (20-5, 8-2) has a firstround bye and will host the winner of McKinleyvilleKelseyville on Saturday.

Pete Cruz photo

Clayton Valley Charter split its two games with Campolindo of Moraga including the Ugly Eagles win that ended the Cougars 36-game Diablo Athletic League winning streak. CVCHS sophomore standout Elijah Perryman (1) soared over Campo’s Logan Robeson (24) in a DAL game.

GIRLS

Open Division – Carondelet (21-5) is seeded fourth and hosts fifth seed Acalanes (20-6).

Division II – Northgate (18-8, 7-5) is seeded seventh and hosts No. 10 Newark Memorial (14-12).

College Park (17-8, 7-3) is No. 9 and travels to eighth seed Ukiah (14-13).

Division IV – No. 13

Ygnacio Valley (18-8, 5-5) is at fourth seed Del Norte (19-8). Division V – Mt. Diablo (15-11, 5-5) seeded No. 8 hosts