Wright made a splash in two sports for Blue Devils

By Mike Bush Enterprise sports editor

Malaya Wright has made a splash at Davis High the last four years.

The former DHS girls water polo and swimmer made another dive toward the end of May. An award she never expected to receive.

Wright was informed to go to the school’s Career Center. That is where she would be announced as the Female Athlete of the Year at the school’s Senior Awards Night inside the Richard Brunelle Performance Hall on May 30.

“I was honored and shocked,” Wright said. “I was looking around at everyone, and they all had a bunch of smiles on their faces.”

Doug Wright, an art teacher at DHS who is Malaya’s father and was her water polo head coach all four years, was inside the Career Center at the time she was

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informed she was this year’s winner.

“I looked straight at my dad, and he was smiling and crying,” recalled Malaya. “I was just really happy and honored.”

The male honor went to Holt Klineberg, who starred on the Blue Devil boys soccer and lacrosse teams.

Malaya Wright said that the night of receiving the award in front of her family, friends and now fellow seniors who graduated Friday was special.

“Just to see a lot of seniors get rewarded for their accomplishments,” Wright said. “It was really nice seeing a bunch of my friends and seeing all of the (families) coming to support. It was real nice to see how close these families are, how supportive these families are.”

Wright craved out a name for herself the last four seasons on the DHS girls water polo team.

During the 2022 season, she led Davis with 65 assists and second in scoring at 71. She also had 53 steals and accounted for 136 points.

In the 2021 season, Wright led the Blue Devils in steals at 57 and assists at 51. She was third in scoring at 74 goals and second in shots at 166.

One highlight that could stay in Wright’s mind for the rest of her life was the night of Nov. 18, 2021.

Davis hosted Soquel in the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal Girls Water Polo Championships — Division I semifinal game at River City High’s swimming pool in West Sacramento. Wright had the game-winning goal in the third overtime period, which gave DHS a 9-8 win and advanced to the championship game against eventual regional winner Miramonte.

The 2022 and 2021 seasons saw Wright and DHS capture another Delta League and Sac-Joaquin Section Division I titles.

See WRIGHT, Page B8