Welcome to the first annual Bay Area 75 — SportStars’ countdown of the top 75 Bay Area athletes from the 201213 school year. This is the first of three unveilings that had to be refined several times before we were convinced we had it right. Our staff considered athletes from all nine Bay Area counties who compete in sports which culminate in sanctioned section titles. Those were the only stipulations. When it was over, our list included at least one athlete from each county and had 14 different sports represented. All sports fans know that rankings are opinion, and certainly subjective. They also spark debate and conversation,
which is why we love them. As you look through the first 25, we welcome you to share your thoughts on how we’re doing and who you expect to see in the Top 50. Email us or reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter. The release of athletes #50-26 will be right here at SportStarsOnline.com on July 11, and the Top 25 will be unveiled July 18 both online and in Issue 69. We hope you enjoy the first installment. Let the debate begin! —Chace Bryson, Editor Editor@SportStarsOnline.com
FRANCIS CHRISTY Casa Grande-Petaluma Baseball - Senior The 6-foot-1 catcher’s sweet left-handed swing produced 41 hits (.423 avg), 9 doubles, 6 homers and 19 RBI. He was a Rawlings 2nd-Team Al-American and was a 37th-round draft choice by the A’s. He’s committed to Oregon.
ALYSSA ROSS Terra Linda-San Rafael - Softball - Senior No Bay Area softball player flashed more pop at the plate than Ross. The Marin Independent Journal’s Player of the Year set a Northern California record with 17 HR to go with her .558 average and 57 RBI.
TREVOR REINHART Marin AcademySan Rafael - Cross Country - Sophomore Reinhart was one of three Bay Area state cross country champions in 2012. After winning the NCS Div. V championship by just four seconds, he used his final kick to edge Etna’s John Whalen by two seconds in the CIF Div. V state title race.
JUSTIN EWING Capuchino-San Bruno Football - Senior No Central Coast Section running back has had the type of season Ewing had in 2012. Ever. He set CCS records with 396 carries and 2,956 yards. He also added 33 TDs and was named PAL-Lake Offensive Player of the Year.
JALON LUQUE Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park Football - Senior The 5-foot-9 dynamo was a star two-way player for a Cougars team which had its only loss come in the NCS Div. II final. Luque set his school’s single-season rushing record (2,071 yards) and single-game rushing mark (278 yds.). He also accounted for 49 tackles and 2 INTs on defense.
KATHLEEN SCAVO Justin-Siena-Napa - Golf - Sophomore After finishing one stroke out of first at the NCS Tournament of Champions with a 1-under 71, Scavo took top honors at the CIF/NCGA Northern Regional Tournament. She shot a 5-under 67 and won in a tie-breaker against Nancy Xu of St. Francis-Mountain View.
KELLI HAYES Archbishop MittySan Jose Basketball Junior After a breakout sophomore season for the Monarchs, Hayes picked right up where she left off. She averaged 17.7 points, 7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals to lead Mitty to WCAL and CCS Open titles. The Mercury News Player of the Year, she was also named 2nd Team All-State Elite.
SINORTI STEGMAN Berkeley - Wrestling Senior Stegman was one of six Bay Area girls wrestlers to win a state crown. However, she was the only one to do it by pinning every opponent. She won the 189-pound title by pinning Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Danielle Pubill in 2 minutes, 37 seconds.
SABRINA IONESCU Miramonte-Orinda Basketball - Freshman The only frosh to make the Bay Area 75, Ionescu was named to CalHiSports.com’s All-State Freshman team after averaging 13.8 points, 4 steals and 3.9 assists for a 27-3 Matadors team. In May, she earned a spot on the U16 National team.
CONNOR KURZE Archbishop Mitty-San Jose - Soccer - Senior Kurze was the driving force behind Mitty’s WCAL and CCS Div. II championship season. He scored 21 goals and added 8 assists. He had the decisive goal in a gritty 2-1 win over Serra-San Mateo in the WCAL semifinals. Was named Mercury News Player of the Year.
HALEY BLOUNT
ALLISON CHUANG
San Marin-Novato Diving - Senior While it seems no record at the NCS Swimming/Diving Championships is safe in recent years, Christina Conn’s diving mark of 471.20 had stood for 20 years — until Blount obliterated it by more than 40 points. Her score of 513.50 is the new NCS mark to beat.
Albany - Tennis - Sophomore After her freshman season ended in an NCS singles semifinal loss to Stephane Lin of Pinole Valley, Chuang redeemed herself in 2012 by reaching the final and defeating Lin 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. She finished the 2012 calendar year ranked No. 1 among USTA NorCal’s 16s.
ADRIAN WILLIAMS Archbishop MittySan Jose - Volleyball Senior The extremely versatile Williams did a little bit of everything in leading the Monarchs to WCAL, CCS and CIF Div. I NorCal titles. Williams averaged 4.5 kills per set and had a team-best 13 kills in the NorCal final, a 3-0 sweep of Deer Valley-Antioch.
KERIANNE HUNT Carondelet-Concord Lacrosse - Senior Hunt stood out most amongst a star-studded Cougars lineup featuring multiple All-Americans (including herself, of course). After posting 50 goals and 46 assists, she was lauded as the Bay Area News Group’s East Bay Player of the Year and the East Bay Athletic League MVP.
RYAN MAUND Foothill - Golf - Junior Maund was a model of consistency for the Falcons. He shot a 4-under 68 to help lead Foothill to the team title at the NCS Tournament of Champions. The following week, he fired another 4-under 68 to take medalist honors at the CIF/NCGA Northern Regional tourney.
ANNIKA JENSEN Campolindo-Moraga Water Polo - Junior The first of seven Campo athletes to make this list, Jensen’s stellar season included 75 goals, 35 steals and 31 assists for the NCS Div. II champion Cougars. She was named the All-NCS Team Div. II MVP as well as the Bay Area News Group Player of the Year.
JUSTIN PAGILA De La Salle-Concord - Golf - Senior Pagila made national news March 11 when he won the De La Salle Invitational with a course-record, 9-under 62 at Diablo Country Club. He followed that up by shooting a 6-under 66 at the NCS Tournament of Championships and a 3-under 69 at CIF/NCGA Northern Regional Tournament.
RYAN WALKER-HARTSHORN Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland - Soccer - Senior There’s a reason Walker-Hartshorn is part of the U-18 National Player pool, and it showed as she helped lead the Dragons to a 24-2-1 record and NCS Div. II final. She’s ticketed for Stanford in the fall.
THOMAS CARROLL Marin CatholicKentfield - Water polo - Senior With a seven-goal and twoassist effort, Carroll spurred the Wildcats to their first NCS championship. He was named Marin Catholic Athletic League MVP, the All-NCS Div. II MVP and the Marin Independent Journal Player of the Year.
TIAPEPE VITALE De La Salle-Concord Football - Senior Soft-spoken and mild-mannered, one would’ve only known Vitale was the offensive star of the state’s No. 1 team by watching him play. He set the single-season rushing record for the storied Spartans progam with 2,099 yards — reaching the mark in the CIF Open Div. Bowl. He also rushed for 33 TDs, and caught one too.
AIDAN GOLTRA Campolindo-Moraga - Cross country/Track - Junior Continuing the tradition of Cougars winning state gold at the CIF Cross Country Championships, Goltra won the Div. III title in an actual photo finish. His time of 15 minutes, 18 seconds was the best of any Bay Area runner across all divisions. In the spring, he took silver in the 3200 meters at the NCS Meet of Champions.
JACKSON MILLER Las Lomas-Walnut Creek Swimming - Senior Miller saved his best NCS Swimming Championships performance for his last one. He defended his NCS title in the 200 freestyle and then doubled up by winning the 500 freestyle — an event he was DQ’d from the year before. Oh yeah, he set NCS records in both swims.
STEVEN FARINARO Head-Royce-Oakland - Baseball - Senior In one of the most dominant seasons ever by an East Bay pitcher, Farinaro posted a 12-1 record with an 0.82 ERA with a 157 strikeouts in just 77 innings of work. He posted a 20-strikeout game during the regular season, but only needed to strike out nine in winning the NCS Div. V final. He was drafted in the 11th round by St. Louis Cardinals.
JOE WORSLEY Campolindo-moraga Volleyball - Sophomore Worsley was the ultimate facilitator for a Cougars team which won NCS and CIF NorCal Div. II titles. He posted 478 assists, including 26 in a four-set victory over Whitney-Rocklin in the NorCal final. He was also named Diablo Foothill Athletic League MVP and First Team All-East Bay by Bay Area News Group.
STEVIE BERMAN Saratoga - Basketball/Baseball Senior One of the first of a handful of Bay Area 75 honorees proving that the two-sport athlete isn’t extinct. Berman was a Third-team All-Mercury News basketball player after averaging a double-double of 15.3 points and 12.2 rebounds. He was then named First-team All-Mercury News for baseball thanks to a .474 average, 10 home runs and 34 RBI. He was the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League-De Anza baseball MVP.
The march to No. 1
continues Find out who's Nos. 50-26 on July 11 at SportStarsOnline.com