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Hawks earn first victory in CCC play
Sports Roundup
Malina Keomuangchanh
Malina Keomuangchanh helped Central Valley’s girls tennis team secure its first league win of the 2021 season last week. The Hawks defeated the El Capitan Gauchos 6-3 on Thursday in Ceres. - photo by Dale Butler

Central Valley High School’s girls tennis team finally secured its first win against Central California Conference competition this season.

The Hawks avenged a 5-4 loss with a 6-3 victory over the El Capitan Gauchos on Thursday in Ceres.

“It feels good to get a win,” Central Valley head coach Mike Rodriguez said. “The girls are excited. They’ve been working hard at practice and getting better.”

Central Valley improved to 1-9 in the CCC standings.

“It’s been a struggle this season,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve had a different lineup every single match.”

The Hawks won four of six singles and two of three matches versus the Gauchos.

Central Valley and El Capitan battled for 31/2 hours.

“We showed a little more competitiveness today,” Rodriguez said. 

Harman Kaur, Malina Keomuangchanh, Angie Medrano, Samantha Perez, Marlene Jacquez, Liz Cazarez, Liana Guzman and Lliria Liria helped lead Central Valley past El Capitan.

Kaur prevailed in three sets, 6-1, 5-7, 6-0, in No. 1 singles play.

Keomuangchanh prevailed 6-2, 6-2 in No. 2 singles play.

Medrano prevailed 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) in No. 3 singles play.

Perez prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in No. 5 singles play.

Jacquez and Cazarez prevailed 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in No. 2 doubles play.

Guzman and Liria prevailed in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in No. 3 doubles play.

Navreet Pattar lost 7-5, 6-1 in No. 4 singles play.

Leslie Bobadilla lost 6-2, 6-2 in No. 6 singles play.

Alondra Robles and Rinanh Dulay lost in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, in No. 1 doubles play.

The Hawks competed shorthanded against the Gauchos. Jessica Saini (injury) and Lesly Rivas (illness) were both sidelined.

Central Valley lost 8-1 at Buhach Colony in CCC play on Oct. 5.

Kaur won by default at No. 2 singles.

Leigh Ballesil retired due to illness after losing the first set, 6-2.

Saini lost 6-3, 6-0 to Leah Chapman in No. 1 singles play.

Keomuangchanh lost 6-1, 6-1 to Anny Cisneros in No. 3 singles play.

Rivas lost 6-3, 6-0 to Anahi Fuentes in No. 4 singles play.

Pattar lost 6-1, 6-0 to Julie Bracamontes in No. 5 singles play.

Perez lost 6-2, 6-1 to Kylie Craig in No. 6 singles play.

Bobadilla and Kaitlyn Teng lost 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 to Abby Plascencia and Shayndel Tejeda-Cabral in No. 1 doubles play.

Alondra Robles and Rinanh Dulay lost 6-2, 6-3 to Emma Cortez and Jazmin Caspia-Perez in No. 2 doubles play.

Cazarez and Jacquez lost 6-1, 6-3 to Emily Lopez and Serena Sahota in No. 3 doubles play.

Ceres High’s girls tennis team dropped to 1-9 in the WAC standings this past week after dropping a pair of matches.

Ceres High lost 8-1 to visiting Johansen on Oct. 7.

Yasmine Pinedo and Zainab Nazir prevented the Bulldogs from getting shut out.

Pinedo and Kaur defeated Megan Ady and Jasmin Kumler 6-2, 6-1 in No. 3 doubles play.

Kenzy Gallardo and Melissa Villegas lost 6-3, 6-3 to Samantha Ross and Rebekah Ady in No. 1 doubles play.

Alexa Sandoval and Isabella Gutierrez lost 7-5, 6-4 to Sarah Van Bibber and Kaitlin Galvan in No. 2 doubles play.

Gurmannet Bahia lost 6-2, 6-1 to McKenna Taylor in No. 1 singles play.

Valerie Raya lost 6-4, 6-3 to Gayle Cabral in No. 2 singles play.

Victoria Ochoa lost 6-0, 6-0 to Aracely Martinez in No. 3 singles play.

Payton Ogden lost 6-0, 6-2 to Elizabeth Arellano in No. 4 singles play.

Gurleen Kaur lost 6-2, 6-3 to Sitlali Perucho in No. 5 singles play.

Jelanie Esuguerra lost 6-2, 6-1 to Teresa Biju in No. 6 singles play.

Beyer shut out host Ceres High 9-0 on Oct. 5.

Bahia lost 6-2, 6-0 to Rayana Arellano in No. 1 singles play.

Raya lost 6-0, 6-1 to Noelle Martin in No. 2 singles play.

Ochoa lost 6-0, 6-0 to Maya Martin in No. 3 singles play.

Ogden lost 6-2, 6-3 to Camile Cortez in No. 4 singles play.

Kaur lost 6-2, 6-3 to Angela Wong in No. 5 singles play.

Esguerra lost 6-0, 6-0 to Olivia Kaonon in No. 6 singles play.

Gallardo and Villegas lost 6-0, 6-0 to Caroline Roseman and Sarah Alwakeel in No. 1 doubles play.

Sandoval and Gutierrez lost 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to Callie Garcia Cropper and Leah Kinsey in No. 2 doubles play.

Yasmine Pinedo and Nazir lost 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to Charlotte Freeman and Alessanrdra Rossini in No. 3 doubles play.


WATER POLO

Ceres High’s boys water polo team snapped a six-match losing streak with a 21-8 win against visiting Lathrop on Oct. 6.

The Bulldogs (2-6) moved into a tie for sixth place with Pacheco in the WAC standings.

Last-place Lathrop dropped to 0-8 in league play. 

Nicholas Campbell scored a game-high 13 goals versus the Spartans.

Cayden Jantz tallied four goals.

Jaden Joy had two goals.

Mackay Cannella and Blake Barr both added one goal.

Jesus Valdovinos started at goalkeeper in place of Jeremy Kier, who didn’t place due to injury.

The Bulldogs led 12-3 at intermission.

Ceres High outscored Lathrop 9-5 during the second half.

The Bulldogs bounced back after suffering a 23-8 loss at first-place Grace Davis on Oct. 4.

Ceres High’s girls water polo team coasted to an 18-9 home victory over Lathrop on Oct. 6.

The Bulldogs (5-3) moved into a tie for third place with Los Banos in the WAC standings.

The Spartans dropped to 0-8 in conference play.

Elise Cannella poured in game-high eight goals against Lathrop.

Andrea Contreras chipped in with three goals.

Lillian Blevins, Emily Parker and Karen Bernal all netted two goals.

Amberlin Hopwood added one goal.

Berlin Kahl contributed at goalkeeper.

The Bulldogs outscored the Spartans 12-3 in the first half and led 15-4 at the end of the third quarter.

Ceres High lost 27-5 at second-place Grace Davis on Oct. 4.


CROSS COUNTRY

Central Valley’s cross country program had just 11 runners compete during the CCC’s second cluster meet on Oct. 6 at Buhach Colony High School.

“We weren’t able to get everyone out because they had other school-related stuff going on,” Hawks’ first-year head coach Michael Mrgudic said. “It was a busy week for school, which is totally fine. They’re student-athletes.”

Central Valley’s varsity boys posted a team score of 130 en route to a fifth-place finish.

The Hawks topped the El Capitan Gauchos (162).

The Buhach Colony Thunder (27), Atwater Falcons (31), Golden Valley Cougars (96) and Merced Bears (111) took first, second, third and fourth, respectively.

Roberto Rosales was Central Valley’s top finisher.

He placed 18th with a time of 18 minutes, 32 seconds on the 3-mile course.

Alexander Contreras Ontiveros (19:46), Armando Guajardo (20:09), Daniel Soares (21:55), Jonathan Macias (23:00) and Kevin Lee (23:10) took 24th, 27th, 34th, 36th and 37th, respectively.

Central Valley’s varsity girls were unable to post a team score due to a lack of numbers.

Freshman Mariana Campos was the Hawks’ top finisher.

She placed 26th with a time of 23 minutes, 46 minutes on the 3-mile course.

Freshmen Keilany Torres (29:06) and Yahaira Torres (30:31) took 35th and 36th, respectively.

Senior standout Ashley Anaya did not compete.

She had an appointment to see a school counselor.

She’s narrowing her college choices. 

Jackson Stokes placed 19th during the frosh-soph boys meet.

He completed the 2-mile in 14 minutes, 9 seconds.

Joshua Michelena (15:33) was 30th.


GIRLS GOLF

Ceres High School girls golf head coach Ron Edwards praised his team following its WAC cluster meet versus Los Banos and Lathrop on Oct. 5 at St. Stanislaus.

“This is the best they’ve played as a team this year,” he said. “They couldn’t have done better.”

Ceres High posted a team score of 236 en route to beating the Los Banos Tigers (259) and losing to the Lathrop Spartans (233).

The Bulldogs bested the Tigers by 23 strokes.

“We lost by just three strokes to Lathrop,” Edwards said. “They won by tiebreaker last time.”

Ceres High’s Alysabeth Marquez fired a 10-over-par 38 against Los Banos and Lathrop last week.

Briana Tsurui (49), Hailey Tsurui (49), Brooke Trio (50) and Allison Lewis (50) rounded out the Bulldogs’ scorecard.

“For a lot of them, this is their first year playing golf,” Edwards said. “They’re improving a lot.”


YOUTH FOOTBALL

The Ceres Seahawks varsity youth football team kept its playoffs hopes alive this past weekend.

The Seahawks improved to 3-4 in the Trans Valley Youth Football League standings following Saturday’s 37-6 win against the Central Valley Outlaws at Riverbank High School.

“If we win these next two games against the Ripon Knights and Turlock Hornets, we should lock in the sixth seed to reach playoffs,” head coach Jonovan Solorio said. “There is a possibility of us having to play a tiebreaker against the Tri City Bulldogs for the sixth seed since our game was canceled due to poor air quality.”

Seahawk Jesse Montalvo rushed for 225 yards and five touchdowns on 15 carries versus the Outlaws.

Elias Pena carried the ball 10 times for 90 yards and one TD.

Parker Borges added 60 rushing yards on five attempts.

Ceres has had to compete shorthanded this season due to a lack of numbers.

“This is the first season in program history having 20 players or less, with half of them being first-year players,” Solorio said.

The Seahawks and other youth football and cheer organizations had to cancel their seasons last fall due to safety concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Outdoor youth sports were cleared to return in February under new guidance provided by the California Department of Public Health.

Ceres’ 2021 season kicked off on Aug. 21.

Gurmannet Bahia
Gurmannet Bahia and Ceres High’s girls tennis team competed against Johansen and Beyer in WAC play last week. - photo by Dale Butler