Gino Campiotti of Manteca (left) has been named as the 2017-18 Division III State Boys Athlete of the Year. At right, State Boys Sophomore Athlete of the Year Jalen Green of Fresno San Joaquin Memorial makes a move to the hoop during event with the USA U17 national team. Photos: Angel Chea / The Modesto Bee & usab.com.
Among others being selected for top state honors is a junior who just committed to USC to play both football and basketball, a sophomore named Jalen who edged out another sophomore from the same school named Jalen and a freshman wrestler from Selma. We also have a State Three-Sport Athlete of the Year from San Diego County and winners named in five divisional categories.
For announcement of the Cal-Hi Sports Boys State Athlete of the Year for 2017-18, CLICK HERE.
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Congratulations to the following boys for being selected as a 2017-18 Cal-Hi Sports State Athlete of the Year: (Managing editor Ronnie Flores contributed to this post)
SENIORS
Kazmeir Allen (Tulare) Football, Track
This is the second year in a row the top senior and overall State Boys Athlete of the Year has a football-track combination and the second straight that it’s the 100-meter CIF state track champ. Last year’s honoree, Vista Murrieta’s Javelin Guidry, ran even faster than Allen in his 100-meter win (10.13 wind-aided) but didn’t have the record-breaking achievements in football.
Note: For other seniors who would be Athletes of Honor, please check below underneath each CIF division.
London’s recruiting stock for both football and basketball has been soaring all spring and into the early summer. Photo: Hudl.com.
JUNIORS
Drake London (Moorpark)
It seems as if every week goes by there are more and more fans of Drake and what he can do in basketball and football. He already was on our first five on the annual All-State Grid-Hoop team as a junior and follows that up with this statewide selection. He had a breakout junior year, making a big leap in both sports and securing a spot as one of five on our All-State Grid-Hoop First Team. The versatile lefty has great stamina and approaches hoops with a physical nature (while not forgetting the skills of the game). He was a first team all-county selection by the Ventura County Star in both sports. London latched on to 51 receptions for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was especially effective in the postseason, helping Moorpark reach the CIF Southern Section D5 final. On the hardwood, he averaged 19.8 ppg and 11.1 rpg and was a first team all-Coastal Canyon League choice. A first team all-state underclass pick in basketball and third teamer in football, London made big news last week when he committed to USC. The Trojans are going to let him play both sports, too.
More Junior Athletes of Honor:
Liam Anderson (Redwood, Larkspur) Cross Country, Track
Dante Chachere (Clovis West, Fresno) Football, Basketball
Kenan Christon (Madison, San Diego) Football, Track
Jonah Cooper (Foothill, Pleasanton) Swimming
Stefan Destanic (Woodbridge, Irvine) Tennis
Peter Guo (Crean Lutheran, Irvine) Golf
Asani Hampton (Yucaipa) Track
Tyson Heaton (Yucaipa) Baseball
Daniel Heimuli (Menlo-Atherton, Atherton) Football, Baseball
Isaiah Hill (Liberty, Bakersfield) Football, Basketball
Dino Kahaulelio (Cardinal Newman, Santa Rosa) Football, Basketball, Baseball
Nathan Manning (Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo) Football, Baseball
Kejuan Markham (Long Beach Poly, Long Beach) Footall, Track
Joe Ngata (Folsom) Football
Dawson Netz (Maranatha, Pasadena) Baseball
Onyeka Okongwu (Chino Hills) Basketball
Jaxen Turner (Rancho Verde, Moreno Valley) Football, Basketball
Daniel Viveros (Liberty, Bakersfield) Football, Track
SOPHOMORES
Jalen Green (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno)
After he was named MVP earlier this month for the USA U-17 national team that won a FIBA world championship in Argentina, Green ascended to the top of the charts among all sophomores in the state in all sports. He simply continues to get more explosive and more dynamic as an elite basketball talent, enhancing his status as perhaps the No. 1 Class of 2020 prospect in the nation. Green had 11 points for the U.S. team in a 95-52 victory over France in the gold medal game. In the team’s two earlier games against Croatia and Canada, Green poured in 27 and 25 points. He earlier had been chosen as the State Sophomore Player of the Year. Despite all that, however, we didn’t have to look far to find a multi-sport sophomore in the state who is close to Green. And believe it or not, that sophomore, Jalen McMillan, also is from San Joaquin Memorial. McMillan was an all-state sophomore receiver for the Panthers, and in the spring competed at high levels in baseball and track at the same time. He was all-state underclass second team as a baseball outfielder (essentially all-state sophomore) and qualified for the CIF state track meet in the 200-meter dash.
More Sophomore Athletes of Honor:
Malcolm Clemons (St. Mary’s, Berkeley) Track
Ben Dillard (Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills) Swimming
Jared Jones (La Mirada) Baseball
Jamar Marshall (St. Mary’s, Stockton) Football, Basketball, Track
Jalen McMillan (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno) Football, Track, Baseball
Matt Strangio (Jesuit, Carmichael) Cross Country, Track
D.J. Uigalelei (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) Football
Ben Yurosek (Bakersfield Christian) Football, Basketball
FRESHMEN
Richard Figueroa (Selma)
Don’t feel sorry for Selma wrestling fans now that the school’s dominant girls team, which has won three straight CIF state titles, is losing senior three-time state champ Gracie Figueroa to graduation. Her little brother is going to keep the family name in the spotlight probably for three more years. Richard was one of two freshmen to win CIF state wrestling individual titles this year along with Clovis Buchanan’s Maximo Renteria. Figueroa won the 106-pound state final by a 6-1 count over Clovis North’s Carlos Negrete. He was higher ranked nationally between the two and he followed up the CIF state title with a title in April in the 106-pound weight class at the FloNationals tourney in Pennsylvania.
More Frosh Athletes of Honor:
Collin Brownell (Jim Elliot Christian, Lodi) Diving
J.T. Byrne (Carmel) Football, Basketball, Baseball
Jonathan Cymrot (Valley Christian, San Jose) Baseball
Maximo Renteria (Buchanan, Clovis) Wrestling
Malik Thomas (Damien, La Verne) Basketball
Seth Nevills is the third of a family of brothers to win CIF state wrestling titles. All told, the family has nine of them. Photo: TheCaliforniaWrestler.com.
DIVISION I SCHOOLS:
Seth Nevills (Clovis) Wrestling
He was our State Junior of the Year and dominated as a senior once again in wrestling. As explained in the overall State Boys Athlete of the Year writeup, it took something insane for someone to go higher and we felt that’s what happened with Kazmeir Allen. Nevills still would be the D1 State Athlete of the Year since Allen is considered D2. Seth’s older brother, Nick, was the State Athlete of the Year for D1 and overall in 2013. In this year’s state final, Seth recorded a pin of Vacaville’s Jake Levengood to become just the third wrestler to win four straight state titles in the history of the meet. He also wrapped up a 169-1 career with the only loss coming to another nationally ranked heavyweight this year at the Doc Buchanan Invitational. Nevills is headed next to Penn State, which is also where Nick is attending. Other than that one loss, the only difference between this year and last year for Seth is that he didn’t play football this year.
More Division I Athletes of Honor:
(Seniors Only)
Antonio Andrade (Gilroy) Football, Wrestling
Joseph Barnes (Gilroy) Football, Wrestling
J.T. Daniels (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) Football
Sondre Guttormsen (Davis) Track
Dom Johnson (Sheldon, Sacramento) Football, Basketball
Christian Lavalle (Mission Viejo) Football, Track
Joe Magrisi (Torrey Pines, San Diego) Baseball
Anthony Montalvo (Buchanan, Clovis) Wrestling
Dusty Schramm (Clovis West, Fresno) Football, Wrestling
Jack Seybold (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) Water Polo
Jack Shippy (San Clemente) Football, Track
Tristan Weber (San Clemente) Soccer
Michael Whiteside (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks) Football, Baseball
DIVISION II SCHOOLS:
Kazmeir Allen (Tulare)
With Tulare considered D2 and not D1 in most sports, we’re going to list Allen in D2 for these honors, which means it’s the second straight year it’s going in D2 to a CIF Central Section performer. Last year, the honoree was Sanger’s Andrew Azua. D2 also is where San Bernardino Cajon’s Jeremiah Martin, already announced as the Grid-Hoop State Player of the Year, would have to be. If we had four or five finalists, Martin (now at Texas A&M) would be one of them.
More Division II Athletes of Honor:
(Seniors Only)
David Atencio (Edison, Huntington Beach) Football, Basketball
Carson Baker (Helix, La Mesa) Football, Basketball
Tre Jenkins (St. Mary’s, Stockton) Football, Basketball, Track
Sean Lee (Trabuco Hills, Mission Viejo) Track
Jeremiah Martin (Cajon, San Bernardino) Football, Basketball
Shareef O’Neal (Crossroads, Santa Monica) Basketball
Micah Pietila-Wiggs (Eastlake, Chula Vista) Football, Baseball
Alexei Sancov (Northgate, Walnut Creek) Swimming
Tristan Stacy (Ramona) Football, Baseball
Josh Tarango (Canyon, Anaheim) Football, Wrestling
Quinn Woodhead (Drake, San Anselmo) Water Polo, Basketball
DIVISION III SCHOOLS:
Gino Campiotti (Manteca) Football, Basketball, Baseball
After leading the Buffaloes to a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section football title as a quarterback, Gino followed it up with stellar seasons in basketball and baseball. Campiotti passed for 3,212 yards and 37 TDs and rushed for 595 yards and 15 scores for a team that avenged an earlier loss with a 34-17 victory over Oakdale in the CIF SJS D3 championship. Manteca, which earlier in the season defeated West Catholic Athletic League member Valley Christian of San Jose, then lost to St. Francis of the WCAL in the CIF D2A NorCal bowl game. Campiotti, who will play football next on scholarship at Northern Arizona, then posted averages of 15.6 points (leading scorer) for the Buffaloes in basketball. He also had 5.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. Then in baseball, Gino capped off his prep career by batting .318 for a 17-10-1 team. He also played the infield with no errors all season and even struck out 18 batters in 13 innings of relief pitching.
More Division III Athletes of Honor:
(Seniors Only)
Peselao Gauta (Garden Grove) Football, Volleyball
Jarrett Kingston (Anderson) Football, Track
Miles Owens (Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland) Football, Basketball, Track
T.J. Pesefea (Foothill, Sacramento) Football, Basketball
Robby Rowell (Acalanes, Lafayette) Football, Basketball
Tyler Saikhon (Southwest, El Centrao) Football, Track
John Torchio (Campolindo, Moraga) Football, Basketball, Baseball
Max is the first athlete in the history of Marin Catholic High School to win an individual event at the CIF state track meet. Photo: ranmarin.com.
DIVISION IV SCHOOLS:
Max Glasser (Marin Catholic, Kentfield)
There aren’t many kids who win a CIF state track title and track happens to not be the sport in which that athlete is headed to college to play. That’s Glasser. He grabbed top honors in the 400-meter dash and went under 47 seconds in doing it. Glasser’s winning time in the 400 of 46.97 also is an all-time record for the Marin County Athletic League. Max also leaves Marin Catholic at No. 2 all-time in the MCAL in the 100 and 200. He uses that speed more often on the soccer pitch. He’s known as a top-notch defender both locally and for his club team (Marin FC) but he did score nine goals and had three assists for the Wildcats this season. He is headed next to UC Davis on a soccer scholarship where he intends to major in biological sciences.
More Division IV Athletes of Honor:
(Seniors Only)
Sean Chambers (Kerman) Football, Baseball
Jermel Jones (Grace Brethren, Simi Valley) Football, Basketball, Track
Thomas Marcus (San Diego) Football, Basketball
Garren O’Keefe (Colfax) Football, Basketball
Christian Stapleton (Carmel) Football, Baseball
DIVISION V SCHOOLS:
Chase Watkins (St. Francis, Watsonville) Basketball, Baseball
With the way the seasons overlap, it’s doubly difficult to be a two-sport standout in the basketball-baseball combination but that’s what Watkins did. Playing with the memory of a brother (Sean) who died from cancer when he was eight years old, Watkins was the leading scorer for a St. Francis team that in 2017 (his junior year) reached the CIF Division V state final where it lost at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento to Rolling Hills Prep of San Pedro. Watkins was all-league as a junior with 17.4 ppg and was all-league as a senior with a similar scoring average on a team that wasn’t as successful. In baseball, Watkins earned all-state small schools recognition for mainly for going 5-3 on the mound with a 1.83 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 49 innings. He also batted .269 with 11 RBI and 11 steals. For his career, Watkins had 100 strikeouts in 65 innings and he has earned a scholarship to play baseball at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Santa Cruz Sentinel has already named Chase as its 2017-18 Boys Athlete of the Year.
More Division V Athletes of Honor:
(Seniors Only)
Ethan Aguilar (Cal Lutheran, Wildomar) Basketball, Baseball
Ryan Higginbotham (Modesto Christian) Football, Wrestling
Alec Ritch (Branson, Ross) Football, Basketball, Baseball
Spencer Spivy (University, San Francisco) Basketball, Tennis
Jordan Starr (Santa Clarita Christian, Canyon Country) Basketball
Alex Williams (Redwood Christian, San Lorenzo) Football, Basketball
THREE-SPORT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR:
Chris Olave (Mission Hills, San Marcos)
Already named as the San Diego Boys Athlete of the Year and already named first five on our All-State Grid-Hoop squad, Olave adds another honor as California’s top three-sport athlete. Football is Chris’ specialty as he had 93 receptions with a San Diego Section record 1,764 yards last season and 26 TD catches for a team that went 12-1. He’s also now at Ohio State on a football scholarship. But Olave did a lot more for Mission Hills than just running routes for top-notch QB Jack Tuttle. Perhaps making up for the time he lost due to ineligibility due to a transfer from Eastlake (Chula Vista), Chris also averaged 18 points and eight rebounds per game on the court while on the track he was one of the section’s best in the 100 and 200 and helped the Grizzlies go far in the 4×100 relay.
Congratulations to all of these great boys athletes from California that many of us got to see in person during the 2017-18 school year.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
