Sports

The Aptos High Mariners boy’s cross country teams picked up Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League dual meet wins over St. Francis High and Scotts Valley High on Thursday at Pinto Lake County Park in Watsonville.

The Aptos High Mariners captured a share of their fifth straight Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship on Thursday night with a 25-16, 25-21, 23-25, 25-9 win over Scotts Valley High in Aptos.

Early, now in his second season with the Warriors, converted to a vegan diet before the start of the summer and has said goodbye to all food containing animal products, including meat, eggs and diary.

The former head coach of the Warriors will return to K.P. Arena for the first time as the opposition. Now the leader of the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, Hill will play his former team in a Pacific division battle at 7 p.m.

Reckers signed with Cal State Bakersfield for baseball, Dueck signed with Santa Clara University for soccer and Hernandez Marquez made good on her verbal commitment to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from a year ago.

A pint-sized, hard-nosed runner that made her name known this season, Ruiz was voted the top freshman female cross country runner in all of Northern California by a committee of coaches and writers from the various sections of the area.

The power-running downhill back bulldozed his way to a spectacular season in which he led Aptos to its eighth straight Central Coast Section playoff appearance, was recognized as the top offensive player in the Monterey Bay League Gabilan division and etched his name into the program’s record book.

Watsonville High senior point guard Savanah Quintana and Pajaro Valley High junior point guard Jayleen Solorzano have dazzled through the preseason and both have their squads poised to compete for the MBL-P title.

In the Gabilan division, Watsonville will not only be tasked with knocking off three-time reigning champ Salinas High, but a load of other technically sound squads like Gilroy High, Alvarez High and Notre Dame-Salinas.