Granite Hills High School senior Deajanae Harvey and Oceanside High School senior Jordan Miller were announced as the 2014-15 San Diego Section athletes of the year at the ninth annual prep athletes award gala held June 13 at the San Diego Hall of Champions.
Granite Hills High School senior Deajanae Harvey and Oceanside High School senior Jordan Miller were announced as the 2014-15 San Diego Section athletes of the year at the ninth annual prep athletes award gala held June 13 at the San Diego Hall of Champions.
Harvey earned accolades as the section’s female athlete of the year while Miller received recognition as the section’s male athlete of the year. Both were two-sports standouts during the 2014-15 season: Harvey in girls’ basketball and track and field and Miller in football and track and field.
Interestingly, both student-athletes ended the season by competing in the state track and field championship meet the first weekend in June in Clovis.
Jumping for joy
Harvey capped her four-year basketball career for the Lady Eagles by helping lead them to an appearance in the Division I semifinals. She received first team all-section honors during the winter sports season after averaging 15.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 6.3 steals per game.
She also utilized her speed and quickness in track and field by turning in the section’s top-qualifying marks for this year’s state meet in both the long and triple jumps. She posted season-best efforts in both events – 18-8 in the long jump and 39-0.75 in the triple jump – to win both events at the section finals.
Granite Hills, seeded ninth in the Division I field, proved overachievers in the girls basketball playoffs thanks to Harvey’s on-court leadership. The Lady Eagles recorded upset wins over eighth-seeded Ramona, 49-34, in the first round and top-seeded Poway, 37-34, in the second round before ending their season with a 74-69 loss to fourth-seeded Mount Miguel.
Mount Miguel would go on to place second to Horizon Christian in the division championship game.
Miller, an all-section first team defensive back who will continue his career at the University of Washington, capped his prep career by capturing two medals at the state track finals – fourth in the long jump (23-2.5) and sixth in the triple jump (47-4).
The 2014-15 all-academic athletes of the year and the coaches of the year were also announced at the awards gala.
El Cajon Valley High School boys basketball coach Marty Ellis and Serra High School field hockey coach Laurie Berger each were named coaches of the year while El Cajon Valley High School senior Matthew Shearin and Bishop’s School senior Abby Bertics received honors as the section’s top scholar-athletes.
Shearin received the top boys academic honor with a 4.644 weighted grade-point average. He will attend Dartmouth where he will play running back and slot receiver for the college’s football team.
Shearin scored four touchdowns in a 49-34 first-round playoff win over Horizon Christian in last fall’s Division IV section playoffs. He finished as one of the section’s rushing leaders with 1,527 yards and 18 touchdowns.
On the basketball court, Ellis helped guide the top-seeded Braves to the Division II section championship with a 61-49 victory against the second-seeded Valhalla Norsemen.
El Cajon Valley ended its season with a 25-7 record following a 46-33 loss to Corona Del Mar in the ensuing Southern California regional playoffs.
All-Spring CIF
The Hall of Champions also released its spring all-section teams at the conclusion of the 2014-15 school term.
East County student-athletes honored in baseball included first team selections Will Hail (.473, 36 RBI) and Kyle Stowers (.407, 31 RBI), both seniors, from Division III champion Christian (29-2) and second team picks Myles Emmerson (.422, 23 RBI), a junior, from El Capitan and Lee Mutter, a senior pitcher, from Helix.
La Jolla senior pitcher Tim Holdgrafer was named the section’s player of the year while Christian’s Mike Mitchell earned recognition as the section’s coach of the year.
All-section first team softball honorees included Patrick Henry senior Sierra Altmeyer (.415, 43 RBI) and Grossmont sophomore Chloe Camarero while second team selections included Patrick Henry’s Madison James (.383, 21 RBI) and Christiona Caccamise (.370, 24 RBI), both sophomores, Valhalla senior Danielle Uy (.435, 27 RBI) and Grossmont sophomore Destiny Bacon.
Poway senior pitcher Kourtney Shaw earned honors as the section’s player of the year while Poway’s Jim Bennet was named the section’s coach of the year.
Valhalla senior boys volleyball player Cameron Hausseur (304 kills, 59 aces) earned recognition on the all-section second team. The second-seeded Norsemen (21-8) spiked top-seeded El Camino 25-23, 25-19, 22-15, 33-31 to win the Division II championship.
All-section boys track honorees included Helix’s Nate Stinson, Michael Austin, Mason Vineyard, Mekhi Stevenson, members of the Highlanders’ section champion 4×100-meter relay team, Steele Canyon high jump champion Cedell Morris and Patrick Henry pole vault champion Tristan Zawadzki.
All-section girls track and field selections included West Hills senior 400-meter champion Melissa Mongiovi, Granite Hills’ Harvey and Mount Miguel shot put champion junior Laulauga Tausaga.
Tausaga, who went on to claim a bronze medal at the state finals, was named the section’s female field athlete of the year.
Valhalla freshman Cameron Sisk, the 2015 Grossmont Conference Match Play champion, earned nomination to the first team all-section golf team while Patrick Henry’s Matthew Moomjian and Donald Kay were both named second team members.
All-section swimmers included Valhalla senior Michael Salazar (Division II boys 50-and 100-yard butterfly champion), Patrick Henry senior Amanda Sumrow (Division I girls 200 individual medley champion) and West Hills junior Sarah Nowaski (Division II girls 200 and 500 freestyle champion).
Salazar set a new section record in winning the100 butterfly (48.50). Nowaski, a three-time double event champion, received further honors after being named the section’s female swimmer of the year.
Grossmont senior boys lacrosse player Tyler Millican earned a berth on the all-section second team after helping lead the Foothillers (18-3) to the Grossmont Conference title this spring.
All-section gymnasts included West Hills senior Marissa Miller, Santana freshman Cahleya Scruggs, El Cajon Valley senior Karina Pulido and West Hills freshman Gina Cazares.
Pulido won the compulsory all-around title at the section finals while Miller placed second. Cazares won the parallel bars; Scruggs came out on top in the optional floor exercise.
