When it comes to girls athletics, Santana High School has been known for two main sports over the decades: basketball and gymnastics.
Basketball owns a Grossmont Conference record 20 league titles, with numerous CIF crowns. Until a year ago, gymnastics captured more San Diego Section banners than any other.
However, times have changed, as neither has taken the big prize in almost a decade. Instead, the rising sport on campus to rival softball for success is, maybe surprisingly, lacrosse.
When it comes to girls athletics, Santana High School has been known for two main sports over the decades: basketball and gymnastics.
Basketball owns a Grossmont Conference record 20 league titles, with numerous CIF crowns. Until a year ago, gymnastics captured more San Diego Section banners than any other.
However, times have changed, as neither has taken the big prize in almost a decade. Instead, the rising sport on campus to rival softball for success is, maybe surprisingly, lacrosse.
‘It’s because we work so hard,” noted junior Dominique Morrison, a defensive winger for the Sultans. “Lots of teams have coaches with college experience or a bunch of club players. So we need to work that much harder.”
Their efforts paid dividends with the Sultans winning or sharing the past four Grossmont Conference titles, finishing in a tie for first with Grossmont over the past two seasons.
“We play them again on Friday,” added Morrison. “But this time it’s here at Santana. If we win, we’ll be co-champions with them once again.”
Faceoff is slated for 5 p.m. at Santee Community Stadium.
“We’re preparing well and it carries over to the field,” added Savannah Garcia, a junior who plays up front as an attacker said they communicate real well on the field. ”You can always hear us talking,” she said.
A core of three seniors — Erin Lucore, Brianna Wray and Kaelyn Gerrard — which makes the Sultans tick, joins Morrison and Garcia. Head coach is Larry Garcia (no relation), who is in his seventh year running the ball club.
Although checking is virtually non-existent in the girls’ game, you still see some hits,
“In our last game, we had a player set a screen,” Morrison said. “The girl on the other team ran right into her and sent her flying. She fell to the ground and stayed down for a while.”
This is no circus sideshow like Powder Puff football–these girls take the game seriously.
“I’d love to be able to play lacrosse in college,” said Morrison. “We’re learning proper game techniques and skills here so we can play at the next level.
Garcia said, “And we take all of those skills and play together, work together, and have fun together.”
On Monday, the Sultans prepped for their showdown with Grossmont by whipping host Granite Hills, 16-2, at Valley Stadium. Green paced Santana by scoring five times.
