The 2024-25 winter sports season concluded this past month. Now is the perfect time to recollect and celebrate individual and team accomplishments.

Athletes of the Year

Central Valley seniors Angel Melgoza and Brianna Espinoza have been named the Courier’s Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

Espinoza starred in girls wrestling.

Melgoza was a standout in boys wrestling.

Espinoza was selected Female Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row.

She made program history this winter by becoming the first Hawk grappler to medal at the CIF State Championships for the second time.

She placed eighth in the 235-pound weight bracket.

Espinoza stands alone as Central Valley’s all-time greatest wrestler, female or male.

She ranks ahead of Nayeli Pelayo, Giana Breshears, Brianna Quiroz, Malynda Lomeli, Rose Moore, Alicia Espinoza, Lexy (Cordova) Zuniga, Carla Martinez, Michael Miller, Ruben Valenzuela, David Lezama, Luis Saucedo and Adrian Vizcaino.

Brianna Espinoza amassed a 47-13 overall record during her final season.

She advanced to state for the third year in a row.

She finished second at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament.

She claimed her third consecutive South Regional title.

She won her fourth straight league championship, including first in the Western Athletic Conference. She was a three-time Central California Conference champion.

Brianna also accomplished a first in program history by collecting 100 career wins. She won a combined 119 matches her final three seasons.

Melgoza made program history by becoming just the second male wrestler from Central Valley to win 100 career matches. The fourth-year grappler compiled a 41-5 overall record while competing in the 215-pound weight division during his final season with the Hawks.

Melgoza placed first at the Western Athletic Conference Championships and second at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-IV Tournament.

He finished in the top 12 at Masters. He won two of three matches before withdrawing from the tournament with an elbow injury.

Melgoza ranked sixth in the Section and 35th in the state heading into Masters.

Newcomers of the Year

Central Valley’s Jace Mclennon and Osvaldo Cisneros have been named the Courier’s co-Male Newcomer Athletes of the Year.

Ceres High’s Lilly Staggs has been named Female Athlete of the Year.

Mclennon and Cisneros starred in boys basketball and boys soccer, respectively,

Staggs was a standout in girls basketball.

Staggs, a Gregori High transfer/junior point guard, averaged 13.8 points, 3.3 steals, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

She earned first-team all-Western Athletic Conference honors.

Staggs ranked first on the team in points per game, steals per game, field goals made, 3-pointers made, total points, total assists and total steals, second in assists per game, third in free throws made and total blocks, and fifth in rebounds per game and total rebounds.

Mclennon and Cisneros both earned first-team, all-Western Athletic Conference honors.

Mclennon, a junior shooting guard, averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.2 assists per game.

He ranked first on the team in points per game, steals, points, field goals made, 3-pointers made, free throws made, total points and total steals, second in assists, free-throw percentage and total assists, and third in rebounds, field goal percentage, total rebounds and total blocks.

Mclennon missed the majority of his sophomore year with a broken collarbone.

Cisneros, a junior goalkeeper, allowed just 11 goals, totaled 42 saves and posted eight shutouts on the year for the WAC-champion Hawks.

He surrendered no goals to River City and Inderkum in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-I Playoffs. He made a combined seven saves.

Cisneros played soccer for the Sacramento Republic Academy sophomore year.

He was the Hawks’ backup goalie in the ninth grade.

Coach of the Year

Megan McGill, leader of Ceres High’s girls basketball program, has been named the Courier’s Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

The Bulldogs compiled a 22-8 overall record, finished second in the Western Athletic Conference standings with a 10-4 mark and reached the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-III Playoffs.

Tenth-seeded Ceres High ended nearly two decades of postseason futility by upsetting seventh-seeded Los Banos 48-30 on the road in the first round of the playoffs.

The Bulldogs won their last playoff game during the 2005-06 school year.

Ceres High participated in the postseason for the second year in a row under McGill’s guidance.

The Bulldogs have improved each year during her coaching tenure.

Team of the Year

CV’s Western Athletic Conference-champion boys and girls soccer programs have been named the Courier’s co-Teams of the Year.

Central Valley’s boys squad continued its tradition of excellence this winter.

The Hawks compiled an 18-7-6 overall record, placed first in the Western Athletic Conference with an 11-1-2 mark and qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-I Playoffs.

Central Valley won two of three games en route to reaching the semifinal round of the playoffs.

The Hawks topped Inderkum 2-0 in double overtime in the quarterfinals and shut out River City 2-0 in the opening round.

Central Valley, which competed in the Central California Conference prior to moving to the WAC as part of the section’s realignment plan, won its second straight league championship.

The Hawks have claimed 10 conference titles and advanced to the playoffs 16 times the past 17 seasons.

Central Valley’s girls squad compiled a 20-4-2 overall record, placed first in the WAC standings with a 12-1-0 mark and qualified for the playoffs for the second year in a row.

The Hawks outscored their conference opponents, 72-3.

Central Valley’s defense posted 17 shutouts on the year, including 12 in league play.