Skip to the content

More 08-09 State Girl Athletes of the Year

July 10, 2009 2:17 AM

It's Jordan Hasay for the fourth time in Div. V, and joining the legendary runner from San Luis Obispo County as a repeat winner is another national-record breaker in Div. III from Kern County. More all-state athletes of distinction are highlighted in each division and class as well.

by Senior Editor Ronnie Flores
Contributing: Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend, Mark Tennis, Steve Brand


Note: It is not a requirement that an athlete of the year needed to have participated in more than one sport. Single-sport athletes often do end up first in our selection process due to the significance of their accomplishments. These honors are based mainly on athletic performance during the school year. Academics and community service are considered, but are not nearly weighted as much as athletic achievement.

State Division I Athlete of the Year: Emily Allard (Deer Valley, Antioch) Sr.
Not only did she play softball and basketball for the Wolverines, she excelled at both, earning BVL MVP honors in both sports. On her way to being an all-state softball selection, Allard dominated in the circle, hitting .459 and stealing 25 bases without being caught. At the Livermore Stampede, Allard showed why she's Northwestern-bound as she didn't allow a run and struck out 30 in five games while getting three hits off Sheldon's Jolene Henderson in Deer Valley' only loss at the tournament. On the basketball court, she led the team in scoring at a 15.5 ppg clip and averaged nine rebounds per game on her way to setting the Wolverines' career record for rebounding. The last athlete chosen in this division from a CIF North Coast Section school was Kate Dwelley from Liberty of Brentwood during the 2006-07 school year.

More Division I All-State Athletes of Distinction
(Seniors only, see below for others)

Gennifer Brandon (Chatsworth) basketball, volleyball
Layshia Clarendon (Cajon, San Bernardino) basketball
J.C. Clayton (San Benito, Hollister) softball, soccer
Teagan Gerhart (Norco) softball, basketball
Rachael Kidder (Moorpark) volleyball
Mackenzie Mendonca (Western, Tulare) softball, volleyball, basketball

State Division II Athlete of the Year: Keilani Ricketts (Mitty, San Jose) Sr.
Similar to Jordan Hasay in Div. V, Ricketts is a slam dunk choice is this division. The Oklahoma-bound fireballer led Mitty to the No. 1 spot in the ESPN RISE FAB 50 national ratings while snagging both ESPN RISE National Player of the Year and CalHiSports.com Ms. Softball State Player of Year honors. Her numbers in softball were off the charts playing against top-notch competition. Ricketts finished 22-0, with an ERA of 0.10 and 347 strikeouts. From the batters box, she hit .456, with nine home runs (tied for the CCS lead), four triples, six doubles, 36 RBI, an on-base percentage of .537 and a slugging percentage of .975. Ricketts softball numbers might have been more impressive had she not played basketball on a Mitty team that perennially goes deep into the playoffs. On a Monarchs team that lost the NorCal D2 semifinal in three overtimes to Concord Carondelet, Ricketts was the team's leading rebounder and shot-blocker with 9.3 and 1.8 per game averages, respectively. She was also third on the team in scoring with an 8.9 PPG average. Just last year, Palo Alto soccer standout Teresa Noyola represented the CCS as the choice in this division.      

More All-State Division II Athletes of Distinction
(Seniors only, see below for others)

Maggie Doremus (Mt. Carmel, San Diego) softball, basketball
Jonae Ervin (Brea Olinda, Brea) basketball
Jane Rah (Torrance) golf

State Division III Athlete of the Year: Anna Jelmini (Shafter) Sr.
Without a doubt one of the greatest prep track and field athletes in state history, the Arizona State-bound Jelmini owns the discus national record and nearly owns the shot put record as well. On May 13 at the CIF Central Section Sequoia-Sierra championships, she set the U.S. high school record in the discus throw with a toss of 190 feet 3 inches, breaking the previous record held by former Downey of Modesto and U.S. Olympian Suzy Powell. That record was set in 1994 and subsequently tied by Jelmini on April 24. On the same day she set the discus record, Jelmini threw the shot put 54 feet 4-3/4 inches, the second longest toss in U.S. prep history. Her consecutive double-doubles in the past two CIF State Meets give Jelmini four state titles in her career. As an underclassman Jelmini was a good basketball player, averaging 19 points per game as a junior forward before giving up hoops to concentrate on her throwing. She also graduated high school with a 3.95 GPA. In almost any other year, Foothill of Tustin's USC-bound Christina Marinacci would be an excellent choice for her basketball and volleyball prowess, but Jelmini is a repeat winner in this division.

More All-State State Division III Athletes of Distinction
(Seniors only, see below for others)

Alitta Boyd (Moreau Catholic, Hayward) track, volleyball, basketball
Cora Harms (El Dorado, Placerville) volleyball, track, basketball
Christina Marinacci (Foothill, Tustin) basketball, volleyball
Jenna Rich (El Segundo) soccer, softball
Sammy Silva (Our Lady of Peace, San Diego) track, cross country

State Division IV Athlete of the Year: Jessica Moore (Sutter) Sr.
She may have been competing at a small school, but her numbers in the circle were dominant, as Moore went a perfect 34-0 with a 0.17 ERA. In 210 innings, she struck out 504 batters, a top ten single-season strikeout mark according to our state record book. All but five of her wins came without allowing an earned run and 18 of those came without Moore even allowing a hit. The Oregon-bound senior also hit .505 with eight homers and 44 runs batted in. On the basketball court, Moore led the Huskies in scoring with a 10.7 points per game average and was named to the Butte View League first team. Moore is the first female athlete chosen from the CIF Northern Section since CalHiSports.com began its current selection format of picking an athlete in five divisions (as opposed to medium and small schools) beginning with the 1996-1997 school year.  

More All-State Division IV Athletes of Distinction
(Seniors only, see below for others)

Amye McIntyre (Parker, San Diego) softball
Gizelle Studevent (Bishop's, La Jolla) basketball, volleyball
Turquoise Thompson (Serra, Gardena) track

State Division V Athlete of the Year: Jordan Hasay (Mission Prep, SLO) Sr.
Hasay has been the Div. V recipient all four years of her high school career. Before Hasay's dominance of this enrollment division, the last girl athlete from the CIF Southern Section to take home top honors in this division was Beatrisa Liang from Faith Baptist of Canoga Park during the 2002-03 school year.  

More All-State Division V Athletes of Distinction
(Seniors only, see below for others)

Katharine Brown (St. Francis CCC, Watsonville) volleyball, basketball
Shelley Gupilan (Bellarmine-Jefferson, Burbank) basketball, volleyball
Lauren Polansky (Branson, Ross) basketball, track
Aly Warson (Branson, Ross) soccer, basketball

State Junior Athlete of the Year: Kori Carter (Claremont)
There are a ton of fine underclass girls athletes in California, but the majority of them are single sport studs. Every year, prep sports become more specialized, as earning a college scholarship has never been more competitive. With that in mind, Carter edges out state champion and EA SPORTS All-American golfer Jenny Shin and Chelsea Gray, who led St. Mary's of Stockton to the CIF Div. III basketball title, among juniors. Carter, a sleek athlete who also dabbled with basketball as a sophomore, edged out Shin and Graywon by winning not one, but two, individual titles at the CIF State rack meet. She won the 100-Meter High Hurdles in 13.59 seconds and took home the 300-Meter Low Hurdles title (for the second consecutive year) with a time of 41.26. The last female athlete to win that double at state was Talia Stewart from James Logan of Union City in 2004.         

More Junior All-State Athletes of Distinction

Joan Caloiaro (Mitty, San Jose) volleyball, basketball
Emily Dillon (Wilson, Long Beach) soccer
Taylor Edwards (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta) softball
Cynthia Fascella (Fountain Valley) swimming
Chelsea Gray (St. Mary's, Stockton) basketball
Angela Gradiska (Pinewood, Los Altos Hills) track
Ashton Purvis (St. Elizabeth, Oakland) track
Jenny Shin (Torrance) golf
Jacque Taylor (Casa Grande, Petaluma) cross country, track
Rachael Williams (Mitty, San Jose) volleyball

State Sophomore Athlete of the Year: Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Mater Dei, S. Ana)
Similar to the juniors, the majority of the state's top sophomore female athletes only play one sport. Mosqueda-Lewis, however, played basketball as well as any tenth-grader in the country, as ESPNRISE.com named her the 2008-09 EA SPORTS National Sophomore of the Year. She was the go-to player on a Monarchs squad that spent a majority of the season ranked No. 1 in the state until a loss to Brea-Olinda in a highly-anticipated SoCal Div. II regional final. Brea-Olinda went on to earn state team of the year honors. The MVP of three major tournaments, Mosqueda-Lewis averaged 22.8 points and grabbed 6.2 rebounds per game while leading the Monarchs to a 32-1 record. Soccer phenom Lauren Bohaboy and state 100-meter champion Valexsia Droughn were also seriously considered for this honor.         

More Sophomore All-State Athletes of Distinction

Lauren Bohaboy (Santa Margarita, RSM) soccer
Ally Carda (Pleasant Grove, Elk Grove) softball
Gabi DeSimone (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) tennis
Valexsia Droughn (Rio Mesa, Oxnard) track
Akawkaw Ndipagbor (Poly, Long Beach) track
Jenna Prandini (Clovis) track, volleyball

State Freshman Athlete of the Year: Aly Beebe (St. Joseph's, Santa Maria)
Showed immediately that she is going to be something special on the basketball court, scoring 21 points and grabbing ten rebounds in her first varsity game for the Knights. On the season, Beebe averaged nearly 14 points a game with nine rebounds, three steals, three blocks, and two assists. She was named the Los Padres League Defensive Player of the Year and also was named to the all-CIFSS Div. VAA first team. With her size and athleticism, Beebe saw a good amount of playing time on Knights' volleyball team. This past school year, there weren't as many slam dunk, two-sport freshman as in year's past, but Beebe was talented enough in her secondary sport to earn the nod.      

More Freshmen All-State Athletes of Distinction

Jordan Adams (Mater Dei, Santa Ana) basketball
Nancy Bowling (Royal, Simi Valley) softball
Rebecca Strehlow (Wilson, Long Beach) volleyball

Comments or corrections? Email mark@studentsports.com. Be sure to leave a comment as well.

state athletes of the year, all sports, Jordan Hasay, Anna Jelmini, CA, Aly Beebe, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis

Sort comments by: Most Recent | First Posted