For immediate release: Thursday, March 19, 2009
Contact: Mark Tennis (209-463-9050) or Ronnie Flores (1-800-660-1334, ext 4414)

Newest California prep record book is bigger, better and more distributed than ever

The seventh edition of the CalHiSports.com State Record Book and Almanac should have arrived at nearly every high school in the state by the end of this week and continues a tradition of record-keeping begun nearly 40 years ago.

	Jennifer Ezpeleta
	The 2009 CalHiSports.com Record Book & Almanac is bigger and better than ever.

Courtesy of presenting sponsor PowerBar and produced by the editorial division of ESPN RISE, each high school athletic director in California is in the process of receiving 20 complimentary copies of the 352-page book. This should enable the book to be placed in the hands of nearly every head coach.

The sixth edition of the book was published during the 2005-2006 school year and was 325 pages with larger type faces than the newest version. The first edition came out in 1981, consisted of football only and was just 32 pages.

Most of the team and individual entries in the book, which now number more than 40,000 and extend as far back as 1890, were initially compiled by the late Nelson Tennis, who spent 30 years poring over microfilm at libraries. Tennis, also the founder of Cal-Hi Sports (now CalHiSports.com), died in May of 2004 at age 67 from cancer.

Production of the current edition was spearheaded by ESPN RISE senior editor Ronnie Flores, based in Torrance. Longtime CalHiSports.com executive editor Mark Tennis, art director Jennifer Ezpeleta, proofers Joan Risse and Andrew Drennen, research-input assistant Paul Muyskens and correspondent Steve Brand all played key roles in the book's completion as well.

As stated in a tribute to Nelson Tennis, several factors that contribute to the CalHiSports.com record book's prestige are its attention to detail, the constant addition of new categories in many sports and the depth of the various lists.

This year's seventh edition is highlighted by the following special features and enhancements:

*All-Decade all-state football teams for the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and so far in the 2000s. A player of the decade for each team was selected as well. They are: Dick Bass (Vallejo) 1950s, Lynn Swann (San Mateo Serra) 1960s, Marcus Allen (San Diego Lincoln) 1970s, Napoleon Kaufman (Lompoc) 1980s, D.J. Williams (Concord De La Salle) 1990s and Maurice Drew (Concord De La Salle) 2000s so far.

*Updates completed from the recent fall 2008 seasons in football, cross country (boys & girls), water polo (boys) and volleyball (girls)

*All-State Grid-Hoop teams (football-basketball prep standouts) with players of the year going back more than 20 years. Among those mentioned are Jack Del Rio (Hayward), Willie McGinest (Long Beach Poly) and Nelson Rosario (Oceanside El Camino) from last year.

*Updated all-time athlete rankings with Tiger Woods (Anaheim Western) up to No. 7 on the boys list. Still No. 1 are Jackie Robinson (Pasadena Muir) for boys and Billie Jean King (Long Beach Poly) for girls.

*Expanded all-time all-state archives in many sports to include all medium school and small school honorees over the years.

*Improved photography courtesy of ESPN RISE Magazine, especially in sports such as wrestling, tennis and golf.

*Best football recruiting pipelines to college programs over the past 25 years with such schools as Long Beach Poly, Wilmington Banning, Carson, Rialto Eisenhower, Oakland McClymonds and many more.

*A feature on the state's best playground legends in boys basketball, including Demetrius "Hook” Mitchell of Oakland and many more.

*A feature on the best athletes who've ever been evaluated at a Nike Football Training Camp held in California. ESPN RISE is the producer of the Nike camps.

*Olympic lists and features including the state's all-time Olympians in softball, all-time Winter Olympic medalists and where the state would have stood in the 2008 Olympics if it were considered a separate country.

*Special salutes to the late Vic Cuccia (L.A. Wilson football coach), Wille West (retired Los Angeles Crensahw basketball coach), John Stevenson (current El Segundo baseball coach), Karch Kiraly (legendary volleyball player from Santa Barbara) and to Lisa Leslie (retiring WNBA superstar from Inglewood Morningside).

To conduct an interview about this book and to make sure your media outlet receives a complimentary copy, contact senior editor Ronnie Flores at 1-800-660-1334. You can email as well: ronnie@studentsports.com. To conduct an interview with Mark Tennis, who was the primary editor of the first six editions of the book, you may call (209) 463-9050. Email him at mark@studentsports.com.

Members of the California Prep Sportswriters Association will all be sent a copy and some will be handed out during the weekend of March 20-21 at the CIF state basketball championships.

California sports fans and the general public can order a copy of the book as well. The cost is $20 per copy (which also covers shipping & handling). 

Make check or money order payable to: ESPN RISE

CalHiSports.com Record Book Orders
23954 Madison Street - Torrance, CA 90505

For credit card orders, you may call (310) 791-1142. Ask for Jan Stayberg at extension 4431.

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

We kick off this brand new feature by going to two very different valleys to find our honorees.

Our boys winner is from the Big Valley and the town of Selma, just west of Reedley and 30 miles south of Fresno on Highway 99. Here we honor a young man whose heart is as big as the town that loves him.

For our girls' recipient, the caravan continues south on 99, then onto I-5, up the Grapevine, over the mountains of the Angeles National Forest, and down into the Santa Clarita Valley, where just off the I-5 lies the town of Saugus. There we honor a "self-proclaimed perfectionist and California chick who, despite being only a sophomore, is doing pretty well in the hills and dales, as well as in the classroom.

Just a note about the criteria for winning this award. We are looking for those who had a standout performance in their sport from the previous week, but we also are looking for a balance between athletic achievement, academic work in the classroom, community service or overcoming adversity.

This week we present the perfect pair right out of the box: Adrian Pacheco of Selma High and Kaylin Mahoney of Saugus High.

Nominations each week can be sent in for consideration. Include brief reasons why athlete should be chosen and what they did during previous week and send to mark@studentsports.com.