Obviously, the 2019-20 season was not a normal one. But that didn’t stop SportStars Magazine from producing it’s eighth annual Bay Area 75 — a countdown of the top 75 Bay Area high school athletes from the previous school year.
With COVID-19 wiping spring sports off the map by the second week of March, SportStars had to look at things a little differently. Even though the region’s best spring athletes didn’t get to compete, there were some whose talent still demanded their inclusion.
The only criteria used in generating the list were that the athletes must compete at a school from within one of the nine Bay Area counties, and they must have played in a sport which culminated in a sanctioned section title or reached a national-level of success (i.e., won a national championship or been appointed to a youth national team).
The list’s Top 10 is shown below. To see the first 65 athletes to make the list, it can be viewed in the August edition.
All sports fans know rankings are an opinion, and certainly subjective. They also spark debate and conversation, which is why we love them. So don’t hesitate to give us your thoughts. We’re looking forward to it.
—Chace Bryson, SportStars Editor
- NICK YORKE (Archbishop Mitty-San Jose, Sr.)
Baseball
Yorke’s third and final time being named to the Bay Area 75 comes approximately seven weeks after he became the first-round pick (No. 17 overall) of the Boston Red Sox. The coronavirus-caused cancellation of his senior season wiped out a torrid start at the plate. He was 8-for-15 with two homers, nine runs and six RBI through his first five games. He now has approximately three million reasons to shrug it off, though. The infielder’s last full season for Mitty included a .505 average, 50 hits, 38 runs, seven home runs and 40 RBI.
- ANTHONY ROY (Dublin, Sr.)
Basketball
Roy was the complete leader for a Dublin team which came one point shy of reaching the NorCal Open Div. final. SportStars named him its NorCal Player of the Year after he averaged 17.8 points per game (close to doubling his scoring average from his junior season) while adding 5.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per contest. Additionally, he was named the East Bay Athletic League Player of the Year and was a second team All-State Elite selection by CalHiSports.com. Roy will stay local and play on the hilltop for USF.
- JUSTIN ANDERSON (Menlo-Atherton-Atherton, Sr.)
Football, Basketball
Anderson was one of two Bay Area players to earn first-team CalHiSports.com All-State Grid-Hoop honors. The Bears’ three-way star caught 29 passes for 462 yards and four TDs, returned a pair of kicks for scores, and also logged 20 tackles and an interception on defense. He was recruited as a defensive back, which is where he’ll play at Washington State. During the winter, he was the Peninsula Athletic League MVP for a Menlo-Atherton team that went 23-5. Known as a defensive stopper, he averaged 4.8 steals per game.
- LUKE CASPER (Bellarmine-San Jose, Sr.)
Tennis
Casper is the first tennis athlete to ever crack the Top 10 of the Bay Area 75 rankings. And there’s good reason for it. The two-time CCS singles champion entered his senior year as the No. 6 recruit in the country, according to TennisRecruiting.net. His stock took a big rise during the 2019 USTA junior circuit when he won the Boys 16’s USTA National Winter Championships in Orlando, and the Boys 16’s USTA National Clay Court Championships in Delray Beach, Florida. Casper’s feverish recruitment ended with the Bellarmine star choosing Texas A&M.
- TEHYA BIRD (Cloverdale, Sr.)
Softball, Basketball, Volleyball
The Oregon-bound softball star finishes as our highest-ranked three-sport athlete — even if she only got to play two of them in the 2019-20 school year. In volleyball, Bird was a first team All-North Coast League defensive specialist for the second straight year. She then transitioned to basketball where she completed a phenomenal career, reaching the 2,000 career point plateau and winning her second consecutive NCL-I MVP award for a 25-win Eagles team. Her Oregon softball scholarship may have had something to do with her 2019 totals of a .754 average, 60 runs, 15 doubles, 13 home runs and 48 RBI. She also went 23-1 as a pitcher with a 0.88 ERA, 215 strikeouts and two no-hitters (one perfect game).
- SHAMAR GARRETT (De La Salle-Concord, Sr.)
Football
Garrett opened the 2019 football season on the cover of SportStars’ annual Football Preview. He ended it as the magazine’s NorCal Player of the Year. CalHiSports.com also named him as NorCal’s top player, as well as a first team All-State all-purpose selection. Garrett rushed for 1,141 yards and 16 TDs in addition to catching 16 passes for another 257 yards and two scores. He completed 3 of 5 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns, and he also had a punt return for a touchdown. Against national No. 1 St. John Bosco-Bellflower in the CIF Open Division State Bowl Championship, the San Jose State commit showcased his prowess on both sides of the ball. He rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns while logging 12 tackles and a forced fumble on defense.
- JEWEL ROEMER (Acalanes-Lafayette, Sr.)
Water Polo
In Roemer’s final two seasons of high school water polo, she led Acalanes to a combined 49-0 record with a pair of NCS and CIF NorCal titles. She’s now headed to Stanford where she’ll follow the footsteps of the East Bay’s last great water polo talent, Maggie Steffens — a player whose name tends to pop up when some describe Roemer’s skill set in the water. Like Steffens, Roemer has already suited up for the U.S. Women’s Senior National Team before even having enrolled at Stanford. Prior to her senior season for Acalanes, Roemer won a beach gold medal at the FINA World Championships as well as a Junior Olympics gold medal and tournament MVP honors. At the FINA Junior World Championships in August 2019, she also won gold and was the team’s second leading scorer with 15 goals.
- JOHN LESTER (Amador Valley-Pleasanton, Jr.)
Track, Cross Country
It’s no hyperbole when we say that Lester has established himself as one of the nation’s fastest high school competitors in the 800 meters. He proved it in June at the Desert Dream Last Hurrah Invitational in San Tan Valley, Arizona. There he blazed to victory in a personal-record time of 1 minutes, 48.26 seconds. The time is the third-fastest national time ever for a high school junior, as well as the third-fastest North Coast Section time ever. Prior to spring sports shutting down, Lester owned the country’s best 2020 high school mark in the event (1:52.06). During the cross country season, Lester finished sixth overall in the NCS Div. I race.
- NATE RUTCHENA (Monte Vista-Danville, Sr.)
Football, Basketball
Rutchena is the embodiment of the type of athletes we thought of when we first devised the concept of the Bay Area 75 back in 2013. A multi-sport star who can be a gamechanger in whichever sport they play. Rutchena is on the list for the second straight year, moving up from the No. 29 spot after finishing as an All-North Coast Section selection in both football and basketball. Headed to Cal for football, the two-way playmaker finished with 105 tackles (10 for loss), three sacks, two interceptions and fumble recovery on defense, and caught 53 passes for 709 yards and 12 TDs on offense. During hoops season, he propelled the Mustangs with a similar all-around game. He averaged 12 points, 7.5 rebounds and four assists.
- CHASE SALDATE (Gilroy, Sr.)
Wrestling
In previous years, just winning a state title hasn’t been enough to vault a wrestler to No. 1 on the Bay Area 75.
But Saldate didn’t just win a state title during the 2019-20 season. He dominated his sport.
NorCal’s only state champion from the past season, Saldate also ended the year as the national No. 1 for the 152-pound division as he capped his prep career by going undefeated. He will redshirt his first year at Michigan State before aiming for All-American prestige as a redshirt freshman in 2022.
National No. 1 Saldate did not disappoint on California’s biggest stage. He won his first four matches by pin and dominated Reymundo Raiz of Buchanan (ended fourth) in a 14-0 semifinal. In the CIF finals, Saldate muscled Tyler Badgett of Rancho Bernardo-San Diego (a returning state runner-up) into pin position and captured the fall with two seconds left in the opening round.
In addition to becoming the first wrestler to top the list, Saldate continues the Central Coast Section’s run of No. 1s after Archbishop Mitty’s Haley Jones claimed the spot two years in a row.
photo: Shamar Garrett; photo by Chace Bryson
Not of much importance during these rough times. They will survive!
Might be important to those athletes whose best chance of attending college was a great senior season – but oh well.
Congratulations to all the great athletes
mentioned here. What an awesome list of
accomplishments. Not only are they top
athletes but they are top scholars too.
They will not just survive. With their
dedication they will thrive!
Which proves that the energy is within you to become a champion.
Chase Saldate shows us that his hard work and dedication makes a winner.
Congratulations!
Football just leads to concussions and ongoing, life long brain trauma. Ask any guy who played ball through school how many hits to the noggin he took. The less football taking place, the fewer horrific tragedies. Look at high profile wrestlers and footballers who go insane and do violent acts due to their life of CBT, look at Chris Benoit.
These sports are generally just a waste of taxpayer money. Have the kids learn something meaningful and useful with their exercise, like martial arts.
The musings of a four year letterman in competitive tether ball.