Below are the Top 20 athletes from our sixth annual Bay Area 75 — SportStars’ countdown of the top 75 Bay Area athletes from the 2017-18 school year. The only criteria used in generating the list were that the athletes must be from 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). All sports fans know rankings are an opinion, and certainly subjective. They also spark debate and conversation, which is why we love them. Let the 2018 #BayArea75 debate begin now.
— Chace Bryson, Editor
20 QUINN WOODHEAD | Drake-San Anselmo, Sr. (Water Polo, Basketball): The Stanford-bound center defender was the Pirates’ top scorer and defender en route to NCS and NorCal water polo titles. He was named 1st Team All-NCS and a 1st Team CA-HI All-American (KaiSports.org). In hoops, he was a key role player for a squad that finished 19-11 overall.
19 NICK YORKE | Archbishop Mitty-San Jose, So. (Baseball, Football): He was a SportStars’ 1st Team All-NorCal selection and the WCAL Player of the Year after hitting .494 with 30 runs scored. Twenty of his 39 hits went for extra bases, including 18 doubles. He also played both ways as a WR/DB on the JV football team.
18 MEGAN EDELMAN | Monte Vista-Danville, So. (Soccer): The UCLA commit powered the offense of the 25-1-1 NCS and NorCal champs. She led the Mustangs with 21 goals and added 10 assists. Her 21st goal was the decider in a 1-0 NorCal finals win over Mitty.
17 DANIELLE WILLIAMS | Amador Valley-Pleasanton, Sr. (Softball): The Cal-Hi Sports’ Ms. State Softball finalist closed her four-year Dons career with an 11-strikeout, four-hit shutout in the NCS final. She went 23-4 with a 0.55 ERA and 389 strikeouts in 2018. She also batted .426 with seven homers. She now heads to Northwestern.
16 ALEXEI SANCOV | Northgate-Walnut Creek, Sr. (Swimming): A nationally ranked recruit when he committed to USC last summer, he proved it with a monster 2018 that included three NCS records (100, 200 and 500 freestyles) and a defense of his 200 freestyle state title (in a meet record time).
15 JEVON HOLLAND | Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, Sr. (Football): An All-State and All-NorCal two-way talent, the Oregon-signee intercepted five passes on defense and rolled up over 1,600 yards as a kick returner and receiver.
14 LIAM ANDERSON | Redwood-Larkspur, Jr. (Cross Country, Track): An incredible junior year included a Div. III state cross country title (in the fastest time for any Bay Area runner at the meet), NCS titles in the 1600 and 3200 meters, a state title in the 1600 and 5th-place state finish in the 3200.
13 CATE DESLER | Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton, Sr. (Volleyball): She was the MaxPreps State Player of the Year for Div. II after leading the state with 725 kills. The Tufts University-bound hitter also had 71 aces and 70 blocks in leading the Gators to a NorCal title.
12 HENRY TO’OTO’O | De La Salle-Concord, Jr. (Football): The SportStars’ NorCal Defensive Player of the Year will head into his senior season ranked by Rivals.com as one of the top three inside linebacker recruits in the country. His offers include the reigning national champs, Alabama.
11 MIRANDA HECKMAN | Granada-Livermore, Jr. (Swimming): The nationally-ranked swimming recruit and Texas-commit won her second straight state title in the 200 freestyle and third straight state crown in the 500 freestyle. She also dominated both events at NCS Championships as well.
10 ASHLEY TRIERWEILER | Carlmont-Belmont, Jr. (Softball, Basketball): She earned 1st Team All-League honors starting for a 20-8 basketball team. In softball, she was the PAL-Bay Division Player of the Year and a SportStars All-NorCal selection after batting .600 with team highs in hits (54) and runs (33).
9 ALEC RITCH | Branson-Ross, Sr. (Baseball, Football, Basketball): He was the do-everything QB for the school’s 8-man football team (accounting for nine TDs and 68 of his team’s 74 points in a win over Calistoga). He was an All-MCAL honorable mention for the NCS Div. V basketball champs, and 1st team All-MCAL for the NCS Div. V baseball champs. He hit .397 with 23 runs, 14 RBI and went 7-6 with three saves and a 1.87 ERA.
8 JAMES AKINJO | Salesian-Richmond, Sr. (Basketball): Our NorCal Boys Basketball Player of the Year and a 1st team All-State selection, the Georgetown-bound Akinjo finished the year averaging 20.7 points and 5.2 assists per game for a Pride team which won 30 games.
7 HAYLEE NELSON | Newark Memorial-Newark, Sr. (Volleyball, Basketball, Softball): Headed to San Jose State for volleyball, she ranked third in NorCal with 573 kills and added 120 blocks and 259 digs. She was the leading scorer (23.6 points/game) for a hoops team that went 24-6, and then hit .435 with 20 runs and 20 RBI for her NCS quarterfinalist softball team.
6 ROBBY ROWELL | Acalanes-Lafayette, Sr. (Football, Basketball): The Cal-bound QB was a Cal-Hi Sports’ All-State Grid-Hoop selection after passing for 2,724 yards and 41 TDs, rushing for 539 yards and five TDs, and then earning all-league honors in leading the basketball team to the NorCal Div. II playoffs.
5 TIERRA ROBINSON-JONES | Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, Sr. (Track): The Texas A&M-bound sprinter closed out her prep career with state gold medals in both the 200 and 400 meters. She’s just the fourth girl to accomplish the 200-400 double in the 100-year history of the CIF state meet.
4 JOHN TORCHIO | Campolindo-Moraga, Sr. (Football, Basketball, Baseball): The Wisconsin-bound walk-on was arguably NorCal’s best all-around football player in 2017. He passed for 3,314 yards, rushed for 761, accounted for 50 TDs, amassed 98 tackles and seven interceptions on defense, and also punted. He started for a 21-win hoops team before playing a supporting role on a baseball team which reached the NCS finals.
3 TARIQ BRACY | Milpitas, Sr. (Football): SportStars’ NorCal Player of the Year made massive impacts on both sides of the ball, rushing for 2,042 yards and scoring 31 total TDs, including three interception returns for scores. The Notre Dame-bound talent came up biggest when it counted most: He rushed for a TD, caught a TD pass, and returned a punt for a score in a thrilling 45-41 CIF State Bowl Championship win.
2 ANTONIO ANDRADE | Gilroy, Sr. (Football, Wrestling): Andrade was named SportStars’ NorCal Wrestler of the Year after a 6-0 run through the 195-pound CIF State Championships bracket that included four pins along the way. Prior to that, he helped lead Gilroy football to a perfect 13-0 season and CCS Div. V championship as a 1st-Team all-league defensive lineman. He had four sacks and two fumble recoveries in the CCS final. He’s headed to wrestle at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M with hopes of transferring to national power Oklahoma State.
1 HALEY JONES | Archbishop Mitty, Jr. (Basketball): Jones becomes the first girl to top this list, and she does so as a slam dunk choice. Which is funny because that may be the one thing she CAN’T do on a basketball court. (Or maybe she can? We’re not going to rule it out). Jones earned State, NorCal, and regional player of the year honors from Gatorade, SportStars, Bay Area News Group and the San Francisco Chronicle, respectively. She was also a 1st Team All-State selection by Cal-Hi Sports and one of four finalists for their Ms. State Basketball award. As a junior, she averaged 21.8 points, 10 rebounds and 4.1 assists. She shot 64 percent from the field and 46 percent from behind the arc. Jones was recently named to the USA Basketball U17 FIBA World Cup team; she’ll wear national team colors in Belarus from July 21-29. Finally, she’ll enter the 2018-19 school year as ESPNW.com’s No. 1 ranked senior wing in the country, and No. 2 ranked prospect overall.
To view the entire list of Bay Area 75 athletes, visit https://sportstarsmag.com/BA75-2018
No love for Aidan Jackman?
https://www.claycord.com/2018/05/13/taking-flight-clayton-valley-hurdles-ace-aiden-jackman-seeks-to-become-programs-first-state-champ-in-20-years/