Each week, The Press Democrat shines a light on high schoolers who make their mark on the field of play.
The winter sports season is in its final stages, with only a handful of local teams still playing deep into the playoffs.
While those squads continue to strive for postseason accolades in the Northern California tournaments that begin this week, springs sports have gotten up and running across the region — with baseball, softball and track and field starting their season last week.
Here are the high school athletes of the week for Feb. 24 through Saturday.
Josie Hill, Technology girls track and field: The Titans sophomore broke two long-standing meet records at Santa Rosa High School’s Big Cat Invitational on Saturday with wins in the 400 and 800 as one of three double winners on the girls’ side. Her 400 time of 57.41 was the best since Montgomery’s Alexica Bosque’s time of 58.72 in 2004 and her 800 time of 2:14.79 was the best since Jenny Aldridge of Maria Carrillo’s time of 2:14.14 in 2002.
Logan Bruce, Maria Carrillo wrestling: The Pumas senior placed at the CIF state championships for the second straight year, improving on his finish by one spot at sixth overall at 175 pounds. Bruce, seeded 12th, beat the Nos. 6 and 7 seeds on the final day of competition before falling to the No. 5 seed and then the No. 8 seed in the fifth-place match.
Callie Howard, Cardinal Newman softball: Howard got her senior campaign off to a roaring start for the Cardinals last week, bettering her school record for single-game strikeouts in a 7-0 win over Novato. Howard, who struck out 18 in a game last year, struck out 19 with no walks and one hit allowed in her complete-game outing. She also carried a no-hitter into the sixth.
James Dole, Aiden Jones, Jack Pattison, Ben Vollmer, Petaluma baseball: The Trojans are off to a 3-0 start and their pitching staff has already delivered two shutouts. They did even better in their 6-0 win over Analy on Wednesday as Dole, Jones, Pattison and Vollmer combined for a no-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks.
Brady Laubscher, Danny Mercado, Luke Bell, Casa Grande baseball: The Trojans weren’t the only pitching staff to throw a no-no last week as Laubscher, Mercado and Bell also combined for one in their 5-0 win over Rancho Cotate. The trio struck out 11 with two walks in the season-opening victory. Mercado and Laubscher then combined to fire a four-hit shutout in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Tamalpais, with nine strikeouts and one walk.
Tatum Kurpinsky, Cardinal Newman boys basketball: While the Cardinals finished as runners-up in the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs, Kurpinsky was spectacular in their two games last week. He scored 16 points and hit four three-pointers in a 60-35 win over Marin Catholic in the semifinals and then hit 9-of-11 threes for 29 points in their heartbreaking 58-57 loss to Moreau Catholic in the championship game. The Cardinals were set to begin the NorCal playoffs Tuesday night.
Aiyanna Beane, American Canyon girls wrestling: Beane placed seventh at 170 pounds at the state meet over the weekend, a year removed from not making state at all. Her run this year was even more remarkable considering she dropped from 235 to 170 pounds this year and placed in the top eight as an unseeded wrestler. She won all three of her matches on the second day of competition and then opened the final day with a win via pin in the blood round. She fell in an 8-4 decision in her next match and then rallied for a win in the seventh-place match.
Bella Pearson, Cardinal Newman girls soccer: The Cardinals completed a Cinderella run to capture the North Coast Section Division 2 title last week as the 15 seed with a 3-1 win over top-seeded Marin Catholic. Pearson scored two goals, both in the first half, in the win. The Cardinals defeated the 2, 7 and 3 seeds to make it to the finals and will continue their season in NorCals this week.
Brianna Jurasek, Sonoma Valley girls soccer: The Dragons’ leading scorer — and one of the top scorers in the NCS — delivered the only goal in their 1-0 win over San Rafael in the Division 4 title game Saturday. It was the first section title in program history for Sonoma Valley. On the year, Jurasek, a St. Mary’s commit, is third in the NCS with 31 goals. The Dragons begin their foray into NorCals this week.
Anakarla Hernandez, St. Helena girls wrestling: Hernandez, seeded sixth at 145 pounds, went on to place fourth overall at the state meet over the weekend, a marked improvement from a year ago, when she didn’t even make it to the final day of competition. The junior advanced out of her blood-round match with an 8-4 decision before winning her next two matches to advance to the third-place finale.
Jack DuFour, Casa Grande boys track and field: DuFour opened his 2024 track season by setting a new meet record at the Big Cat on Saturday. The junior won the 800-meter race in 1 minute, 57.59 seconds, topping the old record of 1:58.21 set by Reesey Byers of Santa Rosa in 2010, according to records compiled by eedwoodempirerunning.com.
Sadie Sanders, Hanne Thomsen, Montgomery girls track and field: The Vikings ran to two other meet records at Big Cat. Sanders, who is set for a big senior year, won the 200 with a time of 24.39, breaking the old record of 25.83 set by Jenna Lowder of Maria Carrillo in 2006. Thomsen then broke her old meet record in the 3,200, winning the event in 10:05.95. Her old meet record was 10:18.69, set back in 2023.
You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JustGusPD.