Fall arrives, the lights come on Friday night and football naturally grabs the headlines.
But it certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on great performances.
All across San Joaquin County, athletes are reaching milestones, setting personal bests, filling stat sheets and putting together performances that deserve their own spotlight.
Some numbers jump off the page. Others need a little context to appreciate just how impressive they are.
Here are some of the fall high school sports standout performances from Sept. 7-12.
Flag Football
Skylar Arellano, Kimball — Liberty threw the ball her way five times too many. The senior picked off five passes, returning one for a touchdown, and added seven flag pulls in Kimball’s 18-7 loss on Sept. 8.
Adri Powers, Tracy — Quarterback
was only one of Powers’ jobs. The junior went 7-of-16 for 128 yards and two touchdowns, added 39 rushing yards and somehow found time for five sacks in a 19-0 win over El Capitan on Sept. 8.
Lily Dundas, Manteca — Bright lights, crosstown rival and a one-score game. Dundas delivered through it all, with the senior quarterback throwing for 190 yards and two touchdowns on 15-of-24 passing with one interception in a 13-6 win over Sierra on Sept. 8.
Sophia Ferdin, Weston Ranch — Hand Ferdin the ball and good things happened for Weston Ranch. The junior turned 20 carries into 171 yards and two touchdowns, then added five flag pulls on defense in a 28-0 shutout of Stagg on Sept. 9.
Tessa Zalunardo, Sierra — Thirty-seven passes showed just how much Sierra trusted Zalunardo. The junior quarterback rewarded that trust, completing 31 for 284 yards and three touchdowns with one interception in a 27-7 win over Patterson on Sept. 9.
Girls Volleyball
Gilia Mora, Lodi — Why choose between setting up a kill and getting one yourself? Mora did both, with the junior setter totaling eight kills, eight assists, eight digs and one ace in a 3-0 win over Sierra on Sept. 8.
Emy Sinclair, Venture Academy — Set it up or put it away, Sinclair did both. The senior setter and opposite recorded six kills, three aces and seven assists as Venture Academy beat Riverbank 3-1 on Sept. 9.
Taimane Tu’uga, Manteca — Match after match, Tu’uga keeps finding her way into double figures. The senior outside hitter had 15 kills and 15 digs, along with 14 service points and two aces, in a straight-set win over Linden on Sept. 9, extending her streak of double-doubles in kills and digs to five matches.
Allie Kehoe, Linden — The final score didn’t keep Kehoe from filling the stat sheet. The senior setter and right side had seven kills, three aces, one block, one dig and seven assists in a 3-0 loss to Manteca on Sept. 9.
Lilia Tuputala, Ripon — Age didn’t keep Tuputala from taking over at the net. The freshman outside hitter put away 11 kills and added four blocks, three digs and nine serve receptions in a 3-0 win over Sonora on Sept. 10.
Boys Cross Country
David Avila, Millennium — Top five in the section. Second out of 188 runners in the small-school race. And still not a personal best. The junior ran the 5,000 meters in 16:02.0 at the Kim Duyst Twilight Invitational on Sept. 12, improving his season best by four-tenths of a second as he closes in on last year’s personal-best 15:31.7.
Ricardo Guzman, Edison — Fifth out of 238 runners in the large-school race is impressive. For Guzman, it also showed he might be getting back to his best. The senior ran a 16:12.0 in the 5,000 meters at the Kim Duyst Twilight Invitational on Sept. 12, his fastest time since setting a personal best 15:10.0 as a freshman.
Girls Cross Country
Katherine Kaczorowski, Kimball — Forget the 11th-place finish. The junior’s personal-best 19:55.9 in the 5,000 meters at the Kim Duyst Twilight Invitational on Sept. 12 showed just how far she has come, more than two minutes faster than her best time of 22:18.3 last season.
Anna Dittman, Sierra — Dittman is already knocking on the door of her personal best. The junior placed fifth out of 179 runners in the large-school race at the Kim Duyst Twilight Invitational on Sept. 12, clocking a season-best 18:47.0 in the 5,000 meters, just shy of the 18:41.4 she ran last year.
Girls Tennis
Hailie Kim, Manteca — Forget beating Kim. Nobody has even taken a set from her. The sophomore No. 1 singles player swept Patterson on Sept. 8, Oakdale the next day and Oak Creek on Sept. 11, moving to 9-0 while holding a staggering 104-20 advantage in games this season.
Chloe Lowe, Tokay — Rankings only mean so much once the match starts. Lowe entered No. 20 on MaxPreps against Edison’s No. 18-ranked player and promptly dominated 6-1, 6-0 on Sept. 10, giving the senior quite the argument for a spot among the county’s top three singles players.
Boys Water Polo
Elias Hensel, Tokay — Twenty goals in two games sounds almost ridiculous until you look at what Hensel did last season. After scoring 106 goals in 19 games as a sophomore, the junior poured in nine against Laguna Creek on Sept. 8 and 11 against Monterey Trail on Sept. 10, adding three assists as Tokay won both games.
Girls Water Polo
Elina Odom, Mountain House — The wins haven’t come for Mountain House, but Odom has done everything she can to change that. The senior scored twice and added an assist in a 12-3 loss to Foothill, giving her 13 goals through three games.
This article originally appeared on The Record: San Joaquin County high school fall sports top performances for early September
