Madera All-Star team places first
Madera Tribune File Photo
Madera’s Abraham Del Toro works his Sanger wrestling opponent into a pin during a 2016 County/Metro Athletic Conference victory in Joe Flores Gym.
2013
The All About Cheer All-Star Senior team took home a first place trophy at the 37th annual Clovis Pep Classic.
Forty-nine cheerleaders and dancers from All About Dance and Gymnastics competed at Clovis High School in the largest cheer competition in the Central Valley with more than 500 athletes competing.
The All About Cheer All-Star Senior team’s winning routine was choreographed by Cambria Hix and Bailey Britton, who are members of the team.
The All About Cheer All-Star Junior team, coached and choreographed by Hix and Kirsten Hefner, placed third in their division. The junior team was also hurt by the absence of a cheerleader due to the flu.
“This means one stunt group did not perform any stunts, hurting the overall score,” Hefner said. “We are still super proud of the girls because, for most of them, it is their first year as a cheerleader.
2014
Coyotes top Stallions in OT thriller
Although his job on the Madera boys soccer team is to prevent opponents from scoring, it was an overtime goal by Coyote senior defender Juan Marin that turned out to be the difference in the County/Metro Athletic Conference rivalry match with Madera South.
Marin’s successful shot not only helped the Coyotes outlast a valiant effort by a struggling Stallions’ team, but in essence, his game-winning goal helped keep the Coyotes’ dream of a CMAC three-peat alive with a 1-0 overtime victory in Memorial Stadium.
In game where both team’s goalkeepers were putting on a quality display of their talents which included several crowd-pleasing saves, it would take shot from an unlikely player to catch the Stallions’ off-guard with less than eight minutes remaining in overtime.
Marin, who Baca generally uses on free kicks from the back, came running up toward the Madera South goal and received a pass from Alfredo Moreno for the game-winning score.
2015
Fourth quarter spurt lifts Hawks
Led by an 18-point fourth quarter, the Liberty Hawks girls basketball team turned a tie game into a 10-point victory over the Kerman Lions.
Siera Cullins led the Hawks in the fourth quarter with three assists and a bucket to lead a 10-0 run in a 51-41 win at Liberty.
Cullins played despite suffering flu symptoms and dealing with a runny nose throughout the game.
“I’ve said the sicker you are, the harder you play,” coach Paul Stroemer said. “This might have been Siera’s best game so far.”
Shelby Gee led the Hawks with 16 points, including the team’s three 3-pointers. Cullins scored seven points with eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Theresa Chapa added nine points and Claire Copher scored eight.
Next one up leads to win
Despite getting decimated by injuries, the Liberty Hawks girls soccer team keeps on beating opponents in the North Sequoia League, this time with a 1-0 victory over Sierra-Tollhouse to finish the first half of the NSL season undefeated.
The latest injury came to goalkeeper Martiza Rivera, who suffered a concussion in a win over Yosemite.
Enter defender Emma Horanic to became Liberty’s fourth goalkeeper of the season. Injuries also kept head coach Erick Walker’s bench to just three players.
However, Raina Wristen extended the Hawks’ 65-match NSL winning streak with a goal 30 minutes into the match for the 1-0 victory at Liberty.
Stallions top Coyotes 2-0
For the third County/Metro Athletic Conference game in a row, the Madera South boys soccer team didn’t surrender a goal.
With Stallion senior goalkeeper Jose Barraza directing the defense, Madera South produced two goals to earn its third straight conference win.
In its third year of playing in the CMAC, Madera South is off to the league best start and improved to 3-1-1 with a 2-0 win over crosstown rival Madera in Memorial Stadium.
“Every year our goal is just to finish better than the year before,” said Madera South head coach Cristino Armiento. “Right now, we’re off to a great start but we know that if we don’t keep our head in the game it can fall real fast.”
2016
Stallions prevail in OT, stay first in CMAC
Through its first five County/Metro Athletic Conference games, the Madera South girls soccer team remained perfect.
However, getting to 5-0 in league wasn’t easy for the No. 2-ranked Stallions, who held off crosstown rival Madera in a 2-1 overtime victory.
“Our goal was to worry about the first half of league and now we’re ready for the second half,” said Stallion head coach Ramon Delgadillo.
The Stallions got the game-winning goal from Sabrina Ibrahim off a Sophia Zertuche corner kick in the 88th minute.
Soccer rivals tie, begin second half
Before starting the second half of County/Metro Athletic Conference play, the Madera and Madera South boys soccer teams put on another classic battle that gave fans their money’s worth.
The Stallions came into the crosstown rivalry match in first place while the Coyotes were one game behind.
In the 20-minute overtime period, neither team could find the back of the net in a 1-1 tie at Memorial Stadium.
“It just shows how much talent there is in this town and it’s amazing,” said Coyote interim head coach Nic Landeros. “If we were one school, we’d be competing for Div. I championships every year.”
Both coaches got a supreme effort out of their players, especially from the goalkeeper position.
Throughout the match, Madera’s Juan Daza and Madera South’s Mark Davila made clutch save after save including key stops in overtime.
Quick start leads Stallions
The Madera South Stallions hit five first quarter 3-pointers and jumped out to an early lead to cruise to a 51-36 victory over crosstown rival Madera in Joe Flores Gym to close out the first half of the County/Metro Athletic Conference season.
The Stallions held Madera career leading scorer Ethan Richardson to 21 points on 9-of-22 shooting. Only one other Coyote managed to score more than three points.
Meanwhile, the Stallions had two players in double-figures — Junior Segura with a team-leading 17 and Hassan Bolden with 13 — in the 51-36 victory.
For the Stallions, it was a matter of time before they got their first CMAC victory. They lost to Sanger on a last second shot, trailed Bullard-Fresno by three with three minutes left, tied Edison-Fresno in the third quarter and trailed San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno by three with a minute left.
Coyote grapplers set sights on CMAC title
Despite losing the first two matches of the evening, Madera Coyote wrestling coach Joe Romine knew he had the firepower in the later weights to capture a dual-meet victory over Sanger.
Sanger won the first two matches by pin and by major decision and took the early lead. The next two Madera wrestlers picked up closer than expected victories to start a six-match winning streak that included two forfeit victories.
“We started out with their two toughest guys,” Romine said. “The tournament we went to last week, those guys won the championship. I didn’t expect the next match to be so tough.”
In all, the Coyotes won 10 of the 14 matches, including three pins.
“There’s a lot of things with home duals,” Romine said. “The kids rose to the occasion and got better as the night went on.”
2019
MVP frontrunners meet in CMAC clash
The Madera South Stallions and the San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno Panthers are two of the top boys soccer teams in the County/Metro Athletic Conference. Combined, the teams have scored 163 goals, including the Stallions’ 4-2 win at Memorial Stadium.
In the middle of it all Madera South’s Christian Garcia and Memorial’s Max Arfsten have been the driving force behind their teams’ success.
Garcia, is a swiss-army knife. There isn’t a position on the pitch that Garcia can’t play, except goalkeeper, but even then, his knack for tireless work on the pitch might make him a decent stopper.
Garcia was last year’s Madera Tribune Most Valuable Player and was also named All-CMAC first team for his 11 goals and 10 assists. This year, he has doubled his statistics with 21 goals and 21 assists in only 19 matches.
Garcia scored a goal and set up two others in the win.
Top-seeded Tigers pushed to the limit by Coyotes
The Madera Coyotes girls soccer team welcomed the top-ranked Edison-Fresno Tigers into Memorial Stadium for a County/Metro Athletic Conference clash.
The two teams faced off during the first half of CMAC where the Tigers came away with a 5-0 victory, but this time around, the Coyotes pushed the Tigers to the brink in a 4-3 loss in overtime.
Itzel Rodriguez and Klarissa Ramos combined for three goals, including two free-kick goals by Rodriguez in the first half. Rodriguez is the Coyotes’ leading goal scorer with 17, and also notched an assist for Ramos.
