Sun-Star honors winter female athletes of the year for basketball, wrestling, soccer
Khya Martin and her Merced High girls basketball teammates wanted to feel the joy of winning a league championship. It had been their goal since arriving on campus as freshman.
Martin had played with some of her Bears teammates since sixth grade.
“We saw Atwater win the (Central California Conference) championship last year,” Martin said. “We wanted to feel that same joy and excitement. To win it was very special and rewarding. To share that feeling with some of my best friends made it even better.”
After helping lead Merced to its first CCC girls basketball championship since 2014, Martin was named the co-Most Valuable Player by the CCC coaches.
Martin is also the Merced Sun-Star Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“To have her the last four years has been amazing,” said Merced coach Art Solis, who is also the Sun-Star Girls Basketball Coach of the Year. “She’s the type of player who is always questioning why we’re doing this or that because she wants to understand the game more and more. She wants to make her basketball IQ that much better.”
Martin was at her best during Merced’s playoff run that eventually led to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. It was the Bears’ first finals appearance since 1992.
Martin finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in a first-round win over Los Banos. The Bears senior added 13 points and 13 rebounds in an upset win over East Union. Martin then scored 17 points in a win over top-seeded Placer.
“I loved the playoffs,” Martin said. “All the games were really close. There was so much suspense and anxiety. It was a feeling I can’t describe. It felt like we were NBA players. We kept winning and winning until we were in the finals.”
The Bears finished with a 27-5 record.
“We will never forget this season,” Martin said. “I know I got to play with friends that I’ll have for a very long time.”
Wrestling
Kiana Daniels, Los Banos
Kiana Daniels has played many sports in her three years at Los Banos High. She’s played water polo, softball, wrestling and swimming.
However, wrestling has become her favorite sport.
She started wrestling as a freshman after watching how much her little sister Kiara participate in club wrestling.
“I really like it,” Kiana Daniels said. “It was really hard. No sport had pushed me harder than wrestling. I grew to love it.”
Daniels improved each year and this past season won a Western Athletic Conference championship, finished third at regionals, second at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters and went 3-2 at the CIF State Meet.
Daniels is the Merced Sun-Star Girls Wrestler of the Year.
“She’s there every day at practice, putting in work,” said Los Banos coach Jose Cortez. “It’s almost like wrestling hadn’t stopped for her until everything was shut down. She definitely doesn’t like to lose.”
Daniels finished with a 42-7 record this season.
She won five individual titles at tournaments this year, including being named the outstanding wrestler at the Lady Chukchansi Tournament and winning the Lady Morningstar in Los Banos.
Finishing one win shy of obtaining a medal at the state meet will only fuel Daniels during the off season.
“She had adjusted her spring schedule so she can make all the wrestling practices,” Cortez said. “She’s hungry. That’s a good thing and not a good thing for everyone else.”
Daniels just hopes to continue to improve next year.
“I was happy with my season,” she said. “I accomplished my goal of qualifying for state so I was happy I that was able to happen. I’m going to go all out next year. I’ll be happy if I can end up on the podium at the state meet.”
Soccer
Anaya Shelton, El Capitan
The El Capitan girls soccer team had their best season since the school started playing varsity sports in 2014.
The Gauchos won their first Central California Conference championship and reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals.
Leading the way was sophomore Anaya Shelton, who was named the CCC Most Valuable Player.
For the second straight year, Shelton is the Merced Sun-Star Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
“It was a really special season for us because me made school history,” Shelton said. “The playoffs wasn’t the best outcome but we made it further than we had before. Winning the CCC title was for our school because we had never done it before.”
Shelton scored 49 goals this season, which tied for eighth in the state according to MaxPreps. The Gauchos star increased her goal total from 31 last year.
“It was a great accomplishment to finish in the top 10 in the state,” Shelton said. “I wanted to do way better than last year. I knew I was capable of more.”
Shelton has already attracted the interest from schools on the West Coast like Oregon, Cal, Oregon State, Fresno State, UC Davis, Fresno State, St. Mary’s , Sacramento State and San Francisco State.
With a young nucleus that includes Shelton midfielder Haley Espinoza, the Gauchos should be even more dangerous next season.
“Next year we should be so much better,” Shelton said. “We’ ll be more mature and we’ll have more experience after our playoff run this year. We’ll be able to deal with the nerves in the big games.”
All-Area Honorees
Basketball
Amoni Claiborne, Atwater
Kaitlynn Perez, Merced
Caly Curran, El Capitan
Sierra Smith, Merced
Jessica Agundis, Atwater
Charde Proctor, Golden Valley
Alexa Ultreras, Le Grand
Victoria Montes, Livingston
Anissa Sanchez, Los Banos
Sienna Hampton, Los Banos
Ki’Onna Hilliard, Stone Ridge Christian
Coach of the Year — Art Solis, Merced
Wrestling
Najeh Russo, Buhach Colony
Samantha Arevalo, Golden Valley
Naomi Cortez, Delhi
Klaudet Zevala, Los Banos
Ulyette Curiel, Atwater
Brianna Juarez, Atwater
Skylee Butler, Mariposa
Yisela Vera-Rojas, Atwater
Coach: Nelson Medeiros/Johnny Juarez, Atwater
Soccer
Jadyn Gong, Golden Valley
Haley Espinoza, El Capitan
Brianda Arteaga, Atwater
Haylee Heffner, Golden Valley
Eliza Barocio, Atwater
Alondra Higareda, El Capitan
Genevieve Fontes, HIlmar
DeAnna Govea, Merced
Juliana Beltran, Buhach Colony
Cynthia Gutierrez, Golden Valley
Lupin Amstutz, Mariposa
Alexie Ochoa, Buhach Colony
Cassidy Spiva, El Capitan
Daleana Aguayo, Dos Palos
Stacey Olivares, El Capitan
Coach: Jose Duran, El Capitan
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 1:07 PM.
