Aptos graduate Izzy Graff was on the verge of joining the cross country team going into her junior year in 2023 so she could stay busy in what would’ve been a non-active fall season.
On top of competing in three different sports, it also meant more opportunities for the Mariners standout athlete to be triumphant.
“Honestly, I just love winning,” she said.
But instead of running numerous miles on a dirt track, Graff became a member of the inaugural flag football team. One year later, she was named the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s co-Most Valuable Player for a second consecutive year.
Graff then earned all-league second team honors as defender in girls soccer in the winter, and a California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field gold medal in the unified 100-meter dash in the spring.
Let’s not forget she was a team captain for all three programs. And those were just a few of the accomplishments Graff garnered throughout the 2024-25 school year.
Graff was also a three-time scholar athlete winner with a cumulative overall graduating grade point average of 4.4 during her senior year. Her AP exam results were off the charts, scoring a five on her calculus BC and subscores, and a four on both government and economics tests.
“I just love the classroom,” Graff said. “I think Aptos had really good teachers, and this year I feel like I worked harder than last year just to keep on top of it and everything, for grades and or for going to college.”
That type of ultimate dedication to both athletics and the classroom is what most would consider a true student-athlete, which is why Graff was named this year’s Pajaronian Female Athlete of the Year.
“It means so much with my work, but also my family’s support, my sister’s support,” said Graff about receiving the award. “Also all my coaches. I’ve had so many coaches over the past four years, and all their support. And my teammates…It’s just all the work I’ve put in but all the work and support and commitment they’ve put into it.”
Supporting cast
Growing up, Graff and her twin sister, Grace, were given an option by their parents, Steve and Lea, to either play a musical instrument or try a sport. They did both for a bit, but Graff stuck with soccer and her sibling continued singing and playing piano.
It wasn’t until their senior year that both teamed up on the track and field squad. Even if it was just for one season, Graff said she had a blast being on the same squad.
“It was really fun,” Graff said. “Even the four years, just being able to support each other was just really fun.”
Soccer became Graff’s first love when she was four years old. Then she was introduced to flag football at Aptos Junior High where head coach Denise Russo had a sweet proposal for first-time players.
Russo told the students that if they played in seventh grade, they would get to choose their own jersey number the following season.
“I joined the flag football team first for the jersey number, and then I really fell in love with it, and it was so much fun,” Graff said.
Graff instantly picked No. 23, a number she proudly displays for a couple of reasons. For starters, it’s the birthday (March 23) she shares with her twin sister.
The same sister that was diagnosed with brain cancer on Feb. 23, exactly one month before their 11th birthday.
“[Grace] overcame it and has been in remission for seven years now, so it’s a number that means a lot,” Graff said.
That eighth grade flag football season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing athletic programs to shut down. But three years later she was back on the field, juking defenders and ball hawking in the backfield.
“I had a three week little peek into that world,” Graff said. “So, when it came back, I got really excited.”
Unforgettable final season
In the fall, Graff dominated the gridiron. She was named the SCCAL’s co-most valuable player alongside Scotts Valley’s Claire Skinner.
As the Mariners’ running back, Graff racked up 698 yards rushing and 502 yards receiving to go along with 15 total touchdowns—six receiving, nine rushing in 2024. On defense, she had 43 flag pulls and five interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns.
In two seasons at Aptos, Graff finished with a program-best 1,805 total yards and 27 total TDs on a downsized 80-yard field.
“[Graff] could assess what was going on out in the field, and sometimes the best person at doing that. She stepped up right away,” said Russo, who also coaches the high school program. “She was a big factor in our success.”
Graff recalls those first two seasons as a learning experience, including having to educate themselves on all the rules. She carried around an annotated copy of the rule book with tabs for the referees.
Russo would take that copy to midfield before each game to ask which rules were they playing by that day.
“And then that second year, everyone already knew how to do things,” Graff said.
Graff, who already looked at all the new rule changes for the upcoming 2025 fall season, is currently helping Russo with coaching duties, staying involved with the program in any way possible.
“I’ve been watching her interact with everyone and just to be that kind of a role model, she’s something special,” Russo said. “She really can take all of the combination of skills and information, and combine it into output.”
After flag football, Graff jumped right into soccer as one of the team captains, and a key defender on a backline that allowed just 13 total goals during the 2024-25 winter campaign. On top of that, she helped lead the Mariners to their third consecutive SCCAL title.
“I feel like we were more of a unit than the past years, and everyone worked together,” Graff said. “I thought we were communicating really well, and just preventing all those goals was so much fun.”
Aptos girls soccer head coach Gina Castañeda said in a text message that Graff was the kind of player every coach hopes to have on their roster.
“Izzy is an exceptional athlete,” Castañeda said. “It’s been an honor to coach her.”
Castañeda mentioned how Graff was such a great defender, and an even better teammate.
“Hardworking, respectful, responsible and incredibly coachable,” Castañeda said. “Her commitment to her education is the definition of a true student-athlete. She was also incredibly committed to our team and her consistent excellence on and off the field set a standard for everyone around her.”
Graff capped off her senior year with a CIF State Track and Field gold medal by winning the unified 100m dash in 12.89 seconds, setting a new personal record and making it her favorite moment during the spring campaign.
“That was the first time I had a PR in the 100 since my freshman year, and it was my final race of high school,” she said. “And just to do it at State, in that stadium where I had been watching the best athletes in the state compete all day, just having my moment, it was really incredible.”
Graff had partnered with Mary-Anne Macarthy, an incoming sophomore who placed third in 13.57. They had spent three weeks practicing together prior to winning the unified 100 at the CCS Championships on May 24.
“It felt really good,” said Graff about partnering up with Macarthy. “I got to State and we were sitting together, watching everyone go and cheering on all of our teammates. So, when it was our time, I was like, ‘This is gonna be great.’”
On top of a State medal, Graff was part of the 4×100 relay team that set the school record of 49.43 seconds at the Central Coast Section Championships on May 17.
Aptos athletic director and track and field head coach Travis Fox said they realized how special of a true athlete Graff was going to be by her sophomore season.
“Her numbers just have decreased every single time she touched the track,” Fox said.
At the SCCAL finals, the Mariners’ team captain won the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 8 inches, took second in the triple jump (32-7) and third in the 200 (26.82).
“I think Izzy represents everything great about youth sports and interscholastic athletics,” Fox said. “Izzy’s excellence is going to be appreciated more starting next year when we look back and see what we’re missing. She’s that special of a person, and especially an athlete. It was truly about playing three sports.”
