High School Sports

With just days leading up to the 2025 season-opener, Watsonville football head coach Manny Contreras was already required to make a potential season-changing roster move at quarterback. Tino Razo, a senior, injured his wrist during the Santa Cruz County Football Jamboree on Aug. 23, forcing...

Upon further review, St. Francis football head coach John Ausman took note after last week’s set of scrimmages that the coaching staff might be dealing with a problem.  No need to worry, though. Ausman made sure to mention that it was what he called a “good...

It’s been two weeks since Monte Vista Christian players threw on the helmets and shoulder pads for the first official day of practice. Mustangs third-year head coach Spencer Ferrari-Wood believes they aren’t quite where they want to be at this point of the early 2025...

Nick Peña, a former Watsonville wrestling standout and Central Coast Section champion, was named the new head coach of the Wildcatz wrestling team for the upcoming 2025-26 winter season.   After taking over as the interim head coach last year, Peña, 44, will return to lead...

After decades of proposals and campaigns, Watsonville High School is on the verge of completing its $5 million-plus major overhaul of Emmett M. Geiser Field. The most notable changes are the brand-new set of shiny chrome bleachers that will accommodate up to 2,100 guests and...

Elaine Parker, former principal at Ann Soldo Elementary for the past decade, made the switch during the summer from running an entire school to becoming the next director of athletics for another.  Watsonville High named Parker, who is entering her 35th year with Pajaro Valley...

Clara Adams, Monterey County's all-time record holder in the 200- and 400-meter races, will transfer from North Salinas to Watsonville High for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.  The incoming junior will join the Wildcatz track and field team next year in the spring in hopes...

St. Francis graduate Nash Horton suffered a devastating and potential career-ending injury after he tore his right shoulder labrum at the beginning of the 2023 baseball season. After doing some extensive research, he discovered a high percentage of professional athletes who had trouble with that...

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...

Once upon a time in the early 2000s, Becky Clark was forced to enter a space dedicated to mostly oversized teenage boys tossing and grappling each other inside a smelly wrestling room.   The former Watsonville High standout doesn’t miss those hot grueling days of summer...