Sports

A pint-sized, hard-nosed runner that made her name known this season, Ruiz was voted the top freshman female cross country runner in all of Northern California by a committee of coaches and writers from the various sections of the area.

St. Francis High is coming off a historic season in which it won the league title as well as Central Coast Section and California Interscholastic Federation Northern California championships.

Natalia Ackerman had 23 points and eight rebounds, Gabby Giuffre added 18 points and six assists and the Aptos High girls’ basketball team beat North Salinas High, 59-40, on Saturday afternoon to win the North Salinas High Sportsmanship Classic championship.

The former Cabrillo and Watsonville High great will be enshrined with his heroes on Jan. 20 at the Seascape Resort when the Seahawks’ athletic program welcomes its second-ever class into its Hall of Fame.

Their leading scorers and starting guards, junior Hannah Hocom and sophomore Gabby Giuffre, are back and their two best bigs, sophomore Natalia Ackerman and senior Abbi Saxton, also return for fourth-year head coach Stefan Hocom – Hannah’s father.

Riley Croghan scored two goals, Ashley Raich scored and made an assist and the St. Francis High girls’ soccer team improved to 6-0 on the season with a 5-0 preseason win over Anzar High on Thursday evening.

The Wildcatz (4-2) lost their opener on Thursday evening against Servite High by a 2-0 decision and then fell to St. Paul’s, of Covington, La., by the same margin on Friday afternoon.

Aptos High senior Marea Zlatunich was named to the All-CCS First Team and Watsonville High freshman Layla Ruiz earned a spot on the All-CCS Second Team.

St. Francis High is off to its best start in the program’s 13 years of existence. The Sharks have won their first five games after a decade-plus of failing to win more than three games total in a single season.