Sports

WATSONVILLE—At times, it takes a while for a football team with new players on the roster to develop trust and cohesiveness. That hasn’t been the case for St. Francis senior Diego Wolfe and the Sharks who are off to their best start in school history. “...

After serving as the Sharks’ defensive coordinator for the past two seasons under Adam Hazel, Ausman is now the head coach of the St. Francis program. The University of La Verne alumnus has tried to keep most of the same offensive and defensive concepts i

Blankenship, now a nine-time section champion and 285-game winner, will probably be fine-tuning the Mariners’ depth chart for the 2019 season while his family unwraps presents on Christmas morning. And he’ll probably be watching game film of the incoming senior and junior classes as the ball drops in Times Square to ring in the new year.

With three league games left, Aptos is only two wins away from clinching at least a share of its third league championship in the last four seasons. The Mariners have had a little help along the way — P.C.S. beating Mt. Madonna on Tuesday left them all alone in the league’s top spot — but for the majority of the season, they’ve controlled their own destiny with dramatic comebacks, various lineup changes and a “next-point” mentality.

No. 4 Aptos, a team with more than a handful of first-time varsity players, concluded its season in an 8-4 loss to top-seeded The Menlo School at Homestead High on Tuesday.

Watsonville High’s star freshman runner took third in the CCS Division I race with a time of 19 minutes, 6 seconds to not only solidify herself as one of the top young runners in the section but also become the first female Wildcat to advance to the California Interscholastic Federation state meet since Consuelo Mata did so in 2000.

St. Francis High was as dominant as could be on Friday night, welcoming in its first-year head coach with a 37-0 non-league win over cross-city rival Pajaro Valley High at Emmett M. Geiser Field in Watsonville.

Aptos High senior guards Jaylen Dang and Jasmine Ackerman earned spots on the all-Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League First Team in a recent vote by the league basketball coaches.  Dang averaged 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Mariners (17-10, 6-4), who placed...

The Mariners thumped the Haybalers 35-12 in a hard-hitting but ultimately lopsided Monterey Bay League Gabilan division victory to stay undefeated in league play.