Look back through The Preps Box archives and you’ll notice a lot of rankings. I’ve ranked players and teams in various ways and now I’ve come up with a twist on a team ranking list — the best teams SLO County had to offer for the 2008-09 school year.
The goal is to combine all the teams in the county and find the top 10. It’s not my intention to slight any of the county’s teams but my main criteria is focused on which were most successful.
1. Arroyo Grande girls water polo — The Eagles won back to back CIF-Southern Section Division IV titles. They finished the season 23-12 and lost during the first day of the Southern Section Masters Meet.
2. Arroyo Grande girls volleyball — The Eagles went undefeated in league and won the PAC 7 for a third consecutive year. They were eliminated during the third round of the Southern Section Division I-A playoffs. Over the past three seasons, Arroyo Grande is 36-0 in the PAC 7 and has only lost one game during that span.
3. Atascadero football — It was a disappointing end to the season, losing 6-0 during the second round of the Southern Section Northern Division playoffs. The Greyhounds were up against Moorpark and star running back Nick Tenhaeff (shoulder) and linebacker Trevor Holloway (knee) were both severely limited due to injury. Atascadero finished the year 9-3 and 5-0 in the PAC 7, winning its third consecutive league title.
4. San Luis Obispo baseball — Junior starting pitcher David Murillo (8-1, 1.21 ERA) emerged as SLO County’s top pitcher and he carried the Tigers into the third round of the Division II playoffs. San Luis Obispo was 23-6 and 15-3 in the PAC 7. The playoff loss came after letting a 2-1 lead slip in the fifth inning and eventually falling 3-2 to Redlands East Valley.
5. San Luis Obispo girls track — Led by Angela Clague and AB Torres each competing in the maximum four events, the Tigers successfully defended their Southern Section Division III title. Clauge won the 200 meters, 400 meters, and was on the winning 4×100 relay and second-place 4×400 relay teams. Torres was part of the 4×400 relay team, placed second in the 100 hurdles and the long jump, and was fourth in the 300 hurdles.
6. Atascadero wrestling — It was close but the Greyhounds won their second Southern Section Division I individual team title since 2004 after edging past Centennial of Corona 167-165.5. At the meet Atascadero had seven place winners and three — Josh Mei (215 pounds), Nick Jackson (140 pounds) and Elijah Jackson (134) competed at the CIF State Championships.
7. Arroyo Grande boys water polo — There were a lot of unrealized exceptions when the Eagles were knocked out of the Southern Section Division IV playoffs during the semifinals. Arroyo Grande had lost in that round the previous season. Hoping to remedy the situation, the Eagles went overseas to play during the off season, hoping to emulate teams that had done the same and come back champions. Arroyo Grande finished 27-4.
8. Arroyo Grande boys basketball — The Eagles (20-9, 9-3 PAC 7) finished third in the PAC 7 but it’s arguable they were the best team in the county by the end of the season. Beginning with a 61-36 win over eventual co-PAC 7 champ San Luis Obispo, the Eagles won seven straight and made the semifinals of the Southern Section Division III-AA playoffs. In the semis, Arroyo Grande lost 44-41 to Santa Margarita.
9. San Luis Obispo boys basketball — It was a historic season for the Tigers (21-7, 10-2 PAC 7). They won their first league title in 20 years and proceeded to make a run into the quarterfinals of the Division IV-AA playoffs. San Luis Obispo was carried by nine seniors including Julian Demalleville (12.1 points, 3.7 assists, 1.3 blocks, 7.8 rebounds), Shane Kennedy (12.6 points, 1.5 blocks, 6.4 rebounds) and Mike Sabosky (9.2 points, 2.3 steals).
10. San Luis Obispo boys tennis — Two factors carried the Tigers this season all the way into the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division II playoffs — UCLA-bound Julian Arnold and their doubles teams. Knowing Arnold was usually good for two or three wins in the playoffs, the doubles usually picked up the extra slack. The tactic worked and the Tigers finished with a 20-3 record.
If this seems too slanted toward Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo it’s because they ran away with the league title counts. Of the available 22 PAC 7 titles, Arroyo Grande won 10 and San Luis Obispo claimed 8. The complete breakdown is below.
• Arroyo Grande 10 (girls volleyball, boys water polo, boys and girls cross country, girls soccer, girls basketball, girls water polo, boys track, girls swimming, boys volleyball)
• San Luis Obispo 8 (girls tennis, boys basketball, baseball, girls track, boys swimming, boys tennis, boys volleyball, boys golf)
• Atascadero 3 (football, wrestling, boys basketball)
• Righetti 3 (girls golf, boys soccer, softball)
24 responses so far ↓
1 The peoples choices // Jul 2, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Mission Prep Basketball?
Paso Football? They were arguably AS GOOD AS Atascadero.
And honestly the SLO girls track team absolutely smoked the 2nd best team in the CIF. I’d move then ahead of SLO Baseball….
2 James Mission // Jul 2, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Where is Mission Prep Basketball? Ok, ok, so we didn’t win anything this year, so what. Don’t worry, next year we will buy a title back so we can get our names back in the Trib!
3 testy testy testy // Jul 2, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Mission Prep was a disappointment, they don’t belong.
4 Mission Prep GIRLS Basketball // Jul 2, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Sorry, Mission Prep Girls B-ball
5 Ok // Jul 3, 2009 at 10:45 am
How can you say mission prep basketball?
6 ok // Jul 3, 2009 at 3:26 pm
coast union girls basketball won the cif central section d5 championship.
7 bob // Jul 3, 2009 at 7:55 pm
PASO FOOTBALL if bridge and lopez were healthy they would have beat st bonnie
8 Shawn // Jul 3, 2009 at 10:01 pm
How about swimming? It was the #1 popular event at the 2008 olympics. A.G. girls were outstanding. SLO boys may have won league by numbers, but there were some outstanding individuals throughout the Pac 7. Uula Auren, Atascadero senior exchange student qualified for Junior nationals and all-american, broke a league record in the 100 breaststroke. Atascadero junior, Patrick Neil broke two league records in 200 individ. medley and 100 backstroke, qualified CIF masters. A.G. freshman Mia Schachter broke league 100 breast record, finished 3rd in both 100 free and 100 breaststroke at CIF div. 2 finals, qualified CIF masters.
9 I agree // Jul 3, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Paso Football.
Why don’t you give them any respect?
4 for SLO
4 for AG
2 for Atas
That’s the top 10?????
10 jack black // Jul 4, 2009 at 9:40 am
Paso football should be on there they destroyed everyone except atascadero
and they ended El Diamantes (powerhouse from the valley CIF champions) 15 game winning streak probably the biggest story of the year but I never saw news of this in the tribune although it was the #1 story on all the high school football websites I even herd about it on tv FSN but not in our local newspaper show some respect to paso.
11 a-town clown // Jul 4, 2009 at 9:40 am
Atascadero wrestling is way too low. Do some research. When was the last time they lost a league dual? They won every league match about 50-10. There was no team that dominated like they do on the central coast. Top it off with 10th CIF title. #1 in my books.
12 no it all // Jul 4, 2009 at 9:51 am
1.AG WP
2.AG volleyball
3.Slo girls track
4.Atown football
5.Paso football
6.A town wrestling
7.Slo baseball
13 ????????? // Jul 4, 2009 at 10:02 am
Wheres PASO FOOTBALL football is what this county really cares about
14 Bob Hope // Jul 7, 2009 at 10:27 am
How about this! Why is this person being overlooked? Talk about a team? What more could you ask of someone but get so little reqinition
Hasay named athlete of the year by SI.com
Monday, July 6, 2009
Reported by: Andrew Masuda
Recent Mission Prep grad Jordan Hasay had quite a month of June to say the least. Hasay’s July has already started with a bang.
Monday, SI.com, the website of the popular weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, named Jordan its girls high school athlete of the year.
The article cited her numerous accolades like becoming the first Californian to win four-straight 3,200 meter CIF state titles, advancing to the US Olympic Trials and setting a national high school record in the 1,500 meter event with a time of 4:14.50. It also mentioned her most recent accomplishments like winning her third straight Junior National title in the 1,500.
It called the University of Oregon-bound star the highest profile female track recruit in the country.
Jordan’s next race will be during the Pan-Am Games in Trinidad that run from July 29 through August 3.
It will be her first time representing the USA since she finished fourth last summer in Poland at the World Junior Championships.
Before leaving to represent team USA, Jordan could score another major national award.
The 2008-2009 National Gatorade Girls Cross Country player of the year is eligible for Gatorade’s female high school athlete of the year that will be awarded prior to the ESPY Awards on July 19.
To read si.com’s article about Jordan click here
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/kevin_armstrong/07/06/jordan.hasay/index.html?eref=T1 .
15 Erick D. Smith // Jul 7, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Bob,
I appreciate the comment but I will say that when reviewing our coverage of every athlete on the Central Coast, we have covered Jordan Hasay more than anybody else (and it’s not even close). We have written 270 stories and published 83 different pictures of her since 2002.
Jordan has received numerous awards, especially in the past year, and though we had knowledge of the SI girls athlete of the year award, we made an editorial decision not to run it (it didn’t have much supporting background about the award – time frame, other athletes, etc). However, since last summer we have published stories about her receiving six national awards:
• The 2008-09 Gatorade Girls National Cross Country Runner of the Year
• Girls High School Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News magazine
• USA Track and Field’s Youth Athlete of the Year
• USA Today’s High School Track and Field Girls Athlete of the Year
• MaxPreps.com’s National Female Athlete of the Year
• DyeStat.com’s 2007-08 girls track and field athlete of the year.
16 Bob Hope // Jul 8, 2009 at 7:31 am
“The SI girls athlete of the year award, we made an editorial decision not to run it (it didn’t have much supporting background about the award”
SI girls athlete of the year award. What more do you want. Just the most famous name in the Sports world and the Trib Staff snubbs them!. You oot to be taken to the back of the shed and horse wiped! How sad that the local paper can’t even give the credit where it belongs. This whole area coverage is the most backwards sports coverage I have ever seen.
17 Last time I checked // Jul 9, 2009 at 6:14 am
It takes more then ONE person to make a team.
Jordan is indeed great but she is not a team.
18 ? // Jul 9, 2009 at 12:50 pm
the tribune is becoming ridiculous. u write about stupid stories about her and when the biggest story comes out about her u look away. jeez, whoever the editor is should be fearing the sake of their job cuz i can honestly tell u theres alot better ones that would take the job here. u guys are ridiculous. there will never be a bigger profile of an athlete come through san luis county ever again, ever!!!! and your making dumb stories heard and the biggest story not, sports illustrated is read by every sports fan and their willing to publish it but the slo tribune cant do it haha what has our newspaper come to. amen to bob hope
19 wat is wrong with the tribune // Jul 9, 2009 at 12:53 pm
hey theres a nice story bout an atascadero baseball player picking flowers for elders, it’ll probably be in the paper over jordan when she wins high school female athlete of the year from gatorade the biggest award for an high school athlete in two weeks
20 Jordan will probably be able to BUY the Tribune // Jul 10, 2009 at 6:10 am
within 5 years.
She’ll probably be able to buy most of SLO County. Those NIKE contracts pay pretty well.
21 SLO Fan // Jul 30, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Why are we even talking about Jordan Hasay when the title of the article is best county TEAMS??! I always felt that the Tribune gave more than adequate coverage to her numerous accomplishments, and with articles about her in national newspapers I am certain she is ok without one more article about her in the Tribune – we all already know how good she is.
22 What the? // Aug 1, 2009 at 4:09 pm
morro bay wrestling?
undefeated league champs?
yes
CIF Champions?
YES
seriously at least mention it
23 rObQATn // Nov 20, 2009 at 10:39 am
Hi! eZakDQg
24 Cif Southern Section // Nov 28, 2009 at 11:05 am
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