Youth roundup: Diamonds shine at Level 4 state championships

Vivian Lee, Carmin Fisk and Gabriela Caceres-Fernandez each earned medals to pace the Davis Diamonds gymnastics squad in the 2012 Junior Olympic Level 4 State Championship meet last weekend at the Feather River Recreational Center in Oroville.

The level 4 event capped the most successful string of state meet performances in Diamonds program history.

Competing in Junior D division on Sunday, Lee felt right at home despite the tough opposition. Starting on vault, she impressed the judges to score a personal best 9.4 to grab a silver medal on that event. Proceeding to bars, Lee used strength, amplitude and elegance to set another personal best (9.475) and capture the gold medal.

Lee matched that medal with another gold on beam, hitting a 9.45, then added a 9.2 on floor to capture first place all-around. Her score of 37.525 was a personal record, and placed her in the top 15 among all 360 qualifiers, regardless of age. Lee also became the first all-around state champion and triple gold medalist in Davis Diamonds’ history.

Also competing in her first state meet ever, Kathleen Sheridan started the Junior A rotation on vault with a personal-best 9.125, that was good for eighth. She also took eighth on bars to produce her best all-around total ever at 34.725, nabbing 12th place.

Competing later Sunday in the Child H division, Aubrey Watts vaulted to an excellent 9.325 to earn a bronze, then swing to  9.2 and fourth place in bars, her specialty. A steady and poised beam performance got Watts a 9.4 and the silver and it all added up to a personal-best 36.9 in the all-around to take bronze.

Also in the Child H division, Emma Rebhun opened her first championships by flying to a personal-best 8.975 on vault. She then danced and tumbled to an 8.95 and seventh place on beam to compile a 34.8 all-around total, her personal best.

During Saturday’s Junior E session, Caceres-Fernandez’s great second vault attempt was acknowledged by the judges with a sensational 9.55, the vault gold medal and state championship. She then took fifth on both bars (9.025) and beam (9.0) to finish with a personal-best 36.525 to take fifth all-around.

Davis’ Reyna Shauman matched that performance in the Junior F earning her fifth place all-around (36.4, a personal best) by taking fourth on vault (9.4), and sixth on bars and beams.

In the Senior B division, Fisk vaulted to a career-high 9.425 to get a bronze, then swung to a victory on bars with a powerful 9.3. Solid beam and floor sets by Fisk added up to a fifth-place finish all-around with a personal-best 36.725.

In the Senior D competition, Julia Miyamoto’s powerful vault earned 9.2 and the silver medal in her first state meet. Miyamoto then used a 9.05 on bars to finish in eighth all-around with a personal-best 35.575.

Red Bulls soccer

The Davis Legacy Red Bulls, a U10 soccer boys team, won the State Cup Gold Division I Championship last weekend in Manteca, winning the semifinal contest, 3-0, and the title game, 2-1.

In an 8 a.m. semifinal match on a wet field, Davis and the UC Premier Galacticos were evenly matched until local Zevik Citron dribbled through several defenders and found the net. With their team leading 1-0 at intermission, Ledger Petracek and Elan Kalman added insurance goals in the second half.

Following a scoreless first half in Sunday’s championship contest against the Impact, Citron intercepted an opponent’s goal kick and drilled it inside corner post. Then, off an assist from Petracek, Cameron DeMasi blasted in the winning goal. Even though the Impact cut the deficit to one, the Red Bulls sealed the victory with expert passing down the stretch.

Throughout the weekend, Davis goalkeeper Jerry Godfryd made several diving stops, Teagan Favorite, Jackson Isidore, Daniel Jauregui, Kai Moore and Ty Soderquist contributed as midfielders and strikers, while Sepp Sanchirico and Tyler Venner paced the Red Bulls defense.

Heat soccer

The Davis Heat, a U16 girls’ soccer team, went undefeated in two games last weekend, tying the ACC Mavericks, 2-2 — in a wet and windy match — then beating the California Odyssey, 4-1.

Against the ACC Mavericks, Davis’ Alexia Moore scored the opener with a ground shot that slipped by the Mavericks keeper into the far corner of the net. Stellar local defense from Melissa Teuber, Renee Schuman, Madison Nicholas, Hannah Thompson, Elexsis Valenzuela and Claire Dicker helped keep the Heat ahead at the half. but the Mavericks scored two goals after the break.

Down 2-1, Davis earned a free kick in the final minutes of the match. Sophia Hernandez took the kick and, after a couple of deflections, Suleikha Sutter’s header tied things up.

In beating the Odyssey, the Heat saw Sofia Evanoff, Jaha McClean, Kaitlyn Wagner and Brooke Rosenblum crank up the offensive pressure but California scored first. After that, local keeper Christina Roeckl-Navazio denied the Odyssey, while two goals from Sutter and single tallies from Mikayla Vang and Hernandez clinched the win.

Wildcats hoops

The Davis Wildcats’ 12U Black boys basketball team took third place at the recent Fall Classic Tournament at Rocklin.

In the opening game, the locals fell to the Reno Ballers, 43-32, despite 11 points from Rayan Tilamatine and 10 points by Collin Yee to go with two steals. Davis’ Kayden Hoal crashed the backboards to the tune of 16 rebounds.

Wildcats Erick Lengtat and Lance Prussel each made a couple of jumpers in the second contest, but the locals lost, 67-20, to the Flight Elite Blue.

Davis then bounced back to beat the Lincoln Warriors, 40-31, in the final, behind Henry Siegler’s 11 points and four assists. Yee paced a tenacious team defense with four steals and a blocked shot, and added 10 points. Hoal grabbed 14 more rebounds and Max Seed made a few key jumpers. Other contributions came from Prussel, who ended up with eight points including several key free throws to seal the victory, and Tilmatine, who collected four points and eight rebounds.