Sports

The Aptos Mariners — battered and bruised by the end of the night — did their best Rocky Balboa impression, swinging away at the “big piece of meat” over and over again, but there was no fairy tale ending for the group of scrappy underdogs.

Marea Zlatunich could have had a very different high school experience. Now a league, section and state champion runner for the Aptos High Mariners, Zlatunich didn’t show up to the first day of cross country practice during her freshman year. “I honestly didn’t want to do cross country,” Zlatunich said. “I did it as an eighth grader and I wanted to quit after the first day, but my family didn’t let me.” But when her friend, Annika Niles, begged her to come out for the second day of practice because “she didn’t have any friends on the team,” Zlatunich reluctantly obliged. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of her young life.

After two long weeks of losing, the Cabrillo College baseball team finally found the winning formula again.

The Mariners were also hoping the Toreadores would take their foot off the pedal a bit after. That wasn’t the case either.

The Aptos High football team took an unexpected week off in the middle of the season.   But the Mariners showed little signs of rust in a 49-19 win over Christopher High on Friday in Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan division action.    Senior Dre Gomez finished with...

APTOS–The Aptos High girls’ basketball team was a heavy favorite going into Friday night’s Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Tournament championship against Soquel High. Guard Gabby Giuffre made that clear from the start, scoring the game’s first eight points to help the Mariners cruise past...

Stephen Curry, Quinn Cook and DeMarcus Cousins brought the rain with them. With that trio of Golden State Warriors watching courtside, the Santa Cruz Warriors put on a shooting clinic to cruise to a 123-104 victory over the Stockton Kings in their home opener Wednesday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

Alex Austen, senior, Aptos: At 6-foot-5 and 311 pounds, Austen wowed with his athleticism on the football field and in the throwing circle. During the fall, Austen helped the Aptos football team finish second in the Monterey Bay League Gabilan division by clearing the way in the trenches. He was named the league’s co-Offensive Lineman of the Year, and also earned an All-MBL-G First Team spot. In the spring, he won the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title in the shot put and also earned a spot in the Central Coast Section finals in the event.

The Aptos High boys’ volleyball team completed its Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League season with a 12-25, 25-23, 25-23, 26-24 win over Pacific Collegiate School in the league tournament championship match at Harbor High on Friday night.

In 20 years, Aptos record-setting running back Marcos Reyes wants people to remember three things about him: (1) he was a nice guy, (2) he was a leader and (3) he treated his guys well.