Sports

Alex Austen, a senior offensive lineman for the Aptos High football team, stands at a towering 6-foot-5-inches and 311 pounds. Standing next to his fellow lineman, the starting left tackle makes them all look like members of the freshman squad. Six-foot-2, 283-pound senior tackle Joseph Gutierrez-Lee might as well be 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds.

SALINAS—As the gusty Salinas Valley winds began to pick up, so did the howls from Lobos fans sitting in the stands, cheering for their Monterey Peninsula College football team as it got into victory formation to close out the season.  The Lobos defeated Cabrillo College,...

APTOS—The high school football season unofficially kicked off this past weekend with the Santa Cruz County Jamboree at Cabrillo College. St. Francis, Pajaro Valley and Watsonville high schools along with four other schools within the county scrimmaged for the first time this season at...

By JON CHOWN, Special to the Pajaronian PEBBLE BEACH—Swirling winds opened the door for Phil Mickelson to come from behind and claim his sixth title at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but leader Nick Taylor shut it with a birdie chip on the 15th...

Cabrillo College baseball got back in action on Jan. 25, hosting West Hills College in its season opener.

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.

Aptos High senior Matt Perko reaches on a throwing error to Soquel High junior first baseman Ryan Murtha during their Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League baseball game in Aptos. Photo by Bryce Stoepfel

• Last year’s record: 7-4 (Central Coast Section Open Division III qualifier) • Last year’s league record: 6-1 (Monterey Bay League Gabilan division runner-up) • Last year’s MaxPreps state ranking: 226th • Coach: Randy Blankenship • Key losses: Blake Wheeler;

To say Aptos High senior Hunter Matys was on top of his game at the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League boys track and field championships would probably a real understatement.

APTOS—It almost feels like an eternity since the Cabrillo College football team last saw some action on the field.  But two years after they were placed on probation due to a violation for housing out-of-area players, the Seahawks are back and ready to take on...