Ackerman’s dominance lead Aptos to CCS title
Top-seeded Aptos won its second Central Coast Section Division III crown in the last three years, and the Mariners made it look easy with a 58-37 redemption win over No. 2 South San Francisco on Feb. 23 at Palo Alto High.
Watsonville, Aptos advance to CCS championship matches | High school soccer
It was a special, and historical, Wednesday night for four local high school soccer teams that kept their Central Coast Section postseason runs alive for at least one more weekend.
The Watsonville boys’ group is returning to the section finals for the first time since...
Girls Basketball: Chris Grieves takes over talented Aptos team
Grieves, a 2009 Aptos graduate, has been hired as the new girls basketball coach, he confirmed with this newspaper on Monday evening.
Grieves spent the last three seasons with the school’s boys junior varsity team, and is well acquainted with the talent-rich squad he will inherit for the upcoming 2018-19 winter season. His junior varsity team often scrimmaged with the girls varsity team over the years, and his family is ingrained in the Aptos youth basketball scene.
Mariners survive against powerhouse Salinas | High school football
APTOS—The mission couldn’t have been any clearer for Aptos senior Caden Prichard who was set to battle Salinas for just the second time in his career.
The ace running back helped lift the Mariners past the Cowboys, 44-41, in a thriller that went down to...
Weekend Roundup, 10/27: Seahawks keep winning streak alive
The Cabrillo College men’s soccer team pushed its unbeaten streak to three games with a 2-1 win against West Valley College on Friday in Coast-South Conference action.
The Seahawks continue to roll in October with a 3-1-2 record in conference play. They currently sit in...
PV head coach Kristian Flores resigns after five years with program | Girls soccer
Pajaro Valley High Athletics Department on Thursday announced that Kristian Flores was resigning from his position as head coach of the girls soccer program.
Flores confirmed with The Pajaronian on Thursday afternoon following the school’s notification.
“It’s a big time commitment, and my kids are getting...
Mariners crowned SCCAL champion following undefeated season | High school softball
It took nearly a decade to get it done, but the Aptos High softball team is once again champion of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, bringing home a league crown for the first time since 2018.
They also became the first team to go...
HS football: Powell recognized as best defensive player in PCAL Gabilan division
Aptos High senior defensive lineman Josh Powell led like a captain from the start of the year. His leadership and play on the field landed him this year’s Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan division's most valuable player on defense.
His offensive production also earned...
Aptos’ Kalina Healy shares honors as SCCAL’s top player | High school softball
Aptos High junior Kalina Healy took the initiative to workout in the batting cage and in the weight room weeks before the softball season was officially underway.
As they say, hard work pays off.
Healy was named the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s Co-Most Valuable Player...
2017-18: Zlatunich ran to greatness in final year
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.






















