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.
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.
HS Football: Aptos 2018 schedule overview
• 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;
SCCAL Softball: Aptos rallies past SLV for 1st title since 2011
Sophomore shortstop Shea Garcia capped a 10-run explosion with a monster grand slam over the centerfield fence, and Aptos High cruised to a 10-6 victory over San Lorenzo Valley High on Friday to clinch its first Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title since 2011.
“It took us some time,” said Aptos head coach Phil Rojas, “but it’s rewarding now.”
Early on, it looked like the Mariners (13-9, 11-1) would have to wait until next season to end their league title drought.
CCCAA Beach Volleyball: Cabrillo captures first state team title
The Seahawks knocked off the defending California Community College Athletic Association champion MiraCosta College, 3-0, on May 10 at West Valley College to become the first team from Northern California to win the state beach volleyball championship.
Aptos names diamond after brothers Paul, Robert Bailey
Aptos High dedicated its baseball diamond to brothers Paul and Robert Bailey on Tuesday before the Mariners’ Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League game against Soquel High.
Weekend Roundup, 5/7: Aptos volleyball wins SCCAL outright
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.
Mariners finish perfectly
The Aptos High Mariners have been the cream of the crop in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League all season long.
That trend continued at April 25's league championships.
Senior Kourosh Safari repeated as the SCCAL singles champ with a grueling 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over Santa Cruz High’s Jack Tierney, while the Mariners’ duo of Carter Bond and Jake Kluger breezed through Soquel High’s pair of Lincoln Cooley and Casey Valcarcel, 6-1, 6-3, for the doubles title at the Seascape Sports Club.
Mariners win title outright
The Mariners were pumping their fists, dishing out hugs and taking photos with their outright Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship banner after downing Soquel, 63-54, in the league tournament final on Feb. 17.
Local Roundup, 10/7: Taylor leads Aptos to another dramatic win
Kelly Taylor scored five goals, including the game-winner with 1:48 left to play, to lift the Aptos High Mariners girl's water polo team to a 10-9 win over the Christopher High Cougars on Thursday in Monterey Bay League Gabilan division play on the road.