2014 ALL-EMPIRE ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

ATHLETES

LARGE SCHOOL

JaJuan Lawson - Casa Grande

A dynamic, big-play force on the football field and one of the region's top sprinters this track season, JaJuan led Casa Grande to the most successful football season in school history that ended with a disappointing but thrilling loss in the North Coast Section championship game. He passed for 2,203 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushed for 1,152 yards and 13 touchdowns. "The kid could do everything," marveled Rancho Cotate coach Ed Conroy. JaJuan's football career will resume at the University of New Mexico.

LARGE SCHOOL

Jenna Bauer - Montgomery

In a region where swimming excellence is widespread, Jenna has stood out through the sheer volume of her successes. With the NCS meet still to come this weekend, Jenna has posted the best times of the season in the Redwood Empire in four individual events and is among the top three in a fifth. She is a two-time Pacifi c Swimming Outstanding Swimmer, a three-time All-Empire selection and was named Swimmer of the Year in 2012. She'll be swimming with elite Pac-12 competition in college after she joins the University of Arizona team.

SMALL SCHOOL

Justin Sundstrom - Point Arena

Justin was a double nominee for Point Arena, both for athlete and scholar-athlete.

He was an All-Empire performer in both basketball and baseball who filled his spare time with volunteer community service with the Rotary and Lions clubs and the Arts Center. He topped 1,700 career points for his basketball career and became the first Point Arena basketball player to pass 1,000 points in two years. With a 4.12 GPA this school year, Justin is headed for Sonoma State University where he will study criminal justice.

SMALL SCHOOL

Kelcie Reynolds - Clear Lake

Kelcie was a first-team All-Empire selection in softball for three consecutive years and an All-Empire choice in basketball and softball for the past two years. She added all-league honors in all three sports for three consecutive seasons. And she was the captain of all three teams.

She'll graduate in the top 10 of her class and was active in a number of community volunteer efforts. She'll attend Santa Rosa Junior College in the fall and begin studies leading to a career in dental hygiene.

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SCHOLAR ATHLETES

LARGE SCHOOL

Matthew Payne - Cardinal Newman

Matthew was the captain of the successful Cardinal Newman tennis team and was all-league as a goalkeeper in soccer. He is the valedictorian for the Class of 2014 with an overall unweighted GPA of 4.41. He did volunteer work at the Jewish Free Health Clinic, co-founded the Project Healthy Child initiative, and was the student body vice president. He'll attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall and begin a dual major program both in Penn's prestigious Wharton Business School and the Penn Nursing School.

LARGE SCHOOL

Morgan Bertsch - Santa Rosa

Not just a two-sport star but someone who dominated in both basketball and track. She was the All-Empire co-Player of the Year in basketball and helped push the Panthers deep into the NCS playoffs. In track, her performances in high jump, long jump and triple jump are among the very best in the region this season with the biggest meets still to come.

She's active in a variety of community volunteer efforts, is a four-year member of the Math Club and won The Press Democrat's Community Service Award in the sports category. She has a 4.5 GPA this school year and will attend UC Davis to study bio medical engineering.

SMALL SCHOOL

Cole Jessup - Willits

Cole demonstrated excellence and versatility as an athlete. He was a team captain in cross country, an All-Empire performer in basketball and a four-year letterman in swimming.

Additionally, he is the prospective class valedictorian at Willits with a 4.0 overall unweighted GPA and a 4.46 GPA this school year. He's headed to UC Irvine where he plans a double major in criminology and behavioral sciences as well as psychology and maybe he'll find time to play basketball.

SMALL SCHOOL

Ursyla Baumgarten - St. Vincent De Paul

Ursyla was St. Vincent's female scholar athlete nominee for the second consecutive year. She was a leader of the softball and basketball squads, All-Empire in softball and team captain in basketball.

She's the valedictorian of the class of 2014, a two-time recipient of the Herald Mahoney Community Achievement Award and an active community volunteer. She's carrying a 4.25 GPA this school year and is headed this fall to the University of the Redlands to study student psychology and sociology with a minor in Spanish, and play softball.

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COACHES OF THE YEAR

Greg Fogg - Maria Carrillo Cross Country

In cross country circles, the sheer size of the Maria Carrillo team has earned it the nickname "Big Green Army." That would make Greg Fogg the army's fivestar general. His Pumas swept the NCS championship in November. It wasn't a shocking result, and that was for good reason. It marked the third consecutive NCS Division II championship for the Maria Carrillo girls team and the second in a row for the boys team.

"The biggest challenge for every high school coach," said Fogg, "is instilling self-confidence in a kid and making them comfortable in their own skin."

Under Fogg's guidance, the Pumas are also getting very comfortable hoisting championship trophies.

The 2013 teams brought to nine the number of NCS cross country trophies won by Maria Carrillo teams.

Mike McDonald - Anderson Valley Volleyball

Michael "Flick" McDonald ended his 30-year coaching career in November with a feeling he said was like "walking into a casino, winning a big jackpot and walking out with all the winnings." His girls volleyball team had won the North Coast Section Division 6 championship for the fourth consecutive year.

It capped the kind of season that his Anderson Valley teams have come to make commonplace ??? a 26-2 overall record and a 12-0 mark in North Coast Central League III. And McDonald, the architect of this powerhouse, never played anything more organized than recreational volleyball.

"It's not about X's and O's," he said. "It's about how you related to the kids. The Anderson Valley community is a joy and so supportive.

It's not a wealthy community. The kids have a great work ethic and perseverance, like their parents."

Monica Mertle - Cardinal Newman Girls Basketball

The highly ranked Santa Rosa girls' basketball team was expected to roll through the North Bay League this year.

The Panthers were indeed very good, but it was the underdog Cardinal Newman girls who wound up tying for the league championship, then beating Santa Rosa in the NBL tournament.

Monica Mertle is the young coach who led her young team ??? the Cardinals had five freshmen, and just two seniors ??? to those heights. Newman gladly hired Mertle, a former All-Empire player of the year at Ursuline, when the schools combined in the fall of 2011.

Duane Nelson - Willits Boys Basketball

Coaching three Empire boys' prep basketball teams in the Empire's far reaches over two decades ranks Duane Nelson among the deans of small school hoops.

Willits is his latest stop and what a season this was for the Wolverines:

??? A school record 25 wins ??? against just three losses ??? including a 23-game winning streak.

??? Going undefeated to capture the NCL I title.

??? Winning an NCS boys basketball playoff game for the first time in school history. And the first section victory for an NCL I boys squad in more than a decade. Nelson, a lumber sales manager, turned around the Willits program, recording seven consecutive winning seasons after just nine wins with his first Wolverines team.

Prior to his arrival at Willits, he coached at Laytonville and Upper Lake. At both schools he followed a sub-.500 season with winning streaks that only ended when he took breaks between coaching stints.