Fresno City College Football
The Fresno City College Rams football team captured another Central Valley Conference title this season with a record of 7-3 .
They went 4-1 in the CVC and will be playing in the Gridiron Classic Bowl, the NorCal Championship game against NorCal No.1-ranked team, the Butte Roadrunners for a chance at the state championship game. FCC finished its last three conference games with a winning streak averaging 55.3 points per game, with a season high 78 points against the College of the Sequoias. FCC was lead by sophomore quarterback Marcus Montero who ended the season with 1,579 yards and 14 touchdowns.
They had a stable of running backs in sophomore Alek Mechikoff, freshman Micah Ledezma and freshman Errian Wingfield, who combined for a total of 1,299 yards and 20 touchdowns. Sophomore Brayden Sanchez led all wide receiver with 39 receptions for 729 yards and eight touchdowns. Shakiem Barbel and Kevin Beckwith combined 31 receptions for 540 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively, FCC showed their ability to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks all season totaling 37 sacks, nine from sophomore Thomas Coronada and five from sophomore Josh Gibbs. Linebackers sophomore Tyler Bates and sophomore Nate Palomino lead the team in tackles with 64 and 54, respectively.
Sophomore safety Gerald Nutt leads the state in interceptions with seven. FCC will look to take the NorCal crown and bring the California Community College Athletic Association Football State Championship to Fresno on Dec. 14, 2013.
Postseason Awards:
Coach of the Year: Tony Caviglia.
All-Conference Offense: fullback Dakota Gordon, wide receiver Brayden Sanchez and Kevin Beckwith along with offensive linemen Wylie Brand and Connor Shannon.
All-Conference Defense: defensive back Gerald Nutt, linebacker Tyler Bates, linebacker Nate Palomino and defensive lineman Thomas Coronado.
Fresno City College Men’s Soccer
The Fresno City College Rams men’s soccer team capped off a great season with a 1-0 win over West Hills College. FCC finished ranked No. 8 in the NorCal final rankings. They faced City College of San Francisco in the first round of the 2013 CCCAA Men’s Soccer NorCal Regionals. The Rams lost to CCSF 2-0. The men’s team delivered a balanced attack with sophomore Josh Alvarez leading the team with 19 points, seven goals and five assists. Sophomore Duce Bell (pictured bottom left) was second on the team with 12 points, five goals and two assists. Freshman Christian Chaney was third on the team will 11 points with five goals and one assist. Freshman Efrain Perez, sophomore Lucas Silva, and sophomore Raymundo Aguilera finished the regular season with 10 points. sophomore Matias Fernandez lead the team with 81 saves.
Fresno City College Women’s Soccer
The Fresno City College women’s soccer team had a great season, and finished ranked No. 2 in the state 17-1-3. They went undefeated in conference play with a 5-0-1 record and won their sixth straight Central Valley Conference titles.
“Winning the conference six years in a row hasn’t been easy but I’m so thankful at what we have accomplished,” said head coach Oliver Germond.
They earned the No. 1 seed in the 2013 CCCAA Women’s NorCal regionals. FCC finished the season with a 16-game winning streak, averaging almost five goals per game. CVC league MVP sophomore forward Jenna Thomason led FCC with 21 goals.
“Jenna is amazing. She is a goalscorer and also very unselfish in many ways to help her teammates,” said Germond.
FCC players who received league awards are:
Midfielder of the Year: Sophomore Laura McIntosh ,
Defender of the Year: sophomore Moriah Rodriguez ,
Goalkeeper of the Year: sophomore Tara Togami ,
Freshman of the Year: Maricruz Chapa.
Chapa was second on the team with nine goals.
Gigi Hilton tied for second on the team also with nine goals. Tara Togami had 13 shutouts in the season. FCC started its playoff run against Evergreen Valley College on Nov. 23, winning 4-0.
Fresno City College Volleyball
The Fresno City volleyball team finished the season strong, ranked No. 3 in NorCal, and No. 6 in the state.They won their seventh consecutive Central Valley Conference title. They finished the season with a 21-4 record, going undefeated in league play. They were strong against the top teams in the state, going 7-4 against teams ranked in the top 25.
“We lost to some goods teams at the beginning of the season, it helped us prepare for conference and we were able to take care of things, which was to win CVC,” said head coach Tracy Ainger-Schulte.
FCC dominated its opponents, with a 13-match winning streak to end the season, giving up just three sets.
“I feel really good with our last four or five matches, it puts us into good position for a nice playoff run,” said Ainger-Schulte.
FCC was lead by sophomore outside hitter Valarie Gobby (pictured top right)with 199 kills. She was also second in the CVC in digs with 295. Morgan Dose, an 2012 All-State tournament member was second with 192 kills. Caitlin Marinos and Katie Lowe finished with 135 and 130 kills respectively, giving FCC four of the top 20 offensive threats in the conference.
Fresno City College Wrestling
The team continued another season of dominance, aiming for a fourth consecutive state title. FCC went 10-1 in the regular season, losing to Sacramento City College by one point.
“We have to compete if we want to win a state championship, and we need all of wrestlers to compete at their best level. If we can do that we have a great shot at winning another state title,” said head coach Paul Keysaw.
FCC Top wrestlers and their state rankings :
Weight Classes
125: No. 2 Arnulfo Olea, No. 7 Seth Hood
133: No. 5 Vicente Hernandez
141: No. 1 Ali Naser, No. 5 Adrian Gomez, No. 7 Alexander Fraser
149: No. 1 Martine Sandoval, No. 7 Joseph Ontiveros
157: No. 4 Sebastian Suikowsky, No. 8 Austin Braddock
165: No. 1 Matt Hickman
174: No. 4 Kevin Corbett
184: No. 8 Preston Hill
285: No. 6 Narcisco Juarez, No. 8. Andrew Singer
“We’ve progressed well, I’m happy with the team we have now, we’re competing at a high level now, “ said Keysaw.
Fresno City College Water Polo
Second-year coach Gianna Rossi has made progress in her short time at FCC, after going 4-19 overall and 1-6 in the conference last fall. She continues to make improvements to the 10 year-old program.
The team won six more games than last season, making their record 10-13 overall and 3-4 in conference. The team placed third in the conference, its highest ranking since 2006. They made it to the first round of the 2013 CCCAA women’s water polo NorCal Regionals as No. 5 seed but were defeated by No. 4 Santa Rosa College 6-2. With only three sophomores, the team was very young. Munoz-Vasquez, a freshman transfer from UC San Diego, led FCC with 43 goals and added 13 steals. Sophomore attacker Sarah Gardner was second on the team with 34 goals, and third on the team with 18 steals. Freshman Sydney Luna scored 25 goals and lead the team in steals with 23. Freshman Emily Hinson was fourth this year with 27 goals. Freshman Goalkeeper Kaylin Drum anchored the team’s defense with 162 saves.
“As the season progressed I think all of us came together as a team and were able to trust each other more because we learned how we all played together,” said freshman Zenia Munoz-Vasquez. “I think this playoff experience will help future teams, strive and accomplish more and go further than we did.”
