Mar
29
AILEEN GALICIA
La Quinta girls’ soccer
Galicia finished her career at La Quinta as a four-year starter, including during three season in which her teams didn’t drop a single game in DVL competition while on a 36-game winning streak since the start of her sophomore season. She led the team in goals this year with 23 and was a key member of an offense that took the team all the way to the CIF Southern Section semifinals. She was named the DVL Offensive MVP and also made the All-CIF Southern Section Division 5 team. Her coach Bob Quattlebaum said Galicia never stopped fighting for wins on the field and came up key in early-season victories after the team fell behind.
Palm Desert girls’ soccer coach Chris Keuilian: “She had a quickness about her that made her very difficult to defend, which was one of the reasons why she had so much success … Everybody needs to always know where she is to make sure there’s always a discussion, so they can trade off or double if they need to.”
Coachella or Stagecoach?: Coachella
Favorite TV show: Grey’s Anatomy
Plans for after high school: Going to New Mexico State to play soccer and major in kinesiology
Favorite athlete: Sydney Theroux, U.S. Women’s National Team forward
ELISE STEIN
Palm Desert girls’ water polo
Stein, just a junior, was named the DVL MVP for the third time this year after scoring a school-record 152 goals to go along with 118 steals and 48 assists in the pool. Stein played a pivotal role to help get the Aztecs back to the CIF State Championship, where they fell just one goal short of a second consecutive state title. Stein was often the fastest swimmer in the pool and racked up her goals with a skilled and very hard shot.
Palm Desert water polo coach Michelle Valovic: “Her best game (this season) was probably against Charter Oak in the semifinals where she scored five goals. She was just all over the place, creating steals, leading the offense and creating opportunities for her teammates. She has a real great knowledge of the sport because she’s been watching it and playing it for so long.”
Favorite TV show: The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Favorite class: U.S. History
Coachella or Stagecoach?: Coachella
Plans for after high school: Hopes to go to USC to play water polo and become an elementary English teacher
ANTHONY MANTANONA
Palm Desert wrestling
Mantanona, just a sophomore, made a return trip to the CIF State Wrestling Meet for the second time in his high school career. He entered the tournament ranked seventh in his weight class of 145 pounds and managed to make it to the semifinals, losing by a single point before finishing fourth. Along the way, his coach Tom Lee said Mantanona became an influential leader on the team and helped propel the rest of the Palm Desert squad with his trusted skills and state-level experience. He finished the season with a 47-5 record on the mat and was named the DVL’s Most Outstanding Wrestler as well as claiming a CIF Southern Section title in the regional meet.
La Quinta wrestling coach Ron Perez: “Anthony is unorthodox. He does a lot of things most people don’t think he would do, and he has great balance and a great understanding of where his opponent is going to be … He is very difficult to figure out, and he has a lot of techniques in his bag.”
Favorite athlete: Ray Lewis
Plans for after high school: Go to a Division I college to win an NCAA wrestling title and then wrestle internationally
Coachella or Stagecoach?: Stagecoach
Favorite class: Algebra II
JAZMYNE SANTIEL
Indio girls’ basketball
As a junior, Indio head coach Martin White said Santiel took on more of a leadership role this season, and on a team with plenty of talent, she was the player that helped everything come together. Santiel averaged 14.7 points per game this year to go along with 7.1 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 4.2 steals en route to taking home the DVL MVP award. Whether she was the team’s leading scorer, like in the Rajah’s first game against Cathedral City where she scored 30 points, or was in more of a facilitating role, White said Santiel did a little bit of everything to help her team go undefeated in DVL play.
Palm Springs girls’ basketball coach Terry Tatum: “I thought she was the player that really made them go. She was a really good defensive player, but she was able to turn defense into offense. If she wasn’t scoring, she was helping her teammates. I thought she was the key for both her offense and her defense.”
Favorite class: Photography
Favorite athlete: Skylar Diggins, WNBA basketball player
Favorite TV show: Empire
Coachella or Stagecoach?: Stagecoach
JESUS AVALOS
La Quinta boys’ soccer
Avalos finished off an illustrious career at La Quinta by leading the Blackhawks to a CIF Southern Section title with a win over Santa Ana in the finals. During his senior season, his third as a starter for La Quinta, Avalos scored 19 goals and helped feed assists on 17 others. He also was named the DVL MVP and set a La Quinta career record in assists and is second in career goals. His coach, Gary Nadler, had a hard time picking out a single best game for Avalos, noting he was a consistent player who was always impacting the game, whether he was streaking down the field with or without the ball.
Coachella Valley boys’ soccer coach Adrian Barragan: “He was the key player to La Quinta, and he was the difference maker. He brought a lot to that team … Jesus Avalos brings that extra skill you need to have on the team. He scored when teams need them.”
Favorite TV show: Perception
Favorite athlete: Lionel Messi, professional Argentine soccer player
Plans for after high school: Go to college to major in mechanical engineering
Coachella or Stagecoach?: Coachella
JARED BROADHEAD
La Quinta boys’ basketball
Broadhead was named the unanimous DVL MVP after his senior season where he played an influential role in the Blackhawks clinching their first-ever DVL title and a berth in the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA tournament. Along the way, Braodhead averaged 14.6 points per game to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. La Quinta coach Jeff Hepner said last summer that he expected Broadhead to have a monster season, but was even more impressed when Broadhead battled through an ankle injury toward the end of the DVL season, where his team went undefeated in its final six league games.
Palm Desert boys’ basketball coach Jim Serven: “He used his size to his advantage as a guard, where he could do things against smaller guards, and he’d also get inside and get rebounds … He didn’t make many mistakes. He just was a kid that was tough to stop because he had so many things he could do. He had so many facets to his game.”
Plans for after high school: Going on a two-year mission with his church and hopes to play college basketball afterwards
Favorite TV show: The Goldbergs
Favorite athlete: Kobe Bryant
Coachella or Stagecoach?: Stagecoach
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