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2007 Sports Year in Review
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The JV Jr. Warriors won each of their 14 games this season, including the first NYFL state championship.
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2007 was a year of growth for Galt youth, recreation, and school athletic programs.
The year saw several championships on the prep level, several championships in Galt youth sports, new faces and successful programs.
Galt High School saw one of its coaches step up to head the entire athletic department, several programs saw the return of the Warriors’ winning ways and multiple community members earned head coaching positions.
The Galt Parks and Recreation department saw championship seasons from a young football team and a team of youth cheerleaders, and the Galt Illusion 14-under softball team won a championship for the first time.
GHS produced league champions in track and field, girls’ cross country, JV softball, and wrestling.
GHS also had a section champion in wrestling, and sent two athletes to the state championships in track and field and cross country, respectively.
A Galt 11th-grader turned heads as well, after re-breaking his own world record in the bench press.
The following are the top five Galt sports stories of 2007.
JV Galt Jr. Warriors football/cheer win NYFL State Championship
The Jr. Warriors went undefeated at the same time, with a record of 14-0 in the regular season and the playoffs.
The JV and Varsity Jr. Warriors cheerleaders won the state championship the same day, defeating multiple opponents to secure the first of two championships for the Jr. Warriors organization on Dec. 1.
The cheerleaders trained hard all year with their varsity and JV coaches and won multiple competitions en route to their state championship.
They won first in the NYFL cheer competition Oct. 6 in Stockton in their division, putting themselves in a prime position for the state championship.
The football players used a bright, talented roster of players to power its offense and defense each week, and took care of their opponents week after week.
The JV squad allowed just 28 yards of total offense in a Sept. 23 game against the Tokay Jr. Tigers.
The Jr. Warriors only allowed 44 total yards of offense in an Oct. 13 game against the Lodi Jr. Flames Black.
Galt held opponents scoreless four times over the course of the season.
The Jr. Warriors averaged approximately 34 points per game, meanwhile, and held the opposition to an average of 9.4 points per game.
Head coach Kevin Tibbetts said at the time that the defense was “playing the best football of the year so far.”
One of the best games of the year was against a 41-20 win over the Delta Patriots White, in which the Jr. Warriors had some missing players but still had both offense and defense play an aggressive game.
The “biggest test of the season,” according to Tibbetts, was against the Lodi Jr. Flames Black on Nov. 17.
Lodi held Galt to just two touchdowns, their lowest point total all season.
The Jr. Warriors defeated the Modesto Raiders 32-0 to win the State Championship Dec. 1, and defeated the Tokay Jr. Tigers 32-0 to win the Super Bowl.
Two Galt softball teams earn championships
With a season so solid it had claimed the league championship before the season ended, the Galt High School JV softball program had a hugely successful season this past spring.
The Lady Warriors won the JV Sierra Valley Conference Softball Championship after going 14-1, and made it look like a breeze in the process.
Teamwork and team support were both key factors in the Lady Warriors’ success in 2007, as Lady Warriors could be seen supporting each other during each at-bat and rallied to overcome any obstacles they faced.
Galt was undefeated for most of the season, and lost its only game against Oak Ridge in April.
Both Galt’s offense and defense worked during the SVC season, as the Lady Warriors either held early leads or made comebacks to grab wins from opponents.
Galt won its last game of the year in exactly that fashion, coming back to defeat Ponderosa 4-3 in an extra-inning game.
The Lady Warriors would later come back to defeat Oak Ridge in the teams’ second meeting of the season.
Youth powered the Lady Warriors– all but two of its players were freshmen.
Head coach Shauna Dalbianco and assistant coach Mike Perry led Galt through its championship season.
Galt won its first four games of the SVC season, then won its last seven games in a row.
Whether they move up to varsity or come back for another season of JV softball, Galt’s softball players are looking to more success in 2008.
Galt Illusion 14-U win Western World Series
The Galt Illusion 14-U softball team earned its biggest achievement this season by winning the Western World Series in July.
The team, which consisted of a mix of Galt High School students and middle school-age athletes, won the World Series at Arnaiz Stadium in Stockton with a sweep of its opponents.
The Illusion defeated four teams to reach the championship game, which it won 5-2.
Illusion head coach Shauna Dalbianco, who also coached Galt High School’s JV softball team, said after winning that her players did everything right and noted the support they gave each other throughout the season.
Dalbianco also indicated, however, that one important thing was that the Illusion had fun playing softball together, and that was a key part of their season.
Galt defeated the Patriots 5-1 in what Dalbianco called a “flawless game,” to reach the World Series Championship game.
Varsity girls’ tennis returns to playoffs under Stebbins
Having finished in second place in the Sierra Valley Conference only to one of the top teams in the area, Galt High School’s varsity girls tennis program couldn’t have asked for much more of a better season.
The Lady Warriors finished the regular season with a league record of 10-2, which earned them a trip to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs.
In the SVC Finals, Galt defeated the first-place Oak Ridge Lady Trojans, the only team it had lost to during the regular season.
Four of its top singles players, Morgan Greenhaw, Katelyn Seifert, Stacy Wilson and Kasia Wilczek, advanced to the Division II individual tennis playoffs.
Wilson and Wilczek faced Granite Bay in the first round as a doubles team, and Greenhaw and Seifert advanced as a team to the second round against a team from Vanden.
The Lady Warriors dealt with injuries all season but had one of its best seasons in recent GHS history, with the return of head coach Suzanne Stebbins paving the way for a solid season.
Talented new and returning players also helped set the foundation for the Lady Warriors’ success.
Freshman Jana Hackett went undefeated with a 12-0 record during the regular season, and Katelyn Seifert was undefeated for much of the season and finished with a record of 10-2 in the SVC.
Wilson, a senior, was Galt’s No. 1seed and was one of two Galt players to earn All-League honors. Wilson swept opponents from several schools, including Union Mine and Cordova.
Greenhaw, Galt’s No. 2 seed, earned All-League honors after a season in which she swept opponents from Union Mine, Vista del Lago, and Cordova.
Freshman and sophomore girls win SVC Championship
With approximately half of Galt High School’s cross country team having little or no experience in long-distance running this season, the girls’ freshman/sophomore program’s success was an unexpected but welcome surprise.
Galt’s freshman and sophomore girls went from being a largely inexperienced team to developing the skill and training for posting low times in large numbers.
The Lady Warriors won the Sierra Valley Conference Championship after earning the lowest point total among their league competitors with the results of the first and second SVC meets combined.
The championship came after a season with new head coach Nathan Woods, who has been a volunteer cross country and track and field coach with Galt for the past several years.
Woods said of the freshman/sophomore girls that “the key is just getting them to have some experience,” at the start of the year.
That goal was realized, as the Lady Warriors improved and put up low times as the season went on.
Galt won the first SVC meet of the season, and beat out Oak Ridge, Christian Brothers, and Ponderosa in the process.
In the second SVC meet, Galt finished second in the team standings, which was good enough for the championship.
The Lady Warriors finished well in seemingly most of their non-league meets, also.
Galt finished first at the Sierra Cross Country Invitational in the large-school division, and finished sixth at the Bella Vista Invitational.
The sixth-place finish was the best for Galt among all divisions in that meet.
At the Granite Bay Invitational on Aug. 31, Galt finished third as a team.
Woods noted at the time that all seven runners that competed that day finished within one minute of each other, which is a result that is strived for in cross country, as it gave Galt a solid finish in the standings.
At the Lodi Eagle Invitational, the freshman Lady Warriors won the competition, and the sophomore girls finished second in the separate sophomore division.
Woods noted earlier in the season after a successful finish of the freshman and sophomore girls in one of their meets that the result bodes well for future seasons of cross country.
With the whole season now successfully completed, it certainly looks that way.
Galt JV boys soccer has 16 shut outs, scores 87 goals
The junior varsity Warriors soccer program had plenty of bragging rights this season.
The Warriors had 16 shut outs, and according to assistant coach Oscar Corona only allowed eight goals against them.
At the same time, the Warriors scored 87 goals against the same opponents.
In addition, almost everyone on the team scored except for two players.
“That says a lot about the team,” Corona said after the Warriors’ last game.
The Warriors finished the SVC season with a record of 10-2, and swept their season series against Christian Brothers, Union Mine, Ponderosa, Cordova, and Vista del Lago.
The Warriors thrived on their defense, taking advantage of the talents of the freshman goalkeepers Victor Alvarez and Alex Clare.
After Clare was called up to the varsity level mid-season, Alvarez, who had shared the goalkeeping duties with Clare, moved into a full-time role as goalkeeper.
Galt’s defense coupled with an aggressive offense, helped the Warriors turn in big numbers on the scoreboards.
Work ethic was a consistent trait for the JV Warriors.
Players often did not stop working even if they were ahead by a comfortable amount in a game.
Winning was something the Warriors were familiar with this season.
Galt opened the preseason with six wins in a row, and had another five-game win streak after opening the SVC season with a loss to Oak Ridge.
Galt closed its season with a 2-0 win over the Cordova Lancers, which capped its second five-game win streak.
Next season should be another strong one for the JV Warriors, with over 50 percent of its roster in 2007 consisting of freshmen.
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