The Sports Informant

There’s reluctance in the journalism community to cover one team more than the others. Sometimes, you just have to.

Such is the case with Oak Ridge High School. Thanks to countless seasons and sports including championship runs this year, the Trojans are splattering headlines almost weekly, from local hometown papers to the Sacramento Bee and everyone else between. And, admittedly, it’s because they are just so dang deserving.

Oak Ridge's volleyball team joined four other Oak Ridge girls teams in winning section titles this year. (Photo courtesy Greg Ashman)

Our job as sports writers is to present fair and balanced news, and in sports, that means a spectrum of coverage over multiple sports and including multiple teams. Secondly, though, or primarily when it comes to the playoffs, our job is to shine the light on the teams that are winning, even when it’s the same team doing it over and over again.

OK, let me get to the point. Oak Ridge High School has had one of the better years in athletics that I’ve ever seen. This applies specifically to the girls teams, though, who have actually had the best year in history. I’m not exaggerating…

According to a Sac-Joaquin Section release, “Oak Ridge is the first Sac-Joaquin Section school ever to win section titles in the four ‘major’ girls sports in the same year–volleyball, basketball, softball and soccer.” To add insult to injury, the Oak Ridge track team won the Division II section championship on Saturday. Make that five.

Roseville (in the 1989-1990 season) and Vacaville (in the 2002-2003 season) won volleyball, basketball and softball. Neither won soccer.

These aren’t league titles, folks. They’ve got a gym full of banners showcasing those, too. But to win a section title is to be the best team in your entire area. In some sports, like softball, that’s as far as you can go with the postseason. With all the talent in Sacramento, that’s a tall task.

Granted, Oak Ridge is a Division II school, and Division I is loaded with bigger populations and a wealth of talent. But counter that with the fact that tucked in the back of El Dorado Hills, fighting to keep its pool of talent from attending neighboring Ponderosa, Vista del Lago and Folsom High, and St. Francis, this public school somehow continues to produce some of the best teams around.

Like any school, it loses its talent to graduation, and somehow, reloads even stronger. For that, Oak Ridge deserves all the coverage it gets. And tonight, I don’t feel guilty jumping on board.

Congrats, ladies. You’ve made your school and community proud, and your sports history legendary.

Volleyball

Coaches, ask your team to participate in a 45-competition season and see how it

Oak Ridge's Brittney Larsen sets the ball for Kaleigh Durket. (Photo courtesy Greg Ashman)

performs. The Oak Ridge girls volleyball team started the season staring down a long and tough schedule that had the Trojans traveling all over California to beat the best teams in the state. How else can you become the best yourself?

Before the Trojans fell to Mountain View in the NorCal regionals, and in a 5-game match by the way, 2-3, they wrapped up the section title at UC Davis over Division I powerhouse St. Francis in three straight games. In volleyball, that’s a blowout. In fact, before their loss, the Trojans were riding a 31-match winning streak. In those 31 matches, they lost only two games.

Led by senior Kaleigh Durket, Oak Ridge finished with a 41-4 overall record, according to MaxPreps.com. Not many teams would be disappointed with a season like that. Oak Ridge was.

Basketball

The varsity girls basketball team at Oak Ridge had high expectations from the start.

Oak Ridge's Sara James goes up for a score. (Photo courtesy Greg Ashman)

Led by junior Sara James, the Trojans aimed for the state championship, a task most schools only dream of achieving, and one Oak Ridge came inches from.

After finishing the regular season as Sierra Valley Conference champions, the Trojans went on to win the section title easily, with a 72-28 stomping of Valley in the championship game. Oak Ridge then won two games in the NorCal regional to make it to the NorCal championship game, but fell one game short of making it to the state championship with a 50-60 loss to Carondelet.

The Trojans finished 30-4 overall.

Soccer

Mountain Democrat sports editor Liz Kane told me, “Oak Ridge coach Henry Reis coaches his team to win titles.” Apparently, because that’s what it did again this season.

The Oak Ridge soccer team celebrates a section title. (Photo courtesy Greg Ashman)

Led by junior Rachel Mercik, the Trojans went 13-2-3 overall, winning games when they mattered most. Oak Ridge finished the season on a 4-game winning streak, sprinting through playoffs outscoring opponents 8-1 overall.

Oak Ridge didn’t even need to win the SVC to do it, either. Ponderosa went undefeated in league. Reis just wanted to make the playoffs more interesting, I guess. It’s too bad the season ends with the section playoffs. It’d be interesting to see how far a team built for playoffs could have gone.

Softball

Oak Ridge’s softball team had a heavy load this season, too. Going 24-4-1 overall, the Trojans took the league title after going 11-1 in league play.

Sophomore pitcher Kasey Stanchek was a force from the mound this year. (Photo courtesy Greg Ashman)

The beauty with this team was its schedule. The Trojans didn’t schedule powder puffs. While other Oak Ridge teams dominated Division II schools, the softball squad wanted more. Led by sophomore sensation and pitcher Kasey Stanchek, the Trojans beat Division I St. Francis, 8-0, Division I Folsom, 11-1, and lost to Division I Sheldon, 2-5. Oh, I forgot to mention Sheldon was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time. Oh, and those were Oak Ridge’s first three games of the year.

By the time the postseason rolled around, Oak Ridge was as seasoned as any team in the Sacramento region. The Trojans rode a 7-game winning streak to the section title, including having to beat Del Oro in back-to-back games to be declared champions.