SLO County saw its share of high school sports standouts this fall. Here’s a roundup
Several San Luis Obispo County sports teams and individual student-athletes shined in their respective boys and girls fall sports this year.
Here’s a roundup of local school team and individual athlete successes.
Arroyo Grande
Girls water polo
The Eagles (27-8, 6-0 Mountain League) won the Mountain League title with an undefeated record, marking the 23rd straight year taking home a league title.
Arroyo Grande hasn’t lost a league game since the 2002-03 school year.
The Eagles also won the Division 1 Central-Section championship, beating Clovis North 13-3 before falling in the CIF State NorCal tournament to Carondelet of Concord, 12-8.
Natalie Whitfield led the team with 129 goals on the season and 75 steals and earned Mountain League MVP; goalie Bay Burnett had 193 saves, or 5.3 per game. Bay Burnett was league goalie of the year.
Football
The Eagles (10-5, 4-0) won the Mountain League title with an undefeated league record and beat Bakersfield in the Division 2 Central Section championship game 23-20 in overtime on a field goal by Dustin Reed, earning a spot in the CIF state tournament.
Arroyo Grande was led by Caleb Clark (916 yards and 17 touchdowns rushing; 692 yards and eight touchdowns receiving); Zack Tayman (1,693 yards and 23 touchdowns rushing); and Jacob Kreowski (1,131 yards and 11 touchdowns passing). On defense, Levi Childers, league defensive player of the year, led the team with 151 tackles, and Derek Brockenborough had 119 tackles.
Clark was the Mountain League MVP.
Boys water polo
The Eagles (14-7, 6-0 Mountain) won the Mountain League title with an undefeated record.
Arroyo Grande was led by Oliver Jenssen (129 goals and 52 assists) and Brady Leonard (119 goals and 33 assists). Jenssen and Leonard were league co-MVPs.
The Eagles fell in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs to Clovis North by a score of 10-9.
Girls volleyball
The Eagles (35-13, 5-1 Mountain) won their league title and finished runner-up in the Division 2 CIF-Central Section playoff.
Bella Strickland, Bixby Hardy and Grace Kennedy were team captains. Hardy had 19 digs in a match versus Centennial.
Kennedy was the Mountain League MVP.
Atascadero
Girls golf
Girls golf won the CIF Central Section Division II championship in October in Tulare.
The Greyhounds posted a team score of 489, topping Justin Garza High of Fresno in the Division 2 tournament.
Olivia Swindell shot 90 in the tournament, the second-lowest individual score. Brooke Baldwin shot 94.
Mission Prep
Olivia Reimer was named the MVP in Ocean League girls tennis, and Ronnie Kardashian was the Mountain League all-purpose player of the year in football.
Morro Bay
Girls volleyball
The Pirates won the Division 5 CIF-Central Section title, beating North Bakersfield 3-0. The section championship victory marked the first time in Morro Bay High history that girls volleyball has brought home a CIF title.
Morro Bay (26-25, 3-7 Sunset) then made it to the regional final of the state CIF tournament, finishing second.
Alana Shields had nine kills in a state tournament match win over Anaheim.
Girls water polo
The Pirates (20-11, 6-0) won the Sunset League title, and had a playoff win over Tulare Western in sudden death overtime.
Their playoff run ended the following game with a loss at Reedley High School.
Kate Harrington was named Sunset League MVP.
Girls tennis and girls cross country
The girls tennis team earned a Sunset League co-championship and competed in a CIF semifinal, but came up short against East Bakersfield.
Standout Wendy Wilson was an individual qualifier for the state cross country meet. Next year, the team will bring back five of their top seven runners from this season.
Nipomo
Girls cross country
Nipomo won the Ocean League championship.
Individually, Zoe Watkins earned third place at the Ocean League championship event, 11th at CIF Division 3 Championships and 149th at the state title.
Girls tennis
The team won the Ocean League title.
The team was represented by players including Brooke Krier, Lexus Guzman, Abbey Danley, Alice Deutsch and others.
Girls water polo
The water polo team won the Ocean League title.
Freshman Riley Dalton, who tallied 88 goals, was the Ocean League MVP.
Senior Taylor Meenzhuber, who had 159 saves, was the goalie of the year.
Girls volleyball
The Titans (27-8, 9-1 Sunset) were Sunset League champions, reaching the CIF finals before falling to Bullard High.
Nipomo reached the state regional semifinals.
On the season, Naomi Pankratz tallied 254 kills, Addison Stegenga recorded 243 kills and Taya Maumausolo Matagi added 229 kills.
Raelynn Ortiz, the team’s setter, was the Sunset League MVP. She averaged 8.3 assists per set (803 total on the season).
Paso Robles
Girls golf and boys cross country
Paso Robles girls golf qualified for the postseason in Division 3, CIF-Central Section.
Brian Arndt was the Mountain League boys cross-country MVP.
Boys water polo
The Bearcats were undefeated in the Sunset League at 6-0.
Colin Daugherty, who had 155 goals on the season, was the league MVP.
San Luis Obispo
Girls golf
The Tigers were crowned the Mountain League champs.
Sofia Rodriguez Pierson won league MVP, plus qualified for the Southern California Championships.
Rodriguez Pierson shot 78 in the Central Section Division I Championship individual competition, the third-best score.
Football
SLO (7-5, 3-1 Sunset) was co-champion along with Righetti, which also finished at 3-1.
The Tigers were led by Colbin Garrison, who tallied 1,455 yards rushing and 18 rushing touchdowns, as well as four additional touchdowns receiving. Garrison was the Sunset League co-MVP.
Girls tennis
SLO won the Mountain League title for the third year in a row.
The Tigers had “a great blend of seniors and lower classmen working together,” said SLO Coach Michelle Heidbrink.
Natalie Testerman, a senior, was the team’s No. 1-ranked player, first-team all-league selection and team MVP. Freshman Zoe Stackhouse was the No. 2 and team rookie of the year. Senior Mackensie Moore and freshman Jessa Lebed “were steady and remained undefeated in regular season league play” as a doubles duo, Heidbrink said. Kailie Wells was a first-team all-league selection as well. “Overall, this team really learned that we had to win as a team, and we did a great job coming together as we had six seniors, two freshmen, two juniors and four sophmores who all were super important to clinch league,” Heidbrink said. Senior Erin Rittger won the team “Black and Gold award,” essentially embodying Tiger spirit, Heidbrink said. “I know we couldn’t repeat that third CIF championship this year, but I think the girls came together the best I’ve seen a team, which is a huge win it itself,” Heidbrink said.
Flag football
SLO (12-1-2, 7-0 Mountain) was undefeated in league play and finished the season ranked No. 1 in the CIF-Central Section in the sport’s inaugural season.
SLO’s team included Leanna Saligan, Emily Peters, Eriana Roberts, Aurora Peterson, Sydney Rodriguez, Giana Boscaro, Darla Sebastian Martinez and others.
Eriana Roberts, a freshman running back, was the offensive player of the year.
“Our first-ever captains, (seniors) Sydney Rodriguez and Giana Boscaro, helped so much when it came to leading the team,” said SLO Coach Rylee Birdsall-Puccini.
Birdsall-Puccini said Saligan, the Tigers’ junior quarterback, developed “so quickly in such a short time frame, and we are so proud of her this season.”
The Tigers finished as the No. 1-ranked team in the Central Section, according to MaxPreps.com.
Girls cross country
The team finished as Mountain League champions, its seventh in a row, and was the CIF-Central Section Division 3 champion, finishing 17th at state.
Boys cross country
The boys finished as Mountain League champions, their fifth in a row, earning back-to-back CIF Central Section Division 3 titles, and finishing 19th at state.
The team won first place at the CCAA Mountain League meet with the following results: Ethan Feeser, second; Maddox Lee, fifth; Aidan Field, seventh; Nico Aebischer, ninth (top 10 podium); Rudy Uribe, 11th; Will Woffinden, 13th; Kaden Gearhart, 14th. They also won first place at the CIF Central Section meet with the following results: Ethan Feeser, fourth; Nico Aebischer, 10th (top 10 podium); Rudy Uribe, 12th, Maddox Lee, 14th; Aidan Field, 15th; Kaden Gearhart, 18th; Will Woffinden, 22nd.
“Going into the championship portion of season, we were underdogs,” said Coach Nancy Steinmaus. “Arroyo Grande had beaten us every time we raced them, including at the league mid-season meet. We train and race to peak during the championship portion of season and it showed.”
At the SLO County meet (Laguna Lake Golf Course, Nov. 1, 3-mile), the Tigers beat Arroyo Grande for the first time in the season (SLO 24 points for first, Arroyo Grande 88 for second place). Then they followed with the CIF sectional win. “Winning CIF-Central Section was a highlight; it was a rainy day and very muddy,” Steinmaus said. “It was mentally tough as athletes were sliding all over and falling too. We were prepared to be mentally tough.”
The final results included SLO at 55, Del Oro at 56 and Reedley at 69.
“When every boy matters in final score, the victory is all-team and being all-in,” Steinmaus said. “We thrive in those circumstances.” Feeser was the team’s top runner, with several top 10 performance times at multiple event distances and courses. His top season performances were at County (second), League (second), CIF-Central Section (4th), and state Division 3 (21st). Feeser’s 5K personal record is 15:22, and his top 3-mile time is 15.00.
Templeton
Girls tennis
The Eagles tied for the Sunset League Championship. Stella Needels and Emma Clevenger were the top doubles duo.
Cross country
The Eagles finished second in league in both boys and girls.
Naomi Julian was the Ocean League Champion (finishing fifth in the Division 4 race and qualifying for state) and Ocean League MVP. William Wallace and Beckett Aston finished second and third, respectively.
College Commits
Six Templeton High athletes also signed their letters of intent to play sports in college on Wednesday.
Those athletes are the following: Tyler Cunningham, Football, Yale; Luke Kahler, Soccer, CSULA; Kevin Sass, Lacrosse, St. Thomas University; Tyler Eade, Equestrian, UC Davis; McKenna White, Soccer, Dominican University; Jessie Branch, Softball, Lake Erie College.
Football
The Eagles (12-1, 4-0 Ocean) won league and went undefeated in the regular season.
Templeton finished as the runner-up in the Central Section Division 4 playoff.
Yale-bound Tyler Cunningham led the team with 1,748 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns, as well as 518 receiving yards and six touchdowns through the air. Cunningham was the Ocean League MVP.
Colby Sims tallied 1,043 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. Colter Tannehill recorded 2,001 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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