Christopher football and track star Kordell Crocker only had to travel a few miles across town to participate in Saturday’s Central Coast Section track finals at Gilroy High. With a superb jump of 22-8.75 for a second-place finish, he’ll travel much further next week—to Buchanan High in Clovis, for the CIF State Finals.
Crocker qualified for the ultimate track goal by finishing in the top three, after only coming in 10th the week before in the CCS prelims. The prelims jump was enough to get him into the finals but he needed to jump much further to place high this past Saturday. And he did.
Crocker, who had a best of 23-0 from the beginning of the season, had a superb day. He launched himself 21-4 on the first attempt, 21-9.25 on the second and then advanced from fourth place to second with his fourth jump at 22-8.75, the best of his day.
He had two more solid jumps but none exceeded the fourth. That nailed second place behind favorite Ryan Shen of Monta Vista, who leaped 23-4.25. Crocker’s mark placed him ahead of Max Haberlach of St. Francis in third place at 22-4.75.
Crocker, who caught 38 passes for 443 yards and three touchdowns during Christopher’s football season, had other strong jumps during the season. He went 22-6 on March 12 in a Blossom Valley Athletic League meet with Prospect and Independence; 22-2 in a meet with Silver Creek; and 22-7 at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in southern California.
In the BVAL Santa Teresa championships, he jumped 21-2 for first place on May 1, and he also won the BVAL Masters title on May 9 with a 20-9 jump. At the CCS Finals, he had a great performance and is the only athlete from the city to qualify for the CIF State Finals.
Victoria Gonzalez-O’Donoghue was the only other local athlete in the CCS Finals. She competed in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, shot put and discus during the season and reached the CCS Finals in the discus.
A CCS Semifinals throw of 111-1, just one inch behind her season best, advanced Gonzalez-O’Donoghue into the finals. Her best throw in Saturday’s competition was 101-0, which placed her in eleventh.
The series began with a foul and a toss of 83-1. On her third attempt, she launched the discus 101-0. That was not quite far enough to qualify her for the top nine. Gonzalez-O’Donoghue had a stronger series in the semifinals, where her series was 111-1, 106-4, 110-5 and a foul.
Baseball team regroups for success
Graduations hit the Cougars boys baseball team hard but the 2026 team regrouped and had a very successful year. CHS finished league play nearly equivalent to the last three seasons and advanced into the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs for the fifth consecutive year since the 2021 shutdown for COVID.
The Cougars went 13-13 overall, 7-7 in BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division play. That placed them in fourth. Willow Glen was a dominant 14-0 league champ, with Leigh and Santa Teresa just a step ahead of CHS at 8-6. The Cougars were tied in fourth with Piedmont Hills.
In the CCS Division III playoffs, Christopher drew a No. 8 seed and traveled up north to play top-seeded Menlo School in the opener. The Knights beat the Cougars 8-3. Brayden Rogers went 2-for-2 at the plate and Liam Aragon was 2-for-3.
For the season, Aiden Mojica led the offense with a .414 average, 17 runs scored and 14 RBIs. Jacob Vasquez hit .398. Rogers paced the mound corps, throwing 63.2 innings with a superb 3.08 ERA. Vasquez was also a prominent pitcher.
The overall record was a bit behind the last few years but the league finish was similar. Christopher had been tied for fourth, third, tied for fourth and then fifth, going back in order the last four years. The team was very young, with major contributions from sophomores and juniors, yet had another fine season. And the future looks bright.
Softball team makes playoffs
The Cougars’ softball team had a spectacular season. They made major improvements over last year, even though they were incredibly young.
After an 8-12 season with a 7-8 fifth-place league finish, Christopher sparkled in a 16-8 campaign and finished 14-4 for second place in the 10-team BVAL Santa Teresa Division. After a one-year absence, they advanced into the CCS playoffs.
The team was led at the plate by Bella Loredo, who hit .440 with 25 runs scored and 24 RBIs. Alyssa Farrow was at .425, with 27 runs and 20 RBIs. Natalia Uribe hit .411 with 27 runs and 17 RBIs.
Olivia Wilson was at .405 with 29 runs scored and 18 RBIs. Freshman Alexis Herbst debuted at .366 with two homers.
On the basepaths, Wilson led with 12 steals and Uribe and Jersey Paredes each had 10 steals. Junior Katelyn Vega was the mainstay on the mound, tossing 124.1 innings with a fantastic 2.20 ERA.
Christopher advanced into the CCS Division III playoffs and was assigned a No. 8 seed. They opened up at top-seeded Milpitas. In that game, the Cougars and Trojans battled evenly through a seven-inning tie and into extra innings. Milpitas prevailed 8-7 in nine frames.
Farrow went 3-for-5 at the plate. Uribe, Herbst, McGhie and Wilson each went 2-for-5. Wilson stole two bases and scored three times and McGhie and Farrow each had two RBIs.
With 12 of 14 team members being underclassmen, the future is very bright for Christopher softball.
