Blue Raider Athletics

Caruthers Girls Basketball Division III Section Champions

Congratulations to our Girls Basketball team for all the accomplishments and success they had in the 2021-2022 season. For the 9th consecutive season they went undefeated in the West Sequoia League which improved their run to 92 consecutive league wins. Early in the season, they participated in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona and secured the first National Tournament win in school history with a last second basket to win 53-52 over Sunrise Mountain out of Peoria, Arizona. The Girls continued to play great basketball throughout the season and finished the regular season with a 23-3 record which was good for the #1 seed in Division III. In the opening round of the playoffs the girls defeated Bullard High 62-29, in the quarterfinals they defeated El Diamante 78-18, and in the semi-finals they pulled away in the fourth quarter to get past McFarland with a 67-42 victory. Due to Selland Arena not being able to host the championship games this year, the higher seed would host. Orcutt Academy traveled to Caruthers High School with the Division III section championship on the line. It was no surprise to see the Caruthers community show up and participate in the blue out as it was a sold out event. Early on, Orcutt Academy exchanged baskets with Caruthers in a back and forth battle. Once again, our girls played four quarters of basketball and eventually pulled away and won 58-44 to secure the fifth section championship in seven years, in three different divisions. The girls were dealt a tough draw in the State Playoffs and ended up in Division II as the number six seed. The girls did not back down from the challenge and opened up with an impressive win over Vista Del Lago 62-27. In the following round Caruthers traveled to Menlo High School in Atherton, CA. Late in the fourth quarter, Caruthers led by 5 points but Menlo made some plays down the stretch to steal the game and defeated Caruthers 59-55. This was the end of another amazing run for a great group of kids. Great job to the players and coaches! Thank you to everyone who supported the team the entire way!

Caruthers Softball Division V Section Champions AND STATE CHAMPIONS

Congratulations to our Softball team for winning the 2022 Division V Section Championship. The last championship the program had won was back in 2014 so the program was due for a championship after knocking on the door in 2019 and falling short in the championship game. The team definitely went through some growing pains throughout the season with some ups and downs especially early on. As the regular season was coming to an end, the team went on a 3 game winning streak to finish the regular season 17-11. This was good enough for a #2 seed in the Division V Section Playoffs. In the opening round Caruthers defeated Fresno High 18-4, in the Quarterfinals they defeated Mt Whitney 11-8 in a back and forth game, and in the semi-finals they defeated Washington Union 11-2 in an impressive fashion. #1 seed Boron and #2 seed Caruthers were all set for a showdown at Margie Wright Diamond at Fresno State. Early on, Boron's prominent pitching seemed as if it was going to give the Caruthers line up problems all game and after the 3rd inning Caruthers only had a 2-1 lead. In the 4th inning Caruthers got hot at the plate and it seemed as if the entire line up was able to put the ball in play which led to a 14-4 victory. Finally, the Caruthers Softball team were champs once again! The softball team was given the #2 seen in the Division V Southern Regional State Playoff tournament and quickly shifted their focus on a state run. In the opening round Caruthers defeated Santee 14-0 and in the semi-finals they defeated Garfield 18-6. Thankfully, #4 seed Nipomo pulled off a 5-3 upset against #1 seed Capistrano Valley Christian so the Championship game was played at Caruthers High School. Again, the entire community was in full support of the softball team. Supports showed up hours in advance to prepare for the championship game. At the top of the first inning Nipomo's outstanding pitcher hit a home run to take a 1-0 lead. Caruthers answered with solid hits and great base running to score 2 runs and came out of the 1st inning up 2-1. Heading into the 7th inning the game was tied at 5 and Nipomo failed to score a run. In the bottom of the 7th Morgan Trigueiro put the ball in play to bring Paige Sterling home and win the game 6-5. Congratulations to both teams for playing an outstanding game and putting on a show. Great job to our coaches and players! Thank you to all the fans who supported our softball team on this amazing run!

Caruthers Track and Field State Champion

 

Congratulations to Nailea Fields for the most successful Track and Field season in Caruthers High School History. Nailea spent a numerous amount of hours in the off season in preparation for the 2022 Track season. She dedicated a lot of her time throwing and focusing on technique with her coach and also spent a lot of time in the weight room getting her body ready for competition. Nailea dominated at all the league meets and was successful in almost every invitational she threw in. Nailea took first place in the shot put and the discus in the West Sequoia League meet, All Sierra, and in the Division 4 Championship. She went on to Masters/Valley and qualified for State by taking 2nd place in both Shot and Discus. On her last throw in the State meet, Nailea threw 157 feet and 1 inch in the discus which was good for 1st place in the STATE! Nailea is the first track and field athlete in Caruthers history to bring home gold at the state meet. She also took 8th place in the shot which should not go unnoticed as that is also a great accomplishment and something to be proud of. Her Personal Record (PR) in the discus is 162'7 and 41'7 in the shot put. Nailea is a Junior and will be back for her Senior year to defend her gold medal and add to her success. Great job Nae and thank you to the coaches and supporters who cheered Nae on for her fantastic run!