JOHNSON, MICKELSON, SUSI STAR IN FEBRUARY
18 pro, amateur and high school athletes honored by the San Diego Hall of Champions
NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson, pro golfer Phil Mickelson and San Diego Sockers standout Aaron Susi top the list of 18 athletes selected as Breitbard Stars of the Month for February by the San Diego Hall of Champions.
Johnson captured the Daytona 500 for the second time in his career after racing into the lead and holding off a late charge by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Mickelson also got off to a fast start in the PGA season by coming close to setting records for a single round and a tournament as he pulled away for a four-stroke victory in the Phoenix Open.
Susi helped lead the Sockers to a 15-1 regular-season record and into the indoor soccer playoffs by collecting career highs in assists (32) and total points (51) for the year.
On the amateur front, San Diego State’s Courtney Clements led the Aztecs to a 13-game winning streak in clinching no less than a tie for the Mountain West Conference title. Joining her were USD’s Chris Woolley (baseball), Keenan Lineback (women’s swimming) and Christopher Anderson (men’s basketball); UCSD’s Anji Shakya (women’s swimming) and Ryan Goodbrand (baseball); Cal State San Marcos’ Alex Miller (softball) and Point Loma Nazarene’s Callie Rhoads (Basketball) and Tyler Garkow (baseball).
Army-Navy Academy’s 7-1 center Cheikh N’Diaye led six high school standouts as Stars of the Month. He was joined by Eastlake’s Blyss McCann (girls soccer), La Costa Canyon’s Jeff Van Dyke (basketball), Bishops’ Jessica Webster (water polo), Central Union’s Micah Perez (wrestling) and Rancho Buena Vista’s Jenny Dee (girls basketball).
PROFESSIONAL STARS OF THE MONTH
JIMMIE JOHNSON. Motor Sports, NASCAR, Granite Hills High grad—Got the 2013 NASCAR season off to a fast start by winning his second Daytona 500 with a late surge that edged a hard-charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. The El Cajon driver collected a cool $1.5 million with the victory.
PHIL MICKELSON, Golf, PGA, USDHS grad—After nearly setting a record with an opening round 60, Mickelson rolled to a four-stroke victory in the Phoenix Open. He finished with a 4-under round of 67 for a 256 (60-65-64-67), just missing the PGA tournament record by two strokes.
AARON SUSI, Soccer, S.D. Sockers, Mission Bay High grad—Helped lead San Diego to the best regular season record in the PASL (15-1) for the fourth consecutive year, posting career bests for assists and total points. Susi finished the regular season with 51 points (his previos high was 41) and his career best 32 assists were the second most ever recorded in a PASL season.
AMATEUR STARS OF THE MONTH
COURTNEY CLEMENTS, SDSU, Women’s basketball—Talk about teams on a roll, the Lady Aztecs finished the month with a 13-game winning streak during which time they clinched no worse than a tie for the Mountain West Conference championship. Clements led the way, scoring a career-high 29 points against New Mexico in the title-tying game.
ALEX MILLER, Cal State San Marcos, Softball, West Hills grad—A two-time NAIA All-American, the junior has made a large impact this year for the No. 1 ranked Cougars (14-3). The centerfielder is hitting .446 with 10 doubles, 10 RBI, 17 runs scores and is 4-for-4 in steals.
CHRIS WOOLLEY, USD, Baseball—Woolley went 10-for-22 with a double and seven RBI. He helped lead USD to a 4-4 record, including winning four their last five games. Woolley was WCC Player of the Week after helping the Toreros go 3-1 in a four-game series against Kent State, hitting .636 (7-for-11) with a double, six RBI and four runs scored.
ANJI SHAKYA, UCSD, Women’s swimming—The junior co-captain led the Tritons to their fifth conference title by winning the 200-yard free in 1:48.24, the 500 free in 4:48.19 and the 200 back 2:01.35 as well as anchoring the first place 800-free relay team. She broke school and conference meet records in the 200 and 500.
RYAN GOODBRAND, UCSD, Baseball—The senior righty posted a 5-0 win-loss mark and ERA of 1.41 (32.0 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 34 SO). Goodbrand began his final college campaign with an incredible 31 straight shutout innings, fanning a career-high 11 over seven shutout frames in his third start. Hitters are batting just .168 against him on the season.
KEENAN LINEBACK, USD, Women’s swimming—Lineback became USD’s first conference champion since the 2003-04 season when she won both the 1650-yard freestyle and the 400 individual medley. She also set new USD school records in the 1650 free (16:39.04) and 200 butterfly (2:02.01), in which she placed sixth in the finals.
CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON, USD, Basketball—Anderson’s acrobatic reverse lay-up with 0.02 seconds left in the first overtime gave USD a 69-68 road win over Loyola Marymount. He finished the game with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. He dished out 11 assists in a two-point home loss to Gonzaga along with 9 points and 7 rebounds.
CALLIE RHOADS, Point Loma Nazarene, Basketball, Poway High grad—A junior guard, Rhoads averaged 17.0 points per game to lead the Sea Lions to a 7-1 record. She helped PLNU open the month on a six-game winnings streak, shooting 49 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range, while averaging 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals per contest.
TYLER GARKOW, Point Loma Nazarene, Baseball—Garkow went a perfect 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA over 25 innings. In four starts the right handed senior struck out 16 batters and allowed just 21 hits. He tossed a six-hit shutout against Hawaii Hilo (6-0) to lead the Point Loma baseball team to its first-ever win in the PacWest.
HIGH SCHOOL STARS OF THE MONTH
CHEIKH N’DIAYE, Boys basketball, Army-Navy Academy—Headed to Oregon State, the 7-foot-1 Warriors center turned his game up a notch as Army-Navy Academy won seven games to run their winning streak to 11-straight. N’Diaye had a high of 25 points versus Francis Parker and 20 rebounds against Santa Fe Christian.
BLYSS McCANN, Girls soccer, Eastlake—For the first time in school history, Eastlake’s girls advanced to the section championship and the senior midfield-forward was a big reason. McCann scored the winning goal against San Pasqual and delivered one of the goals in the 5-3 penalty kick victory over Torrey Pines. The Titans went on to win their first title.
JEFF VAN DYKE, Boys basketball, La Costa Canyon—The sharp-shooting guard led the Mavericks back into the Division II championship, lifting the team to an 8-0 record which included a 25-point game against Vista. The lone returning starter from a year ago scored 17 points in the 67-50 semifinal win over Lincoln.
JESSICA WEBSTER, Girls water polo, Bishop’s—Scoring three goals, dishing out three assists and collecting two steals, the Stanford University-bound senior led the Knights to the Division III title, 13-5 over La Jolla, culminating three straight championships. Webster had 26 goals and 14 assists in 8 games as the Knights finished 27-4.
MICAH PEREZ, Wrestling, Central Union—It would be difficult to be more dominant than the Spartans senior who captured his third straight Masters championship, this time at 122 pounds. In four matches he pinned three opponents, including winning the title in 4:38. He also had an 18-9 major decision.
JENNY DEE, Girls basketball, Rancho Buena Vista—RBV’s girls rolled into the section Division I finals for the first time in 15 years and the senior came up big as the Longhorns finished the regular season with four straight wins, adding a couple more in the playoffs, including a 65-55 victory over Poway where Dee scored 24 points.
