Notebook: MJC women’s soccer players sign, high school runners qualify for state
Modesto Junior College women’s soccer teammates Madison Dong and Emma Albino have a lot in common.
Both played four years of varsity soccer in Modesto, elected to play for coach Steve Aristotelous at MJC after their senior season and in the past two weeks, both signed to play soccer in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
Dong, a 2020 Modesto High graduate, signed on Monday, Nov. 14, to play at Cal State East Bay.
As a senior, Dong, a goalkeeper, tore her ACL but elected to play her freshman season as a Pirate. After last year, she had surgery, forcing her to miss her sophomore year.
After fielding offers from East Bay and Sonoma State, Dong picked the Pioneers because of their kinesiology program.
“Their kinesiology program is very extensive,” she said. “I chose that one for the long run.”
Dong made an instant impact for the Pirates her freshman year, starting all 21 games she appeared in with an 11-7 record, a 2.04 goals against average and 65 saves while earning Big 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors on essentially one leg.
After sitting out this past season, she got her first action in goal at practice two weeks ago for a coach who wanted to see her play.
“I was very out of shape,” she said. “To me, the goal has never felt that big, it usually just feels like a home but that did not feel like a home. It felt like I was in the middle of the street trying to save the ball.”
But she impressed, earning an offer.
Albino, a 2021 Beyer High graduate, signed with Sonoma State on Nov. 9.
After not finding the right fit out of high school, she joined the Pirates and was one of the key members of the team’s offense this past season.
The freshman center forward finished second on the team in goals (7) and assists (6) and first on the team with three game winners. She went to a Sonoma State ID camp, which put her on the coach’s radar.
“I was in an awkward period where I wasn’t sure what I was going to do,” Albino said. “I talked to Steve a lot and I was able to really connect with him and he was like, ’If you come here, we’re gonna get you out, no matter what,’ and so I felt very comfortable coming here knowing that I would have the opportunity to go to the next level.”
After a stellar season, she found what she was looking for.
“With Sonoma, once I talked with them they really made me feel at home where I could go there and really connect with them,” she said.
Both Dong and Albino are leaving to their respective schools during the spring, which will give them extra time to get acclimated to being away from home and allow them to carve out a role with their new programs. They will each have three years of eligibility.
MJC softball player shows out at scrimmage: It didn’t take long for MJC softball player Madison McElley (Tracy) to impress coaches at Stanislaus State. In a weekend of scrimmages against the Warriors, the Shawnee State University transfer scored three runs, stole several bases and made a number of plays in the infield, playing shortstop and catcher.
A member of the MJC fire science program, McElley will play this spring with the Pirates before transferring to Stan State next season.
Ripon High golfer signs to Division I school: Ripon High’s Gabbi Ilardi signed to play Division I golf at Eastern Washington University Sunday night in the school’s gym. Ilardi was one of the Stanislaus District’s best all season, leading the Ripon High golf team to a second-place finish in the VFL and the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V tournament. She finished with a division low score of 71. Ilardi was the league’s best golfer, earning MVP honors.
MJC Football headed to postseason: The MJC football team turned its season around during Valley Conference play. The Pirates started with a three-game win streak, setting them up for the chance at reaching the postseason with two games left. They lost last week to College of the Sequoias, making Saturday’s game a must win to secure a spot in the state playoffs.
Kimoni Stanley (Sierra) rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns and Fayzon Allen (Downey) came up with a pick six as the Pirates won 28-20 to punch their ticket to the postseason. They will play at San Mateo on Nov. 26.
Local teams compete in Tuesday’s water polo state tournament: The California Interscholastic Federation on Nov. 13 released its state water polo brackets. Section champions and runners up qualified. Ripon High’s boys and girls teams won section championships Saturday, earning first-round road games on Tuesday against Clovis West and Northgate, respectively.
Schools perform well at section masters cross country meet: Schools from all over the Sac-Joaquin Section in Divisions I-V met at Willow Hill in Folsom for the Masters cross country meet Saturday. Oakdale, Beyer, Hughson and Central Catholic had teams qualified for the State Meet while a number of other Stanislaus District schools had individual qualifiers. The State Meet will be on Saturday, Nov. 26, at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Oakdale’s and Beyer’s boys teams finished first and third, respectively, in the boys’Division III. Hughson’s boys finished first in Division IV and Central Catholic’s boys finished first in Division V, while the girls team was the Division V second place finisher.
Here is a list of individuals who qualified for state:
Division I Girls: Maya Wolfe, Modesto (Sophomore)
Division III Girls: Kassidy Fmura, Oakdale (Senior)
Division IV Boys: Julio Pelaez, Ripon (Senior)
Division IV Girls: Annie Wild, Ripon (Senior), Sidney Logsdon, Hilmar (Freshman), Sophie Benham, Hughson (Freshman)
