For many City College athletes, the decision to attend this campus is because it’s close to home, but for others, the travel is a little longer: About 2,000-plus miles farther, to be exact.

Dan Sayles, 21, was born in Milwaukee, Wis., and raised a Brewers fan. He recalls his earliest memories of playing baseball in kindergarten.

“We were always at the local playground playing baseball,” says Sayles. “[We’d] stay there until it got dark.”

Sayles ended up in Sacramento, after meeting former City College baseball coach Andy McKay, who now works with the Colorado Rockies organization, at a baseball camp. Sayles, who attended Wauwatosa East High School in Wisconsin, says he decided to come to City College for the school’s “winning tradition.”

Sayles made a visit in 2010 and says he felt comfortable at the school. “I came out here and watched a game and knew I was going to come [to City College],” recalls Sayles.

Sayles, whose major is undecided, arrived as an outfielder, but once the coaches saw his strong arm, they decided to transition him into the role of pitcher; Sayles has a 90 mile-per-hour-fastball to go along with his secondary pitches: changeup and slider. Sayles says…» Read More

Five years ago I wrapped up my first men’s tennis season as a sophomore at Elk Grove’s Monterey Trail High School just as spring subsided and summer’s sizzle started cramping unfit calf muscles. I reluctantly joined the team as an alternative to volleyball, which was so overcrowded that players were cut before tryouts. I played tennis as an alternative to everything until my graduation in May 2011.

On Wednesday, April 24, I will wrap up my final season as a City College tennis player. My doubles partner and I will travel 40 miles east of Santa Barbara, Calif., for the 113th annual Ojai Tennis Tournament, taking my competitive sports life along with it. Here are the most significant moments of my tennis career:

Spring 2009: On an exceedingly bright day I am playing on a public court at Jones Park, which is tucked into a middle-class neighborhood in Elk Grove. Across the net from me, absent shoes, is my close friend Nicolas Bravo.

“I can do that, too!” I yell at him.

Nick and I have decided to become the best tennis players, not only at Monterey Trail High School, but throughout history. Armed with $15 Wal-Mart racquets (mine a…» Read More

Ronnie Floyd, 19, a member of the City College track team and a sophomore, didn’t know about the opportunities that came with college or playing sports until he moved from Oakland to Sacramento his freshmen year of high school. He began playing football his sophomore year as a wide receiver and found, in his senior year, track was something that came more natural to him. He hasn’t stopped running since.

Last season, Floyd, along with the other three members of his 4×400 meter relay team, earned the title All-American after finishing third in the state with a time of 3 minutes and 13 seconds; All-Americans are comprised of the state’s top four athletes in a given sport in each event.

According to Floyd, social science major, he’s improved as an athlete through the work and help of City College’s track and field coaching staff. Now, he says, he’d like to share his knowledge with others.

“I don’t think I would be where I am at today if it wasn’t for them [coaches Rob Dewar, Lisa Bauduin, and Julie Ferrara-Jones],” says Floyd.

This is Floyd’s second year on the City College track and field team; during his time on the…» Read More

For Sacramento City College Panthers baseball players Jorge Viña and Jared James, Union Stadium holds the weight of family history and dreams of a future in Major League Baseball.

Viña, a sophomore shortstop from Elk Grove High School, is the nephew of major league second baseman Fernando Viña, who also played for the Panthers in 1989. The elder Viña left City College to play professional baseball from 1993 to 2004, with long stints on the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals. Fernando Viña made the All-Star team in 1998, and earned Gold Glove Awards in 2001 and 2002. Currently, he provides analysis and commentary for Oakland Athletics games on Comcast SportsNet California.

…» Read More

Sporting a modest build, at 5’10”, 200 pounds, 19 year-old Jerrod Bravo doesn’t stand out at first glance, but once the baseball game starts, it may seem that he’s ahead of the pack.

In fact, Bravo’s leading the Panthers in many of their batting statistical categories, including: slugging and on base percentage, runs-scored, hits, extra-base hits, and total bases. He also leads the team,and is seventh in the state, in batting average.

Bravo is also tied for first in stolen bases and ranks third on the team in runs batted in. So far this season he’s also only been held hitless in three games and has had multi-hit games in seven of the team’s first 15 games.

Interim Head Coach Derek Sullivan, who’s led the Panthers to a 7-8 record, says so far Bravo has done what he’s expected from him.

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While the average linebacker on a football team typically stands over 6 feet tall, there is one who claims his height to be his No. 1 setback. Even with a slightly smaller stature, he currently holds the No. 1 position for number of tackles this season on the City College football team, proving that you don’t always need that kind of height to make an impact.

Raymond Bautista, better known by his teammates as RayRay, is the defensive linebacker of the Panthers’ football team, and shines on and off the field. Not only has he achieved all-conference, once in high school and once in college, he has managed to also maintain a noteworthy GPA of 3.7.

“I have a nose for the ball,” says Bautista, 20. “There’s those people who like to run to the ball every play and there’s those people who don’t. I’m one of the people that likes to.”

Bautista has always gained recognition for his stellar performance on the football team, and says in high school, he was talking to representatives from UC Davis and Sacramento State. But genetics seemed to be his biggest default. Standing at just 5-feet, 9-inches, he is almost 5 inches shorter…» Read More

Take a moment, and visualize what you think of when you hear the word cheerleader. More than likely, one thinks of a girl in a cheerleading outfit, complete with a short skirt and pom poms to match, who is shouting out short, encouraging words while kicking one leg up in the air.

Now, close your eyes and visualize this: 6-foot, 2-inch Marquise Ross, 20, a City College freshman who is double ma- joring in early childhood development and psychology, on the field at half-time—the only male cheerleader on the squad, smiling, energetic, his head held high.

Ross may not fit the typical image of a cheerleader but he says he’s more than secure in his role.

“It’s not my business to worry about what other people think of me,” says Ross. “If you don’t like it, bye.”

On the field, Ross is game-ready in his cheer leading uniform which consists of a pair of City College sweat pants, a City “It’s not my business to worry about what other people think of me.” College shirt that reads “Panthers” in gold, and black shoes, “usually Jordans,” he says while laughing and making a face as if any other shoe would be…» Read More

While others may scowl at a loss, he’ll be the one shaking hands after the game.

This forward for the City College men’s basketball team can be recognized as a player who’s kind and willing to extend a hand to members on other teams who have fallen during a game.

The player, Jordan Coen-Kotecki, is a 20-year-old City College student in his third year playing for the basketball team, having red-shirted the first year he attended City College.

He is a player that plays hard and tough, but also with respect.

“Basketball isn’t just a sport to me, it’s a game that has shaped my life,” explains a young man, who stands at just over 6-foot, 3-inches.

It isn’t just the game that has changed him, but he is also leaving his mark on basketball as well.

Coen-Kotecki grew up in Sacramento and played basketball around the area. He was on the team at El Camino High School and participated in the Amateur Athletic Union basketball club, as well.

Coen-Kotecki is known for his positivity and is seen as a key factor in keeping the team together as a cohesive unit as well as a second family, something that he…» Read More

Shelby Vollmer is running just as fast as she can — something that is working out quite nicely for the 19-year-old City College cross-country runner. In fact, Vollmer holds the fastest individual time on the women’s team in five of the seven meets held since the season started in September.

It’s taken quite a bit of hard work though for Vollmer to be where she is today according to head coach Marisa Avendano.

“Shelby’s done really great,” said Avendano. “Her times have dropped so much and that’s because of her hard work and dedication, not only to herself but to the team as well.”

Vollmer hasn’t always excelled, however, says Avendano.

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City College golfer Riley Sexton broke her legs at age 13, an accident that not only changed her life but also got her into playing golf.

At 13, Sexton was riding behind her dad on a quad-runner off-road vehicle when a dog chased along side her and bit her front tire. This caused the quad to flip over and land on top of her legs, breaking both of them.

Sexton’s leg injuries forced her to rethink her goals. She initially wanted to be a volleyball star, but after the accident Sexton instead turned her interests to golf, a sport with much less impact on her legs.

Now 19, Sexton, undecided major, excels at the sport; she was named California Community College Athletic Association’s 2011 Big 8 conference MVP. She continues to post low scores in tournament play.

Sexton says she enjoys golf because it makes her think.

“Golf is a mental sport,” said Sexton. “And that’s why I love it.”

Head coach Tim Kiernan says Sexton is focused, competitive and a team player. He says that her strength is her power.

“This is the beginning of her career and she has a lot more to grow to be greater,” said…» Read More