It’s obviously emotionally satisfying to be recognized for one’s hard work and dedication, especially when awards are so well deserved.
Granite Hills High School seniors Nia Payne and Robert Webb are both flying high after earning accolades as the Grossmont Valley League players of the year in their respective winter sports.
Payne was honored in girls water polo while Webb was honored in boys soccer.
Granite Hills won league championships in both sports.
Making a splash
The Granite Hills girls water polo team completed a perfect season in Grossmont Valley League play by posting an 8-0 league record to repeat as league champions.
The Lady Eagles advanced as far as the San Diego Section Division II semifinal playoffs, ending their season in a disappointing triple overtime loss, to finish with an otherwise outstanding 23-6-1 final record.
“The season went well as back-to-back undefeated league champions, 23-6-1 overall record, 8-0 League, No. 2 seed in Division II playoffs and a 10-9 triple-overtime loss to La Costa Canyon in the semis,” Granite Hills head coach Page Small summed up. “The team showed a lot of fundamental skill improvement from the previous season.”
The Lady Eagles earned ample recognition on the 2019- 20 all-league team with three players named to the first team, including the player of the year, and two additional players named to the second team and two more players named as honorable mentions.
Joining Payne, a goalkeeper, on the first team were freshman Chloe Morgan and senior Audrey Laskey.
Second team selections for Granite Hills included seniors Skylar Hanzal and Chase Dowling while juniors Aidyn Gaeir and Kora Alvernaz were honorable mentions.
Payne set a new school record with 1,103 career saves (2017-20).
“Nia had a fantastic season in the cage, she’s very athletic and blocks a lot of shots,” Page said.
Morgan racked up 105 goals, 38 assists and 78 steals while Laskey collected 77 goals, 14 assists and 25 steals to rank among the team leaders.
“Freshmen Chloe Morgan had a tremendous season,” Page acknowledged. “She led the team in many statistical categories and will be a fixture of Granite Hills for the next three years.”
Dowling had 14 goals, 18 assists and 16 steals while Hanzal had 10 goals, 18 assists and 22 steals.
Gaeir had 18 goals, seven assists and 17 steals while Alvernaz recorded seven goals, 13 assists and 23 steals.
“I know it’s only been two seasons for me at Granite but I am really going to miss this senior group,” Page said. “They had really bought into my process and were a joy to coach.”
Soaring Eagles
Granite Hills’ boys soccer team overcame a slow start to the 2019-20 season to win the Grossmont Valley League with an 8-2 league record and advanced as far as the Division III quarterfinals, to post a final 13- 8-3 record.
The Eagles had three players named to each of the first and second all-league teams.
First team selections included seniors Robert Webb, Bradley Ramos and Arnold Barrazza.
Granite Hills’ second team all-league selections included junior Jayden Tade and seniors Diego Gonzalez and Russell Webb.
Besides being named player of the year, Robert Webb earned further recognition as a member of the All-CIF Second Team.
“The team did have a slow start, that is generally part of the process every year for the Eagles,” Granite Hills head coach Jason Heth said. “It is due to a combination of a tough game schedule and getting all the players from different (club) teams on the same page and understanding the game model that is put in place for the group. The team did well, winning the San Diego Holiday Cup and the Grossmont Valley League.”
The seventh-seeded Eagles defeated the 10th-seeded Bishop’s Knights, 5-0, in the opening round of the CIF playoffs before ending their season with a 2-1 loss at second-seeded Patrick Henry in the quarterfinals.