Tag Archives: soccer

Coach of DHS Soccer Team Satisfied to be ‘Under the Radar’

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Brallan Hernandez

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

First-year Denair High School soccer coach Greg Gaudio quietly hopes his Southern League opponents take his young team lightly. And though the Coyotes have struggled the past few seasons, they appear primed to make some noise this fall.

They’re off to a 3-0 start behind the powerful offensive duo of seniors Francisco Licea and Isaac Starks.

The Coyotes opened with a dominating 8-3 victory at Hughson behind Licea’s four goals and three more from Starks. The defense limited the Huskies to five shots.

Then, the Coyotes took care of a strong Rio Vista team 3-1 at home, with Licea scoring twice and Starks adding the third goal. Freshman goalie Uriel Gonzalez made eight saves.

Starks nailed four goals and Licea had three assists in a 6-2 home victory over Big Valley Christian. Freshman Seth Martinez and sophomore Oscar Garcia also scored.

It all adds up to an impressive start for a Denair team that won just two out of 14 Southern League games last season. Part of the credit goes to Gaudio, a longtime youth and travel soccer coach in the region who played collegiately at CSU Stanislaus. He admittedly didn’t know much about his team as practice began last month, but says the early results are encouraging.

“I’ve changed the positions of a lot of players to get them in a position to where they can naturally excel,” Gaudio explained. “You can tell it’s really helping the team. It’s allowing them to be a team. Everybody is playing together. It seems to be working.” Continue reading “Coach of DHS Soccer Team Satisfied to be ‘Under the Radar’” »

DHS Teacher Inducted into CSU Stanislaus Athletic Hall of Fame

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CSUS Logo

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

A decade before she became a popular first-year science teacher at Denair High School, Breanna Vaughan was a standout goalie on the California State University, Stanislaus women’s soccer team just a few miles west on Monte Vista Avenue.

From 2002 to 2005, Vaughan was a force in the net for the Warriors. She was a three-time California Collegiate Athletic Association all-conference choice and still holds four school career records – shutouts (27.5), saves (319), victories (45) and minutes played (nearly 7,300). She has 11 single-season records, including most shutouts (10).

In 2005, she led the Warriors to their first-ever CCAA tournament appearance.

Last weekend, Vaughan’s stellar career was recognized again when she became the first women’s soccer player to be enshrined in the CSU Stanislaus Athletic Hall of Fame.

In her induction speech, she described the experience as “awesome” and thanked her parents, coaches and teammates.

“I feel so lucky. … I said that I still have nightmares about running, but even though I had to work super hard it was worth it and I loved every minute of it,” Vaughan said. “My picture is and forever will be in the gym foyer at CSUS.”

Vaughan graduated from CSU Stanislaus in 2008 with a degree in biological sciences. She spent five years teaching biology, environmental chemistry and health in high schools in Fresno, Visalia and Roseville before joining the Denair High staff last August.

For more on Vaughan and the six other 2015 inductees in the Warriors Hall of Fame, go to www.warriorathletics.com/HOF.

Denair Middle School Hires New Spanish Teacher

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Isabel Alvarado

Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Ms. Isabel Alvarado is the new Spanish teacher at Denair Middle School. She graduated from Atwater High School and went on to CSU Stanislaus where she graduated in 2012 with a double major in Spanish and Sociology.

Ms. Alvarado is a native Spanish speaker who came to the United States at age 10. She was challenged learning English and took it in stride when classmates teased her about her difficulty speaking English. This hard working student pursued her education and helped other students struggling with English. In college, she worked for the migrant program tutoring students.

In the classroom, Ms. Alvarado works on providing engaging activities to help students learn vocabulary and have fun speaking in Spanish as they are learning. She loves when her students participate in her lessons.

Ms. Alvarado is collaborating with other Spanish teachers in the Denair Unified School District to make a continuous curriculum that best meets the needs of students. She hopes her students continue studying Spanish in high school.

Ms. Alvarado believes in the power of learning a second language and reminds her students that bilingualism can help them get jobs and assist them in traveling the world.

Ms. Alvarado is this year’s Middle School soccer coach as well.