Noah Thomas, Pleasant Valley's three-sport standout, is SBLive’s Northern Section Athlete of the Year
Welcome to a continuing tradition at SBLive California – honoring the male and female athletes of the year in every CIF Section.
Because the SBLive crew gets so immersed in specific sports seasons, it is nice to take a step back to pick a Section honor on a broader scale.
The criteria isn’t too expansive: The starting point is finding athletes who are all-league/all-state performers. Totality of career is also a factor as is winning. Administrator/coach/fan recommendation plays a role as well.
Enjoy as we honor some of California's top athletes!
Athletes like Noah Thomas are a rare breed. Although they're becoming scarce, California still has its fair share of talented two-sport high school standouts. But three sport superstars like Thomas? Those are almost extinct.
Thomas will go down as one of the top athletes in the history of Pleasant Valley High School. As a receiver on the football field, the senior caught 32 passes for 532 yards and eight touchdowns last fall. Those numbers earned him the Pleasant Valley Offensive Player of the Year award.
In basketball, Thomas was the best player on a team that went 32-3 winning Division 3 Section, Regional and State titles. He averaged 16.4 points per game and was named the team's Player of the Year.
In the spring, Thomas won the Eastern Athletic League long jump and triple jump crowns. He even qualified for the state championship meet in the long jump.
"I'm really proud to be able to come through especially after that COVID year to prove myself in all of my sports," Thomas said.
What separated Thomas from other top players on the basketball court was his consistency, according to Pleasant Valley head coach Tim Keating.
"In my 32 years, I've never had a kid who had a motor like he has," Keating said. "In practice and in games, he just has a tremendous passion to compete and that passion was pretty much the same all the time. I never saw him dog a drill or a practice. He just got after it."
Out out all of his accomplishments, Thomas' favorite memory from his epic senior year came in Sacramento's Golden 1 Center when he hit two free throws to ice Pleasant Valley's 57-53 state championship win over Venice.
"We had been dreaming of that since the sixth grade and to finally do it, it felt amazing," he said.
BIO
School: Pleasant Valley
Sports: Football, Basketball, Track & Field
Next step: Oregon Tech Men's Basketball
Season highlights and accolades: Division 3 CIF State basketball champion, Eastern Athletic League long jump and triple jump champion, CIF State long jump qualifier, Eastern Athletic League champion in football, Pleasant Valley Offensive Player of the Year (football), Pleasant Valley Player of the Year (basketball)
GPA: 3.7
PAST SBLIVE ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
2020-21
Central Section Male: Nate Johnson, Clovis
Central Section Female: Jazmine Soto, Strathmore
Central Coast Section Male: Mikey Mitchell Jr., Archbishop Mitty
Central Coast Section Female: Jessica Oakland, St. Francis
LA City Section Male: Dylan Kordic, San Pedro
LA City Section Female: Jillian Kelly, El Camino Real
North Coast Section Male: Nico Torrez, De La Salle
North Coast Section Female: Natalie Pasco, San Ramon Valley
Sac-Joaquin Section Male: Jadyn Marshall, Stockton St. Mary's
Sac-Joaquin Section Female: Jzaniya Harriel, Antelope
San Diego Section Male: Nick Herrmann, Torrey Pines
San Diego Section Female: Elise Miller, San Pasqual
Southern Section Male: Thomas Southey, Mira Costa
Southern Section Female: Alyssa Thompson, Harvard-Westlake
2021-22 Northern Section Athlete of the Year: Riley Wickum, Sutter
