There were plenty of athletic accomplishments by Alamedans in 2017. Here’s part one of a look back at the memorable sports moments in Alameda this past year. 
January 

The 44th Annual Elks Hoop Shoot City Finals were held on Friday, Jan. 6, in the Alameda Point Gym. Winners at the event included Gaby Cuellas (girls’ eight- to nine-year-old division) and Matthew Garcia (boys’ eight-to nine-year-old division). 

Mayor Trish Spencer began the year by honoring St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) student-athlete Kiera Marshall with her own day on Jan. 17. Spencer handed Marshall a certificate and they posed for pictures. Marshall won the 5k Div. V California Interscholastic Federation cross country individual race with a time of 17:40.3 on Nov. 26, 2016. 

Alameda resident Mike Wang spent the entire month of January circumnavigating San Francisco Bay on a stand-up paddleboard. Wang began his journey in Alameda. He traveled down to the South Bay, then up to San Rafael Creek in the North Bay. He headed toward Vallejo before coming back to Alameda. In all, Wang traveled 220 miles in 20 days. 

February 
Encinal athletes Akil Francisco and Lily Wilmot signed their college letters of intent on Feb. 1. Francisco, a football player, committed to University of Hawaii, while Wilmot, a softball player, committed to Miami of Ohio. 

March 
The Alameda High baseball team hosted the Jyoto High baseball team from Fukuoka, Japan, for an exhibition match at the College of Alameda on March 3. The Jyoto team beat Alameda. 

The next day the SJND women’s basketball team lost the NCS Div. IV title game 62-31 to Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa March 4. They advanced to the NorCal Div. IV title game, but lost to West Campus of Sacramento 70-30 on March 18. 

The SJND men’s basketball team took down Lick-Wilmerding 63-33 to win the North Coast Section (NCS) Div. IV championship on March 4. Senior Darne Duckett added 12 points in the win. Sophomore Tyler Woods chipped in eight points. The team lost the opening round matchup in the Open Division NorCal playoffs to Archbishop Mitty of San Jose 67-61 on March 10. SJND senior Jadé Smith did not play in the contest, he was serving a two-game suspension after being assessed a technical foul in the NCS semifinal. 

April 
Granada High men’s baseball team won the annual Willie Stargell Classic Tournament on April 5. The team from Livermore defeated Concord 10-4 on the Encinal High baseball field. The Jets won the third-place game, a 7-1 victory over the Hornets, also on April 5. 

Cooper Teare returned to the track in April, this time to break a 42-year record at the Arcadia Invitational in the 3,200-meter competition on April 8. Teare finished the race in a time of 8:41.46. Teare continued his stellar 2017 with a great showing at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on Friday, April 14. He finished first in the one-mile competition with a time of 4:00.16. It was the 10th fastest time for a high school student-athlete ever, according to milesplit.com. 

Sebastian Crampton won the 90th annual Alameda Commuters golf tournament by five strokes Sunday, April 30. The UC Berkeley golf team member shot a 15-under-par 269 in four rounds of play on the Earl Fry Course. 

May 
Alameda High School baseball coach Ken Arnerich was presented the 2017 North Coast Section (NCS) Honor Coach award Tuesday, May 9. Arnerich has coached the Hornets for 14 years and won the NCS 3A championship in 2006.

Several Alameda athletes competed in the NCS track-and-field finals on May 27. Encinal junior Kendall O’Farrell, jumped to a height of 5’ 2”. Encinal sophomore Shelby Nelson finished 11th in the women’s 3,200-meter finals (11:11.92) and 15th in the 1,600-meter final (5:11.14). Alameda junior Ramir Smith finished fifth in the men’s 200-meter finals with a time of 22.21. 
Alameda senior Lara Vetter finished seventh in the 800-meter final with a time of 2:18.21. SJND’s

Cooper Teare won the men’s 3,200-meter competition with a 9:01.48, while Marshall won the women’s competition with a time of 10:34.83. 

June
The St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) baseball team won the North Coast Section (NCS) Div. IV championship with a 4-1 victory over St. Patrick-St. Vincent of Vallejo on June 3.

Alameda water polo club team, the Neptunes, brought home the gold, winning first place at the Santa Cruz Classic Water Polo Tournament Sunday, June 4, in Aptos.

Alameda High celebrated its first AHS Athletic Hall of Fame class with a ceremony at the Alameda Elks Lodge on June 10. The 10 inductees were Dick Bartell (baseball), Bob Blomberg (golf – class of ’63), Patricia Canning Todd (golf – class of ’40), Eric Cross (football – class of ’68), Willie Davis (basketball – class of ’54), Christine Fairless (women’s basketball – class of ’85), James Jackson (track and field – class of ’54), Steve Markey (wrestling – class of ’79), Whitney Reed (wrestling (class of ’49) and Bill Weeden (swimming (class of ’37).