Buchanan named the State School of the Year for sports excellence

After two state titles from the girls track & field, along with boys wrestling, Buchanan was named State School of the Year. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

After securing both a state championship in boys wrestling and girls track and field, Cal-Hi Sports has named Buchanan High School as State School of the Year for their excellence in sports.

Buchanan was stacked up against three other schools; Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth and Great Oak of Temecula and between the four schools – eight state titles.

Since each school had two state championships during the 2018-19 school year, Cal Hi Sports had to take the entire athletic departments into consideration. From girls badminton to boys football, Buchanan Bears athletics was superior.

Many teams, including the Buchanan boys track and field team were ranked in the state. Football, baseball, softball, cross-country and girls volleyball were all ranked in the state, lifting the Buchanan athletics’ profile.

This is Buchanan’s second state award after their first back in 2005-06 and they are the fifth Clovis school to achieve this award.

The first was awarded to Clovis High in 1974-75 and the other three were from Clovis West during the years of 1993-94, 1998-99 and 2004-05.

Boys Wrestling:

Led by head coach Troy Tirapelle, Buchanan’s wrestling program continued their dominance with their fourth state wrestling title in four straight years. The Bears also had three state champions within the team; Matthew Olguin took the top spot at 160 pounds while finishing his season at 46-0, Maximo Renteria won at 120 pounds and Cristelle Rodriguez won a state championship in the girls division at 101 pounds.

Girls Track & Field:

Buchanan’s track and field head coach Brian Weaver recently took home state awards for both boys and girls to cap off a big year for the team. The girls team ran away with the state track and field title after nearly doubling the second-place team (Silver Creek of San Jose) 50-28. Megan Lowe finished second in the 1600-meter run and she took third in the 3200, while Shelby Daniele won the 200-meter dash.