2006 News Stories
This story was published Wednesday, April 12th, 2006
By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer
Royal City takes pride in its athletic programs and it shows.
This year, Royal captured 1A state championships in football and wrestling to give the Knights 18 state titles in six sports.
At least one Knights team has reached state every year since 1981 and Royal has qualified 63 teams for state in every major sport.
All except for boys soccer.
However, Jens Jensen is doing his best to change that.
The first-year coach has his eyes set on a strong regular season, which would give the Knights a favorable draw in the CWAC South playoffs.
"When you go in as the No. 6 seed you have to play the top seed from the (CWAC) North. This year we hope to go in as a No. 4 or 5," Jensen said. "If you win one game, you go to state."
Jensen will be counting on a core of three seniors -- goalkeeper Ivan Arroyo, midfielder Iggy Garcia and defender Lionel Madrigal -- to continue Royal's recent surge.
"The last several years we've gone from the bottom of the league to the middle of the pack," Jensen said. "Arroyo keeps us in games we shouldn't be in. He's a fine keeper. Garcia steps up for us to fill the middle and help us attack.
"Most of the boys are really committed and have been playing all through their (prep) careers here," he said. "It's tough being a little school. We've got a feeling like nobody expects us to win. Other teams have bigger numbers and a lot more talent."
The Knights, however, have shown their mettle against some bigger schools, including a 3-2 win over Naches Valley last month that saw forward Raul Guerrero score a pair of goals.
"He's our leading goal scorer," Jensen said. "He really is the key to our offense."
Jensen was even impressed with his team after a 4-0 loss against league powerhouse Highland , which features all-CWAC South forwards Leo Diaz and Jose Guzman.
"They've got 13 seniors on that team. Without a doubt, they're just stacked," Jensen said. "They're not only good and fast, but they're big. I'm 6-3 and they're as big as I am."
All-CWAC South
First team
MF—Beau Morton, jr., East Valley ; Salvador Garibay, sr., Connell; Guillermo Garcia, sr., Connell. For—Jose Guzman, sr., Highland ; Leo Diaz, sr., Highland ; Mikael Rojas, jr., East Valley . Def—Shawn Stilwell, sr., Naches Valley ; Sherlock Holmes, jr., East Valley ; Peter Rizo, sr., Connell; Rafael Sanchez, sr., Wahluke. GK—Armando Vaca, jr., Highland . MVP—Peter Rizo, sr., Connell. Co-coaches of the year—Jens Jensen, Royal, and Alberto Daniel, Highland
Second team
MF—Adrian Munguia, sr., Highland ; Jose Mungia, jr., Toppenish; Oscar Zayas, sr., Othello. For—Rigo Guerrero, sr., Grandview ; Ernesto Rodriguez, sr., Wahluke; Raul Guerrero, jr., Royal. Def—Miguel Estrada, jr., Highland ; Francisco Silva, sr., Highland ; Abel Romo, sr., Grandview ; Julio Cerna, sr., Othello. GK—Ricky Jenkins, sr., Naches Valley .