News and Notes for El Cerrito Sports

El Cerrito Patch will be on top of El Cerrito High athletics all season long and will provide information about youth sports and other recreational activities as well.

Be sure to check out Jordan Conn's preview for the upcoming El Cerrito football season and come back regularly as El Cerrito Patch follows the Gauchos during what is expected to be a very successful season.

Girls volleyball

Following a year in which the Gauchos were 9-4 in the regular season and secured the No. 13 seed in the North Coast Section Division III playoffs, El Cerrito is more equipped to handle a run at another playoff berth.

To do so, the team will rely largely on Trudy Westby, a talented middle blocker and middle hitter, who was just one of five juniors on last year's playoff team.

The Gauchos won five of their final six games of the regular season a year ago before they were eliminated in the NCS first round, their first playoff berth of the decade.

Alumni Updates

• After graduating from El Cerrito in 2007, C.J. Moncrease spent the 2008 season football season with Laney College before moving on to Cal last year.  In 12 games of special teams duty, he made six tackles for the Bears and forced a fumble.
• Andre Williams graduated from El Cerrito is 2010 and is now a freshman wide receiver at Eastern Washington University. He isn't listed on the depth chart, but the electric playmaker should eventually find a substantial role with the Eagles during his time in Cheney, Wash.

• Fellow El Cerrito graduate Lamont Thompson (1997) found great success in Eastern Washington playing safety at Washington State after his career with the Gauchos. Thompson was drafted in the second round of the NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals and spent time with the Bengals, Tenneseee Titans, Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars before being released in 2008.

Youth Sports in El Cerrito

There are several organizations that allow the youth of El Cerrito to get involved in athletics.  

Aspiring gymnasts who hope to become the next  Kyson Bunthuwong — who went from El Cerrito High to Cal to compete in gymnastics — can take classes through the recreation department. Instruction is done at the El Cerrito Communtiy Center and is "designed to be fun, safe and instructive," according to an informational flier.

If swimming is a better fit — as it was for Cecilia Macchiavelli — perhaps the El Cerrito Gators are the answer. The Gators swim year round and have programs for swimmers from ages five to 18.

El Cerrito Youth Baseball is an option, but not until the spring, while registration for the El Cerrito Youth Basketball program opens in October.

———————————

Follow Patch Sports East Bay on Twitter for instant announcements about El Cerrito sports and live updates from Gaucho football games all year.

Have a sports story you want to share? 

Contact Regional Sports Editor Kyle Bonagura at kyle.bonagura@patch.com.