Paloma Valley Athletes of Week: Paquet, Amador, Benz

Paloma Valley High School Athletes of the Week (from left): Brianna Paquet, Jared Amador, RJ Benz.

Brianna Paquet, Jared Amador and RJ Benz are honored today as the Menifee 24/7 Paloma Valley High School Athletes of the Week.

One of the Wildcat golf team's rising stars is Brianna Paquet. She broke 50 over nine holes for the first time in Paloma Valley's opening league match with a score of 49 and has since improved that to 45. This is only her second year on the team, but she has been playing golf since age 7, when she first took lessons.

"I played there a lot with my grandpa," said Paquet about her team's home course, Menifee Lakes Country Club. "I don't like all the water there, but I've gotten a lot more comfortable with the course. I've been working on my chipping and putting a lot."

Paquet is busy this week. Her team competes in three matches in addition to having a practice round.

Jared Amador competed in his first varsity cross country race last week in a Sunbelt League meet hosted by the Wildcats. Just a sophomore, he finished 11th overall in a race featuring all six league teams.

"Jared balances school, athletics and looking after his younger siblings to help his family," said his coach, Joe Ellett. "He displays excellent character. I am very proud of Jared and look forward to watching his development over the next three years."

Amador spent much of last year and the off-season recovering from a back injury. He looks forward to Friday's meet at Sunny Hills High in Fullerton.

"That's a race I missed last year," said Amador, who was on the JV team then. "I worked hard to get back in shape for this season. I've been eating right, drinking a lot of protein, working on my speed and my kick."

RJ Benz has had a great last couple of weeks for the Wildcats football team. Two weeks ago, he was one of the team's leading tacklers and came up with a key interception in Paloma Valley's 56-12 win over West Valley. Last Friday night, he caught the winning touchdown pass in overtime in a 41-35 victory against Moreno Valley.

"RJ is an outstanding leader both on and off the field and is a huge reason for our success so far this season," said football coach Bert Esposito.

"We know the offense will always be there," Benz said. "Even when we fell behind last week, we knew we could score quickly. Our defense needed to step it up, and they did."

The honorees each received a certificate from Menifee 24/7 and an Athlete of the Week T-shirt from the Pomona Valley athletic department.