Five Paloma Valley Stars Named Athletes of the Week

From left: RJ Benz, Christina Rodriguez, River Recatto.

Two talented soccer players, two basketball players and a wrestler were honored today as the Menifee 24/7 Athletes of the Week from Paloma Valley High School.

Although he is only a sophomore, forward River Recatto is a team leader for the boys basketball team. "He leads by example on and off the court," said his coach, Michael Pfeiffer.

"I try to be as much of a leader as I can and motivate us to do our best," said Recatto, whose team is winless in league play. "We have four sophomores on our team, so the future is bright, but it's been a tough season. We've had a lot of problems with injuries. We just try to pull together and do the best we can."

RJ Benz is a repeat winner of the award because of his continued strong play for the boys soccer team, which improved to 3-2-1 in the Sunbelt League last week with a 5-0 win over Elsinore. Benz's two goals in that game gives him a total of 15 this season -- just two short of the school single-season record with five games left in the regular season.

"RJ is often marked and double teamed, yet he finds a way to make a play by scoring or setting up teammates," said Ramon Benz, his father and coach. "Often you hear coaches on the opposing team calling out, 'Watch Number 21,' always aware of RJ's location on free kicks or throw-ins."

RJ is used to the challenge and often rises to the occasion.

"It doesn't bug me, but it's harder to play when there's constantly two guys on me," he said. "But it does open up opportunities for other guys on the team."

Junior goalkeeper Christina Rodriguez is one of the top players on the girls soccer team, which is 12-2-5 overall and 4-0-2 in league play, good for first place.

"Christina is one of the best goalkeepers around and I strongly feel there is no one better than her," said her coach, Marie Dillon. "She is very smart and loves the game. What I love about Christina the most is her passion. Being a former goalkeeper myself, I can really appreciate what she brings to the team."

Rodriguez first tried playing in goal at age 8 and settled on the position full-time when she was 12.

"I like playing goal because it's a different position from everything else," she said. "There's more pressure involved. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best. I want to do everything I can for my teammates."

Sophomore wrestler Lysander Mahilum recently made a strong showing in the finals of the Raul Huerta Memorial Tournament at Canyon Springs High School, helping the Wildcats place 13th out of 62 schools. Last weekend, he won the Sunbelt League championship at 106 pounds and will compete in the CIF divisional finals this weekend.

"I wrestled a guy who is ranked second in the state," Mahilum said about the Raul Huerta Tournament. "He thought it was going to be a blowout. He walked off mad. Although he won, it was an upset bccause I made it so close."

Mahilum has his sights set on postseason competition. If he places in the top five at the CIF finals, he will advance to the Masters meet in an attempt to qualify for the state meet.

Junior post player and guard Claire Garland is the girls basketball team's leading rebounder with a 6.8 average. Even though she is often at a height disadvantage at 5-foot-6, Garland often dominates under the basket.

"Claire has led the team in rebounds all season," said her coach, Romeo Galbreath. "She's not afraid to challenge other teams' height, even when she may be at a disadvantage. She has over 140 rebounds so far and her drive makes her indispensable to the team."

"I guess I jump pretty high, but it's not just your height," she said. "You have to box out."

Paloma Valley honorees Claire Garland and Lysander Mahilum.

Paloma Valley Boys Soccer Team Aims for Success

RJ Benz has scored nine goals this season and is on pace to break the school record of 17.

By Patricia Sanchez

After a less than perfect season last year, the Paloma Valley High School boys soccer team has managed to improve its game and team attitude -- a feat Coach Ramon Benz and players attribute to hard work, a new mindset and team bonding.

"Last year, we didn’t do so well," said Benz. "But what’s really great about this year is that we’re able to adjust."

The Wildcats finished their season last year in second to last place. This year, the team doing well in the nonleague South West Division play with five wins, three losses and one tie.

Benz said that despite being in a tough division, the Wildcats are doing well and he and the other coaches are doing their best to keep the team humble.

"Our motto is ‘Be selfless, not selfish’" said Benz.

Along with a new mindset, Benz said that a few key players have helped the team improve. Last Thursday night, the Wildcats demonstrated their talent when they beat the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks, 2-1. In one of their last few games of the nonleague season, the Wildcats dominated the field and demonstrated teamwork and determination.

"I think we were pretty confident [tonight]," said forward Jose Sandoval, who scored the second goal to win the game. "We came out to win."

Forward RJ Benz -- the coach's son and also a standout football player -- has played a big role in the Wildcats' success. He has scored nine goals and is on his way to breaking the school record of 17 goals for the season.

“RJ is a great player,” said Ramon Benz. “He is constantly being bombarded with fouls and a lot of the time the referees don’t call them. We don’t get mad at [the refs], though. We don’t complain, we just adjust. Even when RJ doesn’t score, he attracts attention from the defense and that opens up opportunities for other players to get the ball and score.”

RJ Benz said that the players are much more comfortable with each other and have grown closer this season than previous seasons.

“We see each other more often for practice and bond as a team,” said RJ. “I think this year we trust each other a lot more.”

Overall, the Wildcats are optimistic about their season and know that they have a lot of work to finish on a good standing and hopefully make it to the CIF playoffs.

“We know we have no breaks ahead of us,” said Benz. “This year we’re going out to compete and make a name for ourselves.”