BY ISABELLA CRUZ

The male and female athletes of the semester were announced at the Winter Sports Rally on Friday, January 15th. Tennis player Taylor Valenzuela and football player Michael Gomez were recognized for all of their hard work and an outstanding season.

“Taylor has improved a lot throughout her seasons, which shows how driven she is to succeed… Mike might be one of the most toughest kids I know. He never gives up,” Athletic Director and football coach Brian Murphy said.

Senior and running back Michael Gomez has played football for 13 years, and has ended his fourth and final season here at West Covina.

“My passion for this sport began when I first put on the pads when I was about five years old,” Gomez said.

Junior Taylor Valenzuela took a different approach to her sport. She had been around the game ever since she was a little girl, but she did not get serious about it until the summer going into her sophomore year.

“I grew up watching my sister play tennis and from there, I fell in love with the sport,” Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela’s older sister, graduated from WCHS in 2013. Alexis Valenzuela was also a part of the tennis team.

“My older sister is my inspiration because she has accomplished so much and just to know that I am following in her footsteps motivates me,” Valenzuela said.

In comparison to Valenzuela’s journey as a Bulldog athlete, Gomez joined the team here as a freshmen.

“Throughout my seasons here as a Bulldog, one thing I will take away from this entire experience is the fun and love of the game,” Gomez said.

Gomez’s greatest highlight and most memorable moment of his final season was scoring all three touchdowns on his Senior Night against Chino High School with the help of his team.

“Every time I had possession of the ball was a highlight for me. I love football,” Gomez said.

Gomez’s hard work was recognized as he was also Maxpreps Player of the Year for the second time.

One of Valenzuela’s greatest accomplishments was becoming Player of the Year for San Gabriel Valley.

Valenzuela also made it to the third round of CIF and won league two years in a row. She was also announced MVP of League.

Gomez also had many accomplishments and was recognized as First Team All-League and MVP of his team.

“This season, I was especially driven because I wasn’t ready for it to end. I wanted to keep it going for as long as possible to prove to all the people who doubted me, that I could succeed,” Gomez said.

Although Gomez will not continue to pursue football at the next level, he is very appreciative of the experience and being given the opportunity to work as hard as he did to be the best that he could be.

Valenzuela is driven to come back and play even better than she did this season.

“I want to maintain what I had and what pushes me is that I always try to do better than I did the year before,” Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela hopes to go even further in CIF and to pursue tennis in college.