Wood, Woods named Sierra Nevada's tops

Dayton High's Travis Wood knows there were many other excellent candidates who could have been chosen as the Sierra Nevada Media Group's overall Male Athlete of the Year.

Among those he thought could have won the award was one of his teammates, Erik Hopper. The two were among many male athletes at Dayton who helped take the school to new heights in sports.

But in the end it was Wood who was named as the overall winner. Whitell's Jessica Woods was named the female athlete of the year.

"That's awesome," Wood said. "That's cool. There are so many great athletes around here.

"To be selected as the top athlete is pretty awesome. But I couldn't have done anything without my teammates and the whole community."

In his freshman year, Wood became Dayton's starting quarterback in football in the second to last game of the season and stayed at the position ever since. He led Dayton to its first winning season as a sophomore and as a senior led the Dust Devils to a 10-1 mark and the NIAA 3A State semifinals. He wrapped up his career as the state's all-time leading passer with 6,028 yards and 56 touchdowns.

He was an all-3A state first team choice as a junior and the Northern 3A's Player of the Year as a senior. He was also the 3A State's Offensive Player of the Year and was all-state first team as a quarterback, defensive back and punter.

In basketball, Wood helped lead Dayton to the NIAA 3A State finals for three straight years and earned all-state first team honors as a senior.

During his career, Wood earned 11 varsity letters in football (four), basketball (four), baseball (two) and golf (one). He earned first-team all-state honors in baseball as well. Wood maintained a 3.55 grade point average.

Wood and Fallon's Lyle Gardner finished tied for the award after the initial round of voting, performed by the sports editors and reporters of the Sierra Nevada Media Group. Wood won the tiebreaker by a slim margin.

Douglas' Nate Whalin and Galena's J.D. Peters tied for third place in the voting.

On the girls' side, Woods stood out above her fellow nominees.

Woods' senior year was pretty much a mirror image of her junior year. She won the Nevada 2A volleyball state championship, helped the Whittell basketball team to a Northern 2A regional tournament berth and capped off the season with yet another state track team championship.

In all, Woods won a combined 14 state championships during her career, which was highlighted by her seven individual state track titles. This year, she won state titles in the 100 high hurdles, triple jump and long jump.

In the fall, perfection was an accurate term as Woods led Whittell to a 30-7 record and an unprecedented fourth consecutive state title. Woods never lost a regular-season game to a Nevada team during her career, and she will graduate as the school's career record holder in kills (1,267), service aces (229) and digs (862).

She was named Gatorade Nevada Volleyball Player of the Year, the first time a Carson Valley or Tahoe-area player has ever won the award. in basketball, Woods led the team in scoring (10.8), steals (3.7) and blocked shots (2.7).

And at 5-foot-8, she was second on the team in rebounding (7.6 per game), which helped her become a repeat selection on the Northern 2A's all-league first team.

Galena's Nancy Burrows took second in the voting and Douglas' Skylar Young took third.

ssica Woods was the top female athlete at Whittell High School. A more relevant question was if she would've been the top female athlete at any other school in Northern Nevada.

Warrior volleyball coach Dan McLaughlin answered that one rather easily.

"Jessica is one of the most remarkable athletes to come through this area, not just Whittell," McLaughlin said. "She is so athletically versatile that she could play every sport and do it better than anyone else. If she was at Douglas, Carson or Reed - or any of the other big schools - she would be as dominant as she was at Whittell. She's that athletic."

Woods' senior year was pretty much a mirror image of her junior year. She won the Nevada 2A volleyball state championship, helped the Whittell basketball team to a Northern 2A regional tournament berth and capped off the season with yet another state track team championship.

In all, Woods won a combined 14 state championships during her career, which was highlighted by her seven individual state track titles. This year, she won state titles in the 100 high hurdles, triple jump and long jump.

In tune with her competitive nature, the only regret she has was not winning a state basketball championship.

"I wish we could've gone farther in basketball," said Woods, who shared WHS athlete of the year honors last year with Katrina Kacirek. "But it was a young team and I think they have a bright future. Other than that, it was pretty much a perfect year."

In the fall, perfection was an accurate term as Woods led Whittell to a 30-7 record and an unprecedented fourth consecutive state title. Woods never lost a regular-season game to a Nevada team during her career, and she will graduate as the school's career record holder in kills (1,267), service aces (229) and digs (862).

She was named Gatorade Nevada Volleyball Player of the Year, the first time a Carson Valley or Tahoe-area player has ever won the award. But as volleyball gave way to basketball, Woods was hoping to lead the school to its first-ever state basketball championship.

However, the defending regional champions lost to Lovelock in the regional semifinals and came up short of that goal. Still, Woods led the team in scoring (10.8), steals (3.7) and blocked shots (2.7).

And at 5-foot-8, she was second on the team in rebounding (7.6 per game), which helped her become a repeat selection on the Northern 2A's all-league first team.

"She just has natural abilities that nobody else has, but she was never a jerk about it," said WHS basketball coach Nathan Tolbert. "On the court, she had her game face on and wanted to win. But off the court, she smiled more than anybody else."

Woods then tacked on her next four state titles in the spring when she led the WHS girls' track team to a third straight state championship and recorded three of her seven career individual state titles. But for all of her success, Woods isn't wasting her time reflecting on high school career.

"I'm not waiting until I graduate to start working out for Wright State," said Woods, who signed a letter of intent for a volleyball scholarship at the school in Dayton, Ohio. "I probably won't go there until August, but I have been working out and getting in shape again. I am definitely not in shape right now."

Galena's Nancy Burrows took second in the voting and Douglas' Skylar Young took third.

Story by Charles Whisnand & Jeremy Evans