In a tradition started in 1977, the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League announces the winners of the 2023-24 SCCAL Male & Female Athletes-of-the-Year Award:
Danica Kelley & Ashlyn Boothby, Scotts Valley High School
The awards are voted to seniors by the athletic directors.
In the 47 years, there have only been two ties previously (1994 and 2019), and this is the first time for a tie for the female awards.
Braylon Noble
Soquel High School
Male Athlete of the Year: Braylon Noble
Braylon is a 3-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, and track and field. Coaches call him a generational talent, and Athletic Director Stu Walters said he’s a great human being.
With a name that means “brave and ready for battle,” Braylon proved himself to be an outstanding competitor athletically and academically.
In football, he played wide receiver and defensive back, and, as team captain, led the Knights to a Central Coast Section championship and to Santa Cruz County’s first state championship in football.
In basketball, he was a 2nd-team All-SCCAL selection.
In track and field, he won the Bob Enzweiler Award for earning the most points at the SCCAL Track and Field Championships, winning four events – long jump, pole vault, high jump and 400-meter run.
With an overall 4.05 grade-point average, he was selected as the 2023-24 CCS Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Braylon is being recruited by college coaches. He has not selected his college destination yet, but he plans to pursue track and field, becoming a decathlete.
Female Athlete of the Year: Danica Kelley • photo credit Nick Reyes
Danica Kelley
Scotts Valley High School
One of the finest wrestlers, male or female, to ever come out of Santa Cruz County, Danica had a remarkable senior season.
Wrestling at 135 pounds, she was the SCCAL, Central Coast Section, and California Interscholastic Federation state champion.
It was her 3rd consecutive league championship (her freshman year was canceled due to Covid), and her 2nd CCS championship.
Danica will wrestle at Menlo College in the fall.
Female Athlete of the Year: Ashlyn Boothby • photo credit John Lee
Ashlyn Boothby
Scotts Valley High School
Ashlyn is one of the most decorated runners to come out of Santa Cruz County.
In cross country, Ashlyn is a 4-time SCCAL individual champion and a 3-time Central Coast Section champion.
In track and field, she is a 3-time SCCAL champion and a 2-time CCS champion.
Ashlyn will keep running in the fall at Stanford University.