Sylva, McCoy named Paloma Valley Athletes of Month

Cross country runner Tristan Sylva and tennis player Hannah McCoy have been named the Menifee 24/7 Athletes of the Month at Paloma Valley High School.

Sylva placed 10th overall in the CIF Division 1 finals Saturday in Riverside with a time of 14:57. He missed out on a trip to the state meet by 1.8 seconds.

"To beat so many top quality runners and still fall short was heartbreaking, but we can't let it detract from his outstanding season," coach James Gray said about Sylva. "Tristan is now the holder of the school record (14.50 this year at Woodbridge), had the best season since 2010, and dominated the league (he won all three races by an average of 30 seconds).

"He finishes his career with three Sunbelt League team championships, one Sunbelt League individual championship, three times First Team All-League, three CIF Prelims appearances, Top 10 finishes at Woodbridge Rated, Inland Empire Sweepstakes, and Mt SAC and two Team top 3 finishes at Mt. SAC."

Sylva, who carries nearly a 4.0 GPA, hopes to continue his running career in college next year.

"Tristan had an outstanding career as an individual as well as a team member and is looking forward to challenging several school track records this spring," Gray said.

McCoy was the No. 2 singles player for the girls tennis team, making her presence felt on and off the court for the Wildcats. Just a sophomore, she helped lead the team to the CIF quarterfinals -- the furthest they have advanced in 12 years.

"A lot of the girls kind of look up to me as one of the leaders," McCoy said. "I always try to help out with the team as much as I can. Just the little things, like getting all the balls, the water, helping everybody out. I'm kind of a spokesperson, I guess. "

McCoy said she wasn't surprised the team had such a great season.

"We had more girls who really wanted to try harder," she said. "Before, tennis was kind of just a fun sport to do here. This year we had lots of extra practices, and over the summer we had camps and stuff."

McCoy, whose father coaches the team, has been playing tennis since the age of 6.