Since the CIF San Diego Section was formed in 1960, there have been some great high school teams.

Since 1993-94, only two schools have won the Open Division and/or Division 1 championships in football and baseball in the same school year.

Those teams are Poway in 2007-08 — and Granite Hills in 2024-2025.

Granite Hills finished this football season 11-3, beating Torrey Pines, Carlsbad and San Marcos to win the Division 1 football title. The Eagles’ baseball team was 24-0-2 and won the Open Division title before losing to Villa Park in the Southern California Regionals.

A handful of players — Parker Vance, Brenden Lewis, Trevor Smith and Eurijah Shutza — played for both teams. Lewis was named CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year in baseball while Bailey was the Pitcher of the Year.

Vance will play football at Southern Utah, Lewis will play baseball at Arizona State and Smith will play baseball at Washington State. Luke Bailey (UC Santa Barbara) and outfielder Tommy Entrenkin (Cal Baptist) will play baseball in college.

Running back Max Turner will play football at Utah Tech and Lathan Fry, a tight end, will play volleyball at UC San Diego.

The Poway teams were just as dominant. Coached by Damian Gonzalez, Poway football was 12-0 and ranked No. 11 in the state in 2007. Defensive back Nick Milani was the section’s defensive player of the year, while tight end Ryan Deehan and offensive lineman Sam Cervantes were first-team All-CIF.

Coached by Bob Parry, Poway baseball was 31-6 in 2008. The Titans were ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 6 in the nation. Led by future major leaguers Alex Dickerson and Austin Wynns, Poway hit 43 homers, 82 doubles and 16 triples.

Eleven Titans players, including Dickerson (Indiana) and Wynns (UC Riverside), played baseball in college.

Other great teams

Here are a sample of some other great San Diego Section teams since 1960:

• La Costa Canyon’s baseball team went 32-1 in 2003 and was crowned national champion.

• Vista’s football team was 13-0 in 1974 and 13-0 again in 1985.

• Sweetwater was 12-1 in 1972, launching a 36-game football winning streak.

• Coach Herb Meyer’s El Camino football teams went 13-0 in 1999, 12-0-1 in 1982 and 13-0 in ’94. The ’84 team pitched nine shutouts and allowed just 48 points.

• Oceanside, Cathedral Catholic and Lincoln all have multiple high-level state football championships. Oceanside, under coach John Carroll, was 185-35-4 over a 17-year period from 1997-2014

• San Diego High, led by Oscar Foster, was a basketball power in the late ’60s as was baseball with left-hander Brent Strom and outfielder Doug Hunt.

• Poway has won multiple state championships in wrestling.

• Poway went 29-3 in softball in 2023 and was ranked No. 7 in the state.

• St. Augustine’s boys basketball team won a state title in 2013.

• Led by Ken Barstow, Mike Ela, Blake Mathews and Ken Greenman, Mount Miguel was 32-0 in boys basketball in 1967-68.

• Helix’s boys basketball teams went 33-0 in the 1969-70 season behind the play of Bill Walton.

• Kearny’s boys basketball went a perfect 32-0 in 1973-74.

• Cathedral Catholic’s girls volleyball team went 42-0 in 2022, winning a mythical national championship.

• San Marcos’ softball team finished 28-2 in 2018.

• St. Augustine was the boys Open Division basketball champion this school year, while the football team took home a CIF title in Division 4.

D’Angelo shines

Sol D’Angelo had a spring season to remember.

The Mt. Carmel junior was the San Diego Section Gymnast of the Year and was the section’s 1-meter diving champion, giving her a gymnastics-swimming double.

Coaches recognized

Former Hilltop coach Tim Tyler was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame at a banquet in Laguna Hills. Steele Canyon girls coach Trevor Keifer, San Pasqual coach Ron Rogers and former Mira Mesa coach Jon Talbbott were Lifetime Service Award winners.

The California Coaches Association named Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto as its Football Coach of the Year and Richard Contreras as its Swimming Coach of the Year.

Tops in the classroom

Four CIF San Diego Section teams were named State Academic Teams of the Year.

Mountain Empire’s girls wrestling team finished with a 4.0 GPA, while the girls track and field team had a 3.95 GPA.  Westview’s gymnastics team carried a 3.86 GPA, and Torrey Pines’ field hockey team carried a 3.81 GPA.

Late commits

Cathedral Catholic’s Patrick O’Brien has committed to play basketball at USC. The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 17.7 points and 7.6 rebounds as a senior last season for the Dons. He also made 42% of his 3-point attempts, hitting 82 of 195.

La Costa Canyon tight end Nolan Keeping has committed to USD, while defensive lineman Nash Cooper is headed to Utah Tech.

Looking ahead

Football teams can hold their first practices on July 31. Scrimmages start Aug. 12, with the first games scheduled for Aug. 21.

The transfer “sit-out” period ends Sept. 25. Playoff brackets will be announced Nov. 2.

The San Diego Section will again play the regular season without divisions. MaxPreps will seed the playoffs 1 through 64, with the top four teams going into the Open Division, 5-16 in Division 1, 17-28 in Division 2, 29-40 in Division 3, 41-52 in Division 4 and 53-64 in Division 5. The Division 5-AA bracket will be eight teams as determined by MaxPreps rankings. The eight-man playoffs will consist of four teams.