Multi-sport seniors are Athlete of the Year finalists in 2024-25
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LAKE COUNTY >> Brock Barrick of Kelseyville High School and Makayla Mace of Middletown High School are finalists for the 2024-25 Lake County Sports Athlete of the Year award sponsored by the Lake County Adult Softball Association.
The annual award honors the top male and female athletes in the county based on their accomplishments during the recently completed high school sports year, and there were plenty of those for the two seniors.
Barrick shared the Athlete of the Year award last season with Clear Lake’s Cody Hayes, and he followed up a sensational junior year with an encore presentation during his senior season. Barrick earned All-League first-team honors at quarterback while leading the Knights to an undefeated North Central League I championship (8-0), a berth in the sectional playoffs and a 9-2 record overall. He earned first-team honors against in basketball as the Knights contended for a championship until the final day of the regular season, finishing just one game behind co-champions Middletown and St. Helena. In baseball, he was perfect on the mound for the second time in three years as the Knights collected a third straight league title, Barrick earning the league’s MVP award for a third year in a row.
Makayla Mace
Mace, a powerful outside hitter for Middletown in volleyball, collected 262 kills, averaging three kills per set, during the 2024 NCL I race as the Mustangs made a run at the title and ended up third overall in the final standings with a 10-4 mark. She was not only a force at the net, but her accuracy on attacks led the team. Mace made only 74 hitting errors in 30 matches as the Mustangs finished 21-9 overall and reached the North Coast Section playoffs. She earned All-League first-team honors.
As a track and field athlete, Mace excelled both in running events – including setting the school’s 100-meter hurdle record and breaking her own record many times during the course of the season – but also as a pole vaulter. She also ran the 100, 200 and 300 hurdles. Mace helped Middletown’s girls repeat as North Central League I champions, earning points in four different events at the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships in St. Helena where she placed second in the 100, 200 and 100 hurdles, and third in the pole vault.
At the North Coast Section Class A Championships that followed, Mace placed fourth in three different events – 100, 100 hurdles and pole vault. Her time of 16.43 seconds in the 100 hurdles broke her own school record.
Mace came right back the following week to lower that record one final time at the Meet of Champions, crossing the finish line in 16.19.
Earlier in the year at the annual Lake County Meet, Mace won three events – the 100, 100 hurdles and pole vault. Her winning mark of 8 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault was second best in school history.
Brock Barrick
Barrick passed for 1,518 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for 507 yards and four TDs, all career bests, during the 2024 football season, one that featured a couple of league thrillers as the Mustangs beat Middletown 24-21 and Willits 20-17 en route to capturing the NCL I championship. Their season ended with a hard-fought 13-12 first-round playoff loss against Del Norte in Crescent City.
Kelseyville was gunning for a league repeat in basketball until a late-season forfeit cost the Knights a shot at a championship. Even so, they reached the Division 5 section playoffs and won their first two games before losing to eventual section, NorCal and state champion International of San Francisco in the semifinals. Kelseyville’s season ended a few days later with a loss to Sonoma Valley in the sectional third-place game.
In baseball, Barrick posted an 8-0 mark on the mound for the Knights – after going 9-1 in 2024 and 8-0 in 2023. He struck out 78 batters in 56 1/3 innings while compiling a 1.12 ERA. He also had a big year at the plate, leading the team or finishing among team leaders in all categories, including batting average (.540), hits (34), runs (32), RBIs (26), doubles (11) and home runs (3).
Sponsor
Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year winners will be announced later this month. All will receive awards courtesy of the Lake County Adult Softball Association.
