Castleton, Gomez named OCC’s Athletes of the Year

A couple of two-sport athletes, David Castleton and Zoila Gomez,

have been honored by Orange Coast College as the Pirates’ Athletes of the

Year, as voted by the coaches.

Castleton starred for the Pirates on the football field and the

basketball court, while Gomez excelled at cross country and track and

field.

In hoops, Castleton led the Orange Empire Conference with a 22.6

points-per-game average, helping his cause for first-team, all-conference

honors this season.

The Cal State Fullerton-bound guard scored 41 points against Glendale

Dec. 27 in the San Diego Mesa Tournament, the fourth highest mark in

school history. The last Pirate to score 40 or more points in a game was

John Vallely, who scored 44 against Mt. San Antonio during the 1967-68

season.

While in football, Castleton caught 53 passes for 958 yards and four

touchdowns last fall. His longest gain was a 63-yard reception.

Gomez, who was OCC’s Female Athlete of the Year last year, will attempt

to win state championships in Bakersfield this weekend in the 3,000

meters, the 5,000 and the 10,000. She has already picked up more than a

dozen individual and team championships for the Bucs this season.

In cross country, Gomez won the conference, Southern California and state

individual titles and as team captain, she led the Pirates to the same

three team titles.

In track this spring, Gomez has won the conference and Southern

California championships in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 and helped the

Pirates to the conference team championship.

Gomez has also set a school, conference, Southern California and state

record with a time of 36:27 in the 10,000.