Fall Sports Awards 2025
Downtown Visalia Kiwanis
October 21, 2025
In partnership with the Downtown Visalia Kiwanis, TCOE’s CHARACTER COUNTS!
Program celebrated this fall’s Pursuing Victory with Honor (PVWH) student-athletes at
a lunch on Tuesday. The Downtown Visalia Kiwanis recognizes student-athletes,
nominated by their coaches, each season for their sportsmanship. The awards included
a certificate, patch, and lawn sign that reads "An Athlete of Character Lives Here.”
Below is a list of the Pursuing Victory with Honor award winners along with snippets
from their coaches.
Central Valley Christian High School
Emma Mihalcin – Girls Volleyball
Emma has a positive attitude toward life and has been a great leader for our team. Emma has proven to be a trusting teammate and friend. As a Captain for our team, her teammates look up to her to communicate with us as a coaching staff. Emma has been very honest with us and her teammates. She has proven to be reliable to her teammates by honoring her commitment to lead the team.
Landen Forsyth – Boys Cross County
Landen is an ideal recipient of this award due to his outstanding character and excellence as a student-athlete. He is a member of CVC’s boys cross country team and has established himself as one of the fastest runners in our school’s history. Landen has worked hard over the past four years to become the capable runner and virtuous person that he is today. Landen is disciplined and uncomplaining which sets a tremendous example for his teammates.
El Diamante High School
Madison McKensie – Girls Volleyball
Madison is an amazing young lady who has served the volleyball program well for the past four years. Maddy was thrust into a starting outside position her sophomore year after a turn of events left the varsity team in need of one. She came up for an early season match from the JV team and performed exceptionally well. There was no doubt she deserved to be on the varsity team. Three years later she has developed into an outstanding player, team leader, and team captain.
Sophia Benevento – Girls Golf
Ever since the day my coaching staff was introduced to Sophia, she has displayed the qualities of a high-class role model. She is an individual who excels both on and off the golf course. Balancing school, athletics, and her active participation in El Diamante’s ASB club, she consistently demonstrates maturity and positive character traits that have helped her achieve success in nearly everything she does.
Golden West High School
Sidney Yanez – Girls Volleyball
Sidney, a three-year Golden West varsity volleyball player, exemplifies what it truly means to pursue victory with honor. On and off the court, she leads by example through her unwavering commitment to teamwork, integrity, and respect for the game. Sidney's trustworthiness and sense of responsibility make her a dependable teammate who always gives her best effort, while her fairness ensures every practice and competition is played with honesty and grace.
Beau Swanson – Boys Water Polo
Beau has earned the privilege to represent Golden West as our nominee for Tulare County Pursuing Victory with Honor Award. As a junior with an impressive 4.0 GPA, Beau is a two-time captain at Golden West, for he commands the respect of his teammates with an undeniable work ethic. His team-first focus exemplifies the exemplary comportment requisite to elevate our squad.
Mt. Whitney High School
Stephen Fabian – Boys Cross-Country
Stephen a first-year cross-country standout, athletic success is only part of the story. This season, Stephen exemplified the Pursuing Victory with Honor principles by demonstrating trustworthiness and respect for both teammates and opponents. Consistently putting in the work at every practice, Stephen has shown tremendous responsibility and commitment to the team. In addition to his improving race times, Stephen has been a caring and positive force, always offering encouragement.
Joslany Magana – Girls Cross-Country
Joslany, is also first-year cross-country runner, she exemplifies the true spirit of a student-athlete. Beyond her dedication on the course, she consistently demonstrates the Six Pillars of Character. This commitment to excellence extends to academics, where she maintains a 3.6 GPA. Her impressive time management skills are further highlighted by the fact that she also plays tennis this fall, making her a successful dual-sport athlete.
Redwood High School
Emma Hernandez – Girls Golf
Emma is one of the most dedicated student/athletes I have ever coached in 10 years. Gold can have days of stress and adversity, and she faces that with confidence in her attitude and tenacity. She is defending EYL Champion as a freshman.
Andres Nino – Boys Cross-Country
Andres is selflessness, respectful, and a great citizenship towards each person on the team. He is the heartbeat of the team. At every race, Andres's teammates can count on him as a source of motivation and unwavering support. A natural leader who works hard and gives his all to his team. Andres remains a great representative of our program.
Tulare Joint Union High School District Foundation
December 3, 2025
In partnership with the Tulare Joint Union High School District Foundation, TCOE’s CHARACTER COUNTS! Program celebrated this fall’s Pursuing Victory with Honor (PVWH) student-athletes at a recognition breakfast this week. Each season, the Foundation honors student-athletes nominated by their coaches for outstanding sportsmanship. This semester's awardees received a certificate of achievement, a PVWH t-shirt, and a custom lawn sign that proudly reads, "An Athlete of Character Lives Here.”
Tulare Western High School
Jasmine Maldonado - Girls Cross-Country
Jasmine is only a sophomore, but she has the discipline of a senior. Her freshman year she came in training harder than a majority of the girls on the team, but the end of the season was plagued with injury and physical fatigue. We were able to convince her to take a more conservative approach to her training so that she would finish strong. this season she prioritized recovery but still trained more mileage than any girl on the team.
Angel Diaz- Boys Cross-Country
Angel showed a lot of promise as a distance runner during his freshman season. While we were counting on him to play a major role his junior year, unexpected family circumstances required him to step up as the oldest sibling to take care of his family. During this extensive period, he could only run sporadically while balancing his responsibilities at home and caring for his younger siblings. Fortunately, as things stabilized, Angel was able to fully commit to the team again. He steadily crawled up the ranks and ran a heroic race at the WYL Finals, finishing 4th on the team and 10th overall.
Mission Oak High School
Braelyn Serpa - Girls Volleyball
Braelyn works hard and expects others to do the same. This year I have watched her grow in her game and life. She is a role model for her teammates.
Braxton Wininger - Boys Water Polo
Braxton is a quiet, confident young man who exhibits natural leadership. He is respectful to authority including his parents, teacher, coaches and teammates. He models citizenship and leads by example.
Tulare Union High School
Klarissa Dominguez- Girls Cross-Country
Klarissa is a phenomenally fierce competitor in cross and hurdles, she works quietly and tirelessly. As a captain she leads our team with kindness, humility, hard work and hustle.
Waylon Elliot - Boys Cross-Country
Coach Pederson said, “Nathan
is an all-around student of character, but especially in the area of respect and good citizenship. I have seen this demeanor all four years of him playing for me and even opposing coaches, players, and parents have noticed it as well. I am fortunate
to have had a player like Nathan on my team.