Maddox McAuley remembers seeing the Merced High boys golf banner hanging in the gym and he noticed the Bears hadn’t won a Central California Conference championship since 1992. McAuley instantly set a goal and it only took two years.

McAuley and the Bears won the program’s first CCC title in 34 years this season, going a perfect 10-0 in dual matches and winning both the mid-season and conference tournament at the end of the year. McAuley earned CCC Most Valuable Player honors along the way. “It means a lot to me to win MVP of the CCC, it has been a goal of mine to achieve since I got into golf,” McAuley said.

McAuley says he’s focused on improving his short game this year and really saw an improvement in his chipping and putting, which led to lower scores. McAuley had plenty of help in leading Merced to the CCC title. Teammates Austyn Granados, Jaden Clark and Shane Patterson were all named to the all-CCC first team. Anthony Verduzco and Peyton Garza earned second-team honors.

“It was very special to us to win the CCC title for the first time in 34 years,” McAuley said. “I remember in the summer before my freshman year playing with Shane Patterson and we saw the banner in the gym, since that moment all we wanted to do was to win CCC.” The bulk of Merced’s team returns next year. The Bears finished just a couple shots shy of advancing to the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament as a team.

Joining the Merced trio on the all-CCC first team was Buhach Colony’s Dylan Fernandez, El Capitan’s Kaleb Myrtue and Los Banos’ Jack Goodger. The others earning second-team honors were Manrag King (Buhach Colony), Logan Hernandez (Atwater), Brayden Diaz (Los Banos) and Christian Ramirez (Atwater).

Honorable mention honors went to Brayden Bell (Buhach Colony), Jacob Camarillo (Los Banos), Soren Anderson (Buhach Colony), Colby Schanze (El Capitan), Dayton Fitzgerald (Buhach Colony) and Mario Perez (Golden Valley). The all-Sportsmanship team consisted of Kahri Boykin (Atwater), Michael Pulido (Buhach Colony), Schanze (El Capitan), John Beatecale (Golden Valley), Eric Ramos (Los Banos) and Clark (Merced).

The Livingston High boys golf team finished second in the Western Athletic Conference and reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV Championships as a team. Matthew Davalos finished third in the WAC in individual scoring and earned first-team honors. He was joined on the team by Wolves teammate Benji Aguilar, who finished fourth in scoring in the WAC. Livingston’s Kelvyn Edwards earned second-team honors.

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.