School of champions: Christian Brothers wins section volleyball and flag football titles

Early Saturday afternoon at Cosumnes River College, members of the Christian Brothers flag football team worked their way into the gymnasium stands.

They were on hand, 15 players strong, to support and cheer on their classmates and pals who were competing for a volleyball championship. One player, before finding a seat, declared: “I want a hat! We want hats!”

By the time the sun set, there were hats here, there and everywhere, punctuating a memorable day for a Christian Brothers athletic department that has set a lofty standard of collecting head gear in recent years.

The Christian Brothers volleyball team defeated Central Catholic of Modesto in three sets to win the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship, and then those 17 players headed over to the football field across the Sacramento community college campus to root on the Falcons in flag football on a bright, sunny day.

On the strength of Gabriella Devlin’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Devin Greer late in the first half and stout defense, Christian Brothers defeated St. Mary’s of Stockton 6-0 to win the D-II section banner, capping the first year of this sport in the state.

The flag team capped a 17-3 season with a 12-game winning streak. There is no CIF Northern California tournament, but you couldn’t find a single Falcons player who had an ounce of disappointment in their voices or expressions that their season is complete. It was a season in which players had no idea what to expect and learned the sport on the fly. Flag teams hit the ground running when the CIF announced there would be teams, a season and section championship tournaments.

The volleyball players, in uniforms and topped off by those beloved caps, celebrated with the flag team in front of the CRC scoreboard, hamming it up for photos and belting out some spirited sing-song cheer, including, “Goooo Brothers!”

Then the flag team located coach Raymond Bradley and serenaded him with a happy birthday tune. He was moved to near tears.

“I played my first football game on this field in 1994,” Bradley said of his Valley High School days, a school located across the street on the west side of campus. “It was a grind this season, but our defense carried us. Awesome, awesome job by these girls. They worked extremely hard, and they celebrated. They earned it.”

That has been a general theme for the Falcons girls sports teams of late: Work hard, play hard and celebrate big.

“A lot of our teams are close knit, and they really support each other, and I love it. We all love it because this is what you want,” Christian Brothers athletic director Melissa Flowers said. “We have coaches here that share athletes. We talk all the time about making an impact. We focus on impact every day. It starts with the coaches, and then the girls give it their all.”

Flowers is a graduate of Burbank High in South Sacramento but has embraced CB as her school since joining the department six years ago. She said CB players, coaches, staff and faculty pride themselves in being a Sacramento school with Sacramento kids.

“We are the heart of Oak Park,” she said of the school’s location. “I walk into a room on campus and girls are screaming my name. Who wouldn’t love that? We’re family.”

It’s an extended family that includes superb athletes and scholars who engage in food drives for the needy in the community.

The girls basketball team under alum coach Shandyn Foster reached a section final last season at Golden 1 and has a group ready to return to the NBA venue to win it. The program has won section titles in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

Foster had a number of basketball players on the flag team. Her husband, Paul Foster, is an assistant coach to Bradley.

The Falcons girls soccer team early last March under coach Rudy Ruvalcaba won a section championship and kept on rolling, going 3-0 in the CIF Northern California Regional tournament to win that bracket.

Last May, the girls track and field team under coach Larry Morla won a section team championship. Greer, the star flag player, is also a star in track and field.

No one saw this coming a generation ago. Christian Brothers went co-educational — girls joining the guys on campus — in 1990, a stark change of pace for a place that was all-boys since opening in 1876. CB is the second-oldest school in the region behind Sacramento High, which opened in 1856.

When CB announced that it would go co-ed, not everyone was on board. Famed CB baseball coach and athletic director Ron Limeberger once told The Bee: “I don’t like the idea of co-ed. I think it’s a mistake. I think the boys will lose focus.”

Limeberger was a 1953 graduate of the school who won nearly 500 games as the baseball coach. He was so beloved as a teacher and personality that the gym bears his name. He died in 2004 — after he saw granddaughters enjoy their CB experiences. He told The Bee before he died: “Wow, was I ever wrong about going co-ed. It worked. Glad no one listened to me.”

Foster smiled at hearing this story.

“I am so happy to see what we’ve done in girls sports, and some of it has been dominating,” the basketball coach said moments after celebrating with the flag team. “It’s funny because we were searching for flag coaches and couldn’t find anyone. I talked to my husband (the assistant coach) and Raymond Bradley, who were coaching our youth girls basketball program. Told then I can guarantee that they’ll have athletes. Now, I tell them, ‘You’re welcome!’”

Volleyball rolls on

The CB volleyball program won its 10th section banner since 1999 and second under eighth-year coach James Todd. He grew up playing sports in Vallejo, but never played a second of volleyball.

But once he started coaching the sport, Todd was hooked. He has pushed his players to excel in class, in strength and conditioning programs and in matches. Todd was beaming as his volleyball crew celebrated in a back room of the CRC gymnasium.

“Such a close team,” he said. “There is no harder working team in the section. They work so hard and they never complain.”

The Falcons are 34-7 and have not lost a set in four playoff matches. The CIF NorCal rounds start next week.

CB has skill and size in the starting lineup of Grace Carollo, Harper Johnson, Kemyah Harris, Faith Rabb-Patterson, Simone Huarte and Sydney Wallin with the energizer in Elia Constancio. She is all of 5-foot-2 of energy, activity and leadership.

“She’s small but mighty,” Todd said.

Said Constancio, the small and mighty: “I am the smallest, so I have to show myself with attitude and demeanor, and I’m definitely the loudest. It’s amazing how close all of our teams are. You even see it on campus. Everyone’s into it. We’re just having so much fun.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2023 at 6:00 AM.