The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
Wednesday was a special night at Millikan where the Rams once again hosted their annual spaghetti dinner and silent auction fundraiser in Howard Lyon Gym. This year also included an introduction of some college-bound athletes and the presentation of CIF championship rings to the girls’ golf team.
“We call it a family night, and it really is,” Millikan girls’ athletic director Lorene Morgan said. “We have great community support and this is a chance to celebrate that.”
Millikan student-athletes sold the tickets for the dinner that was donated by John’s, Avenue 3, Portofino, Amazon Fresh and others. Morgan gathered the items for the silent auction, and helped Millikan golf coach Robert Tomlin keep the championship rings hidden in their boxes.
The Rams won their first CIF Southern Section girls’ golf championship in school history in October, but Tomlin and his team decided to wait until the family night fundraiser to hand them out and take pictures together and with their families.
“What an awesome moment for them,” Morgan said. “They’re really good kids and they’ve really been looking forward to this. I thought it was a nice addition to our program. We spend a lot of time with our college-bound athletes and that’s great recognition, but CIF championships are few and far between.”
Tomlin and top player freshman Hailey Stoskopf agreed that the Rams’ success came from chemistry.
“It’s the friendships,” Stoskopf said. “Everyone is super close on the team. All of us are just really good friends and everyone was really welcoming and helpful… People have to take our program a lot more seriously after winning CIF. We think we have a chance at winning Moore League next year and that’s really exciting.”
“They all get along and nobody thought they were above the others,” Tomlin added. “Even our best players are just one of the group.”
Millikan also took time after dinner to call up the college-bound athletes who were in attendance including Jennine Osorio (San Jose State, Water Polo), Wyatt Ormonde (Cerritos, Baseball), Jake Cammarata (Wooster, Golf), Gio Baltazar (Master’s University, Volleyball), Victoria Byrum (Eastern Kentucky University, Softball), Natalie Lopez (University of Redlands, Softball), Madison Wright (Arkansas Tech University, Softball), Erica Estrada (Long Beach State, Softball) Zachariah Montiel (Asbury University, Swimming) and Karina Giacomazza (UC Davis, Diving).
The fundraiser has been so successful in recent years that Morgan said Millikan is close to getting new scoreboards for next basketball season.
