Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Sharon Day: Just getting started

Tony Altobelli

It the most wonderful time of the year for Sharon Day.

Not only is she in the midst of playing her favorite sport, girls

soccer for Costa Mesa High, but with Christmas time approaching, she gets

to run wild through the South Coast Plaza stores and compete in her next

favorite activity, which is shopping.

“I haven’t had time to get to South Coast Plaza yet,” Day said, with a

laugh. “I need to get over soon so I can get my Christmas shopping

started and finished.”

One thing Day is not having any trouble finishing and that’s slamming

a soccer ball into a soccer goal.

In only five games, the 5-foot-8, 130-pound sophomore has amassed nine

goals for the Mustangs, only five away from her 14-goal total all of last

year.

“My freshman year was strange because it was all so new,” Day said. “I

was really nervous out there. But this year, I’m much more comfortable

and I’m having a blast.”

Last week, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week put together

back-to-back hat tricks, leading the Mustangs to easy wins over Santa Ana

Valley (6-0) and Garden Grove (5-0).

“Most of the goals came on breakaways,” Day said. “On those, I say to

myself, ‘Don’t come out of the goal, goalie, don’t come out of the goal.’

If they do come out, I try to sneak one low on them, or chip one over

their heads.”

With all she has done in her career at Mesa, it’s hard to believe Day

is only a sophomore.

In just under a year and a half, Day has amassed four varsity letters

in three different sports (assuming she doesn’t get cut from this year’s

soccer team), numerous kill leader accolades in girls volleyball and a

Pacific Coast League and CIF Southern Section III high jump title in

track and field, including the fourth-highest jump in the nation last

year at 5-9.

“I like track, but there’s so much pressure because it’s an individual

sport,” Day said. “That’s why I love soccer so much, because it’s a team

thing.”

It’s her Mustang teammates which Day gives the credit to her jolt of

offense.

“We have some players that can not only score, but feed the ball real

well,” Day said. “We’ve been playing well together and we all seem to be

on the same page out there.”

With her quantity of varsity experience, Day has no problem addressing

what needs to be taken care of in terms of the team’s success.

“I’m not ashamed to speak my mind out there,” Day said. “I just our

team to be successful and if we all play to the way we’re capable of

playing, we can go a long way.”

In addition to her sports, Day enjoys skateboarding and using the

newspaper for Christmas requests.

“I love longboarding and I’d really love one of those for Christmas,”

Day said with a smile.