Isabel Sartori and Felipe Martinez, both three-sport athletes graduating from Tomales High School, have won the Marin Athletic Foundation’s Ghilloti Award, given to an outstanding male and female athlete at each high school in Marin.
Sartori played four years of varsity in volleyball, tennis and basketball, amassing a school-record 1,529 points on the basketball court over four years. On the tennis court, she won all eight of her regular-season matchups last year, winning league M.V.P. and leading the team to its first division title in 40 years.
Martinez was selected twice as an all-league athlete in basketball, football and baseball. In his junior-year baseball season, he led all Marin players in batting average, and on the football field he dominated with strength, speed and versatility. His breakaway runs were a frequent and exciting event.
“Isabel and Felipe were ranked against their fellow student athletes in a number of categories that consider academic performance, sport participation, leadership, sportsmanship and athletic accolades,” said Dominic Sachelli, the school’s athletic director and math teacher. “We are very proud to put forth these two student athletes to recognize their contributions and achievements at Tomales High School.”
Martinez, a fourth-generation Tomales High student from Inverness, will attend Santa Rosa Junior College in the fall, while Sartori, from Tomales, will continue her studies at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Her experience and hand-eye coordination made her one of the best tennis players in the area, Sachelli said. And while the tennis program has seen good athletes in the past, the team was not successful until she came along. Last year’s team, coached by her dad, Russ Sartori, went undefeated in the regular season before placing second in the conference tournament, bringing a new focus on tennis at Tomales.
“With her coming through, she’s obviously a great individual, but she also helped foster that team success,” Sachelli said. “To have the intelligence factor along with her high level of skill, that’s when you get someone who is really, really good.”
In basketball, Sartori made an immediate impact at Tomales. She felt comfortable playing with Natalya Feliciano and Abby Bianchi, her teammates since second grade, and her dad was also the coach. In her freshman and sophomore seasons, when opponents had never seen her play, she was able to try out new moves and quietly rack up points. Much of her scoring came from catching and shooting in those first two years. But by her junior year, defenders picked up on her reputation as a shooter, and teams dedicated their defense to stopping her. She countered by improving her dribbling so she could create a shot or drive to the basket.
Her highest scoring game was against Point Arena this year, when she racked up a whopping 43 points. Later in the season, the team surprisingly qualified for playoffs as the 14 seed in the North Coast Section Division 6 tournament and made some noise as underdogs. They beat third-ranked San Francisco Waldorf and then seventh-seeded Round Valley before falling to a tough Calistoga team.
Martinez was also a leader in his athletic career at Tomales High. After winning two games in his sophomore year—his first time playing tackle football— the Braves made it to the semifinals in his junior year, with Martinez playing running back, tight end and linebacker. He could tackle the bigger players and cover the quicker players, Sachelli said, and he was dedicated to studying his film and creating highlight tapes. Martinez started his senior year at quarterback because new arrival Zach Porteus wasn’t yet eligible, but even in the new position he was mostly a runner. The Braves won their first game by a score of 65-6, led by 196 yards and four touchdowns from Martinez.
“It felt amazing to be that quarterback that everyone looked up to,” he said.
When Porteus took over at quarterback, Martinez moved to running back, and the team took off. They ran a double wing formation, with he and teammate Misael Gonzalez split on each side of the quarterback. Gonzalez and Martinez became a dynamic duo, running the ball almost every play and putting up impressive numbers. After going 6-3, the team lost a heartbreaking overtime game against Calistoga to end their season.
On the baseball field, Martinez was equally versatile as a pitcher, a catcher and a powerful hitter. He’s been playing since third grade, and he improved his statistics every year of high school. He had the best batting average in Marin in his junior year. Sadly, his senior year was cut short after just two great games because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It definitely felt like it was going to be such a great season,” he said. “Against bigger and better schools, we weren’t going to be a pushover anymore.” In his last game of his career, he hit two singles, a double and a triple.