Benefield: Sonoma Valley High's Amy Stanfield a quadruple threat

Unbelievable.

That was basketball coach Sil Coccia’s word. I’m not going to argue - Amy Stanfield is unbelievable.

The Sonoma Valley High sophomore is a four-sport athlete. Reminder: There are three sports in a school year. Stanfield is competing in four.

And she killed it in every one.

Let’s start with track.

Stanfield is the defending Sonoma County League champion in the 400-meter, 800-meter and 1,600-meter races. As a freshman, she advanced to the Meet of Champions in both the 400 and 1,600.

“Unheard of” is the way cross country and distance coach John Litzenberg described Stanfield’s versatility.

Example: At a track meet, the mile is held, then the quick 100-meter hurdles and then the 400-meter dash. That’s not a lot of downtime. After that, it’s the 100-meter dash and then the 800-meter race. Stanfield could barely take a breath between her disparate events.

And then she’d anchor the 4x400 relay.

“At every league meet she was doing that quadruple, which is unheard of, boy or girl,” Litzenberg said.

After her success on the track as a freshman, Stanfield decided to give cross country a go this fall. But she couldn’t give up soccer; it’s been a love for too long. So she did both.

She practiced and played with the soccer team all week barring Wednesdays, when she’d compete in the cross country meet. She’d work in a few runs after soccer practice and make weekend meets as well.

The two-year starter was an All-League honorable mention pick as a striker for the Dragons soccer team.

She was the Dragons’ top-ranked female runner and a first-team All-Empire pick who advanced to the state meet in Fresno and finished 48th in the Division 3 race.

“It would have worried me had it been anyone else,” Dragons soccer coach Mike Verdu said of Stanfield’s decision to compete in both cross country and soccer last fall. “She takes care of herself so well. Her motor? She is unstoppable.”

Her success in cross country meant she was late to join her winter sport: Basketball. Still, the only sophomore on Coccia’s varsity squad was named the starting point guard after senior captain Bella Bollman injured her hand.

“Amy got thrust right into the point guard role,” Coccia said. “Here she is, give her the keys to the car and say ‘Drive.’

“Once she got the keys, she didn’t give them up,” he said. “She just stepped in and did a helluva job.”

Stanfield regularly played full games for the Dragons.

“She is pretty unflappable for being a sophomore,” Coccia said.

Stanfield was named to the All-SCL first team and the Dragons claimed a share of the SCL title.

“And she’s really a happy kid that just happens to be a terrific athlete,” he said.

So, something sure has to give, right? Her grades? Maybe her attitude?

Nope.

Her overall unweighted grade point average is 3.98. So she’s not perfect.

But then get this. For the second year in a row, she’s spending next week’s spring break in Nicaragua with Sonoma-based nonprofit group Seeds of Learning, which focuses on building schools and educational facilities in that country and in El Salvador.

“Right now, the students are going to school in an old shipping container. We are there to make the initial foundation” for a new school, she said.

“The kids are the most appreciative and amazing kids I’ve ever met,” she said.

Stanfield said she’ll likely get a few runs in while she’s there. After all, it is track season, and Litzenberg believes she has the goods to break school records in her various events. He also sees a trip to the state meet in her future.

So in this age of hyper focus on one sport and so many young athletes abandoning multiple sports to zero in on one, will Stanfield keep this up?

“High school sports are supposed to be fun and where you learn,” track coach Linda Patterson said. “It’s not a job until you go to college.”

If you ask Stanfield which sport she likes best, which one she may focus on, it’s as if you asked a mother to pick her favorite child.

“That’s a hard question,” she said. “That is actually why I do them all because I love them all. I love them for different reasons.”

But she’s too good for the murmurs not to begin. What sport should be her focus? What might give her a shot at competing in college?

“That’s a major talk with coaches and in my house,” she said. “Are you going to focus on running? What’s it gonna be?”

While Stanfield sorts that out, it’s our treat to sit back, watch and wonder.

Take your time, Amy.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”