El Molino High School's Sam Wilson-Mietz a triple threat in athletics

Sam Wilson-Mietz approached hiking the Half Dome subdome with the same teamwork and determination he does with everything else in life.

He trained, worked hard and approached it as a competition he wanted to win.

The El Molino High School three-sport star and straight-A student is in the middle of his senior basketball season, and as is typical with anything Wilson-Mietz does, he’s leading the way.

And he’s impressing people as he does it.

“I look at him and think, ‘He’s what every coach or teacher or parent would want,’” said his baseball coach, Justin Lewis, who as a father of five sons himself knows what he’s talking about. “Outside of my house, I haven’t seen much like Sam.”

Hiking with his father, brother, uncle and cousin, Wilson-Mietz set out at 3:30 a.m. last summer with the goal of conquering the majestic dome that sits just below Yosemite National Park’s iconic granite rock formation.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “I love battling adversity and facing whatever challenge comes my way.”

People who know Wilson-Mietz speak in superlatives about the young man.

Mike Roan, the Forestville school’s athletic director, has taught him all four years at El Molino, either in PE or a leadership class.

“As an athlete, he’s super competitive, super disciplined, a hard worker, very explosive, a smart player. On the football field, he’s everything you’d want from a football player. He’s a very good basketball player and has played varsity baseball since he was a freshman,” Roan said.

“But as good as he is an athletically, what’s impressive to me is, he’s an even better student and kid. In leadership, he has gone above and beyond the requirements of the class, working outside school time making El Molino a better place and contributing to the community.”

Wilson-Mietz is the kind of kid who will stick up for someone being bullied or be a liaison between students and administration, observers said.

As a child, Wilson-Mietz was never interested in sitting in front of a screen. Instead, he’d be outside kicking a soccer ball against the side of the house or “burning all my energy by running up and down the street.”

He learned to work hard and value team camaraderie. As one of the strongest athletes on any team he’s been on, he said he feels a duty to be a role model and provide leadership where he can.

His basketball coach, Collin Walker, can attest to that.

“He’s our most consistent player out there in terms of scoring, assists, hard defense. You always know what you’re going get from him,” Walker said. “If I’m late for practice, I know that he’ll just lead it. He’ll be the one to make sure we have everything running the way we should.”

Wilson-Mietz will be one of this year’s Iron Lions at El Molino, an award the school gives for athletes who’ve competed in three sports all four years of high school - something small schools encourage to fill out their teams.

He almost didn’t make it, though, since his father was worried about concussion risks in football.

“He wanted me to take a year off and focus on baseball,” he said. “I went to some football games that year, and I just couldn’t handle being a spectator. I stood up to my dad and said I had to play football.”

He’s fortunate that he’s not had any serious injuries in any sport (he also plays soccer).

The football team was happy to have him.

In a game in September against Petaluma, which El Molino lost 56-31, Wilson-Mietz scored every one of his team’s points - four touchdowns, including a 90-yard kickoff return, plus a 30-yard field goal and every extra point. He plays running back, kicker and safety. In a game against Sonoma Valley, he had three interceptions.

Currently, he leads his basketball team in scoring, averaging about 9 points a game this year as point guard.

But baseball is where his heart lies.

Wilson-Mietz made the varsity baseball team as a freshman and impressed his coach enough that he was named player of the year as a sophomore.

This is what Lewis said about him at the time:

“He was our starting shortstop, and made some incredible plays throughout the season. Some of those plays were plays you see and naturally turn around looking for someone who by chance caught it on camera,” he said. “Sam is a very coachable young man, completely buys into our program, always setting a good example for the rest of the team. This young man doesn’t know how to go less than 100 percent. He is the type of player every coach wants on his roster.”

Three years later, Lewis feels the same about Wilson-Mietz, who will play his senior season this spring.

The leadoff hitter, shortstop, ace pitcher and backup catcher has the green light on the base paths because Lewis knows Wilson-Mietz has the speed and intelligence to make plays happen.

The pair, and one of Lewis’s sons, plan to go to a San Jose State University baseball prospect camp this weekend, his second at San Jose State.

Wilson-Mietz has garnered the attention of scouts in baseball and football, and has the grades to get into highly selective universities. His GPA is 4.3 and he’s taking advanced-placement calculus and government this year.

He said he wants to be a civil engineer like his father.

Basketball coach Walker said any school would be lucky to have Wilson-Mietz, who is popular with other students and respectful of adults.

“Really, he’s the type of person you’d want to build a program around,” he said. “I’m still waiting to find the chink in the armor. He doesn’t seem to have one. He’s just a fantastic young man and definitely one of the future leaders of this world.”

You can reach staff writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.