By Robert Balajadia
With high school sports officially wrapped up for 2020, we’ve decided to count down the top 10 male and female multi-sport high school athletes of the past decade (2010-2020). This list centers around athletes who were not only dominant in one sport, but were multi-faceted stars every time they took the field/court.
Following the direction of a list created by GSPN’s Patrick Lujan four years ago on the best multi-sport athletes ever on Guam, ‘like sports’ (like cross country and track & field) will be ranked the same.
We continue the countdown with girls #5 Valiant Borja of the 2012 GW Geckos.
Valiant ‘VJ’ Borja was a ‘Swiss Army knife’ when it came to sports. He was a a big time difference maker in the secondary playing for the Geckos and was named CO-MVP his junior season, winning a title with the team in 2012. Borja was one of the best cover safeties in the league, but could also lay down punishing hits when needed.
In basketball, Borja was adept at finishing through contact, and was often relied on in pressure situations to get a big bucket. Even on the Geckos loaded championship winning roster, VJ’s play throughout the 2012 playoffs helped them reach the title game where they dominated the Friars. Since rugby and basketball were always in the same quarter, Borja couldn’t get to experience high school rugby.
VJ was as aggressive in soccer as he was in football, earning multiple selections as a 2nd team midfielder.
To round out his athletic lifestyle, Borja was also a staple on the Geckos paddling team finishing as high as 2nd place his senior season.
Valiant’s high school accolades
Football – 1x Champion, 1x CO-MVP, 2x 1st Team All-Island
Basketball – 1x Champion, 2x 1st Team All-Island
Soccer – 1x 3rd pace, 1x 2nd Team All-Island
Paddling – 1x 2nd Place
Valiant’s reaction to being on the list
“Wow, I’m honored to be a part of [the] list!”
Previous revealed athletes
6. Matias Calvo
7. Boise Hocog
8. Marlon Evans
9. Juan King Jr.
10. Nathaniel Kyle Gaitan
Honorable Mention
Dylan Naputi (GW)
Ryan Quitugua (GW)
Devin Maluwelmeng (GW)
Noah Quichocho (GW)
Shelby Meeks (GW)
Damon Hocog (GW)
Bryton Cepeda (FD)
Noah Diaz (FD)
Roy Taimanglo (FD)
Jake Benito (FD)
RJ Rokop (FD)
Jujuan King (Guam High)
Aaron Blaz (Okkodo)
Maks Kepwe (Okkodo)
Dezdin Fikes (Okkodo)
LJ Aguon (Guam High)
Nolan Chamberlain (JFK)
Wayne Blas (JFK)
Jonah Hahn (JFK)
Patrick Cruz (Sanchez)
Wes Shiroma (Sanchez)
Josh Sablan (Sanchez)
Kobe Sotelo (Harvest)
Sean Evans (Harvest)
Mason Caldwell (Harvest)
Takumi Simon (St. John’s)
Brandon Miranda (St. Paul)
(AP/Carlos Osorio)
