Coach Shawnie Maher and nine members of the Justin-Siena High School cheer team traveled last week to New York City and participated in the 80th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which begins at 77th and Central Park West and travels along Broadway. It draws 2.5 million spectators.

Justin-Siena earned the right to attend the prestigious event after winning a competition this past summer at one of the several camps they competed at.

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The Arizona State University baseball team, which has Justin-Siena graduate Brett Wallace, faces one of the toughest schedules in the country next year. The Sun Devils’ 56-game regular season schedule features non-conference games with Long Beach State, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Auburn and Houston.

As a freshman last year, Wallace led the team with a .371 batting average in 48 games, 38 of which he started either as a designated hitter, first baseman or outfielder. He was named All Pacific-10 Honorable Mention and was chosen to the Houston All-Regional Team. He had 32 RBIs, 31 runs scored, hit seven home runs and had 16 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games. He also finished fifth in the Pac-10 in average and had the seventh highest slugging percentage (.583) in the conference.

Wallace ended the year on a 10-game hitting streak. Over the summer he hit five home runs and knocked in 22 runs for the Fallmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League. He was named to the All-Star Team.

At Justin-Siena, Wallace played on three CIF North Coast Section Class A championship teams and broke nine school records. He was selected as a Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger All-American, First-Team All-State and the California Small Schools Player of the Year by CalHiSports.com.

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The Missouri Valley College women’s wrestling team features Maika Watanabe and Kayla Chambers, Vintage High graduates. The team is coached by Carl Murphree, a former Vintage coach, former director of the Napa Valley Wrestling Club and founder of the Asics Napa Valley Girls Classic. Mat.com ranked Missouri Valley No. 1 in the country at the end of last year’s season.

Chambers was fifth in her division at the McMaster University Invitational last month in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada).

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Former Napa resident Johnny Miller and his son, Scott are entered in the Del Webb Father/Son Challenge, which returns to ChampionsGate Golf Resort in Orlando, Fla. The 1.085-million event began Thursday and continues through Sunday.

While NBC Sports will telecast the event, the network won’t have the services of Miller. Instead, the 1973 U.S. Open champion and 1976 British Open winner joins Scott in the field.

This is the 12th annual edition of the Del Webb Father/Son Challenge, which has staked a position as one of the most popular Challenge Season events on the golf calendar. To be eligible, all fathers must have won a major championship on the PGA Tour.

“Talk about something you don’t see every day. This is one of those rare opportunities to see not only Greg Norman, but Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller and Billy Casper on the same course,” tournament director Jason Soucy said. “These legends of the game don’t play a lot of competitive golf anymore and that they’ve chosen this event to play means golf fans are in for a rare and genuine treat.”

The teams also play to win the prestigious Willie Park Trophy, which is based upon the original championship prize of the British Open in 1860. The trophy, a red leather belt with sterling silver embellishments, similar to the belts awarded in modern times to boxing champions, was named after Park in honor of being the first winner of the British Open, the world’s oldest golf championship.

NBC will televise the event on Saturday and Sunday.

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Megan Gaynor, a former Justin-Siena player, is averaging 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds after four games for the UC Santa Cruz women’s basketball team, which is off to a 1-3 start.

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The CIF State Volleyball Championships take place Saturday at the Event Center on the campus of San Jose State University. This marks only the fourth time ever, and first since 1982, that this event has been held in Northern California.

The matchups have Foothill-Pleasanton against Los Alamitos in Division I at 5 p.m., Archbishop Mitty-San Jose against Mira Costa-Manhattan Beach in Div. II at 7 p.m., Campolindo-Moraga against Laguna Beach in Div. III at 2 p.m., Christian Brothers-Sacramento against Marymount-Los Angeles in Div. IV at noon, and Castilleja-Palo Alto against Bakersfield Christian in Div. V at 10 a.m.

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The Oakland Athletics will play 33 spring training games in preparation for the 2007 season, including 29 games in Arizona beginning with the Cactus League opener against Milwaukee on March 1 in Maryvale.

The A’s will play a total of 15 home games at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, starting with the home opener against the Brewers on March 2.

The A’s and San Francisco Giants will meet six times during the spring.

Oakland will break camp in Phoenix following its March 28 game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and will return to the Bay Area for a three-game weekend series with the Giants, March 30-April 1.

For spring training ticket information, go to www.oaklandathletics.com or call (877) 493-BALL. 

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.