Wood Sierra Nevada Athlete of the Year

Dayton High's Travis Wood knows there were many other excellent candidates who could have been chosen as the Sierra Nevada Media Group's overall Male Athlete of the Year.

Among those he thought could have won the award was one of his teammates, Erik Hopper. The two were among many male athletes at Dayton who helped take the school to new heights in sports.

But in the end it was Wood who was named as the overall winner of the Sierra Nevada Athlete of the Year Award.

"That's awesome," Wood said. "That's cool. There are so many great athletes around here.

"To be selected as the top athlete is pretty awesome. But I couldn't have done anything without my teammates and the whole community."

In his freshman year, Wood became Dayton's starting quarterback in football in the second to last game of the season and stayed at the position ever since. He led Dayton to its first winning season as a sophomore and as a senior led the Dust Devils to a 10-1 mark and the NIAA 3A State semifinals.

He was an all-3A state first team choice as a junior and the Northern 3A's Player of the Year as a senior. He was also the 3A State's Offensive Player of the Year and was all-state first team as a quarterback, defensive back and punter.

In basketball, Wood helped lead Dayton to the NIAA 3A State finals for three straight years and earned all-state first team honors as a senior.

During his career, Wood earned 11 varsity letters in football (four), basketball (four), baseball (two) and golf (one). He earned first-team all-state honors in baseball as well. Wood maintained a 3.55 grade point average. Among his other activities including directing youth football and basketball camps and being involved in canned food drives.

Wood said his only regret was not winning a state title while at Dayton. "We got so close so many times," he said. "But I think we represented our town well."

After orgininally considering walking on at the University of Nevada, Wood will play football at Sacramento City College. Wood will have a chance to compete for playing time right away.

The only returning quarterback took just several snaps last year. "The job's there for the taking if I play well enough," Wood said.