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Alameda Sun Athlete of the Year Carly Childs.

From the gridiron to the golf course, the hardwood to the diamond, Alameda's high school athletes showed off their exceptional talents in 2011.

As the year draws to a close, let's take a look back at the outstanding play of the high school athletes and teams of Alameda.

Carly Childs is our 2011 athlete of the year. Childs, a member of the Alameda High women's golf team, was almost unstoppable on the golf course in 2011. Childs really picked up her play in the postseason after leading her Hornet squad to an undefeated Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League (ACCAL) regular season.

In the ACCAL tournament, Childs led her team over Berkeley and Hercules High Schools with a tournament- low 1-under 71. Childs was also named to the ACCAL women's golf first team.

Childs continued her excellent play at the North Coast Section (NCS) Championship where she shot an NCS record-low 64, leading her team to third place.

"Carly is amazing," said Alameda High girl's golf coach Stephen Burnett. "She played wonderful all year."

Childs was just as impressive at the Nor Cal Championship when she shot a tournament-low 1-over 71 and advanced to the California state championships at Pebble Beach. Unfortunately, Childs did not come away victorious, but she did manage to finish tied for eighth with a 4-over 76.

Childs credits a lot of her excellent play to her family. "My parents are so supportive," said Childs, a senior. "My dad was my swing coach when I started to play golf when I was 10. And my sister Emily inspired me a lot seeing her play."

Childs accepted a scholarship to play for the UC Berkeley women's golf team next fall.

The St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) High School basketball team is our 2011 team of the year. In the 2010-2011 season, the Pilots finished the season with an extraordinary 27- 9 record and 10-2 in the Bay Shore Athletic League (BSAL). After losing the BSAL championship to St. Patrick/ St. Vincent of Vallejo in a crushing 54-53 defeat, the Pilots rebounded by winning the NCS Division 5 championship against University High School of San Francisco 63-32, the Nor Cal Championship against University 61-43 and the CIF Division 5 Championship with a 47-44 win over St. Bernard High School of Playa Del Ray.

The Alameda High School men's baseball team and the Encinal football team also had remarkable seasons as they both made it to the NCS semifinals.

The Hornets' baseball team finished with a 25-2 record including a perfect 12-0 in the ACCAL. The team finished the season as the 55th best team in the state of California. They lost to eventual NCS champions Campolindo High School of Moraga.

The Jets' football team achieved similar success as they finished11-2 and blew through their BSAL schedule to a perfect 7-0, winning all seven games by at least 30 points. They lost to Marin Catholic of Kentfield in the semifinals.

In the battle for Alameda supremacy, the Hornets bested the Jets in the most head-to-head match-ups across all sports 7-3.

Alameda won baseball, men and women's basketball, women's soccer, softball, women's volleyball and men's water polo; while Encinal defeated the Hornets in women's water polo, men's volleyball and the Island Bowl in a back-and-forth contest 45-41.