Auburn Journal girls athlete of the year: Colfax's Biittner is school's basketball star and valedictorian

Colfax High School's Gabby Biittner was a leader for the Falcons, both on the court and on campus. Biittner was not only the starting libero on the girls volleyball team and star point guard for girls basketball, but she was also one of the school's valedictorians at its graduation ceremonies last Saturday. Biittner credited her academic success to the staff at Colfax, noting that they were understanding and accommodating to her when she would have to miss school for her games, especially in the playoffs. "We have a great staff on campus," said Biittner. "They're really flexible and they are super understanding of the situation that a lot of the athletes are in. Especially when we go on these deep playoff runs and sometimes we're missing three or four days in a row of class." When she wasn't shining in the classroom, you could most likely find Biittner on some form of playing surface representing the Falcons. In the fall, she was the libero for the volleyball team that finished third in the Pioneer Valley League. "My biggest goal coming into the volleyball season was to be named libero. I was also named one of three captains this year, so it kind of put me in another leadership role during that season," said Biittner. Biittner and the Falcons secured the 11 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV girls volleyball playoff and earned a date with 32-1 West Campus in the opening round. Despite trailing 2-1, the Falcons battled back and won the final two sets to pull off the first round upset before falling to Sutter in the quarterfinals. "Last volleyball season we had a first run exit against Dixon, so I think that really motivated us and it was a game we knew we could win," said Biittner. "We kind of went in there with that mindset and that it's never a good feeling to go out in the first round." After a successful volleyball campaign, Biittner shifted her focus to the girls basketball season where she was the facilitator of a Colfax team that was one of the best in the state. She averaged 9.6 points, 5.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.2 steals per game as she helped lead the Falcons to their first NorCal championship in 25 years and state championship game appearance. Biittner said that in the summer practices leading up to the season, she found that she didn't need to be lighting up the scoreboard to make an impact on the game. "I started to realize that if this is gonna work, we need a solid structure that we can play with and someone to run that," said Biittner. "That doesn't necessarily mean that I have to score, as long as other people are positioned to do well." Biittner facilitated the offense well, as she led the team in assists with 188 and had a hand in the Falcons having three players average double figures. She was named the PVL's most valuable player, as Colfax went a perfect 14-0 in league play and won every game by double digits. She also did the same for the Falcons in the section playoffs, as Colfax claimed the D-IV section title and once again won every game by double digits. The Falcons were the last basketball team standing from the Sacramento area among both boys and girls teams, but their run came to an end in the Division III state championship game with a 65-48 loss to Rancho Cucamonga-Los Osos. Although the pain of losing the state championship stung, Biittner reflected on how it felt to have the entire region backing the team after the dust had settled. "It was really hard to look past the game when I was in the moment, but now I can kind of look back on it and see how special it was," said Biittner. "It brought more than just basketball people together. I didn't know we had all Sacramento behind us but then we go on ABC News and it's crazy. It was an experience that I think we can all hold together as teammates and I'll never forget the people that made those moments." Biittner wasn't done winning championships for Colfax after basketball season ended. The Falcons dominated the PVL in girls track and field and won the league finals by over 100 points. Biittner was a key piece to the league championship, winning an individual title in the girls long jump, placing second in the 800 meter race, third in the triple jump, and sixth in 1,600 meters. In the fall, Biittner will be taking her talents to big sky country where she will join the girls basketball team at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. Biittner will join a Battlin' Bears team that is coming off of a second round appearance in the NAIA Women's Basketball Championships. "I looked at Rocky Mountain kind of late actually," said Biittner. "I had a great talk with the coach and they kind of talked about different systems and how they play and how similar it was with how we played at Colfax. It really seems like it is going to be a good fit." Outside of basketball however, Biittner said what persuaded her to attend Rocky Mountain was the aviation program and how it was one of the few schools with a quality program that she could play basketball at as well. "My goal is to get my commercial pilot's fixed wing aviation license and then be able to go fly small cargo planes and stuff," said Biittner. "Eventually I want to transition into the field of helicopters and be able to become a helicopter pilot."