Atherton teenager CiCi Bellis turned pro instead of choosing to attend Stanford, while last year’s Heisman Trophy runner-up Christian McCaffrey declared for the NFL Draft, skipping this week’s Sun Bowl.

Serra High in San Mateo and Eastside Prep in East Palo Alto were crowned state champions in basketball, while local schools swept the Central Coast Section girls soccer playoffs.

Streak busters ended a pair of CCS dynasties, Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton continued its dominance in the pool and St. Francis in Mountain View sprung to great heights right before the summer.

Meanwhile, Stanford extended its run of NCAA championships to 41 consecutive academic years with back-to-back titles within the span of a week.

But it’s hard to argue that the biggest sports stories of 2016 for The Daily News took place anywhere other than Rio de Janeiro.

SHP grad KK Clark joined the cause as Team USA defended its gold medal at the Olympics, along with a Stanford quartet from past, future and present.

“I didn’t know I was the first person out of Sacred Heart to be an Olympian,” Clark said. “Being able to have that platform and just be that representative in the sports world for the school is truly an honor, because the school is more than sports, more than academics, they’re the whole package.”

Team USA coach Adam Krikorian, a Mountain View native, briefly left the team in Rio after one of his brothers died of a heart attack just prior to the opening ceremonies.

“Seeing him in pain was really, really difficult,” Clark said. “He said, ‘I’m going to have some moments, but I’m going to be fine and I need you guys to just continue being who you are because that’s what got us here.’ So we just had to honor that request of his.”

Kiley Neushul, who converted a 5-meter penalty with 11 seconds to turn Stanford into the NCAA champion as a senior in 2015, was joined by former teammate Maggie Steffens, incoming freshman Mackenzie Fischer, who deferred for a year to make her dreams of Olympic gold turn into a reality, and Melissa Seidemann (class of ’12), who is tied for the all-time lead in goals at Stanford, in the pool as this group of Cardinal embraced the Red, White and Blue.

Since 2007, the girls water polo team at SHP hasn’t tasted defeat in the Central Coast Section championships. So it was almost expected for the Gators to claim a 10th CCS Division II title in a row.

“At times I felt like this season was about not losing, and that’s a hard position to be in,” SHP coach Jon Burke said. “It was a nerve-wracking week.”

A decade of supremacy in the pool was realized at Independence High in San Jose, as the Gators rebuffed a threat to their legacy with a 7-3 victory over Soquel.

“I can’t fathom it,” said Michigan-bound senior Maddy Johnston, who converted a 5-meter penalty shot for the game-winning goal.

Also, for a sixth year in a row, the Gators were crowned as boys Division II champions, this time after a 13-9 victory over Atherton neighbor and rival Menlo School in a rematch of last year’s final.

“I think it’s probably the best way to go out,” said SHP goalie JC Marco, a senior co-captain. “To beat your crosstown rival is really nice and to win at the end is a just great, high note.”