Led by seniors Brandon Balladares, Dixon Layton, Justin Robinson, Andres Sobalvarro, and Marcus Veal, the Varsity Boys Baseball team has launched into the 2016 season with an impressive 5-0 record in league games, as well as an overall 10-3 record. Although the team is graduating some of its best players with this senior class, outstanding underclassmen such as James Crutcher ’18 and Jake Slaughter ’19 show promise for the team’s future success. Drummer pulled off an impressive demonstration of his pitching skills against the Bentley School of Oakland. According to Jonah Gerard-Grossman ’17, Drummer is an “up and coming” pitcher on the team. Thanks to Drummer’s pitching, the boys tied with Stuart Hall for first in league after a walkoff run by Robinson against the team. Although the boys lost to University in BCL playoffs, they brought home the league title this year. They will start NCS the week of the 23rd.
Track and Field has led an impressive season so far, with the girls team leading BCL West and the boys comfortably in third. Led by Coach Jeffrey Gardiner, the boys and girls distance runners have put together a solid lineup, with runners such as captain and senior Brian Ebisuzaki, as well as Erik Stein ’18, Sean Laidlaw ’18, and Nick Harris ’19 on the boys side. Star jumper and 800 runner Maggie Drew ’18, and Alison Savage-Brooks ’19, have been strong point scorers on the girls side. Lick-Wilmerding Alumnus and Coach Logan Pierce ’15 has been working closely with the team’s jumpers to dramatically improve distances. School hurdle record holders Eva Laxo ’16 (300H) and Aubrey Egerter ’17 (100HH) lead a strong and numerous girls hurdling team this year. After graduating some of the top hurdlers in school history, the boys hurdling team has put together an impressive group of sprinters including David Ludeke ’17, Henry Bernholz ’19, and Ben Harris ’19. The boys sprinters, led by Oliver Mancini ’17, pulled through a tough couple meets and showed massive improvement heading into the championships. On the girls side, captain Alexis Bullock ’16 leads star sprinters such as Egerter, as well as up and coming underclassmen like Emily Rupright ’18 and Kate Folsom ’19. After some injuries in a couple top scoring athletes, including Jill Reilly ’17 and Shevann Steuben ’16 the girls suffered a close loss to University High School in BCL 3, narrowly missing a clinch of the League Championship. The boys, currently ranked third, are not letting second place go without a fight. It should be an interesting season, and the team hopes to see more spectators cheering them on from the stands.
With strong point scorers such as Audrey Lukawski ’18, as well as leadership from captains Sonia Martin ’16, Averie Kellenberger ’16, Pauline Unietis ’16, Keanu Velasquez ’17, and Aiden Lisker ’16, Varsity Swimming has made a splash in the BCL West league this year. With a tough loss to Marin Academy, but a win against San Domenico, the team had an exciting season. Olympia Francis Taylor ’18 says of the team dynamic, “we all love each other,” highlighting traditions such as “Secret Swimmer,” and bus rides ending with In-and-Out.
Led by seniors Max Ozer-Staton, Anthony Sinclair, Shane Gilligan-Steinberg, Desmond Everts, Zach Cummings, Jacob Shaw, and Gabriel and Eytan Shillinger-Hyman, Varsity Boys Tennis entered NCS as the two seed, with an undefeated record and a third consecutive BCL West title. After sweeping in a match against Urban, the team had a lot of momentum going into the championship tournament. Their shot at the championship ended after a loss to Piedmont, but the boys had a great season.
After a tie to International High School and a tough loss to University in early March, Varsity Badminton led an impressive 5 game winning streak to finish second in league. Led by captains Caitlin Murphy ’16 and Qiwei Hong ’16, the team sent three doubles pairs to NCS, including Warren Tse ’17 and Matt Liu ’17, Alex Sahai ’16 and Matt Han ’17, as well as Murphy and Amie Baumgartner ’17. The team finished out the season with 11 wins, 1 tie and 2 losses. While the team graduates prominent seniors such as Murphy, Hong, Sahai, Alexa Saccone, Jeremy Sparagon, Danya Sauerhaft, Taft Kilpack, Cameron Kaplan, Nathan Gorjance, Niza Contreras and Lukas Babbs, underclassmen such as Mari Cure ’19 and Greg Saccone ’19, as well as other freshmen, show a promising future for the badminton team.
After finishing 3rd in BCL West with a 3-2 record, Varsity Boys Lacrosse headed to NCS for the first time in three years as the 12th seed. Although their time in the championship was cut short after a loss to Campolindo in mid May, the team had an impressive season thanks to captains Nate Lam ’16, Seiji Oda ’16, David Rupright ’16, Griffin Ashbury ’16, and Jack Fong ’16. Although the team is graduating many important seniors, the strength of the junior players including Ryan Kimball and top point scorer Ryan Kearns, as well as many talented underclassmen such as Andrew Chan ’18 and Liam Maniscalco ’18 bodes well for the future success of the team.
For the first year ever, Girls Lacrosse was split into both varsity and junior varsity teams. Led by captains Zeli Grey ’17 and Ciara Keegan ’16, the varsity girls finished 8th in NCS with a 6-1 league record and 12-3 overall. Grey notes the improvement and contributions of sophomores Lauren Carothers-Liske and goalie Sarah Dean, as well as impressive seasons from first time lacrosse players Shannon Raymundo ’19 and Sara Kashani-Sabet ’19, who made varsity their first year. Top point scorer Emily Rupright ’18 was also a significant player on the team this past season. The team sends off seniors Keegan, Michelle Soledad, Carolena Leon, Catherine Peabody, Wiley Wadsworth, Julia Howard and Sydni Green with a great final season.
Congratulations to this year’s Athletic Award winners!
Scholar Athlete of the Year:
Boys: Kevin Hou
Girls: Maddy Nakada
Athlete of the Year:
Boys: Jacob Shaw
Girls: Catherine Peabody
CORRECTION: Matt Han’s doubles partner who made it to NCS with him for badminton is Lucas Unietis ’17, not Alex Sahai.