Athletic Director Steven Kryger delivered an overview of each spring sport at Spring Sports Awards Night, May 18. Kryger acknowledged the huge success of the spring season and the records achieved by M-A athletes.
Kryger mentioned the girls varsity lacrosse team’s unprecedented success this season. For the first time since 2007, the team beat Menlo, with a score of 11 to 9. According to Kryger, this season “was also a record-breaking year for three players. Junior attacker and captain Grace Tully ended the season ranked 12th in the state for goals with 76, and 10th in the state for total points with 99. Sophomore midfielder Annie Payne ended her season ranked 9th in the state for ground balls with a total of 70, and junior attacker Izzy Regonini ended her season ranked 13th in the state for assists with 33.” Also, according to Kryger, Grace Tully, Izzy Carhart, Emma Easton, Izzy Regonini, and Annie Payne will represent Northern California in this year’s National Tournament.
Players from the boys lacrosse team also made huge strides towards success. According to Kryger, junior Jack Wolf was the Offensive Player of the Year for the Bears and maintained the school record he set last year of 59 goals. Also, junior Cooper Waymire was the Defensive Player of the Year for the Bears, and “had 181 saves and stopped 59% of the shots he faced on goal.” The team won the first round of the playoffs and finished its season in the Pacific Athletic League (PAL) semi-finals.
M-A athletes on the girls swim team achieved several records this season as well. Sophomore Izzy Henig “won the 50 and 100 free at CCS with new M-A records. She also won the 100 fly and 200 free at PALs and set a new league and school record in the 200 free.” In CCS, Henig won the “4 x 100 relay with Haley Arrington, Sophie Murff and Kate Denend and fifth place in the 4 x 50 relay with Sophie Murff, Maddie Worden and Kate Denend.” Both of these wins have registered as new M-A records and “Henig and the relays will be headed to the State Championships next weekend and the times achieved qualify them for All American status,” which are the top 100 times in the country. Along with the success of girls swimming, junior diver Mia Paulsen “placed third at CCS and will also compete at States.”
The boys swimming team also saw huge success this season. The Bears “were second to Carlmont at PALs but tied with them for 13th at CCS.” Senior Vincent Busque “placed sixth in both the 200 and 500 frees (and will swim the 500 at States) and set new M-A records too.” Busque, sophomore Nik Caryotakis, senior Alex Hakanson, and sophomore Max Ferenczy placed 11th in the 200 free relay. Busque also received tenth place in the 400 free relay with Caryotakis, senior Jak Tedesco, and Ferenczy.
According to Kryger, the girls and boys junior varsity swim team went undefeated in PALs by a landslide. Double winners at PAL were junior Allison Collins, sophomore Ayla Huhn, freshman Molly Banks, sophomore Chris Lobdell, junior Alec Berquist, and junior Hugo McMillan.
The boys varsity tennis team has built an outstanding record for M-A. The Bears finished “14-0 in the regular season to capture the PAL Bay Division Championship for the eighth consecutive year and ended the regular season with an overall record of 18-2. The team’s league record for the last eight years is 111-1.” Senior Jack Jensen and freshman Timmy Berthier won the PAL Individual Doubles Championship, and senior Noah Milman and junior Camillo Saueressig took third place. The Bears’ incredibly successful season “earned 14 varsity players All League Honors.”
Boys and girls track and field saw an outstanding number of new records and success this season. Senior Annalisa Crowe “set a new school record in the 1600, running a 5:01; the boys sprint medley relay team of Marquise Reid, Terrance Matthews-Murphy, Jordan Mims and Jack Gray set a new school record by more than three seconds; the girls sprint medley team of Logan Maines, Kathryn Mohr, Maggie Hall and Olivia Shane also set a new school record in the event; the girls distance medley relay team of Madeliene Baier, Cat Depuy, Maggie Hall and Annalisa Crowe broke the school record in the event by 17 seconds; and Kathryn Mohr broke her own meet record with a vault of 12’4” in the pole vault.” The girls team was also announced the league champion in the PAL Championship Meet. The girls team “[had] six league champions out of 16 events and qualified at least one athlete to CCS in 12 of the 16 events. On the boys side there were three league champions and the team qualified at least one athlete to CCS in 11 of the 16 events.”
Twenty athletes from the boys and girls track and field team made the All-League Team: Marquise Reid, Jordan Mims, Jack Gray, Terrance Matthews-Murphy, Luke Scandlyn, Evan Reed, Bryce Rodgers, Gunnar Jongebloed, Charlotte Schroeder, Kathryn Mohr, Tatum Maines, Maggie Hall, Annalisa Crowe, Madeleine Baier, Cat Depuy, Olivia Shane, Megan St. John, Autriyana Hardy, Kalina Zanelli, and Jessica Eagle.
In its second season in M-A history, the boys volleyball team became a force to be reckoned with. This has been a historic season for the Bears because of the creation of PALs for boys volleyball. The team “dominated the league finishing with an overall record of 27-8 and a league record of 12-0 in matches and 36-0 in sets.” Senior Edward Falefa was voted league MVP this season. “Cortney Weintz developed into a star this year while Schuyler Knapp orchestrated the offense. Both earned First Team All-League Honors.” The Bears also finished “in the gold division in all three tournaments they entered, including a second and third place finish, went undefeated in league, and was the first team ever with the honor of representing the PAL in the CCS playoffs.”
Athletic Director Paul Snow presented seniors Annalisa Crowe and Sally Carlson with the Three-Sport Athlete Award. The Three-Sport Award is an award that recognizes two students’ dedication to at least three sports in their junior and senior years, as well as their studies. Both Crowe and Carlson have maintained a grade-point-average above a 4.0. Also, track and field coach and M-A history teacher Alan Perry announced the awards for the two athletes of the year: Annalisa Crowe and Bryce Rodgers.The athletes of the year were given a plaque to recognize the hard work they each put in to become extremely successful and inspiring athletes.
Senior Bryce Rodgers, a college-bound football player for University of California Davis, said the award “means a lot. It’s always great to be recognized for your hard work, and to be surprised that way was truly a great experience.” Going forward Rodgers aspires “to continue working hard and make a name for [himself] on both the football field as well as do well in [his] classes.”
At the end of the ceremony, all of the seniors who will become college athletes were brought on stage and congratulated for their achievements as student-athletes. These seniors include Nikolai Tarran, Matthew Johnston, Maddie Worden, Jack Posthauer, Lexi Lobdell, Sally Carlson, Bryce Rodgers, Christian Fioretti, Kevin Shimbo, Justin Friedsman, Ben Stanley, Talia Missan, Kate Kramer, Annalisa Crowe, Christian Huhn, Cat Depuy, Kevin Conrad, Kathryn Mohr, and Mary Lane.
This year’s sports teams have demonstarted the immense amount of strength and talent that M-A students have to offer. As our seniors move on to the next chapter of their lives, it is clear that they will continue achieving greatness and inspiring others around them.
