Credit: Tom Chen Photography

10.3.2022 – Menlo School is pleased to announce our Hall of Fame inductees and special awards going to longtime Major League Baseball journalist and author Chris Haft during homecoming weekend.

The 10 will be honored before the homecoming football and water polo games in a ceremony at 10:30 am, Saturday Oct. 8 in the new Spieker Center for the Arts.

Ryan Cavan ’05 | baseball, soccer

The two-time, first-team all-league selection batted .398 his senior year, .449 his junior season and led the Knights to a Central Coast Section title. He later served as Menlo coach for two seasons, including the 2016 CCS Championship season. After Menlo, Cavan was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 2009 MLB first-year players draft out of UC-Santa Barbara. He played five seasons in the Giants organization, and in 2012, earned a Gold Glove as the top defensive second baseman in the minors. Cavan was called up to for a spring training game in 2013, and in his majors debut, homered and drove in a run.

Thomas Foley ’02 | water polo, swimming

Foley led Menlo to Central Coast Section titles in 2000 and 2001. He was an All-America third-team selection as a senior, and first team all-state in water polo. He was selected All-CCS twice, earning first-team honors in 2001, second-team accolades in 2000, and was a two-time all-league selection. In addition, he was an All-America honorable mention at the 2001 Junior Olympics. After Menlo, he competed with the U.S. Junior National Team in 2002. Foley helped the Bruins to an NCAA championship in 2004.

Sarah Hoffman ’07 | tennis

Hoffman led the Knights to four league titles and a CCS Championship in 2005. She won the CCS Singles Championship as a junior, as well as three league singles titles and a doubles championship. She was a two-time National High School Tennis Foundation All-American, and was the school’s all-time girls’ tennis leader in career wins. After graduation from Menlo, Hoffman played singles and doubles for Princeton.

Kim Krueger ’07 | water polo, swimming

Krueger paced the Knights to Central Coast Section titles from 2004-06, was a first team All-CCS pick, and MVP of the CCS All-Star Game. A two-time Water Polo All-American. she was named first-team all-league twice in water polo and four times in swimming. She finished as a CCS Top 16 swimmer three times. In summer 2006, she helped the U.S. to a Junior Pan-Am Games title. After Menlo, Krueger was captain of Stanford’s 2011 NCAA title team, and all-conference and all-academic selection.This autumn, she was named assistant coach for Stanford women’s water polo team..

Michael Merlone ’07 | water polo, swimming

The goalie led the Knights to CCS titles in 2005 and 2006. He was a first team All-American as a senior, and a second team All-American as a junior. A CCS swim qualifier all four years, he finished his career with an All-American Consideration time and won bronze in the 100 breaststroke at the CCS Finals and swam on the fourth-place finishing medley relay also with an All-American Consideration time. At Princeton, Merlone was three-year starter and co-captained the team with fellow Menlo alum Matt Hale. His team took bronze at the 2009 NCAA Tournament as a junior and was Collegiate Water Polo Association division MVP, and All-American honorable mention..

James Pade ’02 | tennis

Pade guided the Knights to four CCS championships and three NorCal titles in four years during which the Knights went 99-6. Pade is a three-time National High School Tennis Foundation All-American, and won the CCS Singles title as a senior. In 2002, he was ranked fifth in singles and second in doubles in the nation in 18s. Pade also played in the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2002. After Menlo, he played three years at Stanford before turning pro in 2006. He led a 20-3 singles record in 2006 and 20-4 singles record in 2003 when the team reached the NCAA semifinals. He reached an ATP rank of 629 after three months on the tour before injuries sidelined him He returned to Stanford for his degree in 2007.

Brandon Stephens ’91 | football, basketball, track

Stephens was a three-year letterwinner in all three sports. As a senior, he had 25 touchdown catches in helping the Knights to a 12-0 record and a North Coast Section Championship in 1990. He was a sophomore call-up on the 1989 state championship basketball team. After Menlo, Stephens played three seasons of football for Princeton before being sidelined with an injury. He was a member of the 1992 Ivy League Championship team.

Edward Wexler-Beron ’02 | basketball

Wexler-Beron was a first-team all-league selection as a junior, and served as co-captain his senior year, during which he missed most of the season due to an injury. He received the Coaches Award as a senior. After Menlo, Wexler-Beron led Pomona College to a conference title and NCAA Div. III playoffs in 2004 and 2005. He was MVP and a first-team, all-conference selection in 2006 and received Pomona’s Scholar-Athlete Award. At the London School of Economics and Political Science, he was leading scorer on the 2007 team which won Div, II British National Championship.

Grant Zider ’02 | water polo, baseball

Zider was named water polo Northern California Player of the Year in 2002. He earned All-America first-team honors in 2002, and fifth-team honors in 2001. He was named league MVP his senior season, and lifted the Knights to back-to-back league and CCS Championships in 2000 and 2001. He was an NISCA All-American pick in 2000. In baseball, he was a first-team all-league pick and boosted Menlo to league titles in 2001, 2002. At UCLA, Zider scored 47 goals his junior and senior seasons. He also was a finalist for National Player of the Year by the American Water Polo Coaches Association.

Chris Haft ’77
Robert A. Lurie ’45 Distinguished Athletic Award and Fred R. Halverson Award

Haft has written about baseball - often with a focus on the San Francisco Giants - for nearly three decades. He has written for Major League Baseball’s mlb.com, The Mercury News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and has penned three books about the Giants. He wrote “If These Walls Could Talk: San Francisco Giants: Stories from the San Francisco Giants Dugout, Locker Room, and Press Box,” a history of the Giants’ run of success since 2010 and follows his book This Is Our Time!: The 2010 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants. He also co-authored longtime clubhouse manager Mike Murphy’s memoir titled From The Stick to The Cove: My Six Decades with the San Francisco Giants.