Page 46 - Menlo Magazine Summer 2019

SUMMER/FALL 2019
WINTER-SPRING REVIEW 2018-2019
ATHLETICS
Highlights
The Menlo Athletics winter and spring campaign was a thrilling season marked by highlights and program firsts. Girls’ basketball won its fourth state title in Menlo history. The girls’ track & field team won a program-first CCS title. Boys’ and girls’ soccer teams advanced to the CCS championship games and section champion girls’ soccer made the inaugural CIF- NorCal playoffs. Every winter and spring team advanced to
the postseason.
For the year, 13 teams, including every spring team, finished in the CCS Scholastic Top 5 with the highest collective GPAs among section teams. Baseball and boys’ track & field were CCS Scholastic champions.
Seven winter and spring athletes earned marquee league honors: Talia Grossman ’20 (girls’ soccer MVP-goalie), Charlie Hsieh ’19 (boys’ golf MVP), Sophie Jones ’19 (girls’ soccer MVP-midfielder), Justin Nam ’19 (baseball MVP), Charlotte Tomkinson ’20 (girls’ track MVP), Andrei Volgin ’19 (boys’ tennis MVP), and Page Wolfenden ’20 (girls’ lacrosse MVP-attacker).
BASEBALL
PAL-Bay champion, CCS semifinalist, CCS Scholastic champion
Menlo baseball had an eight-game win streak midseason en route to a league championship. The Knights
League MVP Justin Nam ’19 led the Knights to a PAL-Bay Division title and a trip to the CCS semifinals
advanced to a CCS Div. II semifinal, where they fell in the 11th inning. Along the way, Menlo went 10-4 in the top-tier Bay Division, winning the program’s sixth league title in the past 10 years. League Most Valuable Player Justin Nam ’19 starred in a rotation that included all-league selections Bennett Norman ’19, Julien Hernandez ’20, and Kiefer Lord ’20. Nam, who had a .432 batting average, five home runs, and
33 RBI, led the Knights along with plenty of firepower from outfielders Ian Collins ’20, Max Chou ’20, and JC Ng ’21.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
CCS quarterfinalist, WBAL fourth place
The season started with the Knights raising funds to help with travel costs, and they ended up holding a shoot-a-thon to aid victims of the state’s wildfires. Menlo returned to CCS, advancing to the CCS quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Carmel. Cole Kastner ’20 recorded 17 double- doubles, leading the Knights in scoring and rebounding.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
CIF state champion, NorCal champion, CCS Open qualifier
It was a storybook ending for the girls’ basketball team, which won a state championship—Menlo’s fourth in program history and its first since 1991. To get to state, the team cruised to a NorCal championship. The Knights finished the year with a 26-5 overall record under John Paye ’83, who coached Menlo to its other state championships (1989-1991). The team was led in scoring and assists by Avery Lee ’21 and in rebounds by Sharon Nejad ’22—both first-team all-league picks.
Fellow all-league picks
Nate Solomon ’19
and Justin Sellers ’20 helped pace the Knights, who went 3-1 for fifth at the Orange Classic.
Prolific scorer and rebounder Cole Kastner led boys’ basketball to the CCS quarterfinals
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