Winter 2023-24 Season Update

What a season of sport!  All of our Winter teams saw post season action this year, including an NCS Championship by the Boys Soccer Team, their fourth.  Read up on the details below and don’t forget to register for the 16th Annual Golf Classic on Friday, May 3.  Can’t make it out to Tilden?  Buy your raffle tickets online, or even better, join us in supporting BHS Athletics and making a donation to The Finish Line Fund.  

The Varsity Boys Basketball team was strong this season with a 2nd place WACC League finish including impressive wins over Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland Tech, Dougherty Valley, and Modesto Christian.  The exciting 20-win season included attending 2 southern California showcases, including the prestigious Torrey Pines Holiday Classic over Winter Break where they went 3-1 and won the consolation championship. The team avenged all 3 early league losses, beating Alameda, Piedmont, and Bishop O’Dowd in convincing fashion the second time around.  The team’s tough schedule and impressive win-loss record garnered them a #2 seed in the Division 1 NCS sectional playoffs.    

First Team All League honors went to seniors Ollie Miller and Samir O’Brien.  AJ Loustau and Amani Shea each received an Honorable Mention.  The Varsity team had a 3.4 team GPA.

The Junior Varsity team finished off their winning season with a 13-6 record.  The Frosh team also had a winning season with a final 11-5 record.  Impressively, 8 of the 18 players on the Frosh team earned the Presidential Scholars for a gpa between 3.8 – 4.0 gpa and another 6 received Scholar Athletes awards for a 3.5 – 3.79 gpa.

 The Girls Basketball team is heading places.  25 girls participated across JV and Varsity teams with an overall 9-14 record.  With a league record of 6 wins and 4 losses, the Varsity team qualified for the NCS tournament.  Even though it was a loss, it was a great experience for the younger players and is starting the groundwork for rebuilding the program.  An exciting game this season was vs. Mt Eden where Berkeley was 11 points down but came back to win the game in an important program win.  

Senior Jamaia Harrison was a unanimous 1st team All League selection and had a season high 36 points vs. the league winner Encinal HS.  Najuna Kiggandou received honorable mention as a sophomore.  The team also attended and participated in the Cal Women’s Basketball Black History Month Celebration at Haas Pavilion.  Berkeley High players attended the game at the end of the season as the team continues to build a positive culture.  The end of season banquet included speakers from former BHS players for inspiration.

Boys Soccer had another thrilling season!  The Varsity team finished 2nd place in league and NCS Division 1 Champions!  This is the 4th NCS Championship for the team, meaning there will be another star added to their uniforms.  Ninety athletes participated in the program with an undefeated Freshman team (18-0-0) and a nearly undefeated JV team (21-1-1) that finished with final tally of 85 goals for and only 5 against.  All three teams won the Tri-Valley Tournament.

Every NCS playoff game was thrilling to watch and there was a great Berkeley contingent at the Championship game at Dougherty Valley.  Berkeley High then had the honor of hosting the first round game in the NorCal CIF State Championship Regional competition.  Berkeley dominated the ball during the regulation period and finished in a 1-1 draw.  However, St. Francis prevailed in penalty kicks and the Varsity season finished with a 23-3-2 record.

All League First team honors went to Oliver Adams, Marlow Buettner and Oliver Gill.  Second team honors went to Harlem Clemons; Kai Lucas and Niko Luckey, with Honorable Mentions to Henry Marcus and Eluoan Pecson.  The pipeline is strong and Berkeley High Boys Soccer will continue to be the team to beat.

Seventy-six athletes were a part of Berkeley High Girls Soccer this season with Varsity, JV and Freshman teams all playing strong.  Varsity finished in second in the WACC league and made it as far as the NCS quarter finals before finishing with a 15-win season, the second highest number of wins in the past ten years.  Highlights of the season included taking down rival Bishop O’Dowd twice and defeating powerhouse Carondelet.  Players Sophia Alberga and Mia Sieminski were voted First Team All League.

JV girl’s soccer at BHS is a strong place for juniors and sophomore’s to bond together and form a strong community over the communal love for soccer. We all work together as a team to encourage one another to improve our skills. The team experienced a lot of success in the second half of the season, and were able to expand our techniques and style of play, while getting those W’s. The JV team finished with an overall 13-6-3 record and a 9-2-1 record in League play .

The Frosh team finished with the best record in the League at 13-1-1, Top Ranked in NorCal and Second in CA via Max Prep Ranking for Frosh Teams.  The team scored 71 Goals in the season with 18 unique goal scorers and 15 shut-outs.
The early season game vs Carondelet was tightly contested but the team was able to walk away with a draw. Close game throughout but conceded a goal in the second half, the team was able to bounce back and get a goal in the last 10 minutes and came close to winning with a last-minute effort that went off the crossbar. This game set the tone for the rest of the team’s success that followed. Last game of the season against Miramonte the team had their most dominant game with over 67% possession, and 70% passing completion, finishing off the season with a 6 to 0 win. In addition to success on the field, the Girl’s Frosh team took time during the season to volunteer at the Alameda Community Food Bank, while also continuing to excel in the classroom with the majority of athletes attaining a 4.0 GPA. 

The wrestling team keeps growing with 32 boys and 11 girls participating this season as the team finished with a 4-4 League Record.  Berkeley had 2 league champions, Dyami Allen – Boys 150 lbs. and Shiella Paredes-Akimoto – Girls 115 lbs.  Five boys took part in NCS: Dyami Allen, Charlie Gittelsohn, Suhaib Amar, Ben Blair and Gio Gaspar Vasquez, with 8 girls making it to NCS: Shiella Paredes-Akimoto, Emory Ely, Sifora Kahsay, Eloise Thomas, Victoria Fierro Ocampo, Metztli Olague-Guerrero, Padma Liu and Petra Harth.

At NCS, Victoria went 3-2, placing in the top 12 of her weight class (as a freshman). Shiella came 4th in the section and qualified for State.  At the State match, Shiella went 1-2 earning the first points for Berkeley High at the State level in over a decade.

The JV Girls team placed second at the JV North Coast Girls Championship Tournament, bringing home the first trophy for Berkeley Wrestling in over a decade.  The JV Boys Team brought home 18 medals this year and the JV Girls team brought home 20 medals.  Varsity Boys earned 5 medals with Varsity Girls earning 9 medals, including Shiella earning a 3rd place medal at MidCals (one of the toughest tournaments in NorCal, with her only loss coming to the state champion).

The Berkeley Athletic Fund was on hand for several contests this Winter to spread Yellow Jacket spirit and host Booster Appreciation events.  Fans who couldn’t make it to the game watched the livestream via HUDL, just part of the critical infrastructure for one of the largest high school athletic programs around that is funded by your donations to the Berkeley Athletic Fund.

The Spring Sports Season, the busiest time of year for Berkeley High Athletics is in full swing. The Badminton, Baseball, Crew, Boys Golf, Boys Lacrosse, Girls Lacrosse, Softball, Swimming & Diving, Track & Field, Boys Tennis and Boys Volleyball teams will be representing Berkeley High in games, meets and matches through May.  The schedule of games is always available on the Berkeley High Athletics website.  

Need some Jacket gear to show your school pride while cheering for your favorite team?  Yellow Jacket gear is available year round on the Fan Store.  Players and coaches love to see fans, hope to see you at a game soon!

The Berkeley Athletic Fund raises funds year round to maintain coach stipends and equipment fund.  Your tax-deductible contribution to the Berkeley Athletic Fund goes to work right here in Berkeley on the field, in the pool, on the court, or in the gym for the 1200 student athletes at Berkeley High. Become a Berkeley High Booster today!

Attention golfers!

Registration for the 16th Annual BAF Golf Classic, to be held May 3, 2024 is open and spots are filling fast.  Reserve your spot, sponsor a hole or invite a coach here.