Spring 2023
| Spring was another successful season of Berkeley High Sports! We had over 600 students representing Berkeley High in Badminton, Baseball, Boys & Girls Crew, Boys Golf, Boys & Girls Lacrosse, Boys & Girls Swimming & Diving, Softball, Boys Tennis, Boys & Girls Track and Boys Volleyball. Teams won League Championships, dominated League Tournaments, faced post-season playoff action in the NCS tournament and State finals and even raced at Nationals. As you take off on a well-deserved summer break, demonstrate your support for Berkeley High Athletics by making a donation today here. Donations made now make you a part of the 2023-24 Booster Club. |
Badminton
Coaches: Kyle Hayden, Assistants Kelvin Tang and Jackie Dai
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| The 2023 spring season of Badminton brought a welcome return to a full roster of 32 athletes. While the majority of the team was new to the sport of badminton, the spirit and drive to grow and succeed was present like never before! An extremely dominant roster in the boys’ singles event led by the team captain Nathan Nguyen set a high bar for the rest of the team to strive for, winning 42 out of 45 matches played this season. Berkeley Badminton tied for second place in the WACC Shoreline League standings with a 7:3 record. This year the badminton team wasn’t able to bring home league champion, or have as many athletes qualify for the extremely competitive NCS Championships as we might have liked. But despite this the coaches know that the coming years will bring amazing things for the team. The athletes should be extremely proud of all they accomplished and how much growth they have shown, especially the 9th graders that came in completely new to the sport at the start of the season only to go toe-to-toe with athletes from other schools with years of experience. With 24 of the 32 athletes being new to the team, the returning players really stepped up, helping their peers whenever possible. Badminton is a fairly individualized sport with JV and Varsity playing all together, which can sometimes lead to students not feeling a sense of team spirit, however this year many of the athletes went out of their way to create a welcoming and supportive environment where everyone from alternates to top ranked players felt like part of the same family. The other coaches in the league recognized the respect and impressive maturity shown off by our athletes, leading to six athletes making the all-league team, with two honorable mentions. |
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Baseball
Coaches:
Varsity: Curtis Sandeford. Assistants: Mike Jefferson and Josh Cephas
JV: Jason Stratton. Assistants: Jason Russell and Jack Nelson
Frosh: Ross Parker. Assistants: Eddie Gonzalez and Joel Kleinman
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Varsity The varsity baseball team had another stand out season, finishing the season 19-8 and winning the WACC League Tournament. Some key victories include Liberty, Acalanes, Monte Vista, and St. Mary’s (Berkeley). Elijah Fairchild led the league in batting average at .393 and was solid at shortstop. Leo Asfar led the league with 7 home runs and 18 RBIs. Nikhil Beasley was rock solid behind the plate, hitting .309. William Chang, EJ Cord, Manny Selles, Trey Johnson and Jackson Ehrlich have contributed mightily on defense and at the plate. The pitching staff is anchored by Daniel Beadles (5-1), Julian Ito (3-0) and Nikhil Newman-Anand (3-1). With only one pitcher graduating this year the future looks bright for the baseball Jackets. The team qualified for post-season NCS play and won a first round game over Heritage before falling in the second round.
Junior Varsity
It was another amazing season for the JV baseball team. After struggling to get practice time with the heavy rain in the early part of the season, the team went on to post a 6-1 record in league and a 10-5-1 record overall. Highlights include an extra inning tie with area powerhouse De La Salle and back to back wins over Bishop O’Dowd. Arson Ormsby (.404 BA) and Miles Mino (.457 On Base with 2 HRs) have led the offense. Sasha Spahr has anchored the pitching rotation with a 1.45 ERA and 32Ks in 29 innings. The team finished the season at the top of the league.
Freshman
The Freshman team had a thrilling season best described in 2 words: consistent improvement. The rain provided very few opportunities to practice early on and, after starting 0-6, the team caught fire. Highlights include sweeping doubleheaders against both De la Salle at home and a talented Las Lomas team on the road. The Frosh team ran a 6-game win streak of absolutely mashing the ball scoring 86 runs on 80 hits over that stretch. The team caught fire once April 1st came around. They finished the season winning 10 of 15 including a 6-game win streak. Over the last 15 games, they boasted a team batting average of .344 and a team on-base-percentage of .490 while pitchers did their job limiting opponents to just 4.5 runs per game. The team was tight knit and had a blast. Go Jackets!
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Crew
Coaches:
Varsity: Marie Jones and Leon Maurer
Novice: Alexis Aiello and Chris Hoeper-Tomich
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| This season 116 athletes rowed on Berkeley High School Crew across four different squads. It was a very strong season with good showings against both scholastic and club team competitors. Berkeley High is proud to be a no cuts high school team, providing access to a wonderful sport to anyone who joins, while maintaining a high level of competitiveness. The team finished the year with excellent racing at the two Championship Regattas. For the West Coast Scholastic Regional Championship, the team qualified four boats (Boy’s Varsity 8+, Boy’s Varsity 4+, Girls’s Varsity 4+, and the Girls’s JV 4+) for Scholastic Nationals (SRAA). Three will be competing at SRAA, held on Lake Melton in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on May 26th-27th. At the USRowing Southwest Youth Championships, in Gold River, CA, which was larger than in year’s past with over 600 entries and 30 teams competing, BHS Crew was able to progress several boats to semi-finals and three to grand finals; Women’s U16 4x+, Men’s U17 4+, and Men’s U16 4+ who finished 6th, 6th and 4th respectively. Berkeley High Crew has a strong, thriving community of current rowers, alumni, and friends and family. Five out of the eight current coaches are Berkeley High Crew alums! Every year, BHS sends well prepared athletes to row in college, notably the senior class this year will be rowing and coxing Division I at Columbia University and UC San Diego in the Fall of 2023! |
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Boys Golf
Coaches:
Varsity: Ahmad Dilliehunt. Assistant: Ryan Costello
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Berkeley High Boys Golf finished 5-9 on the season, and 4-4 at home. The season started off great with two strong home wins vs Arroyo HS and Encinal. The team continued to improve all season and saved their best for last. Shooting a team score of 230 in the final match of the year, the young team showed they have a bright future ahead!
Congratulations Berkeley High Boys Golf on a memorable season!
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Boys Lacrosse
Coaches:
Varsity: Jerem Stothers, Mike Clark, Riley Westover
JV: Fritz Lechner, Chase Betta
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Boy’s lacrosse finished the regular season with a 11-7 record, came in 3rd place in the league and received the 14th seed in Div 1 NCS Championships. There were many thrilling come from behind one point wins including the Casa Grande game where the Jackets were down two goals with 48 seconds to go and scored three times in 26 second for an epic win. JV had a great year as well going 7-5 overall led by Max Zoidis scoring 50 goals.
For team awards – Max Cherbini won the Leadership Award and Coaches Award, Zane Liebert won Most Improved, Owen Rieger won Unsung Hero and Hayden Hockenbrock took home Most Valuable Player. Seven players made all-league honors. Max Cherbini, Hayden Hockenbrock and Marc Rebusi with 1st Team honors. Anthony Cherbini, Satchel Wells and Cody Shevelson were honored with 2nd Team and Owen Rieger with Honorable Mention. 14 players received NCS scholar athlete honors. What a fantastic year!
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Girls Lacrosse
Coaches:
Varsity:Jessica Seggman, August Fern
JV: Megan Potmesil, Kodie Goodwin
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The Varsity Girls Lacrosse team enjoyed a strong season of competition, even as spring weather failed to arrive on schedule. Some of the most competitive games of the season ended in close losses against tough teams, but BHS showed signs of great execution of the beautiful game of lacrosse. The home win against Casa Grande was an exciting, come-from-behind win early in the season. Several players were nominated for All League Honors with Sade Devine, Christina Keung, Lane Imen, Sienna Prak-Perry and Desi Reicher all being selected for First Team. Tatum Phelps was selected for Second Team All League and Honorable Mentions were awarded to McKenna Pattison and Luna Sierra-Pine. |
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The JV team finished the season with 5 wins and 8 losses. It was a wet, cold and rainy season but the team had SO MUCH FUN and improved so much!
Also worth noting, this was the first year in Berkeley High Girls Lacrosse history that there was a full complement of Head and Assistant Coaches for both the Varsity and JV teams. Thank you to the Berkeley Athletic Fund for funding coach stipends to make this possible! |
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Swimming & Diving
Coaches:
Swimming: Michael Wilson, John McDonald, Susan Helmrich, Kira McDonough, Kristin Marsh
Diving: Derek Douglas, Avery Fong
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Jacket divers had a spectacular season. Freshman Maya Hammel was the Girls WACC Champion and junior Lucien Geltman-Lamb was the Boys WACC Champion. The boys took 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (Lucien, Liam, Joey, and Sunyata) in varsity diving at the league championships while Maya and Sada secured the 1st and 2nd place spots for the girls. A week later, the BHS boys divers won the NCS Diving Championship outright with 3 scoring divers: Geltman-Lamb, Liam Graham (Jr), and Joey Hall (Sr), while Hammel finished 11th in her maiden NCS competition. The team finished 2nd in the combined boys and girls competition. Lucien took 4th at NCS and qualified for the state championships where he took 22nd. Next year is just as promising with a slew of new divers having finished their first year of JV training.
Both JV and Varsity swimmers enjoyed unprecedented individual success. At the WACC Championship meet, more than 80% of the Varsity swims and 70% of the JV swims were personal bests.
As a team, Girls Varsity swimming & diving won their second straight WACC Championship. They went undefeated in dual meets and won the Championship meet. Top performers included Bri Smyth (Sr), a double WACC Champion, and Charlotte Livermore (So) who stunned everyone by dropping 8 seconds over the course of the season to set a new school record in the 100 Breaststroke. The team won because of its depth, with nearly every swimmer who dove in scoring points. At NCS, the medley relay broke the school record set just last year, with Bri and Charlotte joined by Abril Esqueda and Anaya Lehman. Bri and Charlotte also qualified individually at NCS and Charlotte lowered her new record again.
Boys Varsity Swimming was nearly as successful but needed just a few more bodies in the water. MVP Ariel Kehat (So) was the WACC Champion in the 100 Backstroke. With dramatic time drops at WACC Championships from a slew of swimmers including Luke Childs (Sr), Connor Levi-Lamb (So), Eamonn Kaufer (So), and Yair Sas (So), the boys qualified 2 relays to NCS to join Ariel’s individual swim.
Prospects for next year are fantastic with an extremely promising group of freshman JV swimmers and a very young Varsity team. Giant thanks go to the Berkeley Athletic Fund for funding new equipment and supporting the district’s commitment to competitive coaching stipends.
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Softball
Coaches:
Varsity: Jason Kaneko and Erica Racklin
JV: Jazmin Terry
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This was a rebuilding year for the Softball team with small rosters for both Varsity and JV teams. Yet, the team still had 5 athletes recognized for All League Honors. Paola Gunier received 1st team recognition with Avery Lyman and Oona Capristo selected for 2nd team. Jessenya Corona and Riley Pritchard each received Honorable Mention. The JV team struggled to find other teams to play against as fewer schools in our league ran JV teams this year. |
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Boys Tennis
Coaches: Jeff Jue, Bud Travers and David McCaig
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Even without the benefit of home courts and a long trek up to rented fields every day, the Berkeley High Boys Tennis team is a formidable opponent, winning the WACC League Championship once again. The team finished an undefeated 14-0 in League and 15-3 overall. Several athletes received All League honors: |
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Track & Field
Head Coach: Brad Johnson. Assistants: Brooks Geiken, Anna Breton, Tony Castiglioni, Joshua Blocker, Don Miller
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In February during the first days of practice the number of athletes impressively filled the bleachers. As the weeks progressed the coaches saw a core group begin to solidify and the hard work began. From the first meet at Skyline High to League Championships in Hayward the team demonstrated great improvement. Personal records in the field and running events were set each week and the team felt very united. Looking back it was a fine season with many good marks. As a result of dedicated team efforts the boys team were the WACC season champions. The Girls team were WACC season champions, undefeated in league competition, won the conference finals meet, and took 2nd across the entire NCS Bayshore area. |
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Boys Volleyball
Coaches: Varsity- Silas Everett, JV- Colton Stone, Assistant- Ahrash Bissell
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2023 was a significant year for the BHS Boys Volleyball Program. All but one of the starting team graduated in 2022, and due to COVID there was no JV team in 2022, leaving only six players to return in 2023. Fortunately, interest in BHS Boys Volleyball was significant and 35 athletes attended tryouts. Not only did the JV team expand to 13 players, reigniting the boys’ volleyball program, but the returning 2022 players on Varsity stepped up and formed the core of a highly competitive team which will undoubtedly grow and exert its prowess in the years ahead. For Varsity, the two season matches against Piedmont stood out, with the first away conference match against Piedmont on March 24 particularly memorable. BHS took the first set, lost the next two sets, and unperturbed BHS took the fourth set. With 2-2 on the board, BHS battled back but eventually the momentum swung towards Piedmont who won the final set. Although BHS lost by a score of 3-2, the team fought hard, nearly taking the final set to 15.
For JV, the all-day tourney at O’Dowd on March 18 was a major turning point in the JV season. The team came into the tourney within weeks of just starting to play volleyball and bit unsure of their ability, which continued in pool play. But their victories in the two matches after the pools were reshuffled gave them confidence and cohesion as a team, and they took that into the rest of the season. Even though they didn’t win every match after that, they were in every match, and competed.
Several players received All League honors, with Oliver Shrieve-Herzog and Isaiah Dunbar selected for the All League First Team, Sebastian Chen-McDermott selected for Second Team and Benjamin Thurman receiving an Honorable Mention.
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Berkeley Athletic Fund supports Student Athletes
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The 15th Annual BAF Golf Classic at Tilden Golf Course May 5 filled the entire Golf Course for the first time, raising important funds to support Coach stipends despite the rainy day. Make sure to join us next year for another great day with Berkeley High Coaches, alumni and supporters. The Berkeley Athletic Fund was pleased to provide financial support to multiple teams this season, including a new pole vault pit and supporting the crew travel to Nationals. The Berkeley Athletic Fund raises funds year round to maintain coach stipends and equipment funds at their current levels. 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! |
| 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. Have a great summer and see you at a game in the Fall! |
Go Jackets!
