Winter 2023
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#TheBuzzisBack at Berkeley High! Four out of five Berkeley High Winter Season teams saw post-season action, with Girls Soccer earning an unheard-of five-peat. Keep reading for a few highlights and photos across the Berkeley High Athletics program this Winter season and learn how you can help support the amazing student athletes, coaches and staff across the 1200 person program representing nearly 60 teams and 27 sports. We have almost reached our fundraising target to fill up The Coaches Fund and support continued excellence in Berkeley High Athletics. Won’t you join us? |
Boys Basketball
Coaches:
Varsity: Mike Hudson, Head Coach. Toby Merchant and Austin Buck, Assistant Coaches.
JV: Dexter Arney
Frosh: Michael McEvoy
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| The Varsity Boys Basketball team was recognized as the WACC League Champions for the first time in 15 years! The team finished the season with a 19-8 overall record and an outstanding 10-2 League record, including a thrilling victory over rival Bishop O’Dowd early in January. The team earned a #5 seed in the NCS playoffs before falling in the first round of the tournament. Berkeley High Player Samir O’Brien was recognized as the 2022-23 WACC Player of the Year – a high honor for a Junior. Ollie Miller received First Team All League honors, Will Polishuk was selected for the All League Second Team and both Jamari Widemon and Caden Winslow received Honorable Mentions. Can’t wait to see what these guys do next year! | ||
Girls Basketball
Coaches:
Varsity: Daniel Spikes, Head Coach. Daniella Beard and Willie Fleischman, Assistant Coaches.
JV: Bri Blue Head Coach and Eryn Taylor, Assistant Coach.
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| The Girls Basketball team is in a re-building phase, with a new coaching staff dedicated to restoring the program to its traditional heights. A highlight of the Varsity season was the incredible comeback win over Foothill-Pleasanton. The team finished with an overall 5-20 record. Kamara Snelgro was named to First team All League, Jamaia Harrison was selected for Second team honors and both Mariah Lillard-Reichner and Liz Sanchez received Honorable Mentions. A highlight of the JV Season was the victory over league rival Encinal. | |
Boys Soccer
Coaches:
Varsity: Andre Hebert and Blaise Curet
JV: Mark Rucci Lewis
Frosh:Fernando Daza Garcia
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BHS men’s soccer had another exciting season this winter! There were many highs, a few lows, and plenty of dramatic matches. After a record number of players came to tryouts. the combined program finished with an overall 46W, 11L, 7T record.
The Varsity team finished with a 13-7-3 record and an invitation to the NCS Tournament. Several seniors (Joey Hall, Alan Rubio and Emmett Tjen) were selected for the 2022-23 WACC all-league first team, a handful of juniors (Pepukai Allard-Chigamba, Finn Gohlke and Niko Luckey) received 2nd team honors, and a couple sophomores (Oliver Adams and Isaac Esyadi) made the honorable mention team.
Our JV and Freshmen both won the Tri-Valley Challenge in December and dominated competition throughout the season. JV only gave up 6 goals all year! JV finished with an outstanding 19-1-2 record and the Freshman team finished 14-3-2.
More than anything, the team is proud of the incredible community. Thank you to the incredible coaches and program manager, to dedicated parents and guardians, and to every one of the players who supported each other and represented their school with composure and pride throughout the season.
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Girls Soccer
Coaches:
Varsity: Aléjandro Mendoza
JV: Nasos Eleftheriadis
Frosh: John Tamrat
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| The Varsity team finished 13-5-4 and clinched a fifth consecutive WACC League Championship. No other team has more than two in a row, so to do it 5 times in a row is amazing. The title was clinched on Coach Alé’s 100th game as varsity head coach. Three players received First Team All League honors: Myah Polzin, Shima Dixon and Sabine Meggyesy. Another three were recognized as Second Team All League: Ruby Hill, Amelie Haji and Zoe Fung. Both Alex Freeman and Erin Freeman received Honorable Mentions. One of more exciting games was at Castro Valley this year where when junior Sophia Alberga score a goal Olimpico (straight from a corner kick, a near-impossible angle to score from, it is like seeing a unicorn, once in a lifetime) in the last two minutes of the game at the opponent’s Senior night, a pivotal game to clinch league this year. Victory hugs were everywhere! Another highlight demonstrating the long term success of the BHS Soccer family was the first O’Dowd game at the start of January while alumni were in town. Fifteen BHS soccer alumni joined the team on the sidelines to demonstrate Jacket Pride on a Friday night when they could literally be doing anything else, but they chose to come back to their home and family. | ||
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Co-Ed Wrestling
Coaches:
Ben Nathan Head Coach. Dash Allen and Esmee Fong Chew, Assistant Coaches.
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| The wrestling team had a very good season, with the boys team expanding to over 25 wrestlers and the girls team growing to 7. We attended over 20 tournaments, collecting medals at most (ranging from 1st to 4th place in brackets of up to 32 wrestlers).
The JV team had a very successful season. At the JV North Coast Championships (the largest and toughest JV tournament of the year), the team came in 5th despite only having 8 scoring wrestlers (out of 14 possible). This included a Consolation Championship from Vincent Longmire, 4th place showing from Gio Vasquez, 3rd place from Emory Ely, 1st place from Lua Nautu, and 1st place from Tua Nautu, which led to Tua being awarded the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament with 5 pins in 5 matches. While those wrestlers also saw success at other tournaments, they were joined on the podium by Teagan Duffy, Padma Liu, Brooks Trotmore, Orion Kanat, Dyami Allen, and Charlie Gittelsohn.
The league duals left the varsity team with a record of 3-3, with victories over San Leandro, San Lorenzo, and Hayward (on the 4th tiebreaker) and close losses to Mt. Eden and Arroyo. We had 3 WACC champions, Shiella Paredes-Akimoto at 111 lbs, Metztli Olague-Guerrero at 160 lbs., and Gabe Ross at 152 lbs. The boys sent 4 wrestlers to NCS, highlighted by Gabe Ross with a dominant first round win, but a heartbreaking one point loss that kept him out of day 2 of the tournament. The girls sent 5 wrestlers to NCS. Metztli Olague-Guerrero and Emily Lim were one match away from earning medals at their weight, while Shiella Paredes-Akimoto came 6th in her bracket, missing out on qualifying for the State Tournament during a down to the wire 2 point loss.
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| 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 and YouTube, 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, has begun. 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! |
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Attention golfers! Registration for the 15th Annual BAF Golf Classic, to be held May 5, 2023 is open and spots are filling fast. Reserve your spot, sponsor a hole or join us for dinner here. |
Go Jackets!
