Spring 2025 Sports Update
- BAF Admin
- Jun 8
- 4 min read
As the school year wraps up, we're filled with gratitude and pride reflecting on all that our student-athletes, coaches, and families have accomplished this spring. From thrilling performances on the field and in the pool to record-breaking personal bests, the spirit of Yellowjacket athletics continues to shine bright. A total of 1355 student-athletes participated on an athletic team representing Berkeley High on the field, court, pool, track and mat this year… and 37 of those students went through our new leadership training spearheaded by our Athletic Directors.
TEAM UPDATES:
Swimming and Diving - Boy's AND Girl's Swimming & Diving won WACC. It was the first double title for BHS since 2006. For the Girls, it was their 4th straight league title. New HS record set for 400 Free Relay (unbeaten since '88). We qualified for NCS in 18 individual and 6 relay events. While we graduate 16 seniors, we plan to pick up exactly where we left off next year!
The BHS Diving Team had the largest team in memory with many novice intrepid and returning accomplished divers. The boys and girls swimming and diving team won the League Championships (WACC). In North Coast Sectionals (NCS), Ulysses Kelly-Fay had a very good day and placed 15th in his first time competing. Scarlett Nykamp placed 3rd in a really strong field of girls with a score of 439.05! She goes into the California State Championships next week! Congratulations to all Varsity, JV, and novice divers who did a great job!
Girl's Lacrosse team wrapped up a fantastic season finishing with a winning record, the WACC-12 title and a deep run all the way to the NCS semi-finals! The team had clutch wins against cross-town rivals Piedmont and O’Dowd and had contributions from freshmen, sophomore, juniors and senior players!
Boy's Lacrosse had a banner year going 18-4, undefeated in league and won the 2025 WACC league championship over O'Dowd. Two of our biggest wins were edging EBAL Valley division league champs, Granada 8-7 and beating D2 NCS champions SF University, 6-3. We had over 70 players tryout and created 3 teams that competed through the year - Varsity, JV and JV Rise. Senior captain Hayden Hockenbrock was voted WACC Player of the Year for the second year in a row and ended the year with 129 takeaways and 205 groundballs. Junior captain Satchel Wells scored 100 points this season (53G, 47A) and was named 1st team all-league for the second year in a row. Also receiving 1st team all-league - Senior captain Anthony Cherbini, goalie Kenzo Egawa, Ivan Watson and Becker Hockenbrock. Receiving 2nd team was Sam Larner and Paul Burns. Lastly, Max Zoidis and Ty Manning received honorable mention. After winning the WACC league championship, we received a #7 seed in D1 NCS (highest seed since 2011). We also won our first NCS game in 14 years beating Campolindo at home. ending the season ranked 5th in D1 NCS and 48th in state. Congrats to the entire 2025 Berkeley High lacrosse program!
Boy's Golf won first place in WACC, beating O’Dowd and Piedmont in the tournament!
The BHS Softball Team had a bit of a rebuilding year, as they lost multiple starters to injury and welcomed 7 freshmen to varsity. They still managed a respectable 10-15 overall record and an impressive 6-2 record in league, leading to a first-round playoff win before ultimately falling 3-2 in extra innings to Arroyo. They made it to the NCS quarterfinals and lost a heartbreaker 2-1 to Alhambra. Led by freshman pitcher and league player of the year Olive Lightfoot, who was joined by first-team all-league Senior Camden Bernhard and 5 other Yellowjackets who made second team or honorable mention, the future is looking bright.
Crew ended the season by sending a 4-person boat to scholastic nationals!
Badminton - Across 13 weeks the combined JV and varsity team of 43 athletes participated in 15 meets, won 150 competitive matches, took part in the WACC league tournament, and fought hard at the NCS championships. The team is especially proud of athletes who placed at WACC and represented the league at NCS. Check out the photos from the session on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/badmintonatbhs/
BHS Track & Field had 192 rostered athletes, hosted 3 home meets, and had a strong season that continues into the postseason! The team is ready for next season’s home meets with a brand-new set of hurdles! The BHS Boy's placed second at WACC championships and BHS student athletes won individual titles in girl's pole vault (Alex Herbelin), boy's pole vault (Ian Ely), boy's 110m hurdles (Larry "KP" Powell), boy's 3200 (Preston Mullen), and girl's 800m, 1600m, and 3200m (Carina Nottingham in all 3!).
A total of 40 athletes including 4 relay teams have advanced on to the NCS Bayshore Area Championships. This season also marked the first time a BHS girl ran a sub-5-minute 1600m (Carina ran 4:54 at Sacramento Meet of Champions).
Boy's Volleyball didn’t qualify for WACC this year, but it's a young team with many returning athletes so we are excited for their future.
Boy's Tennis is in 2nd, and really strong – playing WACC league championships and advancing to NCS.
