Spring 2022 Season Update

Varsity Baseball is both WACC League Champions and the WACC Postseason Tournament Champion.  The team qualified for the NCS tournament, but lost the first round game to Heritage.  Darrell Mays, Luca McKerley and Kevin Parker, Jr. were named to the WACC All League First Team, with Darrell Mays sharing a co- WACC Player of the Year award and Luca McKerley being recognized as co-WACC Pitcher of the Year.  EJ Fairchild, William Polishuk and Manny Selles were named to All League Second Team, with Leo Asfar and Mica Tomikawa receiving Honorable Mentions.

The JV team had another stellar season at 16-5.  Antonio Nordman led the hitters batting over .500, while Riley Marstom-Chakan, Matteo Morales and Chase Worthington all hit over .300.  Will O’Brien, Daniel Beadles, Mo Mohamed, Julian Ito and Antonio Nordman made up a formidable pitching rotation. Jackson Erlich, Lucas Drake and Kai Udall anchored the defense.  The battle for spots on varsity next year will be fierce.  

What a year! The Berkeley boys lacrosse team went 12-8 in the regular season coming in 3rd in the league. For the first time in five years, the team qualified for NCS playoffs!  In NCS play, the team lost to De La Salle, the eventual 2022 champions. The highlight win of the season was at University when the Jackets came from behind down one with a minute to go to tie it up and win on a buzzer beater by Auggie Gade. Phenom freshman, Hayden Hockenbrock, was awarded Team MVP while Axel Disston won Defensive Player of the Year and Brace Sproul won Offensive Player of the Year. 

JV had an outstanding year going 6-2-1 lead by Stefan V who had 45 goals in 8 games. Varsity received eight all league recipients including a league high five 1st team players. Hayden Hockenbrock, Axel Disston, Brace Sproul, Max Cherbini and August Gade received 1st team honors. Cody Shevelson received 2nd team and Anthony Cherbini and Marc Rebusi took home honorable mention. Congrats to the entire program and best wishes to the 2022 seniors.

In the first regular season in 3 years, the team had numerous injuries and small numbers all season yet managed to maintain a JV and Varsity squad—both teams rarely playing with any subs yet staying positive through every game. The Varsity team was able to secure enough wins to make it to the WACC League Championship final game— a first for the program!  While making it to the final game was a win in itself, the highlight of the year was the semi-final game against Piedmont. In a nail-biting game, Berkeley High took an early lead but when into halftime tied 7-7. In the second half Berkeley took the lead by 4, but Piedmont was able to tie the game for a second time with less than a minute left in the game. The game went to sudden-death overtime, broken into three-minute segments. Neither team scored in the first OT period although both had chances. The same happened in the second OT period, until senior Maggie Fern scored the golden goal with 43 seconds left on the clock.  The BHS Varsity team played their hearts out to secure the win against long time rival Piedmont.  Maggie Fern, Lane Imen and Sienna Prak-Perry received First Team All League honors.  Sade Devine and Nya Havens received Second Team All League with Emma Boyd and Christina Keung earning an Honorable Mention.

The JV team was a mix of first time players and returners. With a small roster, everyone had more than enough playing time, leading to substantial improvement over the season.  By the time the team defeated Northgate late in the season, the team was working together to play the beautifully orchestrated game of girls lacrosse.  Most impressively, 95% of the team received President’s List or Scholar Athlete awards for academic performance during the season.

 
This was a fast season for BHS Swimming with 3 BHS records broken this season:   200 medley relay: Brianna Smyth, Marta Maninetti, Zuleika Magdeleno, Talulla Miller-Ross (1:54.84); 200 Individual Medley: Luke Swiggett (1:51.86); 100 back: Luke Swiggett (51.37).  Another highlight of the season was the Varsity Girls winning the WACC League Championships for the first time since 2006!

Several swimmers had the chance to compete at NCS in the 200 medley relay (same girls listed above), 200 IM & 100 Fly: Brianna Smyth representing the girls team and 1M diving (Lucien Geltman-Lamb & Liam Graham), 200 IM & 100 back – Luke Swiggett, and 400 Free relay ( Luke Swiggett, Jacob Leichter-Wilson, Samuele Gabriel, Lucas Childs).  Alternates were: Caelen Fry, Maxwell Kaneko, Eamonn Kaufer, and Yair Sas representing the boys.

The softball team went 14-4 overall and 9-1 in league play this year. The team had four first team all-league selections (Abigail Kaneko, Avery Lyman, Czar Fleischman and Oona Capristo), one second team selection (Elisa Highton) and two honorable mention selections (Melody Castro and Paola Gunier). Abigail Kaneko was selected as the Player and Pitcher of the Year for the WACC league. The team qualified for the NCS tournament post season tournament, but lost in a close game to Clayton Valley Charter.

There were 15 players on the junior varsity team this year, a promising sign for the future. The team played 8 games and had big wins over San Leandro (twice) and El Cerrito.

 There were 20 players on the boys tennis this team this season, led by seniors Micheel Alharazy, Jasraj Dhillion, and Boris Momtchev.  Overall the team finished with a 13-5 record and a 10-2 record in League play, enough to finish second in the WACC behind Piedmont.   Sophomore Leighton Sproul in the #1 spot won the WACC Singles Title at Chabot College and represented the League at NCS Individuals.  Henry Grant won the JV Jamboree Singles while Bo Speirs and Aditya Shridharan won the JV Jamboree Doubles.  

Several players were nominated for All League status: All League Singles – Leighton Sproul; All League Doubles – Boris Momtchev; Honorable Mention – Micheel Alharazy and Celian DeLaBrouille.

Over 200 athletes were a part of the Track & Field team this year, each working towards their best performance.  The Girls team won the WACC League Championship Title!  The Boys team finished 3rd in the WACC.

 At the NCS Bayshore meet, girls team finished SECOND out of 24 teams at the NCS Bayshore Meet to take home another pennant! And the boys’ team tied for THIRD overall.  There were lots of individual victories and PRs too. Alessandra took first in the 110m and 300m hurdles. Aidan, Oliver, Joe, and Timmy captured a thrilling photo finish win in the 4×400. Tim and Joe also finished 2nd and 4th in the 800m. Nate and Fenner soared to 2nd and 3rd in the high jump and Rosie leaped to second in the long jump. Phoeben tied for 3rd in the discus and Oliver took fourth in triple jump.

The Berkeley High Boys Volleyball got off to a quick start of the 2022 season after their undefeated (10-0) 2021 Covid season the previous spring.  As planned, the team had an outstanding season with a League Championship and a strong NCS run.  The first game and loss against Bishop O Dowd was a hard fought match of 2-3 sets.  This only loss of the season set the stage for a battle for league champions between BHS and BOD.  The team learned more from that loss than from any other game during the season and ultimately it helped focus the team on improving key aspects of the game.  The Senior Night match against BOD for the league championship finished in a 3-2 victory.  Seniors Alvaro Pani Lugo, Paul Regier, Dahrius Bissell, Lev Gruber,  Jayshan Parameswaran, and Morgan Koch were all honored with a few sincere words from their peers.  The stands were packed with students, parents, and the cheer squad all cheering at every point in the match.  The energy was high and the boys played magnificently to earn the league champions pennant for BHS boy’s volleyball.  The last league champion pennant for boys volleyball at BHS was awarded in 1992!  Due to having the same league record we are co-champions with BOD. 

NCS matches one and two were easy victories for BHS against San Leandro and Foothill High but the run ended in the semifinals with a 1-3 defeat by the number 1 seed, and ultimate NCS champions, College Park. 

The WACC awarded seven individuals with All League Team honors: Seniors Paul Rieger, Dahrius Bissel, Jayshan Parameshawaran, Lev Gruber, and Alvaro Pani-Lugo; Junior, Otis Norton-Tsang, and Sophomore, Oliver Shrieve. Senior, Paul Reiger was the WACC Player of the Year. The coaches awarded Freshman, Sebastian Chen as Most Promising Player; Junior, Otis Norton-Tsang as Most Spirited; and Senior, Mogan Koch was Most Improved. In addition, the squad boasts seven academic awards on the President’s and Scholar-Athlete lists.  The six seniors will be sorely missed and have promised to return as alums to cheer on the legacy they have rebuilt in Jackets Boys Volleyball.

BAF was out in force for the 14th Annual BAF Golf Classic at Tilden Golf Course May 6.  Not only were important funds raised to support Coach stipends at Berkeley High, but a great time was had by all in attendance.  Put the first Friday of May 2023 on your calendar and plan to join us next year.

The Berkeley Athletic Fund was pleased to provide financial support to multiple teams this season, including replacing worn-out equipment for the swim team and securing better court time for the tennis team.  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!