Courtesy of SHC’s amazing athletic directors (Mr. Phil Freed and Ms. Jo Ann Momono), here is the 2019 Fall Varsity Sports Review.

Boys and Girls Cross Country:
In his 22nd season as head coach, Andy Chan’s 65-member boys and girls cross country teams had
another great campaign. The pre-season was highlighted by their sixth trip to the Three Course
Challenge in Oregon where the Irish placed 2nd in their division. The lower level teams also did well
throughout the season, highlighted by both the JV boys and girls finishing 1st at the Artichoke
Invitational. Finishing up the league season at the WCAL finals, top performers included Andrew
Blelloch ’21 who finished 5th (out of 49 varsity boys runners) and set a new school record on the Crystal
Springs course with at time of 15:20. Sabina House ’20 and Elizabeth Nip ’22 both broke the 20-minute
barrier which helped the girls qualify for the CCS Meet on team time. At the CCS Meet, only the top 2
teams in each Division qualify for the State Meet. With the pressure on, both the boys and girls squads
finished 2nd and made it to their 7th (boys) and 6th (girls) State Meet over the past 10 years. What a great
achievement for the Irish! At the CIF State Meet in Fresno, the Irish improved their overall finish from
last year with the boys coming in 20 th and the girls team placing 21st.

For his top 7 finish at the WCAL Championship, Blelloch was named 1st Team All-League.

Football:
With a varsity squad having only 11 seniors, the Irish experienced a 2019 season filled with growing
pains, injuries and going winless for the first time since the 1973 season. Through the difficult times,
Coach Barry McLaughlin’s (14th season overall, 3rd year as head coach) young squad gained valuable
insight into what kind of commitment and level of play it will take to turn the program around while
competing in the always tough WCAL. Coach McLaughlin was pleased with the players’ dedication to
the off-season program and a “never give up” attitude. With the freshman team’s successes (wins over
St. Ignatius and Valley Christian), the future looks bright.

Named to the 1st Team All-WCAL were Evan Branch-Haynes ’21, Cian Dowling ’21 and Tyrice Ivy ’21. 2 nd
Team members were Cathal Coakley ’20, Dara Keane ’21 and Stephen McCarthy ’20. Honorable
Mention went to sophomores Grant Garlow, Aiden Shea and Bruce Uperesa.

Girls Golf:
Under the leadership of Coach KC Murphy (2 nd season as head girls coach), the Irish golfers finished the
year with a satisfying 4-6 WCAL record, recording two wins each over St. Ignatius and Presentation. The
team finished 4 th at the WCAL Championship, narrowly missing a spot the CCS Tournament. Earlier in
the season, the squad participated in the prestigious Helen Lengfield Tournament played at Poplar
Creek, finishing 11 th out of 17 teams at this high level event. And perhaps most impressively, the Irish
were named a winner of the CCS Academic Team Award (top 5 team GPAs in the Section) with a
cumulative GPA of 3.775.

Alexa Weaver ’20 was named All-WCAL Honorable Mention.

Girls Tennis:
Coach Amy Kleckner’s 11th season proved to be one of the best for the Irish netters. The team finished
with an 11-11 overall record and barely missed qualifying for the CCS Team Tournament. Season
highlights included league wins over St. Ignatius (for the first time in recent years) and Valley Christian.
The Irish swept Mercy Burlingame and Notre Dame Belmont at the NDB Tiger Tournament.

#1 singles player Krysta Szeto ’20 was named 1st Team, SHC’s first player since 2016 to be honored on
the 1st Team. Named to the 2nd Team was singles player Kara Dobers ‘20. Honorable Mention honors
were given to doubles teams Lauren Havlin ‘20 & Saila Holsman ‘21 and Olivia Scancarelli ‘20 & Claire
Ambre ’21.

Girls Volleyball:
TWO-TIME WCAL AND CCS OPEN CHAMPIONS! Of all the teams that Coach Margi Beima has produced
over her phenomenal 17 year career as SHC’s head coach, the 2019 edition was undoubtedly one of her
finest and most talented. For the second consecutive season, the Irish powered to both the WCAL title
along with another CCS Open Division championship which proved them to be the best team in the
Section. Despite some critical injuries to key performers throughout the season, the team’s success
speaks volumes to the positive culture it fosters. Coach Beima won her 500th career victory at the
annual Serve It Up Tournament, a tournament she created 8 years ago where the teams combine
service projects with playing volleyball. Also, the Irish defeated league-mate and perennially top-ranked
Archbishop Mitty five times during the course of both the regular and post-seasons. At the NorCal
championships, the Irish fell in the Open semi-finals to Bishop O’Dowd in a tough, hard-fought match.

The Irish were led by a stellar senior class, highlighted by WCAL and CCS Player of the Year and UCLA
commit Skylar Canady, 1st Team All-League and Washington University (St. Louis) commit Alden Stanley,
2nd Teamers Ashley Chan and Nora Thompson, and Honorable Mention members Sarah Cheng and
junior Amaya Keiper. Though injured most of the regular season, senior starter Megan Lenn (UC Davis
commit) came back to help the Irish during their post-season run.