September 15, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Team play pays off as Menlo boys win title

by Keith Peters

After winning five straight matches over two days and capturing the John Schmitt Invitational for the first time in school history, Jack Bowen gave his Menlo School boys' water polo team a day off.

On Sunday, however, Bowen still had six players drop by the pool for a workout - even though they had to be back at Menlo on Monday for a training session at 6 a.m.

That's the kind of team Bowen has this season.

"I feel like I'm blessed with teams that play like a team," said Bowen, acknowledging that his current squad fits that mold. "This team is always willing to take the extra stroke, to help cover for each other."

This extra work and team-oriented play showed up at the season-opening Schmitt tournament, where the Knights allowed only 17 goals in five matches. Menlo topped Clovis West in the championship match, 5-4, after Clovis West had handed host Bellarmine a 4-1 loss in the semifinals.

"Not a bad way to start," said Bowen, who twice guided the Knights to third-place finishes in this tourney. "We've never made it to the finals of this tournament."

Until now, and with a team that isn't regarded (on paper) as the strongest in school history. While previous Menlo squads might have had more talent, this one has a combination of talent, depth, team chemistry and the desire to be the best.

All that could take the Knights a long way this season, one that continues this weekend with the annual Scott Roche Tournament at Menlo and Burlingame.

Menlo (5-0) is the top seed and will open Friday at home against Mitty at noon. Palo Alto meets St. Francis at 1:40 p.m., while Gunn and Sacred Heart Prep match talents at Burlingame at 1:50 p.m. Bellarmine is seeded No. 2 and won't play Menlo, unless the team's meet in the finals on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. in the Menlo College pool.

Menlo should carry plenty of momentum into its tournament after beating some of the top teams in Northern California last weekend.

The Knights handled Lodi in their opener, 8-1, then toppled Marin Catholic in Round 2 by 11-3. A key 7-5 victory over defending Central Coast Section Division II champion Sacred Heart Prep came next, sending Menlo into the semifinals. There, sophomore Ben Hohl (three goals) and senior Andy Suiter (two) led the way in an 8-4 triumph over Miramonte. Menlo senior goalie Jimmy Sandman had 14 saves. In the championship match, Hohl scored three times while Sandman had 10 saves and junior Matt Hudnall had eight steals. Sandman finished the tourney with 36 saves while Hohl had 13 goals and Suiter contributed eight. Gunn (3-2) finished 10th in the tourney as Arjan Ligtenberg tallied 21 goals. The Titans toppled Turlock (9-3), rival Palo Alto (12-7) and Serra (13-2) and fell to Miramonte (13-7) and St. Francis (8-2). Before the Roche tourney gets under way, Palo Alto and Gunn will open the SCVAL De Anza Division season on Wednesday. The Vikings host Saratoga while the Titans visit Los Gatos, both at 3 p.m.
Girls water polo

Palo Alto grabbed second place and Menlo-Atherton finished a solid fourth in the 32-team Clovis West Invitational held in searing heat last weekend in Fresno.

The Vikings (4-1) rolled over the opposition until running into Fresno-area power Buchanan and falling in the championship match, 10-5. Earlier, Paly topped Clovis West (10-5), beat Clovis High (9-4), downed Tulare (14-6) and romped past Madera (12-1).

Paly senior Remy Champion tallied 18 goals in the five matches while her sister, junior Phoebe, scored 10 goals. Tanya Wilcox also proved to be an offensive threat, scoring in every match and tallying four goals in the win over Tulare.

Irene Chang and Polly Zeigler did a solid job in goal while sharing duties.

Menlo-Atherton (6-3), meanwhile, threw a scare into Buchanan in the semifinals before finally falling in overtime, 7-6. The Bears led before Buchanan rallied to tie and force the extra sudden-death period. Junior Kelly Eaton scored four goals to pace the Bears, who wilted in the third-place match, 13-6, to Clovis West.

The tournament was played in 100-plus degree heat both days.

Eaton led the way with 21 goals and 22 steals in the five matches while Heidi Kucera added eight goals and 10 steals. Kelly Fero contributed 10 goals and sophomore Rita Bullwinkel helped the balanced scoring effort with nine goals.

In the Los Altos Invitational, Gunn went 2-2 as Di Eaton tallied nine goals and Sera Garrison added six. The Titans topped Silver Creek (12-1) and Lincoln (16-2) before falling to Presentation (7-2) and St. Ignatius (10-4).

In nonleague action last weekend, Castilleja (3-4) and Menlo (6-1) both went 2-1 with victories over Carondelet and Marin Catholic.

Palo Alto, Sacred Heart Prep and Castilleja will play in the St. Francis Invitational this Friday and Saturday.
Girls tennis

Menlo (6-2) finished third in the 64-team Peach Tree Classic tournament in Fresno last weekend, overcoming some of the top teams in Northern California as well s the 100-plus heat in the two-day swelterthon.

Menlo opened with 5-1 wins over Liberty (Bakesfield), Pinewood and Lorretto (Sacramento), before falling to CCS rival Monta Vista, 5-1. The Knights bounced back with a big 4-2 win over Saratoga, but dropped a 4-2 decision to SoCal power Mira Costa in the second-place match.

"I'm very pleased," Menlo coach Bill Shine said. "The girls handled themselves well, especially in the heat. There were a lot of teams out there that just gave up."

Menlo sophomore Sarah Hoffman stood out with a 5-0 record (she didn't play in the opener) at No. 1 singles. Her biggest win was a straight-set triumph over Monta Vista's Carmen Serementa, ranked No. 1 in the NorCal Girls' 18s. Hoffman, by the way, is only 14.

Katie Bouret, Amanda Pade and Ashley Carlisle also played well, along with Gaby Filipcik and Kate Serrurier.
Football

Menlo School was the only local team surviving the opening weekend of the season. The Knights rode the strong right arm of first-year quarterback Jeff Langskov to a 21-7 nonleague triumph over Sacred Heart Prep at Woodside High.

Langskov completed 14 of 23 passes for 277 yards to give first-year coach Mark Newton a win in his debut. Jon Kirst rushed for 100 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns while Pad Madigan caught four passes for 121 yards.

Menlo, however, lost starting receiver Charlie Hazelhurst to a leg injury in the second quarter. His status for Friday night's 7 o'clock nonleague game at Evergreen Valley is doubtful.

Hudson Smythe paced SHP with 137 rushing yards 25 carries. Junior Pat Coffey made his debut at quarterback and rushed for 45 yards and passed for 84. He scored the Gators' touchdown on a one-yard plunge.

Sacred Heart Prep will be host to Mills on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Palo Alto (0-1) hopes to bounce back from a 35-6 pasting by host Burlingame when the Vikings play their first-ever home game under permanent lights on Friday, taking on Mountain View at 7:30 p.m.

Gunn (0-1) opened with a 35-0 nonleague loss to visiting Gilroy and will face host Woodside on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Menlo-Atherton (0-1), a 14-13 loser to host Pioneer in its opener, will take on Mitty at Foothill College on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Boys soccer

Sacred Heart Prep (2-0. 5-0) continued its strong early start with a 4-0 triumph over host Woodside Priory in a Private Schools Athletic League match last Friday. Paul Casperson scored twice while Justin Pirzadeh and Alex Vukic tallied single goals for the Gators.

Yuta Arai scored for Pinewood (0-1, 1-1) during a 2-1 PSAL setback to Redwood Christian.
Girls volleyball

Gunn (2-1) and Palo Alto (1-1) both will be home Wednesday night for nonleague matches. The Titans will host Santa Teresa at 5:30 p.m., with the Vikings taking on NorCal power St. Francis at 6:30 p.m. That match originally was scheduled for the Lancers' gym.

Gunn triumphed over Westmont last week as Annique Melese had 13 kills. Paly dropped its home opener to Leigh in three sets.

In nonleague action last week, senior Alex Fisher had 20 kills but Menlo still fell to host Los Altos in five games. Woodside Priory (4-0) remained unbeaten with a sweep of Valley Christian-Dublin while Menlo-Atherton (3-1) and Sacred Heart Prep (4-3) also triumphed.

Nikki Englehardt had 12 kills for the Bears while Elizabeth Doyle paced SHP with 17 kills.

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