by Alex Valdes
They are names that reside in the memory-- Novesky, Stuppi, Holmberg, Gardner, Wallace, Haruff--all of whom helped build one of the Peninsula's longest-running girls swimming dynasties. Those competitors since have been replaced by a new crop of swimmers, but the beat goes on. Since a loss to St. Francis at the start of the 1987 season, Menlo has won 63 consecutive dual meets.
The latest conquest came Tuesday, when Menlo defeated Castilleja, 103-68, to improve its GPSL record to 3-0. Perhaps even more impressive was Menlo's recent victory over St. Francis, the defending Central Coast Section champion (with a much larger team).
Menlo's excellence is not extraordinary. The team has placed in the top four at the CCS finals the past six years and captured the GPSL championship the past nine seasons.
The architect of the streak was former Menlo coach Dave Knochenhauer, who coached the Knights from 1986-93. He left the team to become the head age-group coach at De Anza College Aquatics (DACA). He was replaced by Ed Urban, a former coach at Solo Swim Club in Portola Valley.
Knochenhauer isn't surprised by Menlo's long-term success.
"It's the continuity of the program," he said. "You see that anywhere where a coach has been there a long time, either at a public or a private school. You see it with (Menlo-Atherton coach) Rick Longyear or (San Mateo High coach) Bill Voight. Once you get a good coach and there's a lot of enthusiasm and the school supports the coach, the kids will support the program. Whether it's water polo, swimming, football or baseball, a program needs a continual presence."
When the streak began, Knochenhauer depended on the Lieskovsky sisters, Ahsi and Yeyie. Katie Seebold, a high-school All-America, and sister Suzy, also were stars in the early years.
There were other greats: four-year All-America Sarah Novesky (now at the University of Washington), Katie Stuppi (UCLA), Chrissy Holmberg (Notre Dame), Leanna Wallace (Vanderbilt), Hilary Haruff (Colorado School of Mines) and Kristin Gardner (Duke).
These days, it's a new crowd but the same results. It starts with senior Margie Hollister, who is fielding scholarship offers from several major colleges, and who earned All-America honors last season in the 100 and 200 freestyles. Against Castilleja, she notched wins in the 200 free (2:04.04) and anchored the winning 200 medley relay (1:57.03).
Having contributed her share to the Menlo win string, Hollister offers her recipe for the program's success.
"To keep a strong varsity team, we only take what we need to make a varsity team," she said. "We're small compared to other schools. We have 8-10 swimmers and schools like St. Francis have 20-30. But we really work hard together.
"I was looking for a school with a good education, a good swimming team and a good coach. That's why I chose Menlo. Our reputation has brought people. Some people in the Menlo Park area will come to Menlo School instead of Sacred Heart (Prep). We've built up a good reputation."
In addition to Hollister is senior Lindsay Welsh and sophomore Stephanie Armstrong--returning All-Americas in the medley and freestyle relays. Welsh, having recovered from a three-week bout with mononucleosis, won the 500 free (5:53) and was runner-up in the 200 individual medley against Castilleja.
Armstrong won the 100 fly (59.92), the 100 backstroke (1:01.67) and swam on the medley and 200 free relays. Erin Welsh won the 100 free (59.60) and was on both winning free relay teams.
Castilleja senior Tara Hopwood, who had led the Gators to an undefeated dual-meet record this season before Tuesday's loss, won the 200 IM (2:14.20), the 100 breaststroke (1:11.06), and Hayden Hubbard won the 50 free (26.71). Castilleja is 5-1 on the year, 4-1 in the GPSL.
In a Peninsula Athletic League dual meet, Menlo-Atherton had no trouble in swamping Capuchino, 128-27, as Erin Curry won the 100 free (1:07.54), 100 back (1:19.14) and swam a leg on the winning 200 medley relay. The Bears improved to 3-1 in league.
Water polo
Dave Marzoni scored from the right wing with eight seconds remaining to lift Palo Alto (2-0, 16-4) to a 14-13 victory over Mountain View in a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division match. He finished with five goals.
Peter Osborn and Jamie Smith combined for seven goals for Palo Alto, which employed a pressing defense to hold Mountain View to one goal in the third quarter and enable the team to take a 10-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.
John Barnea, Rob Conlon, Tom Elke and Eric Vlasic all performed well for the Vikings.
In Gunn's 19-8 win over Los Altos in the De Anza Division, Ross Mecham scored six goals to increase his team lead to 87 on the season. Paul Javier's four goals gave him 66. Andy Sikic and Jason Gaines each scored three goals.
In Peninsula Athletic League polo, Menlo School handed M-A its first league loss at home in more than four years with an 8-6 victory. The Bears now have a 17-1 home record dating to 1990.
"A lot of coaches would kill to have a 17-1 home record," M-A coach Ted Minnis said. "I didn't expect it to last forever."
Cooper Buckingham scored three goals and goalie Dave Raleigh had 16 saves for Menlo, the PAL leader at 4-0. Jeff Roth scored the game's final two goals. Carter Winton paced M-A (2-1) with four goals.
"This shows that we can come together and play as a team," Menlo coach Kevin Newman said.
Girls volleyball
The GPSL race got tighter, and Palo Alto moved closer to the league lead in the SCVAL El Camino Division following victories by Sacred Heart Prep and the Vikings this week.
Sacred Heart improved to 7-1 in the GPSL with a 15-7, 15-13, 15-6 triumph over rival Menlo (3-6), then the Gators got a boost when league-leader Sacred Heart Cathedral (8-1) was upset by St. Ignatius in three games.
Sacred Heart Prep will play host to Sacred Heart Cathedral on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Palo Alto, meanwhile, improved to 5-2 in division play by whipping visiting Wilcox, 15-6, 15-6, 15-7. The Vikings have improved their passing and serving in recent weeks and showed flashes of both in beating the error-prone Warriors. Kelly Culp, Dana Mullins and Lindsey Anderson played well for Palo Alto, which took on league-leading Lynbrook (7-0) last night.
Pinewood, meanwhile, is riding high in the Private Schools Athletic League after downing Redwood Christian, 15-5, 15-8, 15-4 this week to cap the first half of league play. Pinewood is 6-0 in league (10-2 overall) for coach Janet Phillips.
"This, by far, is our best season," Phillips said. "We've never, ever, gone this long in league without a loss . . . I'm loving it."
Elsewhere, Castilleja (2-4 and 6-6) topped host Woodside Priory, 15-2, 15-8, 15-8, in a PSAL match and Menlo-Atherton dropped its second straight PAL match, falling to Aragon, 6-15, 15-3, 15-5, 15-7.
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