Sports Update May

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

A wonderful week for Gunn spring sports in baseball, swimming, wrestling  and track, culminated in a the first ever CCS championship for the girls swimming team and a National Title in wrestling!

With two CCS team titles in swimming and basketball  along with a second place finish by cross country, it’s safe to say that this is the year of the Lady Titan in sports at Gunn High School.

Swimming - Gunn girls, for the first time in CCS history, beat all other squads scoring 266 points to defeat defending champion Mitty (242) and third-place Palo Alto (173). "We knew coming in that our stars were ready to shine," said Hernandez. "We knew our 200 free and 400 free relays were untouchable." The Titans won both those relays and got two individual wins from senior Rachael Acker to achieve a goal that was conceived last year after Gunn finished fourth for the second straight season.

“I can’t say enough about this group of seniors,” said a shivering Mark Hernandez who was thrown in the pool in the traditional championship rite. “Everybody came through and I’m so proud of them.”

While Hernandez was shivering, his heart was full of warmth. “These girls really showed the way and have set an example for future Titans to follow.”  "At CCS last year, we thought we could win it this year," Hernandez said. "We were bringing back just about everybody and we felt really confident.""This senior class is the best class Gunn has ever had," Hernandez said. Acker and fellow seniors Julia Ama, Christine Prior, Casey Lincoln and Maggie McKenna scored 186 of their team's 266 points and did it impressively. Gunn held only a 12-point lead over Mitty prior to the final race but Acker, Ama, Lincoln and Jenna Campbell (Fr.) splashed to a CCS record of 3:23.06 to win. Their winning time just missed the national public school record of 3:22.85 by Hershey (Pa.) last year.

Acker won the 50 free in 22.78 after breaking her school record in the prelims with a 22.64. She also won the 100 in 48.98, another school mark, and led off the winning 200 free relay team that clocked a school-record 1:34.87. Lincoln added a second place in the 500 free (4:53.20) after setting a school record of 4:52.24 in the prelims. Campbell finished third in the 200 free in 1:51.16 after setting a school mark of 1:50.93 in the prelims. McKenna added more Gunn points in the 100 breast with a school record of 1:06.17 for fifth while Ama teamed with Acker to score 68 points in just the 50 and 100 freestyles.

While the veterans led the way, there were key contributions from the next generation of Titan greats. Bethke and fellow sophomore Fiona Hon, along with Campbell teamed with McKenna for a fifth place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. Campbell scored huge points with a third place finish in the 200 Free and joined senior Christine Prior in picking up important points in the 500 Free. Hon picked up points in the 100 Backstroke and Nia Gardner (Fr.) scored in the 100 Backstroke and joined with Bethke to add depth in the 50 Free.

"This is real exciting," Hernandez said of his first CCS title. Pictures on Gunn titans online site.

Cadence Lee - The 2012 U.S. FILA Cadet World Team was determined at the Body Bar FILA Cadet Nationals on Saturday. Champions in the 10 FILA weight classes qualify for the U.S. team at the 2012 FILA Junior World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand, Sept. 4-9. Amongst those claiming the World Team berths at their weights  was Cadence Lee (So). of Dave Schultz WC-Titans at 49 kg/108 lbs. Cadence pinned all 6 opponents on her way to a 1st place finish, earning her a spot on the World Cadet Team!

Baseball - the baseball team had to wait until the final day of the regular season to clinch their title, but it was worth it. To achieve an undisputed El Camino Division Championship, Gunn won a 4-3 nail biter against the visiting Cupertino Pioneers on Senior Day.  The Titans won league with a record of 11-4, and 19-8 overall.  Cupertino fell to 3-11 in league, and 8-15 overall. Undefeated senior right hander Ryan Gorman pitched his fifth complete game win of the season, pushing his record to 8-0 overall.  Despite the extremely warm afternoon, Gorman allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, on 5 Pioneer hits, on a total of 109 pitches. 

Offensively, Junior Kevin Sharp had 2 singles, one RBI, and scored once.  For the third time this season, senior Jake Verhulp led off the game with a triple and scored.  Fellow senior Graham Fisher added an RBI double, stole second, and scored on an error.

Following the game, Gunn Head Coach John Harney said “I am extremely pleased that we won the El Camino Division title outright, especially with this great group of kids.”

Said Gunn coach John Harney: "I am extremely pleased that we won the El Camino Division title outright, especially with this great group of kids."

On Wednesday the team will be playing Pioneer High School in San Jose. Good Luck!!

Track and Field  - At the track and field competitions, held at Santa Clara High, in the triple jump, Asaf Rotman (Sr.) leaped to a season best 43 feet to qualify for CCS in third place and Eric Price (Jr) qualified in 4th place (42-11). Amongst the girls, Gunn's top qualifiers included Stephanie Do in the 300 hurdles (fifth in 48.73) and long jump (fifth at 16-4), Moira Saxena in the high jump (tie for third at 5-0) and Adrianna Noronha in the discus (fourth at 101-11).