Winter Sports Update

The winter sports season is officially over, and here is a recap of the incredible year our teams had:

Boys Basketball: The team started the year off strong, with a preseason championship in the Prospect tournament. The momentum carried into the regular season as the Titans finished 11-1 in league play. Led by by league MVP Alex Gil and all-league first team selection Chris Russell, the team finished the regular season with a record of 18-3, clinching Gunn’s first CCS playoff berth in years. The boys won their first two games in the playoff, with big contributions from the Lee-Heidenreich brothers. Senior David Lee-Heidenreich returned from an injury-plagued season to win a first team all-league selection, and sophomore brother Jeffrey started his Gunn career strong, earning a second team all-league selection. The boys eventually fell in the CCS quarterfinals to number one seed Bellarmine. The Titans finished the season 20-4, and look to come back even stronger next year, with many returning players including junior guard Jonathan Davis, also an all-league second team selection.

Girls Basketball: The girls team had an up and down season, but finished the year with a 7-12 record, and 4-8 in league. The season marks the end of amazing careers for seniors Paige Ogawa, Meghan Mahoney and Olivia Tapia, all 4-year varsity basketball players. However, the future for the girls looks bright as the team has many young players returning.

Boys Soccer: The Titans, led by senior Sean MacPherson, had an amazing season. They finished the regular season with a record of 14-4-2, also clinching a CCS berth for the first time in years. They advanced to the semifinals, but lost a close one to Leland High School on penalty kicks. The team ended with a 15-5-2 record.

Girls Soccer: The team had a great year, with a record of 11-7-1, and yet another CCS berth for the Titans. The team suffered a tough defeat to Santa Teresa, losing 3-0 in their first CCS game. Senior Natalie Perreault led the team, earning league outstanding senior and first team all-league awards. Freshman Natalie Hill and sophomore Ingur Smuts also played well for the Titans.

Wrestling: As a whole, the team went through a rebuilding year, but the season was highlighted by historic individual success. Senior Ian Cramer was fantastic, with a record of 35-4 with 26 victories coming with pins. Both the wins and pins are Gunn records. He went on to win the 138-pound division at CCS, just the fifth Gunn male to win a CCS title. Cramer then finished 8th at the state meet, becoming Gunn’s first CCS champion to win a medal at state in 42 years. The team also had good representation at CCS, with 8 qualifiers. Kirill Demyanenko was the Titans’ second best finisher, placing 9th in the 285-pound division.

Gunn Varsity Sports:

Boy’s Golf:

Gunn lost to Paly for the second time this season finishing the regular season 10-2. Adam Fleischman led Gunn and earned co-medalist honors with a season-best 35. Jack Jaffe followed with a 37 and Anson Cheng a 38. Shai Mohan finished with a 40 and Yilei Yu wrapped up the Titans' scoring with a 43. Gunn

Boys Lacrosse:

Gunn 10 Leland 8 (April 10)

Gunn goals scored by Anatole Colevas (3), Sal Giovannotto (1), Elyas Daadi (3), Aaron Miner (1), Jackson Washura (1), and Hugh Phillips (1).

Girls Lacross:

On Wednesday afternoon Gunn defeated Pioneer by a score of 16-5 in a SCVAL league contest at Pioneer high school. Gunn was led by Juniors Rachael Tsai ( 4 goals and 3 assists ), Anna Dang ( 4 goals ) and Caroline Chou ( 3 goals ). Gunn also got 1 goal from  Senior Anna Cabot, Sophomores Annie Vesey, Yui Sasajima, Jillian King and Freshman Janis Iourovitski.  With this victory Gunn moves to 8-0 in SCVAL play and 11-1 overall. Gunn will play a SCVAL home game against Leland high school on Friday night at Gunn at 7:30.

Softball:

Gunn  second-year softball coach Matt Maltz is enjoying this season. The Titans are 11-3 overall, 6-0 in the SCVAL El Camino Division, though big games loom ahead. “This is a close-knit group,” Maltz said. “We have 12 players with only one senior.” The senior is Maddy Thomas, who mostly plays in the outfield. Iris Chin, who threw a five-inning no-hitter earlier in the season against Cupertino, is the main pitcher for the Titans. Second baseman Natalie Oda, a sophomore, is hitting just under .500.  Sophomore shortstop Emma Wager has been supplying the power, plus handling the glove for the Titans. “Emma is a Division I prospect,” Maltz said.

Maltz has a Division I All-American as his assistant coach in former Stanford star Alissa Haber. “Alissa and I have been friends for eight years,” Maltz said. “I gave her a call and asked her if she wanted to help me coach at Gunn. It’s great for the girls to be around a great player.” The Titans have a key league game at home on Thursday at 4 p.m. against 4-1 Milpitas.

Gunn 2 – Los Gatos 11 (April 18)

Gunn's eight-game winning streak in softball came to an end in an 11-2 non-league loss against a tough Los Gatos squad last Friday. Starting pitcher Iris Chin (Jr.) pitched 4 innings and then had to retire due to an injury. Gunn scored 2 runs in the top of the fourth with Emma Wager starting off the inning with a single. Catherine Schwarzwalder then hit a triple, knocking in Wager to tie the game. Anna Tevanian then singled in Schwarzwalder as the Titans (11-3) took a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Los Gatos loaded the bases after three walks. With two outs, an error on a routine play that would have ended the inning, instead opened the doors for the Wildcats who went on to add five runs in the inning and never looked back. Gunn pitcher Iris Chin pitched four innings and took the loss, only her third in 14 starts. Relief pitcher Kanchan Potter (Jr.) had to deal with many errors made in the field.

Gunn 12, Aragon 8 (April 16)

Getting 10 strikeouts from junior Iris Chin, Gunn won its eighth straight game with a 12-8 non-league softball decision over host Aragon on Wednesday. The Titans got four hits from Emma Wager, who slammed a home run and triple as Gunn pounded out 16 hits. Chin had three hits while improving her pitching record to 11-2. Gunn held a 6-0 lead after the top of the second, but Aragon kept it close. The Dons got to within 7-5 after three, but no closer as the Titans tallied three runs in the fourth. Catherine Schwarzwalder, Natalie Oda, Mariana Torres and Megan Ostrom all had two hits for Gunn. Chin, meanwhile, now has 32 strikeouts in her past three games.

For her pitching success, Iris Chin was named Athlete of the Week. Here is the link to her interview:http://www.paloaltoonline.com/sports/athlete_of_the_week.php?d=2014-04-18

Swimming: April 17 vs Saratoga

The 15 seniors on the Gunn swimming and diving teams went out in style  last Thursday afternoon in our home pool.  The girls won nearly every event against Saratoga, cruising to a 120-63 victory, with Jennifer Campbell and Fiona Hon each winning two individual events while the boys swept their way through the swimming portion of the SCVAL meet. The Senior Meet brought back memories of four years at Gunn for the athletes - “It’s sad, but I’m also really happy to see how far our class has come since freshman year,” Gabrielle Bethke (Sr.) said. “So it’s bittersweet.” Bethke won the 200-yard freestyle and the 100 butterfly against Saratoga, but will likely compete in the 50 and 100 free at the CCS championships. Bethke relished the opportunity to swim different events. “I think it’s really hard to swim your best events at every single meet, so I think it’s fun to mix it up a little bit,” Bethke said. “She’s a technically sound and very diverse swimmer,” coach Mark Hernandez said.

Jennifer Campbell crushed the competition in the 200 individual medley (2:08.08) and the 500 free (5:00.17), two grueling swims. “It’s difficult to imagine someone who is in better condition than she is,” Hernandez said. “And it’s also difficult to imagine someone who swims more technically sound than she does. She’s got it all.”

Fiona Hon led the way in 1-2-3 finishes for the Titan girls in both the 50 and 100 free.

In the 400 medley, Saratoga touched the wall first in the 100 backstroke and the 100 breaststroke, but Gunn claimed its third triumph in the relays when water polo standout Caroline Anderson anchored the 400 free relay. “She’s special,” Hernandez said of Anderson, who has a scholarship to play water polo at Michigan. “She’s a freakish athlete and she just finds ways to go really fast.”

In the boy’s  events Gunn swimmers were a perfect 11-for-11 en route to a 124.50-55.50 win.  The Titans knew they could count on sophomore Daichi Matsuda, who like Campbell tackled the 200 IM and the 500 free. The workload didn’t intimidate Matsuda. “We have nine practices a week and we practice like 22 hours a week, I think,” Matsuda said. “And we do a lot of high-intensity stuff, so that sort of builds our endurance.” “He’s gotten a lot stronger and a lot more aggressive,” Hernandez said of Matsuda.

Not every race was lopsided. Gunn’s Joao Ama beat his opponent by .05 seconds after touching the wall at 1:47.37. It was an even closer call for 200 free relay, which with a time of 1:31.87 claimed first by three hundredths of a second. Ama  also won the 100 free at 49.95, while teammate Luke Chui took first in the 50 free (23.23) and the 100 breast (1:01.58). Trent Tosky was the fastest at the 100 fly (55.74) and in the 100 Kevin Xu out of lane 6 won in 56.02.

The Gunn Titans final scores:

Varsity Girls:  Gunn  120        Saratoga  63

Varsity Boys:  Gunn  124.50   Saratoga  55.50

Track and Field -  San Jose meet

Sarah Robinson (Sr.) led wire-to-wire in the 3,200 meters in a dominant performance, outdistancing the next best finisher by nearly 41 seconds.  Most of the time she ran in complete solitude, cruising around the track on her way to shattering the 27-year-old meet record of 10:26.20, clocking a personal-best 10:16.98, “It feels good to get the meet record,” said Robinson, who will play soccer at Stanford on scholarship. “It was difficult because I didn’t have anybody pushing me, for the most part. The conditions were great. I tried to hit even splits as much as I could.” Gunn sophomore Gillian Meeks ran a fabulous race in the girls 1,600 meters, placing second in 5:00.86. Meeks led most of the race, but was out-kicked by Clare Peabody of Aptos, at the end. “It was a little bit windy, so she could draft off of me,” said Meeks of Peabody. “She had a great kick. I didn’t quite have it. I would have been better for me to be in her spot at the end. I need to get stronger and work on my kick.” Robin Peter (Soph.) was second in the girls 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.51. Gunn also had a fourth place in the girls 300-meter hurdles from Maya Miklos, who ran a 43.37. Adriana Noronha came into the girls discus as the second seed, but failed to establish a fair mark. Noronha bounced back to take third in the shot put with a heave of 37-1.

The Titans placed third as a team with 38 points, one point behind second-place Valley Christian- San Jose. Los Gatos rolled to the team title with 76 points.

Gunn Sports Update

Spotlight on Wrestling: 

Three victories helped propel the Gunn wrestling team to a second-place finish at the annual San Ramon Invitational this past Saturday. Gunn placed second in the 24-team tournament for the second straight year. Gunn's three individual champions (Ian Cramer, Michael Abramovitch, and Stephan Martin) were the most of any school. The Titans also had two seconds, a third, a fourth and one fifth while finishing among the top three the past three years. Michael Abramovitch won the 106-pound title with a 3-0 record, while senior teammate Stephen Martin went 3-0 with two pins to capture the 182-pound crown.

Stephan Martin (senior) - went 4-0 with three pins and a 6-0 decision in the finals to capture the 182-pound title at the 36-team Bianchini Memorial Invitational while helping the Titans finish third overall as a team. At the San Ramon Invitational, Stephan won his second tourney title, improving to 12-0 this season pinning all but two opponents!  Stephan is Athlete of the Week for PA Weekly.

Ian Cramer (junior) - led the Titans at the San Ramon Invitational by winning the 138-pound title and being named the Outstanding Wrestler of the seven lightweight divisions. Cramer went 4-0, pinning all four opponents.

Girls Soccer:

Gunn 2 - Milpitas 1.  Gunn bolted to an early lead and held on for a 2-1 girls' soccer victory over host Milpitas in El Camino Division action on Wednesday. Natalie Perreault gave the Titans (1-1-1, 4-2-2) a 1-0 lead off an assist by Megan Kuhnle. Gunn made it 2-0 when Caroline Anderson sent a shot into the top right corner of the net.

Athletes in College:

Jasmine Evans (Gunn - 2009), now a senior at Harvard. As a senior at Gunn, she led the Titans to a 29-2 record (best in school history) and runner-up finish to Mitty in the CCS Division II finals. Evans has enjoyed a solid career at Harvard too, averaging 7.8 points a game.

Cat Perez (Gunn -  2012), helped Gunn win the CCS Division I title in 2012, is now a sophomore at Seattle University. She has played in eight games for the Chieftans (3-1, 8-9) and is averaging 4.5 minutes a game. She has grabbed seven rebounds but is still looking for her first points this season.

Eric Cramer (Gunn - 2013), is a freshman on the Stanford wrestling team. Eric was a state qualifier last year at 126 pounds. He is 1-7 this season, with the win coming via a pin.

Congratulations to the following Titan Teams for advancing to the Central Coast Section (CCS) Tournament:  Cross Country, Girls' Volleyball, Boys' WaterPolo and Girls' WaterPolo.  

Our Lady Titans defeated the Eagles in a 3 game win last night, 25-15, 25-20 and 25-21, securing a place in the quarter finals this Saturday against the number 2 seed, Homestead Mustangs.

Event: Quarter Finals of CCS Girls D1 Volleyball Playoffs

Date: Saturday November 13th, 2013

Time: 7:00pm Rally

Place: Homestead High School (Gym) - 21370 Homestead Road, Cupertino

Tickets:

$8.00 Adults

$4.00 Students with ID

$4.00 Children (Children 5 & Under Free)

$4.00 Senior Citizens

Live Play-Off Bracket: CCS Girls D1 Volleyball

Number 4 seed & league champs, Boys WaterPolo, will travel down to Bellarmine College Prep to play our own Cross Town Rivals (Palo Alto High School) in the CCS Quarter Finals this Saturday at 2:30pm. Winner takes it all. 

Event: Qtr. Finals of CCS Boys D1 WaterPolo Playoffs

Date: Saturday, November 16th, 2013

Time: 2:30pm 

Place: Bellarmin College Prep (Pool) - 960 W. Headding St. San Jose

Tickets:

$8.00 Adults

$4.00 Students with ID

$4.00 Children (Children 5 & Under Free)

$4.00 Senior Citizens

Live Play-Off Bracket: CCS Boys D1 WaterPolo

Number 2 seed & league champs, Girls WaterPolo, will host the CCS Quarter Finals this Saturday. They will play the Pioneer at 10:00am.

Event: Qtr. Finals of CCS Girls D1 WaterPolo Playoffs

Date: Saturday, November 16th, 2013

Time: 10:00am

Place: Henry M. Gunn High School (Pool) - 780 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto

Tickets:

$8.00 Adults

$4.00 Students with ID

$4.00 Children (Children 5 & Under Free)

$4.00 Senior Citizens

Live Play-Off Bracket: CCS Girls D1 WaterPolo

Congratulations to the Titan Cross Country Team, they will be running in the CCS Championship Raceon Saturday as well. The race will be held at Crystal Springs Cross Country Course, 2600 Hallmark Dr, Belmont CA.

Race Times are as follows:

Division 1 Girls: 2:40pm

Division 1 Boys: 3:15pm

Live Meet Results: CCS CrossCountry Results

Playoff Calibre performances are to be expected as teams duke it out for the prestige title of CCS Champion.  In a tight race, anything can happen!  Please come out and support our Titans, BLACK & RED apparel is expected but not required. (Unless you attend the Gunn vs Paly Game)

Remember, It's a Great Day to be a TITAN, especially on Saturday!!! 

Sports Update (10/4/13)

Submitted by Miriam Rotman


Football – GUNN 21, PROSPECT 14
The 21-14 win over Prospect-Saratoga on Friday night felt really good. It was the first win of the year for the Titans (1-3) and it came in front of an very enthusiastic homecoming crowd.

The Titans had 220 yards rushing on 26 carries from Sean Lydster, who had been bottled up the first three games of the year as opposing defenses stacked the line of scrimmage. Lydster scored on a 60-yard run. Forrest (Bubba) Larson added 113 yards rushing on 19 carries for the Titans, scoring on runs of 12 yards and 1 yard and capped off the night with a game-winning run in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter after 3 turnovers by the Panthers. "The offensive line improved," Hirano said. "That's what we needed. They got better."
"We're the underdog," Hirano said. "Kind of like we were last year when we played them."

"It was a great crowd," Gunn coach Shinichi Hirano said. "We had a great crowd for our first (home) game, too. I'm glad the students are supporting the team. It's more about the kids than anything. All their hard work paid off." The day begun badly as the team found out that RB Marcus Moreno would be out for the season, but the game itself was all good.

Mark Radin led the Titans in tackles with nine, while Dietrich Sweat had 1.5 sacks, sharing a sack with Mason Gong. Guy Kasznik had an interception and a fumble recovery both coming in the crucial 4th quarter and preventing any offense by Pioneer. "Our defense has played well all year," Hirano said.

The Titans start the SCVAL schedule on Friday at Cupertino at 7:30 p.m. The Pioneers are 4-0, including a 40-20 win over Prospect.

Four New Coaches
Gunn Sports is happy to introduce four new coaches who are all dedicated to maintaining and improving athletic achievement at Gunn. 

• Girls Volleyball - Coach Craig Bankowski is the Palo Alto Elite Volleyball Club, Inc. Director and has been coaching volleyball for 12 years with 20 years of competitive playing experience.  He coaches all forms of volleyball -- sand, grass and indoor volleyball and all age groups -- from elementary school kids to adults competing in schools, clubs, and the pro beach circuit as well as Olympic qualifiers. Coach Bankowski is certified through the Gold Medal Squared Olympic Volleyball Coaches Association. Coach Bankowski: “I love learning through my players and sharing my outrageous passion for the game. I am thrilled to lead our Gunn Varsity Girls Volleyball to share unforgettable memories in our brand new gym!” 

• Football - Shinichi Hirano, Head Varsity Coach of the football team, grew up in the Bay area attending Mountain View High School and San Jose State University. Coach Hirano initially begun his high school coaching career at his alma mater Mountain View High School in 1994, transferring to Santa Clara in 2003 and becoming their head coach in 2006, and Mountain View High School head coach in 2010. This is Coach Hirano's first year at Gunn and we welcome him to the campus.

• Cheer - Michaela Guillory has over 20 years of experience in gymnastics and was a J.O. national qualifier in 2005. She has been coaching since she was 17 years old and then found a new love for cheer in 2007. Joining a co-ed level five all-star team, she was able to be a part of a national winning team which also qualified for the world championships in 2008. She has over five years of experience in cheer and was part of the college cheer team at San Jose State University. She has a strong compassion for coaching along with the importance of sport and its ability to contribute to the growth of character and responsibility within each child. Finishing up her movement science degree, she is expected to graduate with her BS in May of 2014.

• Cheer - Danielle Hypolite came to Gunn with over 20 years of cheerleading experience ranging from Pop Warner, high school, and all stars. She has 3 national titles, 3 grand champion titles, and a best choreography award. Her hobbies include culinary arts, but dedicates most of her time to coaching her Marauder cheer team. She brings to the table a team expectation to help accomplish both team and individual goals for the season. To Danielle it is more than teaching the skill itself, but developing a strong work ethic and conquering life’s lessons.

Sports Update (9/27/13)

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

It was rivalry week against cross town Paly for both water polo teams who played at Paly, and the girl’s golf team and all teams came up trumps!

Water polo – The girls’ team swamped Paly with a 13-1 drubbing, with Natasha Batista scoring 4 goals and Caroline Anderson and Lauren Johnson 3 goals each. Coach Mark Hernandez was very pleased with the performance “It meant a lot to our program to play as well as we did in their house. We shared the ball well and played intelligent defense”. For the boys there was more at stake as twin brothers and head coaches Matt & Brandon Johnson (both Gunn Alums 2006!) faced each other as opposing coaches. Matt, Gunn’s new head coach, and the Gunn team beat up on Paly 14-7, and yes, beating your brother always makes a victory sweeter… Gunn (1-0, 2-3) got five goals from sophomore Christian Znidarsic and four from senior Coby Wayne. Ari Wayne added three goals for the Titans. "We played great defense," Matt said. "We can score. That's not a problem."

Golf - The SCVAL season in girls' golf is nearly half over and one thing is for sure at this point: Gunn is the team to beat.  The defending champion remained perfect on the season with a pair of victories at Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course.   The Titans (6-0, 7-0) this week topped Saratoga, 200-249, and Monta Vista, 200-270, following a 195-197 victory over Paly last week.  Senior Jayshree Sarathy and junior Anna Zhou led Gunn on Monday as each shot a 1-over par 35. Lianna McFarlane-Connelly and Tiffany Yang each shot 41 with Sandra Herchen rounding out the scoring.

Volleyball- Girl’s volleyball team jumps to 2-0, starting off the season defeating a very good Mountain View team and Monta Vista two nights in a row.  In the season opener in our brand new gym, Gunn faced Mountain View. Nicole Brigham lead the Titans with 45 setting assists spreading the ball out very well.  Both Erica Johnston & Meghan Mahoney lead the team with 12 kills each.  Erica sealed the victory with 11 points in a row in game 4 and earned 10 aces in the entire match.  This was a great way to begin the season!  Against Monta Vista, Gunn started strong with a 24-8 lead in the first game with another strong serving performance with Senior Erica Johnston and Junior Cindy Yang.  Setter, Nicole Brigham had another solid match with 37 assists.  Erica Johnston smashed 13 kills, Meghan Mahoney 9 kills, and Miranda Crothers hit 500 as a Middle Blocker.  Libero, Tahra Knudsen was all over on defense with 17 digs tonight and a total of 52 digs in just 2 matches. 

Come cheer the girl’s and see the new gym, as we are hosting a tough match next Tuesday against Los Altos. JV @ 3:30, Varsity @ 6:45.

Football - This is homecoming week, so we expect everyone to come to the game and cheer on our Titans and see the cheer team at their finest!! JV @ 5:00 and Varsity @ 7:30.

Athletes of the week – Sarah Robinson (senior, Cross country)  won the first SCVAL cross-country meet of the season with the fastest time out of 154 runners, and won the Lowell Invitational title (fastest time of the day) while helping the Titans win a team title, and was chosen athlete of the week (Palo Alto Weekly). Joining her were golfers Anna Zhou and Jayshree Sarathy who both earned honorable mentions. Go Lady Titans!!

Sports Update April 2013

          Submitted by Miriam Rotman

Softball

Last week Gunn Titans improved their league record to 4-2 with a 6-2 win against the Mountain View Spartans.  The Lady Titans took an early lead in the top of the 2nd when Iris Chin reached base on a double and was knocked home by a triple by Emma Wager.  The Titan bats came alive in the 4th inning scoring an additional 5 runs.  Winning pitcher Klausner had a shutout going until the bottom of the 6th when the Spartans were finally able to put up 2 runs. Last Friday The Gunn Titans beat the Cupertino Pioneers 6-2 in Cupertino.  The Titans got out to an early lead scoring 3 runs in the top of the 2nd.  Claire Klausner hit a line drive double to left field knocking in Roya Huang and Iris Chin for the first runs of the game.  The Titan's bats stayed hot delivering 4 doubles, including 2 deep shots by Klausner, a ground rule double by Anna Tevanian that bounced over the fence, and a hard shot off 3rd base by Natalie Mackraz.  The Pioneers were scoreless until the 6th inning when they tried to mount a comeback but they were already down by 6 and could only muster 2 runs.  Winning pitcher Claire Klausner racked up 12 strikeouts.

Gunn had a senior on the slab in Claire Klausner and a freshman behind the plate in Katie Garvey. The battery blended youth and experience to outlast host Palo Alto 3-2 in a thrilling nonleague softball game on Thursday that went 9 innings.

Both teams feature first-year coaches -- George Marshall of Paly and Matt Maltz of Gunn.

"That was a battle until the end," Maltz said. "It was a great game. Palo Alto played so well. They stepped up and put the pressure on us."

"It was an entertaining game from the spectators' standpoint, I would imagine," Marshall said. "Against a quality pitcher, I was happy how we came back late in the game and made adjustments. The effort was A-plus on our side."

Klausner was in a duel with Paly junior Julia Saul, who also went nine innings. Gunn's Iris Chin led off the top of the ninth with a single past shortstop Maya Padilla. Chin got to second on an infield ground out, then Klausner walked. After the runners advanced on a fielder's choice, Garvey singled sharply over Padilla's glove. Chin scored easily, but a great throw from left fielder Kabria Dame one-hopped into catcher Maddy Martinson's glove. Martinson tagged out Klausner, who had banged hard into Martinson, who somehow held on to the ball.

Klausner pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to end the game. Klausner fanned 14 batters, though she had trouble with Paly third baseman Hannah Bundy, a pest at the plate. Klausner plunked Bundy with a pitch to start the bottom of the second. Bundy was on second base with two outs when Casey Glassford's fly ball in the infield sailed over Anna Tevanian's head at shortstop for an RBI single.

Bundy lined a ground-rule double down the right field line with two outs in the fourth, then swiped third on a delayed steal. However, Klausner got a ground out to second to end the threat.

The Vikings were outhit 10-3, but had a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the seventh. Trailing 2-1, Padilla got to first on a fielding error. Klausner bounced a pitch to the plate that grazed Bundy's foot, the second time Bundy was hit by a Klausner pitch. Saul lined a single through the box, but Marshall held Padilla at third base, leaving the bases loaded. Shannon Fee singled to right to tie the game. Klausner bore down to strike out two batters, forcing extra innings by inducing a ground out.

“I could see Claire was getting tired, but she fought her way through it," Maltz said. "She's a great player who knows what has to be done to win a ballgame."

"We kind of lost focus in the seventh inning, but I was proud how we could stay strong for the whole game," Klausner said.

After leaving three runners stranded in the fourth inning, the Titans pushed two runs across in the fifth to go up 2-1. Chin was robbed by a fine catch from Paly second baseman Tori Destefano, who went to her right to snag a liner. Klausner singled on a 3-0 pitch, moving Emma Wager, who had walked, to second. Wager was forced at third base when Nat Oda hit what looked to be a base hit to center. Garvey doubled off the glove of Bundy at third, scoring two runs.

Garvey was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. In the second, Garvey threw out Glassford trying to steal second. Wager, also a freshman, had two hits batting out of the ninth spot in the order.

"We had a couple freshmen coming through for us," Maltz said. "Garvey stepped up to the plate and did what she had to do. She's my clutch hitter right now."

"I was ecstatic about the win," Garvey said. "I was so much more pumped up than I usually am because we were playing Paly."

Marshall said Garvey's day at the plate was the difference in the game. "They won the game because Katie Garvey was able to get two two-out hits," Marshall said.

Both teams played good defense, combining for just one error. Titans first baseman Casey Maltz made a diving catch in foul territory on a short pop-up by Martinson. Destefano temporarily saved the day in the fourth inning by contorting her body enough so she could catch an off-target throw by Saul to get Roya Huang out at first base.

Tennis 

Coach Jim Gorman wasn't sure and neither were his Gunn High tennis players whether they had clinched the SCVAL El Camino title outright. Thus, there was no celebrating after the Titans had clinched their 5-2 win over Homestead on Tuesday at the Cubberley Community Center courts. Tuesday's win over Homestead gave Gunn no worse than a tie for the El Camino Division title.

Gunn improved to 10-1 (11-5) with only one division match remaining, but Gorman still wasn't positive his team had wrapped up a championship. "I don't know," Gorman said. "I used to keep all the stats. I don't know what everybody else is. I guess it's possible we might not win it."

Mountain View apparently resides in second place at 8-2, with both losses to Gunn. The Spartans are off this week. Milpitas has at least three losses and Wilcox has at least four. While the Titans hold the tiebreaker over Mountain View should the teams tie, Gunn still has to beat Santa Clara in the final match of the regular season to win the division title outright.

Gunn took care of things quickly by sweeping the singles in straight sets behind victories by Ameya Rao, Jake Chua-Gonzani, Daniel Jacobson and Mario Khosla. For good measure, the Titans' No. 1 doubles team of Avner Kreps and Alex Matthys posted a fast 6-1, 6-0 triumph to get things rolling.

Gunn will be in Davis on Friday for a rare tri-meet with its host and Monte Vista (Danville). Then the Titans will turn their attention to making their league title official with a match at Santa Clara next Wednesday.

Megan Mahoney - Gunn High sophomore basketball standout Meghan Mahoney has won a National Athleadership Grant sponsored by NCSA Athletic Recruiting and the NFLPA.

The award is only given to a select number of student-athletes throughout the country in all sports. The Athleadership Grant is awarded to student-athletes who qualify based on leadership in their community, academic achievement, athletics and a required essay written by the student athlete.

"We are very pleased to be involved with NCSA in assisting in the recognition and the selection of young qualified student athletes to receive scholarship opportunities," said DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFLPA. "Anytime you can identify, help and reward future leaders to further their education and athletic pursuits, it's a win-win and we are pleased to contribute to this worthy effort with NCSA."

As a result of Mahoney's selection, NCSA Athletic Recruiting will work with her and her family throughout her high school career and assist her in finding a collegiate institution that best matches her academic and athletic achievements.

"Our passionate team of 300 former athletes will personally guide and educate Meghan throughout the entire recruiting process, giving her the tools that she needs to be successful in recruiting and in life." said Chris Krause, CEO and founder of NCSA Athletic Recruiting. "Picking the right college is a life changing decision. It's important for student-athletes to recognize that the choice of a college or university is not just a 4-year decision; it is a 40-year decision that will impact their professional future and personal success in life."

Athletic Recruiting

NCSA Athletic Recruiting is the nation's premier "athletic recruiting network" and leadership platform for student athletes to get connected with collegiate scholarships, internships and careers.

Sarah Robinson - Gunn High junior Sarah Robinson expects to be playing soccer for the Stanford women's team starting in the fall of 2014, but the Cardinal track coaches might want to make her a two-sport athlete after watching her compete at the annual Stanford Invitational on Saturday.

Competing in the girls' mile at Cobb Track & Angell Field, Robinson finished second, set a school record and ran one of the fastest times in the nation this season.

Just two days after competing in a SCVAL De Anza Division dual-meet win over Mountain View, Robinson blazed to a 4:49.26 time while finishing second. That time, which converts to 4:47.58 for 1,600 meters, broke the 1982 Gunn record of 4:54.85 that Esther Berndt ran in the CIF State Meet finals.

Robinson improved upon her previous best of 5:00.34 set last year while moving to No. 2 in the nation this season in the mile and No. 3 in the country in the 1,600, based on times listed on dyestat.com. She now also ranks No. 10 all-time in the Central Coast Section.

"Sarah had an awesome race," said Gunn first-year coach PattiSue Plumer, a former All-American runner at Stanford and former assistant coach there. "We knew that it would be fast, and she executed the race plan perfectly.

"We were both thrilled that she broke 4:50 in the mile. I felt confident that she was capable of racing that fast this season, but wasn't sure that it would be today. This is the first competitive race she has been in this season, and I am very pleased with how she rose to the challenge."

Lady Titans Basketball Success

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

Lady Titans Have Basketball Success

The Gunn Girls’ Basketball squad had an easy time in their opening round of Northern California playoff action as they defeated visiting Galileo 44-30 in front of an appreciative and enthusiastic Gunn crowd on Wednesday night.

The game marked the end of an era as it was the last ever varsity basketball game in Robert A. Bow Gymnasium as next year a beautiful new gym will open marking a new era of Gunn Basketball. In attendance enjoying the game was Robert A. Bow and his wife. Mr. Bow helped design the gym and was at Gunn from its opening in 1964 until his retirement in 1986.

Gunn was never serious challenged as Nora Shevick started the game with a three pointer and the Lady Titans never trailed. Gunn raced out to an 8-0 lead and then when it was 10-4 late in the first, went on a 15-2 run that saw the Lady Titans take a 25-6 lead late in the first half.

“We made some big three pointers early that helped,” said Stapp after the game. “Galileo was quick and disrupted our offense and we need to step our game for Saturday.”

While Gunn had a significant height advantage, the Lions were fast and caused some uncharacteristic Gunn turnovers. Mistakes they could afford to make against Galileo but will be deadly in Saturday’s game at top seeded Monte Vista in Danville at 7:00 PM.

In the second half Galileo gamely challenged but any hopes of a comeback were dashed late in the third when Olivia Tapia made a three pointer to make the score 36-18.

From there both teams traded baskets as every Lady Titan saw action on the court and as the final buzzer sounded in the final game in Robert A. Bow Gymnasium, the Lady Titans moved on to the NorCal Quarterfinals for the second year in a row and third time in five years and improved their season record to 20-6.

Gunn was led with nine points from both Meghan Mahoney and Shevick with all of Shevick’s points coming on three pointers. Zoe Zwerling added seven with Claire Klausner scoring six along with Tapia’s six as she made two three pointers. Rounding out the scoring was Sarah Klem with five and Camille Steger with two.

CCS Championship Game

The Gunn girls' basketball team made some history by winning its second straight Central Coast Section championship on Saturday at Santa Clara High.

Not only did the top-seeded Titans (19-6) win their second ever section crown, they also accomplished a feat no other public school has ever done (boys or girls) as they won each of their playoff game by more than 20 points -- capped with an easy 47-24 dispatching of No. 6 seed San Benito (15-12).

While the game did not have the emotional release of the previous year's 41-39 CCS title win over Palo Alto, it did have the satisfaction that the Titans are an impressive force that can impose their will on their opponent.

For the past five years, Gunn girls' basketball has been the premier public school program in the CCS and a large measure of that success goes to head coach Sarah Stapp. Under her tutelage, the Titans have earned four trips in the past five years to the CCS finals and the two aforementioned championships.

The trademark of the team has been a tenacious defense that suffocates opponents and, on this day, San Benito looked like it didn't know what hit them as didn't make their first basket of the game until a minute to go in the first half with Gunn leading 22-1.

"We really played strong defense," Stapp said in an understatement. "Everybody played well and contributed."

Everybody would be accurate as Gunn's swarming defense made San Benito look like they were going against seven defenders as many times the Haybalers would shoot the ball or throw a pass in desperation with no hope of it finding its mark.

The Titans forced 34 turnovers keyed by eight steals from senior Claire Klausner, who appears fully healthy after missing a couple of weeks of action due to illness.

In the beginning, the Gunn offense had trouble finding its own rhythm as the Titans were sluggish and only held a 5-1 lead late in the first period. Then lightening struck for the Titans as Zoe Zwerling connected on a 3-pointer that unleashed an offensive onslaught that put the game away

Zwerling's three-pointer started a 17-0 run that saw two 3- pointers by Olivia Tapia sandwiched around one by Nora Shevick as Gunn was in complete control as it built the lead to 22-1 before San Benito finally made a couple of baskets to close the halftime score to 24-5.

Early in the second half, both Klausner and Zwerling got their third foul and had to come to the bench. San Benito finally made a mini run late in the third as it scored eight straight points to cut the score to 33-19, but Karissa Ogawa calmly sank a 3-pointer to give the Titans a 36-19 lead after three.

The fourth period, Gunn's offense couldn't get on track and, with the score 36-22, San Benito tried to make another run. But, on one possession, Emily Redfield came out of nowhere for her fourth block of the game and then on another possession the larceny activities of Klausner continued as she stole the ball clean and went in for an easy layup. Seconds later Klausner caused another turnover that allowed Tapia to go in for another easy layup as Gunn pushed their lead to 40-22 with four minutes remaining.

From this point on it was just a question of whether or not Gunn would be able to win its third CCS playoff game by more than 20 points and Klausner made sure of it as she followed an Isabel Juang basket with a 3-pointer that made it 47-24 with a minute to go.

Klausner led all Gunn scorers with 12 points, followed by Tapia with 11. Scoring all their points in the first half were Shevick with seven and Zwerling with five. Also on the scoring ledger were Meghan Mahoney with four, Ogawa with three, Sarah Longyear and Juang with two apiece and Klem with one.

Gunn is slated to play a CIF Northern California playoff game on Wednesday. The opponent and the location of the game will be determined on Sunday.

"We know what to expect," said Stapp. "Most of the girls on this year's team played last year in NorCal and that experience will help."

Sports Update Feb 2013

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

Girl’s Wrestling

Cadence Lee won a girls' state title at Leemore last weekend.

Lee improved upon her second-place finish of a year ago by capturing her first title at the third annual CIF Girls Wrestling State Invitational Championships on Saturday at Lemoore High. Prior to Cadence, only two other female Gunn athletes have won state titles in any sport (Ruth Graham in cross country in 2001 and Tori Tyler in track and field in 2005).

Good luck and well done to all the wrestlers!

Lee won four straight matches, two by pin, and topped off her performance with a 5-3 decision over Angelica Llanes of Arvin in the 103-pound title match. After having two byes, Lee pinned Eva Soto of Pomona in 3:56. She followed that by pinning Harmonie Roberts of Ukiah in 1:52. In the semifinals, Lee posted a 4-0 win over Brittny Hernandez of Charter Oak.

Gunn placed 18th with 35 points as Lee became the school's first state champ in wrestling and the third state champion of all-time. Sophomore Grace Robinson (118) and senior Jessica Sun survived three rounds each before being eliminated. Sun received the Pursuing Victory with Honor Award for the 138-pound division.

Boy’s Wrestling

At Independence High, Gunn brought nine wrestlers to the CCS Championships and all nine won matches. Four Titans earned medals while finishing among the top four -- senior Eric Cramer (second at 126), junior Sean Lydster (second at 195), senior Daniel Papp (third at 120) and junior Stephen Martin (fourth at 182).

Papp went 5-1 with four pins and scored 24 points. Cramer went 4-1 with two pins and also scored 24 points. Lydster went 4-1 with one pin, scoring 22 points, while Martin was 5-2 with two pins and 20 points.

Gunn's other entrants included Ian Cramer (2-2 at 132), Blaze Lee (1-2 at 145), Dino Soto (1-2 at 160), Harsha Mokkarala (1-2 at 220) and Eric Calderon (1-2 at 285).

Having two wrestlers in the finals was a first for the Titans, who wound up finishing sixth in the team standings. Had Cadence Lee been able to compete in the boys' CCS meet, Gunn coach Chris Horpel believes his Titans most likely would have finished in the top three in the team standings, tying their highest finish ever in 1973.

"This team is arguably the best wrestling team that Gunn has ever produced," said Horpel. "They proved it by winning the toughest league in the CCS and by placing so high in the CCS Championships without Cadence Lee.

"But, the season is not over. We have the boys' state (championships this weekend) in Bakersfield and we have three qualifiers who are really excited for that meet.

Gunn's state qualifiers are Papp (120), Cramer (126) and Lydster (195). The two-day meet begins Friday at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.

"With almost 800 schools wrestling in California and only one division, this is one of the most competitive state meets in the U.S.," said Horpel.

Basketball – Lady Titans set to defend their CCS title!

Girl’s Basketball

The Gunn girls' basketball team earned the right to defend its Central Coast Section Division I title by beating No. 4 seed Piedmont Hills, 42-18, in a semifinal game Wednesday at Santa Teresa High in San Jose. The top-seeded Titans (18-6) will play No. 6 San Benito (16-11), a 58-38 winner over No. 7 Evergreen Valley, in the section championship game Saturday at Santa Clara High at 1 p.m.

Gunn reached the semifinals with a 43-21 win over No. 8 Milpitas in a quarterfinal on Saturday at Hartnell College in Salinas. Zoe Zwerling had 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals for the Titans while Olivia Tapia added 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.

Senior point guard Claire Klausner returned to the Gunn lineup after missing a handful of games due to illness. She provided seven points, four offensive rebounds and three steals as Gunn forced the Trojans into 26 turnovers. The Titans grabbed a 27-11 halftime lead.

Softball

Gunn pounded out 13 hits to get its first softball win of the season, a 5-2 nonleague victory over host Castilleja on Wednesday. The Titans overcame a 1-0 deficit with a pair of runs in the second. Natalie Mackraz scored the go-ahead run after getting aboard with a single and advancing on singles by Emma Wager and Natalie Oda. Roya Huang then singled to drive in Mackraz. Casey Maltz limited Castilleja to just four hits while Anna Tevanian, Huang and Oda all had two hits for the Titans.