Central Coast Section playoffs roundup

The CCS regional qualifiers were held at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey Tuesday. Six San Mateo County individuals qualified for next Tuesday's CCS championship round.

Serra was among eight teams to qualify to play for a CCS team title as the Padres' 5-player score of 392 was third-best in the second qualifying round and third-best, overall, among the eight teams. Bellarmine and Harker finished ahead of the Padres with scores of 379 and 382, respectively. The top qualifier out of the first regional was Mitty, which finished with a 398.

William Walsh led the way for Serra, shooting a 2-over 73, good for a tie for sixth in the afternoon round. Dominic Silver fired a 76, good for a T11; Trevor Moquin came in with a 77 (T15), Jackson Furukawa an 81 (T26) and Will Ellard finished with an 85 (T46).

The top individual qualifier from the afternoon round was Bellarmine's Will Clark, who carded an even-par 71.

In addition to the six-member Serra team, six other individuals from the county qualified for the championship round. Burlingame's Wyatt McGovern led the way, finishing in a tie for fourth in the morning round with a 1-over 72. Menlo's Eric Yun posted a 2-over 73, good for a tie for sixth, while his Menlo teammate Marcus Ying shot a 4-over 75 to tie for eighth.

The leader of the morning qualifier was Mitty's Nathan Wang, who fired an impressive 5-under 66.

Three more Peninsula golfers qualified out of the afternoon round. Aragon's top two players, Leo Wang and Sam Higaki, both qualified for the championship round. Wang came in with 2-over 73, while Higaki finished with a 6-over 77.

Also making the championship cut was Russell Chiu of Crystal Springs Uplands School. He also shot a 6-over 77.

Girls’ soccer

Menlo wins title; Sequoia falls short

The top-seeded Knights won their eighth CCS title in program history, dismantling No. 3 Soquel 5-0 to capture the Division I championship this past Saturday.

Stella El-Fishawy wrapped up her high school career with a hat trick to lead Menlo. Colby Wilson had a goal an assist for the Knights; Carolina Espinosa rounded out the scoring for Menlo (10-0-1), while Julia Deffner, Gabby Kogler and Madison Liu earned assists.

Sequoia (6-4-3), the No. 3 seed in Division II, came up short in its quest for its first CCS title, dropping a 1-0 decision to No. 1 Lincoln (13-0-2).

Boys' volleyball

Quick stay for San Mateo County teams

Five teams from the county qualified for the CCS volleyball tournament – only Serra managed a win before the Padres were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

The Peninsula Athletic League's Burlingame Carlmont, Menlo-Atherton and San Mateo all lost in their first matches.

Serra, the No. 8 seed in Division II, won their first-round match over No. 9 Piedmont Hills Monday, 25-19, 27-25, 23-25, 25-19.

The Padres faced WCAL rival St. Francis in Tuesday's quarterfinal match and the Lancers dominated, 25-8, 25-13, 25-11.
Serra finishes the season with a record of 5-11.

In another Division II match, PAL champ San Mateo, which went undefeated during the regular season, suffered its first loss as the seventh-seeded Bearcats fell to No. 10 Gunn 25-17, 25-17, 25-12.

In Division I, Carlmont had a bye into the quarterfinals, but the sixth-seeded Scots fell to No. 3 Bellarmine, 25-8, 25-14, 25-22. Carlmont ends the season 10-2.

Menlo-Atherton, the No. 9 seed in Division I, did not make it out of Monday's first round, falling to No. 8 Independence 25-12, 25-20, 25-20 to conclude its season with a mark of 4-3.

In Division III, No. 10 Burlingame saw its season end with a first-round loss to No. 7 Pioneer 25-14, 25-13, 25-21 to finish the season 5-6.

Swimming

SHP has strong showing

The Sacred Heart Prep girls' and boys' swim teams put on impressive performances at the CCS championships Saturday.

The SHP girls' captured the team title, while the boys' finished fourth.

Winning team titles is all about depth and the Gator girls had plenty of it as they racked up 315.5 points. St. Ignatius was runner-up, finishing with 271 points.

SHP took home four individual championships. The quartet of Kaia Li, Audrey J-Cheng, Annaliese Chen and Ella Woodhead combined to win the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:45.18.

J-Cheng would go on to capture the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:02.99. Margot Gibbons won the 500 free with a time of 4:54.59, while Li captured the 100 backstroke title in a time of 55.60.

It was the Gators' ability to pick up multiple points in many races that clinched the team title for them. Gibbons and Eleanor Facey both had top-8 finishes in the 200 free, while the Gators had three of the top nine times in the 200 IM.

Even swimming in “B” finals can earn points. So while Kate Brandin was 11th in the 50 free, and Katelyn Chan 12th in the 100 fly, they both earned valuable points for SHP.

On the boys' side, SHP finished fourth and Serra was sixth in the team standings. The Gators finished with 162 points, Serra 130. Bellarmine captured its 37th time in 39 years, finishing with 364 points. St. Francis was second, with 171 points.

Crystal Springs Uplands School's Alec Lacerte capped his high school career with some strong finishes. He won the “B” final in the 200 free, 200 IM and 100 free.