Honor roll: The week’s best performances by San Mateo County high school athletes

Robert Saulny-Green, Jefferson football. Making their first CCS appearance since 2017, the Grizzlies rode Saulny-Green helped to their first CCS win since 2010, 40-17 win over Pioneer. The senior quarterback accounted for 258 yards of offense. He averaged 20 yards a carry as he rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 rushes. He also added 58 yards and another score on 5-for-8 passing.

Mia Lo, Catie Wu and Meilin Rife, Aragon girls’ tennis. The Dons’ No. 1 singles and No. 3 doubles team, it was back-to-back wins that carried Aragon to an upset, 4-3 win over St. Ignatius in the CCS team tennis tournament. Both won in third-set super tiebreakers: Lo’s 3-6, 6-1, 10-8 win tied the team score at 3-all and, when Wu and Rife won 6-2, 5-7, 11-9, it gave the Dons their first-ever second-round win in CCS and a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time. They scared top-seeded Menlo School before falling 4-3. In three matches, both Wu and Rife, and Lo, went 2-1.

Palmer Riley and Trevor Van der Pyl, Menlo School football. The two Knights starred both sides of the ball as Menlo outlasted the King’s Academy for a 17-7 win in the CCS Division II football opener Saturday at Cartan Stadium. Riley, a two-way lineman, was a key blocker at offensive guard, by his clutch defensive play at edge rusher saw the 6-5 senior bat three passes. He also had a key downfield block for Van der Pyl, who turned a late interception into a 74-yard return for a pick-6 to put Menlo up by 10. Van der Pyl also had a pair of critical receptions to spark a go-ahead scoring drive at the end of the first half, and finished with eight catches for 123 yards.

Stella Newman and Elizabeth Carroll, Burlingame girls’ cross country. The Burlingame duo came down the stretch well ahead of the pack ub the CCS Division III girls’ cross-country final, finishing 1-2 to lead the Panthers to third place in the team element. Newman claimed the individual Division III title, running the 2.95-mile course in the personal record 18:22.9. Carroll claimed second place, also recording a PR, in 18:24.5.

Nico Pollioni, Sacred Heart Prep football. The senior quarterback led a dramatic comeback in the closing minutes of SHP’s 49-48 victory at Carmel in the CCS Division III playoff opener. With the Gators trailing by 7, Pollioni connected with Charlie Ford on third-and-10 for a 36-yard scoring pass, cutting the deficit to 48-47. Pollioni then delivered the game-winning two-point conversion pass to Alex Ford to put SHP ahead.

Kiernan Hogan, Sacred Heart Prep girls’ water polo. Hogan had an impact on both ends of the pool as she helped the Gators to a 13-10 overtime win over Soquel in the CCS Open Division championship game. In addition to her five goals and an assist on offense, she came up with five steals and was suffocating on the defensive end. It marks SHP’s third straight Open Division title.

Samantha McMurtry, Sequoia volleyball. The sophomore was among an array of standouts as Sequoia entered uncharted territory by appearing in CIF Nor Cal regional playoffs for the first time in program history. The Ravens advanced to the Nor Cal Division III regional finals with back-to-back wins last week, and both were five-set thrillers. In last Thursday’s opener against Bullard-Fresno, McMurtry totaled a solid 12 kills and three blocks. It was in Saturday’s Nor Cal semifinals that the sophomore stole the show, though. With the Ravens trailing 2 sets to 1, McMurtry went on an early nine-point service run to put the set out of reach. Then, with Sequoia trailing early in Game 5, she produced two of her three match blocks, including an emotional solo block through the middle, with the Ravens down 9-5, to spark the comeback.

Joedoln Flores, Half Moon Bay football. After a quiet first half, the Cougars’ bruising fullback erupted in the second to help the Cougars to a 29-21 win over Burlingame in the first round of the CCS Division IV bracket. After getting just three carries for 11 yards in the first half, Flores rumbled to 125 yards and two scores — on runs of 1 and 25 yards — on 17 carries. He finished with 136 yards on 20 rushes.

Grant Bennitt, Menlo-Atherton boys’ cross country. The senior was the team’s fifth placer as M-A raced to the CCS Division I boys’ team championship at Crystal Springs Cross Country Course. But it was how Bennitt recovered to run the course in an underwhelming time of 15:53.8 that was the talk of Hallmark Park. Bennitt took a brutal tumble during the first mile, getting kicked, trampled and bloodied in the process. Bennitt didn’t wait around, though, hopping to his feet to blaze his way to M-A’s fifth qualifying time, and clinch the team’s CCS title.

Joey Donati and Dylan Wood, Terra Nova football. Senior quarterback Donati accounted for nearly 300 yards of offense and senior receiver Wood averaged 37 yards a catch as the two combined to help lead the Tigers to a 40-20 win over South City in the first round of the CCS Division V bracket. Donati completed 9 of 13 passes for 252 yards and three scores, averaging 28 yards per completion. Wood was his favorite target, as he pulled down four balls for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Donati added 42 yards rushing and another touchdown on eight carries.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Nueva boys’ cross country. The senior made his final varsity race at Crystal Springs a good one, claiming the CCS Division V championship in a personal record 14:53.8, over 11 seconds faster than his previous PR from last season’s CCS finals, and 1 minute, 17 seconds faster than his PSAL championship performance Nov. 6. Fitzgerald’s time was the second fastest of the day over all five divisions, and put him on the CCS podium for the third straight year, after finishing fourth place in each his sophomore and junior seasons.

Saul Marks, Serra football. The senior with the powerful right leg has earned the nickname “5 Star” this season, and he validated the label yet again Saturday in Serra’s 29-13 win over Mitty in the CCS Open Division playoff opener. Having already set the Serra program record earlier this year with a 53-yard field goal in the Aug. 30 season opener against Folsom, Marks tied his own record Saturday by drilling his second 53-yarder of the season.