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

Lucas Carlson, Burlingame boys’ water polo. The junior helped the Panthers get in position to win a share of the PAL Bay Division title with a pair of wins last week. Carlson erupted in a 26-5 win over Carlmont, scoring 10 times and assisting on an 11th goal. In 12-11 win over Sequoia, that all but eliminated the Ravens from the Bay Division title race, Carlson scored four more times.

Mo Rhai Balinton, Menlo-Atherton flag football. The junior factored big in Bears’ 19-18 overtime win over Carlmont to clinch the PAL Bay Division championship. Her 5-yard touchdown on a sweep around the left end tied the game at 12-all with a little more than six minutes left to play. She then came up with an interception on the Scots’ conversion play in an attempt to tie the game to ice the win.

Cason Mitchell, Menlo-Atherton boys’ cross country. The senior fronted a clean sweep for M-A’s top five runners at the PAL #3 meet last Wednesday at Bedwell Park. Mitchell hit the tape with a first-place time of 16 minutes, 53 seconds, edging out teammate Aidan Sharp, who recorded an identical time of 16:53 for second place. The hits just kept coming for M-A, as the team ran the table with junior Grant Bennitt placing third (16:58), senior Brady Phan fourth (17:01), and junior Benjamin Salceda fifth (17:03). It is the first win of the season for Mitchell in any race. It also marks the third different M-A runner to win a PAL meet this year, with Sharp taking first Sept. 17 at PAL #1 at Half Moon Bay, and Bennitt taking first Oct. 8 at PAL #2 at Crystal Springs.

Ariel Ogawa, Aragon girls’ golf. The junior golfer may have been playing in the No. 6 position for the Lady Dons, but she helped lead Aragon to a win over Carlmont and Burlingame for the PAL’s second automatic team bid to the CCS tournament. With Aragon clinging to a 2-shot lead as the final of six threesomes finished up the front nine at Poplar Creek Golf Course in San Mateo, Ogawa parred her final two holes to post a round of 44 to send the Dons to CCS.

Isaac Pech, Woodside football. The senior linebacker has been the linchpin for the Wildcats defense that is allowing a little over nine points a game. In a 42-14 win over Sequoia, Pech led the defense with 13 tackles, including a sack. He also came up with one of four Woodside interceptions as the Wildcats remain the only undefeated team in the PAL.

Daniella Roberov and Cameron Luz, Capuchino volleyball. The Lady Mustangs earned their program’s second PAL championship all-time by wrapping up the Ocean Division title last Tuesday in a 25-13, 25-15, 25-20 sweep at San Mateo. Cap was on its service game, for sure, as Roberov totaled eight kills and a block, but added four aces, including a streak of three straight aces in the second set. Not to be outdone, Luz fronted the service barrage with a match-high five aces.

Amelia Bautista and Katerina Sosa, Capuchino girls’ tennis. The No. 2 doubles team played spoiler in the PAL Ocean Division, teaming to win Cap’s only individual match in a 6-1 loss to Hillsdale. Cap’s one win, however, denied Hillsdale a chance to play in the PAL Team Tournament. Hillsdale and Woodside entered the day tied for first place in the Ocean Division, and by virtue of Woodside’s 7-0 win over Westmoor, both went on to share a co-championship. But, with the Ocean Division allotted just one bid to the PAL Team Tournament, the tiebreaker for the right to keep playing came down to individual match wins against league opponents. The two league frontrunners entered the day tied in individual match wins — and had they both swept, the postseason bid would have been decided by coin flip — but the win by Bautista and Sosa gave Woodside the hammer.

Sofia Peypoch, Sacred Heart Prep volleyball. The junior took over as SHP’s full-time setter two weeks ago in the wake of an injury to regular Kiley McGibben, and has been nails through four starts, with the Gators clinching the WBAL Foothill Division crown along the way. Most recently, Peypoch totaled 30 assists in last Thursday’s three-set win over Notre Dame-San Jose, adding a career-high three kills, a big number for a setter. Because of the seamless transition, the Gators are still on track to run the table in the WBAL Foothill, with their regular-season finale set for Tuesday against Mercy-Burlingame at Serra.

Austin Snead, Terra Nova football. The Tigers wrapped up their first league championship in 12 years and Snead led the charge. Terra Nova rolled to a 42-6 victory over Santa Clara to clinch no less than a share of the PAL Ocean Division title on a drizzly Friday night at Coach Bill Gray Stadium, fitting since the program last won league with Gray at the helm in 2013. Snead was a workhorse, totaling 18 carries for 168 yards and one touchdown on offense, while totaling an interception and a fumble recovery on defense. It was the third 100-yard plus performance for the senior this season, and the second best of his varsity career after his 185-yard effort in this year’s season opener.

Isaiah Yeager, Hillsdale boys’ water polo. The senior attacker will finish second on the Knights’ all-time single-game goal scorer list, behind older brother Josiah Yeager, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Isaiah Yeager opened the week with a five-goal performance in a 9-6 win over Woodside, that effective knocked the Wildcats out of title contention. Isaiah Yeager came back and day later and poured in 15 goals to match a career-high in a 17-11 win over Carlmont. matched his career-high in goals scored in a single match as he scored 15 to lead the Knights past Priory, 17-11. The 15 goals was two shy of tying Josiah Yeager’s single-game record.

Anthony Howell and Thomas Miller, South City football. The Warriors rode the pass attack to a 43-0 win Friday night at Gunn-Palo Alto, their most lopsided win since 2023. Howell gained 239 total yards, and helmed the air show with four touchdown passes. The senior’s highlight throw was a shot from near midfield on a post route up the sideline to Miller, a senior receiver, who finished with six catches for 116 yards.

Daniela Cuadros, Carlmont girls’ cross country. The senior entered last week having never taken first place in the cross-country race. That changed last Wednesday at the PAL #3 meet, as Cuadros won the individual title with a time of 19:16. Not only did she finish seven seconds ahead of M-A sophomore Caroline Pflaum’s second-place time of 19:23, Cuadros’ win denied M-A a sweep of the individual championships from all three PAL meets, as each of the three boys’ titles were captured by three different M-A runners, while Pflaum won the individual crowns at PAL #1 and #2.