Running for Quin

White died from an epileptic seizure this past November, two days after his 18th birthday. Saturday morning, Feb. 1, there will be a memorial 5K run/walk at Hillsdale to celebrate his love of running. Registration is $50 which will help defray the costs of putting on the event and any money left over will go into the Quinlin Thomas White Scholarship Fund.

The event begins at 8 a.m. and you can register at https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/HillsdaleFoundation/5k-for-Quin.html

White was a multi-event athlete for the track team, concentrating on the distance races and also competing in the long jump. Last April, he set a personal record in the 1,600 with a time of 5:09.98.

White ran cross country and track for the Knights for his first three years of high school. He gave up cross country this past fall as he began training at College of San Mateo with the goal of becoming a firefighter. The firefighting class at CSM conflicted with the cross country schedule. He was also enrolled with the Redwood City Fire Explorer program.

“He was a great teammate and a competitive athlete,” Lucey said. “It’s really tragic.”

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Because there are only seven basketball teams in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division, rematches come around quickly.

A little over two weeks ago, the Menlo-Atherton boys’ clipped Carlmont 62-60 Jan. 17 on a Will Abdella layup at the buzzer that gave the Bears the outright lead in the Bay Division standings.

And while there are six games left in the regular season entering the week, the Bears can all but clinch the Bay Division title as they host the Scots Wednesday night.

M-A comes into the week with a 6-0 record, with a one-game lead over Carlmont and a two-game lead over Half Moon Bay. A Bears win Wednesday would give them a two-game lead with five games left in league play.

On the girls’ side, the Bay Division is turning into a three-team race. Hillsdale, Menlo-Atherton and Mills all enter the week with 5-1 records and are the only three with winning records in the division.

There will be a change in the standings as early as Tuesday as M-A hosts Mills, with the Vikings also taking on a Half Moon Bay team Wednesday that enters the week 2-3.

And in continuing with the theme of M-A and playing for titles, the Bears’ boys’ soccer team is now a heavy favorite to win the Bay Division crown. They enter the week 3-0-1 in Bay play and 10-0-3 overall. Last week, they faced off against the two teams closest to them in the standings — Carlmont and Aragon — and beat them both. M-A’s 2-0 win over the Scots was the first league loss of the season for Carlmont, and then the Bears posted a 3-0 shutout of Aragon.

There are still six games left in league play, so a lot can still change. But everyone in the Bay is now chasing M-A.

And it should come as no surprise that the Bears top the Bay standings in girls’ soccer, as well. Like their male counterparts, the Lady Bears have yet to be beaten in Bay play, sporting a 3-0-1 record.

But they are about to face a gauntlet over the next couple of weeks that will go a long way in determining a champion. After a matchup with Hillsdale Tuesday, the Bears will play Sequoia, Aragon and Burlingame in their next three games, followed by Woodside Feb. 11.

In the girls’ Ocean Division, Carlmont — which in going 4-0 has dominated their division opponents, having outscored them 22-0 — will get a real test when the Scots host San Mateo Tuesday.

The Bearcats, coming off a 2-2 draw with Half Moon Bay last Thursday, are also unbeaten in Ocean play at 3-0-1. The Bearcats have been nearly as dominant as Carlmont, outscored their four Ocean Division opponents 19-2.

Nathan Mollat is in his 24th year covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.