It’s been a busy few weeks in Morgan Hill. There were spectacular performances aplenty on the track, in the pool and on the field.
The first championship event to take place was the Central Coast Section swimming and diving championships. Diving was held on April 30 and the swimming races took place May 2-4. That was followed by the CIF State Meet in Clovis on May 9-11.
The star of both the CCS and CIF State meets was Sobrato’s Katherine Lim, likely the best diver ever from these parts and one of the best Bulldog athletes of all time. Lim won the CCS title in 1-meter diving with a total of 487.30, improving upon her runner-up finish a year ago.
At the CIF State meet, she received a total score of 487.30 points and finished third in the state for the second year in a row.
Alex Hail of Live Oak recorded a host of great swims. He won the CCS Mixed 50-yard Freestyle in 30.31 and the CCS Mixed 100-yard Freestyle in 1:09.76. At the state meet, Hail was fifth in the 50 in 30.40 and sixth in the 100 in 1:09.25.
On the track, the CCS preliminaries for track and field were conducted at Gilroy High on Saturday May 11, and the CCS finals were held on May 18, also at Gilroy. Christian Hauge of Live Oak raced to a fifth-place finish in the boys 100 meters at 10.95 in the prelims and sped to a third-place finish in the finals in 10.83. With that slot in the top three, Hauge will advance to the CIF State meet in Clovis this weekend.
Hauge ran 22.10 in the boys 200 in the prelims for a seventh-place finish and then a 22.33 time for sixth in the finals.
Kevin Havens of Sobrato bolted over the barriers in the 300 hurdles to a second place finish in 39.68 seconds in the trials and then came in fourth in the finals in 39.91.
Lacrosse teams excel
Over on the turf, both Acorns lacrosse teams excelled. The girls team competed in the CCS Division II playoffs. They received a No. 7 seed and lost at No. 2 Woodside 16-6 on May 7.
It was a very successful season for coach Jordan Evanger’s crew, as they won the Blossom Valley Athletic League, Mt. Hamilton Division title and finished 15-2.
Amelya Forbis led the Acorns in scoring for the season with 59 goals and 12 assists. Megan Cahill Mallory contributed 32 goals and eight assists and Rian Henderson added 28 goals and eight assists. The team featured a star in goalie Susan Kirchhoff, who will play at Colorado Mesa College next year.
The Live Oak boys lacrosse team won their CCS Division II opener. Seeded third, the Acorns defeated sixth-seeded Carlmont 14-11. In the semifinals, Live Oak lost an 8-7 thriller to No. 2 Palo Alto.
Coach Gavin Herr’s squad finished their season at 11-5. Kenyon Castro led the scoring with 46 goals and 10 assists, Ben Ledwith had 37 goals and 12 assists and Luke Richey had 29 goals and eight assists.
Bulldogs finish strong
There was also competition for locals on the diamond. The Sobrato softball team finished 10-6 for fourth place in the competitive Blossom Valley Athletic League, Mt. Hamilton Division and got a bid to the CCS Division I playoffs. In their first match, the No. 5 Bulldogs were edged 5-1 by No. 4 Salinas, a Pacific Coast Athletic League, Gabilan Division powerhouse.
Coach Dave Bauer’s squad finished the year 15-9.
Sobrato was led at the plate by Kiyah Vasquez with a .413 average, five homers and 22 RBIs and Raylene Cruz at .319. Sam Zimmerman was stellar in the circle, recording an 11-7 record with an excellent 2.04 ERA.
