The Year's Best Sports of Carlmont and Notre Dame

With the 2010-11 school year in the books, here is a look at some of the top accomplishments of the teams and athletes at Carlmont and Notre Dame high schools:

1. Notre Dame Basketball: The Tigers’ memorable season included and third overall, as well as Notre Dame’s first-ever win in the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs. Notre Dame edged Scotts Valley 33-29 in the CCS Division IV final at Santa Clara behind two late 3-pointers from Katie Flaherty, and then rampaged to in a Northern California opener. The Tigers’ dream postseason came to an end with to St. Mary’s of Berkeley, the eventual state runner-up. The extended playoff run was a fitting send-off for star post Emily Morris, who now heads to UC San Diego.

2. Carlmont Baseball: The Scots put an end to a 16-year postseason drought in dramatic fashion—pulling off in CCS playoff history. No. 16 seed Carlmont stunned No. 1 seed St. Francis 4-3 in a Division I opener. Trailing 3-2, the visiting Scots scored two runs in the top of the seventh, thanks to a Justin Fink single and a Lancers’ error. The win marked the first time in 12 years in which a No. 16 seed advanced.

3. Notre Dame Volleyball: The Tigers came oh-so-close to capturing significant postseason hardware, falling just short to Sacred Heart Prep in both the CCS and NorCal Division IV finals. Notre Dame took plenty of confidence into the section championship after beating SHP twice in the regular season. The Tigers engineered a stirring rally after falling in a two-games-to-none hole, but SHP held on to win 15-13 in the decisive game to prevail in . Then both teams streaked through the NorCal bracket to meet again with a berth in the CIF state final on the line. With standout senior Brooke Baldwin leading the way, Notre Dame streaked to wins in the first two games, but then the Gators rallied to stun the Tigers in .

4. Carlmont Cross Country: Anchored by , a Syracuse-bound senior, the Scots won – the program’s sixth championship in seven years. Petersen, a Syracuse-bound senior, claimed her second consecutive section title and then went on to finish eighth in the CIF championships. Earlier, Carlmont’s boys and girls teams both narrowly edged the competition to claim at Crystal Springs. The boys beat Menlo-Atherton by one point and the girls slipped past Half Moon Bay by two points.

5. Carlmont Boys Swimming: Vladmir Khrolov, Jason Wong and the Scots enjoyed a strong day at at Burlingame. Khrolov won the 50-yard freestyle in 22.37 seconds and Wong claimed the 100 breaststroke title in 1:00.67. Jordan Tang and Ivan Garin joined that duo in Carlmont’s 200 medley relay team that beat M-A by over a second to establish a new PAL Bay record at 1:40.51. The Scots finished tied for third in the team competition.

6. Notre Dame Cheerleading: The Tigers won the Large Varsity Show Cheer (Novice) division for the second consecutive year on March 27 at in Anaheim.

7. Carlmont Softball: After finishing a solid second in the PAL Bay Division to Hillsdale, the Scots cruised to a pair of big wins in the CCS Division I playoffs: they beat and . Then Carlmont, which finished 22-7, fell to powerhouse San Benito in . Kelly Robinson and Megan Hansen earned All-PAL Bay first-team honors and Janelle Shiozaki, Gabriella Pons and Taylor Yzaguirre were named to the second team.

8. Carlmont Boys Track and Field: The Scots tied Westmoor for the PAL Bay dual meets title with a 6-1 record. In the PAL championships, Thomas Yeh won the pole vault by clearing 12 feet, 6 inches and took second in the long jump. He also joined Theo Yeh, Shane Callan and Brian Wyatt in winning the 4x100-meter relay in 44.67 seconds.

9. Notre Dame Softball: Powered by a 17-strikeout one-hitter from St. Mary’s-bound senior Jiana Bowie, the Tigers beat Harker 4-0 in a CCS Division III opener. Lauren Henry went 3 for 3, and Beth Holden and Izzy Geronimo had two hits apiece to lead the offense. Bidding for its fifth trip to the section semifinals in six years, Notre Dame then lost . The Tigers registered 13 hits, but were victimized by four errors.

10. Carlmont Girls Basketball: The Scots beat Fremont 40-19 in the first round of the CCS Division I championships. Carlmont will lose six seniors but guard Natalie Leist, forward Noelani Zane and center Eliza Abinader are set to return.

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Interested in the top athletic feats in other parts of San Mateo County? Here are the highlights from , , , , , San Mateo, and .