Saratoga News

Former Prospect star Megan Sainsbury was a standout player for the women's field hockey team at UC-Berkeley this past fall.

Where are they now?

Former area high school stars are still playing

By Dick Sparrer

Now every baseball fan knows Ken Caminiti of the San Diego Padres.

How could they help it? He's the most valuable player in the National League.

But he wasn't always that well- known.

In fact, it wasn't all that long ago that he was just an area high school athlete showing flashes of the great things to come while starring on the fields and diamonds at Leigh.

Caminiti was a football and baseball star for the Longhorns, but concentrated his efforts on baseball after leaving the high school campus.

He went on to stardom at San Jose State University and with the Houston Astros before hooking up with the Padres. And the rest is becoming part of major league baseball history.

But it all began right here, where it has begun for many athletes.

Of course, not every high school in the area has a Ken Caminiti to brag about. But every school does hold bragging rights to many gifted athletes who have developed their talents beyond high school sports.

The list is impressive. Here are just a few:

Darius Tehranchi, a Saratoga graduate, is the starting center for the basketball team at Santa Monica Community College. The 6-foot-9 Tehranchi was an all-league player at Saratoga, where he was the team most valuable player in 1994 and '95. Santa Monica was No. 3 in the state and No. 12 in the nation last year.

Alan Jackson, a graduate of Westmont, was the No. 2 finisher for the Lehigh University men's cross-country team at the IC4A championships in Boston. The junior covered the 10K course in 31:53 to finish second for Lehigh (Bethlehem, Pa.) and 12th overall.

Jackson had finished 13th in the Patriot League cross-country championships, stopping the watch at 26:03 on the 5-mile course.

Jackson was selected the Lehigh men's cross-country athlete of the year for his efforts in 1996.

Jeff Menold, a graduate of Lynbrook and a resident of Saratoga, was a member of the football team at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., this fall. The 5-foot-11, 178-pound sophomore was a starting split end for the Wildcats until a hamstring injury ended his season.

Menold is also a baseball player at Linfield. Last season he won all-conference honors after hitting .305 for the Wildcats.

Daryl Rogers and Joel Rogers are other former Lynbrook football players still active.

D. Rogers went on to star at the University of the Pacific and for the San Jose Sabercats in the Arena Football League, and J. Rogers played this fall at West Valley Community College.

Wynn Silberman will be busy on New Year's Day--busy playing football.

Silberman, a graduate of Bellarmine Prep and a resident of Saratoga, is a wide receiver at Northwestern University and will be with the Wildcats for the Cirtus Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla.

Silberman attended Foothill School and Redwood Middle School in Saratoga before going on to Bellarmine.

Anne Kluetmeier, a graduate of Saratoga, was a freshman goalkeeper on the soccer team at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Just a year ago, Joel Reikes was starring at linebacker for a Saratoga football team that finished second in the Central Coast Section.

Reikes moved on to the University of Redlands, and the freshman was a standout linebacker for the conference champions. He helped Redlands to a 29-22 overtime win over the University of La Verne in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title game.

Reikes was a four-year letterman in both baseball and football at Saratoga. He set school tackling records for the Falcons on his way to winning all-league honors in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and to earning a berth on the North squad in the Santa Clara Valley All-Star Game.

Joe Caviglia of Saratoga played football for UC-Davis this past season.

Megan Sainsbury was an outstanding high school basketball player at Prospect.

Oh yeah, she wasn't a bad field hockey player, either.

And she's still a pretty good field hockey player as she continues her career as a member of the women's varsity squad at UC-Berkeley.

Sainsbury recently completed her freshman season at Cal, where she was a starter for the Golden Bears.

The freshman center-forward was named the Cal athlete of the week in October.

Catlin Braucht (Los Gatos), Sarah Baron (Monta Vista), Rachelle Hovig (Willow Glen), Jennifer Grossman (Lynbrook) and Karen Hagan (Cupertino) were other members of the Cal squad. Hagan, a junior, was the starting goalkeeper for the Bears. Braucht was a freshman forward, Baron a freshman midfielder, Hovig a sophomore back and Grossman a junior midfielder.

Karla Peterson of Saratoga and Baochi Nguyen, Amy Marfill and Justina Williams of San Jose played field hockey at Stanford this fall.

There have been few athletes better than Kerri Walsh to come out of the Santa Clara Valley.

Walsh was a basketball and volleyball sensation at Mitty, and the Saratoga resident continues to star--now on the volleyball court at Stanford.

Walsh starred as a 6-foot-2 freshman at Stanford, helping the Cardinal to a 26-2 season.

North Carolina, Notre Dame, Portland and Santa Clara made up the prestigious "Final Four" when the nation's best were in Santa Clara for the NCAA women's soccer championships earlier this month. And the Santa Clara Valley was certainly well represented.

Jen Renola, Regina Holan, Tracy Giorgetti, Mikka Hansen and Lisa Nañez--all former Central Coast Section stars--went up against each other in the NCAA finals.

Renola, a graduate of Saratoga, was the starting goalkeeper for the University of Notre Dame, and Holan, a former star at Homestead, was a freshman forward for Portland.

Giorgetti and Hansen, both graduates of Presentation, and Nañez, a Los Gatos grad, were all members of the Santa Clara University squad. Giorgetti was a senior midfielder, Hansen a senior forward and Nañez a sophomore midfielder.

Renola, a senior, nearly led the Irish to the championship with a brilliant effort in the goal. She came through with a season-high seven saves, but a single goal in overtime cost Notre Dame the 1-0 decision.

Renola capped her outstanding season by being named to the All-America team. She finished the year with 55 saves, and helped the Irish to a 24-2 season record.

The Irish had beaten Portland 3-2 in the semifinals, and it was two goals by Holan that kept Portland in the game. Holan capped the season by earning honorable mention plaudits on the All-West Coast Conference team.

Santa Clara hosted the NCAA finals, and the Broncos earned a spot in the "Final Four" behind the efforts of Giorgetti, Hansen and Nañez.

Giorgetti and Hansen are each seniors for the Broncs, and Nañez is a sophomore who was named the squad's rookie of the year after starting every game as a freshman.

Brett Fernald, a 1995 graduate of Westmont, returns for his sophomore season on the track team at UCLA. Fernald, who missed his freshman season because of illness, will compete in the sprints for the Bruins. He plans to run the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay.

Jonathan Chin, a 1993 graduate of Saratoga, is a senior basketball player at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.