Saratoga News
Sports
Club season prepares Pance for polo at UCSB
By Mike Barnhart
Marko Pance, who led Saratoga High's water polo team to the Central Coast Section quarterfinals last fall, has been playing for the Stanford club program since then, honing his skill for his freshman season at UC-Santa Barbara.
Pance capped a busy summer, leading Stanford's 18-under team to third place out of 48 teams at the National Junior Olympics in Cupertino, July 28-31. The 6-foot-2 driver paced his team with 22 goals during the four-day event, including four in the bronze medal game against Los Angeles.
One of Pance's final goals came from half the length of the pool, ending the third quarter and cutting the LA lead to one. Stanford went on to tie the game 7-7, before the end of regulation, then won in overtime 12-11.
The bronze medal game was the 10th contest in four days for Pance's squad, including a string of five straight victories in two days that put it back into medal contention.
Two weeks earlier in Moraga, Marko helped Stanford's 20-under team score a third-place finish at the national 20-under championships.
Dix joins Notre Dame
After earning junior college All-American honors for the West Valley College women's soccer team, Ashley Dix will take her game to the next level this fall at Notre Dame de Namur University of Belmont.
The former Los Gatos High standout had an outstanding season as a midfielder for West Valley. She earned numerous accolades, including selection to all-league, all-NorCal and all-West Region teams, but the biggest honor was her selection to the All-American team.
Dix traveled to Indianapolis to receive her All-American award, joining other honorees from throughout the nation.
Kaiser finishes strong
Former Saratoga High tennis standout Kevin Kaiser was part of Stanford University's tennis line-up for most of his freshman season.
Playing mainly No. 4 or No. 5 singles, the 2006 Saratoga graduate competed well throughout the season and posted a 12-19 singles record.
Kaiser developed strength and some maturity in the fall and early spring portions of the Stanford schedule, then finished fast. The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder won seven of his last 11 matches for the Cardinal last spring, including victories against No. 19 Pepperdine and No. 8 USC.
Kaiser also contributed in doubles competition, settling in at No. 3 during the final month of the season. Paired with four different teammates at various times, he put together a 12-8 record, including a 2-1 mark in No. 1 doubles contests.
Lancers off to college
St. Francis High School wrapped up another successful sports year in the spring with the announcement that five scholar-athletes had signed letters of intent to play college athletics.
The five gathered in Raskob Gym at St. Francis late in the school year for a special signing ceremony, bringing to 17 the number of Lancers who had committed to colleges to compete in athletics after completion of the 2006-07 school year.
Participating in the signing ceremony were Saratoga resident Lauren Copenhagen, who will play volleyball for Elon University; Emily Dougherty, who will play golf for University of Northern Colorado; Soula Ellenikiotis of Saratoga, who will play field hockey for University of Michigan; Jenna Gunderson of Cupertino, who will play water polo for Stanford University; and Daniel Stienstra, who will play baseball for San Jose State University.
Earlier in the year, St. Francis signees included water polo player Travis Bickham (UC-Berkeley), soccer players Bryan Giudicelli (Dartmouth University) and Danielle Drago (San Jose State University); football players Rhett Ellison (USC) and Andy Vargas (San Jose State); gymnasts Eric Haeussler (UC-Berkeley), Haley Bogart (University of Washington) and Stefanie Cheng of San Jose (UC-Berkeley); track and field stars Natasha Barthel of Campbell (Stanford University) and Casey Roche (Stanford); volleyball player Emily Ettel (University of Pennsylvania); and diver Hallie Ivester (Stanford).
Justice wins CCS award
Greg Justice was named the 2007 Central Coast Section Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. Each year only one male and one female athlete with accomplishments in academics, athletics and service are awarded the honor. Justice, who is a resident of Saratoga and attended Archbishop Mitty, received his honor in April.
Justice was a four-year member of both the basketball and golf teams and was able to handle a difficult load in the classroom with Advanced Placement and Honors classes along with community service.
Justice was a member of the Principal's Honor Roll, the National Honor Society and the California Scholarship Federation. He was also named a National Merit semifinalist.
He has volunteered with the Special Olympics program as a softball coach, was a YMCA summer camp counselor and also participated in the Mitty-sponsored summer immersion trip to South Africa.
Mitty principal Tim Brosnan said, "Greg is not only a successful scholar, athlete, leader and community builder, he is also a young man of impeccable character. He is very deserving of this honor."
Justice will continue his career at Stanford University in the fall.
High Intensity for Sclavos
Alex Sclavos, an all-league basketball player for Saratoga High School as a sophomore, prepared for her junior season by playing on the High Intensity Hoops club team.
High Intensity's tournament schedule included the prestigious End of the Oregon Trail Invitational in Oregon City in early July. Sclavos and her teammates won the consolation championship of the 32-team Diamond Bracket. The team's only loss was to the Tennessee Flight, which proved to be the best team overall out of 128 teams in the National Division tournament.
Kevin Sparrer contributed to this story.
