The Sunnyvale Sun
Sports
Four Knights win Most Valuable Player honors
By MIKE BARNHART
Several athletes of The King's Academy's spring sports teams earned Most Valuable Player honors from their respective leagues this season. Seniors Tim Svozil (baseball), Lisa Walker (softball) and Jessica Butelo (track and field) and freshman Morgan Lee (swimming) all earned top honors for the Knights.
Svozil, the Knights' catcher, hit for both average and power during a remarkable senior season in the Private Schools Athletic League. His dazzling overall batting average of .618 featured 47 hits, seven home runs and 37 runs-batted-in. Amazingly, he struck out only once in 92 plate appearances for the Knights, who placed second behind Sacred Heart Prep and finished the season with a 14-11 record after a first-round defeat to Carmel in the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs.
Three of Svozil's teammates, senior infielder Danny Clarkson (.406 average), freshman designated hitter Nick Backlund (.420) and junior utilityman/pitcher Corbett Clarke, earned all-PSAL second team laurels.
Walker was one of five Knights to earn first team status after their team ran away with the PSAL softball title. King's went 10-0 in league play and 20-1-1 overall, while outscoring opponents 207-41 and racking up a team batting average of .421. Pitcher Rebecca Schulenburg and catcher Cherol Tomer, both seniors, junior outfielder Emily Henderson and freshman infielder Niki McDowell were the Knights' other first-team picks. Two other seniors, infielder Sam Mix and outfielder Katelyn Kruger, made the second team and sophomore outfielder Mackenna Hampton was an honorable mention pick.
In girls track and field, seniors J. Butelo, Christina Chang and Sophia Sedillo, juniors Kristen Butelo, Catherine Haas, Ruth Mauntz and Carolyn Scott, sophomores Kirsten Fuller, Alanna Hartley and Rachel Lewis and freshman Priya Pappu received first team recognition. Freshman Jenae Martin was second team. First team boys selections were sophomores Tyler Aagard and Jacob Bliss and juniors Jordan Martin and Sean Robinson. Junior Colin Foshay was on the second team.
In swimming, Lee, junior Monica Brazelton and sophomore Stacey Wong earned first team honors, while senior Elise Gustafson received a second team spot. Seniors Sheila Casey and Meredith Stouffer and junior Kaitlin Paulus were honorable mention selections.
In boys volleyball, three juniors and two sophomores from TKA's seniorless squad received all-PSAL recognition. Outside hitter Colin Foshay and setter Steven Lim, a pair of juniors, were first team picks for the Knights, who won the PSAL before bowing to Leland in the first round of the CCS playoffs. Junior outside hitter Kevin Brown and sophomore middle blocker Joe Sereda were second team choices, and sophomore opposite hitter Jeremiah Auer earned an honorable mention nod.
