23 SHP Student-Athletes Commit to Collegiate Sports

The Gator athletes have gone on to play for 18 different colleges

ATHERTON, Calif., Sept. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- For the 19th consecutive year, Sacred Heart Preparatory (SHP) in Atherton, California, has sent 15 or more Class of 2025 student-athletes to play at the intercollegiate ranks, with 23 new grads playing in 14 different sports.

"Collectively, this class led SHP athletics to extraordinary accomplishments in the last school year, including a school-record eight Central Coast Section (CCS) titles, three NorCal championships, and 12 CCS Scholastic Team honors—highlighting not just athletic talent, but an equally powerful commitment to academic excellence," said SHP Assistant Principal for Athletics Jason Armstrong.

Just two years after being elevated to the PAL's ultra-competitive Bay Division–widely regarded as one of the strongest leagues in the CCS–the SHP Baseball team finished the year with nine wins. Senior captain and all-league honoree Daniel Gee has joined Delta College, and all-league honoree and the 2023 CCS Pitcher of the Year Devin Saltzgaber headed to Pomona College.

The SHP Boys' Basketball team capped off another impressive season with a 16-11 overall record and sent 2025 WBAL all-league honoree Alex Straser to play for Emory.

SHP Girls' Basketball senior Eva Arceo helped lead a resurgence for the team, guiding the Gators to eight league victories across 2023 and 2024, the program's most in over a decade. The two-time WBAL all-league honoree is playing for Solano College.

SHP's Cross Country and Track and Field star Sophie Cheung holds multiple school records, has placed in the top five multiple times in the CCS championships, and qualified for the state meet four times; she's now running for MIT.

The SHP football team claimed the program's first CCS title since 2021, and sent three-time first team PAL-Bay Division honoree and two-time Bay Division Lineman of the Year Aseli Fangupo to Claremont McKenna.

In SHP Boys' Golf, the team's nine wins overall and eight league wins were the highest in program history. Logan Mills, a four-time first team all-league golfer, has headed to Claremont McKenna.

The SHP Boys' Lacrosse team claimed the program's second CCS Championship and first since 2021. The Gators finished the season 17-7 against one of the most difficult schedules in the country and earned a No. 4 final state ranking from MaxPreps. The team sent three players on to collegiate lacrosse: three-time all-league honoree Jack Barton (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), all-league goalie Hampton Galletti (United States Air Force Academy), and all-league honoree Connor Lis (MIT).

The SHP Girls' Lacrosse team completed a historic season, finishing 19-2 overall and capturing the program's second CCS Championship and first since 2021—earning a final MaxPreps ranking of No. 1 in California and a top-25 program nationally. Standout athlete Ellie Shen—a two-time WBAL girls' flag football first team all-league wide receiver, starter of the State Champion girls' soccer team, and all-league lacrosse honoree—is now playing lacrosse for Claremont McKenna College.

Just one year after fielding only 16 players in the entire program, the SHP Boys' Soccer team achieved nine wins in the team's final 10 matches, clinching a berth into the CCS Division III playoffs. The team sent all-league honoree James Smith to Haverford College, and Zachary Ehrenpreis to the University of Virginia.

The SHP Girls' Soccer team completed arguably its finest season in program history, capturing a CCS Division V championship and securing its first-ever NorCal Regional title. The team sent two-time girls' tennis all-league honoree and the 2024 WBAL Goalkeeper of the Year Shannon Bennitt to Claremont McKenna College, and two-time all-league honoree Leah Lynch to Penn.

The SHP Boys' Swim team continued the program's tradition of excellence, capturing its 17th league title; the squad sent three-time WBAL all-league honoree Cam Kazemipour to Chapman University. His 50 freestyle time of 21.31 ranks him among the top five performances in school history.

MaxPreps' third-ranked team in the nation, SHP Boys' Water Polo, has sent three student-athletes to play in college: three-time WCAL all-league honoree Nelson Harris to Claremont McKenna College; all-league water polo player and swimmer Luke Kirincich to the U.S. Naval Academy; and three-year letter-winner and co-captain John Plaschke to Pomona College.

The SHP Girls' Water Polo team completed its finest season yet, going 30-2 overall, with a perfect 8-0 in WCAL play, and was named MaxPreps' first-ranked team in the nation, marking the first time any SHP team has finished a season with a No. 1 national ranking. The team sent four girls to play in college: three-year letter-winner and co-captain Isabella Dova to Pitzer College; San Mateo Daily Journal and CCS Water Polo Player of the Year Vivian Golub to Princeton; four-time all-league honoree and CCS Scholar Athlete of the Year Megan Newby to Brown; and San Mateo Daily Journal Water Polo Player of the Year and three-time Academic All-American Natalia Szczerba will play for Stanford University.

"Each of these student-athletes will carry with them the lessons learned, relationships formed, and the resilience built during their time as Gators," said Armstrong. "Our community will be cheering them on—today, tomorrow, and in the years ahead."

ABOUT SACRED HEART SCHOOLS, ATHERTON
Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton (www.shschools.org) is an accredited preschool through twelfth grade school, founded in 1898, located on a 63-acre campus in Atherton, California. It serves 1,185 students and is a member of the International Network of Schools of the Sacred Heart.

SOURCE Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton