Record 31 SHP Student-Athletes Commit to Collegiate Sports

The Gator athletes will go on to play for 26 different colleges

ATHERTON, Calif., May 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For the 17th consecutive year, Sacred Heart Preparatory (SHP) in Atherton, California, will send 15 or more student-athletes to play at the intercollegiate ranks. The Class of 2023 sets itself apart sending 31 student-athletes to play in 12 different sports.

"Our athletes' dedication in both the classroom and in their respective athletic program is unmatched," said SHP Assistant Principal for Athletics Jason Armstrong. In the classroom, 12 of SHP's varsity sports programs were named Central Coast Section (CCS) Scholastic teams—a school record. The school's teams won 11 league championships and earned 20 CCS Playoff berths (of 21 total sports programs), also a school record.

"The fact that we are sending 31 athletes to play at the collegiate level from what is a relatively small school—with just 171 graduates in the SHP class of 2023—makes this an even more impressive feat," said Armstrong.

SHP's baseball program collected 19 wins this year, a number reached by only three other schools in the entire CCS. On the baseball team, three boys will play in college. Mason Chetcuti, the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Ocean Division player of the year, will play for the University of Redlands; 2022 PAL batting champion Andrew Rocha will play for Williams College; and two-time All-League baseball player Tyler Wong will play for Tufts University.

The SHP boys' basketball team captured its second West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) title in three seasons and will send Sam Norris to play for Pitzer College; Norris is the 2023 WBAL basketball player of the year, San Mateo Daily Journal boys' basketball player of the year, 49ers Cal-Hi basketball player of the year, and CCS boys' basketball player of the year.

In SHP cross country and SHP track and field, Julia Soderbery will run for Brown University; she holds top three marks in 13 different events across both cross country and track and field.

The SHP football team completed one of its top seasons in program history, finishing with an overall record of 9-2 and sweeping the vaunted PAL-Bay Division with a perfect 5-0 record. The team will send six boys to play in college—2022 PAL sack-leader Eliseo Buffington for San Jose State University; All-League defensive back John Chung for Harvard University; PAL-Bay Division back of the year Andrew Latu for Chapman University; PAL linebacker and defensive player of the year Shay O'Kelly for University of Utah; two-time All-League player R.J. Stephens for the University of California at Berkeley; and PAL wide receiver and offensive player of the year Carter Shaw for the University of California at Los Angeles.

A model of consistency, the SHP boys' lacrosse team went 6-1 in the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL) for the sixth consecutive season, finishing the season ranked in the state's top 10. The team will send All-League defenseman and future midshipman JP Underwood to play for the United States Naval Academy.

Over three seasons, the SHP girls' lacrosse team have compiled an overall record of 42-9 and 25-3 in league play. The team will send five girls to play at the collegiate level—member of Team Austria during the Women's Lacrosse World Championships, Kate Garlinghouse, will play for Princeton University; WBAL goalkeeper of the year Lauren Hall for the University of Denver; WBAL defender of the year Scarlett Lang for Pomona College; USA Lacrosse Academic All-American and All-League player Emily Leschin for Tufts University; and USA Lacrosse Academic All-American and All-League player Christina Long for Colby College.

The SHP boys' soccer team swept the regular season, going 15-0-2 and claiming its first WBAL league championship since 2020. The squad earned the CCS Boys' Soccer Scholastic Team award with a cumulative GPA of 3.81, the third highest of SHP's 21 sports programs. The team will send four boys to play in college—WBAL goalkeeper of the year Logan Aboudara for Swarthmore College; WBAL forward of the year Luke Maxwell for Emerson College; First Team All-League forward Nathaniel Pi-Sunyer for Lewis & Clark College; and three-star goalkeeper Andrew Samuels for Princeton University.

The SHP girls' swim team claimed 13-straight WBAL championships, and will send Audrey J-Cheng, one of the best swimmers in SHP history, to swim for Northwestern University.

The SHP girls' volleyball team finished the season 24-6 overall, claiming its first WBAL championship since 2012, and will send All-League selection Tatum Baker to play for Williams College.

The nation's fourth-ranked MaxPreps SHP boys' water polo team will send seven student-athletes to play in college—two-time All-League and All-CCS selection Luke Bachler for the University of California at Santa Barbara; three-year varsity player/goalie Orlando Hernandez Alvarado for Iona University; All-League and All-CCS selection Hassen Hove for Claremont McKenna College; two-year varsity letterwinner Danny Rendon for the College of San Mateo; All-League and All-CCS selection Harrison Rohlen for Stanford University; 49ers Cal-Hi Sports scholar-athlete of the year and CCS co-player of the year Will Swart for Princeton University; and CCS co-player of the year Jake Tsotadze for Harvard University.

The SHP girls' water polo team went 21-9 overall with a perfect 6-0 in the WCAL, claiming its 11th straight WCAL regular season and tournament championship, and will send All-League goalie Paedrin Gillett to play for the University of California at San Diego.

"Each of these student-athletes carries a sense of teamwork, dedication, sportsmanship, and community—dynamics that are foundational to the athletics experience here at Sacred Heart," said Armstrong. "We wish them the best in their future playing careers and know they will continue to uphold everything we stand for as SHP Gators."

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

SOURCE Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton