CROSS COUNTRY - The PAL season opener took place at Westmoor High earlier in September with 15 schools in attendance. The Bears exceeded expectations winning 4 of the 5 races. The Varsity girls won with Madeleine Baier (3), Katie Beebe (5), Cat DePuy (8), Sophia Goland (15), and Abby Lindquist (17) leading the team. The team needed its 6th runner, Kelly Woods (18), to break a rare tie situation with Half Moon Bay. The Varsity boys team took 1st place with Adam Scandlyn (5), Nicolas Plume (8), Kevin Conrad (12), Steven McColloch (16), and Rohan DePuy (16) scoring for the Bears. The Frosh/Soph boys team won by nearly sweeping the competition with Max Colbert (1), Nick Worden (2), Eric Szymkowski (3), Lukas Rash (5), and Alan Beilin (8) scoring for the Bears. The JV boys had a solid showing with standout runs by Jackson Fuson (4), Evan Reed (13), and Eric Levenson (18). The JV girls also won their race with strong performances by Nora Siegler (3), Olivia Shane (8), Cricket Gorey (9), Healey Montague-Alamin (10), and Elizabeth Muenzen (12).

The Bears next meet was the highly competitive Lowell Invitational in Golden Gate Park on September 20. The Varsity girls placed 4th out of 18 teams paced by Beebe (10), DePuy (16), Baier (24), Lindquist (33), and Woods (42). The Frosh-Soph girls also placed 4th in their race led by Gorey (9), Shane (13), Siegler (17), Kalina Zanelli (34), and Kate Flanagan (44).  Varsity boys placed 7th out of 24 teams in their race led by Scandlyn (27), Plume (28), Conrad (44), DePuy (48), and McColloch (56). The Freshman boys placed an impressive 3rd place led by Worden (3), Scott MacDonald (16), Andrew Tan (21), Kyle Conrad (27), and Caleb Hansen (28). Similarly, the Sophomore boys placed 3rd in their race with Rash (4), Szymkowski (6), Beilin (15), Michael Stark (23), and Tommy Bohac (27) leading the Bears scorers.  

This past Saturday, the M-A Varsity boys and girls teams raced at the Stanford Invitational, one of the most competitive high school races in the West, drawing over 2,500 runners and the best teams from Southern California to Washington State.  The Varsity boys were led by Scandlyn, Plume, Conrad, DePuy, and Robert Lane. The Varsity girls placed in the top half of their field and were led by Baier (25) and Beebe (26), with strong supporting performances by Goland, Woods, and DePuy.

Next up for the Bears is the second PAL meet of the season on Wednesday, October 8th on a hilly Half Moon Bay course. 

 GIRLS GOLF - At the PAL league match played on Monday at Poplar Creek, on the front 9-hole, par 35 course, Burlingame (218) defeated the Bears (219) by one stroke. The top player for M-A was Naomi Lee at 38.

The Bears defeated PAL opponent Mills at Poplar Creek on Wednesday. Final score was M-A 230 (with the 5 best scores), Mills 298. Abigail Pederson had a personal best of 40 and was the low score medalist. Ashley Utz scored 44, Angie Yang improved 6 strokes for a personal best score of 41, Christiana Park improved 2 strokes for a score of 46, Taylor Waddell scored a personal best of 59, and Alexandra Brieger scored 70.

 GIRLS FRESHMAN VOLLEYBALL - The Bears traveled to Stockton, winning all games in their morning pool and advancing to Gold in the afternoon. After winning their first match the Bears fell to a tough Presentation team, eventually finishing the tournament 4th of 18 teams. Every team member contributed to the win but notable highlights were the stream of 9 aces each from Hannah Roitman and Emily Young and Gabby Rubio serving up 6. It was a day of kills for Camille Rowe (7), Greer Hoyem (5), Roitman (5) and Young (5). Defense showed its growing strength with huge blocks from Rachel Frost, Kaile Prosser, Hoyem, and Young.

GIRLS JV VOLLEYBALL - The Bears opened their season with a 2-1 win at Burlingame (13-25, 25-13, 15-11). After losing the first set, the Bears came back with a vengeance, winning the final two sets. Carly McClanahan led the offense with 7 kills, backed by Cameron Montalvo (4). Casey Olsen offered 18 assists. The Bears held strong in a close game three, refusing to give up. The defense was led by Fiona Lokey with 15 digs, with strong support by Kelsey Tonsfeldt (8) and Montalvo (5). Thursday, the Bears travelled to Hillsdale for a 2-0 win (25-23, 25-13). The Bears made quick work of the match, with offense led by Kelsey Tonsfeldt with 8 kills and 4 aces. Kaitlyn Tonsfeldt contributed 5 kills to the effort. Montalvo, Shauna Sabet and Elise Carlomagno added 2 aces each. The defense played well with digs by Lokey (6), Kelsey Tonsfeldt (5) and Montalvo (4).

 GIRLS VARSITY VOLLEYBALL - After finishing pre-season with 1 loss, the Bears came storming into league play and finished the week at 2-0 in the PAL Bay Division and 11-1 overall. Last week's Chris Chandler Invitational tournament at Menlo School proved challenging for the team. They won the first 4 matches soundly, defeating Notre Dame San Jose, Tamalpais, Aragon, and Los Gatos in straight sets to move into the finals against Notre Dame Belmont (NDB). After M-A won the first set, NDB's power hitting and strong defensive play took the match to 3 sets and ultimately dealt the Bears their only defeat to date.

By Tuesday, the team was psyched up to face Burlingame, and did so in style, sweeping the match 25-17, 25-16, 25-23. The Bears showed their grit in the third set, coming back from a 14-22 deficit with the help of an 8-serve string (including a dizzying ace) from Chloe Johnson.  Devin Joos led the kills with 18, including the final 2 that sealed the match. The kill tally got ramped up by Ally Ostrow (12), Leanna Collins (10), Katie Wilcox (2), Jacqueline DiSanto (2), and Eliza Grover (2), all set up with 45 assists from Kirby Knapp.  On the defense, Kaitlin Tavarez had 18 digs, followed by DiSanto (16), Joos (16), Knapp (9), and 8 each from Ostrow and Kiana Sales.

Thursday's match against Hillsdale was another 3-set sweep with some nailbiting at the end.  Despite trailing for much of the third set, the team pulled through 25-13, 25-11, 27-25 with help from an 11-point, double-ace service run by Sales. Ostrow led the defense with 11 digs, followed by Joos (9) and Tavarez (6).  Assists were split between Sales (15) and Knapp (13), and kills were divided among Collins (11), Joos (7), Lauren Heller (5), Ostrow (3), Grover (2), and one each from Sales, Wilcox and Rachel Gerber.

This week the team hosts Terra Nova at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, September 30 and travels to Carlmont at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, October 2.

 GIRLS VARSITY TENNIS - The Bears moved to 5-0 in the PAL with convincing wins over Sequoia, 7-0, and Burlingame, 6-1. Against Sequoia, several girls made their starting debut. Recording wins were the doubles teams of Sarah Tiemann/Beata Brenner, Libby Kirk/Ashley Wall, and Ellen Murphy/Amanda Kelly. Julia Marks, Laila Volpe, Caroline Kelly, and Amelia Tiemann easily won their singles matches. Against Burlingame, a perennial nemesis, M-A rolled quickly, with the singles players, Laney Van Linge, Sami Andrew, Marks, and Volpe, leading the way by giving up a total of 8 games. The team of Taylor Noble/Julia Chang won 6-2, 6-0, in another quick win at #1 doubles while the doubles team of Kelly and A. Tiemann also won easily. On Tuesday, September 30 at 4 p.m., the Bears travel to Carlmont, also 5-0 in the PAL, in a battle for first place. On Thursday, October 2 at 4 p.m., the Bears host Woodside.

JV FOOTBALL - The Bears traveled to Monterey where they lost 32-13. It was a tale of 2 halves. The Bears controlled the first half with 2 scores and strong defense. The undefeated Monterey Toreadors (3-0) eventually wore down the Bears in the second half with their triple option offense. Offensively the Bears were short handed in the backfield, but Josh Lepulu shouldered the rushing duties with 80 yards including a very impressive 35-yard touchdown scamper into the end zone. Aajon Johnson continued to improve at QB with 62 yards in the air including a 50-yard bomb for a touchdown to tight end John-Paul Gray. Defensively Curtis Francis was the star of the day with 10 tackles, 3 sacks, and a fumble recovery. Other leading tacklers included Anders Chiang (caused a fumble), Gray (caused a fumble), Bryan Kang, Andrew Ojeda, Nicholas Ozden, and Dimitri Sakalia. On special teams Tate Tussing logged 80 yards on kickoff returns. Jesse Donnellan was 1 of 2 on PATs and Gray averaged 43 yards on 6 punts.

 VARSITY FOOTBALL - The Bears played the Toreadors Friday night in Monterey. M-A played tough in the first half until Monterey scored twice in the final 2 minutes of the half. The Bears came back and scored twice in the second half including a 94-yard kickoff return by Chase DelRosso and a Stavro Papadakis run. The final score was  37-14. Papadakis led the rushing attack with 45-yards on the ground while Robby Beardsley was 5 of 22 for 56 yards.  The defense was led by Sivi Fillia and Papadakis who were each involved in 11 tackles. Skyler Lautalo and Bryce Rodgers contributed 10 tackles each. Fillia also had a 57-yard interception and return. The Bears have a bye this weekend and will play Burlingame under the lights at Coach Parks Field on Friday, October 10 at 7 p.m. Come cheer on the Bears!

GIRLS VARSITY WATER POLO - The Bears scrapped their way to a hard-earned 6-4 victory over Half Moon Bay (HMB) on Wednesday in PAL action. After spotting HBM a 1-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, Fiona Jackson, Nadia Paquin, and goalie Francesca Gilles led the way the final 3 quarters as M-A pulled ahead and held the lead. Gilles turned away 6 shots, including 4 stellar saves from close range. Paquin had 3 goals, 1 assist, and 2 steals, and Jackson filled the stat sheet with 2 goals, 1 assist, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Annabelle Paris chipped in with a power play goal, while Kiera Shepard (1 assist, 2 steals) and Kyra Sheeper (1 assist, 1 steal) contributed at both ends of the pool.

M-A split their 4 games on Friday and Saturday at the prestigious Amanda MacDonald Tournament, beating Half Moon Bay (7-5) and Granite Bay (6-2) and losing to Los Gatos (11-4) and Presentation (10-6). Freshman standout Nadia Paquin led the Bears throughout the tournament, amassing 7 goals, 7 assists and 8 steals. Francesca Gilles was stellar in the goal, turning back numerous would-be goals with timely saves.Other stalwarts throughout the tournament included Kiera Shepard (3 goals, 6 steals), Lexi Lobdell (2 goals, 3 assists, 6 steals), Kyra Sheeper (2 goals, 1 assist, 7 steals), Fiona Jackson, (2 goals, 1 assist, 4 steals), Kiki Canny, (2 goals, 1 assist, 1 steal), Annabelle Paris (3 goals, 1 assist), and Sofia Bergmann (1 goal, 3 assists).
  

BOYS JV WATER POLO - M-A trounced Half Moon Bay on Wednesday (16-3). Alec Berquist led the charge with 5 goals, 1 assist and 4 steals. Andy Maxwell scored 5 goals and had 2 steals. Reed Williams (2 goals), Hugo McMillan (2 goals, 1 assist, and 5 steals), Henry Marks (1 goal, 1 assist, and 2 steals), and Davos Paquin (1 goal) contributed as well. Jordan Payne and Cameron Ruff split time in the goal and made a combined 10 saves.

On Friday and Saturday the Bears played in a JV Invitational Tournament at Sacred Heart, beating Mills (13-7) before losing to Menlo (10-1), St. Ignatius (6-5), and St. Francis (7-5). Tournament standouts included McMillan (6 goals, 4 steals), Maxwell (4 goals, 1 assist, 5 steals), Williams (4 goals, 3 steals), Marks (3 goals, 3 assists), Berquist (2 goals, 2 assists, 3 steals), and Paquin (2 goals, 1 assist, 5 steals). Goalie Raff turned away several shots to anchor the defense.

BOYS VARSITY WATER POLO - This week the Bears decisively beat Half Moon Bay (22-2). Most of the team scored this week, with Mostyn Fero popping in 4, John Knox, Christian Huhn, and Jorge Pont contributing 3 each, Mikhail Fedorchenko, Henry Choi-Freeman, and Alex Hakanson adding 2 each, Spencer Gran and Nik Caryotakis each scored 1 goal. Jackson Goudey was impressive in the goal with 6 saves. On Wednesday, October 1 the Bears travel to Burlingame for their third league game at 5:15 p.m.

 BRIGHTEN THE FUTURE FOR LOCAL CHILDREN - Help children learn to read by volunteering in a local school library. A student living in poverty who cannot read at grade level by third grade is 13 times less likely to graduate high school on time. However, if children are proficient in reading, their graduation rate soars to 90%. School library volunteers are needed in East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park to read with children, help them find and check out books they love, and provide encouragement. To learn more and/or sign-up, please visit the Ravenswood Education Foundation Readers Take Flight website or email amy.arnold@yahoo.com.

SIXTH ANNUAL RIDE & YOGA FOR RAVENSWOOD FAMILY HEALTH CENTER - Please join us on Sunday, October 5, to help raise funds for people that are unable to afford health insurance and health care. Choose from a 50-mile ride along the coast, a beautiful 30 mile ride through Portola Valley, or come enjoy a 90-minute outdoor yoga session in the garden. If you cannot attend, please feel free to make a donation! Gourmet coffee, breakfast, and light lunch included. Bike jerseys available with registration! Help keep our community strong and healthy! The first ride goes out at 8 a.m. Register now at 4ravenswood.org! Location: Brody Home, 210 Park Lane, Atherton. Please contact Julie Brody, julie@brodyfamily.net or 650-796-8590 with any questions.

SENIORS AND PARENTS NEEDED FOR STUDY ON APPLYLNG TO COLLEGE - Johanna Massé is a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan working on her dissertation, which is an exploration of how high school students and their families prepare for college. She is recruiting high school students who are currently applying to college to participate in her study. Participation involves three personal interviews, each 1 ½ to 2 hours long, spaced out over the school year. Students will be compensated $20 for each interview. At least one parent or guardian must also agree to be interviewed three times during the school year. For more information about this study, please contact Johanna Massé at johamass@umich.edu or 310-488-4670.