Preps of the week: Champions crowned in a slew of spring sports

The spring postseason kicked into full gear with team playoffs in swimming, lacrosse and boys volleyball. Redwood was again the big winner in the MCAL, taking three of the five team titles on offer. Terra Linda boys swimming broke through for its first league title in 11 years and Marin Catholic won the boys lacrosse title.

Marin Academy swept the Bay Counties League/Bay Area Conference lacrosse and swimming titles last week.

Ben Butler, Nicholas Arinduque, and Cam Heller, Terra Linda boys swimming

TL’s top-end talent was too much for any other team to overcome as the Trojans won 9 of the 11 boys events on Saturday — including all three relays — to roll to its first MCAL championship since 2013. Butler and Arinduque were both quadruple winners on the day while Heller was a triple winner. Butler won the 100 free in 45.20 and the 100 back in 51.34. Arinduque set a meet record in the 100 breast with a time of 56.42 and also won the 200 IM in 1:57.51. Heller touched the wall first in both the 200 free (1:44.58) and the 500 free (4:44.58).

Kate Deforrest and Lera Bondarenko, Redwood girls swimming

The Giants leaned on their depth to outlast Tam and claim another MCAL pennant. Redwood won three of the 12 events contested on the girls side with Deforrest winning the 200-yard free in 1 minute, 58.44 seconds and the 50 free in 53.43 seconds. Deforrest won both races by .13 of a second in front of Novato’s Emerson Wunderlich and Marin Catholic’s Alyssa Kooy, respectively. Bondarenko, who finished second last year at both section and state, won the diving event with a score of 460.05 points.

Brooke Bent and Ali Kosmowski, Marin Academy girls swimming

Bent and Kosmowski were individual winners and contributed to relay victories as the host Wildcats claimed the Bay Area Conference title on Saturday. Bent was victorious in the 50 free (24.48), placed third in the 100 fly (1:01.32), and was on both the 200-free and 200-medley relay teams. Kosmowski won the 100 free (54.52), was second in the 200 free (2:00.52), and was on the 200 free relay team.

Tristan Lu and Schuyler Rewick, Marin Academy boys swimming

The boys team also claimed the conference title on Saturday, in part thanks to Lu and Rewick who pulled in some points in the 50 free and 100 free. Lu won the 500 free and placed third in the 100 free while Rewick placed third and fourth in those races, respectively.

Jack Alley, Auden Baker, and Beckett Shewey, Redwood boys volleyball

The Giants leaned on all phases of their game to sweep both Terra Linda and Tam en route to the MCAL title last week. Alley, the libero, anchored the defensive side with 10 digs against TL and 17 digs against Tam. Baker, the setter, transitioned that defense into offense with 27 assists in the semifinal and 29 more in the final. Shewey, the middle hitter, turned those sets into points with 16 kills against the Trojans and 12 kills against the Red-tailed Hawks.

Riley Peterson, Maya Mihara, and Claire Johnson, Redwood girls lacrosse

The Giants had to overcomer an early four-goal deficit and go to overtime in order to take down Marin Catholic 13-12 in the MCAL girls lacrosse title game on Saturday. Peterson won several faceoffs in the second half to help fuel Redwood’s rally. Johnson scored a team-high five goals and gave the Giants their first lead at 10-9 late in the third quarter. Mihara scored three times, most importantly netting the overtime winner off an assist from Peterson.

Matt Bailey, Marin Catholic boys lacrosse

Bailey was the best player on the field, according to MC coach BJ Grill, as he won 20 of his 26 faceoffs to help the Wildcats control the game in a 14-8 victory against Redwood in the MCAL final on Saturday. Bailey also scored a go-ahead goal to put MC up 7-6 in the third quarter and the Wildcats dominated the game from there, closing on a 7-2 scoring run.

Elsa Anderson and Steph Zola, Marin Academy girls lacrosse

Anderson scored a team-high four goals to lead the Wildcats past rival University 9-5 as they won the Bay Counties League West title on Friday. MA also took down Lick-Wilmerding 15-6 in the semifinals with Zola scoring a team-high four goals.

Logan Chapman and Blake Weaver, Marin Academy boys lacrosse

Chapman earned MVP honors and Weaver was also named to the all-tournament team as the Wildcats defeated Lick-Wilmerding and University to win the conference title.

Chase Hoeveler, Finn Higgins, and Tommie Higgins, Branson boys tennis

The Bulls were denied a league championship a week prior in a loss to Redwood but more than made up for it by sweeping the singles and doubles titles on Wednesday. Hoeveler, the No. 3 seed, took down second-seeded Tyler Byrne of Tam in the semifinals before besting top seed Jackson Sichel of Redwood in the final. The Higgins brothers, seeded second, took down Branson teammates Oliver Goldman and James Stovell in the doubles final.

Esme Quay and Claire Cassidy, Marin Catholic girls swimming

Quay was the standout performer at the MCAL championships, taking home four first-place medals after winning the 50 free and the 100 breast plus swimming anchor legs for MC’s winning 200 free and 400 free relay teams. Quay won the 50 free in 23.84 seconds and the 100 breast in 1:06.46. Alyssa Kooy, Amelia Kiriakis, and Claire Cassidy swam the first three legs for both relay teams. Cassidy also won the 500 free in 5:31.99.

Addison Everage, Tam girls swimming

Everage led Tam’s push for a title with a pair of individual wins in the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley while also swimming the lead lap for the victorious 200 medley relay team. Everage touched the wall in 58.23 seconds to win the 100 fly then swam a 2:12.51 in the 200 IM.

Ava Free, San Marin softball

Free had perhaps the biggest hit of the season for the Mustangs, hitting a grand slam against Archie Williams in a 4-3 victory on Wednesday. San Marin locked up an MCAL playoff spot on the strength of that result.

Larissa Baltazar and Thomara Drummer, San Rafael softball

The Bulldogs were out one away from falling out of first place, trailing San Marin 1-0 last Monday. Baltazar delivered the game-tying hit that helped the Bulldogs extend the game to extra innings. San Rafael put together an eight-run eighth inning with Drummer delivering the go-ahead knock on a two-run single. Drummer also pitched a complete game, scattering seven hits with one earned run and eight strikeouts. Drummer also had four more hits and 15 more strikeouts in a win against TL on Wednesday.

Cole Chamberlain and Anthony Scheppler, San Marin baseball

The Mustangs picked up three wins to put themselves in excellent position to make the playoffs, sweeping a two-game set from San Rafael and taking down league-leading Redwood. Chamberlain had a home run and four RBIs in the first game against San Rafael, had two RBIs against Redwood, and had two more hits and two more RBIs in the rematch with the Bulldogs. Scheppler had perhaps the biggest hit of the week, a three-run homer against Redwood that put San Marin ahead to stay, 5-2 in the third inning.