A pitcher and shortstop for both the varsity baseball team and Zoots Baseball Club — the No. 1 club baseball team in Northern California — senior Lucas Dennis has made first team in Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) all-league two years in a row, and finished off the season with the third lowest Earned Run Average (ERA) in California. This season, he threw two no-hitters as well as one perfect game, pitched 25 innings, had eight hits, struck out 36 opposing batters and only gave up one run. 

Outside of his impressive performance with the school team, Dennis placed third at the 2022 USA Baseball National Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, last June with Zoots Baseball. Dennis cites his confidence on the mound as one of his biggest strengths. 

He will be attending Pomona College in the fall and playing Division III baseball for the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens.

“I’m excited to be heading to a place with a lot of like-minded and equally committed players,” Dennis said.

Best female athlete: Zeynep Tokuz

Placing No. 3 for the medley relay team for CIF States, senior Zeynep Tokuz has been swimming competitively since at age 10.

She attended multiple Futures competitions, an intermediate step for a Junior Nationals meet, and also got invited to Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) 2019, which is at a similar level of Junior Nationals.

She recently reached the finals at Futures for 200-yard breaststroke and the 400 yard IM, and placed No. 16 for the 200-yard breaststroke.

Recently, she attended the Mission Viejo San Fran Crippen Memorial Swim Meet, where she placed No. 9 for the 200-yard breaststroke. She also attended two Far Western meets on April 7 and placed No. 6 for the 200-yard breaststroke. 

Currently, she is ranked No. 50 in the state and she has committed to NYU for Division III swimming.

“I’m excited to be attending NYU for swimming. Maybe I can go to the Olympics, but we’ll see,” Tokuz said.

Runner up: Jalyn Harrigan

As both a star soccer player and track and field hurdler, senior Jalyn Harrigan proved to be a valuable veteran member on both teams this year.

Last year, Harrigan qualified for the Stanford Invitational for track and field and made CCS. Additionally, she also set a school record in the 300m hurdles of 45.53 seconds.

This year, at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL), she placed first in 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles, and was part of the first place 4×1 and 4×4 relays. At CCS Finals, she also placed No. 6 in the 100m hurdles, and No. 8 in the 300m hurdles.