In terms of volume and quality, few schools in the Central Coast Section can match what Los Gatos High produces in terms of student-athletes moving on to play at four-year college programs.
The 2022 class has 15—count ’em, 15—student-athletes who have either signed letter of intents to compete for a four-year college or will have preferred walk-on status.
The list includes Julia Massa (soccer, Berry College); Zoe Frangieh (water polo, Arizona State); Emily Gouldrup (volleyball, Lafayette University); Reese Drotar (gymnastics, University of Arkansas); Maddie Holloway (lacrosse, George Mason University); Lucy Holland (water polo, UC Davis); Madi McDonough (field hockey, University of New Haven); Jacqueline King (water polo, Stanford University); Giuliano Kaminski (golf, Chico State); Jessica Halladay (soccer, Loyola Marymount); Lynsey Chiala (softball, Northwest Nazarene University); Zach Bohane (soccer, Stanford); Jake Ripp (football, Boise State); Luke White (football, Wake Forest University); and Quinn Merritt (football, University of Texas at Austin).
On May 16, the school held a ceremonial signing event for the student-athletes in front of the school, with all but two of them in attendance. Holland, who two days prior scored the game-winning goal for the girls lacrosse team in the Central Coast Section playoff quarterfinals, appreciated what the administration did in making the event happen.
“It was super cool. We didn’t get to do something on (National Letter of Intent) Signing Day in November, so to be able to celebrate with everyone, it was just awesome the school did that for us,” Holland said. “We all kind of grew up together. I think everyone who was here went to Fisher Middle School and I’ve known most of them for my Los Gatos High School career.”
The 2022 class is a talented group of student-athletes who stood out in a variety of sports. Kaminsky had a tremendous golf season and recently shot a 80 along with teammate Kirin Desai in a CCS Regional, with both missing out on a Finals berth by one stroke.
As chronicled in the Los Gatan throughout the season, Frangieh was stellar in water polo and the recently completed swim season, where she advanced to the CIF State Championships. White will play football at the next level, but he also was a key player on the boys basketball team, earning the praise of coaches for his ability to always be in the right place at the right time.
His football teammates Ripp and Merritt were dynamic playmakers on the gridiron as well. Gouldrup was an outstanding defensive specialist on the girls volleyball team which was one win away from reaching the CIF NorCal Division I Regional Final.
Massa was a standout goalkeeper on the girls soccer team, while Halladay played for powerhouse club team FC Bay Area Surf. Bohane plays for De Anza Force SC, one of the premier club organizations in the Bay Area. Drotar has been competing in Level 10 since 2018 and trains at Airborne Gymnastics Center. She’s a highly skilled gymnast, incredible athlete and goes to a top-20 Division I program.
Holloway is a Division I-caliber lacrosse goalie, and McDonough was an integral player for a Los Gatos field hockey team that won the CCS championship in November. King and Holland were the best 1-2 girls water polo goalie combo in the CCS, and Chiala is having another tremendous season both pitching and hitting for the softball team that finished as SCVAL De Anza Division co-champions.
A number of these athletes excelled in academics, too. Holland said she’ll finish high school with a weighted 4.2 GPA, and she did that balancing two sports, lacrosse and water polo, making both varsity teams in her freshman year.
Holland is proud of the class of 2022 group for overcoming the recruiting obstacles brought on by Covid.
“None of these people could have ended up on the teams they’ll be on if they didn’t have the grit to make it through everything that happened through Covid,” she said. “My recruiting process was not easy and I’m sure everyone else’s couldn’t have been easy. We got cut off in the middle of our sophomore year and through our junior year, and that’s where all the recruiting happens. So I’m most impressed with everyone’s ability to make it happen through Covid.”
Like all of her fellow athletes, Holland had to be proactive in the recruiting process, especially because of Covid, which for a period of time completely shut down college coaches and their ability to see recruits for in-person visits or have any communication with them.
Holland knew she couldn’t sit on the sidelines in the recruiting process, so she started reaching out to college coaches by sending out mass emails introducing herself and letting them know what she was doing when athletic facilities were closed. “I would tell them, ‘Hey, pools aren’t open but I’m keeping my training up and still super interested in playing college water polo,’” she said. “You really did have to initiate the recruiting process through Covid. Especially in a sport like water polo, college coaches weren’t going to be coming to you—you had to come to them.”
intents or have earned preferred walk-on status to compete at four-year universities. Photo courtesy of LGHS.
Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at el**@we*****.com
