By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Applause from their peers was music to the ears of Palisades High senior athletes on May 29 in Mercer Hall, where they received recognition for excellence in their sports at the school’s annual Senior Awards Ceremony.
The following individuals were presented with Booster Club Exceptional Athlete Scholarships by Athletic Director Rocky Montz:
Aniah Bradley, an All-City small forward/shooting guard and captain of the girls basketball squad who helped the Dolphins to 17 wins and an Open Division playoff berth.
Jay’ce Jones, an All-City forward on the boys soccer team who tallied a team-best 19 goals and 50 points while leading Palisades to first place in the Western League and the quarterfinals of the Division I playoffs.
Briana Vasquez, All-City pitcher for the softball team who recorded 165 strikeouts in 118.2 innings and allowed only eight extra base hits as the Dolphins reached the Division I semifinals.
Pierce Bergstein, a captain and outside hitter in boys volleyball who earned All-City Open Division First Team honors after he powered the fifth-seeded Dolphins to a three-set upset of No. 4 Granada Hills in the quarterfinals.
Maya Otero, who carded an 84 to tie teammate Katie Kim for fourth in the City girls golf championships while contributing to the Dolphins’ third straight team title at Balboa.
James Van Wagenen, who scored a 9-6 decision over Roman Arakelyan of Birmingham in the finals to take the 126-pound title at the CIF-LA Wrestling Championships at Roybal on Feb. 10. He heads to USC with two City medals around his neck, having won the 106-pound division as a sophomore.
Owen Grant, a scoring machine who pumped in a City finals record 12 goals versus Granada Hills (more than doubling his total a year ago) to power the Dolphin boys to their 11th consecutive section title.
Sophie Szeder, girls tennis captain and No. 1 singles player whose steady groundstrokes contributed to Palisades’ City runner-up finish and got her to the singles quarterfinals.
Yonah Cohen, an outfielder whose leadership was a steadying force for the baseball team. He played all 29 games with 10 hits (including two doubles), 12 runs, nine RBIs and four stolen bases.
Ava Pearce, an All-City outside hitter whose kills helped Palisades win league and advance to the City Open Division semifinals.
Axel Greve, who led boys lacrosse in goals (19), assists (8) and ground balls (13) and led the Dolphins to their eighth City title in a row.
Genessis Zuniga, a Navy-bound swimmer and water polo player who helped the Dolphin girls to section championships in both sports.
Jordan Farhadian, an All-City boys basketball guard who led Palisades to an 48-44 upset of league champion Westchester.
Montz also presented the Larry Palmer Leadership Award, named after Palisades’ former line coach, to football kicker Kellan Ford and safety Matt Spoonamore.
Dave Suarez presented the Shane Thomas Award to All-City soccer midfielder Alex DiGennaro; Alex Joannides (volleyball) and Noah Ferrero (soccer) received Rose Gilbert Scholar Athlete Awards and Kyra Morris (soccer, track and cross country) was the All-Around Athletic Achievement winner.
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