Fall Sports Banquet Honors Platinum Pirates for their 2025 Seasons

On Wednesday, Dec. 3, MBHS hosted its annual Fall Sports Banquet, where it honored athletes from all of our fall sports and celebrated the end of the season. In total, nine different sports come together to meet and celebrate their athletes in the big gym, before separating into different classrooms for individual sports awards. 

At the beginning of the ceremony, each coach awards one player the Platinum Pirate award for their team. This award, which is an overall student-athlete award, is typically given to the student who embodies what the ideal athlete looks like for their sport. These recipients are skilled at their sport and make important contributions to the team’s success, but they also succeed academically by challenging themselves and maintaining good grades. 

For boys and girls water polo, the Platinum Pirates for the 2025 season were seniors Evan Davis and Aleya Paul, respectively. For E. Davis, Head Coach Ryan Davis highlighted his leadership qualities among the team. In his speech, he spoke on E. Davis’ ability to connect with his teammates and encourage them to do their best both in and out of the water, sharing small anecdotes throughout his speech. For Paul, the speech surrounded the injury she fought throughout the season. Her coach described her sportsmanship throughout the season, even when she wasn’t able to actively participate in practices, and that she still attended every practice despite her injury. 

In cross country, the girls’ Platinum Pirate went to junior Wendy Wilson. Her coach described her athletic ability, as she had multiple personal bests throughout the season and placed 49th overall in the state meet. The boys’ recipient was senior Joaquin Cuellar, whose coach highlighted the energy he brought to the team, and spoke on the contributions he made to the team both in skill and leadership. “He brings really good energy to the team, he’s never negative … The team rallies around him, like, when they see he’s happy and positive, they definitely follow in his footsteps,” said senior Dominic Holst, one of Cuellar’s teammates. 

For girls’ golf, the Platinum Pirate recipient was senior Sammy Nishihama. Head Coach Mimi Black spoke on her growth as both a player and a student throughout the 2025 season, highlighting her personal bests through the season and important contributions to the overall team’s success. For girls’ tennis, senior Abbie Leitner-Woolf received the award. Tennis Head Coach Brian Fein spoke about her phenomenal record in singles, winning 15 of her 18 matches. 

Additionally, Fein mentioned that Leitner-Woolf even had an off-year, where she transferred schools her junior year; however, after coming back to MBHS, she continued to play at the high level she had always played at. “I was pretty shocked receiving the award … There were people on my team who I felt were going to get it or who I felt deserved it more than me. I’m not normally picked for those types of things, so I was surprised,” said Leitner-Woolf about receiving the award. 

The girls’ volleyball Platinum Pirate was senior Alana Shields. During her speech, her coach highlighted the team’s overall success, winning CIF and making it to the regional finals just before the state Division V finals. Shields’ coach spoke about her dedication to the team, her leadership, and her skill. He even mentioned that out of all the varsity players, Shields was the only player to play in every single game, which totaled 51 since the start of their season.

Football awarded the Platinum Pirate to senior Isaac Schooley, who was unfortunately unable to attend the event. His coach highlighted his flexibility and determination on the field, and his ability to give his full effort to play where his team needed him most. “I felt accomplished. I felt like it was work paid off from being in football and working hard and keeping my grades up,” said Schooley on receiving the award. 

Finally, junior Lake Sayers was awarded Platinum Pirate for the 2025 cheer season. A main highlight that Sayers’ coach mentioned was her ability to be put anywhere in a routine and excel in both performance and energy. Additionally, Sayers’ coach spoke of her kindness, generosity, and flexibility. 

Overall, every student-athlete awarded the Platinum Pirate for their 2025 season had many teammates rally behind them in support and encouragement. Student-athletes for all sports are taught to balance school, extracurriculars, and sports, but their coaches made it clear that these nine athletes excelled at this.