The Many Accomplishments of the 2024 Catlin Gabel Eagles’ Athletes
By Theo Butler ‘25
Post-homecoming 2024 photo. Photo by Siddharth Anand ‘27
Throughout 2024, athletes at Catlin Gabel School (CGS) have done many great things, from winning state championships to setting new school records and accomplishing things that haven't been done since I was in Lower School. Here, I will be recapping some of the most memorable moments from CGS athletics in 2024.
Spring:
The CGS track and field team had many achievements in 2024, but the two that stand out the most are Joshua Widdows’s ‘24 state championships in both of the hurdle events and senior Caroline Mauro's dominant high jump state championship win.
Widdows had been a force to be reckoned with on the track, but he stepped it up even further in 2024, winning the state championship in both the 110m, 39-inch high hurdles and the 300m 36-inch hurdles and setting a school record in the 110m, 39-inch high hurdles.
When it comes to jumping, few in the country can compete with Mauro, and this showed at the state championship where she won the high jump by more than five inches. Mauro and her teammate senior Abby Greenspan were the only two athletes to break five feet in the high jump at the state championship meet. Mauro also went on to place second in the high jump at the 2024 Nike Outdoor National Championship, setting a new school record at 5 feet and 10.75 inches.
Moving from the track to the tennis court, the CGS boys’ tennis team placed third in the state, and the CGS girls’ tennis team placed eighth.
The boys managed to accomplish this placement even though they had half as many participants as the two teams in fourth and fifth, and less than any other team in the top five. Their leading scorer at state was sophomore Zareh Gonzalvo with 8 points at the state championship.
The girls' tennis state championship was close, with only 4 points separating the eighth-place CGS team from the North Bend team in second. The girl's team’s leading scorer was junior Amanda Perez with 4 points.
Fall:
Soccer has always been one of CGS’s strongest sports, and 2024 was their year to show it. The boys' season kicked off with a little bit of revenge as they beat McLoughlin, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs both of the last two seasons, 5-1 on our home field.
The boys remained undefeated for the rest of the season, beating Oregon Episcopal School (OES) in all three matchups against them, including the state championship finals, where senior Leon Liu scored the only goal of the game, resulting in a 1-0 victory for the Eagles. This was the perfect end to Peter Shulman’s final season as head coach of the boys’ soccer team.
As head coach, Shulman has won five state championships, four of these coming in seasons where the team didn’t lose a single game. Across his tenure as coach, he has also achieved an extraordinarily impressive 87% win rate.
The girls' soccer team had 12 wins, two losses, and one tie in the regular season, also winning their matchups against OES at both their and our homecoming. They entered the playoffs as the number two seed, behind the Central Linn/ East Linn Christian Cobras with 13 wins and one tie. When the playoffs started, the CGS girls won all four playoff games by a combined score of 22-0, winning the state championship against the aforementioned Cobras, 5-0.
CGS’s girl's volleyball team had a strong regular season performance during Jeannette Lee’s final season as head coach of the team. They went 8-4 in league play with wins over historic rivals, including OES and Horizon Christian. They finished the season ranked third in the league.
On the cross-country course, team captain senior Max Whalen placed 22nd on the boy's side of the district meet, while on the girls’ side, senior Ann Crosby placed 29th. At the Catlin Gabel XC Invitational, hosted at our school, Whalen placed fourth, and junior Diana Manternach placed first.
Winter:
Even though the winter sports seasons haven’t fully finished yet, there have still been some exciting moments.
The swim team has brought in Danny Weinberg as their new head coach, and former CGS swimmer Ethan Hanson as the assistant coach.
The boys’ basketball program has also brought in a former CGS athlete, with Jacob Adler becoming their new assistant coach. They’ve started the season going 7-3.
Early in 2025, both the boys' and girls’ basketball teams beat De Le Salle North Catholic High School, the boys winning 56-53 and the girls 34-33. The last time that the boys won this matchup was eight years ago when now coach Jacob Adler was on the team as a player.
As a school, we have had many great athletic achievements this year, and fans have been there to support us for every single one. Student-athlete, and avid supporter of CGS athletics, senior Henry Beckerman, has made it his goal to attend 100 different Catlin sporting events this school year.
He described some of his favorite games so far, saying, “Beating OES at both homecomings was amazing, as well as watching volleyball clinch a state playoff spot.” He also described the soccer state championship games as "electric" and said his favorite individual moment was Liu’s goal in that game.
Looking forward, we still have the rest of the basketball and swimming seasons to finish, and, all of our spring sports. I wish all CGS athletes good luck with the rest of their seasons and encourage all of the students who are able, to come out and support your Eagles.