Menlo Athletes Strengthen Sports Skills in Post-Grad Years

by SIENNA LEW

Menlo is no stranger to post-graduate years, taken by student-athletes after completing their standard four-year high school curriculum. Post-graduate years typically grant students a ‘fifth year’ of high school education, allotting them more time to hone their athletic and academic abilities before continuing to college. This is an example of reclassing, which refers to graduating at a pace or date different from the standard fouryear high school track. Post-graduate years also give athletes another year of eligibility to play college sports or a shot at being college-recruited.

Senior Jake Bianchi has already taken the initiative to further his recruitment chances by a Division I college for football. He will take his next steps as a quarterback at the International Management Group Academy in Florida. This renowned sports institution claims to “fill approximately 25% of all college freshman roster spots annually.”

However, Bianchi’s high school athletic career didn’t just consist of football. After trying it for the first time as a freshman, he played varsity basketball that winter and baseball in the spring. Unfortunately, his baseball season ended after a single game due to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite continuing to play baseball his junior and senior years, he decided to stick with football for college. “I’ve played [football] all four years since [ninth grade]. Each year, I’ve started to like it more and get better at it,” Bianchi said.

As time passed, Bianchi considered pursuing football at a higher collegiate level. “I knew football was something I wanted to do in college, so I started to talk to my coaches for tips and recommendations,” Bianchi said. “But the only offers I got were from some DIII schools where I couldn’t see myself playing, so I started to rethink my options.”

As a result, Bianchi settled on taking a post-graduate year and applied to IMG. “I had to get in contact with the school and coaches and make sure they liked who I was and my film,” Bianchi said.

Once Bianchi finalized his decision, he was excited. “I’m most looking forward to playing at a place where football can be my main focus. The way [Menlo is], like, the students, the administration, no one’s first priority is sports, so I think going to a place like IMG will be super helpful,” he said.

Bianchi believes the upcoming year will be an amazing chance to work towards achieving his goal of playing football at a Division I university. “I think it’s a great opportunity for me — many people take postgraduate years because they love their sport and they want to play for one more year.” To add on, Bianchi will also get to take college-level classes for credits so he can take fewer courses at college and spend more time practicing football. talking about the bonds he’s made through his reclassified years, he knows that those special relationships will continue to stay a crucial part of his life. “Those are my guys, you know, they’re really like my brothers.”

Kamran Murray (‘21), a freshman at Cornell University, hadn’t run cross country or track before Menlo. “I tried out cross country freshman year and enjoyed it and stuck with running overall,” Murray said.

Previous Menlo student John Rogers is a junior and dual-sport athlete at a boarding school in Virginia — Episcopal High School. Originally part of Menlo’s class of 2023, Rogers repeated his freshman year at Episcopal after his ninthgrade year at Menlo. “I played JV football [for Menlo] in the fall, where I was fortunate to be on a 10-0 team,” he said. “[After Menlo], I reclassified to the 2024 class from the 2023 class in order to have an extra year of eligibility to play sports.”

Among other reasons, Rogers decided to attend Episcopal as it was a school that he felt welcomed and comfortable at. Additionally, despite COVID-19 restrictions, Rogers could have standard seasons and keep playing sports freely there. “It was almost like a panic decision of not being able to play sports, and I guess boarding school felt like the easiest option,” Rogers said. In the end, he flew from California to Virginia, grabbed his gear and settled quickly into Episcopal’s fall football season.

Though these decisions were spur-ofthe-moment, they worked out amazingly for Rogers, who makes fond memories with his friends daily. “The unique thing about boarding school is that you live with your classmates. [...] So when we came to campus freshman year, it was very new and scary. My roommate was from Seoul, South Korea, and we came from such different backgrounds. [...] He really opened my eyes to how deep the level of friendship could get when you go to boarding school,” Rogers said. When

Unfortunately, some of his seasons were also interrupted by the pandemic. As a result of COVID-19 and a competitive recruiting season, Murray decided to take a post-graduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. “It made the most sense from an academic and athletic standpoint and what I was looking for in a coach and a team,” Murray said. Plus, he didn’t feel that his running times were up to standard, though he was still a strong contender to run at an Ivy League. Murray was injured during his sophomore track season and had no junior track due to COVID-19 virtual school, so he hoped to work on his times at Phillips Exeter in order to make recruiting smoother. “Given the mass deferral in the grade above me there were fewer recruiting spots in general for my class,” Murray said.

However, Murray had his sights set on Cornell University, whose coach knew of his desire to attend and offered him Cornell’s first spot for the following year. This was great for Murray, as he was already thinking about a gap year and wanted to wait COVID-19 out. “I applied to a few [post-graduate] programs with Exeter in mind given that they had the strongest [cross country and track] team and academics and luckily got in, so that decision was made easy,” Murray said.

Despite his smooth recruitment, he was thankful for the opportunity of a postgraduate year. “However, I am glad I did it overall; it was a beneficial experience and made the transition to college super smooth, and I definitely felt like I had an advantage on most other freshmen this year,” Murray said.

Rogers, Bianchi and Murray have similar feelings about post-graduate years. “If you’re a student athlete, or you’re young for your class and had injuries that held you back, then [taking a postgraduate year is] an amazing decision. You’re able to get an extra year to prepare for the academic and athletic rigor of college like I have,” Rogers said.