Reporting by Luke Childress and Pratham Valluri.
On Saturday, Oct. 1, Aragon hosted its 14th Annual Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The event typically happens at Elk Lodge in San Mateo, but after a 1-year suspension due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2022 ceremony took place in Center Court. The ceremony followed a coffee and pastry reception, where inductees and their families could mingle, and included speeches from athletic director Steve Sell and each of the inductees. Five individual Aragon graduates joined the hall this year, along with the 1992 football team.
Jamie Frank
Jamie Frank, a 2005 Aragon graduate, was a force to be reckoned with in the water. Frank dominated his events in swimming and stood out as a leader on the water polo team.
As a swimmer, Frank won five individual league titles, four relay league titles and three team league championships. His main events were the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, both of which he holds school records to this day. He also competed in the 200-yard freestyle and was named All American in swimming in his senior year.
However, Frank’s main passion for aquatics came from water polo. At Aragon, Frank was named All League in his junior and senior year seasons and All Central Coast Section in his senior year. Frank led the team to semi finals in three consecutive seasons.
“Aragon had never won any games in CCS,” Frank said. “ So to be able to win a game in that tournament multiple times … was always something that we [were] really proud of.”
Frank would go on to play water polo as a four year starter at the University of California, Irvine and played professionally in Spain in 2010. His high school experience motivated him to pursue water polo past his time at Aragon.
“It’s the values that I learned in high school, wanting to work hard and to be the best version of myself that I can be,” Frank said. “If I’m going to be going all in on something that I want to see how far I can take it. And that’s the value that I took away from being here.”
Frank now continues his water polo and swim career as a coach. In 2019 he coached his team to win the CCS open division and coached his swim team to place third in the California Interscholastic Federation.
Kaitlyn Revel
Kaitlyn Revel was a 2007 graduate and by far the most decorated soccer goalie in Aragon history.
While at Aragon she was awarded Peninsula Athletic League goalkeeper of the year three times and was selected for the First Team All League four times. Revel, alongside her twin sister, also led the team to their first ever CCS semi finals appearance.
Revel was the three year captain and MVP and was consistently a leader on the team. This leadership, alongside great coaching, was what led the team to make CCS despite having never made it before
“My twin sister and I made varsity as freshmen and we were team captains and we came through,” Revel said. “And we had coach Flynn… he’s a tremendous coach, and he just instilled a lot of will and made us believe that we had the ability to win.”
Post high school, Revel went on to play soccer for Fresno State where she was named First Team All Wac all four years and led her team to three conference championships. She also led the league in shutouts multiple times, and broke the Fresno State shutout record in her third year.
Revel would go on to play soccer professionally in Iceland after graduating from Fresno State.
Kelley Abad
Kelley Abad, a 2005 Aragon graduate, consistently dominated her floor and vault events in gymnastics.
Throughout her gymnastics career at Aragon, Abad won three individual Central Coast Section championships in both the floor and vault events. In 2002 she won the CCS vault and floor championships, scoring 9.25 and 9.575 respectively.
Yet Abad’s crowning achievement came in her 2003 season when she repeated her floor victory, winning the floor championship with a score of 9.9 out of 10.
Her success can be greatly attributed to her dedication to gymnastics and her passion for the sport.
“It was just a missive excitement from a very young age, and I just kept with it,” Abad said. I enjoyed it so much, and all of it all the way through high school.”
While Abad’s gymnastics career ended at Aragon, she was always passionate about gymnastics, as well as the lighthearted team dynamic and overall community created during her time at Aragon
Mark Strem
Mark Strem, a 1979 graduate, was one of the most decorated tennis players in Aragon history.
As a singles player, Strem went undefeated in league play and led Aragon to four consecutive league championships. Strem also won the Mid Peninsula League tournament three times and qualified for CCS every year. He eventually made it to finals in 1978.
Strem was also named high school All American three times and was awarded First Team All League honors all four years he played at Aragon.
After graduating, Strem went on to play tennis for the University of Michigan, where he led the team to win two Big Ten championships.
While Strem played singles tennis through high school and college, Strem identified teamwork as a key component to his success.
“There is a big team component that people overlook and the teamwork that I learnt here at Aragon really translated over to Michigan,” Strem said.
This teamwork instilled at Aragon would become more important for Strem as he switched over to playing doubles after college.
“[In high school and college], singles were very fun because you go out there and … you have to figure out a way to do it,” Strem said. “Doubles is a little bit different in terms of having someone besides you to rely on.”
Strems’ success did not falter after switching to doubles, as he is currently ranked first in northern California and sixth nationally in Men’s 60 doubles. He has also placed well in many doubles competitions, and qualified for the USTA National Championships in 2017.
George Trubow
With over three decades of experience coaching at Aragon, few people have accomplished what George Trubow has done as a coach. Since starting with the girls varsity basketball team in 1992, Trubow has helped coaches Annette Gennaro and Sam Manu win nine PAL championships.
Originally a teacher at Borel Middle School, Trubow coached basketball and flag football.
“I taught in the same classroom for 40 years and I taught right across from the gym, ironically,” Trubow said.
At Aragon, Trubow has helped take the varsity basketball team to new heights. In 2002, Trubow played a critical role in the girls basketball team reaching CCS finals, the first girls basketball team to accomplish that feat at Aragon.
“In 2002, that was a really special group of girls,” Trubow said. “We went to the Final Four of the state and lost by three points to Carondelet [High School].”
Trubow helped the girls varsity team repeat that accomplishment in 2004, 2005 and 2018. The 2004 and 2005 teams in particular were inducted into the Aragon Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
For his involvement as both a coach and a teacher, Trubow was inducted into the San Mateo Public Library Hall of Fame and in 2012, Borel renamed their basketball courts the George Trubow Court.
“The most important thing is I’ve always loved what I’m doing,” Trubow said. “Otherwise, at 72 years old, I wouldn’t be doing it still and I’ll be starting up here in November.”
Despite his age, Trubow is still a major part of the girls varsity basketball team, helping them win their first CCS championship in 2019, a feat they replicated in 2022.
1992 Football Team
One of the greatest sports teams in Aragon history, the 1992 varsity football team was a combination of extreme heart and talent that resulted in the first CCS championship for an Aragon football team.
During the 1992 season, Aragon achieved 8-1 in PAL, only losing one game to Menlo-Atherton. In the end, Aragon became co-champions with Menlo-Atherton. However, the Dons, not forgetting their defeat, entered the CCS playoffs with victory in their minds. Sell remembers the team being rejuvenated by head coach Britt Williams’ profanity-laden post-game speech.
After demolishing Half-Moon Bay 27-0 in the CCS semifinals, Aragon was set to face the Bears for the CCS title.
“They’d beat us during the regular season and to be able to match up with them in the championship game just made it [sweeter],” said quarterback Conrad McKinney.
The result was a thrilling game on Thanksgiving. Behind running back Hodari Polk’s 211 yards and four touchdowns, Aragon eked out a 28-27 victory to win its first football CCS championship.
“[The game] had the largest crowd that had ever attended, because overall it’s unprecedented,” McKinney said. “MA hadn’t been good for like 20 years. I’m very proud to have been part of that backfield.”
While head coach Britt Williams was a major part of the teams’ success, assistant coaches Steve Sell and Marlin Brown also gained the respect of the athletes.
“All the coaches showed an innate ability to connect with each and every one of us and treated each of us equally,” McKinney said. “And I think that is where the trust comes in.”
Although this season occurred 30 years ago, it is still one of the greatest teams and seasons in school history. The team’s induction into the Hall of Fame only backs that claim.
