Alumnae News & Events

Coming soon to a theater near you: SFHS Alumna, Greta Gerwig ‘02, brings Little Women to life on the big screen as only she can do! Another well directed and cast film, Gerwig has Saoirse Ronan playing the heroine Jo March; Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, and Eliza Scanlen playing the sisters; Laura Dern is Marmee, and Meryl Streep plays their forbidding, rich Aunt March. Timothée Chalamet (another Lady Bird carryover) plays heartthrob Laurie, the literal boy next door who develops an intense friendship with Jo.

The 2nd annual “Spirit of San Damiano Award” will be presented at the 2019 Revelry Gala & Auction on March 9, 2019. Marion Kaeser Slakey ’48 has been selected as a recipient of this year’s award. 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Alumna Allison Child ’13 will begin her first season on the St. Francis volleyball staff in 2018, serving as the head coach of the freshman team.

“Being back at St. Francis is such a blessing and I am excited to be here to serve the community that gave me so much,” said Child. “I loved being a part of this volleyball program as a player, and I can’t wait to experience it as a coach, alongside an amazing and supportive staff. Overall, it’s truly an amazing opportunity to be back in the SF gym and I am looking forward to this season!”

Alumna Ashley Kyalwazi ’14, who was the Student Body President her senior year, continues to be a shining example and representative of St. Francis High School. She recently stopped by the campus in between her graduation from the University of Notre Dame and enrollment in Harvard Medical School this fall.

“I had a great time as an undergraduate at Notre Dame,” said Kyalwazi. “Over the course of four years, I was blessed to meet amazing people from professors to my peers. I will miss my time at ND, but I am looking forward to beginning my medical school journey.”

Congratulations to alumna Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis ’85 on her election to Lieutenant Governor of California! If you missed the article on Eleni in the Spring 2018 issue, read it here:

We know Troubadours are women who change the world; we had a chance to catch up with Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis ’85 to hear where her post-St. Francis journey has taken her and what lessons from her alma mater she has taken on the journey.

Always a woman who wanted to experience the world, Eleni spent her sophomore year at a boarding school in Lugano, Switzerland before embarking on her Troubadour education. While transferring schools mid-way through high school can seem intimidating, Eleni found her St. Francis home to be warm and welcoming and affectionately remembers the many friends she made while a student here. Troubies who remember her debate performance as Walter Mondale*, alongside Claire Chatfield as Geraldine Ferraro, will not be surprised that Eleni is currently campaigning to be the next Lieutenant Governor of California.

“A part of running for office is reviewing your old files. I pleasantly found a report I had written in high school about the 1984 election. There was no question the work we were doing at St. Francis was very relevant,” Eleni reminisces. Her social studies teacher, Trisha (Garretson) Uhrhammer, had connections at the Capitol through her graduate work in history and government. She was also involved with the League of Women Voters and encouraged her students to be informed and active in government. She made a big impact on Eleni.

St. Francis Alumna Kaitlyn Cozens ’13 is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan. She was a four-year letter winner with the Water Polo program and graduated from the School of Kinesiology with a degree in sports management in April, 2017. She was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and received the U-M Academic Achievement Award twice. She finished her career with 51 games played with 11 goals, 11 assists, 22 points and 13 steals and was a member of two CWPA Championship teams and two NCAA appearances.

St. Francis Performing Arts Department Chair, Cheryl Watson, enjoyed a special screening of Greta Gerwig’s ‘02 new film, “Lady Bird,” penned a love letter to Sacramento. Greta tells the story of Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (played by Saoirse Ronan) during her senior year at Immaculate Heart High School. 

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – Alumna Lauren LaRocco ‘14 finished 13th in the 10,000 meters with a time of 33:41.08 at the USATF Championships on Thursday at Sacramento State.

“My goal was to start really conservative,” said LaRocco. “I did not know how I would feel coming down from altitude. I really tried to run my own race and slowly pick off girls. I think I did a pretty good job of it and I was close to one of them at the end.”

Greta Gerwig ‘02 appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, January 12th. Greta spoke about her new movie “20th Century Women” in which she co-stars with Annette Bening. Greta also shared her experience growing up in Sacramento without a TV and how she made up a theme song to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

“20th Century Women” - http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/greta-gerwigs-20th-century-women-will-make-you-cry-and-laugh/3453574

Santa Clara’s Camille Dyer ’12 was awarded the Jim Shea Award at the annual Red and White Celebration at Malley Center on the Santa Clara campus on May 22.

The award recognizes one male or female student-athlete who has courageously led his or her team through selfless actions and been a leader in the campus community. Jim Shea was the first Santa Clara student-athlete whose life was cut short while serving in the Vietnam War.

DAVIS, Calif. – UC Davis hosted the Aggie Shootout Saturday but it felt like a St. Francis water polo alumnae gathering with the large number of Troubadours students, alumna and parents in attendance. The Cal Head Coach even called it “National St. Francis Day” at the pool.

Five alumnae were representing three different schools at the Aggie Shootout including Brinnley Barthels ‘14 (Pacific), Lauren Charter ‘15 (UC-Berkeley), Marisa Kolokotronis ‘13 (Brown), Kat Menz ‘12 (UC-Berkeley) and Brooke Vowell ‘12 (UC-Berkeley). 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Fran (Jaksich) Dowell, a 1971 graduate of St. Francis, was inducted into the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas on September 28. Her election was in her first year of eligibility and was in the category of “Director”. Fran is a former recipient of the prestigious SFHS Lifetime Achievement Award for her career in Senior Softball.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Jolise Limcaco ’11 recently graduated from Menlo College with a degree in Accounting and already has an offer to work at Frank Rimerman + Co. LLP after she graduates due to her exceptional job as an intern. She was a member of the Student Athletes Leadership Committee (SALC) the past two years and worked for the athletic department in her free time.

LINCOLN, Neb. – MacKenzie Campbell ’14 recently accepted a paid internship with the University of Nebraska Huskers Marketing department. She was selected for one of seven positions out  of more than 100 applicants and was one of only two freshmen and the only freshman girl. She will be coordinating the marketing for the Huskers nationally-ranked volleyball team, nationally-ranked women’s gymnastics and men’s gymnastics teams this fall. She also will be working events for the football and game day on the field. 

St. Francis alumnae are succeeding at the collegiate level across the country. Here is collection of news and notes about the former Troubies. Submissions can be sent in to Assistant AD Steve Shaff at sshaff@stfrancishs.org.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Ali Koumelis did not have any chance to settle into collegiate life at Portland, earning a spot in the Pilots rotation right away in her freshman season in their 6-2 system.

“I have not run a 6-2 in a while but it works for our team,” said Koumelis, a 2014 graduate of St. Francis. “I get to work on fewer things like I don’t have to work on blocking. So I can focus more on defense so I get more practice time doing that.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis alumnae are succeeding at the collegiate level across the country. Here is collection of news and notes from the last two weeks about the former Troubies. Submissions can be sent in to Assistant AD Steve Shaff at sshaff@stfrancishs.org. 

EUGENE, Ore. – Troubadour alumna Lauren LaRocco had a successful collegiate debut on Saturday. LaRocco finished 12th overall in 20:44 as the first freshmen in the race to cross the line, helping the Portland team to a second place finish at the Dellinger Invite held on Pre’s Trail in Eugene.

Portland accumulated 46 points during the six kilometer race which put them ahead of No. 2 Oregon (68), Oregon State (120), and Portland State (131). Sixth-ranked Michigan State won the meet.