SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As the 2021-22 school year wound down, the St. Francis Student-Athlete Advisory Committee announced its leadership for the upcoming year. Swimmer and water polo player Teaghan Brostrom was elected president, volleyball player Olivia Mlikotin was chosen as vice president, diver Jaiden Jackson was named as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, while lacrosse player Abby Gillum was tabbed as secretary.
All four athletes will be seniors during the 2022-23 school year. As officers, they replace swimmer Lauren Jones (president), softball's Grace Jenkins (vice president), soccer/track athlete Kenna DeLemos (DEI officer) and distance runner McKenna McKrell (secretary), each of whom graduated in 2022.
Each of the 12 interscholastic sports at St. Francis has one sport representative to SAAC, with diving and swimming counting as separate sports. There are also three at-large members, whether to provide larger sports with more proportionate presence or to represent multiple sports. In fact, both Brostrom and Mlikotin joined SAAC as at-large reps in 2021. Soccer player and sprinter Piper Sherburne was voted as the newest at-large rep for the upcoming year.
Besides the four previous officers, other departing seniors comprise Lexi Jones (track & field), Audrey Felsted (at-large) and Carli Padilla (volleyball).
Although a required practice for an NCAA-member collegiate athletics department, a SAAC is relatively rare for a high school. Such a group provides a direct communication line between the teams and the athletics administration, and further serves as a hub within the athletics department for campus events and community outreach. In 2021-22, for example, Jones and Jenkins spearheaded a movement to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
Listed below is the full roster of the 2022-23 St. Francis SAAC.
2022-23 ST. FRANCIS HIGH STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Teaghan Brostrom, President (swimming/water polo)*
Olivia Mlikotin, Vice President (volleyball/swimming)*
Jaiden Jackson, DEI Officer (diving)*
Abby Gillum, Secretary (lacrosse)*
Elizabeth Barger, Soccer Representative
Alexis DeAngelis, Swimming Representative
Grace Dunham, Cross Country Representative
Emily Dusel, Basketball Representative*
Sophia Edwards, Golf Representative*
Chloe Garcia, Tennis Representative*
Caitlin Hafenstein, Track & Field Representative
Piper Sherburne, At-Large Representative
Ava Stimson, Water Polo Representative*
Mila Stojakovic, Volleyball Representative
Natalie Vigil, Softball Representative
*asterisks denote returning members from 2021-22 SAAC
