Class Notes

1962

David Haggerty ’62 was introduced to volleyball when he was teaching at Monroe High School and asked to step in and coach volleyball. During his 20plus years of coaching, David began officiating volleyball first at the club level in 1995 and then at the high school level in 2003. He was recently awarded the 2018-2019 Oregon Volleyball Official of the Year.

1973

Kevin Van Dyke ’73 recently finished a 40-year run as director of the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District. In addition to his many years working in public safety, Kevin served his community on a number of committees and boards, including the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Access and Habitat advisory committee and Visitation Parish’s Pastoral Council.

For a change of pace, he has been a crew chief and competitor in more than 50 ultra cycling events, including the 520-mile Race Across Oregon in which he holds two records.

1986

Colonel Chris Nash, USMC, ’86 was awarded the Legion of Merit and retired after 32 years of service. Colonel Nash and his family reside in Scottsdale, AZ.

1998

Melissa (Arrigotti) Cellini ’98 and Jonathan Cellini were married March 26, 2019 at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. They celebrated with family, friends and Jon’s three children Aria (13), Mina (11), and Giovanni (9). The couple honeymooned at Disneyland and fill their days with adventures in parenting.

Matt Brischetto ’98 completed his eighth Boston Marathon on April 15, 2019, in a time of three hours and thirteen minutes. As a member of the Jesuit track and cross-country teams, Matt trained under Tom Rothenberger from 1995-1998. Over the past two decades, running has continued to be a passion of his. You can still find him traversing the Forest Park trails on a weekend morning!

Nina Mehlhaf ’98 has been promoted to anchor of KGW News at Sunrise, channel 8, helping to wake up Portland in the mornings Monday-Friday before NBC’s Today show. Nina is celebrating her sixth year with KGW, and now has a 2:00 am alarm clock....the earliest she’s ever had! Her daughter, Paloma, also turns 2 this year.

2003

Pat Evers ’03 completed his cardiology fellowship and is now a pediatric cardiologist. He signed on for one more year of training in pediatric pulmonary hypertension, a subspecialty within cardiology. Pat finished his masters in clinical and translational research, a graduate certificate in health care economics and is now working on an MBA. He and his wife, Lindsey, have a little boy named Caleb who was born last year.

2004

Paige (Lee) Larkin ’04 and her husband, Tim, welcomed their first child, Iona Mae Larkin, on January 16, 2019.

2005

Nicole Sprunk Neuburger ’05 and husband Graham Neuburger (Central Catholic ’02) welcomed son Noah Don Neuburger just before midnight on April 7, 2019. He fills their days with constant love and adventure.

Erin (Cope) Steele ’05 and husband Alex Steele welcomed Reagan Renee Steele to the family in April 2019.

Greg Pender ’05 and wife Scheharazade “ShuShu” have moved between San Franisco and New York City several times with Nordstrom and are now settling into the corporate offices in Seattle. Greg’s current assignment is a Senior Manager of Program Management and ShuShu works in the Buying Office. They have entered the wonderful world of parenthood as they welcomed daughter Logan Olivia on April 19, 2019.

2008

Alicia Halberg ’08 moved to Boulder Colorado to join her fiancé, Andrew, who is working on a PhD in robotics at CU Boulder’s computer science program, a program funded through the NASA Science and Technology Research Fellowship (NSTRF). After finishing at the top of her class for her Masters in Urban Planning at UW, Alicia is now in the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) candidate program while working in Golden, Colorado for Jefferson County as an urban planner. Andrew is working at NASA’s

Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the DARPA Subterranean Robotics Challenge.

Alicia and Andrew were married on August 10 in Seattle, a day they had been looking forward to with great excitement!

2010

Justin Echevarria ’10 graduated from his philosophy studies at Mt. Angel Seminary in the spring of 2019. After participating in a spiritual program held at Creighton University that summer, he is now studying theology and living at the North American College in Rome while continuing formation and discernment for the priesthood.

Ryan Smart ’10 and Stephanie Lucas were married at Santa Clara University’s Mission Church on July 20, 2019. The couple met, as undergraduates, while both serving as summer orientation leaders at SCU. Ryan and Stephanie currently live in San Jose, California.

Becca Spinar ’10 married Ben Olsen on May 25, 2019 at Creighton University in Omaha. Jesuit alums in the wedding party included Mary Williams (O’Donnell), Katie Reilly (Zweber), and Olivia Zuck (Cundari). Becca and Ben now live in Denver, CO.

On June 7, 2019, Ellie and Ryan Doumani ’10 got married at the Aerie at Eagle Landing in Happy Valley, OR surrounded by about 200 of their closest friends and family. “We are so lucky to have such wonderfully supportive people in our lives, and had guests fly in from as far as Lebanon, Australia, and France to celebrate with us. In true Portland fashion, it both rained and hailed on the wedding day, but eventually cleared up with a beautiful sunset for our ceremony and celebration afterwards. Cheers to many years full of rain, sunshine, and everything in between!”

2010 (and 1995)

Jennifer Xiong, MD, ’10 is an anesthesiology resident physician training at Harvard Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She recently completed her intern year, which concluded on a rotation in the Emergency Department at BWH. During one of her shifts in the ED, her supervising attending physician was Dr. Kelli O’Laughlin ’95 – a thoughtful, kind, and wonderful doctor. They were astounded and delighted to discover that we were both from Portland and had both gone to Jesuit! “It was so special to be able to connect with a fellow Jesuit alumna and work together caring for patients!” says Jennifer.

2012

Rachel (Hallett) ’12 and Nathan Knox celebrated the arrival of their baby girl, Elise Noelle, on August 1, 2019. Elise

weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 inches in length. The family resides in Watertown, NY where Nathan serves as a Field Artillery Officer in the United States Army. Rachel stepped aside from her position at a local elementary school as a Teacher Assistant to take on her new role at home with their baby girl. The new family of four, including 2-year-old German Shepherd named Howie, enjoy weekend adventures hiking, kayaking, and visiting new places in Upstate New York as well as Canada. They are excited to raise Elise in a home filled with love, with the spirit of new experiences, and with the grace of God – wherever the Army takes them!

Aishwarya Vardhana ’12 is excited to be making great strides in her career. After graduating from Stanford University having studied Product Design and Studio Art, Aishwarya has been living and working in San Francisco. She is a Design Lead at Knowhere, a news start-up that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to modernize the newsroom and deliver factual, unbiased reporting. Outside of work, Aishwarya is happy to be making art, building creative community, writing and reading.

2013

Katie Arndorfer (’13) and Max Rich (’13) are engaged! They will be married next summer. Katie is teaching high school Theology and English at Catholic Memorial High School in Boston, and Max is a Financial Analyst at Summit Partners. Katie and JHS classmate Madeline Sandquist ’13 will be living together this year in Boston.

2018

Justin Manahan ’18 worked as a project engineer intern over the summer. He also attended a University of Portland (UP) Pilgrimage for a week to El Salvador with a group of students, including Jesuit alumna Megan Caren ‘18. He is in his sophomore year at UP where he majors in civil engineering.

San Diego Alumni Meetup

This spring, San Diego-based alumni and their families gathered together to share life updates and Crusader memories at one of Jesuit's regional alumni events.

Alum Named First-Team All-American Lacrosse

BY CLAIRE MCCARTHY ’14

Jesuit alum and University of Pennsylvania lacrosse midfielder Sam Handley ’18 was named First-Team All American by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association last spring. In the 97 year history of USILA All-American Awards, Sam is the first-ever freshmen from Penn to receive first team honors.

Sam played a dominant season last year, scoring 35 goals and 26 assists in 16 games. He was also named Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-Ivy League by a unanimous coaches selection.

"Stepping on the field at the collegiate level for the first time was a big transition," said Sam. "Every player out there is stronger and bigger than the players in high school. I knew I had to work hard to keep up with the competition."

Sam made the adjustment and led Penn to the one of their best seasons in the program's history. The Quakers finished the season with a No. 5 national ranking after claiming the Ivy League title for both the regular season and conference tournament.

"I'm looking forward to continuing to help cement Penn as a perennial lacrosse powerhouse," said Sam. "I really love my team and I want to keep forming bonds and connections with all my teammates, both on and off the field."

Sam is just as dedicated in the classroom as he is on the field. He is a business major with hopes of entering Penn's Wharton School of Business. Last summer Sam also has the opportunity to study at the London School of Business.

"Balancing my classes and the lacrosse schedule can be a bit challenging, but my teammates have been very helpful in teaching me how to manage the load," said Sam. "The time management skills and academic abilities I was able to practice at Jesuit have also been especially helpful."

Sam has a quiet confidence and silent determination to succeed that have made him both a formidable opponent and a well-loved teammate.

Fun fact: In the seventeenth century, Jesuit missionaries were the first to document the sport of lacrosse which had been played by Native North American communities for hundreds of years. It is fabled that French Jesuit missionary Jean de Brebeuf, one of the North American Jesuit martyrs, saw Huron tribesmen playing in present-day Ontario and was the first to use the term 'la crosse', or 'the stick' in French, to describe the sport.

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