Finally!
That was the main thing going through 17-year-old Cathy Zhang’s mind when she officially clinched 2025-26 JTNC Girls’ Player of the Year honors.
It’s hard to blame her for feeling that way. Last year, Zhang, who hails from San Ramon, finished third in the POY standings behind eventual winner Asterisk Talley. In 2024, it was the same thing.
In both 2023 and 2022, she finished second to, you guessed it—Asterisk Talley.
“I finally did it,” said Zhang with a smile. “I think each of the last few years, I have been second.”
Zhang, a member of the Team NorCal for the 2026 U.S. National Development Program, secured the title by finishing tied for 5th at the season-ending Tour Championship at Poppy Hills in late July. The finish pushed her to a total of 1,490. Anita Lumpongpoung was second at 1,474 points, just 16 behind.
Overall, Zhang had an Asterisk Talley-like season. Zhang notched two wins, at the Fall Series I and Fall Series VII Championships. In her nine starts, she finished in the Top 5 eight times.
“I feel like improved a lot from last season,” said Zhang, who is the fifth all-time winningest Girls’ player in JTNC history. “My swing has improved. I worked on it a lot.”
Video by Derrick Ow
After some self-reflection, San Ramon resident Nakul Shrivastava figured out why he didn’t perform as well as he wanted to during the 2024-25 JTNC season.
While he played well, he finished in 16th place in that year’s points standings for Boys’ Player of the Year honors.
“I realized later that I showed up to events not knowing what to expect, wondering how I would play,” Shrivastava said. “This season, I showed up telling myself that I can win the event.”
It was that tweak in his mindset that lit a path towards the now 16-year-old junior at Daughtery Valley earning POY honors for the 2025-26 season. He’d finish the season with 2,033 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Jacob Watney (1,175 points).
By winning the POY title, his name now goes alongside the likes of Bryson DeChambeau (2011), Justin Suh (2013, 2015) and Jaden Dumdumaya (2021, 2023) as winners of the title. He also recently verbally to UCLA.
“It’s definitely a special feeling to be grouped with those players,” Shrivastava said. “It’s nice to have my name with them.”
In his 10 starts, Shrivastava won four times—at the Fall Series X, Holiday Series I, Holiday Series II and Summer Series I. He also tallied four runners-up, giving him nine total Top 5’s for the season.
“It was a goal of mine this season to win Player of the Year honors,” Shrivastava said. “Last year, I didn’t play all that great. I had a lot of confidence coming into this season. I look forward to what comes next.”
Video by Bailey Arredondo