By Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

From forgettable seasons, league titles, new records and athletes getting special recognition from the Courier, here’s a look back at our high school sports coverage from 2023.

Claremont High School

Winter 2022-2023

Claremont High School’s boys varsity basketball team went 3-25 overall and 0-10 in Palomares League play to finish in sixth place. Meanwhile the varsity girls not only brought home their first Palomares League title in school history, they did so with an 8-2 league record, 24-5 overall, and also won three tournaments including the Edison, Claremont/Bonita, and Upland Classic. Though they team exited in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2-A tournament, losing at home to Aliso Niguel, 38-36, they had a winter to remember.

The boys and girls varsity soccer teams both scooped up their respective Palomares League titles. The boys capped the season with a first-round exit in the CIF-SS Division 3 tournament, losing 1-0 to Cabrillo Long Beach, to end at 14-2-6, 7-0-3 in league. Meanwhile the girls bowed out in the quarter-final round of the CIF-SS Division 2 tournament, falling 2-1 against hosts Etiwanda to go 19-5-2, 7-2-1 in league.

Claremont High water polo team attacker Alie Deprez, in white cap, struggles to get a shot off January 23 against Glendora. After trailing for nearly the entire game, the Pack won in double overtime, 11-10, with Alie scoring eight times. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The girls water polo team went 15-14, 3-5 in the Palomares League, and finished third in the league postseason tournament. The team lost in the first round of the Division 3 tournament, falling 14-7 at La Serna.

Boys wrestling team member Simon Bachman — who placed third in the 182-pound division at the CIF-SS Individual wrestling competition — competed at the masters tournament, finishing third, as did Ryan Libunao, who placed eighth in the 132-pound bracket. The boys team finished 0-5 overall and 0-5 in Palomares League standings to finish sixth overall. The girls went 5-1 overall, and 4-1 in league but league standings were not available on the CIF website.

The Courier awarded girls basketball forward Maryah Anderson and boys soccer midfielder Ty Robnett its 2022-2023 winter athletes of the season honors.

Spring 2023

The baseball team capped the year at 9-16, 1-9 in Palomares League play, to finish sixth.

The softball team ended 6-13, 4-12 in league, to take fifth in the Palomares League.

The boys golf team went 9-4, 8-2 in league, and repeated as Palomares League champions. They then took 16th at the CIF-SS Division 3 team tournament, and Palomares League MVP Will Middleton and Connor Gale competed at the CIF-Southern Section Individual Southern Regional tournament. Will took 57th and Connor placed 84th.

The boys varsity swim team went 6-2 and took second at the Palomares League Finals at Mt. SAC. The girls ended at 4-4 with a third-place finish at the Palomares League Finals. At CIF-State prelims, boys swimmer Roman Savage took 32nd in the 100-yard butterfly and 32nd in the 500 freestyle. Savage and his teammates also set a new school record for the 200-freestyle relay at 1:29.31 during the CIF-Southern Section Division II finals.

Although the boys varsity tennis team went out in the first round of the CIF-SS open division tournament, falling 12-6 at Corona del Mar, it claimed its eighth consecutive Palomares League title by going 10-0 in league, 13-2 overall. Caleb Settles was later crowned the Palomares League singles champion, with D.J. Brownlee the runner-up. The doubles team of Lance Lao and Mateen Ghafarshad won the Palomares League doubles championship. Full results from the CIF-SS Individual Sectionals prelims and finals are at claremont-courier.com, search “High school sports roundup: May 26, 2023.”

The boys track and field team took fourth in the Palomares League while the girls finished second. The girls team also took 12th at the CIF-SS Division 1 finals. Meanwhile, Benjamin Schulz, who competed in the paralympic division at the 103rd CIF-State Track and Field Championships, set a new state record when he took first in the boys 400 prelims race at 1:00.36. Full results from the CIF-SS Masters meet are at claremont-courier.com, search “High school sports roundup: May 26, 2023.”

The boys volleyball team took second in Baseline League play with a 10-2 record, then made it all the way to the quarter finals of the CIF-SS Division 4 tournament before losing at home, 3-1, to El Dorado, capping the year at 25-8.

The Courier’s athletes of the season were boys swimmer Roman Savage and girls track and field team runner L’Mio Edwards.

Fall 2023

The varsity football team had an abysmal year, going 1-9 overall, 1-2 in league, to wind up third in San Antonio League play.

The girls varsity cross-country team brought home the Palomares League title and took fourth at the Division 2 CIF-State meet at Woodward Park, as well as second place at the Division 2 CIF-Southern Section meet. Meanwhile the boys took third in league and 12th overall at the Division 2 CIF-Southern Section meet.

The girls varsity golf team lifted the Palomares League trophy and placed fourth at the CIF-SS Division 2 team tournament, finishing 8-1, 5-1 in league. Junior Kristina Xu was named Palomares League MVP.

The remarkable girls varsity tennis team secured its seventh consecutive Palomares League title, going a perfect 10-0 in league play. They then exited in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 team tournament, losing 11-7 at home to Woodbridge, capping a 12-3 season. Camila Fernandez and Kaili Hernandez were Palomares League doubles champs while Paige Ruffner and Farah Ghafarshad secured third place in the league doubles tourney. The doubles team of Hernandez/Fernandez bowed out in the third round of the CIF-SS doubles sectionals tournament, losing two of three sets to Mater Dei’s Haley Tran and Chloe Vu.

Claremont High freshman Farah Ghafarshad returns a shot on September 11 at Rancho Cucamonga. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The girls varsity volleyball team finished third in the Palomares League at 6-5, 15-12 overall, and capped the season with a first round 3-0 shutout loss at Sunny Hills in the CIF-SS Division 4 tournament.

Finally, the boys varsity water polo team took fifth in Palomares League play, going 3-4 in league, 10-10 overall. The Palomares League’s at-large team went out in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2 team tourney with a 24-7 loss at Beckman.

Girls golfer Kristina Xu and cross-country runner Lyle Mideiros were our fall athletes of the season.

The Webb Schools

Winter 2022-2023

The varsity boys and girls basketball teams had identical seasons, finishing fourth in the Academy League at 2-6, 6-15 overall.

The girls soccer team brought home the San Joaquin League title at 7-0-1, then exited in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 3 tournament, falling to Marina, 2-0, to cap their season at 15-2-2. The boys team came in second in the San Joaquin League at 7-2-1, 10-7-2 overall. Their season ended with a 4-1 loss at St. Paul in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 7 postseason tournament.

The girls water polo team went 0-8 in Valle Vista League play to finish fourth, 6-15 overall.

The boys wrestling teams finished 8-4 overall and 4-1 in Montview League action, standings were not made available to the Courier. The team sent eight athletes to the CIF-SS individual wrestling competition including Ben Madanski in the 120-weight class; Armen Xue, 106; Eric Luo, 152; Hanbo Xu, 160; Pui Fong, 170; Conrad Poon, 126; Alfonso Alvarez-Seara, heavyweight; and Leo Levitin-Shilman, the Montview League’s 220-weight class champion, also in heavyweight. Those results were also not made available to the Courier.

Boys wrestler Leonid Levitin-Shilman and girls soccer forward Abbey Cook were our 2022-2023 winter athletes of the season for Webb.

Spring 2023

The baseball team finished fifth in the San Joaquin League at 7-6-1, 7-7-1 overall. They lost 4-1 in the wildcard round of the CIF-SS Division 7 tournament at South El Monte.

The coed badminton team finished fifth in the Hacienda League at 2-8. They bowed out in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 1 tournament, losing 18-3 at San Gabriel, ending the year at 6-9.

The boys golf team was crowned San Joaquin League champs after finishing 6-2, 10-3 overall. They were 20th at the CIF-SS Division 3 team tournament and Jayden Kuo placed 92nd at the CIF-Southern Section Individual Northern Regional tournament.

Full records are unknown for the boys and girls swim teams due to Webb and CIF not keeping them. We do know both captured San Joaquin League titles by finishing first at the SJL Finals. At the CIF-SS Division III finals girls swimmer Maya Chin took fourth in the 500-yard freestyle, and eighth in the 200 freestyle.

The boys tennis team was crowned San Joaquin League champs after they were perfect at 6-0, 12-1 overall. The team capped the year with a first round exit in the CIF-SS Division 4 team tournament, losing 11-7 at home to Fullerton. Ryan Weigand and Larry Zhou were crowned SJL doubles champions while Ben Thien-Ngern and David Liu were runners-up. Morgan Qiu was the SJL champion. Results from the May 18 CIF-SS individual sectionals prelims are at claremont-courier.com, search “High school sports roundup: May 26, 2023.”

The boys and girls varsity track and field teams were crowned San Jaoquin League champs. The girls took 14th at the CIF-SS Division 4 team finals, the boys 33rd. Nicole Samson competed at the CIF-SS Division 4 Track and Field Finals, taking first in the 800 at 2:16.13.

The boys volleyball team finished fourth in the Academy League at 2-6, 3-14 overall.

Girls track and field runner Nicole Samson and boys tennis player Morgan Qiu were the athletes of the season.

Fall 2023

The Webb football team were the Manzanita League runners-up at 4-1, 7-2 overall. They fell to Lynwood in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 14 tournament, 30-27.

The boys cross-country team finished second in the San Joaquin League. The girls took fourth. Webb’s Nicole Samson took third at the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 finals, and 38th overall in the Division 5 heat of the CIF-State Championships.

The girls golf team were 8-3, 7-3 in league, finishing as San Joaquin League runners-up, and came in 13th at the CIF-SS Division 3 team tournament.

The girls tennis team went 8-2 in league to finish second in the San Joaquin League. Juniors Saira Bhaget and Jasmine Beseth were the league doubles runners-up while Anna Park finished second in the singles category. All three competed at the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section individual and doubles sectionals tournaments. The team exited in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 4 team tournament, losing 11-7 at Warren, to cap a 13-6 season.

The girls volleyball team came in sixth in the San Joaquin League, going 2-10, 9-14 overall.

The boys water polo team brought home the Montview League title with a spotless 15-0 record, 22-7 overall. They fell 11-6 at home to Rowland in first round of the CIF-SS Division 5 team tournament.

Singles tennis player Anna Park and football player Troy Seanoa were our fall athletes of the season.

The Claremont Little League 11U All-Star Team celebrates its 13-1 July 5 victory over San Dimas, which earned it the California Little League District 20 11U title. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo