by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Another season has come and gone for the Claremont High School Wolfpack and it was an autumn to remember.

Out of the seven teams competing this season, four brought home league titles including, girls’ tennis, girls’ golf, and both cross country teams. Five teams qualified for CIF-Southern Section playoffs.

Girls’ Tennis
Claremont girls’ varsity tennis team utterly bullied their opponents ending league play with a perfect 10-0 record, and a fifth consecutive Palomares League title.

During Palomares League Finals junior Sydney La earned a singles title while sophomores, Martina De Nigris and Irma Garcia, defeated teammates, senior Elizabeth Gonzalez and sophomore Camila Fernandez, for the doubles title. All five finalists qualified for the CIF Individual Championships on November 22.

Going into the postseason, the girls were the number one seed from their league facing off against tough opponents.

The Wolfpack entered the first round of CIF Division I team competition on Wednesday, November 3, defeating Portola High School 11-7 at home, thanks to strong play from the doubles teams.

Last Friday, the girls then traveled to Valencia High School where they won 11-7 but sadly, the Pack lost 12-6 in the quarterfinals at Laguna Beach High School.

Head coach Kathy Settles wrote online that this was the furthest the team has gone since advancing to Division I. She also added that the duo of Fernandez/Gonzalez finished with a near perfect season, going 26-0 in league play and 9-0 in postseason play. The duos only loss came against their teammates Garcia/De Nigris during the Palomares League finals.

Girls’ Golf
The girls’ golf team did not just have a good season, they had a perfect one, making CHS history by becoming the first girls’ golf team to end the regular season with a 12-0 overall record while also going 6-0 in league play, earning back-to-back league titles in just 17 months.

Last Tuesday the Wolfpack shot a combined 401 earning sixth place out of 20 schools in the CIF-SS Division 2 Team Championships at Jurupa Hills.

Senior Kelly Xu shot a three-under par, 67, while her sister freshman, Kristina Xu, shot one-over par, 71. Senior Madison Stout finished 11-over par, freshman Riley Wang finished 15-over, and sophomore Nora Campbell finished 26-over par. Senior Davorah Strober’s score was dropped from that match.

At the CIF Girls’ Golf Individual Finals last Thursday, the Xu sisters faced 72 other high school participants, and one another. Kelly tied for third, shooting a two-under par 70 while Kristina, who tied for eighth shot three-over 75 at the River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard. The sisters advanced to the CIF/SCGA Southern California Regional Championship on Thursday, at the Brookside Country Club in Pasadena.

Cross-Country
On October 30, Claremont cross-country hosted the Palomares League Finals on a 1.5-mile course around the school and neighboring Cahuilla Park which runners looped twice for a total of 3 miles.

Both the boys’ and the girls’ teams claimed league titles, with the girls logging an impressive score of 21 and an average time of 18:27. The boys scored 33 points with an average time of 15:40.

Sophomore Jie Yi Denise Chen claimed first place with a time of 17:35.25 followed by senior Maddie Coles in second at 17:45.45. Sophomore Alexa Gossett took fifth with a time of 18:50.95; senior Peyton Cruz finished sixth at18:59.98; senior Amanda Shultz was seventh at 19:08.12. and Hannah Endo, 13th at 19:34.93.

Claremont’s top finisher was senior Chris Coles at third with a time of 15:18.29, followed by senior Jude Robledo at fourth with a time of 15:37.56, and senior Jason Miranda who took seventh at 15:45.25. Rounding out Claremont’s results senior Ruben Denson claimed 9th at 15:49.71; senior Garret Landis was 10th at 15:53.84; junior Alan Jung got 11th at 15:57.18 and junior Andrew Eisenberg was 21st at 16:31.01.

The Pack will compete at the CIF Prelims on Saturday, November 13 at Mt. San Antonio College.

Boys’ water polo
The Claremont High School boys’ water polo team finished their regular season with a 14-10 overall record and a 5-5 record in league, driving them into a fourth-place Palomares League finish. While the boy’s season was choppy at times, their fourth-place finish earned them a spot in this year’s Division III CIF Southern Section playoffs, according to head coach Robert Green.

The team started their playoff journey with a wildcard game against Flintridge Prep on Tuesday, November 2, running out 12-8 winners against the Wolves away from home. The team then went on to play the top-seeded Lancers of Thousand Oaks High School away in the second round of CIF on Thursday, November 4. Though they battled hard, the Wolfpack came up short against the Lancers, losing 17-13 in Thousand Oaks. If it’s any consolation, the team were beaten by an eventual finalist for the Division III tournament.

This was the first year in charge for CHS’s new water polo head coach, and his team capped off the season by finishing with a winning, 15-11 overall record.

Girls’ volleyball
The girls’ volleyball season came and went in the blink of an eye, lasting just a mere 37 days.

The team was able to fit 14 matches within the five-week season, netting a 7-7 overall record while going 6-4 in league play, and earning themselves a fourth place in Palomares League. Their league record however was not enough to carry the girls into the postseason.

Football
It might not seem like a successful season going 6-5 overall, and 2-1 in the San Antonio League, but the Claremont varsity football team played some tough teams including Alta Loma and West Covina high schools before the start of league, where the boys took second place.

Claremont won its last game of the regular season defeating Chaffey, 37-0, which was also the Pack’s homecoming game, qualifying them for the Division 9 CIF-Southern Section playoffs.
Last Friday, the Wolfpack broke its first-round playoff curse by upsetting the undefeated Arroyo High School Knights, 12-0, in El Monte. Claremont advances to the second round against Laguna Beach High School at home Friday, with kick-off set for 7 p.m.