by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Two student athletes each from both Claremont High School and The Webb Schools made strong contributions to their teams this winter and have been named the Courier’s high school athletes of the season for winter 2022-2023.

The CHS honors go to junior girls basketball captain and guard Maryah Anderson and senior boys soccer captain and midfielder Ty Robnett. Webb’s recipients are senior girls soccer captain and forward Abbey Cook, and senior boys wrestling captain Leonid Levitin-Shilman.

CHS girls: Maryah Anderson

The Claremont High girls basketball team had a historic season this year, hoisting four pieces of hardware: its first ever Palomares League title, and three tournament championships, including the Edison, Claremont/Bonita, and Upland Classic.

Junior Maryah Anderson was a major contributor.

This year — the team’s first in CIF Southern Section Division II-A play — she averaged 14.5 points, 3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game and was again named to the first team all-Palomares League and MVP at the Edison and Upland tournaments. The girls also improved on last year’s success, going  24-5, 8-2 in league. Their season ended February 9 with a first round home CIF loss to Aliso Niguel, 38-36.

Maryah said the team’s three tournament wins were the highlights of her season. “The Edison tournament was an important tournament because it’s only been around for two years and we won it both years,” she said.

Maryah made the varsity team her freshman year. The girls went 10-9 overall and 5-5 in league. Anderson averaged 14 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game, and was named to the first team all-CIF for Division III-A and second team all-Palomares League.

As a sophomore she averaged 17.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game and the team set a new school record for most wins in a season, going 21-9 overall and 8-2 in league play. Maryah was named to the second team all-CIF for Division III-AA, first team all-Palomares League, the Upland Classic all-tournament team, and the Edison tournament’s most valuable player.

Asked how it felt to be recognized by the Courier, Maryah said, “There’s a lot of girls sports teams this season that were doing really well and it feels like an honor to be the one to get that.”

CHS boys: Ty Robnett

From anchoring the midfield, captaining the team and helping the program to its first Palomares League title in seven years, senior Ty Robnett was at the center of the CHS boys soccer team’s success all season.

In 22 games, the Pomona native scored six goals, had three assists, and helped the Wolfpack notch 12 “clean sheets,” or shutouts. He recorded three goals and one assist last year.

During his three years on the varsity team he led it to two CIF Southern Section first round appearances, once in 2020-21 while in Division V, and this year in Division III, as well as one third round appearance during the 2021-2022 CIF-SS Division IV tournament.

Last year he was named to the Palomares League’s all-academic first team and second team all-league. This year he was named to the first team all-league.

Ty began playing soccer in Upland at 4, and has played under coach Eddie Flores for a majority of his career. Flores, who became CHS’s new boys varsity head soccer coach this season following the departure of longtime coach Fred Bruce-Oliver, led the team to a 14-2-6 overall record, 7-0-3 in league.

Numbers aside, Ty’s leadership qualities on and off the field made him indispensable.

“For me being a senior, it’s really hard to be a role model for all the new people coming into varsity [next season],” he said. “I think I did pretty well gelling everyone together to prepare for next year.

His proudest moment was beating Alta Loma, 3-1, on the road to secure the league title. Next year, Ty is keen on attending Citrus College, where he’ll reconnect with Bruce-Oliver if he makes the soccer team. He plans on majoring in kinesiology.

Webb girls: Abbey Cook

Upland native Abbey Cook had one job as Webb girls soccer team’s forward: score goals. In three varsity seasons, she did just that, netting an amazing 141 to go alongside 69 assists. It’s a big accomplishment, especially given the senior had just three years to get there as the pandemic nixed her sophomore season.

Abbey’s prodigious scoring leaves her in eighth place in the CIF-SS record book for career goals for girls soccer.

The program moved up three divisions this year, to Division III. In her final season, Abbey of course led the Gauls with 40 goals, and to a second consecutive San Joaquin League title. Webb fell to Marina, 2-0, on February 10, exiting in the second-round of the Division III CIF-SS girls soccer championships. The Gauls only lost twice, against Claremont and Marina, finishing 15-2-2, 7-0-1 in league.

“Being such a small school with only 200 girls, we were competing against schools with 1,000 if not 2,000 girls to choose from for their soccer teams and holding our own against them,” she said. “Playing in such a high division, I think, made our season super successful.”

Last year Abbey netted 46 goals, leading the Gauls to an undefeated 20-0 season, 8-0 in league. The team topped the San Joaquin League, then won the CIF-SS Division VI and CIF Southern California Division V Regional titles. She scored 55 times as a freshman.

She was named the San Joaquin League’s player of the year in each of her three seasons, was selected three times for first-team all-San Joaquin League, and was twice picked for the first team all-CIF Division VI. She was also named 2022’s Division VI CIF-SS girls soccer player of the year.

Abbey will continue her soccer career and education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she plans to major in business and finance.

Webb boys: Leonid Levitin-Shilman

In his freshman year, Claremont native Leonid “Leo” Levitin-Shilman tried out for the Webb boys basketball team and realized he wasn’t very good. Shortly after, the Gauls wrestling coach Eric Hansen gave the nearly six-foot freshman an opportunity with his team.

He told him, “You look like you’re built for wrestling. Want to join?” Leo did and has not looked back.

Over four years the senior has improved exponentially. He went from winning one match as a freshman to being crowned San Joaquin League champion for the 220-weight class his junior and senior years.

This year as captain, he helped the team to a 8-4 overall record, 4-1 in league. The Gauls finished second in the Montview League, and Leo went undefeated for 14 matches straight before his sole loss at the CIF-SS individual wrestling competition on February 11.

Normally the last to wrestle for the Gauls given his weight class, Leo came up clutch for the team when it mattered most, often pinning his opponents for six crucial points to propel the Gauls to victory. Coach Hansen noted Leo’s 12 pins this season.

Leo, who watched the team grow from six wrestlers his freshman season to 15 this year, said this was the biggest season for Webb’s wrestling program as a majority of the team qualified for the CIF-SS individual tournament. He is optimistic about the program’s future.

“They were much better than I was freshman year,” he said. “There’s definitely a lot of potential for our team.”

Wrestling and education are in Leo’s future, albeit outside the United States.

“I do plan on wrestling in college. I’m planning on going to college in Canada,” he said. He hopes to major in political science, but no school has been picked yet.

Leo, who is also a staff writer for the Webb Canyon Chronicle, gave a big thank you to Coach Hansen for fostering his love for wrestling.