Claremont High School fall sports teams are off to a strong start highlighted by the varsity football team’s stunning win over highly ranked Salesian, 21-13 on September 5 followed by a 41-6 rout of Mountain View last week. Next up is a home game against Covina at 7 p.m. Friday

Claremont has become known for distance runners and this year is no exception with the varsity boys ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division II, and varsity girls ranked seventh. CHS and Saugus are the only schools in Division II with both the boys and girls teams in the top ten according to coach Rob Lander. They will race in the prestigious sweepstakes division at the Woodbridge invite this Saturday.

The sophomore boys won team titles at both the Cool Breeze invite, September 6, and Laguna Hills invite, September 13, with great efforts by Jonah Evans, Max McGuire, Owen Bishop, Ryan Renken and Felix Lawson.

Freshmen girls won the team title at the Cool Breeze invite and placed 2nd at the Laguna Hills Invite. Tess Rounds was the overall winner in the girls’ freshman race at Cool Breeze. Bess Markley, Kaitllyn Heckers and Hope Hyland contributed to both team places.

The southern California heat wave forced the cancellation of the first cross country league meet scheduled for Tuesday at Bonelli Park.

Wolfpack girls’ golf has played three Palomares league competitions so far this season for a 2-1 record. CHS lost to Diamond Bar on September 2 but turned around to beat St. Lucy’s on September 4, and defeated Glendora last week 252-298. The medalist, lowest score, was sophomore Nicole Curti who shot four over par.

There are great expectations for boys’ water polo this year after their upset victory over rival Damien last season. Coach Krisin Rodriguez, who is in her fifth season leading the boys’ team, has the largest team in her career with Claremont. 

“We have a solid team this year. This is the first time that everyone has a good understanding of the game and our plays. Usually the six starters understand and everyone else is trying to catch up,” said coach Rodriguez.

Starting line up this season includes: senior Steven Cagle at goalie, sophomore Bruno Snow at driver, junior Mat Turk at defender, senior Thomas Randles at driver, freshman Ian Waasdorp at center, junior Johnathon Wong at utility and senior Dylan Landi at utility. Adam Ward, the team’s best player in the field, will take Dylan Landi’s starting spot when his hand heals.

The Pack played in a very difficult tournament this past weekend with key starter Adam Ward out with a broken hand. The boys had a very close game with Santa Barbara but lost in the last three seconds of the game due to a judgment call, according to coach Rodriguez.

On Tuesday CHS took on Laguna in a tough match but eventually lost 13-9. Goalie Steven Cagle had a phenomenal game with 11 saves and 3 steals. Other stats include Bruno Snow with three goals, three steals, two assists; Ian Waasdorp with two goals; Johnathon Wong with one goal, one steal, one assist; and Mat Turk with two goals, one assist.