Woe to the Claremont water polo fan who showed up late to Tuesday’s game against Bonita, as the scoreboard at the La Verne Aquatics Center clearly showed the Bearcats ahead 15-1, with mere minutes left.

Talk about home pool advantage—apparently Bonita starts home games with 10 points already on the board! However, the scoreboard was, in fact, broken and should have read 11-5 in favor of Claremont, which the boys held to the final whistle.

Claremont scored first and never trailed but Bonita stayed in striking distance and it was really anybody’s game at the half with the Pack up 5-3. Bonita made a big push in the third quarter and were within a single goal when Claremont went on a five-goal scoring streak, putting the match away for good. Claremont senior Mason Stark scored a game high four goals, including the last three.

The boys needed the win, but the lopsided victory obscures the true nature of the competition in the newly reorganized Palomares League, where it appears that any team has the potential to come out on top.

For years the Wolfpack was the big dog in the league, with undefeated seasons and a CIF title. But like any other sport, star players graduate and the team has to start over.

“Our starting lineup is senior heavy but the guys who come off the bench get a decent amount of playing time. I went with the guys who put in the work,” Coach Kristin Rodriguez said.

The Pack have had a number of very close games, including heartbreaking losses to Alta Loma, 11-10, two weeks ago and Glendora, 11-8, last week. The boys did get a 19-13 win over Colony last Wednesday, so with Tuesday’s victory they are even in league play at 2-2.

“Bonita beat Ayala, they have been fighting through some recent games,” Coach Rodriguez said. “The teams in our league are very close to each other, there is a lot of heart and a lot of fight on each team.”

Claremont took on Ayala on Thursday after press time, which was also the halfway point in the league. Bonita beat Ayala in overtime, as did Glendora, but Claremont lost to Glendora so again it will be a tough match.

“It depends on what we do and how we show up,” Coach Rodriguez said.

Alta Loma is number one in the division and number one in league, so a second round victory for the Pack would be a huge morale booster right ahead of the postseason.

Claremont had seven games last week with the two league matches and the Villa Park Tournament. “In terms of wins and losses not a fantastic tournament, but in terms of overall growth and development I thought we did phenomenally,” Coach Rodriguez said. “We had a lot of fight against some really strong teams.”

“We have to get third in league [to advance to the CIF tournament] so we need to beat Ayala, and the second time around we need to beat Bonita. Then we go after Glendora and Alta Loma,’ Coach Rodriguez said. “Every game matters, so we are not holding back.”

Cross country

Claremont High School’s boys and girls varsity teams won the seeded race team titles at the Stanford Cross Country Invitational on Saturday on the Stanford University golf course in Palo Alto.

Placing all seven runners among the top 26 overall in the race, Claremont’s girls varsity team won the team title with 39 points, easily defeating all comers in a field of 13 teams. Second place went to La Costa Canyon with 84 points, and third went to Granada with 113 points. Claremont became only the third team in meet history to run a team time under 90 minutes, according to Dyestat.com.

Senior Sydney Hwang led the Pack with her third place finish at 17:32 over the 5000-meter, 3.1-mile, grassy course. Behind Hwang were freshman Maddie Coles, 4th, 17:38; junior Azalea Segura-Mora; 6th, 17:54; senior Kalinda Reynolds; 13th, 18:17; and sophomore Angie Gushue, 16th, 18:31.

The boys got a narrow win with 76 points, ahead of La Costa Canyon at 86 points and St. Francis-Mountain View at 151. The field included 24 other squads.

Senior Ryan Cowgill paced the Wolfpack with his 8th place finish in 15:26. Behind Cowgill were senior Aaron Reyes, 11th, 15:33; sophomore Jack Keough-Lansford; 13th, 15:37; junior Adam Trafecanty; 22nd, 15:50; and senior Vicente Huerta; 31st, 15:59.

Girls Tennis

Going into Tuesday’s match against Ayala Ruben High School, both CHS and Ayala were 4-0 in league play. The Pack played a little tougher throughout the match to beat Ayala 10-8 and will head into the second half of the season undefeated, according to Coach Kathy Settles.

An outstanding, 3-0 performance by last year’s league MVP, sophomore Goldie La, led the Pack to the win with help from freshman Jacque Pearsall who went 2-1 for the day. Senior Astrid Petropoulos and junior, Camille Movafagian posted the best doubles scores of the match, winning two out of their three sets.

Claremont added an extra day of practice with some of the players from the boys team in preparation for the Ayala match. “I think it [practicing with the boys] definitely helped the girls play with confidence and play tough under pressure,” Coach Settles said. “I was proud of their performance today.”

Football

Claremont lost its Palomares League opening game, 28-7, against Alta Loma on Friday at CHS. Senior quarterback Cole Weaver had 10 completions from 19 attempts for 152 yards. Senior Elijah Bennett had 17 carries for 56 yards and 1 touchdown. Bennett also had 89 receiving yards for a total of 145 yards. Senior Tyler Bush had 9 tackles, three solo.

The Pack is now 3-3 overall and 0-1 in league. The boys have an away game against Glendora on Friday.

Girls volleyball

On Tuesday the girls got a crucial league win, defeating Colony 3-1 at CHS. The Titans won the first set, 25-19, but after that the Pack got to work, winning the next three sets 25-12, 25-17 and 25-19.

CHS lost an away league match, 3-0, against Glendora last Thursday. The Tartans had little trouble handling the Pack, winning 25-4, 25-23 and 25-10.

The girls are now 4-4 in league, 7-6 overall, and hosted Bonita on Thursday after press time.

Claremont Youth

Basketball accepting applications

Registration for Claremont Youth Basketball is open until October 15 for students in grades 1 through 12.

They offer three levels of competition. The CYB league, which begins in December, is open to boys and girls in third to eighth grade, while first and second grade students have a skills clinic beginning in January. This year CYB has added a three-on-three league for high school students called CYB3.

Practices for the CYB league begins on October 29, with the first games on December 2. March 3 is championship Sunday for the league with the all star games taking place the following Sunday.

There will be a player evaluation day at the Claremont High School gym this Sunday October 7 for youth who will compete in the CYB league.

“We offer a great basketball experience that includes at least 10 games per season, post-season tournament, awards ceremony, and an all star game. Many leagues in neighboring cities don’t offer anything close,” said Adrian Anderson, president of CYB.

Many of the youth league players go on to compete at Claremont High School according to Mr. Anderson. For information, visit claremontyouthbasketball.com.

—Steven Felschundneff

steven@claremont-courier.com