By Jinghan Li
Staff Writer
The girls varsity golf and varsity tennis team and boys varsity water polo team placed at the top of their league this semester, earning them the ticket to the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Championship.
Girls varsity golf
This season, the girls varsity golf team advanced to the CIF championship after winning all five league matches, continuing their fifth undefeated year streak in league games. Out of the two team matches, they first tied at 11th place on Nov. 3 for Division One team championship, then placed 13th in the Southern California Golf Association qualifying tournament on Nov 6.
“I believe we overachieved,” head girls varsity golf coach Barry Bacon said. “Somewhere in each tournament, an unexpected person plays well and saves our bacon. It was just one of those years where different girls stepped up to play well.”
Girls varsity tennis
The girls varsity tennis team is the Division Three CIF champion. The girls kicked off the tournament on Nov. 5 and rounded off the last game on Nov. 19. In the final match, the athletes tally a 12 to six, settling the team’s win against all their opponents in the CIF.
Practices begin in the sixth period, and end at around 4:30 to 5p.m.. The girls warm up, do drills, then play practice games against teammates. Prepping for CIF, the team also trained in smaller groups with assistance from junior varsity tennis coach Arunraj Ramalingam.
“I am very proud of our team this year,” varsity tennis coach Tommy Tan said. “We got third in our league, qualified for CIF, and have been undefeated since. [I’m] extremely proud of the resilience the girls have shown this year.”
Boys varsity water polo
After three rounds of CIF games arching from late October into mid November, varsity boys water polo players wrapped up their season in Division Three quarterfinals, scoring13 to 14 goals on Nov. 7th.
The boys train for around three hours every school day. The practices include swimming, drills and weight room training. As CIF approaches, training designated to the game strategies replaces a part of weight training.
“I’m really satisfied with the team chemistry that the guys have,” boys water polo coach Davo Gharagyozyan, said. “Seeing them being able to bond together when there’s a big age gap is really good.”