Whoever coined the phrase “friendly competition” must have been watching a Claremont High School swim meet.
The athletes were outgoing, polite and honestly seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was no verbal jeering of the opposition—rather they warmly congratulated the winners regardless of the team.
It’s a bit embarrassing, but this COURIER reporter did not determine in advance whether Tuesday’s boys golf match between Claremont High School and Colony would be competitive. After all, the last two teams the Pack faced resulted in nail biting, edge of your seat contests, so what could go wrong? As it turns out: everything.
Colony showed up late, they did not have a JV team and only had three varsity golfers—only one with any experience.
In boys volleyball the Wolfpack won an exciting Hacienda League opening match, 3-2, on Tuesday against Diamond Ranch in Pomona. The Panthers won the first set, 25-22, but the Pack came charging back, 25-17, in the second. Diamond Ranch won the third, 25-19, but Claremont prevailed in the tiebreaker, 15-7.
Claremont also won two non-league home matches last week, 3-0, over Santiago on Friday and 3-0, over Eastside on Thursday.
Claremont freshman Bella Sanvictores clears 10-1 in the pole vault on Tuesday during the Pack’s home double-dual meet against Alta Loma and Colony. Sanvictores vault was both a personal record and the top effort of the day. Claremont boys and girls defeated both Alta Loma and Colony and now have a 2-0 league record. COURIER photo/Steven Felschundneff
The teams were dressed in their finest uniforms while circling Claremont Little League field number one during their opening ceremonies on Saturday, March 9. Even the old-timers who played on the very same field decades ago made an appearance during the festivities. They were even given a special game ball to honor the event. Needless to say it was a fun time for all, as everyone prepared for yet another fine season playing baseball in Claremont. The Major League Dodgers (in photo) was one of many teams who tipped their caps to the audience in the stands. Happy 60th Claremont Little League! COURIER photo/Peter Weinberger
Already down two sets to none and facing a seven-point deficit in the third, Claremont boys volleyball coach Bernie Wendling called a time out.
“They want to embarrass us in our house, and no one embarrasses in our house,” he told his team. And it must have worked, because the boys not only climbed out of that hole, but went on to win the set, 26-24. Check out our cool highlights video from the game. COURIER photo/Matthew Weinberger
Pomona-Pitzer women’s basketball defeated cross-campus rival Claremont Mudd Scripps, 60-57, last Saturday, earning their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title in program history.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and Claremont High School’s new softball coach Brian Ota really knocked it out of the park during practice on Tuesday.
During a pre-workout conference with his team, Coach Ota was roasting each player’s performance during the Pack’s 7-2 win over St. Lucy’s the previous day. The mood was lighthearted, but the message was serious—the game shouldn’t have been close.
Claremont Little League seeks out former players for 60th anniversary celebration
Claremont Little League is preparing a celebration for its upcoming 60th season, which kicks off March 2 with an annual parade.
To mark this anniversary, the parade organizers are looking for former Little League players who played during Little League’s first 10 years, between 1959 and 1969.
Several Claremont High School teams, including baseball and boys soccer, had to start from scratch this year with a whole crop of freshmen. Boys tennis has the opposite problem, they have a whole crop of seniors.
Only number-one singles and Palomares League champion Leyton Bohren graduated last year so Claremont retains their top four doubles players as well as the number two singles.
Claremont High School student athletes who recently received scholarships to attend college are: Alexis Jimenez, American International College, softball; Julia Marriott-UC Davis, cross country/track; Sidney Hwang-Princeton University, cross country/track; Sarah Ayala, Humboldt State University, cross country/track; Kalinda Reynolds, UC Berkeley, cross country/track. Photo by CHS athletics
It was a dark and stormy night. How dark, you ask? Too dark to play baseball, apparently, as the home plate umpire cut short a seventh inning Wolfpack rally, sealing the boys 8-2 loss to Kaiser on Tuesday in Fontana.
How stormy was it? Too stormy to play a home game Monday because the field was just too soaked from the rain. Claremont instead traveled to Arcadia where they unfortunately lost, 7-2.
Any hope that winter sports would claim a CIF title were dashed over the weekend as all remaining contenders lost matches. Boys basketball, girls basketball and girls water polo all lost games played Friday and Saturday.
You win some and you lose some. And that was exactly how it played out for Claremont High School’s two Palomares League champions in the first round of the CIF playoffs Wednesday night at home.
Both girls soccer and girls water polo came into the competition as favorites, with undefeated records and the home team advantage. But only water polo will move on as they defeated Newbury Park, 17-10. However, the soccer team will have to wait until next year since they fell to Camarillo, 3-2.
