After going 1-3 in the Steve Pal Tournament at El Modena on Friday and Saturday, the Claremont boys water polo team won their fourth consecutive Sierra League match over Chino Hills on Tuesday, pending the outcome of yesterday’s match against Charter Oak.
Claremont started off hot in the first quarter against he Huskies, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. The Wolfpack outscored Chino Hills in each of the next two periods, taking a 12-3 lead into the fourth quarter. Check out our complete CHS sports coverage inside.
The Claremont High School boys’ varsity water polo team celebrates their narrow victory over rival Damien High on Thursday effectively ending a 20-year losing streak to the Spartans. The Wolfpack started strong and led by two points for much of the first quarter, however the Spartans rallied and tied it up at four all before halftime. The score remained tight for the rest of the game but with 1:20 to go Claremont went ahead by one and Damien could not answer on their final possession. Final score: Claremont Wolfpack 8, Damien Spartans 7. COURIER photo/Steven Felschundneff
Pending Thursday’s volleyball match against Chino Hills, Claremont was at 4-4 in the Sierra League and trailed only St. Lucy’s and Chino Hills in the standings. On Oct. 25, the Wolfpack came out focused and on their game, sweeping South Hills on the road, 3-0. Claremont edged South Hills 25-23 in sets one and two, and won comfortably in set three, 25-17. With the regular season finale against Charter Oak looming, Claremont will look to gain momentum against the struggling Chargers heading into the postseason.
Claremont High School will be sending two golfers, Kennedy Bingham and Nicole Curti, to the CIF Individual Regionals on Monday. Their stellar performances earned them second and third place out of 26 competitors in the Sierra League finals on Thursday.
Bingham maintained her second-place standing from Tuesday’s Sierra League prelims and finished with a two-day total score of 178. She shot an 86 in round one and a 92 in round two en route to her second-consecutive CIF appearance.
Claremont made its presence known at its second Sierra League match on Wednesday, winning four of five possible events in its second dominating performance in Sierra League action this season.
The Wolfpack girls varsity team nearly had a clean-sweep of the top five races, but settled for three top-five finishes in the three-mile run.
Annie Boos finished second with a time of 18:45.5 and teammates Merin Arft and Reily McLachlan crossed the line moments later, finishing third and fourth with times of 19:05.7 and 19:14.6, respectively.
Five Claremont High School girls varsity runners lead a tight pack of their competitors on the way to claiming 3 of the 4 top spots during the second Sierra League cross country meet on Wednesday at Bonelli Regional Park. The Wolfpack had a stunning meet winning four out of five events. COURIER photo/Steven Felschundneff
Claremont High School’s Simone Bliss, left, and Denise Brittain gang up to block a shot from South Hills on Tuesday at CHS. The girls lost the first game but came back to win the second game. After exchanging two more games the Pack outlasted the Huskies in the fifth and final match to win 3-2. Check out our game story. COURIER photo/Steven Felschundneff
The Wolfpack are coming off of a 17-1 beatdown of Charter Oak following Tuesday’s non-conference action. Claremont won all of its single sets, with its lone loss coming during a doubles set.
“I believe our one loss was attributed to unforced errors on our part,” Head Coach Lilibeth Katigbak said. “One of our goals is to maintain consistency throughout our matches in everything from serves to volleys to ground strokes.”
Claremont is not known as a basketball town. It does, however, have its own basketball dynasty, with 3 noted coaches hailing from the City of Trees.
It started with Lowell Rice, who coached basketball at Claremont High School from 1983 to 1993, ending his run by guiding the Wolfpack to a Baseline League Championship.
Lowell’s sons, Dave and Grant, both of whom attended CHS and played for the Pack, have gone on to follow in his footsteps, taking a family passion to even greater heights. Dave is head basketball coach for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, above.
Girls Golf:
The Claremont girls golf team returns two varsity starters from a year ago, highlighted by second-year team captain and fourth-year varsity starter Kennedy Bingham.
Caitlin Chan joins Bingham as the only other returning varsity starter from last year’s squad, which featured three first-team All-Sierra League honorees, the most recipients head coach Octavio Hernandez has had in one season in his four years with the program. This year’s team boasts five seniors, one junior and five freshmen.
The bicycle safety education course is open to the Claremont community and offered free of charge, for participants ages 18 and above. The course includes a one-hour classroom setting instruction, one-hour of parking lot practice and a one-hour bicycle ride. As a part of the bicycle safety training session, participants will receive a free helmet, lights, bike maps and additional giveaways on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Marcos Giron played a near-flawless first set to beat former UCLA teammate and doubles partner Dennis Novikov 6-0, 7-5 in the singles championship Sunday at the USTA Claremont Club Classic, a $10,000 Men’s Pro Futures event taking place at the Claremont Club.
“I started off on fire and didn’t miss a ball,” said Giron, a 20-year-old UCLA junior. “”I put Dennis on his heels and I think he was shocked at how I came out. I had the momentum and could really go for my shots in the second set. He had all the pressure to come back.”
Former junior rivals and UCLA teammates Dennis Novikov and Marcos Giron will meet for the 18th USTA Claremont Club Classic title on Sunday after both won hard-fought three-set matches over former Bruins on Saturday at the Claremont Club.
The No. 3-seeded Novikov, 19, had to come back from down a set and a break to beat No. 2-seeded Nick Meister, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, while the unseeded 20-year-old Giron survived a match point against him in his 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6) over Haythem Abid of Tunisia in the $10,000 Men’s Pro Future event
