A GRRRRR-EAT FALL SEASON

Blowing through the opposition, the Westridge Tigers have had an outstanding season. Both the golf and tennis teams have made history this season, with Varsity Golf winning their Prep League, and Varsity Tennis being the third-ever Westridge team to play in the CIF-SS Quarterfinals.

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Exceptionally good, the Westridge Varsity Golf achieved a perfect record, winning all their games and the Prep League, with five of the six golfers making it to the Prep League Preliminaries and Finals. Golf earned the title of Prep League champions for the first time in Westridge history. They competed in the CIF-SS Eastern Division Team Championship Tournament on Tuesday, November 5. “I am so grateful that I got to be a part of an amazing team with talented and inspirational people. We made history by not only winning a banner, but also joining two CIF tournaments! And I know we’re only gonna grow from here!” Sophia L. ’23, golf team member and Spyglass staffer, passionately said.

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Varsity Tennis started and ended the season in first place, making them the first Westridge tennis team to stay in first place the entire season. They are now competing in Prep League Finals, led by their captains Caroline L. ‘21 (a Spyglass editor), Gaby L. ’20, and Jaya S. ‘20, as well as coaches Gene You and Linda Ohanian. They won the CIF-SS wild card match on Tuesday, November 5 and their first round of CIF-SS Playoffs against Le Lycee High School on Wednesday, November 6. The team competed in CIF-SS Division IV Quarterfinals on Tuesday, November 12, and won, making them the third team in Westridge history to compete in the CIF Quarterfinals. They moved on to compete in the CIF Semifinals, crushing the competition 12-8. They headed to the finals against Rowland High School on Friday, November 15.  Varsity tennis won the CIF-SS division 4 championship. “Our best results in over 30 years,” said head coach of Varsity Tennis Gene You. Junior Varsity Tennis finished with a perfect record, making them undefeated for 10 consecutive years in Prep League play.  

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Both Junior Varsity and Freshman/Sophomore Volleyball had great seasons. Varsity Volleyball defeated Mayfield twice and moved on to CIF-SS playoffs. JV had few losses, and the frosh team continued to improve, closing out their season with an unfortunate zero wins and 11 losses. “This volleyball season was amazing. The coaches and my teammates made it a family. We won and lost as a team and were always supportive of one another. I grew as a player but also as a person. I was taught sportsmanship by my peers and am so thankful for them. They have made my first year playing high school volleyball one to remember,” said Grace N. ’23.

 

Cross country competed in several invitationals, such as the Bell Gardens Invitational on Saturday, October 5, and Mt. Sac on Friday, October 2, and their hard work paid off when they placed eighth overall. In the Cross Country Varsity Prep League Finals on Saturday, November 2, Jaz G. ’22 ran a 21:56.6 (for 3 miles), a personal record for the course. “This cross country season was great. We got a lot of new talent from the freshman and sophomore years. We trained hard and raced our best. With the many miles we ran together we grew closer as a team and made friendships that will continue off the course. We ran fast and ran together, and at the end of the day we had fun with being a team,”  exclaimed Jaz G. ’22.

Though there are always highs and lows throughout every sport season, all teams have kept their spirits up and trained harder. All in all, “that is what you call a great sports season,” Athletic Director Melanie Horn explained.    

 

SPOTLIGHT PLAYERS

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Krystal Raymundo: 

“She’s a phenomenal athlete and a phenomenal person.” –Coach Horn 

Krystal Raymundo has been a leader and an integral part of Varsity Volleyball this season. She has played all different positions on the court and has capitalized on a different position every year. She will be leaving Westridge next year to play as a libero at Princeton University.

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FRESHMEN 

There have been many freshmen involved in sports this season, especially on the varsity teams. Sophia L. ’23, Spyglass staffer, just went to the CIF-SS individual championships and did exceptionally well. In the CIF-SS Division Championships, she hit the lowest score of all the Westridge golfers. Atalanta C. ’23 placed eighth in the freshman division at Mt. Sac and medaled. No other runner from Westridge medaled. Kat N. ‘23 is one of our best runners, along with Jaz G. ’22. Kat ran three miles in twenty minutes twenty-four seconds, one of the fastest times of the season. “Cross country was awesome because it's a great community,” said Kat N. ‘23. 

Gracie N. ‘23 had a fantastic volleyball season helping the team in any way possible. Sydney S. ’23 beat Poly’s number one tennis singles player and won the Tigers’ tenth set win against Mayfield during the regular season. Along with Caroline L. ‘21, Sydney earned Prep League All-League Second Team honors! This season, the freshmen have represented the Tigers well. 

 

For play-by-play reports, pictures, and updates, follow: 

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