As all of the fall sports have come to an end, Oak Park High School’s fall sports teams had great seasons filled with memories. Many teams made CIF playoffs and managed to make deep playoff runs. Football, Girls Volleyball, Girls Golf, Girls Tennis, Boys Beach Volleyball and Cross Country all competed during the fall. Below is a recap of each individual team’s season, how they performed and athletes’ perceptions of their respective seasons. 

Football

Football finished a successful season going 6-4 and making division six playoffs. The team went 2-4 in the league and finished 5th behind Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Newbury Park and Moorpark. The team made the playoffs as the second seed out of 16 teams in the division six tournament. Football won their first playoff game in a 29-12 win over North Torrance but fell to San Jacinto in the quarterfinals in a 51-32 loss.  

“The football season was a lot of fun because I got to spend time playing a game I love with my brothers,” said junior football player Max Peters.

Girls Volleyball

Girls Volleyball managed to squeeze into playoffs despite an 8-17 record on the season. This playoff push was mostly due to key league wins going 3-5 in league and finishing third in the Coastal Canyon League. The team made the Division Six playoff tournament but unfortunately fell to Santa Clarita Christian in a close 2-3 match. 

“This season definitely felt more bonded. We worked so well on and off the court and connected well with our coach which allowed us to persevere through our tougher games” said junior Mikaela Merriles.

Girls Golf

Girls Golf finished a stellar season of league sweeping all three rounds of league playoffs and winning the Coastal Canyon league. The team was led by junior Lily Huynh and Emory commit senior Derica Chiu. The team only had two close losses in the regular season Harvard-Westlake and Oak Christian. 

“I think that the team did amazing this season, everyone played their best and to the utmost ability. The season was so fun and the team dynamic was very close so I think that made this season memorable,” said Huynh. 

Girls Tennis

Girls Tennis had a successful season going 6-2 in league matches only losing to Camarillo. The team made the division two playoffs after finishing second in league matches. The team managed to beat Cate 11-7 in the first round but lost to Sunny Hills in the second round of playoffs. 

“Our team grew so much this season, both together and as individuals. I am so proud of everybody for giving their full effort and always supporting each other,” said junior Brooke Herstein.

Boys Beach Volleyball

Oak Park Boys Beach Volleyball concluded a stellar season where the team went 11-3 overall and ended up winning the Marmonte League Championship. The team secured a 4-0 win in the final tournament. Most of the team crosses over to indoor volleyball in the spring so this successful season could be indicative of how Oak Park’s indoor volleyball team does in the upcoming season.

“I think we deserved it. I’m really proud of the work we put in. We started the year as the third or fourth best team, but we really improved a lot throughout the season. We ended up beating some of the teams in the playoffs that had given us losses earlier in the year,” said senior Jack Nicks.

Cross Country

Cross Country had a great season for boys and girls events. The boys finished fourth in the Coastal Canyon League finals and the girls managed to finish third in league with sophomore Katarina Modrzejewski finishing in 1st place individually in the league finals. 

“I feel that the season started off great. We ran into some problems such as sickness and injury that dampened us but we stuck through it and kept doing great,” said senior Luc Lepin.