Spring athletes reflect back on their season and lessons this year has provided them.
Boys Tennis
After a successful playoff run, the boys concluded their season with an overall record of 16-1. The league champions had an undefeated season, only losing their CIF Division I semifinals against JSerra.
“Some key factors are our team’s camaraderie and we all get together super well,” junior Austin Lamy said. “During games we are always supporting each other and hyping each other up. During practice everyone is trying to push each other to get better everyday.”
This team’s bond is tight and will always continue to push each other through setbacks and victories.
“Some challenges are that we have a few injuries on the team but we were able to bounce back and continue winning even if some players are out,” Lamy said.
Reflecting back on their victorious season, Lamy learns the dealbreaker for winning each game.
“Most valuable lesson is that teamwork and being there for each other can be a deal breaker for winning the game,” Lamy said. “We have been losing in certain situations but when there is one match left we all go and support and cheer them on and it raises their level and we are able to have some great victories simply by supporting each other.”
Boys Golf
Finishing the season with an overall record of 6-5, the boys placed 3rd in league. Although the team as a whole didn’t make it to CIF, sophomore Alexander Cheng and junior Parker Schurer will be advancing into CIF Individuals.
“We didn’t do as well as we’d hoped, but still had a great time,” Schurer said. “We had our highs and lows, but ultimately we had fun together. I know that everyone didn’t play like they wanted to, but we all soldiered through no matter what came at us.”
Throughout the season, the team’s dynamic slowly evolved and grew stronger.
“The team’s dynamic was as expected when beginning a new year of team sports: The people who knew each other stuck together, the newer teammates began to assimilate with the rest of the group, over time molding into one heck of a well oiled machine,” Schurer said. “We’d have a great time on the range, with everyone helping each other work the kinks out of their swings, and have fun with putting competitions at the end of the practice sessions.”
Reflecting back on a season with victorious wins and pivotal losses, Schurer thinks back on the lesson he learned this season.
“I think the most valuable lesson that we as a team can take away from this season is how we learned to work together as a unit and to persevere through the highs and lows.”
Boys Volleyball
Concluding the season with an overall record of 17-11 and an undefeated league season, the boys are back-to-back league champions. The team took a big win against Winward 3-1 in the first round of Division III playoffs. Unfortunately, the playoff run ended in the second round against San Clemente.
“I thought our team battled a lot of internal and external conflicts, but still preserved and became the undefeated league champions,” junior Elie Gorowitz said. “We unfortunately lost in playoffs to the best team but I am so proud of our team for giving it everything we had.”
The biggest setback this season was when multiple players that played last season quit the team earlier in the season. This led to many changes to the team’s dynamic.
“Everyone had to pivot and accept new roles on the team,” Gorowitz said. “Although this was hard at first we managed to find our groove.”
Adapting to the changes, this experienced team, filled with talented players, ignored all the downs and focused on their united and ultimate goal.
“We learned to depend on other players during tough times,” Gorowitz said. “Even though we had different mindsets, our team learned to play to each other’s strengths.”
Track & Field
With track being more of an individual performance sport, each athlete had their own goals and PRs they wanted to achieve. Athletes Rey Sadahiro, Joey Berger, Nevada Ford, Oliver Gonzalez, Michelle Vu, Kean Castaneda, Katarina Modrzejewski, Bailey Droll, Louis Liu and Macon Morrow all qualified for CIF Preliminaries for their respective event. Although they didn’t advance in the next round, each put in their all.
“I think the season went very well for many of us, as many athletes got PRs and improved tremendously on their marks,” Castaneda said. “Post season was alright but since many of us were drained from the season, we were unable to advance to finals.”
The athletes have shown up consistently to practice and put in work every day of the week, but with every season there are setbacks.
“One main setback that I and many others had to endure was sickness,” Castaneda said. “Many of us had to sit out for long periods and not participate in races which takes a big toll on your physical and mental health but by working slowly to regain fitness, most of us were able to come back stronger post sickness.”
Through this season, the athletes have come to realize the importance of consistency.
“The most valuable thing we learned as a team was the importance of showing up and doing the little things,” Castaneda said. “People saw big improvements just by doing the basics and being at practice so I think that will be a continuing trend for the next coming season.”
Girls Lacrosse
With an overall record of 14-3, the girls lacrosse team finished second in league with a record of 10-2. Their strong record placed the girls in CIF Division I playoffs against Mater Dei. After an intense game, the team lost 17-10, concluding their season in the playoff.
“I feel that our overall season and playoffs were great,” junior Allison Hoffman said. “Our record speaks for itself and our playoff game was a hard fought game. There was never a moment in the playoff game where I felt the team gave up. We fought for every goal and played hard until the very last whistle.”
The key factors that contributed to the success of this season was the attitude and support system the girls provided for each other.
“Some teams may be stacked with talent, however your talent will only go as far as your attitude and support system,” Hoffman said. “Often teams lose games when they start to blame each other or have a bad attitude. However that’s not the case with this team. Our record was the record it was because of our good attitudes and support system.”
Being placed into the D1 playoff bracket was at first anxious for the team but they soon realized the bigger picture.
“The most valuable lesson our team learned this season is that anyone is beatable,” Hoffman said. “During the Mater Dei game we soon came to realize that even though they were highly ranked they were 100% beatable. We may have not got the outcome we wanted, but we did give them a run for their money and learn that any team is beatable.”
Boys Lacrosse
Culminating the season with an overall record of 11-8, the boys are undefeated league champions. The team qualified for CIF Division III playoffs, making it to the second round against Hart. It was a hard-fought game, but the boys took a loss 13-7.
“I would consider the season an overall success,” junior captain Grey Stevens said. “The playoff loss was kind of a gut punch to the whole team it’s a bummer our season ended so soon.”
The strongest aspect of this team is their perseverance through the highs and lows.
“One thing about our team is that we never quit from the first minute of the first game to the last minute of the last game, our boys fought hard,” Grey said. “Our team dynamic is great. Many on the team are friends and lots of off the field team bonding events happen regularly.”
With only one senior leaving, the team will come back stronger and better next season.
Softball
Finishing the season with a record of 8-13, the girls finished 5th in league. Unfortunately, the girls did not qualify for playoffs.
“The season went well. we played hard but definitely could’ve done better,” senior Alexa Samuels said.
The team dynamic got tighter over time, as the girls did a lot of team bonding to strengthen their bond.
“We had a lot of respect for each other and everybody had a similar sense of humor which helped us get along really well,” Samuels said. “I think we worked really well as a team and everybody felt like a friend, not just a teammate.”
After every tough game, the team worked even harder in practice to continue to hone their skills.
“Winning isn’t everything and also we are the prettiest softball team in the country,” Samuels said.
Baseball
Baseball ended the season with a record of 4-15, which places them 5th in league. Although the season didn’t go as expected, the players learned to adapt to their new coach and team.
“Overall the season didn’t go as we wanted but we definitely learned a lot and grew as a team,” senior Ryan Kobayashi said.
The team’s chemistry and communication contributed a lot to the team’s performance.
“As the season progressed we grew closer as a team and learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Kobayashi said. “Some of the challenges that we faced this year were injuries and the skill level of our opponents.”
A lot of crucial players had to step back due to injuries, many other players stepped up and did what they needed to do for the team.
“The most valuable lesson the team learned from this season’s experience was to focus on what we could control,” Kobayashi said. “In life there’s a lot of things that are out of our control and we learned to live with that and do our best under the circumstances.”
Girls Beach Volleyball
OPHS girls beach volleyball finished the season with an overall record of 8-5 and a league record of 6-2. They placed second in league and won a wild card game against Cross Roads High School. The girls qualified for CIF Division II playoffs, but lost against Laguna Blanca in the first round.
“Overall I’d say our season was pretty successful and fun,” senior Emma Lee said. “We had a great program and although we lacked our offensive players that graduated last year, we were able to place second in league and qualify for playoffs.”
One key factor that contributed to the team’s success was their overall team bond and relationship.
“Since we see each other outside of practice, all of us we’re really close with each other and like practically family,” Lee said.
Swim
As the record-breaking season of swimming came to an end, the boys team placed 4th overall for Division III CIF Finals and first for the 400 freestyle. On the girls team, only one qualified for CIF Finals, singehandly beat 49 other teams.
“I think the season went amazingly,” freshman Pablo Ingrum said. “Since it was my first year on the team I did not know that many people, but throughout the season I made lots of great friends and I think we all got closer as a team and as friends outside of swimming.”
The swimmers’ biggest supporter and motivator throughout the season was their coach.
“I think the support we got from each other as well as from Coach Calley really helped everyone do better,” Ingrum said. “Coach Calley made sure to bring everyone food, give us advice, make practices fun, and this season would not have been as successful without her.”
Although swim highly depends on one’s performance, teamwork is an important aspect in both relays and support.
“The most valuable lesson we learned was probably how to be a team,” Ingrum said. “Learning how to put aside our races to go cheer on our teammates or ignore bad races to finish strong in a relay. We learned how to push past rough times and support each other along the way.”
