The 2024 fall sports season was full of intense competition, resulting in two CIF state champions and five league champions. The varsity girls golf team won the CIF Division I state championship while boys cross country, field hockey, flag football, girls golf and girls volleyball won their respective league championships.
“We barely made it to state from regionals because [other schools] played really good, and all we wanted to do was get at least second, because then, because we’d be beating one of the two good teams,” Zoe Jiamanukoonkit (11), team captain of the girls cardinal team said in an interview. “I still can’t believe it right now. Like, holy moly, we beat Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran.”
Competitive cheer also won the CIF SDS Championship in the Small Group Division II at Montgomery High School on Dec. 2.
While no other teams won a CIF title this fall, teams persevered and made the most out of their seasons. The varsity football team (5-7), fell to Granite Hills on Nov. 15, after a score of 31-19 during the second round of the CIF Division I Championship.
“Most of our wins and losses were by possession, meaning every game our guys were finding a way to compete against some of the best teams in San Diego County,” offensive line coach, JV football coach and Intro to Business teacher Jake Ashby (‘13) said. “It didn’t matter who showed up on Friday night across the field. Our group led by some outstanding seniors were going to give it their all each week.”
According to Ashby, although the last game ended in a loss, that was the case for a “majority of teams.”
“I am proud of our team winning a playoff game against Scripps Ranch,” Ashby said. “Granite Hills is the number 34 team in the state of California, they won the Division I championship and will play in the Division I-A state finals. Granite Hills is a well coached team and all the props to the them for finding adjustments in the second half.”
According to Ashby, a major challenge that the team faced this season was the high number of injuries. Their performance came down to the athletes “buying into their roles and stepping up when their time came.”
The varsity girls field hockey team (17-7-1) dealt with a different form of adversity.
“We faced the challenge of being a young and new team,”head varsity coach and English 9/9H teacher Courtney Kun said. “We graduated 12 seniors last year so this season was definitely a building year for us. We had three seniors and three captains that really stepped up in their leadership roles in showing the younger players about our expectations and team culture.”
The season still had its highlights for varsity girl’s field hockey team such as the team’s final game against Cathedral Catholic High School (18-7) according to Kun. The team clinched the Avocado League title after going undefeated for eight games.
Kun attributed their success to the commitment of seniors Sydney Meltzer (12), Addison MacKay (12) and Ellie Kuehnert (12).
Flag football (17-8) also placed 1st in the Avocado League after six straight wins. Their last game of the season ended in a 19 to 42 loss against Classical Academy.
The varsity boys cross country team was also crowned a league champion this season.
“Everyone ran well, we had two of the medals in the top 20, so that was great,” boys varsity cross country runner Jack Sheehy (12) said. “And then on the girls side, Charlotte [Sach (12)] went to state. She was our solo individual called state. So I’d say overall, it was a little heartbreaker not to make it to state, but it was definitely a fun race.”
Additionally, the varsity girls volleyball team (28-9) had a challenging, yet rewarding season, coming close to a CIF Open Division championship title, once again.
“This was definitely our most challenging season, we played a lot of schools that are highly state ranked,” varsity girls volleyball team captain Rilyn Morales (12) said. “I thought it was great for us to be able to play some teams that we don’t get to see super often in the league and also just to challenge ourselves. I think it was definitely our best season so far so it was just great to be able to compete with that amazing competition”
With the higher level of competition this season came the need to adapt.
“They definitely run a faster offense than some of the teams we typically play in San Diego, so we played a lot of LA and Orange County teams, so it was good for us to be able to work on our blocking, to be able to combat that offense,” Morales said. “They were also really scrappy on defense, like they were able to get everything up, so it helped us work on our creativity when it came to our offense to be able to beat them.”
The girls varsity tennis also faced intense competition, losing in the CIF SDS quarterfinals to Francis Parker School 3 to 8 on a five-loss streak on Oct. 30. Last season, the team finished third in California.
The boys varsity water polo team (19-10) went through similar challenges, ending their season after a 11 to 8 loss to Poway High School.
After recently being named the number one public school for athletics in San Diego County, teams will continue to compete during the winter season.
