The Week in Sports
November 20, 2018
After weeks of hard work, Cate students are off campus enjoying some time off before most of them chow down, perhaps too much, on turkey, stuffing, and all of the other traditional Thanksgiving fare. Turkey day means many different things to many different people; for the athletic-minded people, it means the transition from fall to winter seasons. The Rams fall sports are officially over after a hard-fought campaign and our student-athletes will now start focusing on their winter campaigns.
The Cate football season ended in the CIFss quarterfinals in a tough loss to Windward. The game was actually scheduled to be at Windward on Friday, November 9 but had to be pushed to the following day because of freeway closures due to the wildfires south of Carpinteria. The game extended even longer after the sides were only able to complete a half on Saturday, November 10 due to poor air quality. The game finally wrapped up on Monday, November 12 at a neutral site. While the season ended sooner than the team would have hoped, the group made Cate proud all season long. Seniors Jack Deardorff ’19, Seb Richardson ’19, Ethan Cassulo ’19, Jake Nelson ’19, Carson Williams ’19, and Cal Sinclair ’19 all served as wonderful leaders for the program and we thank them for all they’ve done.
While the girls tennis team lost in the first round of the playoffs to the always tough Mira Costa Mustangs, a few Rams had their years extended as they competed in the CIFss Individual Tournament. Cate’s top two doubles teams, Carol Cai ‘20/ Grace Fuss ’20 and Sarah Polowczak ’19/ Fritzie Mayer ’21, competed at Carpinteria High School over the Thanksgiving break and did very well. Polowczak ’19 and Mayer ’21 fell in the second round to the #1 overall seed, while Cai ’20 and Fuss ’20 lost a 5-set heartbreaker in the third round. The end of the tournament wraps up another incredible Cate girls tennis season.
The final fall team to wrap up their year was the cross country team. After a great showing at the league finals, the boys team earned a spot at the CIFss Prelims in Riverside. In that race, Cate finished an impressive 8th in their heat and qualified for the CIFss Finals a week later. In the finals, the team improved on their overall time by a minute and ended the race in 23rd place in a loaded field. Tesfa Asmara ’20 led the Rams both races, while Nick Patrick ’22 finished second for Cate. Abnner Olivares ’19 and Josh Shields ’19 also placed for the Rams, as did Dylan MacFarlane ’20. On the girls side, Anna DiSorbo ’22 also qualified for the CIFss Prelims and Finals. In the finals, the freshman finished in 16th place. She finished just 10 seconds behind qualifying for a time in the CIF State meet.
The Cate boys soccer team is off and running. The Rams were able to get two games in before the Thanksgiving break, dropping a tough contest to St. Bonaventure and tying crosstown rival Carpinteria. In the Carpinteria game, senior Bailor Jalloh ’19 curled in a beautiful free kick from 25 yards out to give the Rams their only goal. Devin Pai ’20 was stout in net for Cate, while Peter Firestone ’19, Harry Corman ’20, Parker Bowlin ’20, and Andrew Mabon ’21 all played great defense.
On the hardwood, the Cate girls basketball team picked up a win in their first game of the year, taking down Faith Baptist 42-26. It was a true team win, as the scoring was spread around for Cate. Maya Blattberg ’20 scored 10 points for the Rams, while Meena Baher ’22 impressed in her Cate basketball debut, scoring 9 points. Lily Zanze ’21 chipped in 8 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Deborah Brittain ’21 dominated the post; the sophomore had 7 rebounds and 7 points. Elle Smith ’19 had 5 points for Cate. Dana Huston-Chen ’20 and Maya Fenelon ’20 closed out the Cate scoring with two points each.
The boys basketball team also picked up a win before break, knocking off Garden Street Academy 71-34. Ethan Ng ’20 led the Rams with 19 points and 5 steals, while Tega Umukoro ’21 filled up the stat sheet with 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Fresh off the football field, Khadim Pouye ’20 had 8 rebounds and 7 points. Nkemka Chukumerije ’21 had 10 points for the Rams.
The girls water polo team dropped their first contest of the year to Cabrillo High School by a 14-8 score. The team showed some serious heart and grit in this game. After falling down early, the Rams clawed back for 4 quarters against the much bigger Cabrillo Conquistadors. The Rams have a very young team this year and will learn heavily on the leadership of Celia Foster ’19, Chloe Tarlton ’19, and Ella Hendriks ’19 this season.