This Week in Athletics: Fall Roundup

November 18, 2022

The winter season has officially begun on the Mesa, with just about every team sneaking in a game before Fall Break. With the season still in the early stages, let’s take a look back on what was a great fall season for the Rams.

If you didn’t know any better, you might think I am pulling from last year’s write-up on the cross country teams as the girls and boys are once again in the mix for a CIF-SS title and on the cusp of earning a spot in the state meet at the end of Fall Break. It has been a tremendous year with the girls team winning just about every race they competed in, and in most cases, their top five runners would place in the top 10. Seniors Kendall Thorne, Emily Allison, and Lylie Bechtel have helped pace the Rams throughout their careers, and they will look to do more of the same in two more races starting with the CIF-SS Championships on Saturday, November 19 at Mt. SAC. The boys, led by senior Harry McAdam and juniors Everest Schipper and Seb Sutch, will also look to continue their success at the championships. Those three have helped push the Rams to their best overall finish in recent memory at the TCAA Championship Meet a few weeks back, and they have the team poised to clinch a spot in the state meet, something the boys team has not accomplished in some time now. Good luck to our runners on Saturday morning!

In the pool, the boys water polo team had their best season in nearly a decade. Led by seniors Wade Nieman, Emmett Mack, Cyrus Symington, and Brian Payne, the boys clinched their first playoff spot as members of the Tri-Valley League. A group that was both experienced and young competed incredibly hard for each other daily, and it showed. Their hard work and success in the regular season led to a first-round matchup with Cerritos High School in Los Angeles. Eager to prove they belonged on that stage, the team picked up a massive win by a score of 17-2 over a school nearly eight times the size of Cate. That victory earned the Rams a home playoff game in front of a packed pool deck, where the team eventually fell to CIF semifinalists Buena Park 8-6 in one of the most exciting water polo games played at Cate in some time. Congratulations on a terrific season!

Girls tennis played like the powerhouse they have become over the past decade, proving they can compete with any school. Finishing second in the Tri-Valley League behind only Foothill Tech, whom the girls lost to in very close fashion both times, the team found themselves once again in the CIF-SS playoff picture. However, a deep run was not to be this year, as the team would fall to a formidable Oak Park team in the tournament’s first round. Juniors Alyna Takahashi and Frances Davis, alongside seniors Ellie Tunnell, Ella Chang, and Athena Ke, led the way all season long. The senior group has been a significant contributor for most of their time on the Mesa, helping to keep one of the more dominant programs on campus near the top.

In Sprague Gym, the girls volleyball team, unfortunately, saw their streak of postseason play end this year. An incredibly young group was tasked with learning to play at the varsity level quickly and against very good competition. And they did just that, knocking off some strong teams throughout the season. However, sports don’t always turn out the way we hope or wish, and sometimes the girls best efforts were matched with great play on the opposing side. Playing three playoff-level teams in the division – twice – is a tall order, and even then, it came down to the final game to decide playoff berths, with the Rams missing out by just one game. This young group will surely be back and will undoubtedly be the team that others dread playing twice, but seniors Gigi Geyer and Ava Bracher will be missed. Their hard work and leadership have shown their younger teammates what it takes to compete at such a high level.

The football team showed up for the season preparing to get every opponent’s A-game. After a Division 1 CIF Championship a year ago, it was almost certain that Cate would be circled on everyone’s schedules. After all, the old saying goes, “if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.” Another young team on the Mesa was given all they could handle from every opponent, leading to a bit of a down year by Cate Football standards. The team would ultimately miss out on making the eight-team playoff, but not all was lost on the season. In an unusual turn of events, the team ended up playing Thacher twice during the regular season. The first game ended in a tough defeat, but some would say that was extra motivation for their final game of the season when the Toads traveled to the Mesa for Family Weekend. And the Rams did not miss their second opportunity, claiming victory and ending the season on a high note. Seniors Jack Whelan, Charlie Patel, Zaq Asuamah, Daniel Lee, and Jack Higgins, much like the seniors in volleyball, have set this young group up to take the reigns and get Cate Football back to being the top dog.

Thank you to all our seniors on terrific seasons and careers! You have modeled what Cate Athletics is about: hard work, sportsmanship, and teamwork.

As the winter season ramps up, you can catch the action on the livestream and find the postgame recaps on the News section of the website. Go Rams!