This Week in Athletics

May 12, 2023

Playoffs are always an exciting, albeit anxiety-inducing, time of the season for any players and coaches. For the School, playoffs bring a sense of community and joy that seems even greater than other games played throughout the season, and no playoff has highlighted this more than this spring. The lacrosse and tennis teams, along with some of our track and swimming athletes, have put on some incredible displays of competition that have left the campus buzzing with excitement.

Both of the lacrosse teams showed incredible heart and effort in their respective playoffs. The girls followed up a tremendous regular season with a home playoff game in the first round of the CIF tournament which saw the Rams run into a very good Northwood squad from Irvine. After falling behind early, the girls rallied back and played a fantastic game that ultimately saw them come up just short. On the boys side, they were able to sit back and wait for their second-round opponent after earning a first-round bye, and that second-round opponent came north from El Segundo. The Rams fought through a tightly contested battle for a full four quarters coming out on top 10-6. Their third-round draw saw them host the Canyon Camachos from Anaheim, who brought a well-balanced team to the Mesa. In one of the best games Nion Tucker ‘40 Field has ever seen, the back-and-forth game saw a haymaker from the boys in the first quarter that Canyon took on the chin. To most, it looked like that may have been enough, but Canyon got back on their feet and three-quarters later walked away with a 16-14 defeat of the Rams. The girls and boys displayed an incredible amount of grit, effort, and heart that made everyone who was in attendance for their games proud to have them wearing the Cate blue and white.

In the pool, the Cate swimmers continued to break records on their way through the CIF Finals. The girls 200m free relay team broke their own school record leading to a 14th-place overall finish. On the boys side, there was some great swimming, as well, with two school records being broken (unfortunately, one not standing due to a controversial disqualification). Cyrus Symington ’23 qualified first in the prelims before finishing fifth overall in the finals, unfortunately falling under the weather between events. Zach White ’24 broke his own school record in the 100m backstroke, while the boys 200m medley relay team broke their own school record by THREE seconds only to be given the unfortunate news they had been DQ’d due to an illegal kick on one of the flip turns. According to Coach Hansen, “The alleged disqualifying maneuver is somewhat of an obscure rule that is controversial in the swimming community that even world record holders and national champions have been disqualified for.” Regardless of the outcome, the team knows what they accomplished, and that cannot be taken away from them.

The track team has been another team that is smashing records every time they take on an event. And after an incredible display all season, some individuals are still competing in the CIF Finals this Saturday, 5/13, at Moorpark High School. In the individual events, Everest Schipper ’24 will run in the 3200m (qualified 9th in prelims), Seb Sutch ’24 will run in the 800m (qualified second in prelims) and the 1600m (qualified first in prelims), and Justin Musyimi ’23 will compete in the triple jump (qualified fourth in prelims). If all those tremendous showings mentioned above weren’t impressive enough, the boys 4x400m relay team qualified with the second-best time overall and broke their own record by FOUR seconds. All these incredible athletes will be looking to showcase their talents to the rest of the Southern California track and field community this weekend.

Since our last edition of CommuniCATE, there has been one team that has blazed through everyone that opposed them. The boys tennis team has taken the Division 3 CIF playoffs and turned it into their personal playground. After four dominating and thrilling wins over some big school competition, the Rams are playing today, May 12, in the CIF Finals at the Claremont Club against Tesoro High School. It has been a season for the record books for the Rams that may culminate in something that has not been accomplished in 15 years and only once in the past 35 years for the boys tennis program. Good luck to the boys this afternoon!

What a year it has been for Cate teams and athletes! Keep an eye out for this year’s all-league winners in an upcoming publication. We are already looking forward to the 2023-2024 athletic seasons. Go Rams!