Our Wildwood, Summer 2019, Volume 45

WILDWOOD ATHLETICS News from the Wolf Den A Record-Breaking Year in Sports

Our reputation continues to be stellar in the local community as a competitive program with integrity. Our long-standing memberships in our three leagues—Coastal Canyon League (elementary), Pacific Basin League (middle), and Coastal League (upper)— continue to offer us competitive equity and valuable partnership. Here are highlights from the fall, winter, and spring seasons: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Fourteen girls came out for the basketball team, which continued our streak for awesome participation. The girls were coached by Keyonna Taylor and Esther Rogers, and they had fun learning skills and bonding as teammates. Somewhere along the line, they adopted a stuffed unicorn as their team mascot. The girls demonstrated school pride, a love for the game, and a love for one another. They now have some experience, which will lead them to success playing at the middle school level. MIDDLE SCHOOL Wildwood fielded cross-country, swimming, and three girls volleyball teams. Forty girls came out for volleyball, and we were able to field grade-specific teams. All teams made the middle school playoffs and had fun developing their volleyball skills and understanding of the game. Our middle school swim team, known as our “Water Wolves,” had 14 committed swimmers and were led by our longtime coach and former Olympian Rada Owen. By season’s end, several of our swimmers had shaved seconds off their times, setting both personal and school FALL SPORTS

records. At league finals on the boys side, our 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams brought home medals. Our 100 freestyle team did the same. On the girls side, our 100 medley relay also brought home hardware. Our pack of cross-country running Wolves had nine runners putting in the work. Cross-country can be a grueling sport, and these kids showed grit. They competed in six meets, culminating in league finals at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. With a strong tradition in cross-country, we look forward to these runners’ development as they continue to improve and eventually enter the upper school. UPPER SCHOOL Wildwood fielded varsity and junior varsity indoor girls volleyball, boys varsity beach volleyball, and boys and girls cross-country teams. We had 20 girls in the volleyball program this year, with our varsity team finishing the season with victories over league opponents California Academy of Mathematics and Science and Geffen Academy. Our boys varsity beach volleyball team advanced to the playoffs for the second year in a row. Led by our excellent coaches Michael “MJ” Johnson and Nick Scheftic, the boys continued to make progress in the sand. They came within two points of defeating Notre Dame Academy in the first round of team playoffs and went on to send two doubles teams to the Southern California pairs tournament. It was a stellar year for both the boys and girls cross-country teams. At league finals, our boys and girls teams each qualified for the CIF playoffs, with the girls winning the league championship. Sophomore Dani B. won the finals race for the second year in a row. The girls team advanced out of the CIF Southern Section semifinals all the way to the finals. Dani was nominated to the All-Section team, a fantastic accomplishment. She won six individual races and had six top 10 finishes at invitationals. Her best time of 18:00 for 3 miles lowered the school record by more than a minute.

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