Our Wildwood, Volume 47

His brother and fellow teammate Seth R. ‘22, added, “We want to thank the Wildwood athletic department, our coaches, and our teammates for a fulfilling season. Being a part of this family has been the highlight for us as Wildwood student-athletes.” As the first varsity boys basketball team to make the playoffs in several years, the team traveled a few hours away to Hesperia Christian, where in a hard-fought game, they came up short by only four points. “There’s approximately 131 schools in our CIF division—the largest in the state—so making the playoffs is an incredible achievement in and of itself,” Billy said. “Needless to say, we’re incredibly proud that our return to basketball is marked by having the Wildwood name placed among the best teams in Southern California.” LAPPING UP THE COMPETITION In swimming, WIldwood’s “Water Wolves” also had impressive performances during league finals. Both the boys and the girls teams came in 4th respectively (out of 12 schools), and included strong individual results. Koko B. ‘27 came in second place in the 50 and 100 free, beating the school record by 1.5 seconds. Additionally, Callum M. ‘27, Nikydon H. ‘27, Daniel L. ‘28, and Charlie V. ‘26 earned bronze medals in the 200 free relay and the 200 medley relay. “It was great to attend meets after a year of barely any competition,” said Koko. “I was definitely working really hard to beat both of those records throughout the season. Each meet I would shave a bit more off my time, and I was really proud once I was able to get both records.”

For more on Wildwood’s athletics program, visit www.wildwood. org/student-life/ athletics.

CROSSING THE FINISH LINE In middle school cross-country, our “Running Wolves” capped off an amazing season at league finals. In a great show of teamwork, the boys team came in second place in the league. On the girls team, Imogen H. ‘28 won the entire race to become the individual league champion. In varsity cross-country, Theo U.-N. ‘25 advanced to compete in the regional cross-country finals, racing at Mt. San Antonio College after an impressive performance at CIF Regional Semi-Finals. Given his status as a freshman, it’s exciting to see what his future holds here at Wildwood and beyond. “One of the great things about the athletics program at Wildwood is that we operate right in conjunction with the ethos of the school,” Billy said. “Being able to field a winning athletics program in a pandemic has been really heartening—but it’s also challenging. Despite all the fear in our world, our students showed up willing to work, exhibited flexibility with every change in league protocols and health guidelines, and lifted each other up. That’s true courage.” W

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OWW SPRING 2022