The fall 2022 sports season has been filled with impressive moments as our spiking, running, and swimming Wolves smash personal records and turn the heads of our competition.
After a dominating season, the upper school girls varsity volleyball team easily qualified for the CIF playoffs, putting the team among the ranks of California’s best. The team knocked out first round opponent Carpenteria High School and advanced to the second round in Santa Barbara, where their season ended in a close match, 2-3, against Laguna Blanca.
The middle school girls volleyball teams (6th/7th and 8th) have been impressive in their own right. Our 6th/7th grade team is currently sitting in first place in their division as they prepare for playoffs, while the 8th grade team is in 2nd place in their division.
"Our teams have been so successful because of their mental toughness, as well as their ability to encourage and support each other on the court," said middle school volleyball coach Esther Rogers. "It has been really fun watching them progress as players and teammates."
The boys beach volleyball team wrapped up its season with a strong showing at the JV Tournament of Champions and Varsity Pairs Championships, which hosted some of the best teams in the country. In the varsity matches, the pair of Quinn H. ‘23/Mathew M. ‘25 pulled off a solid win against Viewpoint, while the pairs of Ethan C. ‘23/Jonah S. ‘25 and Will J. ‘23/Sid Z. ‘23 each got two wins in the JV competition.
"All of the boys battled all day and learned a lot," said boys beach volleyball coach Evan Dean. "It was a great experience for them to play against such quality teams, and really try to do some of the things that we had been coaching them on to get to the next level. Things look promising for the Wildwood beach squad as only four of our 14 players are seniors. I expect big things from our beach Wolves in the years to come!"
In addition to running long distance, our running Wolves have been running circles around the competition during this fall’s middle and upper school cross-country competitions. During one of the most recent meets in Palos Verdes, everyone was able to handle the course and the infamous "Agony Hill" fairly easily, while several ran faster than they did in the flat two-mile race at Cheviot in September. Sophomore Theo U.-N. ‘25 won his race and set the school record, running a blistering 11 minutes and 33 seconds.
Theo and his classmates had another amazing run at the Mt. Sac Cross Country Invitational, one of the most famous races in the country. The boys team placed 4th in an extremely competitive race alongside the #1, #5, and #8 ranked teams in their section, as well as a team from Canada.
“We’re in a great position heading into the postseason,” said cross-country coal Paul Lupi. “Now, it’s a matter of focusing on staying healthy and preparing for the next several weeks of training and competition.”
Lastly, our "Water Wolves" are making a splash as the middle school swimming season kicks off.
"From our first meet, Cy B. ‘27 and Julia K. ‘27 deserve a huge shout out as both swimmers always bring positivity and fierceness to practices and swim meets," says middle school swimming coach Drea Hura. "Cy is the ultimate teammate who always cheers his teammates on and accepts all challenges from his coaches and Julia brings dedication, but a quiet fire, as she demonstrated taking her relay team out of third place and bumping them up to second with her strong sprint in her 200 yard freestyle relay."
This same sportsmanship is on display at elementary, where any 5th grade student interested in learning more about a sport can participate in seasonal athletics clinics. Currently, 5th grade girls meet weekly with coach Sarah Schemerhorn to practice drills and build skills such as dribbling, shooting, rebounding, and passing.
“We are thrilled to have so many young athletes wanting to learn the fundamentals of basketball,” says Sarah. “At elementary, we are focused on meeting kids where they are developmentally and building coordination skills, as well as the Life Skills of Effort, Courage, and Perseverance, which will serve them regardless of whether they choose to play competitively in middle and upper school.”
Make no mistake—Wildwood Wolves are on the prowl!
- Fall 2022
