This year’s spring sports had a record-breaking season, with every team making a CIF appearance. Here’s how they did:
Track and field:
Boys track and field took second place in PCL and the girls secured a co-champion title alongside Portola High School.
Sophomore Nicole Theodorou, senior Ally Venezia, junior Averie Hernandez and senior Alyssa Bowman broke 4×100 records and were among the top finishers at PCL. Sophomore Dev Marfatia, junior Jaedon Marvel, junior Alex Ellis and senior Dheer Patel placed sixth in the state in the 4×4 relay, shattering a school record.
“Watching the guys’ team move on to state just shows how far you can go when you push yourself to be our best,” Theodorou said. “I have become close with so many people I would never have known without this sport.”
Swim:
For the first time in program history, Northwood sent six varsity girls swimmers to CIF State.
Meanwhile, boys swimming placed third in the Division 1 CIF-SS Championships and took second place at CIF State.
The record-breaking state performance continued with a first place finish for the boys in the 4×100 Freestyle relay, breaking the county record and making them the third fastest relay in the nation. This qualified senior Elson Lee, junior Derek Hitchens, junior Will Chen and sophomore Andrew Maksymowski automatically as All-American athletes.
“With many of these guys returning next year, I expect we’ll see a lot more records being broken in the future,” coach Alex Nieto said.
Lacrosse:
After winning their first PCL championships and advancing to CIF-SS for the third year in a row, girls lacrosse achieved a record streak of 15 wins.
“I’m so incredibly proud of how far my team has come from not only going to CIF but making history by being the first in our league,” goalie junior Malia Tananuu said. “I will forever be grateful I got to be a part of that accomplishment.”
The boys lacrosse team also made history with their first ever CIF win, taking Northwood all the way to CIF Quarterfinals and placing third within PCL.
Baseball:
Northwood baseball began their league with a winning series against Beckman and Woodbridge High School, leading to their first league title in over 10 years.
“We started strong and ended strong with far and few losses,” junior Carter Liu said. “Especially against Beckman, where we’ve had a running rivalry against that school since I’ve been here, it felt amazing to beat them and it was a great feeling for the whole team.”
Boys golf:
The boys golf team concluded their season 13-1, with freshman Ronin Banerjee and sophomore Kelvin Huang advancing to the regional CIF playoffs and Banerjee continuing on to the CIF-SS championship.
“Really, golf is all about teamwork,” Huang said. “Hanging out with my teammates and bonding over this past season through practice and matches is definitely always one of my favorite parts.”
Boys volleyball:
Boys volleyball set their season off strong with a 15-12 overall record, advancing to D3 CIF playoffs. The program also had a record three players selected for the PCL all-league first and second teams.
“Making CIF was great because we got more opportunities to compete and grow as a team,” senior Pedram Jokar said. “I’ve really enjoyed being on the team these past four years and watching my teammates and I grow together.”
Tennis:
Boys tennis made it to the D1 CIF semifinals for the first time in school history. Junior Ethan Jacob and Harvey Mudd commit senior Rohan Yarlagadda had nearly flawless records in singles for the entirety of CIF.
“It felt really good knowing that we broke school records,” Yarlagadda said. “Of course it still hurt when we lost in the semis, but the experience of progressing through CIF made up for it. I’m confident that our team can make it happen in the future.”
Softball:
Softball moved on as a D4 team to the CIF-SS Championships for the third consecutive year, and despite being short on members, the entire team grew as a group with contributions from key seniors like Providence College commit Riley Bajorek, who played every single game as the only pitcher on the team.
“A strong team is built off of a foundation of trust and communication,” Bajorek said. “Our team is really bonded well together. Our relationships transfer onto the field to help create a backboard of support for each other.”
