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Track and Field
It’s now become routine as South Pasadena High’s track and field team – boys’ and girls’ varsity –swept, meaning they won their Rio Hondo League titles again.
“That’s our bread and butter sport,” said SPHS Athletic Director Greg Luna, praising Tigers’ coach C.B. Richards, his coaching staff and the many top-quality athletes who continue to make the program flourish.
It has been about a dozen years since the Tigers lost the crown.
Oliver Chan competed in the 3,200-meter event at the CIF prelims last weekend and Kai Dettman showed off his talents in the 800 meters.
In addition, a girls’ relay team, which ran well at the Arcadia Invitational earlier in the season, also competed in the CIF prelims.
Boys’ Volleyball
Talk about tough luck. South Pasadena High had plenty of it at the conclusion of the 2018 boys’ volleyball season. When the league season came to an end, the Tigers were in a four-way tie for first place with San Marino, Temple City and La Canada, all with 5-3 records.
A tiebreaker knocked the Tigers out of the CIF-SS playoffs. San Marino got in on the first tiebreaker, Temple City took the next spot on a coin flip. South Pas then lost to La Cañada to decide the third and final playoff spot.
“We’re still league champions,” explained Luna, “but we’re the first league champions not to go to the CIF playoffs. It’s unfortunate it. The kids were great about it. They were disappointed, but thankful they had a chance to play themselves into the (postseason) tournament. It just didn’t happen.”
Despite the setback, South Pasadena finished with a 16-11 overall record.
“We played some really tough teams,” explained Luna. “We had some quality wins this year.”
Baseball
South Pasadena High finished with only four wins on the year, all against non-league opponents.
The Tigers suffered 16 losses and with a 0-12 mark, they were on the bottom of the Rio Hondo League standings.
Under coach Chris Cortinez, South Pasadena was hoping to play better but came out on the short end of many close contests.
“We were a little disappointed in the performance of the baseball program,” said SPHS Athletic Director Greg Luna.
Monrovia won the league crown with a 10-1-1 mark, followed by San Marino at 9-3, Temple City 6-5-1, and La Canada 4-8-0. Blair did not field a team.
Softball
The Tigers didn’t win a game this season under coach Kayla Moore, going 0-21 on the season, including a 0-12 record in the Rio Hondo League.
“We’re going to have to sit down and revaluate in the direction we’re going to take with that program,” said South Pasadena High Athletic Director Greg Luna. “We scored more than 50 runs on the season, which sounds good, but we just didn’t score enough runs (to be competitive).”
La Canada won the league crown with an 11-1 record, following by Temple City at 10-2, San Marino 5-7, Monrovia 4-8 and South Pasadena. Blair did not field a team.
Swimming
South Pasadena High’s swim teams, both under new coaches in 2018, finished second front-runner La Cañada following the Rio Hondo League championships.
“The level of excitement behind our new coaching staff is really evident,” said SPHS Athletic Director Greg Luna. “We had a lot ofkids come out and take part in the program. It was great to see.
Sydney Kanne and Patrick Strongman joined South Pasadena High water polo coach Michael Gonzalez in creating a solid coaching staff.
Luna said he’s pleased to see the direction the boys and girls’ swimming program is headed.
Boys’ Golf
Josh Ramos was South Pasadena High’s top golfer, finishing third overall in Rio Hondo League play.
He missed the cut at CIF-SS individual prelims by three strokes, taking himself out of contention by shooting an 8 on the 17th hole in Ojai and missing the finals.
Boys Tennis
Karina Ward took over as coach of the boy’s tennis team mid-way through the season after SPHS Athletic Director Greg Luna made a change.
Ward is a Tiger alum and, under her guidance, South Pasadena picked up some wins down the stretch.
South Pasadena finished 6-9 overall, 2-6 and fourth place in Rio Hondo League play.
“We’re looking forward to Ward staying on and coaching the girls again next season,” said Luna. “We’re looking forward to them improving moving up in the standings next season.”
