It has been an exciting time through the first half of the fall sports season at Malibu High School. Led by the girls tennis team, which is champion of the Tri-Valley League for the third consecutive year, Malibu High School continues to excel in its athletic endeavors.
Also in action last weekend were the boys water polo team, which suffered a heartbreaking loss against Oaks Christian, as well as the boys and girls cross country teams with a strong showing at a meet in Palos Verdes.
The girls tennis team, led by first-year coach Doug Olen, is currently ranked No. 1 in the California Interscholastic Federation Division III poll. As of press time, the Sharks are 14-0 with one match remaining against Oaks Christian.
“I am happy for the team to have clinched the league title,” Olen said. “To have won it three years in a row is a nice accomplishment.”
Tri-Valley League singles and doubles championships begin next Tuesday, Oct. 16 and conclude two days later as Senior Britta Mosser attempts to “three-peat” as the TVL ladies singles champion. On Oct. 30 the The CIF-SS team playoffs begin, and the Sharks are expected to receive the No. 1-seed and will look to win their first CIF title since 2004.
Meanwhile, in the swimming pool, the boys came into last weekend’s league contest, their second, against top-ranked Oaks Christian on a nine-game winning streak. Before an overflow crowd at the campus pool, the Sharks fell short, 8-7, in a match that featured the No. 1- and No. 3-ranked teams in CIF Division VI.
Leading 4-2 at the half, things started to look even more promising as the Sharks broke out to a 7-4 advantage with 5:58 remaining in the final period. But Oaks Christian (10-5, 2-0) responded with four consecutive goals, including the game winner with only 28 seconds left.
Malibu (11-3, 1-1) was led by Morgan Hathorne, who scored four goals. Goalie Dane Sartorius had 13 saves.
“In spite of the result of this game, we are playing great. Defensively we do a good job and offensively we will continue to improve,” Malibu Coach Michael Mulligan explained. “To play Oaks and lose by one goal to the number one team in the division, I’m happy. It’s a good showing for our league and for our team. I thought we played well.”
The Sharks play Villanova Prep at home on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.
The Malibu girls cross country team continued its strong season by finishing eighth out of 17 schools at the Palos Verdes Cross Country Invitational last Saturday in the Palos Verdes Estates.
The team competed on a rigorous two-mile traditional cross country course, which featured nine hay bale jumps and a creek crossing. Seven individual races pitted each team’s top seven male and female runners against one another based on individual rankings within the team.
Sophomore standout Caroline Pietryzk led the team to victory with a second-place finish in the varsity girls’ “Number One Runner Race” with an impressive time of 12:21. Pietryzk’s time placed her sixth on the top 100 all-time girls list for the course.
Charlotte Jackson (14:06) and Caitlyn Myers (14:09) ran in the varsity girls’ “Number Two and Three Runner Race,” respectively, and medaled with sixth and eighth place finishes.
“Our girls ran really well today. I’m so impressed with our two freshmen Charlotte (Jackson) and Caitlyn (Myers) who continue to place among some of the top competitors in our section,” said Coach Karen Costello.
Sophomore Jena Weinberger and juniors Emma London and Morgan Price rounded out the girls varsity team.
Junior Dyer Pettijohn led the varsity boys team to a 17th-place finish. Pettijohn finished with a 12:16 in the “Number One Runner Race.” Junior Aidan Pascuii finished 14th in the “Number Three Runner Race” with a time of 12:47, while teammate Erik Rosenberg finished 14th in the “Number Two Runner Race” in 12:57.
“The boys continue to improve and challenge one another for rankings on the team. Aidan (Pascuii) and Linus (Gordon) had tremendous races today,” Costello said.
Gordon, a junior, freshman Khoe Parkasim and senior James Gordon ran fourth, fifth and sixth for the boys team.
Malibu competes next in its second Tri-County Athletic Association league meet at the Fillmore School Farm on Thursday.