Tag Archives: Bosco Athletics

Bosco Water Polo: 2017 Season Recap

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by Caleb Wiley

The 2017 water polo season was a tough season to say the least. Finishing up with an overall record of 11-13 and going winless in league, along with a no-show in CIF, the season was somewhat disappointing. The team faced a lot of obstacles but nonetheless fought through and played with their best effort in every game. 

The 11-13 record along with no wins in league was not completely shocking: “Sure, the outcome is not what we hoped for, but there were many factors to having that record,” said Varsity head coach Jeff Powers. The team had injuries and a lack of experience that ultimately factored in the outcome of the team’s record.

“With only two returning seniors on the team, we really missed the leadership and experience out there late in the season,” said Coach Powers. Leadership is really a necessity in team sports such as water polo. Senior captain Gabe Chaine really helped the underclassmen learn and grow in the sport. Unfortunately, Gabe suffered an injury in the middle of the season: “We had our best defender Gabe Chaine out for a while and we really struggled during that time,” said junior captain Pat Burke. With only two seniors on the team, it was easy to observe that without Chaine, water polo did not have the benefit of more leadership and experience. Burke says, “We really came together despite all the obstacles and showed perseverance while Gabe was out.”

Senior Gabe Chaine says that he has no regrets and enjoyed the time he got to play during the season. “I had fun this season…a little sadness does come to me knowing that this is my last year (at Bosco) and we didn’t make a big CIF run.” His last year was not what he hoped for but he is satisfied with what he left at Bosco, especially knowing that the team next is due to have a solid season.

The 2018 season is looking more promising than this year, with everybody returning but two players. The team will have the needed experience that was sorely missed this year. Coach Powers explains, “This was definitely a learning season for next year for the returning players which is basically our whole team.” He goes on and adds, “The players next year will now know what is needed to compete in this league.” The Trinity league is one of the best leagues in the nation and Coach Powers feels confident about his player’s abilities to compete in this league.

This means that the current juniors and sophomores will have more important roles and make a bigger impact than they did this year. The 2017 season was not a complete disappointment, because this season really prepared the returning players. The team can now reflect and learn from the mistakes they made this year and correct them for the better. Therefore the team is optimistic about next year and there chances to win league and ultimately make a big CIF run in the 2018 season.   

  

Bosco Cross-Country: 2017 Season Recap

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by Ethan Piechota

Two seasons ago, the dominant run of 25 straight league championships by the St. John Bosco Braves Cross Country team was snapped with a disappointing 6th place league finish.

Last season, the Braves showed resilience, yet came up short; finishing 2nd place in the Trinity League. The cross-country program at Bosco can be viewed as one of the greatest programs of any sport in Trinity League history. Finally, this season, dominance has been restored in the league, as the Braves took first place back, marking the beginnings of a new streak for several years to come.

This team brought a lot of talent win a league championship this year. Colby Corcoran, Albert Serrano, Diego de la Torre, Diego Gonzalez, and Raymond Solorza were part of a strong group of senior runners that lead the way all season for the team. Zeke Delgado, a junior, and Gabriel Cordova and Alexander Frias, both sophomores, were a big part of the team’s overall success this season as well.

On November 3rd in Central Park, California, the Braves dominated the rest of their league in the Trinity League Finals, taking back the league championship with an 11 point victory margin over second place Mater Dei. de la Torre, Corcoran, and Serrano all were top 10 finishers in the race, guiding the Braves to a league title. Gonzalez and Delgado also earned top 20 finishes in the race, showing the importance of the well-rounded team the Braves had.

“It means a lot,” says junior runner Antonio Valles in regards to regaining the league title. “It was important to win it back and keep the tradition going.”

Following this race, the team took 3rd place in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 Finals, and ended up finishing 9th place in the entire state of California for the State Finals on November 25th, 2017.

Unfortunately, the downside of this historic season coming to an end will be having to wave goodbye to many of the senior leaders on the team. In order to keep up the grind to continue a new “streak,” many underclassmen and juniors will have to step up and get the job done in the coming years.

In the end, however, this season will always be remembered as a special one for the St. John Bosco Cross-Country team. Hard work, dedication, and commitment to each other got the job done for the Braves, as they restored their rightful dominance in the Trinity League. Bosco Cross-Country is back.

Bosco Basketball: 2017-2018 Season Recap

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by Caleb Wiley

The past season for the St. John Bosco basketball team was its best in a while. This team had many accolades and achievements that not many thought were possible coming into the year. Even though they had their ups and downs, the season was not a let down as they overcame many obstacles. 

When this team was at its peak, it was really fun to watch. The team had a great record of 25-8 and had the most wins against open division teams in California. The league record of 6-4 was not the greatest, but getting 3rd in the very tough Trinity League is not something to be ignored.

The feather in the teams’ cap was of course beating our rival school Mater Dei for the first time ever in the sport with a 60-51 win. This really had a big impact on the students as well as the Bosco community in general. People now began to obtain an idea of just how good this team could be.

Another huge highlight of the season was making it into the CIF Open Division. Making it into the Open Division meant this team was now part of an elite stash of just 8 teams in Southern California. Varsity head coach Matt Dunn had a high point of his own exclaiming, “One highlight of our year that made me very proud of our players was beating Rancho Christian 3 times because they only have 5 losses all year long so 3 of them were from us.”

With highs, come the lows. There was a point in the season where the team went on a 4 game losing streak in the middle of league. The lull included a loss to an 11-17 Orange Lutheran team. Junior point guard Gabe Campos explains, “We kind of had our streak of losing but we picked it back up afterwards.” The team went through much adversity but kept fighting through until the end of the season.

In the Division 1 CIF State Southern regional Finals, Bosco lost to Chino Hills 67-51 in a heart-wrenching end to a historic season for the Braves. Bosco was in control until the 4th quarter, when they couldn’t seem to buy a bucket. The team went 1-23 from the floor in the whole 4th quarter. It’s tough to beat a talented team like Chino Hills when shots are not falling. However, the team still stuck together through all the tough times.

The players were having fun and a good time. During the losing streak, their chemistry was really getting battled tested, but the team actually grew because of it. Returning players from last year can all say the team was in a much better place than the years past. Senior forward Sandy Ryan said it best:

“Last year our chemistry as a team wasn’t that great but this year it’s really changed.” 

It was very evident that they became more of a family throughout the year. The season was very much a season to remember but hopefully the team does not get complacent. Next year, with most of the team returning, they have a great chance to be even better. 

Coach Dunn explains, “I’m really excited to see how much better each individual guy can get.” He knows how good this team can be and I feel there is no limit to how much better this group of players can get. St. John Bosco will have the chance to win league for the first time in a long time next season in the wintertime.

Bosco Signing Day (2018)

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by Julian Boyd

On February 7, 2018, seven athletes from St. John Bosco high school were able to celebrate signing their National Letters of Intent to play sports collegiately. Kevin Coblentz (University of Nevada, Reno), Sal Spina (Stanford University), Cole Aubrey (Montana), Demetrious Flowers (Arizona State University), Kedron Williams (Washington State University), Stephan Blaylock (University of California Los Angeles), and Eli Deroon (Air Force Academy) are among those 7 athletes.

Six out of those 7 athletes listed trusted the process the whole way through, staying at Bosco through every circumstance. A lot of these players didn’t earn much playing time at all until their sophomore and junior years. 

Senior linebacker Kedron Williams expressed gratitude to Bosco for helping prepare him for the next level. 

“I was able to look up to a lot of older [Division 1] guys at my position as a younger guy and I was able to learn from their game and put pieces into mine. Also, the nationally staged games helped me preform on a high level and get looked at,” Williams said.

Williams has not only done a lot for the Bosco football team, but the entire Bosco Community. He recently received the Brave of the Year award at the annual football banquet, expressing his true value of citizenship as a Bosco Brave. 

Demetrious Flowers is a senior running back who has been on the Varsity Team for 4 years. Although he did not get his first start until his senior year, he trusted the process and knew that his coaches and his hard work with every opportunity given would earn him college offers.

“Bosco really helped me with my strength. I think Coach Johnson really helped me physically and mentally and put me ahead of a lot of guys going into college. I’m excited to meet new people, live on my own, and just get the overall college experience.” Flowers said.

Stephan Blaylock – who will be attending UCLA – is also a 4 year Bosco football player. He excels in the classroom and on the field. This explains why Blaylock will be attending one of the most prestigious academic schools in the country. 

Blaylock explained how excited he is for his future while also expressing gratitude towards St. John Bosco, particularly the football coaching staff.

“I think I’ll do fine academically [at UCLA] because there is a lot of Bosco alum at UCLA doing very well. I can’t really say only one person helped me. I was helped by every coach at Bosco, from the Offensive Coordinator to the Defensive Line Coach. I am very thankful for every coach and teammate.” Blaylock said. 

These special athletes have been at Bosco and enjoyed all 4 years of being a Brave. They are all very blessed to leave campus as collegiate student athletes. They will continue their college careers and their entire futures as Brave Men.

Bosco Athletic Stadium Update (2018)

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by Ethan Piechota

This past spring, St. John Bosco high school received excellent news. After months of fundraising, planning, and preparation, the school finally received approval to begin construction on the state-of-the-art athletic stadium being built for the use of many major athletic teams at Bosco.

The stadium will be occupied by the football team, soccer team, lacrosse team, rugby team, cross country team, and track team for the start of the 2018 sports season if all goes according to plan. This beautiful to-be stadium will change Bosco and the overall identity of the school for the better.

“It’s going to hold near 5,000 people. There’s going to be seat-backs in the middle, there’s going to be a couple of suites in the press box, there’s going to be a press box on the visiting side. There’s a student section that’s really close to the field. It’s just going to be the premier stadium in Southern California,” said head athletic director Monty McDermott back at the start of construction.

Recently, it was noticeable by many Bosco students on campus that the stadium worked on by “Byrom-Davey” has been updated and looks more aesthetically progressed than ever with the addition of this press box and new, large-capacity seats.

The stadium looks primed to be a region-wide landmark and place where games of tremendous magnitude will be played out in the coming years in the various sports that participate on it.

There is just so much optimism surrounding this stadium. Finally, it will complete St. John Bosco high school and tie in the home-church-playground idea that has been given off here at Bosco this entire school year. Instead of having to travel to El Camino or Cerritos College for home games, the stadium will finally be on campus and serviceable for all students, staff and alumni.

The stadium will truly be a state-of-the-art project. It projects to be near the top of all high school facilities in Southern California based on its sheer value and many features.

What a treat for all people associated with St. John Bosco high school alike. From students and athletes to teachers and the staff, this will be something special on our campus for sure. Its impact will be clear and will certainly help enhance the brotherhood represented at St. John Bosco to the fullest.

This beautiful campus projects to go up for the football team to begin practicing on it during the offseason and will hold 5-6 home football games next year.

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