2023 San Clemente Fall Sports Showcase

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There are high expectations and equally lofty goals for a couple of the San Clemente High School fall sports teams.

There have been regular league championships among the fall sports squads, including titles from girls volleyball, boys cross country and boys water polo last season. The boys cross country team followed that up with the program’s first CIF-SS championship, but the Tritons come into 2023 with that same standard in front of them as the No. 1-ranked team in Division 1.

The San Clemente girls volleyball team looks to push further in the CIF-SS playoffs with talent at key positions, and the Tritons boys water polo team is still looking to get over that CIF-SS hump after years of success.

Let’s shine a light on some of the fall sports teams at San Clemente High School:

Girls Volleyball

With high-level talent and experience at its key positions on the court, the San Clemente girls volleyball team has aspirations and the ability to go further than last season’s CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinals exit.

The Tritons won their second consecutive South Coast League title last season in a three-way tie with San Juan Hills and Division 2 runner-up Aliso Niguel, splitting the season series with both teams. The Tritons were road warriors in the playoffs with five-set victories at Ontario Christian and Cypress.

Veteran returners in outside-hitters senior Sofia Williams and junior Quinn Loper, along with returning starting middle junior Pyper Nelson, have fought those battles and set the pace for a young, energetic group of Tritons.

“We’ve got two of the best outsides in the county,” San Clemente coach Casey Swenson said. “The thing about it is they make so many good decisions one after another, after another. They can pound the ball, but it’s about where they’re hitting it and when they take a little off of it. They make so many good choices throughout the match.”

San Clemente (8-4) has handled a tough early tournament schedule, with its losses coming only to ranked CIF-SS competition in Mater Dei (No. 2 in Division 1/2), JSerra (No. 10 in Division 1/2), Edison (No. 13 in Division 1/2) and Beckman (No. 1 in Division 3). The Tritons are No. 12 in Division 1/2 and are on a five-game winning streak, including a revenge sweep of Edison at San Clemente High on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The Tritons begin South Coast League play next week at San Juan Hills on Thursday, Sept. 14. San Clemente hosts Dana Hills on Sept. 19 and is at Aliso Niguel on Sept. 21.

Boys Cross Country

Of all the teams on the fall sports slate at San Clemente, the Triton boys cross country team might have the best pedigree and the highest expectations after a banner 2022 campaign.

San Clemente won its first CIF-SS championship in program history, finished second at the CIF State Championships and seventh at the Nike Cross Nationals. The Tritons also repeated with wins at the Orange County Championships and South Coast League Finals.

San Clemente graduated three seniors from that CIF-SS championship team–Juan Chantaca, Rory Catsimanes and Grant Sestak–but even so, the Tritons are set up for success and enter the 2023 running season ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 1.

Setting the pace now for the Tritons is senior Brett Ephraim, who set school records on the track in the spring. Ephraim was also part of San Clemente’s 4×800-meter relay team that captured the event’s first-ever CIF-SS Masters and CIF State championships, along with cross country senior teammates Taj Clark, Pierce Clark and Jackson Brownell.

Ephraim and San Clemente won the team’s first event of the season at the Canyon Crest Academy Invitational in San Diego last weekend. Ephraim beat the field by eight seconds with a 3-mile time of 14:34.

San Clemente next runs in the Laguna Hills Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 9. The Tritons will test out the State Championship course on Oct. 7 at the Clovis Invitational, and the Orange County Championships are Oct. 14.

Girls Cross Country

On the girls side of the race course, San Clemente is still going through a small lull for a traditionally strong program, but the Tritons still have a competitive pacesetter and lots of young potential.

Lyza Yetter returns for her senior season to lead the San Clemente girls. Last season, Yetter finished fourth at the South Coast League Finals, 12th at the Orange County Championships and 48th at the CIF-SS Division 1 Finals.

The San Clemente girls finished third in their season-opening race at the Canyon Crest Academy Invitational in San Diego last weekend. Yetter finished finished 13th at 18:19.

The rest of the Tritons’ top-five scoring runners were three freshmen–Taylor Ball, Sedona Sweginnis and Addison Carey–and a sophomore, Caiya McAlister. There is plenty of room to grow for this group.

Boys Water Polo

The San Clemente boys water polo program didn’t skip a beat in its first year back under head coach Logan Powell with another South Coast League title and CIF-SS Division 2 runner-up plaque.

However, that was a senior-dominated group of Tritons that eventually reached the CIF SoCal Regional semifinals, and there will be a new set of leaders for San Clemente this season to try and get the Tritons over the championship hump.

The Tritons have struggled out of the gate with three road losses to open the season at Huntington Beach, 15-9; at Beckman, 16-3; and at Carlsbad, 14-13.

San Clemente continues play at Portola on Thursday, Sept. 7, and at Aliso Niguel on Tuesday, Sept. 12. The Tritons don’t play a home match until league play, where San Clemente opens the South Coast League against San Juan Hills on Sept. 28.

San Clemente hosts rival Dana Hills on Oct. 3, and the Dolphins host the Tritons on Oct. 19.