As the holiday season draws nearer and trees finish shedding their leaves, Carlsbad High’s fall sports will leave behind a legacy. The school traditions combined with up-and-coming teams lead the Lancers to great athletic success.
Football holds as much tradition and pride at Carlsbad as any other school, and a strong team only heightens the excitement.
“People had doubts about us going into the playoffs,” junior Dallin Jones said. “But we showed them and tried our hardest.”
Carlsbad did venture through the playoffs all the way to CIF quarterfinals against Mission Hills, where they suffered a heavy defeat of 35-7. The team will use this as motivation to train throughout the year and dedicate their time to the weight room and off-season practice.
Meanwhile in the pool, water polo’s rich background propelled many success in Carlsbad athletics. After shaving off the mohawks and advancing to the ranks of CIF finals, Vista’s growing dynasty ended Carlsbad’s run early with a buzzer goal, ending the game with a score of 9-8 Vista.
“We took the loss pretty hard,” junior Jeff Knapp said.
But with such proud tradition, the team has not surrendered–they have already returned to the pool.
Yet the strongest performance extended a dark horse team’s season into the winter. Also donning the tradition of mohawks, the boys won CIF section finals in a landslide– placing first, third, fourth, and fifth in the division one race. At the state meet, Carlsbad reach worthy adversaries, earning third after trying California Whittier in points (their place was decided by the times of their sixth runners). Although their performance was admirable, it was not enough for the boys.
“We wanted to make nationals,” senior Christian Freeman said. “Most of us were senior and we knew if we were going to make it, it would be this year.”
Hope paid off for the boys, who were given an advance to nationals after qualifying as a national wild-card. Both soaring highs and low defeats filled the fall season, but overall, every team set an impressing standard at the school.
Football, water polo, and both cross country teams advanced to the ladders of CIF sections, if not further. And although some fell short of their goals, others went far beyond their expectations and rewarded Carlsbad with immense pride for every team.
