Inside the VALT: November 3 – 9
November 12, 2019
In a transition week between the fall and winter seasons, the cross country team was the only team in action. However, as we gear up for another strong sports season, we will also preview the Girls and Boys Soccer teams in this issue of Inside the VALT.
Cross Country
On a perfect foggy day at Brentwood, the Viewpoint Cross Country program had incredible success, with amazing scores and many great runs in the Gold Coast Finals. Ronnie Orosky (’20) won his race with a blazing time of 15:21, followed almost immediately by Thomas Matthew (’20), Miles Clark (’21), and Henry Didden (’22), resulting in four Patriot runners in the top 5 finishers in the league. Both Ian Stentz (’21) and Marcus Intal (’20) finished in the top 20, leading the Boys team to a win in the race, and, more importantly, the league championship for the second consecutive year. On the Girls side, senior Lizzie Scott won her race with a time of 18:56, and a number of strong results and personal records for the Girls side led them to both second place in the race and in the league. Both Ronnie and Lizzie won an individual accolade, each winning League MVP. Both teams will compete in CIF Prelims on Saturday in Riverside, and the Boys team will hope to go to State championships for the second consecutive year. Let’s go Pats!
Boys Basketball
The Viewpoint Boys basketball team goes into the season with high expectations, as this year’s team may be one of the most talented teams we’ve ever had. However, we are an incredibly young team, with only three upperclassmen on Varsity, and seven freshmen. The team will receive its’ senior leadership from Roy Numa and Andrew Reyes (both ’20), with junior Josh Tenenbaum as the only other upperclassman. Our basketball Class of 2023 has received some preseason buzz from the LA Daily News, as guards Giovanni Goree and Osiris Nalls (both ’23) were named as Impact Freshmen. Our most heralded freshman, however, is Dante Ogbu (’23), named alongside Bronny James by the Daily News as a Top 5 Freshman to watch. The Patriots will be a fun, young team to watch this year, so come out and support the team in all their home games this year! Their first game is Tuesday, November 19th, at 6:30 in the PFAC against Shalhevet.
Girls Basketball
The Girls Basketball team will look to improve off of last year’s playoff appearance this season, returning the core of the team and adding three talented freshmen. The team is led by three seniors, Vanessa Ogbu, Katie Topacio, and Nicole Emi. However, last year’s leading scorer was sophomore superstar Kayla Keshmeshian, who competed for Armenia in this season’s U18 Division C European Championships. After working hard all offseason, the team has high hopes for the upcoming year. Their first game is Thursday, November 21st, at 4:15 against Kennedy, so come out and support!
For the second consecutive week, we will not have any official home games, although the Boys Soccer program plays a scrimmage against Buckley on the field on Friday. The Girls team will also scrimmage this Thursday at El Camino Real, but both teams’ seasons don’t officially start until next week. Full previews for both teams will come in the next edition, but for now, good luck to our Cross Country team as they compete in CIF Prelims! Let’s Go Pats!