From the precise swings of the boys’ golf team, to the stick clashes of the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams, ten teams anticipate and prepare for the challenges and triumphs of the upcoming spring season. Whether it’s the dives of the swimming team, the smooth regattas of the sailing team, the hard hits in girls’ softball and boys’ baseball, the spikes of the boys’ volleyball team, the aces of boys’ tennis, or fast sprints toward the finish line in track and field, the dedication captions embody teamwork and sportsmanship. 

Many of the captains first played their sports in middle school. Co-Captains of the Varsity Girls’ Lacrosse team, Natalie (Nat) Marvin (‘25) and Ripples Turquand (‘24), started playing during Period X lacrosse in the sixth and seventh grade respectively. The bonds formed way back then helped foster what Senior Co-Captain Peyten Seltzer, who joined the team her freshman year, calls her “great group of girls” who make “practice and games so fun.” Ripples agreed, “all the girls [are just] good people.” Nat seconded this thought, and she emphasized how the “companionship and cooperation” the girl’s lacrosse team has formed, “will stay with [her] for years to come.”

Nat’s brother, Nick Marvin (‘24), is also a Co-Captain for the Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse team. He said he “fell in love with the sport” in second grade, and has “had a stick in [his] hand ever since.” This passion for lacrosse runs deep throughout the entire team, with their goals set high — to win Open Division CIF — Nick voiced how the team has “set standards high because we know this is a very talented and dedicated group.” Bishop’s boys’ lacrosse is a “tight-knit group that knows how to have fun while also taking care of business,” he added.

The Varsity Boys’ Tennis team boasts a similar high moral. Senior Co-Captain Carlton Shell is eager to “dominate competition.” The other senior captain Alex Balog also believes in the team’s ability to “do as well as they can” despite having lost some good seniors from last season. The two captains don’t worry however, because  “most other teams” also lost players. At the end of the day, they trust their team’s work ethic, and will try their best to mitigate the mental stress of tennis through giving team advice and uplifting the overall spirit. As Alex quoted his former tennis coach, “to be good at tennis it takes more attention than a new girlfriend.”

This year the swim team senior Co-Captains Mikayla Crowe, Callum Bolitho, Colin Kavanaugh, and Nicholas Bejar are eager to dominate as well, but in the water of Buddy and Barbara Murfey Memorial Pool. For them, they “appreciate the change of pace at swim practice after a long day of work,” as Colin said. Swimming in the cool pool water calms their busy minds. With a “good team of dedicated swimmers,” they “know [they] will have a good season.”

The small but mighty sailing team finds peace in the water too. Co-Captains Celeste Oder (‘26) and Max Payne (‘25) both hope to win “as many regattas (competitions) as possible.” For them, sailing is a “freeing” space “after a long, stressful day or week.” Celeste loves the fact that sailing is “equally a mental and physical sport,” making it “fun that [she] can beat the guys too” if she’s “trained harder and can outthink them.” Every regatta is an opportunity to prove themselves Max said, only then does it become “clear whether all the practice was useful.”

Another smaller team on campus is the Boys’ Varsity Volleyball team. Co-Captains Giles Beamer (‘26) and Spencer Ralph (‘24) hope to “make the most with what [they have]” despite losing “five of [their] seven starters from last year.” Yet, even with an influx of freshmen starters making up “a really young team,” Spencer, one of the two returning seniors, believes the team has “all the right puzzle pieces” for a great season. 

Speaking of a team filled with freshman, Senior Co-Captain of the Varsity Boys’ Golf Team, William Ma aims to “set a good precedent for the younger players” on his team, so “that everyone can enjoy the season and have a good time playing [the] sport [they] love.” Having played golf for fourteen years, he said it “would be really cool to accomplish the 4-peat” (fourth consecutive championship) as it “would be a great way to end [his] high school career.” 

Co-Captain Kayden Wang (‘25) mentioned how golf is a “constant battle to get better.” He added that it “sometimes it does feel like one step forward, two steps back, but when something finally clicks or works, it’s the most rewarding feeling in the world.” Overall, both captains look forward to a season of bonding “over team meals or van rides to practice and matches.” 

Up on our school’s softball/baseball field, the Girls’ Varsity Softball team Captain Jayla Stafford (‘25), much like the boys’ tennis captains, appreciates the bond she has with her team. She voiced how much the community-building aspect of Bishop’s sports “is really cool” because if not for Bishop’s sports, she “would not have probably talked to half the girls” on her team. Specifically, softball is “a sport of failure and there’s always going to be this essence of you’re not good enough,” but she nonetheless hopes for her team to all have “fun” this season because that’s a healthy determinant of how well they “do and perform.”

The Boys’ Varsity Baseball team is also a tight knit group. Co-Captain Henry Armstrong (‘25) recalled “so many good times with the baseball teams, being that [they’re] an off campus sport” with lots of commuting time. Henry and Senior Co-Captain Cameron Ouyang remembered how their past difficult seasons played out, but Henry credits his “head coach BK Santy for really turning the tide over Bishop’s Baseball and making [them] a competitive program again.” They “learned a lot from all the defeats,” and now, they enjoy “plenty of team meals and celebrations.” The team was “just short of a CIF championship last year,” so it would be both captains’ greatest wish to see them bag it this year.

Last but not least, Track and Field coach Aisha Baldez shared that her goal for her team “is to foster a supportive environment for growth in skill set and technicality…while also boosting mental preparedness” — a common goal for all teams’ coaches.

She wants “to see athletes achieve [personal] goals for the season, collectively perform well as a team at each meet, and have fun learning and improving each day.” Although track and field can be viewed as a predominantly individual sport like tennis or swimming, Coach Aisha highlighted the importance of the captains’ abilities to “inspire and motivate their teammates both on and off the track, demonstrate hard work ethic, maintain a positive attitude, and stimulate unity amongst their peers”…which present traits in all of our wonderful spring captains.

Let’s wish them all a great season, and go Knights!