Last year, boys’ soccer won the Division II California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) NorCal Championship, becoming the first Burlingame boys’ sports team to win the title. But for head coach Anthony Dimech and his team, one title isn’t enough — they’re aiming to build a dynasty.

“It was pretty incredible last year, great run, great memories, but this is a new season,” Dimech said.

While the team only lost a few seniors from last year, their contributions were significant. Some of those seniors, like Altai Ordubadi, Sammy Faham, and Kevin Ascarza, went on to play in college or professionally.

“We lost five, six seniors who were a huge part of what was going on here,” Dimech said. “They’d been with me for three or four years, so it’ll be tough to replace them.”

Filling the gaps left by the outgoing seniors is a group of talented sophomores, including Thalin Rees and Jannik Nomm, along with one of the largest groups of freshmen players in the program’s history.

“I have five returning sophomores that were with me at times last year,” Dimech said. “Some started with me, and some got moved up.”

This year’s team will look to replicate last year’s success, but for Dimech, it’s one step at a time.

“We just want to keep fighting for that [Peninsula Athletic League Bay division] title and get to the playoffs, then we’ll see what happens,” Dimech said.

Girls’ soccer is coming off a remarkable and historic season, finishing undefeated in league play (6-0-4) for the first time since 2008 and securing a Peninsula Athletic League Bay title. Though their season ended in the first round of the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs against Saint Francis High School, the season marked a significant milestone for the program.

With eight seniors departing this year, head coach Andrew Flaherty has brought in new players, including promising sophomore Liv Portolan and freshman Kaitlyn Lee. A number of returning varsity players including team captains senior Charlotte Hughes and junior Gaelle Foy, are ready to lead by example and guide the team to success.

The team doesn’t have much time to prepare for the season. December is set to be a challenging month packed with numerous back-to-back games.

“It’s going to be a lot of managing minutes, managing player rest and recovery, and still trying to compete,” Flaherty said.

The Panthers are currently scrimmaging against other schools to prepare for their season opener on Dec. 3.

In his second season at Burlingame, head boys basketball coach David Lopez is looking to build off last season’s Central Coast Section Division III semifinals appearance. Lopez likes the combination of youth and experience on his roster, and is excited to keep working on improving as a team.

Since they have been practicing together since the summer, Lopez continues to see his team develop chemistry.

“We’ve been developing a lot of chemistry. And it’s really cool to see the older guys taking the young guys under their wings and teach them the ropes,” Lopez said.

According to Lopez, the ultimate goal and mentality for this season is to compete at the highest level, and though wins are important, they are not the only determinant of team success.

“We do want to win, but success for us would be like we competed as hard as we can, and we came together…and at the end of the season, we look back at it, and we’re happy with how hard we worked,” Lopez said.

Seniors Marcus Tapia, Pilot Eis, and Arjun Gupta, as well as juniors Payton Fong Heady and Jean-Luc Uharriet, are expected to make a big impact this season.

“What I look for in players are guys that can compete, play good defense, like to share the ball, and play with their teammates, but more importantly high character guys who are good students, but more importantly great people off the court,” Lopez said.

After a season full of significant improvements — and making it all the way to the quarterfinals in the Division III Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs — this year, the girls’ varsity basketball team hopes to see their growth come to fruition.

“It was a fabulous season,” head coach Ned Diamond said. “It’s tough to win a playoff game on the road, and we came from behind and won it. They just fought the entire year and lost to Mills [High School] in the quarterfinals. We just had a great season of growth.”

Last year’s team remains largely intact, compensating for the loss of Sofia Cavalieri with the addition of junior transfer student Sam Arce. Seniors Hailey Miller, Jillian Kiniris, Nat Gyde, Siena La Mark, Ella McHenry, and juniors Haleh Ansari and Addie Uhrich are poised to take on pivotal roles both on and off the court with their leadership and experience. Although senior point guard Miranda Sibley is sidelined with a knee injury, the sheer abundance of athletes on the 14-player roster gives the team a formidable edge against most opponents.

“We’ve got everyone back,” Diamond said. “We have a very deep bench, and we’ll be able to play a lot of people [that] can wear out the other team, both mentally and physically.”

For the past few practices, players have been refining their skill sets and in-game strategy. The team’s strengths are height and speed, and although their offense is impressive — demonstrated by last season’s extended win streaks — Diamond has been placing a particular emphasis on improving efficiency, defense, and communication on the court.

“They have great attitudes…” Diamond said. “They have improved so much and they’re really hustling. The key to our year is going to be how much we hustle [and] how well we play defense.”

The team is now preparing to get back into action with their first game of the season against Castilleja High School on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

“We have really high hopes,” Diamond said. “If we play defense and play together, we’re gonna have a great [season]. It’s really such a nice group and a very coachable group. I think it’s going to be a big year for us.”

Coming off of a second-place finish in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay standings last season, the co-ed wrestling team is setting its sights on another top-three finish this year.

Several dominant wrestlers are returning this season, including senior Quinn Jones and junior Miles Reeth. Lauren Aguilar is also returning for her senior season, fresh off back-to-back Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships in the girls’ 120-pound division. Although the team lost three key players in graduated seniors Ariuka Purev-Chang, David Kracke, and River Lee, head coach Ernesto Nuñez is confident that his current roster will make up for those losses.

“Their shoes are going to be hard to fill, but everyone coming in behind them is young, so in due time, I have the confidence that the youngsters behind them taking over those weight classes are going to be fine,” Nuñez said.

In addition to Burlingame’s athletes, Nuñez also coaches the wrestling team at Mills High School, doubling the number of players on the mat. Burlingame’s ongoing gym reconstruction also means that the team will need to practice at other schools, which could create some complications for Nuñez and the team.

“We have to travel from one school to the next and all of that,” Nuñez said. “The strategy is to get everyone here, on time, every day, work hard, learn the techniques as quickly as we can.”