Coming off a Division IV Central Coast Section (CCS) championship run, head coach John Philipopoulos said he is looking forward to the start of the new season.

“We start training in February, so it’s kind of a long go, but also we’re here all summer,” Philipopoulos said. “We go to a one-week Tahoe camp where we stay at a hotel overnight, and do four days of nothing but football and hanging out.”

According to Philipopoulos, the team is young but talented, and he has high expectations for the season. He looks for players willing to put team success ahead of individual achievement.

“If our players understand they’re part of something bigger than them and they’re willing to contribute for the greater good, that’s what we’re looking for,” Philipopoulos said.

This year, standout players include seniors and returning members Quincy Yu, Nick Armstrong, Ravi Krishnan, and juniors Mark O’ Grady and Lucas Cunningham.

“We really tried to get back to what we called the Panther way, and focusing on grit and playing with pride and accountability,” Philipopoulos said. “And we’re just building on that, and our kids have carried that over from last year into this year.”

Last year, girls’ golf secured the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Ocean division title with a blazing 9-1 record. However, the Panthers enter this season with only five returning players, so the team of 15 is largely made up of new faces. While they are adjusting to a mostly new roster, head coach Traci Kreppel said she is optimistic about the players.

“We were a little concerned with how the team would look this year with only five returning players,” Kreppel said. “But we were really, really nicely surprised with the level of ability that we saw out of every girl that came to try out.”

Of the nearly 40 girls who tried out, Kreppel said only 15 were selected to make the team. While roster size can vary from year to year, it remains on the smaller side because of the format of the matches.

“It’s just unfortunate, because we want to have a big team, because we want to grow the program,” Kreppel said. “But when you have matches, only six girls can play in a match, so it’s very limiting.”

An added benefit for the team is the Topgolf facility along Bayshore, which opened last year and provides an additional practice location beyond the usual golf courses. Last season, Kreppel said finding practice spots was sometimes difficult because Mariners Point was not always available, and the Golf Center was closed.

Kreppel expects strong performances from the following returning members: seniors Olivia Evangelista, Adriana Evans, Chloe French-Evans, junior Sharon Sims-Calzolai, and sophomore Micah Zhou. She said the team hopes to continue its winning streak and compete in the PAL Bay division, while navigating the challenges of a largely new roster.

“[Last season] everybody was focused, plus got a lot of playing time, experience,” Kreppel said. “So this year we have more of a learning curve with teaching [new players] how to do the matches, golf etiquette, making sure everyone’s keeping up with speed.”

“Play more, enjoy more, experience more, improve more.”

Those are the goals of head coach Doug Stone for this year’s girls’ tennis season. The Panthers are coming off a deep playoff run into the second round of the Central Coast Section (CCS) championships and a Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) team tournament title, and Stone hopes they can build on that success.

With the departure of ten seniors, Stone said seniors Evelyn Du and Samantha Tom, along with junior Shea Mulready, who played No. 1 singles last year, are expected to be key contributors this year. Du, Tom, and Mulready narrowly missed qualifying for CCS individually during the PAL Individual Tournament last year.

According to Stone, the newly opened spots in the lineup give players who competed outside the top ten last season — the “development squad” — a chance to contribute this year.

With the season set to begin on Sept. 9 against Aragon High School, Stone said he is focusing on fostering teamwork while helping players pursue their individual goals.

“I always ask them what their individual goals are. [Tennis is] a very individual sport that we try to make a team sport,” Stone said. “So you know what their individual goals are, but really, getting them to feel like they can help each other achieve their individual goals by being a team.”

Varsity girls’ volleyball looks to carry its momentum into another competitive season. Last fall, the Panthers concluded their season with many victories, finishing as co-champions of the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) with Menlo Atherton High School, and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section (CCS) Open Division playoffs.

Looking ahead, head coach Hannah Korslund said she expects to see strong performances from the team’s pin hitters — junior Jordan Toomey, a third-year varsity player, and sophomore Ilsa Carlson, a second-year varsity player — who are stepping into the role left by graduated Division 1 volleyball player Ella Duong. Korslund said senior libero Sam Hollrah is also expected to be a key contributor.

The team had its first scrimmage against Saint Ignatius College Preparatory on Friday, Aug. 22. According to Korslund, the team brought a lot of energy and gained insight into areas that need improvement.

“They also went to the Open Division finals last year, so they’re really competitive. I thought the first set against [Saint Ignatius] showed we could compete. We were digging their best hitters,” Korslund said. “I think we got some good blocks, and I think the energy was great.”

This year, the team is working to fill the gap left by graduated setter Jillian Kiniris. Korslund said the position will remain open as she evaluates the best fit. While there are no new freshmen, Korslund said Carlson and sophomore setter Elaina Newman are expected to have a major impact.

“Playing time and roles are things that will change throughout the season depending on opponents, so right now, we’re really trying to get a sense of where people’s strengths are and how they can build on each other,” Korslund said.

Optimistic about the season ahead, Korslund said she hopes the players stay healthy and play their best volleyball. Through practices and scrimmages, the team can focus on developing chemistry and refining specific skills.

“We’ve been playing a lot of six-on-six, scrimmaging a lot in practice to work out the kinks defensively and figure out the team dynamic and the plays,” Korslund said. “Our skill fundamental level is very high right now, so I feel as a coach, we need to spend a little less time on isolated skills and more time on connecting our offense, tempo of our offense, defensive positioning.”

The boys’ water polo team comes off a strong fourth-place finish in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay Division and looks to build on last season. The team also gains added experience under new head coach Rory Hocker, which is expected to strengthen performance.

“I started coaching when I was 18. I took a gap year after high school, where I started coaching at the Stanford Club,” Hocker said. “Then I’ve coached at a different number of clubs around California.”

According to senior Oliver Canniffe, the team has the talent to go undefeated this season. To reach that goal, he added, the players must focus on conditioning and learning to work together as a team.

“Last year, our biggest weakness was definitely conditioning. In the first half, we kept getting counterattacked, and that’s why we lost some games,” Canniffe said. “We gotta work on our swimming, staying in condition, and we gotta work on a sense of team camaraderie.”

Despite losing several seniors, Hocker said he believes underclassmen could make significant contributions to the team this season.

“I’d look at Nick Williams, he’s a sophomore lefty, pretty solid, and clearly been putting in the work since last high school season,” Hocker said. “Then I’d also look at Henry Hopkins, the freshman we have, he competes every single day.”

Ultimately, Canniffe said, the team’s goal is to qualify for the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs for the first time in more than four years.

“We want to win the league, we want to go undefeated,” Canniffe said. “We know that we’re capable.”

Second place isn’t enough for girls’ water polo. After falling just short of first place in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Ocean Division last season with a 12-2 record, the team is coming back with new varsity head coach Tiffany Spohrer and aims for an undefeated season.

“The last season as a whole was a lot of fun for me,” Spohrer, who coached junior varsity (JV) last season, said. “… For a lot of JV, it was a learning experience, but overall, a really successful, fun season for the girls.”

Key players, including seniors Aria Sherwood and Charlotte Gugliemi and sophomores Leia Burlingham, Julia Bowler, and Ari Beser, are expected to make significant contributions this year, Spohrer said.

To offset the loss of six seniors from last year, including the varsity goalie, the team promoted several strong JV players to the varsity squad. With nine new players joining the team, Spohrer said coaches and returning players have been working hard to train and integrate the newcomers.

“We moved three players up from JV to varsity this year,” Spohrer said. “We have the nine novices coming onto the JV team, and we are working on training about three of them as goalies, so that when our seniors graduate and our juniors, the coming year, graduate, we have some goalies in place.”

Leading up to their first game of the season against Notre Dame Belmont on Sept. 15, Spohrer said the team has focused on conditioning, drills, and scrimmages to prepare.

Flag football enters the 2025 season after a strong 2024 campaign, when the team finished with a 9-2 record. But head varsity coach Nicole Carter said the players’ sisterhood was far more important than last year’s results.

“It was just really fun to watch how cohesive they were, how they looked out for each other, and then just how the balance of serious and fun, and how they did that really well and wound up having a great season,” Carter said.

This year, the team plans to build on that sense of community with a mentor system, pairing each new player with an experienced teammate. Carter said the system will be especially useful because of the large number of underclassmen on the squad — including one from junior varsity (JV) — who will play a key role in replacing last year’s seniors.

“We’ve already pulled one up from JV, just watching that talent, we just really want to build up,” Carter said. “So that we don’t lose eight seniors and then go back to rebuilding. I want to continue that momentum.”

Since starting practice a little over two weeks ago, the team has already participated in tournaments that Carter said gave them insight into what they need to work on ahead of their first game on Sept. 15 against Jefferson High School.

“We’ve designed practices for this week and next that are all around those areas of improvement and really strengthening those,” Carter said. “We’re lucky that we don’t have our first game for three weeks, and so we have a lot of time to fine-tune everything.”

When asked about the team’s goal for the season, Carter said, “To be the first team with a flag in the new gym.”

According to head coach Kayla Clark, the cheer team is ready for the fall season after spending the summer building a strong squad and perfecting routines.

This year’s practices look slightly different. Previously, the junior varsity and varsity teams practiced separately, but over the summer, both squads have been practicing together. Senior captain Alexia Thompson said the change has helped the players grow closer.

As a senior, Thompson said the upcoming season brings excitement, along with a tinge of sadness.

“It’s pretty sentimental, it’s crazy being the oldest people on the team, you’ve always had girls to look up to, and now it’s just us,” Thompson said.

Thompson said the captains have also taken on greater responsibilities in leading practices and generating ideas for dances, music, and choreography.

“The captains are responsible for teaching the cheers to the newcomers and making dances,” Thompson said, “We’re expected to always be on our A-Game.”

Although this year is different from previous ones, Thompson said she hopes the changes to practice structure, the addition of new cheerleaders, and the team’s hard work will lead to a successful season.

“It’s going to be a really great season, we have a lot of really strong people on the team,” Thompson said. “I hope our Little Big Game performance is great. I think it will be one of our best ones yet.”

Clark said she shares similar expectations for the season, adding that the team will continue to improve as the season progresses.

“The goal is to increase difficulty in stunting and always changing up the dances and adding in something new for the crowd and the team,” Clark said.

Burlingame’s cross-country team is aiming for another strong season after last year’s Central Coast Section (CCS) Girls Division III title and State Championship experience.

“We did well at PAL [Peninsula Athletic League], we got two people through individually to state. We even had some [personal records (PR)], and so it was a good season,” head coach Chris Coleman said. “We always want to try to get a team through if we can to CCS or state.”

The girls’ squad will be led by seniors Stella Newman, Ellora Horan, and Maliha Moran, junior Elizabeth Carroll, and standout sophomore Amelia Reeth, while senior Ryan Liu and junior Tad Folgner will lead the boys’ team. On top of a strong senior lineup, co-captain Newman said the team also includes promising new talent.

“Obviously, we have our top returners, which are going to be a huge benefit,” Newman said. “But I think that we’ve already identified some really good freshmen, and I think that not just varsity but our junior varsity team is going to be really important.”

With a later start to tryouts this year, Coleman said the team has relief on additional time trials to help new athletes get up to speed.

“We did move to try out some cuts this year, so we’re kind of trimming it and compressing it a little bit,” Coleman said. “… We’re still kind of determining and seeing what we’re doing and kind of figuring it out.”

Newman said the team’s sense of community is as motivating as the competition itself.

“Even in the few runs we’ve done over the summer or even the runs [recently], it’s so much fun hanging out with them,” Newman said. “… Everyone has a common goal of working as hard as they can to produce the best result.”

For Coleman, the goal is always the same: “To get as many teams through PALs as possible, as many PRs as possible, and to see what damage we could do at CCS in our division.”