Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Pomona-Pitzer update

This past weekend, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis and softball teams claimed the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championships in both sports while the Pomona-Pitzer women's tennis team also obtained SCIAC glory.

Both the men and women's SCIAC tennis championships took place over the weekend. The Stags bested the Sagehens in the men's final, 8-1. Pomona-Pitzer gained a measure of revenge in the women's final by defeating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 6-3.

The C-M-S softball team won its 2nd consecutive SCIAC title by defeating Whittier twice over the weekend by scores of 15-3 and 8-6. The win also allows the Athenas to host Whittier in the first round of the SCIAC Championships on Friday.

Congratulations to the 3 teams for their efforts this year.

Claremonters fare well in Boston Marathon

Claremont High School teachers Brian Cooper and Jose Ancona both competed in Monday's 2011 Boston Marathon that featured 26,907 total runners.

Mr. Cooper crossed the finish line at 2 hours and 41 minutes for 256th place and Mr. Ancona became the 6607th runner to finish at 3 hours and 26 minutes at the world's longest running annual marathon. The course is approximately 26.22 miles.

Congratulations to the Claremont High teachers for a well run race.

'Claremont Cuties' an inspiration

It was last summer that a woman named Julia Previch had a vision that would revolutionize the lives of 5 girls who attend Danbury Elementary School. Her vision came to life in front of hundreds of people at Claremont High School on April 9th.

The Claremont Cuties debuted on April 9th in a cheer competition at Claremont High School to a standing ovation by the audience and applause from the other cheerleaders in attendance. Dressed in black "Girls Rock" shirts with pink shirts and white pom poms, the girls performed their routine to Katy Perry's hit song "Fireworks."

Coach Previch—a Claremont High School graduate and former member of the CHS drill team—informed me that this program has led to practical improvements in the 5 students. The group will perform again in the Claremont 4th of July parade.

Check out Wednesday's COURIER for the full story on this fascinating group.

A little Pee-Wee focus

With the Claremont Unified School District on spring break this week, our sports feature will focus on 3-6 year olds getting their first experience with the sport of tennis. The Pee-Wee Tennis Clinic is offered through the City of Claremont and takes place on Tuesday and Thursdays at Cahuilla Park. Click HERE for more information.

Look for the story in Saturday's edition of the COURIER and a return to CHS sports coverage next week.

Defending NCAA Division Rugby champs searching for first win in Division I

The Claremont Colleges Rugby team has been experiencing growing pains in College Premier competition this season.

After capturing the Division II championship last spring, the Dragons received a promotion to Division I but have yet to defeat a D1 opponent after 8 games this season. Claremont's 24-10 defeat to UCLA last Saturday drops the Dragons to 0-4 in the Pacific League.

Claremont will next travel south to lay at San Diego State at noon this Saturday.

CHS graduate David Rice now at helm for UNLV men's basketball

Claremont High School graduate and member of the 1990 University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) men's basketball national championship team Dave Rice was announced as the new head coach for the Runnin' Rebels yesterday at a special press conference.

The appointment is Coach Rice's first head coach position after serving as assistant coach at the high school, junior college and NCAA Division I level for the past 19 years. The last 2 decades have included stints at Claremont High School, Chaffey College, UNLV, Utah State and Brigham Young University (Utah).

Congratulations to Coach Rice and look for the full story in Wednesday's issue of the COURIER. Until then, click HERE to view the entire press conference.

CHS Dance Team to perform on KTLA

Just a few weeks off of an impressive showing at the USA Spirit Dance-Drill Nationals, the 2011 Kick champion Claremont High School Dance Team will be performing on KTLA (Channel 5) this Tuesday.

The dance team was invited to be a guest on KTLA's morning news show and will start taping teasers at 8:15 a.m. The group is tentatively scheduled to perform at 9:45 a.m. and some of the team members will also be interviewed by the KTLA news team.

Congratulations once again to the CHS Dance Team for its accomplishments this season.