Aragon sports in the last 50 years
1973: Girls swim team continues seven-year undefeated record
Coached by Cheryl Anderson, the girls’ swim team of 1973 kept an undefeated record for the seventh consecutive year. The girls won each of their meets with no less than 40 points. “The spirit was high during each meet, especially when they attained each victory,” reflects Anderson.
1973: Aragon has first water polo team; both JV teams take PAL title and Varsity places in second place at PAL tournament
In 1973, Mid-Peninsula league included water-polo for the first time. The team was coach by Aragon graduate Randy Cort. Both the varsity and the junior varsity teams did well; the frosh-soph team only lost one game to Mills, whom they later beat, and took the league championship. The varsity team also had a successful season by taking second place in the league, losing only against Hillsdale. Sophomore player Bob Lewis was deemed “Most Valuable Player” in the league.
1978: First girls’ field hockey team at Aragon wins first place in Mid-Peninsula league
Both the varsity and junior varsity teams in 1978 were Aragon’s first girls’ field hockey teams to enter the district’s league, thus being the only competitive sports team at Aragon without a boys’ team at the time. The junior varsity team assumed a successful first season and went to first place in the Mid-Peninsula leagues. However, the varsity team lost all five league games.
1980: First girl’s flag football team announced
In 1980, Aragon announced its first girls’ flag-football team. The varsity team suffered three losses, but won an important victory against their rival team, Capuchino. The junior varsity team finished with a win-loss record of 1-4, and stood 5th place in the Mid-Peninsula league.
1982: Boys’ swim team players qualify for CCS, top three groups in the Mid-Peninsula League
Even in the beginning of the season, members of the boys’ swim team were already qualified for CCS, thus foreshadowing a successful season. The team’s workouts ranged from 3,000 to 6,500 yards per day, or about two to four miles per day. The team was one of the best teams in several years, and the group was among the top three finishers in the Mid-Peninsula league.
1983: Boys’ basketball earns PAL title
Coached by Mr. Bolin, the boys’ basketball team captured 1st place in the district play and continued their winning streak against Mills, beating them with a score of 42-41, earning the title of the PAL.
1988: Girl’s cross country team has undefeated season; place second in PAL
“The girls’ team did well this year,” says Aragon alum and ex-cross-country player Nicole Portley. “We were undefeated 8-0.” The team was composed of one senior, one junior, three sophomores, and two freshmen. By the end of the season, they were second place in the PAL, eighth place in CCS and sophomore-at-the-time Nicole Portley was in the top five to compete at the state meet for CCS.
1998: Golf team wins PAL championship
The team consisted of 24 players, most of whom were new to the sport and lacked experience. After beating Menlo-Atherton, the team won the PAL championship. “The beginning of the season was tough with the course being underwater,” says Coach Jim Daniel. “But we had hope.”
2000: Girl’s cross country team wins PAL title
The girls’ cross-country frosh-soph team won the PAL championship title and many of the girls placed highly in several invitations. Sophomores-at-the-time Tarisha Bal and Anna Lee received the second and third place medals, both in the frosh-soph divisions.
2006: Last gymnastics team at Aragon High
“Gymnastics at Aragon is a really low-key sport,” says Aragon alum and ex-gymnastics player Weila Xie. “Many people at Aragon don’t know that the school even has a gymnastics team.” Despite not being well-known, the team ended Aragon’s gymnastics legacy on a high-note after having placed second in CCS the year before, and sixth place two years before the gymnastics program ended.
2010: Girls’ varsity soccer team wins CCS tournament
With Coach William Colglazier, the Aragon’s girls’ varsity soccer team beat Burlingame High School last year. It was the first time for any PAL team to beat Burlingame in three years. On top of these victories, the team won the CCS championship. “The CCS championship game was like everything coming full circle,” says Aragon alum Sarah Jacobs. “When we were freshman, we made it to CCS semi-finals, which was the first time in Aragon soccer history. Winning CCS was like finishing what we started four years ago.”
In 1994 Aragon basketball was supreme. In that year the school district tried something new which was very team play each other twice in league play. There were nine schools in league so that meant we now had 18 games in a season. It was unprecedented that a team could go 9-0 in a regular season let alone 18-0. Well, in 1994 we went 17-1 only losing our last game of the season to hillsdale. We went on to win CCS Div III beating Los gatos high school in the san jose arena. There was also a bench clearing brawl in the fourth quarter and a buzzer beating 3 point shot to win it. We then went to the State tournament (CIF). We lost in the semifinal game to Foothill high school of Sacramento in the FINAL FOUR game of the state tournament by two points. This was the farthest Aragon basketball has ever gone in its history and its a big landmark. FIRST PLACE: PAL League 17-1 CCS CHAMPS DIV III STATE TOURNAMENT CIF: FINAL FOUR. Much love to all the dons who plays for Aragon. Wear your jersey with pride. I sure did and I still do. My name is Ray aka E.P.A. #44 Point guard, shooting guard. Avg. 3 to 5 three pointers a game.
Thanks for the memories, Ray. You may remember that the 1989 and 1990 teams also went to that round of the State tournament. The 1989 team lost 51-50 to Del Oro Loomis on Del Oro’s home court, an undersized court that caused controversy. The 1990 team averaged over 90 points a game, winning by wild scores like 117-87 over Balboa SF. THey were probably the biggest favorite to win a state title, but lost to American of Fremont at ARCO arena. I didn’t play basketball at Aragon (class of 1979) but have always followed Don’s sports the best that I could. I enjoyed your 1994 team and was at all of the games you mentioned. The game at San Jose was great!
Dons 1995 football team 13-0, state champs. We get no love.
Forgive me for saying so but when you published this 50 Years of Aragon Sports you left out the years 1961-1972. And why is that significant? Well as a member of the 2nd Graduating Class in 1964 (we actually spent 3 1/2 years at Aragon, with the first semester at Burlingame High School because Aragon was not yet ready to open) I want all Aragon graduates to know that in 1963 and 1964 Aragon won the Mid-Peninsula League Championship in our first two years of varsity competition. The 1963 team had 3 players named to the all-league team: Brice Pearson, Barry Secrest, and Mark Jorgerson (who was also named league MVP). Also on the ‘B’ Team there was “steady, dependable” Phil Abrams. The following year we repeated as champions and had two players on the all-league team: Bob Somerby and Bob Toschi. I am pretty sure that in other sports between 1965 to 1972 there were Aragon teams that had equal if not greater success. I am proud of what we accomplished in those early years of our school and hopefully others may write in to praise the exploits of their classmates.