2008-2009 was an amazing year for Webb athletics. 11 teams qualified for post-season play, 2 were named league champions, 8 students received all CIF selections and three athletes received league MVP honors in their respective sports. On top of all this, our entire team of coaches worked to instill that sense of leadership and character that are hallmarks of the Webb experience, in the classroom, in the dorms, and on our fields of play.

Building on the momentum from last year, our fall teams have been practicing hard in preparation for the upcoming season. Here's a look at what you can expect in the fall sports season...

Football: In his third year at the helm of the Gauls, head coach Robbie von Pertz is looking to build upon last season’s second place Prep League finish and CIF playoff birth. With 15 seniors returning, including standouts Jacob Wass (DE/TE), Jacob Rode (QB), and Henry Nelson (WR/SS), the team will have as much depth and experience as any team in recent memory, and expects to make a deep run into the post season. Webb opens the season with a 1:30 game at home on Saturday September 5^th against Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth.

WSC Water Polo: The water polo team also has high expectations for the ‘09 season following last year’s run to the quarter finals of the CIF Div VI playoffs. Entering his 6^th year with The Webb Schools, coach Tom MacKinlay and his staff return almost all of their standout players from the ‘08 campaign, including all-CIF performers Chandler Talleur ’10, Chris Sazo, ’10, and Ben Davis ’11. With this core group of players, the Gauls are considered favorites for the Prep League title and should make another deep run in the post season. The water polo team begins their season on September 8^th in the El Dorado Tournament.

WSC Cross Country: A perennial powerhouse in Div V, the Gauls are expecting to make another trip to Fresno this fall with the hope of improving on last year’s 6^th place finish in the state. Brian Caldwell, in his 2^nd year at the head of the cross country program, is looking for continued improvement from returning athletes Andrew Lantz ’10, Raj Anand ’10, Auston Sterling ’10, and Bailey Stockdale ’11 in order to see Webb School of California solidify its status as one of the top small-school cross country programs in the state. The cross country season will begin with a Prep League cluster meet at Pierce College on September 15^th.

Volleyball: After an historic, first-ever playoff appearance culminating in a run to the quarterfinals of the Div III-A playoffs, The Vivian Webb Gauls look to consolidate their gains under second-year coach Jack Coberly. Key returners from last year’s squad include Dana Edwards ’11, Madison Fuelling ’11, and Eshaana Sheth ’10. The lady Gauls open their season at home on September 10^th versus Crean Lutheran South.

VWS Tennis: Third-year coach Robert Robillard expects the Lady Gauls to improve significantly on last season’s 3-12 mark. With eight members of the varsity squad, including standout Laura Santoro ’12, attending tennis camp together this fall, team spirit is at an all-time high heading into the season. Newcomer Laura Yun ’13 is also expected to have a significant impact this season. The team opens the campaign on September 14^th at Chaffey High School.

VWS Cross Country: Head coach Donald Ball, entering his 11^th year at Webb, looks to continue his tradition of seeing significant improvement in his athletes times throughout the season. Kristen Dubble ’10 and Lauren Tafflinger ’11 are set to provide leadership to this young and dedicated squad. The cross country season will begin with a Prep League cluster meet at Pierce College on September 15^th.

Photos and highlights from Gauls athletics can always be found on This Week at Webb and on the individual team pages where you will also find links to the game schedules. Come out to support the Gauls!

As another school year begins, I am struck, once again, by how privileged those of us in education are. There is nothing that compares to the energy, hope, and wonder that accompany a new school year. A new calendar year pales by comparison.

Why is that so? I think it is so because in schools we have a truly important mission and we do truly noble work, and the start of each year brings a new opportunity to re-commit to that mission and work. I think it is so because teaching calls a very special kind of person - generous of spirit, optimistic and forward looking, and visionary. And, finally, I think it is so because after over thirty-five years in education seeing a senior and remembering him or her as a freshman still gives me goose bumps. Watching students embrace one another with broad smiles or reach out to their teachers, coaches, and advisors after a summer apart, listening to the goals and dreams they have for the year ahead, and sharing with them in some random, spontaneous bit of fun renew and deepen one's faith in the future - no matter how challenging the problems or how disheartening the current landscape might be. At the start of the new school year, the combination of aspiration and idealism creates a spirit of good will and good cheer that is palpable.

Although it's impossible to know where this new year will take us, I hope it will find us united by our principles of honor, leadership and service; committed to living together bound by the five simple virtues we seek to make our own day in and day out - honesty, responsibility, respect, fairness, and compassion; and, made more grateful every day for good work to do and the strength to do it. I hope it will be a year in which we take good care of ourselves as well as of each other, in which we make sound decisions that keep us healthy and safe, and in which we appreciate and care for the sacred things of our school and the beauty of the campus that is also our home.

We have much to look forward to this year, not least of which are some new courses and programs as well as a new schedule that - if they meet our goals and realize our intentions - will open doors to new and exciting ways of learning and thinking. I look forward to more frequent and more meaningful communication between the school and its parents, alumni and friends, further strengthening the relationships that are so important to us. And, finally, I look forward to many shared experiences that we can recount with a sense of joy and accomplishment at the end of the year, some of which we may wish to hold in our memories forever.

Here's to us and to the 2009-2010 year.

GO GAULS !

Faithfully,

Susan Nelson

Don Lofgren and I are pleased to report on a successful, educational and fun conclusion to our annual Summer Peccary Trip. Our dedicated crew of faculty, staff, Webb students, and volunteers has once again pushed the boundaries of science through scientifically significant and sometimes spectacular finds. We focused on two areas in particular this year: the 75 million year old Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah and the 35 million year old Renova Formation of Montana.

A crew of 15 Webb students - representing incoming freshmen, current students, and just-graduated seniors - departed from Webb on Monday, August 27 with Lofgren and faculty members Will Allan, and Kevin Quick, and Kevin’s son, Christian. Students were: Drew Silver ‘12, Brent Silver ‘10, Dakota Santana-Grace ‘11, Cameron Lutz ‘11, John Gunn ‘13, Sam Woodward ‘12, Ben Kissell ‘10, Kevin Terris ‘09, Bryan Yokote ‘09, Lucy Herrero ‘10, Brittany Lamon ‘11, Charlotte Harris ‘12, Rachel Zheng ‘12, Rebecca Lai ‘11, Gy-Su Kim ‘10. The group headed to Montana to collect Eocene (35 myo) mammals at the famous Pipestone Springs site near Butte. All found some nice jaws and Cameron Lutz found a complete tortoise which was jacketed and removed. The group also visited Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman before heading south through Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs to southern Utah to meet up with the Farke part of the expedition.

I departed for Utah on Saturday, August 25, with a small crew of volunteers to lay groundwork for the arrival of the main crew on August 4. Our destination: The Lofgren Ranch, immediately adjacent to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. Here, rocks from the end of the age of dinosaurs are exposed in rugged, beautiful badlands. It's one of the last unexplored frontiers for fossils in the lower 48. We opened up the Cripe Site (a quarry that has been worked yearly since 2005) and also identified several other localities for later collection with students assistance. Once the students arrived, we continued prospecting (searching for new sites) and excavating (collecting fossils at previously located sites) with their assistance.

Many hundreds of pounds of fossils were collected, ranging from giant, complete limb bones to tiny teeth. Highlights (many discovered and/or collected by students) included an exquisitely-preserved tyrannosaur thigh bone, portions of a rare turtle skull, and skin impressions from a plant-eating dinosaur. Of course, the best finds are always made at the end of the trip… Kevin Terris found parts of a little skeleton weathering out, on the second to last day of our trip! Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until next year to see how it pans out. Patience may be a virtue, but we'll all be dreaming impatiently of what's currently hidden by rock. On days off, students were able to visit Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the world-famous Henrie's Drive-In, among other local wonders.

The educational, scientific, and character-building significance of this trip for the students and the museum cannot be overstated. It was fun to share in the long hikes, quiet nights at camp, latrine digging, unexpected downpours, and the thrill of discovery with such a great bunch of kids! Special thanks are due to Will Allan, Kevin Quick, and Thea Hinkle '05, for all of their help with making this a fun, safe, and successful experience. I can hardly wait to see what next year brings!