Video Tribute: The CMS Women's Water Polo Class of 2020

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The two members of the CMS women's water polo senior class had a substantial impact on the program over the last four years. Included in their tenure was an 18-10 season as sophomores, which is the winningest season for the Athenas since 2004.

This year, the two seniors were in the process of leading a very young CMS team that featured 11 sophomores and four first-years, with hopes of challenging for the SCIAC title by season's end. The Athenas were making substantial progress, battling in a close match at Pomona-Pitzer (a 6-4 defeat) and defeating Division I Villanova at the Claremont Convergence. With the sudden suspension of spring sports, the seniors never got that chance, or their traditional Senior Day at the last regular season home match, so we went with a video tribute instead.

Click below to watch the video: 



The two members of the CMS women's water polo Class of 2020 were: 

#4 Aracelia Aldrete (San Francisco, Calif. - Claremont McKenna, neuroscience)
Aldrete was one of the top goal-scorers for the Athenas in all four of her seasons, including a career-best 40 in an 18-10 season as a sophomore. She reached the 100-goal plateau in a home match against La Verne last season, and ended her senior year with 113 career tallies, including nine hat tricks, with a career-best five-goal effort against Chapman. She was also a two-time All-SCIAC selection, as well as a two-time honorable mention All-America selection from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches. In addition to her water polo achievements, Aldrete was also heavily involved in the CMS Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was a student mentor with Uncommon Good, a local non-profit serving the Pomona Valley. 

#11 Celeste Cerna (Chatsworth, Calif. - Harvey Mudd, engineering)
Cerna was a four-year member of the Athenas, who earned ACWPC All-Academic honors as a junior, balancing a high GPA as an engineering major at Harvey Mudd with the rigors of being a collegiate athlete. She had a goal and three assists through the early part of her senior season, and had a two-goal game against Occidental as a junior. She spent last summer as a biomedical engineering intern and has worked as a chemical and thermal processes grader at Mudd for the last 2.5 years, as well as a mentor tutor, providing tutoring service over the phone for K-12 students in math and science.