Palisades High sports put together one of the strongest local school-year stretches in recent memory, with championship results on the course, the court, the field and the first steps of a new flag football program. The story was not one team carrying the name alone. It was a run of results that showed depth across fall and spring sports, while the school community continued to reconnect around Stadium by the Sea after the January 2025 Palisades Fire.

Palisades High Sports Set The Standard At Elysian Park

On November 20, 2025, Palisades High’s boys and girls cross-country teams swept the Division I team titles at the LA City Section championships at Elysian Park. The boys’ win was their fifth straight City title, and both teams reached eight total City championships, according to the Los Angeles Times report. That sweep gave the Dolphins a clean team statement at one of the City Section’s defining distance-running venues.

What Palisades High Sports Proved In Cross-Country

The cross-country sweep stood out because team titles require more than one front-runner. A program has to stack enough finishers across the course, manage race pace, and hold form when the pack tightens. For Palisades High sports, the Elysian Park result reflected a distance-running group that has sustained standards year after year rather than producing a single isolated peak.

The girls’ Division I race also brought a notable individual performance from outside the Dolphins’ roster. North Hollywood senior Ananya Balaraman won the girls’ individual title in 19:28 on November 20, 2025, while Palisades still claimed the team crown. That detail matters because it shows the Dolphins did not need the individual winner to control the team standings. Their strength came from the group result.

Zach Cohen’s Finish Added A Senior Signature

Senior Zach Cohen gave the boys’ side its individual headline. He won the boys’ Division I title in 16:24.4, holding off his closest challenger late in the race, as reported by the Palisadian-Post. That finish fit the larger Dolphin sweep: an individual champion setting the tone at the front, backed by a team strong enough to secure the section title.

For a local program, those moments carry value beyond a results sheet. Younger runners see a senior closing a championship race. Families see the payoff from early-morning training, travel to meets, and the quiet work that distance running demands. Cross-country can be overlooked in louder sports cycles, but Palisades made it central to the school’s athletic identity on November 20, 2025.

Championship Depth Across The Dolphins Program

The cross-country sweep was part of a wider Dolphins run. Palisades High collected major City Section results across several sports from November 2025 through April 2026, with multiple teams either defending long streaks or adding milestone championships. That range is why the school’s recent stretch deserves to be viewed as a program-wide achievement, not a single-team surge.

Spring Results Carried The Same Standard

On April 30, 2026, the Palisades girls lacrosse team won its fourth consecutive City Section championship by beating Birmingham 20-8 in the final. That same date also brought a rare ending on the boys’ side, where Birmingham beat Palisades 5-4 and stopped the Dolphins’ nine-title run. Taken together, the two lacrosse finals showed both sides of a high-performing athletic department: one team extending control, another seeing a long streak end by a one-goal margin.

The boys’ basketball team added another major mark on February 27, 2026, beating Cleveland 75-56 for the City upper-division title. Research notes identify it as Palisades’ first title in the highest division since 1969. In a city basketball scene loaded with tradition, that result gave the Dolphins a modern benchmark tied to a decades-long gap.

Fall Titles Built The Wider Case

The fall championship list was just as strong. In November 2025, Palisades girls volleyball defeated Venice in a three-set City Open Division final, earning the program’s 31st overall City championship in girls volleyball. That total speaks to a program with deep standards, but the three-set win also showed how the current roster handled the pressure of a final.

The girls golf team won the City title in November 2025 by 64 strokes over runner-up Granada Hills, making it five straight City girls golf championships for Palisades. On April 29, 2026, the boys tennis team beat Taft 18.5-11 in the section final and extended its school and section record to 17 consecutive City team titles. Palisades High sports also stretched across different competitive settings: endurance racing, net sports, team ball sports and precision sports.

• November 20, 2025: Boys and girls cross-country swept Division I team titles at Elysian Park.
• February 27, 2026: Boys basketball beat Cleveland 75-56 for the City upper-division title.
• April 29, 2026: Boys tennis won its 17th straight City team title.
• April 30, 2026: Girls lacrosse beat Birmingham 20-8 for a fourth straight City title.

Flag Football’s First Night At Stadium By The Sea

The newest milestone came from a team that did not open with a trophy. Palisades High’s first flag football game in program history took place on September 13, 2026, at Stadium by the Sea. The Dolphins lost 12-0 to University High in the season opener, but the score was only one part of the night.

A 12-0 Loss Still Marked A Start

First games create reference points. Coaches learn how players respond to live defensive pressure. Athletes learn the tempo of a real game compared with practice. A new program starts building its own habits: substitutions, route timing, sideline communication and late-drive composure. Palisades did not score against University High, but the opener gave the Dolphins a baseline for player development.

The significance was especially clear because girls flag football has grown quickly across California high school athletics. A first game means new roster opportunities for students who may not have had a fall sport that fit their skill set. It also adds another entry point for younger athletes in the Palisades community who can now picture a path into high school competition.

Home Field Meant More After The Fire

Stadium by the Sea carried extra meaning in 2026. On August 21, 2026, Palisades played its first regular-season football game back at its home stadium since the January 2025 Palisades Fire. The Crenshaw game marked a recovery moment for the school and neighborhood, placing high school sports back in a familiar gathering space.

That setting made the flag football opener feel connected to something larger than a schedule date. As the broader area continued rebuilding access to sports spaces, local coverage of the Palisades Recreation Center rebuild pointed to how courts, fields and community space matter for athletes and families. High school games can carry that same civic weight, especially when a campus venue becomes part of a return to routine.

Why Palisades High Sports Achievements Matter Now

Palisades High sports gave the community several kinds of success between November 2025 and September 2026. There were dominant streaks, such as boys tennis and girls golf. There were breakthrough moments, such as boys basketball winning at the top City level for the first time since 1969. There were sustained team efforts, led by the cross-country sweep at Elysian Park. There was also a first step for flag football, a program that now has its opening game in the books.

A Local Identity Built On More Than Trophies

The Dolphins’ recent achievements mattered because they touched different parts of the school. A distance runner, a setter, a golfer, a tennis player, a lacrosse attacker, a basketball guard and a first-year flag football player all belonged to the same athletic story. That kind of range helps a high school build pride across grade levels and sports seasons.

The lesson from Palisades High sports is that a strong year can be measured in titles, but it can also be measured in participation, venue recovery and new opportunity. The banners from November 2025 and spring 2026 will remain the easiest proof. The first flag football game on September 13, 2026, may prove just as meaningful for the athletes who helped start a new chapter at Stadium by the Sea.