20
SPORTS
volume lii, issue no. 8 thursday, may 23, 2013
Aragon tennis team loses to Menlo, halting CCS run in second round by Isaac Wang news staff
alex furuya
Senior Quentin Bellon serves against Sacred Heart during a CCS match.
On Wednesday, May 1, the boys tennis team defeated Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep 11-7 to advance to the second round of CCS. Junior Isaac Wang won two sets, senior Rahul Joshi won one set, and freshman Jonathon Liu won two sets to bring Aragon five points in singles matches. The rest of the points came from the doubles teams. Leading the way was number one doubles sophomore Matthew Fowler and freshman Landers Ngirchemat, who won all three of their sets. During PALs, four singles players and three doubles teams would play a best of three set
match against the other team, and each win would count as a point. The first team to four would win. However, in CCS, in order to prevent stacking, there were only three singles players instead of four and three doubles teams. Also, it was changed to a round robin-based scoring system. The top three singles played one set against each of the opponent’s singles players, with the doubles teams doing the same. Each set counted as a point towards the winning team, and the first team to 10 won the match. Aragon’s CCS run came to a halt on May 3. After beating Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep 11-7 in the first round, the Dons were faced with the tough challenge of
playing the number one seed and heavy favorite to win CCS, Menlo School. Although the Dons battled hard, they ended up losing 16-2 to a very prestigious school. This loss marked the end of a very successful season. The Dons placed third in the Bay Division with a record of 11-3. The Dons then defeated Burlingame and Carlmont during the PAL Playoffs and were crowned PAL tournament champions. Aragon’s number one singles player junior Devon Hughes was named a member of the All-League first team, while number two singles Wang, number three singles Joshi, and number one doubles senior Quentin Bellon were named to PAL’s All-League second team.
Golf team places fourth in Bay Division by Matt McHugh news staff The boys golf team put together a winning season (10-8 overall) to finish fourth in the competitive Bay division. The team was very young this year, fielding a large group of six freshmen. Seniors Trevor Lahoz and Landon Hart and junior Joey Constantino were the only upperclassmen on the team. “Landon [Hart] and Trevor [Lahoz] added great depth and took on leadership roles with this young team,” says coach Guy Oling.
“I liked to set an example for the other players,” says Hart, “I would show up early to practice and show my dedication to golf. I wasn’t a coach, but I felt like a role model to our many freshmen.” One of the keys to success for this year’s team was their versatility. “We had a great combination of strengths,” adds Oling, “Every player had a unique trait. Distance on the drive, knowledge of the game, good decisions on the course, and accuracy were all important pieces to our success.” The Dons did have some issues with consistency, leading to
some of their eight losses. Hart adds, “We never all played great on the same day. We need some more confidence, so we can believe that we are as good as we are.” The Dons pulled out multiple victories against division rivals Woodside and Hillsdale. Says Oling, “The Hillsdale rivalry was classic, with both players and coaches knowing each other very well.” Adds Hart, “Next year’s team will be successful if they believe they are as good as other teams, because they are.”
Dons badminton wraps mixed season by Monica Mai news staff Note: We were not able to cover Badminton’s CCS as it took place after this issue’s final deadline. Six of Aragon’s top badminton players advanced to PAL Finals. In the boys singles match, junior Nathan Zhang lost 15-2, 15-2 to Burlingame. In the boys double match, senior Sam Bunarjo and Jaehee Park won the first round of matches, but lost the second round to CSUS. They were moved to the loser bracket, where they lost against Terra Nova 15-10, 15-7. Bunarjo comments, “I felt pretty crappy because I came down with the stomach flu the past few days so I wasn’t able to play my 100 percent, so it was disappointing for me and my partner both… and the coach too.” He continues, “It was our first time playing number one boys doubles for the whole season, so it was different for us.” In the mixed doubles match, senior Nicky Tao and sophomore Emily Mi proceeded to the loser bracket match having lost against South San Francisco. In the loser bracket match, the two won against Burlingame, then lost against Mills. Mi reflects, “We
Junior Kevin Hahn prepares to pitch against Menlo-Atherton.
valerie perez
Severson’s clutch hit sends Dons baseball home happy by Matt McHugh news staff
Senior Jaehee Park leaps to strike a birdie.
have our on and off days. Today was an off day.” In the girls single match, 2012 CCS champion, sophomore Candy Zhang, went undefeated. Zhang dominated in the final match with 15-4, 15-6. Zhang reflects, “I felt pretty confident about PAL finals.” Looking to the season as a whole, Coach Linda Brown says, “We have three freshman starting in the boys doubles, and we have a lot of new players that are coming up from exhibition last year.
brittney chew
There’s 24 players that play varsity—12 boys and 12 girls. Then, everyone else is on exhibition.” Senior Jaehee Park remarks, “Mix doubles was really hard this year, but the team really picked up. We solidified by roles.” Sophomore Vivian Shen reflects “In general, the past three years, Aragon has actually been champion. But this year, we lost the championships and tied third with South City.” Candy Zhang, Nicky Tao, and Emily Mi all advanced to CCS.
With the Dons trailing 1-0 in the seventh inning, Senior Aldo Severson hit a game-tying single with the bases loaded and one out. Severson’s hit was followed by a bases loaded walk from Andre Perkins, giving Aragon a 2-1 win over the Menlo-Atherton Bears on Senior Day. “Aldo’s the man,” says manager Lenny Souza, “He always has been. He’s been very special to our program for four years now, and I’m glad he gets to go out with a win.” “I was just trying to think about going up the middle, and just getting a base hit,” says Severson. Junior Kevin Hahn pitched all seven innings for the Dons, striking out three Bears in the process. After giving up one run in the first inning, he went on to pitch
six scoreless, giving the Dons the chance for victory. “Kevin does that day in and day out, it’s just a matter of how well we play behind him,” adds Souza. “Early on in the game I was messing up my location,” says Hahn, “I had to change my focus point, and after that it was all really smooth.” After starting the season 7-2 overall, the Dons sit at one game below .500 overall, and are just 5-9 in the Bay division. After going 10-4 in the ocean division last year, the Dons moved up to the Bay division for this season. “I think if you asked everybody on this team, they all would have wanted a little more from their season, says Souza. Severson adds, “Every year I have a fantastic experience with the team, and I’m satisfied with what we’ve done, regardless of the season’s outcome.