Sports Updates
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BY VISHU PRATHIKANTI
Webmaster The Panthers have had a strong start to the water polo season so far with a 17-4 win over Carlmont on Sept. 6, a 10-5 win against Half Moon Bay on the 13th, and a 8-5 win vs Woodside on the 20th. This season the Panthers welcome the addition of a coach Austin Carr, who despite being the new coach, was not new to the team. Carr was the assistant coach at the Burligame Aquatic Center this summer.
“I’ve been working a lot with these guys for a while now,” Carr said. “I know a lot of their strengths, a lot of their habits and it’s been easy to transition in and work from our success in summer over at [Junior Olympics] and carry that momentum over into this season.” “[Carr] really meshes with the team, and I think we work well together,” junior Jason Shevach said. Their next home game is Senior Brady Kiesling gets against Menlo Atherton on ready to shoot in a game Wednesday, Oct. 4. against Half Moon Bay.
PHOTO BY VISHU PRATHIKANTI
Boys water polo
Senior Reporter As one of the most popular sports at Burlingame High School, cross country remains welcoming while also offering an intensely competitive environment. Only being a few weeks into the season, the team has already prepared both physically and mentally for the meets. “For the beginning of the season, the team has been performing really well.” Junior Paolo Puzon said. “We had some summer practices which helped improve
our level of fitness and mindset going into the season.” The cross country coach, Obbie, is largely responsible for fostering the fun yet challenging atmosphere that embodies the practices and meets. The team remains upbeat about their chances, despite losing a lot of talent. “Although we lost a lot of our senior runners that were on varsity, the team seems even stronger now due to all the people who have intentions of racing and sim- Senior Alex Wolf leads a workply just supporting one another.” out during practice. Puzon said.
Girls water polo Copy Editor
BY SASHA BENKE
Senior Reporter
Wu and Rachel Maxwell and senior Clare Lei, the team looks to be in a good position to place well in the league. “Right now we are really working on our communication and our offense,” Sullivan Wu said. “But, a lot of people have stepped up to the plate and we are looking pretty good.”
BY SASHA BENKE
Senior Reporter After a lackluster 2-3 record in preseason games, players on the varsity volleyball team are feeling the pressure to defend their Central Coast Section title. “This season is going well so far and it’s only the beginning but we are starting off strong,” junior Fiona Garrett said. As the season picks up, challenges appear more frequently, as they do in any sport. “Every team faces challenges
Girls tennis BY DARRION CHEN
Senior Reporter
Junior goalie Tovia Sobel blocks a shot during a scrimmage.
man orientation, back to school night, and the AYSO opening parade.” “In the next six weeks we will be practicing for the Little Big Game,” Esguerra said. “We have a new choreographer so the whole team is super excited to see what they have planned for the routine.” As well as a new choreographer, cheer has also hired a new stunting coach for the season. “The stunting coach will hopefully teach us some new and exciting stunts to show off in future performances,” Esguerra said. PHOTO BY SASHA BENKE
JV Cheer does their opening routine at the “Welcome Back” rally on September 1, 2016.
The girls tennis team has started off their league season with a victory over Mills High School, providing the team with confidence. Outside of matches, the team focuses on the importance of team chemistry. “Our chemistry is good,” coach Bill Smith said. “We have many seniors contributing to the team, from the daily cheer to practice itself, so everyone wants to play more.” Senior Nicole Malik echoes this notion. “The team is cool because we have skilled players in addition to beginners, and we can
Girls golf BY STELLA LORENCE
Design Editor Cuts were made to the Girls’ Golf team for the first time this year. The final roster consists of 18 girls out of the 36 who tried out, with the “top six” set to play matches. “If I had the capacity, I wouldn’t cut anyone,” coach Joe Dito said. He hopes not to have to cut anyone next year, saying that if there’s enough interest he plans to petition to the school to create a junior varsity team. “I understand why they did
throughout the season,” Garrett said, “and our biggest block right now is working well with other players because of all the new sophomores and juniors on the team. Time and bonding will fix the team chemistry eventually.” “One reason why we lost one of our most recent games to Notre Dame Belmont was because we slipped up in the last couple of points. It was a super close game so it affected us greatly. Our energy wasn’t strong in the beginning either, so we had to make up for Senior Edwena Wong scores it in 5th set.” three aces in the Wooside match.
cater to both types of players,” Malik said. “Even as a beginner, they have a chance to get better and play against players who are a higher level than them.” “Coach is helpful, and the group is great,” freshman Elisabeth Weimar, who is excited to be on the team, said, “especially the upperclassmen who are very motivating.” Due to the strong confidence in the team, exhibited by individual skills during matches and exemplary teamwork during practice, the team has set their aims high. “We have our league playoffs marked in the schedule,” Coach Sophomore Allie McHugh Smith said, confident in the team serves in a match against Scacred Heart Cathedral. playing to that caliber.
it and next year there hopefully won’t be and hopefully there will be a JV team,” senior Camryn Kenneally, one of the top six, said. “It’s hard because there already isn’t a lot of girls who play golf,” senior top six player Mackenzie Fornesi said, “so thinking of having to cut girls - it’s kind of scary for next year, not knowing who’s going to try out again.” The team, which has already played a tournament and a match against Hillsdale, plays its next match on Friday, Sept. 29 against Aragon.
PHOTO BY STELLA LORENCE
Under the leadership of several new coaches and varsity captains junior Pia Esguerra and seniors Ashley Kung and Maddie Hawley, the cheer team is working hard to perform at a higher level. For the past few weeks, cheer has been kept occupied with preparing for football games and beginning of the year festivities. “Other than cheering at games,” Esguerra said, “recently we’ve been involved with fresh-
The Panthers line up on defense against Mt. Pleasant at the home opener. The game was a shutout with Burlingame winning 54-0.
PHOTO BY HANNAH SATO
Cheer
Football has had an outstanding start to the season, starting off 4-0 with wins over Mt. Pleasant, Sequoia and Alvarez. Senior Carlo Lopiccolo is the team’s starting quarterback for the second consecutive year. Lopiccolo, along with seniors Andrew Slaboda, Savaun Brown, and John Dryden are captains for the 2017 season. Two of the senior captains, Dryden and Brown, expressed a lot of excitement for what the rest of the season has in store.
Girls volleyball
PHOTO BY JILLY ROLNICK
The varsity girls’ water polo team looks to improve on last year’s losing record and secure a spot in Central Coast Section playoffs this season. The team won its first game two games against Carlmont on Sept. 6 and Sequoia on Sept. 13 and is optimistic about the rest of the season. The senior-heavy team has already switched up its offensive and defensive strategies from last year, according to varsity coach Perry Wu, a former All-American high school player and Division I college player. “We should be one of the more competitive teams in CCS,” Wu said. “But it is also a competitive year.” With three returning 2016-17 Peninsula Athletic League AllLeague Teams players, including senior captains Allison Sullivan
Editor-in-Chief
“We’re looking forward to SHP and Little Big Game,” Dryden said. The annual game against Sacred Heart Prep will take place October 27 at 7:30 pm at SHP, and the 90th annual Little Big Game is at San Mateo this year at 11 a.m. Most recently, the Panthers played Menlo Atherton at home last Friday. For scores and highlights check out our game recap at theburlingameb.org. The next home game is on Oct. 20, when the Panthers will take on Aragon High School.
PHOTO BY SASHA BENKE
BY JILLY ROLNICK
BY MAGGIE MURDOFF
PHOTO BY TYLER IDEMA
BY JAMES LOWDON
PHOTO BY VISHU PRATHIKANTI
Cross country
Football
September 26, 2017
Senior Camryn Kenneally swings for the first hole in her match against Aragon.