Big Red Fall 2015

BIG RED VOLUME 9 • NO. 1 • HOMECOMING EDITION 2015

BRING IT ON

BIG RED FALL 2015 • VOLUME 9 • NO. 1 CONNOR REESE/BIG RED

THEPlaybook

Cameron Stine:

3

Connor Reese: HEAD FANATICS

Jake Liker:

8-9

WEST SIDE STORY

Four baseball players are in the fall musical, West Side Story. Read about their transition from stadium lights to spotlights.

Joe Levin:

10-13

MARSHAL COHEN

Weeks after tearing his ACL for the second time in three years, Marshal Cohen put his head down and looks to his future both on and off the football field.

Big Red Staff:

HOMECOMING PREVIEW

14-17

Bryant Wu:

19

JOSIE BAKER

Sophomore golfer Josie Baker excels on the girls’ golf team following her stellar freshman season that came up just short of the CIF playoffs.

18

E-SPORTS

Students participate in the growing ESports phenomenon. Some have joined teams, while others are avid fans that follow games on the website Twitch.

Ellis Becker: ROWING

20

Two senior rowers travel to Massachussetts to participate in a prestigious rowing competition this fall.

Big Red Staff: FOOTBALL LINEUP

22-23

A look at the Wolverines’ starting football lineup for this year’s Homecoming game against La Salle..

Rian Ratnavale:

24-25

HONOR ROLL ATHLETES

More than ever, athletes are balancing harder and harder schedules in school while participating in ultra-competitive varsity sports.

Big Red Staff: ROUNDTABLE

26-27

The Big Red staff debates which Wolverine will suprise the school in the second half of their season, which team will dominate and gives their bold predictions.

theStaff editor-in-chief Bennett Gross, Jonathan Seymour, Henry Vogel advisers Luke Holthouse, Grant Nussbaum, Melissa Wantz

2 • BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015

assistant editors Ellis Becker, Julianna Berger, Elly Choi, Zac Harleston, Joe Levin, Jake Liker, Dario Madyoon, Carina Marx, Emily Rahhal, Rian Ratnavale, Connor Reese, Oliver Richards, Cameron Stine, Bryant Wu photographer Caitlin Neapole

BIG RED is a publication of the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle, the upper school newspaper at Harvard-Westlake School, 3700 Coldwater Canyon, Studio City, CA 91604, produced as a part of Advanced Journalism classes. The school has 1,500 students in grades 9-12. For any questions, or to purchase a subscription or to advertise, please contact us at chronicle@ hw.com or at (818)487-6512. Copies of BIG RED are distributed free on campus to students and faculty and are mailed to friends and family by subscription at $15 per year. Letters to the editor can be sent to editor-in-chief Grant Nussbaum, at gnussbaum1@hwemail.com.

BIG RED is a general interest magazine about athletics, including teams and individual athletic pursuits of Harvard-Westlake students and faculty, as well as health and fitness topics. For seasonal coverage of Wolverine teams, see The Chronicle or www.hwchronicle. com.

On the Cover: The star of the field hockey, football and girls’ volleyball teams (from left to right: Claire Quinn ’16, Mike Mapes ’16 and Zoe Baxter ’16 ) hope to lead their teams to CIF championships after good starts thus far.

Cover Image by Bennett Gross

FANATICS CONNOR REESE/BIG RED

BY ZAC HARLESTON AND CONNOR REESE Since the Fanatics inception in 2006, the Fanatics have received praise and complaints. The main grievance the Fanatics receive concerns their lack of attendance to less popular sports and less popular games.

“We are trying to increase the overall fan experience at every athletic competition,” Gabe Golob ‘16 said. “We are going to incorporate new fun cheers at basketball games such as the roller coaster and maybe even a silent night.”

With the first games of league play underway, the head fanatics are looking forward to increased turnout at games.

“We’ve seen some good show outs, but we’re definitely trying to get more and more people to come to the games,” Noah Rothman ‘16 said. “We haven’t had home football games in a while, but we have Homecoming and Senior Night coming up, which I think will bring a lot of energy. People are very excited for basketball season, and I think more and more fanatics will start coming out.”

The fanatics hope to create an encouraging home environment for Wolverine athletes, while also creating an unfriendly environment for opposing teams.

“The goal for the fanatics for the rest of the year is to create a hostile environment for opposing teams and an exciting environment for our teams,” Mike Mapes ‘16 said. “Nothing is more fun than for a team to play in front of a large and loud home crowd. We hope to give this experience to as many teams and games as we can.”

The five seniors were chosen by last year’s head fanatics.

This year, Alexandria Oser ‘16 becomes the third ever female to be a head fanatic. The other four head fanatics are Mapes, Nick Richmond ‘16, Golob and Rothman.

“I think the goal of the fanatics every year should be to increase the popularity of all sports on campus and make sure that every team gets to have a ‘home court advantage’ when they play at Harvard-Westlake,” Gabe Golob ‘16 said.

Social media is a tool that the

fanatics use often. The HW Fanatics ‘15-’16 Facebook page has over 400 members, and is used frequently by the head fanatics to announce where and when games will be held. The page is also used to update students on the results of games.

“We, of course, want to increase fan attendance to all sports so we’re using social media as a tool even more than in the past,” Richmond said.

Students believe the fanatics have been doing a good job so far this year about increasing interest in going to sporting events.

“The fanatics group is very good at hyping events up and encourages attendance,” Keon Niknejad ‘17 said. “I’m not sure if it actually increases attendance, but it definitely gets the word out.”

But maybe this years’ fanatics are different.

“I feel that turnouts for athletic events have been larger this year when compared with years past,” Hailey de la Vara ‘17 said.

GABE GOLOB ‘16

NICK RICHMOND ’16

ALEX OSER ’16

NOAH ROTHMAN ’16

MIKE MAPES ’16 BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 3

RIAN RATNAVALE/BIG RED

BENNETT GROSS/BIG RED

SERVES UP Left: Zoe Baxter ’16 serves the ball during the Wolverines’ 3-0 victory over Marlborough Oct. 1

HOME FREE Right: Loyal Terry ’19 dodges a defender in the Wolverines’ 44-23 route of Jefferson High School Sept. 4

AQUAMAN Bottom: Ben Hallock ’16 winds up to shoot the ball in the Wolverines’ 18-5 victory against Huntington Beach Oct. 5 CONNOR REESE/BIG RED

MILA BARZDUKAS/BIG RED

SKYWALKER Right: Jenna Moustafa ’17 rallies with her opponent at a preseason practice.

PROTECT THIS HOUSE

CONNOR REESE/BIG RED

Goalie Sam Krutonog ’18 saves a shot in the boys’ water polo team’s 18-5 win over the Hunington Beach Oilers.

In the Spotlight

BY JAKE LIKER Four baseball players swap their baseball uniforms for costumes to act in “West Side Story.”

I

n May of 2013, the stage was a floodlight-rid- signed a role. Despite getting cold feet about auden Dodger Stadium, and the players looked ditioning in September, he was reminded that he to their teammates for support. In November had made a promise to Walch. “[Suddleson and I] thought [auditioning] was a of 2015, four baseball players will perform West Side Story under the spotlights of a different stage, cool idea, and it would be a great way to repay Mr. that of Rugby Auditorium, leaning on their cast- Walch for all the support he’s given us over the last few years,” Slye said. mates for encouragement.

Slye was cast as Riff, who is “arguably the third The road to Rugby has been a much more anxlargest role in the play, if you want to look at it that iety-provoking experience for the players.

“When I was auditioning it was the most ner- way,” Walsh said. The last time the school put on a vous I’d ever been, more nervous than I had ever production of West Side Story in 1997, Jake Gyllenbeen for any baseball game,” Jake Suddleson ‘16, haal was cast as Riff. Jason Segel was Lieutenant who was cast as Lieutenant Schrank, said. “It gave Schrank, Suddleson’s role.

“I did not expect [to be cast as Riff ],” Slye said. me so much respect for what those guys do, because it takes a lot to get up in front of people and “I actually wrote on my audition sheet, ‘just so you know, I’m not sure if I can sing or dance.’” sing or dance and really put yourself out there.”

But when it comes to being in motion, the role Tall, broad-shouldered and with a band-aid on his forehead (a teammate dropped a dumb- of Action is the most centered on moving around.

Playing Action is Casey Giolito ‘17, bell on his head in the weight room), who, unlike the others, didn’t need to Suddleson looks the part of a police ofbe prodded to join the production. He ficer. And that’s without mentioning his already planned on joining before the most defining feature. other players decided to.

“I’ve always thought that Jake Sud“I’ve been acting since I was in 5th dleson has a wonderful speaking voice,” grade, and it’s what I want to do as a properforming arts teacher Ted Walch said. fession when I grow up,” Giolito said.

“It’s a very deep, very interesting, very Walsh said Giolito’s energy fits the adult voice which makes him extremely ’ role. suitable for an adult role.”

Mccabe “I love his height. He’s 6 feet 5 inches Walch is arguably the theater deSlye ’16 tall. I love his jittery energy. His role is partment’s most apt ambassador to the baseball team. He’s a co-director of the play, about a guy who can’t sit still, and Giolito can’t sit has worked with student actors for 51 years and still, so it works out very well,” Walch said.

For all four players, theater has been a learning is a devout fan of the school’s baseball team. So it was only fitting that he was the one who picked experience, yet a surprisingly similar one to baseSuddleson and two other seniors, McCabe Slye ’16 ball.

“On the baseball team, if you are on time to and Paul Giacomazzi ’16, to try out.

“I’ve been working with student actors for 51 something, then you’re late, and if you’re early years, and you can somehow just sense something to something, then you’re on time. So to every in somebody. I sensed particularly in Slye, a kind rehearsal that we’ve had, Slye, Suddleson, Giaof a natural gift, what I thought would be a gift for comazzi and I have gotten there at least 30 minutes before and it boggles the minds of the other acting,” Walch said.

Giacomazzi was cast as Luis, one of the Sharks, kids, but we’re just so used to it and the directors but if you had told him two years ago that he would love it,” Giolito said.

Walch noted their discipline, their work ethic, be in the musical, he wouldn’t have believed you.

“I would never—I’d be like ‘there’s no way, I and yes, even their punctuality. But there is one big wouldn’t want to do that,’” Giacomazzi admitted. difference Giolito picked up on between the field and the stage.

“But now that I’ve done it, it’s actually pretty cool.”

“Girls. No girls on the baseball field, that’s for Slye also had no prior experience with theater other than a fourth grade play for which he was as- sure,” Giolito said. nathanson s

M O V I N G F O R W A R D

Marshal Cohen ’16 has battled a bad knee, but he never let setbacks kill his passion for football. As another injury ends his high school career, Cohen puts his head down and works hard, looking to the future.

By Joe Levin Marshal Cohen ‘16 bobbles a snap and sprints towards his offensive line. It’s the first game of his senior year, and it’s the big one. Loyola.

Two years ago, on this same field, Cohen and his Wolverines shocked everybody with a win. But that was two years ago. That was an ACL tear, a surgery and hours of rehab ago.

There’s nowhere to run on the inside, so Cohen bounces to the open field. He started the game with an interception but followed that with a big run to get his team where they are now: inside the 20-yard-line, about to tie the game up.

He sprints past the 15, the 10-yard-lines, and he sees a safety coming his way. He plants his foot to cut, and the safety comes in low to make the hit, below that surgically repaired left knee. Cohen flies in the air and lands on top of the safety, but the knee does not move. He hears the sound that has haunted him for the last two years, the sound he never wanted to hear again. It sounds like someone biting into a carrot, the sound of cartilage and ligaments and scar tissue snapping, the sound of high school hopes and dreams ripping in half.

He tries to jog to the sideline, but it hurts too much to run. The team doctor does his tests, and without saying a word, looks at the trainer. The trainer looks at Cohen, and he knows.

He lies back on the trainer’s table, puts a towel over his face, and begins to cry.

Cohen was too big for Pop Warner when he signed up at eight. He wanted to play quarterback, like everybody else, but he looked like an eight-year-old offensive linemen, so that’s where the coach played him.

Two years of offensive line, and Cohen had had enough. He

10 • BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015

searched for another team that would let him play quarterback, and he found one in the Wilshire Huskies. He still remembers the first play when everything clicked, when he went from dreaming of playing in college to knowing he would play in college. He remembers watching NFL players on TV and being able to translate their moves to the Pop Warner fields.

It was his first game with the new team. In his purple uniform, he got his handle on a bad snap, and then raced outside. A defender was coming, and Cohen planted, cut and got free. Then he juked another guy. It was only a 10-yard gain, but it was enough.

“I can do this,” Cohen thought.

“This is fun.”

He was hooked. Football was taking him places.

When Cohen reached middle school, he knew had to find a school with a real, tackle football team. It didn’t matter what division they were in. He didn’t know what divisions were, as long as there were pads and helmets and goal posts. That’s how he ended up at Brentwood, which plays in, as Cohen describes it, “Division 13.”

As a freshman, he should have started at varsity quarterback, and according to Cohen, anyone on the team would agree. But the coach leaned on seniority, and the other quarterback was a senior. Cohen’s varsity dreams were dead in the water. The JV team that he led went undefeated, the first JV team to do so in school history.

In their first game, they were winning 44-0 at half time. The second half was mayhem; the JV coach let Cohen call plays. Offensive linemen lined up at receiver.

The game was over, and they were just boys playing football, having fun.

After the game, the varsity

coach learned what happened. Furious, he went to every JV player’s helmet and ripped off the wing decals, so they were just plain and blue.

“We knew we were good,” Cohen explains now. “And he didn’t like that.”

It was only a few more weeks before Cohen knew he had to transfer. He wanted to play football, and he had gotten a taste of that. Now, he had to play real high school football.

“It was fun, but it wasn’t challenging,” Cohen said of his time at Brentwood. “It wasn’t competitive.”

He met Chad Kanoff ‘13, then Harvard-Westlake’s senior quarterback, at a quarterback camp. They were doing drills, and Cohen explained what he wanted: a good school with a good football team.

“There’s no one behind me,” Kanoff replied, who had committed to play quarterback at Princeton.

So, Cohen sent a HarvardWestlake athletic director an email with some tape. He applied and got in.

After his first summer practice, he went home with his new playbook. The Wolverines ran a no-huddle offense. There were plays to learn, but harder still were the hand signals. All week, he practiced with his dad and his friends.

They would play coach, and he would play quarterback, getting the signals and making the play.

At the end of that week, they had a 7-on-7 scrimmage. The first play, Cohen looked to the sideline for the signal, but all he saw was a blur.

He nodded like he understood, dropped back and threw an interception.

“I had no idea what [Coach] was doing,” Cohen says. “He was going so fast.”

BENNETT GROSS/BIG RED

BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 11

MOVING FORWARD Cohen didn’t know if he would be able to play in the opener against Loyola his sophomore year until the Tuesday before the game. There was a holdup with his eligibility after the transfer. That week of practice, Cohen kept making small mistakes.

He was trying to get everything under control.

It seemed like the entire school came out to see that game, the biggest in school history. When Cohen ran out, he was excited, ready to see himself against real competi-

BENNETT GROSS/BIG RED

STANDBY: Marshal Cohen ’16 looks out over the field before the start of the game against Loyola. Under his command at quarterback, the Wolverines made the playoffs last year.

12 • BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015

tion.

“This is real football,” he thought. “This is what I’ve been looking for.”

This was a rivalry, but a lopsided one. Harvard-Westlake can beat Loyola in debate competitions and Science Bowls. Harvard-Westlake is the nerd school, Loyola is for the jocks. Loyola, the six-time state championship winners. HarvardWestlake, who rarely makes a playoff run.

The game started out slowly in the August heat, as the Wolverines methodically running the ball down Loyola’s throat. It wasn’t until the second drive that they threw the ball. All game long, Cohen ran and threw the ball around Loyola’s defense, but he had no idea what he was doing. On a read option, he would make the wrong read but run around the linebacker and find the end zone anyway.

“What’s so special about that game, personally, is I was just playing,” he says. “Not having any idea what I was doing.”

At the end of the fourth quarter, he took a knee and hugged his senior center. The players on the sideline ran out towards him, and then came the fans, his new classmates, and they all celebrated there at the center of the field. A school that didn’t care about football transformed into a Texas high school for one night. This was Friday Night Lights. This was real football.

And, with a sophomore star at the helm, it seemed to just be beginning.

The next four games followed a similar pattern. The crowds were as big as they had ever been, and the Wolverines played the best football they ever had. When they played Sylmar, Time Warner televised it as their game of the week, and they won 65-24, now 4-0. After every game, Cohen would have to wait before heading into the locker room. Newspaper reporters wanted interviews. At school, everyone was talking about the new kid.

The next big game was Serra.

The same Serra that sends players to USC year after year. The same

Serra that had won two state titles in three years and was looking to make that three in four. The Wolverines knew they could win that game. They were just waiting to prove it.

But first they had to beat Palisades High at homecoming, a game they knew they would win as well.

It was homecoming, after all. The team you schedule for homecoming is a team you know you can beat.

All game long, Cohen couldn’t take his eyes off of the Ferris wheel in the end zone. There were carnival games everywhere and senior girls. He had plans to go to a party afterwards, maybe see one of those senior girls.

Early in the fourth quarter, Cohen looked at the scoreboard after a Pali touchdown. It was 31-11, and they were losing. When the quarter ended, it read 45-18.

He let himself get distracted.

He let his team get distracted. He failed, he says, as a as a leader. He failed himself.

As the Ferris wheel taunted him in the end zone, and the senior girls looked on, Cohen hung his head with the shock and weight of failure. He did not go to any parties that night.

He was going to make a step in this game, one step closer to college.

He jogged on the field, and bungled the snap. He got it under control and started running in the open field. He made a cut, and his knee tightened and the pain began.

That’s when he heard it the first time. A bite into a carrot. Dead in his tracks, he looked around.

“What was that sound?” he thought to himself, scanning the field for a defender. “Did I just get tackled?”

Nobody had touched him.

On the sideline, he thought to himself, “Worst case scenario.”

He knew it was torn.

The next Friday, the Serra game was, in every respect, a disaster. The Wolverines lost 63-7. The cockiness was gone. The swagger was history. They were once a team on the rise, but now they had no direction.

“We were so confident,” Cohen remembers. “And I think that’s part of why we lost to Pali. We were thinking, ‘Oh Pali, we’re just gonna beat them.’ And then Serra, once we lost to Pali, it was like, ‘We just gotta get through the Serra game.’”

The next week, against St. Paul, Cohen was standing on the sideline about to go in. He remembers feeling very ready, ready to shake the stigma of only being an athlete and become a real high school quarterback. He had worked for this moment, by himself in the weight room and on the field with quarterback coaches, ever since he made two kids miss in Pop Warner.

“This is the first time I can say that I truly put in 110 percent this summer,” Cohen says now, looking out over the field that was the backdrop for his high school career.

He had already rehabbed his knee. Now it was time to strengthen it, to get it back to where it once was and then better than it ever had been. He needed his knee for his senior season. He needed his knee to play himself into a college scholarship offer.

He lifted with the team and without the team. He stayed late after practice working on throws.

He was quicker than ever, stronger than ever, better than ever.

In the weight room, he finally was squatting the same weight he had as a sophomore, but he wasn’t happy. He wanted to squat another five pounds more, so come the season opener against Loyola, he could shock everybody again.

Cohen discounts his junior season. He understood the game better mentally, but he was lost physically. All summer he worked on rehabbing his knee so that he could play. He wasn’t trying to get back to where he was as a sophomore, he was just trying to get well enough. He missed that season’s Loyola game still nursing the torn ACL, and his team lost without him.

When he came back in week two, he was clearly not the same player he once was, and his Wolverines lost in the first round of the playoffs.

When Cohen woke up the morning of this year’s Loyola game, he wasn’t excited. He wasn’t nervous either.

He was ready. Ready to show everyone what he’d been working so hard towards. Ready to show himself that all the work was worth it.

Ready to prove that his sophomore year wasn’t a fluke. Ready to earn a Division-I offer.

“They haven’t beaten us when I’ve played,” he would tell people. It was a joke, but he was right.

About three hours before kickoff, the team gathered in the weight room to focus and relax. They were doing breathing exercises. Cohen sat there, in the same room where he had fought his own body. In the same room where Cohen became Cohen again. In the same room where he caught a ghost.

Inhale, exhale.

“All I have to do is be myself,” he thought.

Inhale, exhale.

“You’re gonna kill it.”

Inhale, exhale.

“You’re gonna tear your ACL again.”

He pushed it out of his mind as quickly as it came.

“Get out the negative thoughts.

You’re ready. You deserve this. That would be crazy. That would be the worst.”

Inhale, exhale.

It wasn’t long before it was time to play.

Cohen threw an interception on the first drive. He was trying to force a play, he says, trying to make something out of nothing. He didn’t let the game come to him.

When he got off the field, he expected his coach to yell at him.

But instead, his coach explained what he did wrong, without popping any veins in his forehead.

Cohen didn’t need to be yelled at anymore. He knew he had messed up, and he knew how to recover. He wasn’t just an athlete anymore. He was a quarterback.

He was at school when his mom called him with the news a week after the injury.

“Doctor says it’s torn,” she said over the phone. “I’m so sorry.”

Whenever people would come up to him at school and ask him if it was his ACL again, he would tell them he hadn’t gotten his MRI results back. He didn’t want anyone to know it was over. He didn’t want anyone to believe it was over. He wanted to preserve the same hope that, a week before, drove he and his coach to talk about him making a return by the end of the season, putting on the black and red one more time.

But those dreams were dead now. He texted his coach the news.

“I’m sorry,” Coach texted back.

“Now we have to figure out the next step.”

Over the last few summers, Cohen has interned at Good Samaritan Hospital, working with a doctor in the operating room. It’s something he loves, and it’s something he wants to do. He wants to help people hands-on. He wants to help future Cohen Cohens get back on the football field to chase their dreams.

He wants to be pre-med in college, so maybe it’s not a bad thing that he didn’t get the Division-I offer he wanted. In Division-III, it’s academics and then football, and there’s still football.

BENNETT GROSS/BIG RED

ON THE RUN: Marshal Cohen ’16 scrambles against the Loyola Cubs on Aug. 28. On a similar play later that game, Cohen tried to cut, tearing his ACL. Cohen tore the same ACL as a sophomore.

He has spent over a hundred hours in the operating room these past years, learning by watching.

He’ll watch a five-hour surgery, and he never gets bored.

The week after the season opener and the week after the last high school football game he will ever play, Cohen Cohen stands in the middle of practice, fenced in by boys in pads ramming at full speed, reckless and alive. Cohen is in shorts and T-shirt, and under those shorts you can see a neoprene knee brace there to help him stand.

He watches his team warm up, and he watches somebody else lead the pre-practice chant, and then he watches a freshman take his place behind center in shotgun.

Cheetah west! Cheetah west!

Monday-Monday-Monday! Down, set…hut!

A whistle blows, and the team runs off in every direction to get water, to prepare for another play and then another and then another.

An old teammate heads for Cohen. “How’s the knee, man?”

“It’s okay.”

“Hey, I’m real sorry you have to go through all this again. That sucks,” and the teammate is staring at the brace around Cohen’s knee, not even pretending to look his old quarterback in the eyes.

“It sucks,” Cohen says, and the players are done with their water break and heading straight for him now. He is standing where the next drill is about to begin, and he is just another obstacle in their way.

“It really, really sucks.”

He makes his way to his coach and asks if he could get some exercise on the stationary bike. He talked to some Division III coaches earlier, and they said they were still interested. He has to get healthy.

He has to play football again.

So, as receivers and defensive backs gab at one another, and linemen and linebackers hurl their bodies at one another, Cohen Cohen heads past the locker rooms to an empty work out room. He climbs on a stationary bike and starts pedaling.

BENNETT GROSS/BIG RED

BACK IN BLACK: Marshal Cohen ’16 talks to the head referee before kickoff against archrival Loyola on Aug. 28. After football, Cohen hopes to become an orthopedic surgeon.

BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 13

HOMECOMING 2015

WOLVERINES COME OUT TO PLAY BENNETT GROSS/BIG RED

BY BENNETT GROSS, CARINA MARX, DARIO MADYOON AND RIAN RATNAVALE It’s the biggest day of the year for Harvard-Westlake athletics. For the trio of Wolverine teams playing on Homecoming, it’s the best chance players have to perform in front of parents, alumni and mobs of Fanatics. For field hockey, it’s a chance to turn around a tough season. For volleyball, it’s a non-league tuneup during the team’s hottest start in years. For football, it’s a crucial league matchup that could decide the Wolverines’ playoff hopes.

14 • BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015

BY THE NUMBERS: HOMECOMING 2014

Football

BY BENNETT GROSS After defeating Westchester High School last year 49-9 on Homecoming night, the Wolverines’ football team is looking to make it two consecutive victories on Homecoming.

The team is only comprised of 46 total players because there is no junior varsity squad this fall, so all 14 of the freshman in the football program have the opportunity to play varsity.

In the squad’s first game, the Wolverines were defeated by archrival Loyola 34-0. Starting quarterback Marshal Cohen ’16 was injured during the team’s second drive of the game.

In the team’s next four nonleague games against Jefferson, Granada Hills, Taft and Westchester, the Wolverines won three of the four games, only losing in their first true road game to Taft.

Harvard-Westlake then won their first Angelus League game against St. Paul in stunning fashion, coming back from a 21-point deficit with under eight minutes remaining in the game.

The results from the St. Francis game were not available as of press time.

“Homecoming is the game that we get the most fans, so even though we are always motivated for league games, this one is extra special for us,” Defensive End Dietrich Tribull ’16 said.

This year’s Homecoming game against La Salle will have big implications for how the Wolverines will finish in Angelus League play and whether they make the playoffs or not.

“Homecoming is always a fun time of year for any high school and is obviously built around the football game and we are excited for this year’s challenge against a competitive La Salle team,” Head Coach Scot Ruggles said. “We are going to do everything we can to get an important league victory.

Since this is a league game, we expect La Salle to come out with a lot of intensity.”

49-9

FOOTBALL WIN AGAINST WESTCHESTER

5-0

FIELD HOCKEY WIN AGAINST GLENDORA

1-3

VOLLEYBALL LOSS AGAINST OAKS CHRISTIAN

BENNETT GROSS/BIG RED

JUST KICKIN’ IT Kicker Josh Lyons ’17 boots the opening kickoff against St. Paul High School on Oct. 9. With the Wolverines’ 28-21 win over the Swordsmen, the Wolverines moved to an overall record of 4-2.

Quarterback Noah Rothman ’16, who took over for Cohen, has completed more than half of his passes, and has thrown for 524 yards and six touchdowns in three starts this season. Not only is Rothman the team’s leading passer, but he is second on the team in rushing with 188 yards and two touchdowns.

“This is the first time that I am going to be playing on varsity football on Homecoming, so I am

really excited to just get out there and put on a show for all of the fans watching,” Defensive End Ben Cooper ’16 said.

The defense is anchored by Mike Mapes ’16 and Eric Bradley ’16 who are both senior captains and lead the team in tackles. They are also helped by Princeton lacrosse commit Phil Thompson ’16 who not only plays on the defensive line, but is also the team’s starting running back.

Thomas Glover ’18 is leading the team in rushing yards with 448 and an average of 11.2 yards per carry. He also is averaging almost 90 yards rushing per game.

“I am really excited for Homecoming,” Glover said. “I am just going to try and have fun out there. At the end of the day it is no different than any other league game, and I am just going to do what I have been doing so far this season.”

BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 15

HOMECOMING 2015

Field Hockey

BY CARINA MARX As Emma Wasserman ’16 stepped on to the field for the first time since sophomore year to play field hockey, she was nervous. She had not played for two years and was trying to keep up with the fast pace of the varsity team, yet her teammates were still grateful and excited to have such a pivotal member of their team return.

The forward was the top scorer on the team for both her freshman and sophomore years, but Wasserman decided to stop playing and manage the team at the beginning of junior year. As she returns, she is working on building up her endurance and remembering her stick skills.

“I missed being a part of a team playing the sport I loved,” she said.

Now, as she approaches her last Homecoming game, she is nervous about the heat and certain skills the

squad needs to work on. Emotions run high for the senior, as she looks to extend her legacy on the field.

“I’m excited about playing [Glendora] again,” Wasserman said. “I’ve gotten a feel for how ev-

“

will be the squad’s last regular season game before the playoffs. Head Coach Erin Creznic said that the addition of a crowd won’t feel pressuring for the team, but will help them with the drive they need to play their very best.

The last time the squad played

I THINK THEY’RE GOING TO BE FIRED UP. I THINK WE’LL BE READY. -ERIN CREZNIC HEAD COACH NATHANSON’S

eryone on the team plays now, and I definitely think we have what it takes to beat them.”

This is out of the ordinary for the rest of the team as well. The game against Glendora on Oct. 24

CARINA MARX/BIG RED

Glendora on Sept. 29, they lost in overtime. According to Creznic, the girls held the lead throughout most of the game, but couldn’t maintain it. This is something Creznic would like the team to work on, in order

to avoid it in future situations.

On Senior Day, the team will be playing Bonita, who they lost to 2-0 last time they played Oct. 6 because of the same issue. They played well for most of the game, but there was a period of about five minutes where they let their guards down and couldn’t come back from it.

“As a team, we’re practicing a lot and making sure we’re all communicating and on the same page when on the field,” Wasserman said.

In practices, the team has been working on both offensive and defensive drills. This is not only to prepare for the Homecoming game, but to prepare for if they go deep into the playoffs. The two main problems Creznic focuses on in practices are tipping and being outnumbered. Tipping is making sure the ball gets inside the goal from a close angle. The most common outnumbering situation is when there are more opposing offenders than defenders on the field.

She had noticed this tends to happen a lot to her team.

“I think they’re going to be fired up, and I think we will be ready,” Creznic said.

CARINA MARX/BIG RED

TAKE A SHOT Claire Quinn ’16 (left) moves the ball and Taylor Jones ’18 (right) challenges a defender during the Wolverines’ 4-0 loss to Edison High School on Sept. 8. The Wolverines will take on Glendora High School, who defeated the squad 2-1 earlier this year, on Homecoming.

16 • BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015

Volleyball

BY DARIO MADYOON AND RIAN RATNAVALE It’s Sept. 15, and the Wolverines step back onto the hardwood of Taper Gymnasium for their first home game of the season.

The last time they played a game in Wolverine territory, it ended in disappointment: they got swept by league rival Flintridge Sacred Heart, leaving them with a 2-6 record in league play.

It left a bitter taste in their mouth, but they didn’t let it shake them up coming into this year.

They didn’t lose faith. They had to trust the process, their preparation and their ability.

Coming in to this year, there were no more excuses. It didn’t matter that it was just their second year in a new and improved Mission League. All they wanted to do was win and improve.

Fast forward, and the Wolverines are off to a hot start with a 3-1 record in league play, and, perhaps more importantly, a 3-0 victory against Flintridge Sacred Heart at home.

The Wolverines set the tone for this season of success much earlier, however, practicing since July 27 and participating in several tournaments early on in the season.

“The tournaments we have played have without a doubt prepared us for this season,” Setter Kaira Muraoka-Robinson ’16 said.

“The Oxnard tournament really showed us the potential we have together and really inspired us to just keep getting after it. The Durango tournament on the other hand showed us what we needed to work on as a team. With those two combinations in mind, we really pushed ourselves to become better all around.”

Despite their early success, the Wolverines are still hungry to win the Mission League this year after the addition of Marymount and Marlborough last year.

“We want to keep improving

throughout the season and build on our individual skills and playing as a team,” Captain and Libero Zoe Baxter ’16 said. “We really value not being complacent because a successful team keeps evolving throughout the season.”

The squad won its home opener against Santa Barbara in straight sets Sept. 15, signaling another step in the right direction.

But the real test would be in their first league game against Notre Dame two weeks later. It wasn’t the preseason anymore: this was the real deal. It was time to see if all the work they had put in finally paid off.

The Wolverines dominated the game, sweeping the Knights after mounting an impressive comeback in the second set, proving that they were mentally tough enough to not only hang in, but to dominate the Mission League this year.

They faced similar adversity in their first league home match as well, but were still able to come out with a clean sweep of league rival Marlborough.

“We were playing nervous at first, but by the end of that set, we knew that in order to win we had to play together and play for each other—not worry about who was on the other side of the net. That was our mindset going out into the second game. We played without a fear of losing,” Baxter said.

Now that the season is in full swing, the team has shaken off some of the nerves that may have accounted for slow starts in previous games and they are looking to capitalize.

Last year, the Wolverines left the floor of Taper Gymnasium demoralized and defeated after losing 1-3 to Oaks Christian on Homecoming on Sept. 27.

The loss would set the tone for the rest of their season.

The team fell short of a league championship and did not even make the playoffs.

The Wolverines finished 13-17 overall as well as 2-6 in Mission League play.

With Homecoming around the corner, however, the Wolverines are ready to go, with the hope that they can bring their journey from setback to success full circle against St. Lucy’s on Oct. 24.

DARIO MADYOON/BIG RED

BUMP IT Bella Hedley ’18 prepares to pass in the volleyball team’s 3-0 win at Notre Dame on Sept. 29.

BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 17

Josie Baker Sophomore Golf Superstar

BENNETT GROSS/BIG RED

18 •BIG RED FALL 2014

BY BRYANT WU When Josie Baker ’18 finished her second round at River Ridge Golf Course Oct. 27, 2014, she thought she had just missed a great opportunity.

Baker had shot 78 on the first day and was hopeful. Then she shot 86 on the second day, ending what she had believed to be an opportunity for her to make CIF Regionals as a freshman. However, Baker later learned that she was tied and was entered in a sudden death playoff match for the last of six spots advancing to CIF Regionals.

Baker made the most of this opportunity and ended the playoff on the first hole.

“I would say that this was the defining moment of my golf career,” Baker said. “It was my first major accomplishment, and it was really great to be able to play in such a high level tournament in my freshman year.”

Baker won the playoff, and was the only golfer on the girls’ golf team to qualify for CIF Regionals.

This victory was the first in a serious of accomplishments Baker achieved over the past couple of years.

“I started playing golf when I was five,” Baker said. “But I didn’t start playing seriously until about two years ago.”

In her efforts to improve, Baker switched to a new coach based in Colorado and installed a putting green in her front yard. Baker spends one to three hours each day on the putting green trying to become the best player she can be.

Over the past year, Baker played in 2 American Junior Golf Association events, in which she finished in 24th and 10th place. She is currently ranked 600th in the nation.

“I plan to play in college, hopefully for a Division I school,” Baker said. “My hope is that I can play professionally, but I would have to work really hard to get to that point, so I am just going to try as hard as I can to try to reach that goal.”

Baker also states that playing with the team has helped her improve the weaker aspects of her game.

“Playing on the team has really helped me improve,” Baker said. “It has given me the opportunity to both hone my mental game and learn from my teammates. Just being able to be helped on a putt or help another teammate read a putt has helped me improve my short game tremendously, and I don’t think I would be this good without them.”

Baker’s teammates also expressed their admiration of Baker’s game and mentality.

“Josie is by far one of the, if not the, most talented players I’ve ever seen,” said teammate Emma Kateman ’17. “She is 100% dedicated to the team and always gives it her all. She genuinely loves the sport, which is rare to find. This season she has consistently been one of our top scorers, and I know that she will lead our way to number one.”

THE VALVE CORPORATION

VIRTUAL HATS AND VIRTUAL SPORTS

BY CAMERON STINE & OLIVER RICHARDS With the rising popularity of video games around the world many gamers have become involved in competitive gaming. Most Esports, the term for competitive gaming, have fans watching games on streaming sites like Twitch.tv, but recently Esport leagues have signed deals with major television broadcast companies in the United States and abroad.

Esports is a multi-billion dollar industry and continues to grow as new games are made and new players join. One tournament in Seattle in 2015 had a prize pool of $18 million. Popular games such as League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Team Fortress 2 have major tournaments that net more than one million viewers each game of the tournament. One of the biggest companies in Esports, the Valve Corporation, developed three major competitive video games: Dota 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Team Fortress 2.

Valve released Team Fortress 2 in 2007. Since then, it has improved and refined the mechanics of the game, which is a team-based first person shooter with different classes each with their own weapons and special abilities. As the game grew more popular, a competitive game mode was created called sixer. Competitive games consists of two six player teams that battle for control of the map.

Zach Belatache ‘16 played Team Fortress 2 on a competitive team called Pootis Force. He

played the scout character, who works as a utility playing. So really it was all about fun for me; I player for the team. Most competitive teams just played competitive when I had fun doing consist of two soldiers, two scouts, one medic it, and stopped when I stopped having fun,” and one demo man. Belatache played in the Steel Belatache said. division of the United Gaming Clan (UGC).

Another aspect of Team Fortress 2 is cosmetic UGC is an organization which creates items. Generally these items come leagues for competitive players to in the form of hats, which players play other teams. After playing the equip to their character to alter game for two years, Belatache was their appearance. Although they do invited to join a competitive team. not change the actual gameplay or “I was the second most offer players any advantage, they are inexperienced player on the team; still prized in the game as a status for example, our Demoman, who was symbol. There are currently 1159 our best player, bought TF2 the day it different hats in the game, and each came out,” Belatache said. of them has a different value in real ’ In his role as scout, Belatache money. Players can either earn these Zach moved around the map, gathering items through playing the game or Belatache ’16 the whereabouts of the enemy players buy them from other players on the so his team could move in and take them out. ingame market.

“When I joined the team, I mostly did it for “I have [around] 10 hats; all but one I got fun; a guy in a public server I was playing in said through trading,” Belatache said. “I think I was pretty good and asked if I wanted to play trading is a really great system; it let me get over as a sub for a casual team, so I joined,” Belatache $90 worth of in-game items, but I’ve only spent said. a total of $8.50 on TF2 stuff. Plus I’ve actually Eventually, the team became more made money by selling stuff I didn’t want, which competitive and raised its expectations for is pretty cool.”

Belatache, meaning that Belatache would have Hats are unlocked in cases that drop during to become more serious and invest more time the game. Rare hats can even sell for thousands in the game. of dollars on Team Fortress 2 trading websites.

“In TF2, to play at a high level, Scout mains David Aaron ’17 has an “unusual” hat which like me have to be able to off-class, or play as sells for over $1000 on trade sights. other classes a lot, especially Pyro and Engineer.

“The first unusual hat I unboxed was worth At the time I was a terrible engineer, so I opted less than my current one, but I ended up selling to leave the team rather than spend hours on my first unusual for less than market price end practicing a class I didn’t really have fun because I was new to trading,” Aaron said. nathanson s

BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 19

CHARLES ROWING ON THE

BY

ELLIS BECKER

Student rowers Alex Oser ’16 and Jenna Thompson ’16 raced in the 51st Annual Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Massachusetts. The regatta was hosted Oct. 17-18 and served as a temporary home for high school, collegiate and professional crews from around the world. The 5-kilometer course has crews row on the Charles River as they pass Boston landmarks such as Boston University, Harvard Business School, Harvard Square, Harvard Stadium and Cambridge Boathouse.

Oser and Thompson both raced in the women’s high school varsity eight competition, the top event for high school women’s eight-person boats. Women at that level are also eligible to race in the junior varsity eight event and the third varsity eight event. Oser and Thompson’s boat raced against approximately 80 other crews in their event.

Oser and Thompson are both seasoned rowers, with seven years of experience between them. Thompson has been rowing since her freshman year. Along the way, she has rowed for the USA junior national team and has been in multiple nationally ranked boats. Oser has been rowing since her sophomore year, and she has also rowed in many nationally ranked boats. Recently, Thompson committed to row at Dartmouth University, and Oser is also being recruited to row by universities across the country.

“I honestly believe that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without rowing,” Thompson said. “It’s made me a better friend and a better student and has taught me the value of hard work and determination.”

Both athletes have trained with the Marina Aquatic Center Junior Rowing team, under the tutelage of women’s coach Zohar Abramovitz.

“They both bring a great deal of experience,” Abramovitz said. “They’re both outstanding competitors and have really grown into being leaders on the team.”

The program consists of approximately 150 high school students from across the Los Angeles area.

Harvard-Westlake has always had a number of students involved in this program, with six Wolverines competing for the team during the 2015-16 season. Last year, Riley Spain ’15 graduated and now rows for Stanford University, Ethan Drapac ’15 for Santa Clara University and Sabrina Zaks ’15 for Columbia University.

This year, the Harvard-Westlake representation on the team consists of three freshman, one sophomore and two seniors. Thompson was a member of the women’s varsity eight last year, in which she had the opportunity to travel to Florida for the US Rowing Youth National Championships. Her boat placed ninth in the entire nation.

The Marina Aquatic Center, or MAC, varsity teams have always been very successful since the organization’s founding in the 1990’s. The program has sent boats to the Head of the Charles Regatta for the last nine years. Last year, the women’s varsity eight placed sixth out of 85, finishing in 18 minutes and five seconds.

“We are just hoping to have a clean race. It’s a tough course with a lot of things that can go wrong out there,” Abramovitz said. “But if everything goes well we definitely have the ability to finish in the top five.”

Oser and Thompson both commit huge amounts of their time to train for races. They both practice Monday through Friday from 4:15-6:45 p.m., and Sunday mornings from 7-10 a.m. The practices usually consist of a warm-up, and then roughly an hour and a half of rowing.

“Each race is like a piece of art, if one thing goes wrong it can mess up an entire piece, so we have to practice a lot to make it perfect,” Oser said. “It is a really big time commitment, but performing well feels amazing, and it makes it all worth it. I really couldn’t see my life without it.”

Results of the race were not available as of press time.

BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 20

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ALEX OSER

ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT Alex Oser ’16 rowed in the 51st Annual Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Massachusetts on Oct. 17-18 for the Marina Aquatic Center. She rowed alongside Jenna Thompson ’16.

“

I HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT I WOULDN’T BE THE PERSON I AM TODAY WITHOUT ROWING. -JENNA THOMPSON

NATHANSON’S

Jenna Thompson ’16

Work before play

HENRY VOGEL/BIG RED

By Dario Madyoon and Rian Ratnavale There’s a common saying that in high school, students have to choose between good grades, good social life or good sleep. For many student athletes at Harvard-Westlake, they have to shoulder the burden of working towards being good at their respective sports as well.

Still, Wolverine athletes aren’t the type to limit themselves. Instead of choosing to sacrifice, say, grades for their sport or their social lives, they choose to push through their trials, no matter how much time it takes. Last year, while starting on the varsity soccer team, Jon Nelson ’16 took exclusively honors classes, including A.P. Physics 1 and A.P. B.C. Calculus 11. Despite taking one of the hardest possible schedules in the school, Nelson found a way to succeed in the classroom and on the field.

“I think in general you have to build up a certain amount of willpower to do anything out of the ordinary, but I’ve been better at handling my challenges on and off the field so far this year” Nelson said.” Its incredibly tough .Most of the time during soccer season, I get home between 9:00 and 9:30, and you really need to stay up late. Procrastination isn’t an option”.

For many students the adjustment in ju-

KICKING AND SCREAMING jon Nelson ’16 makes a play for the ball in a league match against Alemany. The boys’ soccer team won the game 2-0 en route to a 14-4-1 record last season in 2014-2015. nior year can be especially hard. Along with a jump up from JV to Varsity, 11th grade is also when many students start to take A.P.s and other college-level classes. The jump does, however, provide a chance for kids to succeed in the face of adversity.

“It wasn’t really a problem on freshman and JV, but now that I’m on varsity it can be really hard to balance,” volleyball player Megan Barnum ’17 said. “Just the other night my coach had us stay and watch JV play and then our game started late so I got home around 9:30 and had all my homework to do. I was up until probably 2 am. While its really hard work, I find it gratifying. I wouldn’t trade being on the volleyball team for anything. It just makes this beginning part of the year stressful and tiring”.

One of the largest obstacles for ambitious student-athletes is learning how to incorporate free time into their schedule.

Unfortunately, athletes who want to both play their sport at a high level and achieve academic excellence, can’t afford the luxury of taking time to simply relax.

“You have to use all the time that you have,” field hockey player Claire Stevens ’16 said. “There’s no in between. I have to be doing homework or field hockey work. If you want to do well in sports and in school there’s not much time you can commit to anything else”.

Thompson was in the middle school musical in seventh and eighth grade, but when she didn’t earn a spot in the cast in the beginning of her freshman year, her mom persuaded her to try rowing.

Her older sister had rowed in high school, and Thompson thought it would be a temporary activity. Once she started, she couldn’t stop, she said.

Now, Thompson practices six times a week for three hours each day at Marina del Rey. As she and her teammates prepare for the national championship, they practice even more than usual.

“The whole experience of being on the team and going to the event was great,” Thompson said. “I learned a lot about myself and got a lot more disciplined. I’m really glad I did it.”

BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 21

OFFENSE

QB NOAH ROTHMAN RB PHILLIP THOMPSON LT SAM KELLY LG ODIN HERNANDEZ C NICK RICHMOND RG IVAN RODRIGUEZ RT ERIC BRADLEY WR ZAC HARLESTON WR ALEX BARNUM WR NICK O’BRIEN WR CAMERON JONES

DEFENSE

DE DIETRICH TRIBULL

DT PHILLIP THOMPSON DE BEN COOPER LB CAMERON WELTHER LB MIKE MAPES LB NICK RICHMOND SS SULTAN DANIELS SS MAX ROBERTSON CB ALEX BARNUM CB CAMERON JONES FS THOMAS GLOVER

EMILY RAHHAL/BIG RED

BY ELLY CHOI AND RIAN RATNAVALE

STEPPING INTO THE ALPHA ROLE

SERVING FOR THE WIN

Josie Treadwell ’16 prepares to serve during the girls’ volleyball team’s straight set win against FSHA on Oct. 8.

24 • BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015

O

n the field or on the court, and in the locker room, both girls’ volleyball Captain Josie Treadwell ’16 and football captain Mike Mapes ’16 have been on both sides of their respective teams’ demanding level of commitment. Multiple factors contribute to their success as leaders, but one element, having role models to look up to when they were underclassmen, is clearly where their management stems from.

From the beginning of their athletic careers, both players have been exposed to effective leaders.

As a sophomore just starting out on the varsity squad, Treadwell quickly learned from her team captains that in order to be successful, she would one day need to make the same sacrifices that they had made.

“I think that following in the footsteps of past captains was really important for me,” Treadwell said. “I really looked up to Nicole, Jo, and Mariel my sophomore year, and then Rachel and Mila last year. They set a really good example of leadership and what it takes to be a captain, such as the sacrifices you have to make for your teammates”.

After witnessing firsthand the benefits of supportive and inclusive leaders as a freshman, Mapes aims to bring the type of leadership he experienced to the new underclassmen. The senior linebacker recognizes that younger players will sometimes make mistakes, but that its better to use positivity in the huddle rather than negative reinforcement.

“As a freshman, seniors like Chad Kanoff and Alex Cadiff went out of there way to make sure that I felt included on a team with only two other freshmen,” Mapes said. “ I try to do the same thing for the young guys this year. I celebrate with them when they make a good play, and when they screw up, I try to calmly show them how to avoid the same mistake next time. Making sure the young guys feel included and confident is the biggest key to both their and our team’s

FLYING IN FOR THE SACK

Mike Mapes ’16 celebrates a sack after the football team’s 44-23 victory against Jefferson High School on Sept. 4.

success”.

Both leaders stressed the importance of not only being vocal captains, but also leading by example and keeeping composure during tough times when describing the means of success in being an effective captain.

“The biggest adjustment I have had to make since freshmen year is learning how to lead by example,” Mapes said. “ It easy to be a vocal leader and just tell people what to do, but it is much harder to actually show people what is expected. This means doing ev-

erything from staying composed during adversity to not taking plays off in practice because the younger guys are watching you”.

Treadwell also echoed this sentiment when talking about her leadership style.

“I think that it’s really important to lead; to be a vocal leader, and to have medium between your teammates and your coaches,” Treadwell said. “It is also important to lead by example on and off the court, and set a really high standard for my teammates.

Just by doing that, I know we will

ALL PHOTOS PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HW ATHLETICS

have a better chance to succeed, right off the bat”.

Both players were named Student Athletes of the Month for September by the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) for their contributions to their teams, further attesting to their leadership skills.

Mapes has recorded 53 tackles, two sacks and an interception in six games for the Wolverines, anchoring the defense while mentoring a record amount of freshmen.

Treadwell has led the girls’

volleyball team to a 13-5 start, and is one of four players on the team to commit to play in college.

As the teams keep progressing through their season, they will inevitable run into trials and tribulations on the path to success. However, both the football team and the volleyball team can go into the heart of their schedules knowing that they have two leaders with lots of experience, determination and most importantly, a willingness to mentor their peers.

BIG RED HOMECOMING ISSUE 2015 • 25

WOLVERINE ROUNDTABLE

Big Red staff members give opinions on major points in Wolverines sports

Q: Which player will surpise the most at Homecoming?

Reese: Caitlin Neapole ’16 is a

to bring a victory to the Wolverines on Homecoming day against Glendora. The squad is currently 0-1 against Glendora this season and is looking for revenge heading into the heart of Sunset League play.

Madyoon:

a veteran quarterback like Noah Rothman’16 will be able to get him the reps he needs to succeed. He’s definitely a threat on the other side of the ball too. He has great ball skills and the right mindset to play cornerback.

three year varsity starter for the field hockey team, and is leading the team as a captain this year.

Along with the help of fellow seniors Emma Wasserman ’16 and Claire Quinn ’16, Neapole looks

Zac Harleston ’17 is definitely my pick as a breakout player for homecoming. I think he has all the physical tools to play wide receiver, and even though he’s had a somewhat slow start to the year, I think that

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HW ATHLETICS

IN THE HUDDLE Caitlin Neapole ’16 (top) looks down the field after a long pass vs Louisville on Sept. 24. Head Football Coach Scot Ruggles (right) talks to his team after a win vs Jefferson on Sept. 4.

Q: Which team is poised to dominate?

Liker:

Although the football team lost starting quarterback Marshal Cohen ’16 to injury, the team has embraced Noah Rothman’s ’16 leadership, and has begun the season with an overall record of 5-2 as of press time. After the squad’s defeat to rival Loyola, the Wolverines have won five of

their next six games, including a miraculous comeback to defeat Angelus League foe St. Paul. On the defensive end, team captain and middle linebacker Mike Mapes ’16 has spearheaded a defense which has been impressive so far. The team is looking to beat La Salle for a second straight year.

Seymour:

ing the competition at all levels, and are poised to continue this success through the rest of the season. I think that Davidsoncommitted outside hitter and team captain Josie Treadwell ’16 will lead her team to a stunning victory in straight sets on Homecoming night.

Led by multiple committed seniors with several years of experience at the varsity level, the girls’ volleyball team is likely to go off in front of a rowdy Taper crowd against St. Lucy’s.

With a 13-5 overall record as well as a 3-1 record in the Mission League, the girls are dominat-

26 • BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HW ATHLETICS

Q: What is one bold prediction you have Q: Which underclassman will make the biggest contribution to their team? for Homecoming?

Rahhal:

The girls’ volleyball team, which is 3-1 in the Mission League and 13-5 overall will defeat St. Lucy’s High School in straight sets. The team is led by seniors Josie Treadwell ’16, Genny Thomas ’16, Zoe Baxter ’16 and Kaira Muraoka-Robertson ’16, who are all committed

to play college volleyball. In the midst of league play, the squad gets to play a competitive St. Lucy’s team, which should be a good benchmark for where they stand compared to the rest of the CIFSouthern Section. The squad is looking to continue its domination of the competition thus far.

Gross:

After losing leading rusher Garrett Robinson ’15 to graduation, the football team has relied on Thomas Glover ’18 to lead the team with 448 rushing yards and an average of 11.2 yards per carry. Not only has he been a leader in the backfield, but Glover has also played a sig-

nificant role on defense. He is third on the team with 23 tackles and he also has 2.5 tackles for loss. Glover is tied for third on the team in touchdowns scored with three. In the Wolverines run-option offense, he should have opportunities to pick up more yards and touchdowns.

Ratnavale: I predict that the

Elly Choi ’18 to record her fifth shutout of the season, and for Emma Wasserman ’16 and Claire Quinn ’16 to score in front of the homecrowd multiple times each.

The team is fighting for a .500 overall record and a playoff birth.

Harleston:

her brother, Ray Mueller ’17, a forward on the basketball team, and dominate St. Lucy using her height and power. Expect the freshman to rack up a lot of kills in the matchup as she dominates the front line with her height.

field hockey team will not only win against Glendora, a team they lost to 2-1 earlier in the year, but that they will shutout the Tartans in front of their home crowd.

Look for first-year varsity goalie

Jonathan Seymour Editor-in-Chief Connor Reese Assistant Editor Jake Liker Assistant Editor

Rian Ratnavale Assistant Editor

Dario Madyoon Assistant Editor

Look for Chloe Mueller ’19, the only freshman on the girls volleyball team to come up big in the Wolverines’ bout againt St. Lucy’s. As a stater on the front line, look for Mueller to follow in the footsteps of

Bennett Gross Editor-in-Chief Emily Rahhal Assistant Editor

Juliana Berger Assistant Editor Carina Marx Assistant Editor Joe Levin Assistant Editor BIG RED HOMECOMING 2015 • 27