Big Red Spring 2019

BIG RED INSIDE

TAP OUT AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE GAME THAT PUT THE SCHOOL INTO A FRENZY

BY WILLIAM SEYMOUR / / P. 14

MARCH MADNESS THE BETS, BRACKETS AND OBSESSION OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL’S BIGGEST EVENT

BY LUKE CASOLA AND EUGENE WYMAN / / P. 6

VOLUME XII SPRING 2019

BIG RED SPRING 2019 • VOLUME XIII • NO.3

thePLAYBOOK Luke Casola and Eugene Wyman:

MARCH MADNESS How the Big Dance changes school life in an electric five weeks of games, brackets and betting.

Keila McCabe:

CULTURE CHANGE Women in sports are treated differently than men. Why advantages don’t mean equality.

William Seymour:

TAP OUT Inside the game of rivalries, betrayals and paranoia that sent the Upper School into a frenzy.

Zack Schwartz:

KIKI IRIAFEN The daily life of one of the historic dominance of one of the school’s best players.

Lucas Lee:

THE OPENING Showcasing the camp that unites high caliber football recruits from across the country.

6 12 14 20 24

theSTAFF

Editors-in-Chief Ryan Albert, Lucas Gelfond

Managing Editors Jackie Greenberg, Ben Tenzer

2 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

staffPHOTO

Assistant Editors Salvatore Casola, Will Mallory, Keila McCabe, Zack Schwartz, Will Seymour, Eugene Wyman

Staff Writers/Layout Assistants Ethan Lachman, Lucas Lee, Jaidev Pant Photo Editor Jay Lassiter Adviser Jim Burns

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 1,200 students in grades 9-12. For any questions, 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 editors-inchief Ryan Albert (ralbert1@hwemail.com) and Lucas Gelfond (lgelfond1@hwemail.com). BIG RED is a general interest magazine about athletic teams and individual 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.

Front cover by Ryan Albert Back cover by Jay Lassiter

Letter from The Editors

Big Red Editors-in-Chief Ryan Albert and Lucas Gelfond discuss Volume 12, the contents of the third issue and this year as a whole.

I

n picking Big Red layouts at the beginning of the year, we were faced with a scheduling predicament: how could we avoid stacking layouts with Chronicle but get the four issues we promised, corresponding to seasons? These four issues had been a real sticking point: they were the same four issues we’d promised to our readers and ad-

viser at the beginning of the year, those same four issues other Big Red volumes had also promised but could not deliver on.

In working with dates and attempting to be sensitive to the schedules of our staff, we found a rough but workable solution.

A Big Red layout, a one weekend break, a Chronicle layout and a Big Red layout right after. A chal-

lenging four weeks for writers and editors alike.

With tired writers who’d have little time to rebound between layouts, how could we continue the standard of excellence we strived for at the beginning of the year?

Traditional wisdom would dictate that we should wait for layout or assign firm deadlines and work extra efficiently. While we did these things, we focused on an altogether different approach.

Big Red and the sports section is a family and we all deeply value our fun. This of course makes our layouts more enjoyable. We believe that a staff having fun will produce stories that are more fun to read. While always putting important, well-researched, accurate stories as our first priority, we make sure to not take ourselves too seriously during layouts.

We’ve loved listening to “Santeria” by Sublime and watching “Love Island” as a section, admit-

tedly suffering somewhat in productivity. We probably spent a bit too much time producing and editing our staff photo, but cries of “I love this section” and “I love Big Rouge” made it all worth it.

In addition to fun, we’ve done our best to be unyielding in our pursuit of quality. We’ve continued to see articles four times, add pages Sunday afternoon and get more interviews after first submission. We’ve also worked this issue to improve our design and graphics, taking more photos and using more ambitious concepts on our pages. We’ve worked to get more photographers to more games and meets.

Most importantly, we’ve made strides toward gender equality in our photos and stories throughout the issue, and hope to continue to improve.

We hope the fun we had producing this issue is clear o our readers and we hope you enjoy the third issue of Big Red. And we promise one more!

popCULTURE Favorite Book

Reality T.V. Show of Choice

Favorite Candy

Spirit Animal

Teacher most likely to survive the zombie apocalypse

Drew Bowser ’20

1984

by George Orwell

The Bachelor

Peach Rings

Gorilla

Mr. Chien

Gabby Odoom ’21

The Shining

by Stephen King

The Bachelor

Sour Patch Kids

Deer

Mr. Yaron

Starburst

Cheetah

Dr. Eitner

See’s Lollipops

Squirrel

Mr. Varney

Baseball

Track and Field

Jonah Dickson ’20 Boys Tennis

Kat Swander ’19 Softball

The Hunger Below Deck: Games by Suzanne Mediterranean Collins

The Interpreter

by Suki Kim

Love Island

BIG RED SPRING 2019 • 3

DUPEE OR NOT DUPEE STRATEGIZING FOR SUCCESS Clay Skaggs ’20 examines the green in a match Feb. 28 against Loyola High School.

Photo by

Jay Lassiter Big Red

BIGRED REDSPRING FALL 2018 418••BIG 2019

UNDER PRESSURE

BRUISING BACKHAND David Arkow ’20 returns a serve in a 15-3 win against St. Francis High School on Feb. 27.

Photo by

Lucas Lee

Big Red

SWINGING FOR VICTORY BIG SWING Photo by

Jay Lassiter Big Red

Dean Barkin ’20 prepares to hit the ball during a 186-197 loss to Loyola High School on Feb. 28.

RED FALL 2018 BIGBIG RED SPRING 2019 • 195

ANOTHER YEAR

47

ANOTHER UPSET

ANOTHER BRACKET BUSTED

WATC MADNE

AN INSIDE LOOK OF THE UPPER SCHOOL’S REACTION TO THE BIG DANCE. IS MARCH MADNESS A DISTRACTION FOR STUDENTS AT HARVARD-WESTLAKE?

BY LUKE CASOLA AND

E

EUGENE WYMAN

very year, Graham Berger-Sacks ’20 studies the statistics of every team competing in March Madness, preparing to fill out his bracket for a chance at $1 billion. After the bracket is released on Selection Sunday, BergerSacks said that he and countless avid sports fans begin to study each first round match up often picking teams based on seed, mascot or jersey colors.

“March Madness is a great time of year where people who know nothing about sports and stat gurus like myself can bond together over their competing brackets,” Berger-Sacks said.

Berger-Sacks said he watches unranked teams play, looking for that Cinderella pick that will bust everybody’s brackets. After all, just last year, the eleventh seeded Loyola University Chicago made a run to the Final Four out of the South region.

6 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

Each year, Berger-Sacks creates a bracket pool on ESPN open to all HarvardWestlake students in his grade. March Madness is more than just basketball, Berger-Sacks said.

“More personally, I love organizing the grade wide bracket pool.” Berger-Sacks said. “It is super cool for me to see all types of people brought together by basketball, which is something that I love.”

Last year, over 170 students joined the pool and Big Red Assistant Editor Will Mallory ’20 finished first, selecting the correct Villanova University versus University of Michigan National Championship match up, with Rileigh Goldsmith ‘20 finishing in close second.

“It felt really good to win the pool against all my friends,” Mallory said.

“Some people spend lots of time on their picks but my secret was just going with my gut and it turned out to

be the right move. I plan on doing that in the future.”

March Madness is the nickname coined for the annual NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball tournament, which consists of 63 single elimination games. Due to this format, the tournament thrives on its upsets.

For example, last year, the number 16 seeded Univer-

sity of Maryland BaltimoreCounty, beat the number one seeded University of Virginia, marking the first 16 seed victory in March Madness history. According to CNN mathematicians believe there’s a 1 in 9.2 quintillion chance of picking a perfect bracket due to the unpredictability. Statistically, it is more likely for

PERCENT

CH MARCH ESS IN CLASS

41 PERCENT

FILL OUT A BRACKET EACH YEAR IN A BIG RED POLL OF 254 STUDENTS

Illustration by

Samantha Ko Big Red

somebody to win back to back lotteries than to predict a perfect bracket, according to WalletHub. “Those damn upsets” make March Madness so magical, Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo said in an interview with Big Ten Network analyst Andy Katz.

Overall, March Madness

is extremely popular; 23 million fans watched last year’s National Championship and the tournament games prior averaged around 5.6 million viewers, according to the Nielsen Media Research and according to ESPN, 17.3 million brackets were filled out in 2018 through ESPN alone, which doesn’t account

for Yahoo Sports or CBS Sports. In a Big Red poll of 254 students, 41 percent said they fill out a bracket each year.

“I’m very excited because it’s always super fun to pick your bracket and then watch the games,” Christopher Kim ’20 said.

“Even though I don’t know

much about March Madness or college basketball, it’s still really cool to study the teams before the tournament and then pick the upsets. I always tend to pick a lot of upsets so I never win but it makes it more interesting for me.”

Henry Mass ’20 said that he believes that joining a

BIG RED SPRING 2019 • 7

“OTHERWISE, LET SLEEPING “OTHERWISE, DOGS LIE.”

LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE.” -HENRY MASSMASS ’20 ’20 HENRY

bracket pool with friends makes the tournament much more interesting.

“I have a competitive nature about me,” Mass said. “Everyone is trying to win their bracket pools so it should be a lot of fun at least.”

Several students including Kim and Mass said that it’s normal to see people watching games during class.

In a Big Red poll of 254 students, 47 percent said they watch the March Madness games during class.

However, teachers and faculty try to encourage students to not watch games in class, Upper School librarian Shannon Acedo said.

8 • BIG RED WINTER 2019

Acedo said she would often encourage students instead to watch games in Ahmanson Lecture Hall last year to avoid distractions.

Acedo said that she believes March Madness is a distraction but that students are usually distracted by other computer games during other times of the year.

“I do like the idea that the [school] has one

place where they are showing [the games] because that means I can tell students to go watch it there, so having it all in one place instead of having it every place is containing it.

It’s counter-productive to try and tell students to pay attention when using computers in class, Upper School physics teacher Steve Yang ‘08 said.

“I would say that I know when students are not paying attention, but it’s their own loss,” Yang said.

Head of Athletics Terry Barnum said he believes it will be hard for the school to limit the number of students watching March Madness at school.

“I mean all of us have a cell-phone and if you have a cell-phone, you can watch March Madness games,” Barnum said. “I think if [the students watching] do it properly, then it’s not a distraction. I’m not a fan of banning it on campus at all. If you have a free period or you are somewhere where you’re not dis-

tracting others or you’re not in class, then it’s fine.”

Upper School history teacher Sandra Brasda said she doesn’t foresee March Madness interfering with her class.

“I don’t anticipate students being distracted,” Brasda said.

“Unless they ask me about my [University of Wisconsin] Badgers, it should be fine.

I love March Madness, especially if my Badgers advance.”

Upper School math and computer sci-

ence teacher Derric Chien said that he’s not a huge fan of college basketball.

“Most of the time, I can tell if a student is being unproductive on their computer during class,” Chien said.

“I anticipate more distractions for students while the games on during school.”

Usually starting during a work-heavy week before spring break, March Madness gives students a chance to relieve stress and is not a distraction to school work, Mass said.

“It’s going to be a good break from all

the exams that we are going to be cramming in right before break,” Mass said. “Beyond that, students will be studying outside of school so if any students choose to be independent and watch March Madness, then they will suffer the consequences in their school work. Otherwise, let sleeping dogs lie.”

However, several students including Derek Blumenfield ’20 said that they believe filling out March Madness brackets and watching the tournament games can be distracting.

“It’s really hard to focus on school because there are games going on all day starting at [9 a.m. ] and I always want a solid bracket,” Blumenfield said. “Before the tournament, I’m always studying the team’s stats and skill sets. The ability to choose teams that you normally would not cheer about makes it suspenseful, but you care because you picked these teams in your bracket.”

I LOVE [IT], ESPECIALLY IF MY BADGERS ADVANCE.” -SANDRA BRASDA HISTORY TEACHER

Distractions due to March Madness are not confined to Harvard-Westlake. Distracted employees across the country cost business $1.9 billion an hour during the tournament, according to WalletHub. Jane Sidon ’20 and Viswa Douglass ’21 said that in the past ex-

perience, teachers turned the games on during class. The teachers most likely know that students are watching it, but don’t always stop it, Sidon said.

“What teachers do in their classes is purely their own control,” Acedo said.

“We do have kids going into the Kutler rooms to watch it and if they are quiet I don’t know about it and it’s not a problem, but if they’re not quiet it is a problem.”

Illustrations by

Samantha Ko Big Red

EARLY BIRD Attacker Asher Early ’19 cradles and surveys the field for an open man in the 8-7 loss to Oaks Christian High School on March 1.

DUPEE OR NOT DUPEE

10 • BIG RED 2019 18 REDSPRING FALL 2018

Photo by

Will Mallory Big Red

UNDER PRESSURE Quarterback Jameson Wang ’20 passes the ball to his teammate in a 28-21 win against St. Anthony High School on Homecoming.

JUST (RE)LAX The lacrosse team celebrates after scoring a goal in the 8-7 loss to Oaks Christian on March 1.

Photo by

Will Mallory Big Red

SWIM-PRESSIVE BIG SWING Marina Nascimento ’21 finishes her race in a 69-64 loss to Notre Dame High School on March 7.

Photo by Photo by

Jay Lassiter Will Mallory Big Red Big Red

BIGBIGRED 2019 ••1911 REDSPRING FALL 2018

An Equal Playing Field OPINION: Women in sports should become a standard rather than a rarity. As women gain respect in athletics, they should be treated equally.

BY KEILA MCCABE As we counted the number of girls’ photos in comparison to boys’ photos in the last two issues of the Big Red magazine, we quickly realized that, without even knowing it, we had a considerable difference in amount of photos. In addition, every full page photo spread was a male athlete, while the photos of females were much smaller.

Not only were there fewer photos, but the pages were also visually dominated by boys in both content and quotes.

Troubled with this issue of misrepresentation, a staff member suggested that we produce an all girls issue of Big Red. I immediately jumped in, opposing the idea entirely.

I believe that there should not need to be an all girls issue, but rather equal representation in every issue. Girls do not require special treatment or a different form of media representation because they are just as strong and talented as male athletes. It should not be necessary to create an issue specifically for women because as a female athlete, I believe we are capable of earning our recognition through actual athletic achievement.

Instead, I believe that women in sports should be normalized, rather than pointed out as a surprise or made out to be a grand achievement.

12 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

Women are constantly recognized, not for their actual achievement, but for just being a woman capable of the achievement. Focus is drawn to an athlete’s gender, not her athleticism. Creating recognition for or drawing focus intentionally to women in sports only makes it evident that there would not be earned respect given to women if it were not a requirement.

If we were to make an all girls issue of Big Red, what is stopping us from reverting back to our old ways immediately following the issue? The staff is now committed to making our publication equally representative of both genders

Photo Illustration by

Will Mallory and Keila McCabe Big Red

Women face adversity in nearly every other aspect of life, but there is no excuse, in our current day, for the discrimination that female athletes face.

Women are achieving more and

more “firsts” in our world, but they are yet to break the gender barrier in sports.

Despite a rise in female participation in sports, people still strongly associate sports with men. When I think of a sports bar, I see an overcrowded herd of men drinking beers and supporting their teams. No matter how much participation in sports rises, the stereotype associated with athletics has not changed. As a result, whenever a woman achieves something great in sports it is especially highlighted and celebrated.

It should not be a rarity for a woman to play a sport or for her to excel in it.

I believe, rather than constantly directing attention towards women in sports, as if they are some kind of oddity , it should be standardized. I like to imagine a world in which a “girly” girl does not receive an eyebrow raise when she proudly says that she is on the varsity baseball team. A world in which I can fill out my March Madness bracket without being asked by a guy, “do you need help?”. A world in which Fanatics pump up the field hockey games— because damn, they have earned it. A world in which I can wear my Kuzma jersey without being called “cute”. A world in which it is just as impressive for girls’ basketball to win the CIF championship as it is for boys’ to win. A world in which nobody asks me “what is it like being a girl in the sports section?” - because it is no different being a girl. Girls in sports should not being seen as special or unusual, but rather the standard.

I dream of a world in which girls receive equal representation as athletes based on their hard work, not on the fact they are women.

The argument is often made that women do not deserve as much support

in athletics because they do not work as hard or have the same level of competition. Every day I go to softball practice.

In season, I lift in the weight room and have games twice a week. I put maximum effort and focus in to my sport and work hard to hopefully win a championship. I love playing my sport and I am proud to represent my school and team. I have the exact same mentality as a boys’ basketball or football player.

However, male athletes are taken more seriously for their athletic pursuits. Gender does not change the intensity or effort put into a sport, so there should not be a change in respect given to athletes based on gender. If there is no change in respect, why would there be change in media representation or they way in which female athlete’s reputations develop in comparison to male athletes?

Often when women are given respect, they are often not given equal pay and treatment in training, facilities and coaches. According to the New York Times, the US women’s soccer team recently sued the country’s soccer federation for gender discrimination. Despite generating more income in viewership for the US soccer federation than the men’s team, there an immense pay gap between women’s and men’s soccer teams. Pay disparity comes in nearly every field of work for women, but there is really no excuse for a pay gap for the US soccer athletes when equality is clearly proved through their victory. The women soccer players have earned their pay yet are still not given the appropriate salary. Not only is the fact that a difference exists intolerable in the first place, but the women’s team has properly earned its pay through its success.

This lawsuit is one of many examples in which women rightfully earn their pay and respect but still do not receive it.

Sports are one of the most powerful platforms to achieve gender equality. Although we are making great strides towards equality in numbers, there has not been a shift in perspective towards girls in sports. There never will be a change in perspective if women are alienated or questioned for being involved in sports.

It should be completely normal for a woman to be in sports.

BIG RED SPRING 2019 • 13

Printed with permission of: Alexandru Bucur ’19, Ben Tenzer ’19, Charlie Mendes ’19, Darren Long ’19, Garnett March ’19, Henry Suarez ’19, Jenny Li ’19, Kevin Chen ’19, Kylie Azizzadeh ’21, Lauren Juzang ’20, Ryan Albert ’19, Sophia Schwartz ’20.

Tap Out

The game that pitted Harvard-Westlake students against each other and put the Upper School campus into a frenzy

By William Seymour

O

Chase GarveyDaniels ’19

“For the duration of the game, I trusted very few people and even those I did trust, I was careful around.

Kylie Azizzadeh ’21

“It was crazy how intense it got. I was always paranoid and looking over my shoulder throughout the entire game.”

ne early morning in May of 2017, Chase GarveyDaniels ’19 walked into his Wolverine Chorus class, ready to start singing. Right before class started, a senior walked into the room, ran up behind him, and with the help of his classmates and teacher, eliminated GarveyDaniels from the schoolwide game of ‘Assassin’.

Once the renamed and slightly modified version of Assassin, known now as ‘Tap Out’, began on Feb. 4 this year, Garvey-Daniels started his road to redemption, ultimately emerging victorious in Tap Out 2019 after four weeks of play.

“That’s when I learned how serious this game could get,” Garvey-Daniels said. “So coming into it this year, my goal was just to survive past the first week.

Once that happened, I figured I might as well put my full effort into going as far in this game as I could.”

This year’s game masters were Head Prefect Kevin Chen ’19, senior prefect Lucas Lyons ’19 and junior prefect Jaya Nayar ’20. The game was

renamed to Tap Out and the gun-aspect of Assassin was taken out in response to the recent episodes of school violence in America.

The game masters texted every player an initial target before the game commenced during Activities Period on Feb. 4.

To successfully neutralize their targets, players needed to film themselves tapping their target’s back without being spotted by the target, and then upload the video in the newly created HW Tap Out 2019 Facebook group. The videos would then be judged and approved by one of the three game masters.

For certain players, like champion Garvey-Daniels, Tap Out changed their lives at school during the competition.

Garvey-Daniels said he was very excited when he learned there would be a game this year.

“Since it’s my senior year, I wanted to end it on a good note,” Garvey-Daniels said. “When the game started, everyone was so competitive and took drastic measures to ensure their safety. That definitely made

me step my game up, but also made me a bit nervous. I made a few changes to how I acted and generally moved around from class to class and to teacher meetings. For the duration of the game, I trusted very few people and even those I did trust, I was careful around. I would take the longest or least used routes to class and would avoid areas with lots of students.

Whenever I had a free period, I would immediately go to safe zones like the library. When I had meetings with teachers or my dean, I would face my chair towards the exits and other people so I could watch out for bounty hunters.”

Similarly, Kylie Azizzadeh ’21, one of the top hunters from week one, said that Tap Out changed her behavior at school.

“It was crazy how intense it got,” Azizzadeh said. “I was always paranoid and looking over my shoulder throughout the entire game. There were even people waiting outside my classrooms to get me out.”

One of the top ‘neutralizations’ came on the

BIG RED SPRING 2019 • 15

16 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

second day of the competition, when Pierce Maloney ’19 tapped out one of day one’s top hunters Cristian Pang ’20.

The game masters had dubbed Pang a top hunter in a post on the HW Tap Out 2019 Facebook group after day one of play. Maloney got aquatics program head Brian Flacks ’06 to text Pang to meet with him before practice while Maloney waited in a trash can around the Copses Family Pool. Another student distracted Pang and led him to the trash can, then Maloney jumped out and successfully eliminated Pang, shocking him and ending his Tap Out reign.

“Eliminating [Pang] was a blast because I was able to do it in a creative

Out was so much fun this year and I’m so thankful for the efforts our prefects made to bring our community together in this way.”

As the game continued, it would sometimes become a distraction on some parts of campus, prompting school faculty and staff to complain, forcing the game masters to implement rules deeming certain parts of the school as safe zones, Chen said.

These safe zones included the training room, weight room, locker room and any part of campus past the security kiosk (excluding Hamilton Gymnasium and the Fencing/Drumline room ).

“The process of administering the game has been a bit straining on us game masters,” Chen said.

“During the times

w a y , and being such good friends with him made it even more fun,” Maloney said. “Tap

where activity was the hottest, we often had to keep our computers open in class to accept neutralizations and text people their next targets. Also, we had a lot of conversations regarding the rules of the game, the legitimacy of some of the videos and what direction to take the game in.”

The game masters also added ‘bounty hunters’ to the game.

Bounty hunters could be both students and faculty members, all of whom were given targets that had failed to get a ‘neutralization’ in the first few days of play.

The first bounty hunter at-

tack occurred during an all school assembly on Feb. 6, when Head of Upper School Laura Ross snuck up behind Rachel Brown ’20 and tapped her out while Brown was making an announcement for the upcoming Spring Festival.

Every few days, one of the game masters would post in the Facebook group the list of every player who had fallen since the last post, along with the top hunters so far and any ‘kingslayers’, players who tapped out one of the previous day’s top hunters. This addition created more competition and the urge to tap out more targets, players said.

Following the announcement of a target reshuffling that would take place over the first weekend of play, Ben Block ’19 declared in the Facebook group on Feb. 7 that he and four other top hunters had formed an alliance, calling themselves the ‘ C a r e e r s ’.

T h e y included Big Red Editor-inChief Ryan Albert ’19, Block, Garnett March ’19, Charlie Mendes ’19 and Sophia Schwartz ’20.

“I [started the] Ca-

reers because I was bored and wanted to create action and hype, but after a while, I got sick of carrying [and dominating the game of] Tap Out so I quit,” Block said.

Mendes was the last ‘Career’ remaining in the game, reaching third place on Feb. 26 when he was tapped out by champion Garvey-Daniels.

Garvey-Daniels drove to O’Malley Family Field in Encino to eliminate Mendes who was watching the Harvard-Westlake baseball team.

“I’ve had a lot of fun,” Mendes said.

“I’m naturally very competitive so I’ve enjoyed the game.”

Following the formation of the Careers, players made multiple posts to the Facebook group e x -

pressing their opposition to and doubt towards the Careers’ strength. Darren Long ’19 promised to eliminate all five of the Careers.

“As I rise from the shadows, I will finally slay [Block] and expose him for the peasant that he truly is as I regain my full strength and reclaim my title as the World’s Strongest Assassin: Hyakkimaru,” Long said in a post in the Facebook group, referring to Hyakkimaru, a fictional character from Japanese show ‘Dororo’.

Donovan Econn ’19 made a similar post mocking the Careers.

“Nobody: [blank], ‘The Ca-

“Sorry to say it but I’m done warming up.

Come Monday the daycare opens up.”

-Garnett March ’19

reers’: we will literally like never die we have so many kills,” Econn said in the post. “You’re just salty that we have all the top killers. Like the only kid that has killed one of us is dead. My superior intellect has allowed me to rise above all the other players because they’re all weak and stupid and I’m so much better than everyone.”

March responded to the hate the Careers received with a post of his own.

“Good evening gamers,” March said in a post in the Facebook group. “I’m not playing anymore games. Sorry to say it

but I’m done warming up. Come Monday the daycare opens up.

I will be delivering people to their maker. Everyone seems to be hating on us, but if they were chosen to be a part of the ‘squadrent’ they wouldn’t hesitate to join. We’ve already got half the line up figured out. Our network is huge. I’m sorry but [Chen] gave me a target and I’m gonna deliver your head to him. Kiss your last day in the game goodbye.”

During the second week of play, Chen’s spreadsheet with each player and their target was leaked, causing the game masters to temporarily suspend the game while they reshuffled everyone’s targets. “[Tap out was] (obscenity) lit,” Long said. “After the spreadsheet was leaked though, all of the hype was lost and I stopped playing.”

Garvey-Daniels said the intensity of Assassin during his sophomore year influenced his style of play.

In the previous version of the game, players were assigned targets who they could “kill” by sneakily touching their backs while saying bang and filming themselves on a student-developed app. The game was moderated by Justin Rose ’17 and James Kanoff ’17, however, last year no seniors volunteered to organize the game, so students could not play it.

In addition to being crowned champion, Garvey-Daniels said this year that Tap Out brought him closer to his peers.

“Remembering that it’s just a game and to have fun was key,” Garvey-Daniels said. “I love how passionate everyone was about this game and how much of a bonding experience it was. I made new friends and met new people throughout this game.”

BIG RED SPRING 2019 • 17

RELAY ROYALTY Princess-Nya Beckham ’19 finishes her relay in the 4x100 meter against Immaculate Heart High School on March 5.

Photo by

Ryan Albert Big Red

18 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

HANG TIME Tierni Kaufman ’19 leaps in the long jump event in the 97-16 win against Immaculate Heart High School on March 5.

Photo by

Jay Lassiter Big Red

LEADING THE PACK

Photo by

Jay Lassiter Big Red

Keon Mazdisnian ’19, leads the way in the Boys 1600 meter race in the 91-27 victory against St. Francis High School on March 5.

Photos by

Ryan Albert Big Red

BIG RED SPRING 2019 • 19

Key(ki) to Success TITLE

An inside look at forward Kiki Iriafen ’21, who ESPN’s ranked sixth in the nation.

By ZACK SCHWARTZ

W

hile most would be out celebrating after a dominating 21 point and 19 rebound game, forward Kiki Iriafen ’21 was disappointed as the final buzzer of their season rang.

Iriafen led the girls’ basketball team to an overall record of 21-9 and made an appearance in the third round of the CIF playoffs.

She was the team leader in both points and rebounds, averaging 19.8 points and 13.4 rebounds per game, with season highs of 31 points and 23 rebounds in a game, reinforcing her ranking as a five star recruit and as the number six player in the country according to ESPN. ESPN also ranks her as the number two forward in the country and number two in all of California. Iriafen began to catch the eyes of ESPN scouts after her freshman year leading the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds per game.

Guard Kimiko Katzaroff ’21, second leading scorer on the team certainly noticed the improvement.

“As a teammate, [Iriafen] is always positive and caring.”

Katzaroff said, “She is a great leader, always giving advice and keeping our energy up. [Iriafen] makes all of us better players.

She has so much talent which allows us to play against top teams with top players, which helps me improve.”

Iriafen said it can be hard to balance her academics with the sport but she is able to let out her frustrations in other ways.

“Yeah it’s definitely hard

playing basketball and also being a student, especially at Harvard-Westlake,” Iriafen said.

“You have all these tests and homework, and then instead of doing your homework right after school, you have to go and do a two and a half hour practice and then lift on top of that, so yes it’s definitely hard, but I think especially because I want to play at the next level, in college, I feel like having this now is going to help me be more disciplined at the higher level like college or pros. I’m going to be used to having pressure or having to manage my time, but I actually think it is a good experience for me to do it this early so I am used to it in the future.”

Teammate Emma Sunkin ’19 praised Iriafen for the person she is on and off the court.

“With someone as talented as she is, most people would probably expect some sort of selfishness or heightened sense of ego, but that really couldn’t be further from the truth,” Sunkin said. “In the climate of social media these days surrounding athletes, I think it’s really rare to find someone whose natural talents are met by or exceeded by hard work, but in [Iriafen’s] case this is the truth.”

Iriafen’s leadership was not the only thing that impressed her teammates. “[She] was born naturally talented,” Katzaroff said. “She is incredibly athletic and understands the sport very well. What makes her stand out though is her dedication. She works

harder than anyone else and is always taking that extra step to improve.”

Sunkin also noted the profound impact that Iriafen leaves on the program as a whole.

“Not only does her talent attract rising players, who she is as a person attracts just about anyone,” Sunkin said. “She is truly a one of a kind human being and anyone lucky enough to know her or be her teammate should consider themselves eternally blessed.”

All photos by

20 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

Will Mallory Big Red

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DEREK PETE(R) Outfielder and Vanderbilt commit Pete Crow-Armstrong ’20 rounds first base.

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Ryan Albert Big Red

BUMP N GRIND Ned Garvey ’21 bumps redirects serve toward Jasper Richards ’20 in the 3-0 loss against El Camino High School.

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Big Red

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Jay Lassiter 22 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

Jay Lassiter

KAT AT BAT Kat Swander ‘19 prepares to hit an incoming pitch in 7-0 loss against Alemany High School on March 12.

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THE PAINFUL CONSEQUENCES OFLucas SPORTS INJURIES Lee All Photo by Big Red

ON THE PROWL: QUARTERBACKS LEARN FROM OPENING COACHES AND, WITH THEIR TIPS, IMPROVE THEIR MECHANICS TO COMPLETE THROWS IN AND OUT OF THE POCKET.

The Pursuit of a Recruit The Nike Opening Camp unites top football players from around the country to verify stats and lend players more exposure. While there are no official scouts at the camp, connected “Opening” coaches offer players valuable advice and connections. A behind the scenes look at football recruiting through one of the nation’s most prestigious camps.

By Lucas Lee 24 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

F

or high-school football players, recruiting means strategically placing themselves in the best situation to get the attention of colleges and obtain offers.

In this system, planning is everything as social media plays a role to either make or break an athlete’s chance of playing for prospective schools, Will Goldberg ’19 said.

Goldberg played linebacker for the Wolverines and will continue his football career at Division I program Southern Methodist University.

Recruiting has evolved into a system that requires more than just on field performance from athletes.

During the offseason, athletes begin advertising themselves to colleges in camps and combines. They maintain their activity on social media to communicate with and attract prospective schools. Throughout the entire process, high school players ability to advertise themselves determines their success with offers, Goldberg said.

Goldberg said the process is much like advertising a product: aside from performance on the field, the process includes cutting film properly, maintaining a positive social media presence, stacking a resume with awards and establishing a relationship with colleges.

“You absolutely have to showcase yourself in the best light,” Goldberg said. “You have to think about it, there are 1,000 other guys with the same skills and background and you have to

set yourself apart.”

Recruits showcase themselves in off-season camps that incorporate social media, prestige and a chance to connect with colleges all in one stop.

The most prestigious camps are the

Rivals Adizero camp, Under Armour All American Camp Series and the Nike Opening camps.

The Nike Opening camp showcases high school football players. There are multiple stages of the event. The entry level camp is the ‘combine’. From there, the best players advance to the regional and then finals on the national stage.

Camps like these provide opportunities to perform in front of college level coaches and potentially win position awards to add to their resumes.

The athletes start by verifying their statistics at these camps. Normally, they compete in events such as the 40-yard dash, 20-yard shuttle, vertical jump and kneeling power ball toss.

“The notion behind the 40 and shuttle are red liners to colleges because they can’t evaluate everyone [individually] so they evaluate the players by their [baseline stats],” Goldberg said.

“It’s a number thing, it all comes down to how many scouts you have so you

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have to narrow down the recruits [because colleges don’t have enough time to look at everybody].”

Then, based on position, the athletes

competed in drills, each player vying for a chance to go to the Opening Finals.

On Feb. 23, Kendall Dennis (Kathleen High School ’20, Lakeland, Fla.) went into the Opening Combine Orlando, an event open to anyone placed in the 99th percentile.

He was invited to the Opening Regionals the next day. In the three days following, he announced through

26 • BIG RED SPRING 2019

Twitter that he received seven offers including offers from top programs such as Florida State University and Auburn University.

While there are technically no college scouts at the Opening, the coaches at the Opening connect players with college programs, Goldberg said .

The combines consist of various photographers, reporters and high-school football news outlets. This means every drill matters because each is a publicity opportunity to be showcased on social media accounts like Overtime, that attracts upwards of 1.3 million followers.

Although the spotlight can help players get noticed, social media can also negatively affect players.

“If you get exposed or you get juked out really badly and that goes viral then your recruiting changes get shot a lot.”

Goldberg said, Camps compare players to their competitors, but Will Plummer [Gilbert High School ’20, Gilbert, Ariz.], threestar quarterback and Opening alum claimed that these comparisons don’t make or break the recruiting process.

“The Opening was a good experience to go through once,” Plummer said. “I personally feel that camps don’t help recruitment as one may think. I would say school and Twitter are the two big ways of getting recruited.”

It is popular for both athletes and college coaches to use Twitter for recruiting according to Duke commit and Opening alum, Luca Diamont (Venice High

School ’20, Venice, Calif.).

“All coaches have Twitter and use it as a tool to find kids,” Diamont said. “They also are able to stay in contact and sell their programs through social media.”

Coaches and players now communicate via Twitter Direct Messages, Goldberg said.

“Follow a coach and they’ll follow you back and get a dialogue going,” Goldberg said. “Twitter was the first platform coaches hopped onto and while student athletes have a bigger presence on Instagram [because] coaches picked Twitter first, student athletes moved to Twitter. I created a Twitter account for football.”

Devyn King (Junipero Serra High School ’20, Gardena, Calif.), a three star cornerback who boasts offers from Boston College, the University of Kansas and more also said that he utilizes social media as a tool. “[It] plays a big part. Twitter is used as the most efficient way to get noticed and to contact coaches,” King said.

Additionally, the schools the players attend are huge factors in the recruiting process, Plummer said.

Schools with resources dedicated to athletics, particularly football, invest in coaches with connections, building programs with star-studded players, and creating academic support for athletes benefit players in the recruiting process Goldberg said.

For many players who commit to schools, they graduate a semester early so they can attend spring training to

prepare for the college level. Opening Alum Lonzo Fontenette (Bishop Alemany ’21, Mission Hills, Calif.) said his school helps him academically prepare for college football.

“I talk to [an administrator] for my transcripts to get sent to schools and I’m doing summer school to graduate a semester early,” Fontenette said.

Goldberg said high-school players who graduate a semester early can practice with their college team during the off-season to enter the summer with college experience.

High schools also work to recruit future prospects to play for them to build programs said Goldberg. Examples of these are Calabasas High School (Calabasas, Calif.), Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) and St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) where athletes are incentivized to play for a team loaded with talent.

Last year, Calabasas assembled a “three headed dragon” a receiving corp nicknamed by journalists, led by four star University of Oregon commit Mycah Pittman, five star reciever Johnny Wilson and four star transfer from IMG Academy, Jermaine Burton (Calabasas High School, Calabasas, Calif. ’19, ’20, and ’20 respectively).

“Being at a program of this caliber has advantages to navigate the recruiting process when the program and players are all going through the system together.” Burton said.

Burton said that the recruiting pro-

cess has allowed him to bond with his teammates.

“The people I mainly talk to about my recruiting is Johnny [Wilson], my quarterback, Jaden Casey (Calabasas High School ’20 and Fresno State University commit), and [running back], Johnny Williams (Calabasas High School ’19 and University of Pennslyvania commit),” Burton said. “I just keep it between those guys and they do the same with me. [Williams and I] both talk about schools a lot, and I tell him [the] schools I think he should end up at and he tells me about schools. We just go into a lot of detail in it. We do research and what not. It’s a pretty good system.”

When a lot of talent is in one concentrated place, it also lifts up the recruiting chances of the other players on the team as well, Goldberg said.

“If you have lots of highly touted recruits, mediocre players on the same team will become more highly desired even if they aren’t as good, since they play with ridiculously talented teammates,” Goldberg said. “These lesser players will be recruited purely off of them being on a good team and connections.”

Going to a school that supports football and has a coach with connections helps athletes get offers from the college they want, Goldberg said. Fontenette said 36 colleges visited his school’s team in the span of a few weeks.

“Schools get looks at players often

time because the coach knows someone,” Goldberg said. “When [schools] are all in on resources, more kids play at the next level.”

Garnett March ’19, who, alongside Goldberg, committed to Southern Methodist University, said that while the recruiting process was an up and down process, he is glad it is over.

“The recruiting process went pretty well,” March said. “Since I was injured during my sophomore and junior seasons, it was usually me initiating communication. It was really exciting and stressful at the same time and I’m a hundred percent excited to play for the Mustangs for the next four years.”

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