Sports The Chronicle • May 25, 2016
Swimming and Diving
Boys’ Soccer
New soccer head to start next season By Aaron Park
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF HW ATHLETICS
FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY: Claudia Wong ’17 swims the butterfly. Wong broke the school record held by Dara Torres ’85 in the 100 fly. The girls’ squad went undefeated this season, with a 4-0 league record and a 7-0 record overall. They finished first in the Mission League.
Individual swimmers thrive, qualify for Division I state championship By Juliana Berger and Emily Rahhal Claudia Wong ’17 placed 10th for the 100-yard fly with a time of 55.58 at the CIF State Swimming Finals May 21 in Clovis. Wesley Chang ’17 placed 15th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 58.34. There were 16 swimmers in each race. Earlier this season, Wong beat the school record set by Dara Torres ’85 in the 100 fly. Torres went on to swim in the Olympics. “It’s really incredible that she broke a 30-year record,” Haunani Bautista ’17 said. “She really deserves the record. She’s one of the hardest-working people I know in and out of the pool, and honestly, I wouldn’t expect anything less of her. She’s an
incredibly versatile swimmer, holding the school record in the 200 free, too.” This year’s squad was especially strong in relays, Bautista said. The squad had at least one boys’ and one girls’ relay team final at the CIF Division I Championship. Furthermore, the team as a whole was able to unite with dedication to the sport. The girls’ squad went undefeated this season, with a 4-0 league record and a 7-0 overall record. They finished first in the Mission League, and the boys’ team finished second to Loyola with a league record of 3-1 and an overall record of 5-1. “For the girls, getting first [in Mission League] really set the tone for CIF and even for future seasons,” Bautista said.
“We went from third last year to pact, and the speed of swimfirst, and I don’t see us slowing mers is expected to increase. down anytime soon.” But the team views this season Swimming and as a success. Diving Program Head “Our biggest Jason Schwartz finstrength this year was ished his first season really uniting as one with a focus on creatteam and all striving ing an aquatics comfor the same end goal,” munity focused on Bautista said. “The ensuccess. tire team really bought “Our new coach into swim this season brought our swim and put forth all of team and water polo their effort and dedinathanson’s team into one large cation. I really cannot Wesley aquatic program,” think of a weakness in Chang ’17 Chang said. “Because our team. Maybe conof this, everyone was more will- fidence? But that came with the ing to train with each other and progression of the season and cheer each other on, helping more team victories. I think we everyone achieve better goal were all pleasantly surprised at times.” how well we did from the very In the future, the team is start of season, beating prelikely to focus on making small season teams that we had lost changes to create a large im- to in the past year.”
The Athletic Department announced Friday that Kris Ward will be the boys’ soccer program head for the 2016-2017 season. Ward is currently the head coach for the FC Los Angeles and Total Futbol Academy youth soccer clubs. “We are extremely excited to have Kris Ward lead our boys’ soccer program,” Head of Athletics Terry Barnum said via a statement on the Harvard-Westlake Athletics website. “His wide range of coaching and leadership experience, from youth to professional levels, will benefit our school and our program enormously.” While most team members have yet to meet their new head coach, the school notified the players about Ward’s hiring via email on Friday. Originally from San Diego, Ward began his coaching career in 1999 in Northern Virginia. Before moving to Los Angeles, Ward most recently worked in Washington, D.C. as the Director of Recreational Soccer at DC Stoddert, a youth soccer organization. In addition, Ward has previously coached with the Southwestern Youth Association, St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the Maryland Youth Soccer Olympic Developmental Program. Ward worked in Major League Soccer as a scout for the Seattle Sounders and an academy coach for D.C. United. During his last year with the Sounders, they finished the year as U.S. Open Cup champions. Additionally, Ward served as an assistant coach for the Washington Freedom of the Women’s United Soccer Association. • Continued on page D6
Boys’ Lacrosse
Squad ends season with close loss By Dario Madyoon and Rian Ratnavale The boys’ lacrosse team ended its first season under the leadership of Head Coach Erik Krum with a 10-8 loss against the rival Loyola Cubs May 7. “I am very proud of the effort that we gave the third time playing Loyola after losing twice to them earlier in the season,” goalie Troy Hattler ’17 said. “We gave them all that they could take. A lot of young players stepped up in that game, so the future for HarvardWestlake lacrosse is bright.” The team finished 14-5 overall and 5-3 in Mission League play, besting last year’s 11-8 finish. This improvement is in large part due not only to the new leadership of Krum but a wealth of young talent, such as Tommy Park ’18 and Zac Harleston ’17. “There is definitely some pressure to fill the leadership
roles, as three of our five captains were seniors,” Park said. “However, our junior class has done a great job leading. Zac Harleston and our other junior leaders did a great job this year of really leading by example. Not only us underclassmen, but everyone has to step up to fill the void left by the seniors.” The departing seniors are also quite confident that the new leaders will be able to rise among the underclassmen and take the reins next year. “I think Harleston and Paul [Rodriguez ’18] are going to step into big leadership roles next year,” Princeton University commit Phil Thompson ’16 said. “They’ve both already been impact players this year, and that should only continue as they improve over the summer. I also hope that Shane Houska ’17 can step up as a leader in his senior year. At times this year he was one of
the best defenseman in the state, but inconsistency was an issue. I think that if he works over the summer and matures a little bit over the summer he can step up his leadership, get rid of that inconsistency and dominate next year.” Now that the offseason has arrived, many younger players are looking to work on their game and do their part to step up next year. “The summer is mainly left for the players to do their own work,” Rodriguez said. “We have already scheduled a few summer workouts, but for the most part this is when we have progress as individuals, then when fall rolls around, we will be back in the weight room and on the practice field. I think now that we have had more experience together as a unit we know what to expect from the teams in L.A. and will continue to prepare for that.”
DARIO MADYOON/CHRONICLE
TABLE TOP: Philip Thompson ’16 wins a ground ball in a 6-5 Wolverine victory over Agoura Hills High School in triple overtime.