Cross Country

Brian Fang Staff Writer

Jaycen Sussman Sports Editor

Focus- Lindsey Mueller, senior, swings her golf club during a golf tournament this fall season. Sally Lee/Pawprint

A! er a successful 2018 season, the Girls’ Golf team placed "! h in the Marmonte League among their local competition.

With several fresh faces on the team, and only two upperclassmen, a team highlight was a victory against Nordho# High.

Lindsey Muller, senior, recounted her path to CIF to end her last high school golf season.

“I quali" ed for CIF individuals this year, making me a quali" er for all four years which was one of my goals for high school golf. Also, I made " rst team all-league in a very competitive league for girls golf.”

$ is year, the Girls’ Volleyball team was plagued with injuries, missing four of their six seniors and one of their juniors, but by the end of the season, many new team members stepped up into the lineup, allowing the team to place fourth in Marmonte League.

“Our main driving factor was the good chemistry that we built on the court quickly since we had such a new team coming together,” Heather Kawaguchi, senior, said. “Our coaches helped a ton to help each player recieve extra reps.”

Sadly, the team will be losing Simone Overbeck, senior, next year. She will be moving on to the University of Arizona to play Division I volleyball. However, as new young talent stepped up, the volleyball team still expects to have a strong future.

Whack- Focused on doing her part for the team, Jillian White, senior, gears up to strike the volleyball. Paige Powers/Pawprint

$ is season, Girls’ Cross Country ranked higher than they ever had before, placing 10th in the State for Division II girls and second in the Marmonte League. $ e team also had some great individual performances, such as, Archana Mohandas, junior, who placed " rst at the Marmonte League meet.

A! er training very hard throughout the summer and the season as well, the results are no surprise. Coupled with a new mentality, the girls can look back at a hard-fought season.

“Winning the Marmonte League Championships and seeing my teammates right there with me was a rewarding moment,” Mohandas said. “Our coaches have been unbelievably dedicated to helping us to perform

to our full potential.”

Pace- Running at a cross country meet this fall season, Archana Mohandas, junior, and Fiona Hawkins, sophomore, represent the girl’s cross country team. Kaiden Pemberton/Pawprint

A! er making CIF for the " rst time last year, Boys’ Water Polo had big shoes to " ll, and in the end they did just that. $ is season, the team placed second in the Marmonte League and made it to the second Round of CIF.

Jarrod Norton, senior, attributes their success to the passion everyone on the team had and the coaching sta# .

“$ e whole team is full of super competitive dudes that love the game and love playing it at a high level. We le! it all in the pool and executed well every time we played,” Norton said. “Coach Dave and Coach Graham were really insightful and know the game inside and out. $ eir knowledge of the game is unmatched.”

In all, Norton felt that it has been special for the team to play high level water polo this year, with a win in CIF being a cherry on top.

Finishing fourth in Marmonte League, the Girls’ Tennis team can rest easy a! er a successful season this year. Owing much to the support of their coaching sta# , Angelina Powers, senior, felt that they were a real driving force in their success.

“Luckily for us, Newbury Park has two excellent coaches that provide guidance o# and on the court,” Powers said. “Knowing that I had someone to support me not only when I was struggling during a match, but also when I was struggling to get life together was very helpful. $ ank you, Coaches!”

Overall, the team was thrilled to end their last game as victory against $ ousand Oaks.

Reach- Jumping high in the air, Angelina Powers, senior, gave her all in trying to hit the tennis ball during a match.

David Sanchez/Pawprint

$ e NPHS football team lit up George Hurley stadium several times over the course of the season, ending in "! h place of the Marmonte League. $ roughout the highs and lows that took place on the " eld, the team remained physical, picking up a win against Venice High School following a 21-point de" cit. $ e team, which consisted of 26 seniors, wanted to fuel the crowd and put on a show every Friday night. According to MaxPreps, Quarterbacks Braden Handy, senior, and Ben Gulbranson, junior, accumulated a combined 1,472 passing yards. $ is was only possible because of a strong team dynamic, which was especially evident to David Webster, senior.

“$ is year our team had a level of cohesiveness that we never really had before,” Webster said. “Being around my best buds and motivating coaches has been a real driving force for us.”

Emily Nagamoto Chief Photographer

! e road leading to the Nike Cross Nationals competition was not an easy one for the boys’ cross country team. It involved countless hours of training, miles of runs and, fundamental to their success, a strong team community. For the seven runners who attended the national race, Daniel Appleford and Colin Sahlman, freshmen, Nicholas Goldstein, sophomore, Jace Aschbrenner and Nico Young, juniors, and Kyndall Long and Ethan Ronk, seniors, last weekend in Oregon, Dec. 1, meant " nally achieving their dream.

Practice began like any other season, at the beginning of summer. Along with the girls’ cross country team, the runners could clock in around 60 miles a week the closer they got to their competitions. During the middle of their season, their long runs ranged from eight to twelve miles.

“! e entire mindset has been di# erent for this season. We had big goals coming into the season and that came with a lot of hard work, but we pulled it o# ,” Ronk said.

According to Ronk, these goals were to “defend our league title, win a CIF title, win a state championship and make it to nationals,” all of which they accomplished. As a senior on the team, he says he “couldn’t be more proud.”

For Aschbrenner, making it to nationals was a surreal experience. With an injury earlier in the season that stopped him from racing for three weeks, he was able to come back and qualify for the competition.

“It was an incredible experience… it was

Hands in-ands in- Huddling together before the race, Nico Young, junior, right, and the rest of his teammates give each other encouragement before the race at the Nike Cross National race. Young believes that it was the hard work that helped the team reach their goal of winning state and moving on to the next level. “It’s been a long season but it’s the farthest in the season our school has ever gotten to and I think our team is really excited and happy,” Young said. The team was the fi rst in school history to win the state championship and move on to nationals. Clay Nishi/ With Permission Face forward-ace forward- On the campus of the Nike Cross National race, Nike’s van displays the face of Ethan Ronk, senior. Ronk, who has been on the NPHS cross country team for four years, has been dreaming since freshman year to go to nationals, crediting the team this year for helping get there. The team motto is written across his face, “Just doin’ it for the boys.” The nationals race was sponsored by Nike, and the team was able to visit the original Nike Headquarters. Clay Nishi/With Permission

just really crazy to take in, I was smiling the whole time,” Aschbrenner said.

Out of the 204 racers at the national race, Aschbrenner placed 66th. Next year, Aschbrenner has set a higher goal.

“I de" nitely want to be up there with Nico. It’d be awesome if two guys in the top 10 are from here. Essentially, my goals are to catch up with Nico,” Aschbrenner said.

Young shares a similar sentiment. A$ er breaking the school record with a 14:01 time, Young placed fourth at nationals; he’s not done yet.

“I’m looking forward to us making nationals again and hopefully top ten as a team, and myself winning individually,” Young said.

In addition to training physically, Young and the team have to train mentally. Young said that with all of the distractions at the Nike headquarters, he “had to de" nitely think about what I needed to do and focus.”

With a national competition checked o# their list, the cross country team is now gearing up for track season, but according to Ronk, “this team really is something special.”

“! e quality of guys on this team is incredible and I really do love them all like family,” Ronk said. “A message I have for the younger guys on the team is just appreciate every moment. Appreciate these guys, they’ll become a second family if they haven’t already. You can make a bigger impact than you know.”

Aditya Vunnum Sports Editor

Five days a week, the smell of bleached mats " ll the air as the boys high school wrestling team grapples in the athletics room, locked in intense competition. ! e tight-knit group meets to bond as a team and take their game to the next level. ! e wrestling season started on Nov. 27 with a very successful away meet at Agoura which resulted in a 65-12 win.

A$ er months of practicing and conditioning, the team hosted the Newbury Park tournament. ! e team placed 11th out of 28 teams and four people placed in the top eight, with Kevin Kilbane, junior, placing "$ h for 126 pounds.

“Wrestling at the tournament was really challenging and I feel I could’ve done better, but I’m alright with where I ended up. It was really challenging you really have to " ght for it and it helped me realize that you can’t win them all and you can’t let it get you down,” Kilbane said.

Teams from all over the west coast showed up at the meet, such as Clovis and Poway from San Diego, and others coming as far as Nevada. Brett Philbrook, junior, loved the atmosphere that the other schools brought.

“In the morning we all got there at like 6 and everyone weighed in and then just sit back and watch the other schools come in. You get motivated by seeing all these strong teams and it’s really fun watching the excitement build up,” Philbrook said.

High level teams such as Clovis, "$ h in the state, and Poway brought an entirely new level of intensity to the tournament.

“Going up against them is kind of di# erent because it’s just higher level wrestling because these schools have their moves drilled in to perfection so it’s just a completely di# erent competition all together,” Philbrook said.

Although Newbury Park faced tough competition, Raaghuv Sompura, junior, saw the tournament as a powerful new learning experience and took a great deal away from the tournament.

“Although we didn’t place, I would say we did pretty well overall as a team with so many newcomers,” Sompura said. “On top of that, we received money from teams coming to the tournament and sponsorships which was great

Grapplerapple- Struggling on the matts, Urias Molina Merlo, senior (left) and Kevin Kilbane, junior (right) practice the “referee’s position”. The wrestling team held its home meet on saturday and placed 11th overall. “The whole atmosphere of the tournament was very competitive. We had a lot of top tier schools and who went to state,” Kilbane said. The team had 4 wrestlers place top seven in their weight at the tournament. Gianna Spiro/ Prowler for the wrestling program.”

Sompura feels that wrestling has become a large part of his high school experience since he " rst joined the team as a freshmen.

“I’ve met some of my best friends through wrestling and I’m really grateful for what it has given me. I know there are some stereotypes s u r r o u n d i n g the sport but it shouldn’t stop people from giving it a try,” Sompura said.

“Wrestling is di# erent from everything else because of the i n d i v i d u a l i t y it gives you,” Philbrook said. “! e team is really tight and we’re working towards a league title for the second year in a row. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes.”

As the marching band’s season comes to an end, members are looking back on their season with pride. Winning two championships, the band has been very busy outside of performing at football games. At a competition in Las Vegas, they won every single award for their category. However, for most members, it was about more than the trophies they earned, their season was about their journey as a band, an idea that was the very theme of their performance. Let’s take a look at the highlights from their last show Friday, Nov. 30, at an impromptu Thousand Oaks showcase. d, members are looking s the m ing band’s season comes toarch an en championships theback their season with pride Winnin on g two

Mallots up -allots up - Jason Peters, senior, focuses intently on playing his marimba as he keeps time with the drum major and the rest of the rhythm instruments. As drum major, Dasha Manzhos, senior, conducted and led the band, standing on a high rise and acting as the rhythm, or time, keeper. “It was really cool to witness everyone's growth because as a marcher you only witness what what's going on in your vicinity, but as a drum major, you get to see the whole show unfold,” Manzhos said. Manzhos said she enjoyed watching the band improve throughout the season . and compasses as props to emphasize their theme. Sarah

Hitting the note -itting the note - Although it is his first year in marching band, Jacob Flanery, freshman, confidently plays his trumpet, adding to the cohesiveness of the band’s performance. Sarah Lu/Prowlerw

Lined up -ined up - Marching in front of the whole band, James Bentley, freshman, struts across the field, a fresh new face among many of the seasoned marchers. This was the last season of four year careers for many marchers, and for Shannon King, senior, it was a good one to end on. “It was a great season and I couldn't ask for anything else senior year. I wish more people would do it; it's always more fun with more people,” King said. Sarah Lu/Prowler

Keeping time -eeping time - Nathan Shadron, junior, blows into his tenor saxophone while marching to the left in tandem with the rhythm. Like any fall other sport, marching band has been preparing for their season since the summer. “This season, we would have rehearsals every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then usually every Saturday we would go to a competition,” Steven Choi, junior, said. Jessica

Zhou/Prowler