Friday, April 19, 2019
The Campanile
SPORTS
C2
SPORTS REPORT
By Emma Todd
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BOYS LACROSSE Paly vs. Los Altos 3/26, W, 20-1 Paly vs. Burlingame 3/28, L, 9-14 Paly vs. Burlingame 4/9, W, 17-10 UPCOMING GAMES
Paly vs. Los Altos 4/23, 4 p.m.
RECENT SCORES
Paly vs. Los Altos 3/27, W, 16-14 Paly vs. Mountain View 3.29, W. 11-10 Paly vs. Gunn 4/12, W, 11-68 UPCOMING GAMES
Paly vs. Los Gatos 4/19, 5:15 p.m.
BASEBALL RECENT SCORES
Paly vs. Wilcox 4/10, L, 1-8 Paly @ Wilcox 4/12, L, 5-8 Paly @ Saint Francis 4/16, W, 4-2 UPCOMING GAMES
Paly vs. Burlingame 4/20, 12 p.m.
SOFTBALL RECENT SCORES
Paly @ Monta Vista 4/10, W, 21-4 Paly @ Gunn 4/12, L, 2-12 Paly vs. Saint Francis 4/16, L, 1-17 UPCOMING GAMES
Paly vs. Cupertino 4/24, 4 p.m.
BOYS GOLF
SHIVA MOHSENIAN/THE CAMPANILE
The distance team takes a practice lap, determined to work hard though top athletes’ absences due to injuries.
Track and field face an abundance of injuries, remain optimistic for SCVAL and CCS Finals By Adora Zheng Staff Writer
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even weeks into the season, multitudes of injuries, personal records and dual meet wins and losses have culminated in an extremely important home stretch. The track and field team is preparing for its final few meets before Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) trials kick off next week. “The hardest part over the last couple weeks is that we’ve had a couple injuries — some of our top athletes have had some injuries,” head coach Michael Davidson said. “Some of them are coming back now, and the hope and the expectation is that they’ll be able to perform down the stretch.” Senior and girls varsity captain Avery Bocksnick is one of these athletes, and has been dealing with injuries for the majority of this season. “Individually, it’s been kind of rough,” Bocksnick said. “But I feel like I’ve ventured out and (tried) more events, which the coaches have wanted me to be doing — so it’s positive in that aspect.” At the Serra Top 7 Invitational on March 23, the girls junior varsity team took eighth place overall. Junior and girls varsity captain Kai Douglas placed third with a season record in the 800 meter race, and senior Leon Lau placed second in the high jump with another season record.
UPCOMING GAMES
Paly vs. Cupertino 4/23, 2:30 p.m.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL RECENT SCORES
Paly vs. Fremont 4/10, W, 3-1 Paly @ Santa Clara 4/12, W. 3-0 Paly @ Gunn 4/17, W, 3-0 UPCOMING GAMES
Paly vs. Burlingame 4/19, 6 p.m.
BOYS TENNIS RECENT SCORES
Paly vs. Wilcox 3/28, W, 4-3 Paly vs. Los Altos 4/11, W, 4-3 Paly vs. Gunn 4/16, L, 1-6. UPCOMING GAMES
Paly @ Santa Clara 4/23, 4 p.m.
“Overall, I think our team is pretty strong,” Bocksnick said. “Injuries have just been stopping everyone, and the season is a lot shorter (than) past years so it is harder to (give) yourself rest.” On March 26, the team competed away at Los Gatos High School — both boys frosh/soph and girls junior varsity won. In the 1600 meter race, senior and boys varsity captain John Tayeri, The Campanile’s business manager, came in first, while senior Benjamin Huang came in third with personal records.
“The hardest part over the last couple weeks is that we’ve hand a couple injuries.” Michael Davidson
“We have a few people who are strong contenders to be in some of the top spots at CCS, so we’re hoping for a good performance (at qualifiers),” Davidson said. The varsity teams competed at the Stanford Invitational that took place March 29 to 30, and the boys distance medley relay placed fourth in the event. “My favorite part of this season (has been) invitationals,” Bocksnick said. “You get to see the mass majority of people who are just so (great) at this sport — the Stanford meet was just incredible to watch because
there were Olympians there.” The Arcadia Invitational took place April 5 to 6, and senior Henry Saul placed 12th in the seeded 3200 meter race. “The girls (distance medley relay) had a great performance, and they had a (personal record) by 25 seconds over the course of the season, which is huge,” Davidson said. “Our time would have put as at tenth overall out of about 40 teams — but unfortunately we were disqualified due to some technicalities, so we are still trying to protest that.” On April 16, the team competed in their final duel meet against Gunn High School and celebrated their senior night. Team members found amusing and unsightly photos of the seniors at meets and had the whole team sign the frames before gifting them to the seniors. In addition, underclassmen also gave brief speeches for each senior. “Before, there were always people to look up to — now, being a senior and a captain, it’s different because people are looking up to me now,” Bocksnick said. “You have to be a role model not only for yourself but for others too.” In the upcoming week, SCVAL trials are on April 23 and 25, followed by SCVAL finals on May 3. Athletes who qualify through will then compete at Central Coast Section (CCS) Semi-finals on May 11, and CCS Finals on May 17 — the season will end with the California Interscholastic Federation State Championship Finals on May 25.
“We’ve gotten closer as a team and I think that’s really affected how we communicate and connect in games.” Lulu Gaither
Sophomore midfielder Lulu Gaither said the team has been working on improving for the past few months and made a couple changes during practices, such as different types of warmups that will help them perform better in the game. “We want to go in as strong as we can physically and as a team,” Gaither said. “Our coach has implemented a new warm up and drills, along with more footwork and strength building conditioning.” With the end of the season approaching, Gaither said the team bonding has positively changed the way they have played in games. “We’ve gotten closer as a team and I think that’s really affected
Baseball experiences mid-season struggles, loses four of five games By Siddartha Sahasrabuddhe
RECENT SCORES
Paly vs. Milpitas 3/27, L, 209-197 Paly vs. Gunn 4/11, W, 190-200 Paly vs. Saratoga 4/15, L, 184-179
Staff Writer
earing the end of the regular season, the girls varsity lacrosse team picked back up where it left off last month and kept its winning streak against Los Altos (1614), Mountain View (11-10) and Gunn High School (116). Although the team has won five games and lost four, its only SCVAL league loss came from Los Gatos High School.
RECENT SCORES
GIRLS LACROSSE
Girls lacrosse makes a comeback after losses
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Staff Writer
fter starting off the season by winning 10 of its first 12 games, Paly baseball has struggled, dropping 4 of 5 heading into a game against Burlingame. Paly has fallen from first in the De Anza Baseball league to fourth as Los Altos, Los Gatos and Wilcox High Schools have surpassed them in the standings, riding winning streaks of their own. Paly dropped both games in a recent home series against Wilcox. Sophomore first baseman Matthew Caren said the losses came from out of character play. “We had a tough series against Wilcox,” Caren said. “I don’t really think we played like ourselves
on Wednesday, but we definitely showed some fight during yesterday’s game in the later innings. It just wasn’t enough to get us the win.” Sophomore outfielder Stephen Lee said the team is not currently performing up to standard, however he offered optimism for the future. “We’re in a little slump right now, but in our last game (8-5 loss to Wilcox) we came together a little bit,” Lee said. “I feel like we are going to come out of this slump and we will go into the playoffs hot and ready to roll.” Lee said the team’s recent losses to Wilcox were a result of bad timing, rather than Wilcox fielding a more talented team. “In my opinion, (Wilcox) isn’t better than us or has more talent than our team,” Lee said. “They just caught us after a long break
and at a bad time. There aren’t any opponents that we can’t beat when everything is working well.” Lee believes that the team’s recent losses may have been caused by internal discord. “I would say that our recent losses (are) more because of internal struggles,” Lee said. “In our first game against Wilcox we didn’t have enough energy in the dugout, and our players weren’t doing their jobs. The players on the field didn’t execute, and the players on the bench weren’t supplying the energy we needed.” Despite the struggles the team is facing, Lee said he remains confident in himself and his teammates moving forward. “None of the other teams were any better than us,” Lee said. “We have a lot of talent on this team and I don’t think there is any team we can’t beat.”
Badminton finishes challenging season
After losing five games, team defeats rival Gunn High School By Paige Knoblock
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Staff Writer
he badminton team came off an exciting win, beating their rival Gunn High School on Tuesday after having lost their past five games, and making their current record 2-8. The team hopes to regain their strength in upcoming games. The team’s current record is due in part due to their size. This year, the team is smaller than ever, as the absence of players who graduated last year negatively affected its performance this year. Junior Aidan Bannon says the team has struggled due to the decrease in players on the court. “Unfortunately, our team seems to be smaller than ever, as many have not returned to play
this year,” Bannon said. Championed by their new coaches Jesi Marquez and Alex Adamethe, the team had hoped to win more games this year. However, it is staying hopeful as the players work towards winning future games.
“I hope that we can break through and continue to bring the big wins.” Laura Kim
“Our greatest strength is our unity, as even though we don’t all play on the same court, everyone cheers their teammates on and does their best to help everyone
else perform their best,” Bannon said. The team can all agree that their greatest collective strength is their community. Junior Laura Kim said that the team’s enthusiasm in cheering one another on boosts spirits. “We have players cheering on teammates all the time during games. And on days where we have away games, there is always some sort of Paly cheer going on in the bus ride,” Kim said. Though the team has been facing challenges this year, they hope to improve in the future. “I hope that we can break through and continue to bring the big wins,” Kim said. “There is potential in a lot of the players, and I’m excited to see our team strengthen throughout the season.”
how we communicate and connect in games,” Gaither said. “We’ve been working hard all season for all of our games, but some of our toughest competition include Gunn and Los Gatos.” Girls varsity lacrosse coach Jamie Nesbitt reflects on the overall performance of the team. “I think this year has been a year of challenges, including injuries, schedule updates, etc., but I’ve been impressed how the team keeps coming together to fight through them,” Nesbitt said. Along with performing certain drills during practice and learning new skills, Nesbitt said that one of the important things the team is currently working on is how to adjust immediately to improvements in-game. “We have the talent to execute, but if there are changes we need to react to the other team, that only comes from game experience and preparing for uncommon situations,” Nesbitt said. Sophomore varsity player Andie Tetzlaff also believes the team has improved since the start of the season. “We’ve been conditioning more and building our stamina and it has greatly affected our ability to play in games,” Tetzlaff said. “We are also cracking down on executing plays on offense which has also helped us a lot.” Tetzlaff said what she will miss the most about the team is the seniors when they graduate. “When the seasons over I’ll definitely miss the seniors the most,” Tetzlaff said. “They’re all very supportive and welcoming and they’re amazing role models for me and the other underclassmen.”
DAVID HICKEY/VIKING MAGAZINE
Junior Tyler Yen spikes the ball in a game against Gunn High School.
Boys volleyball strengthens team bond, continues wins By Leila Khan
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Staff Writer
s the second half of the spring season approaches, the boys varsity volleyball team continues to climb its way to the top of the ranks. “We are currently 7-1 with our win tonight against Santa Clara,” senior captain Raymon Chen said. As the team has racked up wins, the members have gained confidence and now hold higher goals for the remainder of the season. “We are going for first place in the league,” junior Lachlan Stayte said. “I think we’re third right now, but we’re hoping to make it up.”
“It’s that time in the middle of the season when everything really starts coming together.” Raymon Chen
Earlier on in the season, the boys discussed ways to increase their success by hosting more bonding activities and attempting to add to their overall team chemistry. “Our team chemistry is really clicking now,” junior Dejo Al-Najjar said. “It’s (improved) from the beginning of the season.” Recently, the team has been on a winning streak while forging their way through the league, according to Stayte. “All of the games this week were easy wins, none of them were that interesting,” Stayte said. After beating Santa Clara High School, the team has conjured up
the passion needed to make it to the next level. “It’s that time in the middle of the season when everything really starts coming together,” Chen said.
“Our team chemistry is really clicking now. It’s (improved) from the beginning of the season.” Dejo Al-Najjar
According to Chen, the relationships among teammates along with the confidence the players have acquired has led to their continuous success. The team will face off against their crosstown rival at Gunn High School on April 17 at 6:30 p.m. “We’re hoping to beat Gunn for the second time this season,” AlNajjar said. Moving forward, the boys hope to maintain their strong intrateam relationships, and are aiming to land a spot in the team championship match. They expect to beat Wilcox and Gunn in the second match this season. “For the future, we’re playing Wilcox (High School and Gunn) which should be good games,” Chen said. “(They) will decide whether or not we’ll be able to pull away in first place at the end season.” As the boys move into the final matches of the season, they bear with them increased team chemistry and spirit. With eyes set on the first place award, the team plans to reach its goals by continuing to train hard and work together, according to Stayte.