Also at the WCAL meet: • Hannah Wood was the varsity 1,600-meter champion and a CCS qualifier. • Taylore Jaques (right) finished 5th in long jump. • Sophomore Sydney Jaques took 2nd place in pole vault to qualify for the CCS meet, and she finished 10th in high jump. • Caitlyn Opulencia placed 5th in the varsity 100 meter hurdles. • Casey Morris took 5th in varsity long jump and 9th in varsity high jump. The varsity swimming and diving team won four out of five home meets, and 13 girls qualified for the Central Coast Section championships. With more than 130 participants, Presentation’s swimming and diving team is the largest in the nation! The Panthers also had 38 West Catholic Athletic League finalists who scored in the top 16 of their event – our highest numbers since 2001. The varsity team went 5-2 and finished third at the league meet, where seven performances broke into the varsity “top 5 of all time” and Chloe Isleta set three All-American automatic qualifying times, earned two individual WCAL titles and set a WCAL record and team record. Some of the highlights of the CCS meet, where the varsity team finished 12th: • Chloe Isleta took 3rd in the 100 backstroke and 4th in the 200 individual medley. • The 200 medley relay team of Mackenzie Kirk, Grace Leonis, Chloe Isleta and Audrey Berner placed 4th with an All-American consideration time standard. • The 200 freestyle relay team of Mackenzie Kirk, Emma Malysz, Audrey Berner and Chloe Isleta placed 9th. • Mackenzie Kirk took 13th in the 200 IM and 15th in the 100 backstroke. • Grace Leonis placed 14th in the 100 breaststroke and 38th in the 50 freestyle.
The varsity softball team finished in 3rd place in the West Catholic Athletic League, going 7-5 in league and 21-7 overall. The Panthers won the Michael De Jesus Memorial Tournament in Milpitas and have been consistently ranked in the Top 10 in the Central Coast Section. A never-give-up attitude helped them come from behind in 7 of their 21 wins this season, earning them the nickname “The Cardiac Kids.” Presentation had one of the most feared offensive teams around, leading the powerhouse WCAL in batting average (.346) and stolen bases (61) while also scoring 199 runs. The varsity softball team earned the No. 6 seed for the CCS tournament and beat Branham 10-4 in the first-round game. WCAL All-League honors went to Grace Hargadon and Lorena Ukanwa (first team); Lauren Blach and Nina Mandracchia (second team) and Elizabeth Skotz (honorable mention).
Student Activities
The Speech and Debate Team took 2nd place in Debate and 5th place overall in the Coast Forensic League! Additionally, the team earned national recognition with their performance at the State, Tournament of Champions and National Championship Tournaments: • At the State Tournament, freshman Kaitlyn Sierra finished in 10th place in Expository Speaking. Juniors Sweta Sridhar and Nikitha Jagadish took 5th place in Public Forum Debate. And juniors Ayya Elzarka and Pranathi Gutala tied for 10th in Public Forum Debate. • Amy Elzarka and Anna Waters (right) took 9th place in Public Forum at the Tournament of Champions and were knockedout by the eventual tournament champions. • The team qualified several members to the National Speech and Debate Association’s Championship Tournament this summer! In Lincoln Douglas debate, Sakthi Ponnuswamy is the second alternate, and in International Extemporaneous, Sanika Kulkarni is the first alternate. This is the best performance by any Presentation extemporaneous competitor in team history! Anna Waters and Amy Elzarka won their qualifying round in Public Forum and are going to the Championship Tournament. Members of the Women in Computer Science Club visited major tech companies in Silicon Valley, including the campus of Facebook. Club officer Sara Stith was selected to be one of only three high school liaisons for Stanford University’s Girls Teaching Girls to Code program. Fashion Club students’ original dress designs were featured in Presentation’s Fashion Show for the 2nd year. The Fashion Club also helped raise money for Presentation’s financial aid program by hosting its first “My Sister’s Closet” event in April at which Presentation students donated clothing that was then sold to the rest of the student body. SUMMER 2014 | 21