December 9, 2013
Page 28
The Spectator SpoRts Stuyvesant Fencing Title Still Untouchable Boys’ Fencing
Boys’ Basketball
Senior and captain Imtiaz Hssan drives to the basket against Brooklyn Technical High School on Wednesday, November 27th.
By Ari Hatzimemos and Chris Kim It’s that special time of the year, when it’s not surprising to see groups of students fill up the bleachers of the third floor gymnasium, chanting “DEFENSE!” and energizing the court. Previously known as the Runnin’ Rebels, Stuyvesant’s boys’ basketball team, the Peglegs, look to continue thrilling their large fan base with their quickness and intensity on the court. During last year’s regular season, the Peglegs put up a solid showing, finishing with a 12-4 record. The team was led by star Thomas Cui (’13), who averaged a whopping 16.2 points per game throughout the regular season. However, the team’s season quick-
ly came to an end in the playoffs, where they were knocked out by the fifth-seeded William C. Bryant Owls in the first round. The Peglegs are coming out this season fresh with a shaky young roster, which will be either just what they need to fill in the huge gap, or a major problem as they progress through the season. “We’re very young; we have seven rookies, two returning starters, and [senior] Nick [Kalantzopoulos], who was basically our sixth man last year,” coach Philip Fisher said. With a team of nine juniors and only five seniors, the lack of experience will be the deciding factor for the Rebels. “We do have the potential to have the same record [as], if not better than, last year’s, but we definitely need a lot more experience, and
we have to execute our plays,” junior Arlex Gole said. The Peglegs also lost Ian Oathwaite (‘13) and Muki Barkan (‘13), two key rebounders for the Runnin’ Rebels. Whether they still have what it takes to crash the boards is going to be an important question. “We need to work on rebounding, but we definitely have more size, which is a big help for the team,” senior Imtiaz Hssan said. In fact, the Peglegs’s arsenal contains even more size than last year. With returning junior Noah Brook at 6’4” and the addition of junior Konrad Krasucki, the tallest player on the team at 6’6”, the Peglegs have the size to potentially fill in the missing gap left behind by the previous team. Despite the obstacles that the Peglegs will have to overcome, the team has the talent, the athleticism, and the ability to learn and adapt quickly. “The juniors are quick learners because they’re used to the game, and we’re more athletic than last year,” Hssan said. “We just need more experience and practice.” The Peglegs will have to work harder to drain out the inexperience of the rookies in the preseason games. However, if the team is able to do so before the start of the league games, the Peglegs have the potential to outperform last season’s 12-4 record and possibly regain the division title that they had during the 2011-2012 season.
Sabrina Huang / The Spectator
Krystal the Pistol
Krystal Lara (in blue) dives first into the water during Girls Swimming finals.
By Annique Wong She’s five foot five and lean, with good posture and bright eyes. Her hair is tied in a simple but practical braid. And although she’s a sophomore, she hefts around a plaid freshman backpack. You’d expect her to be more comfortable in a bathing suit, considering the amount of time she’s in a pool, but she shows no sign of withdrawal, sitting bone-dry in front of me. Her coach Peter Bologna describes her as, “pretty much the fastest swimmer in almost every event in the city.” If anything, I’m confident this article won’t be the last time we see her name in print. Krystal Lara started swimming at six when her parents enrolled her in the local swim club in Tottenville. Realizing that she had long strokes and fast feet, her instructors encouraged Lara’s parents to put her on a team so she could swim competitively. The next year, at seven, Lara was enrolled into the Blue Arrow Swim Club (BASC), where she swam competitively and practiced every
day for almost eight years. Lara decided to move to the Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics (AGUA), located in the Upper East Side, because the BASC was moving to a new pool with a shorter lane size of 20 yards (as opposed to its former 25 yards). Both Lara and her two younger siblings (in elementary and high school, respectively) received merit scholarships and were exempt of the fee to join. Although Lara no longer swims with BASC, she considers her coach there to be the most influential in her swim career. He is “everything to me, and has helped me with my technique and was my bio tutor,” she said. At AGUA, Lara swims six times a week. Each day, swim practice is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and is dedicated to a different type of training. For example, on Tuesdays, dubbed “Tempo Tuesdays,” the workout is a series of sprints; on Thursdays, the swimmers practice circuit training. However, practice includes more than just swimming. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, before
Untouchables Win Championship
Alice Oh / The Spectator
Anne Duncan / The Spectator
All on the Young Bloods
Senior and co-captain Philip Shin and senior Josef Omar fence side by side against opponents from two different schools.
By Jason Lee and Omar Siddique Last year, the Untouchables walked out of Townsend Harris High School with their heads held high and a gold trophy in their hands. This year, the only thing that changed was the venue. Stuyvesant’s boys’ fencing team defeated Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, McKee/ Staten Island Tech, and Beacon High School at Queens College en route to its second consecutive PSAL Championship. The team maintained a perfect 8-0 record throughout the regular season and took first place in the division, enabling them to seed
first in both foil and épée heading into the playoffs. The team was pressured about its chances at a repeat, despite having won the championship seven out of the past nine years. However, the Untoucahbles didn’t let this pressure get the better of them. “The [team] gets nervous and loses confidence,” senior and co-captain Philip Shin said. “But throughout the season, Ryan and I, the captains, helped boost the team’s morale so we could go into the playoffs with confidence.” The captains’ pep talks and words of advice carried continued on page 26
Girls’ Volleyball
practice, the team engages in an activity called “dryland,” in which swimmers stretch and do core exercises. When there is dryland, practice starts an hour earlier. As if swimming in the afternoon isn’t enough, Lara wakes up at 4 a.m. for hour-long practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays that start at 5:30 a.m. Academics and swimming can sometimes interfere, and there are times where Lara is forced to prioritize. But some of her teachers understand how intense swimming can get, especially English teacher Maura Dwyer, a former Stuyvesant Penguin herself. For example, Lara said, “[Dwyer] will sometimes ask about meets and how my times are.” As AGUA practices interfere with Penguin practices during the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) girls’ swimming season, Bologna and Lara have an agreement that she must swim with the team at least two times a week. When I wondered aloud if two practices a week gives Lara enough time for her to bond with the team, she insisted that it was. With the time spent together during their annual bonding day sleepover, plus the time it takes to travel to meets and the Seward Park Pool for practice, all the Penguins are close and supportive. “The team wouldn’t be the same without her [Lara],” junior Kimberly Wong said. In fact, one of Lara’s most memorable experiences as a swimmer was with the Penguins. During Opens, held on Novem-
ber 10, 2013, she broke the PSAL record for the 100m backstroke with a 57:12, a feat that Lara and continued on page 26
Vixens Crushed by Cardozo By Erica Chio After losing to the Cardozo Lady Judges during the playoffs for two of the past three years, Stuyvesant’s girls’ volleyball team knew it was in for a tough game when it traveled to Queens for the quarterfinals on Wednesday, November 20. The first seed Lady Judges had an undefeated season, in which they had won all but one game in straight sets. Although the Vixens were able to score the first point of the game, the rest of the game was filled with errors. They seemed nervous from the start and were unable to communicate or pass as well as usual, causing miscues that gave the Judges a series of points that put them in the lead. One recurring mistake in the first set was service reception. “Receiving the serve—the very first pass—[we] were too quiet, also maybe scared, a little timid,” coach Vasken Choubaralian said. Furthermore, the Judges were exceptionally good at serving, tallying up 18 aces throughout the match. “The way [the Judges] set up their defensive is just by running a really good serve, which messes up our offenses. And therefore, it makes defense much easier for them,” Choubaralian said. When the Judges were up 12 points, Choubaralian called
a time-out to boost the players’ confidence and advise them to focus on their passing. However, the Vixens were unable to pull ahead and scored only three more points before losing 6-25. During the second set, the Vixens passed better and had higher energy. They were able to force the Judges to earn their points, especially with senior Paula Carcamo’s blocking. Carcamo was essential because Judges senior Anja Malesvic, who totaled six out of the Judges’ 14 kills, was on the other side of the net. On one of Malesvic’s attempted kills, Carcamo was able to block the pipe so flawlessly that the Vixens were sure that the point was theirs. But the Judges showed why they were seeded first, managing to pancake the ball and eventually win the point. At game point, senior and co-captain Alice Li was subbed in, although an ankle injury had put her out for the majority of the season. “It felt right to be on court with my teammates again,” Li said. Despite the emotional moment, the Judges got the point to win the set 25-9, ending the Vixens’ season. Although the Vixens lost to Cardozo for the second year in a row, they are not disappointed, continued on page 27