Ω the hoofprint
february 12, 2014
TENNIS FRESHMEN ON THE RISE Dozens of athletes try out for the tennis team every year, hoping to see their name on the roster. Less than 16 make the lineup. Meet the two freshmen who are on the varsity team this year.
RYAN WONG
AGE 14 HEIGHT 5’8” WEIGHT 105 lb. TENNIS RECRUITING NETWORK RANKING
“It feels pretty good to make varsity. It’s one of my goals I wanted to accomplish before I graduated high school. It’s important because it’s like a thing to get me into college. My goal is to play pro circuit. Making varsity will be a step toward my goal. It’ll help me with my attitude with my team mates.” -Ryan Wong, 9
DYLAN TRUONG
AGE 14 HEIGHT 5’9” WEIGHT 137 lb. TENNIS RECRUITING NETWORK RANKING
“I enjoy playing tennis because it’s a fun sport and it’s physically challenging and also mentally. Tennis is important to me because it keeps my life balanced. If I didn’t have tennis, I wouldn’t have a stress reliever in my life. “It feels good knowing I made varsity as a freshman because there’s only one other freshman that made it.” -Dylan Truong, 9
Boys wrestling finishes league duals against Diamond Bar The Mustangs complete the team season with a loss to the Brahmas 26-32. Bryan Wong Sports editor Varsity boys wrestling finished its league duals with a loss to Diamond Bar 36-42 in a home match on Tuesday, Feb. 4. “I feel as a team that we did really good and a lot better than last year,” senior Robert Gomez said. “We need to improve our cardio so we can wrestle longer and better without getting tired.” Both schools began the dual with pins at the 106 lb and 113 lb weight classes. Captain junior Marc Anthony Sanchez stopped the Brahmas’ momentum with a close victory against MUSTANG SPIRIT IN THE RING: Senior 126 lb. Kevin Lu counters his former Walnut varsity wrestler Donald Palmer. opponent’s high crotch shot with a crotch lock in an attempt to roll him over. “Donald, being a former had the home crowd on my side.” lbs, the Brahmas claimed a bye Mustang meant that he knew Diamond Bar began to take at 220 lbs and defeated Walnut’s what we drilled and what moves I the lead, claiming victories at heavyweight, sealing the victory. liked to go for. But I kept drilling the 138, 145, 152, and 160 lbs The Mustangs will not compete as my stuff and my game play was leading 16-8. a team against their longstanding to keep a fast paced match and weight classes, “I was mad that we were rivals next season because Diamond dominate when I was on top and not let him hold me down on bottom, losing some matches, but I Bar will move up a division. “We were all worried to lose which worked perfectly,” Sanchez was excited at the same time because it was a rivalry match.” the dual, and there was a lot of said. “Freshman year, we would challenge each other for the varsity junior Dane Nakamura said. excitement and adrenaline because With five weight classes left to Diamond Bar is our rival and this spot and although every match wrestle, the Mustangs trailed by 16. was the last time we are going to was close, he would come out the winner. So I was very motivated, and Despite Walnut’s three consecutive face them in league,” sophomore victories at 170, 182, and 195 Zachary Rohskothen said. Ω
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A FAST introduction to swim
Varsity swimmers help the junior varsity members in the FAST program to polish up their technique. Cherie Chu Staff writer Swim team implemented FAST, a program designed to help junior varsity swimmers with their techniques and strokes. Varsity members work with junior varsity swimmers on their technique every Friday at the Walnut High School pool after school starting Jan. 31. To help the junior varsity members, the trainers demonstrate strokes and aid them with their positions if they are struggling. “[The instructors] watch you one by one, and after, they give you advice or tell you if you did a good job. Sometimes, they encourage you, which is good,” freshman Matthew Huang said. “The advice really helps you because you correct it the next time and you get better.” Junior varsity swimmers sign up with a certain varsity trainer they want to work with. Each group contains seven to nine swimmers, excluding the trainer. “All in all I think it’s good because you get to practice with someone you feel comfortable with. The trainers are around our age so it’s
easier to connect and negotiate with them on a more casual level,” junior varsity sophomore Melody Wen said. Last year, captains attempted to create a swimming aid program, which did not last because of inconvenient timing and insufficient preparation. However, this year instructors have met to plan the lessons and started the program earlier so that the junior varsity members have training before swim season starts. “But we’re still hoping that we can help a majority of the swimmers improve their times this season, or at the very least, create a better bond between the captains and the rest of the team,” varsity junior Sarah Le said. With FAST, swim captains hope to train the junior varsity swimmers so that they will build a good technique foundation and a closer bond with the varsity swimmers. “The purpose of FAST is to help JV swimmers reach their full potential, to allow them to compete at a level that separates them from others,” varsity sophomore Jerry Chen said. “I think this is a great program for the JV people because it allows them to swim fast, and we need fast swimmers in order to win CIF and in league.” Ω ADVERTISEMENT