The Hatchet » Sports

Badminton season right around the corner

Billal — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:11:30 +0000

Badminton players have recently started conditioning in preparation for the upcoming season which will be here soon. Conditioning consists mostly of leg and cardio exercises that will help players on the court. Players have also started learning the proper way to play, starting with how to hold and use a racket.

Returning Coach Allen Ng says that he hopes the team can improve this year and do better than they have in previous years. Also coming back to help is Head Coach Roshni. Both have helped coach the Washington High School badminton for the past few years.

“I wasn’t motivated at the start when badminton season started but as I watched people condition I felt nostalgic and now I kind of want to condition, and kind of want to play, but I’m too lazy to go out when there’s other stuff I can do at home.” Senior Jonathan Hui said of the upcoming season,

Jonathan has played for the Washington High School badminton team since his Freshmen year here, JV Freshmen year and Varsity Sophomore and junior year. He plans to return as a varsity player for one last time.

There will be no conditioning during finals week so that students can focus on studying. Afterwards however it will start right up again and it’s still not too late for people wanting to join the team to go.

Track and field gains momentum

Billal — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:08:47 +0000

Track and field has another month until official practices start, yet some athletes have already begun to attend meets and races. The most recent meets were the Indoor State Qualifier Meet at UC Davis on Jan. 7 and the Indoor State Qualifier Meet at UC Berkeley on Jan. 14. Qualifying for specific times in either of these meets would allow athletes to advance to the California Indoor State Meet Invitational at California State University, Fresno, on Jan. 28. “There’s athletes from all over California so it’s going to be pretty tough qualifying for the state invitational,” long distance runner Matthew Young said.

At the UC Davis Meet, only pole vaulters Liam Sheridan and Kyle O’Hollaren competed from Washington. Sheridan tied his personal best of 11 feet and 6 inches. Unfortunately, O’Hollaren failed on all three attempts. At the UC Berkeley meet, more Washington athletes competed. Stephen Cheung and Da’rell Calvin competed in the 55m dash and the 55m hurdles. Neither qualified for either event. “I am disappointed. I missed the qualifying time by 0.16 seconds because I hit the first hurdle,” Cheung said. On a more positive note, Jack Champion qualified for the long jump. He jumped 43 feet and 8 inches. Long distance runner Nolan Peterson ran the mile and two mile. He qualified for the two mile but not for the mile. “I wish the best to Jack and Nolan at the state meet as well as to our team for this coming season!”Sprinter Tejawsi Thota said.

Baseball holds open field workouts

Billal — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:00:52 +0000

For the first time all year, the baseball players have gotten out on the field to throw and do drills in preparation for the 2012 season. Prior to Winter Break, baseball pre-season workouts had consisted of weight room sessions and conditioning with plyometrics, or jump training, but not been practicing with baseballs on the field.

This is the case partly because MVAL league rules limit the amount of baseball-related activites a high school team can perform before the tryout date, Feb. 6. For example, the baseball team is prohibited from taking live batting practice until tryouts officially begin. Until tryouts begin, open field sessions will be held Monday to Thursday. New head coach Mike Sewell splits players into groups according to position: pitchers, catchers, outfielders, and infielders. Pitchers do mechanic drills and throw bullpens. Catchers work on blocking and pop-times (the time that passes from when the catcher receives the ball to when the second baseman receives the throwdown). Outfielders take fly balls and infielders take groundballs. Half of each open field workout is on the field and the other half is in the weight room.

Joining Coach Sewell on the Husky coaching staff are John Abrego, who was drafted out of high school as a pitcher and played professional baseball, and Eliot Almeda, who has years of experience of coaching at Ohlone College and played college baseball in Colorado. The players attending the workouts are itching to start playing games.

“I think this will be our year, I’m pumped,”junior Jaramy Jacobs said.

“We are going to run league.” senior Matt Knight added.

Huskies defeat eagles in double overtime

Billal — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:15:55 +0000

The Washington Boys Basketball team opened MVAL league play with an exciting 67-57 victory against American on Wednesday, Jan. 4. The game went into double overtime before a winner could be decided.

The lead changed hands countless times in the first three quarters with both teams playing extremely well. With 2.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Huskies led 50-46 and American had two free-throws. The Eagles made the first free-throw but intentionally missed the second and dished the ball to Connor Tse, who drained a clutch three-pointer to tie the game at 50-50 just as time expired. The American fans erupted and even ran out onto the floor to celebrate the unlikely comeback.

However, Washington did not let this change of momentum psych them out. With time running out in the first overtime period, Washington Senior Pierce Romero stole the ball and attempted to dunk. But, the play was called back because American had intentionally fouled. Senior Matt Songponnopachon then headed to the line and sank two free-throws to tie the game at 54 all and send the game into double overtime. Now it was the Washington crowd’s turn to cheer. The Huskies dominated the second overtime thanks to a technical foul on the hot-headed American head coach, the muscle of Haniteli Lousi, and the scoring machine Matt Songponnopachon, who was a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line and ended the night with 22 points. The final score was 67-57 in favor of the Huskies.

“It felt great just to get the W. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us tonight,” senior Pierce Romero (18 points on the night) said after the game.

The chaotic overtime win makes Washington 1-0 in MVAL league play and 4-11 on the season. The Huskies have a bye on Friday, Jan. 6 but resume play at home on Wednesday, Jan. 11 against Newark Memorial.

Washington soccer kicks into season openers

Billal — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:42:09 +0000

Both Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity and Junior Varsity soccer teams lost their first season game of the year. Boys’ Varsity and Junior Varsity played American High School at the TAK Fudenna Stadium on December 14 and both lost 2 to 1. Varsity’s sole goal was a spectacular curving shot from junior Edgar Cerna while Junior Varsity’s goal was scored by freshman Nathan Robinson.

“It was an intense game. Our team fought until the end. We never gave up!”Senior Navjeet Phull exclaimed.

Washington Boys’ next game is on December 16 against Alameda High School at Alameda. However, their next season game is on January 4 against Newark Memorial at Newark. Junior Varsity plays at 4:00 and Varsity plays at 6:00. Newark Memorial has been known to be a strong competitor against Washington for many years. “Come support our Huskies! It’s going to be one crazy game,”Senior Adrian Yip says.

On the other hand, Girls’ Varsity and Junior Varsity played against American High School on American’s field on December 13. The Varsity team lost 4-2. The Junior Varsity team also lost 2-1. When asked about the game, senior Shaina Charles commented, “You don’t want to know about it.” Washington girls get another chance to redeem themselves on January 3. Varsity and Junior Varsity play Newark Memorial at the TAK Fudenna Stadium at 5:45 and 3:45, respectively.

The Boys’ and Girls’ team are determined to train harder and win games as the season progresses. The Boys’ team has high expectations to advance to the North Coast Championships this year. With eleven games remaining, Washington is in high spirits for success and victories.

Boys’ Basketball suffers with heartbreaking loss in Pleasant Valley Tournament

Billal — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:09:12 +0000

Our Boys’ Basketball team competed in the 46^th Annual Invitational Pleasant Valley Tournament in Chico, CA this weekend. It was a very competitive stage with seven other teams: Chico High, Pleasant Valley, Downey (Modesto), Bullard (Fresno), Freedom High (Oakley), Oroville High (Oroville), and Elk Grove High. “It’s a really competitive and big time tournament because all the teams aren’t from just one area or city,”Senior Matt Songponnopachon said.

The tournament comprised of three well-fought games. Our Huskies first played against Pleasant Valley and then Oroville. They competed strong and came out with a win against Oroville and a loss against Pleasant Valley. This positioned them to play in the consolation championship against Elk Grove High. The final game of our husky’s tournament run proved to be a memorable one. The moment the ball tipped off players both teams were focused and determined to win. In the end, it lead to a thrilling double overtime game, in which unfortunately our team came out on the wrong end of. Our Huskies placed 4^th in the tournament. Senior Matt Songponnopachon took this tough loss positively. He remarked “It just made our team that much mentally tougher and stronger.”

With many more games in the boys’ basketball season, our team hopes to grow from this experience. “We are a young team but we had a lot of improvements over that weekend,”Senior Haniteli Lousi said. Specifically, Lousi pointed to the way that the team didn’t close out opponents in the final minutes of games. The season so far looks promising.

From a girls’ point of view

Billal — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:53:12 +0000

Junior Inka Leprince is one of the three girls on the school wrestling team. She is in her second year of wrestling. Every day, she and her teammates gather in the auxiliary gymnasium to practice and workout, coached by Coach Kyle. Her brother influenced her to do wrestling for the winter season by expressing that she could get into shape quickly. Moreover, wrestling appealed to her because it was unique and exciting. Her teammates are a major part in convincing her to continue wrestling in high school. “I personally feel like they’re my second family,” Leprince says. Despite the majority of the team being boys, Leprince receives no special treatment from her coach. She is expected to try her best and perform all exercises that the boys do.

Leprince states that wrestling is a physical sport and wrestling with boys is not like what most people think. She laughs, “It’s not sexual in any way. The only difference is that when heavier guys wrestle me, they are gentler because they don’t want to be ‘that guy’ who hurts a girl.” Her favorite memory was going to the North Coast Championships (NCS) for a two-day tournament with fellow teammates Brittany Kinney, Kaitlin Loob, and Maryanna Wainaina. Here, she bonded with many of her teammates as well as her coaches. Leprince has high hopes for the team this year, believing that there will be several boys advancing to NCS. “It’s a lot of pain but a lot of gain,”Leprince exclaims.

Boys’ Volleyball team seeks new coach

Billal — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:52:33 +0000

After two seasons as our volleyball team’s coach, Samuel Pricer resigns and will not be the volleyball coach for the 2011-2012 boys’ volleyball team. Coach Sam, as his players used to call him, is an alumnus of Washington High School and played varsity volleyball during the 2005-2006 season. A competitive and talented volleyball, Sam started as the JV coach for our volleyball team. Last season, he had opportunity to coach the varsity team. However, this year Sam decided to join Marines and could not coach this upcoming season. Coach Sam said “it was a fun and exciting experience seeing my players progress. I enjoy the sport of volleyball and look forward to participating in the sport in the future.”

Our boys’ volleyball team looks to rebuild. With many talented seniors leaving the team and no coach, the current players are left adrift. They seek an excellent coach and players to step up as leaders of the team. Also, players are organizing open gyms to get ready for the upcoming season. Junior Anant Gill, who played for the varsity team last year looks forward to get back on the court. “I like open gyms, because they are a good way to adjust to the demands of the season. I believe that our team will be competitive this year and we will see how far we get.” Though our boys’ volleyball team has lost key pieces on the team, the upcoming season is promising as current players are ready to fill in the roles.

Boys’ soccer prepares for new season

Billal — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:19:31 +0000

Washington Boys’ Soccer kicks off to a start for the winter season. Tryouts were held during November 7 to November 11. There were many new faces on the field as Freshmen crowded the field and there were Seniors who had never even been on the team. During tryouts, the coaches separated the players by skill level and tested their abilities through scrimmages. Players were also subjected to conditioning drills to determine who was fit and healthy. On November 14, results were posted on the front of the gym. Both Varsity and Junior Varsity rosters held 18 players each.

The Varsity team has an entirely new team this year. The only returning Varsity players are Edgar Cerna, Ryan Walla, Brennan Moore, and Soren Neumeister. Some key players that were lost from the previous year are captains Brandon Barrios, Daniel Chai, and Steven de Leon. Despite these losses, coaches Reuben Raygoza and Saul Raygoza remain optimistic for the rest of the season. They face their next pre-season game on November 18 against Dublin High School at Dublin.. Meanwhile, the Junior Varsity team has an upcoming tournament at James Logan High School during Thanksgiving Break. Washington’s season officially starts on December 14 against American High School. Senior Harvir Mangat exclaims, “Come support our strong, beautiful Huskies!”

The soccer team quickly geared up to their first game on November 16 against Tennyson High School, a Hayward team. The Varsity team lost by 1-3. Two of Tennyson’s goals were from penalty kicks and Washington’s single goal was scored by junior Wilver Parral. On the other hand, Junior Varsity won by 2-0.

Featured Athlete: Ryan Walla

Billal — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:06:53 +0000

Senior Ryan Walla plays varsity soccer. A veteran of the sport since 2001, Ryan participated in baseball and martial arts. After the soccer season, Ryan runs for the school’s track team as well. Ryan’s father used to play soccer as a kid, which got him to try it and eventually he ended up loving the sport. Freshman year was when he started to play competitively and improve due to hard work and a great coach who set the foundation for him. His coach taught him all the basics and helped him move onto a more difficult level of playing the game. Ryan expects this year’s team to do well as long as the players maintain good grades and get a great team chemistry going on the field. Ryan said, “We have the potential to be in the top three schools in our district as long as we make sure that we don’t lose any of our key players.” Outside of school, Ryan plays for the Mission Valley United (MVU) club, which is the competitive team for Fremont. He is the one of the captains of the club and hopes that he can be the captain for this year’s soccer team at Washington. During his freshman and sophomore year, Ryan played for the junior varsity team and moved up to varsity as a junior. He loves the fact that the school team has different players from different clubs bonding together as a team to show pride in their school. He hopes to play soccer in college and will definitely play for an intramural or club team at the college he will attend. Ryan’s favorite memory while playing soccer was when he was in Belize on a mission trip and was playing against the local team. He scored a goal as he got body checked by one of the opposing team’s players. As he was lying on the ground, he wondered why everyone was cheering when he got hit but soon realized that he had scored a goal.