Photo Credit: Ricky Lang
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December 30, 2011
Ricky Lang
Baseball season is less than two months away and I am extremely excited. The high school team has been working out in the preseason several times a week with both plyometrics and a few weight room sessions. We are aiming to win league this year and go deep into NCS. The new Washington baseball coach, Mike Sewell, really knows his stuff and is a great guy. Many of our guys played with his team, the Fremont Wolfpack, over the summer and have already grown accustomed to his fun coaching style. I think I can speak for the rest of the Washington High School baseball players when I say that I have complete confidence in Coach Mike and can’t wait to get on the field and get some wins.
In the off-season, I have attempted to stay in baseball shape by playing at several college camps and joining a new club team, the Danville Hoots. The team is composed mostly of players from valley schools such as San Ramon and Amadore and is notorious for passing a large percentage of players on to the next level. I am currently talking with a few schools about going to play for them next year including UC Davis, Cal Poly, Loyola Marymount, and University of Redlands. I most recently participated in a games-camp in Santa Barbara as my club team (the Danville Hoots) was invited down by UC Santa Barbara’s brand new coaching staff for an exclusive showcase December 28-29. Although my schedule has been jam-packed with baseball, I enjoy it and hope that it has prepared me for my final season at Washington.
Photo Credit: Tyler Creek
The soccer team stretching.
December 16, 2011
James Dang
Lars Paaske, center, and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark battle Jaejin Lee and Jiman Hwang of Korea in the bronze medal badminton match on Saturday, August 16, 2008, in the Games of the the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, China. (David Eulitt/Kansas City Star/MCT)
December 13, 2011
Richard Nguyen
Badminton has become a huge part of my life in just the past couple of years. The feeling of hitting the birdie at the optimum position of the racket is one of the best feelings, the momentum flowing through out my whole body up until the moment of impact. Just like in basketball, badminton players can juke the opponents out with deception in consideration of the racket as well as using the body. Badminton is the one of the if not the fastest sports in the world with the birdie flying up to 280 km/h meaning reactions are needed just to keep up with the opponent. Having the ability to outplay the opponent because of speed and strength feels great as you make them look like fools diving all over the place to return the shots. Badminton though takes a lot of time and practice to master as the handling of the racket is intricate and needs a lot of muscle memory to perfect shots. This year I am hoping to do well during the season and hopefully make it to NCS but the competition is stiff in California with many badminton academies training players at the age of 6 or less, and having Olympic caliber players. Badminton is a fun sport that everyone should try out in their life and hopefully they fall in love with it like I have.
Photo Credit: Adrian Yip
The boys' soccer team
November 30, 2011
Sai Vanam
As football makes a run in NCS and winter sports tryouts are being held, many talented players at our school are making the transition from the JV to the Varsity level in various sports. This opportunity involves hard work, dedication, impressive performance, and a greater challenge during practices and games.
Our football team moved up its stand-out players from JV to Varsity, because they needed the impact they could make during a pivotal game against Las Lomas High School to keep their NCS run alive. Many players, including Colton McCoy and Tyler Vinson, were moved up to Varsity for this upcoming game. Sophomore Austin DeReis is honored by the opportunity to play in this position. He said “I worked hard during practice and the coaches noticed. I am ready to help our Varsity team win.”
Winter sports have just started and many of the teams have already picked their Varsity players. For Varsity Boys’ Basketball, Junior Matt Isola made the team after playing JV last year. He describes the Varsity team as “whole new level of competitiveness”. He continued to say “My teammates work really hard during practices and we push each other way more than in JV.” Juniors Kelly Wheeler and Taylor James also had similar experiences making the transition for the girls’ basketball team.
Senior Adrian Yip, who made the Varsity soccer team said “JV is somewhat of a training ground. In JV, its all about endurance and adjusting to the game. Varsity is when expectations rise and coaches expect you to excel with precision and hard work.” Senior Richa Patel plays for the girls’ Varsity soccer team and “looks forward to the challenge.”
Photo Credit: Liam Sheridan
The reporter's high score for a track game.
November 18, 2011
Liam Sheridan
Track and field is my all time favorite sport. I used to be obsessed with soccer, baseball, and fencing, but I have come to see the light. When I tell most people about the superiority of track over other sports, they all say, “Why would someone want to run around all day?” And in truth, track and field is mainly running, but it is the atmosphere of track meets, and the huge diversity of events that one can participate in. If you don’t fancy running, try jumping, or throwing, and maybe you like long distance running, but you don’t want to run a two mile, then try doing the 800m. There is an event for every person, as long as you try to have fun you will. And what is more fun than winning a race over seven other individuals, or going to track invitationals and competing against kids from all over the country. Washington has a very good track and field team, last year we were undefeated until the Logan meet, which we lost by 1 race, seeing as Logan constantly has athletes ranked country wide, and athletes who move on to division 1 track universities, this was a huge feat. Two years before this we lost to Logan by the exact same race; this shows that we are a major competitor in the high school track And field world. Our track team also won the Skyline invitational 2011, this meet hosted schools from all across NCS. Track and field is not just a lame sport for people who can’t play other sports like baseball or football, but track is one of WHS’s most successful teams, we send multiple athletes to NCS meet and MOC meets every year.
The writer (Jack Champion) competing in the long jump.
October 7, 2011
Jack Champion
Track and field has been around for over 2000 years and is still widely practiced today. Unfortunately at WHS, it gets little recognition for being the top sport
at our school. This is the problem we (as a team) are facing today. Last year, the girls’ distance team won NCS and competed at the state meet, but was
never recognized by the school for their hard work. The basketball team two years ago only qualified for NCS and they were recognized by the school and
even had a special BBQ for the student body in there honor. I believe this is a little ridiculous. The track team was able to get over 20 athletes to NCS Bay
shore and over 10 athletes to the NCS finals meet and was still not recognized. Other sports such as softball, water polo and more face this same dilemma as we do. Like us they are great sports teams that put in hard work and don’t get the credit they deserve.
Photo Credit: Sarah Pham
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November 10, 2010
Sarah Pham
The girls varsity volleyball team started off their first round of NCS with a win against Ukiah High School. The girls managed to grab a victory after three games. The first game started off nearly effortlessly with a final score of 25 to 13. Ukiah then managed to make the crowd antsy by giving the Huskies a run for their points. With final scores 25 to 19 in game two, and a close 25 to 21 win in the third game, the Huskies showed Ukiah how fierce the dog house is. Senior Jenelle Serex, proud of her teammates, said, “We did good and came out onto the court ready to fight with a lot of energy”. The bleachers were filled with fellow Huskies cheering the volleyball team on. Many went wild for Senior Konami Yokoyama as she amazed them with her gym shaking kills. First time attendee, Senior Shriharsha Rao, had mixed feelings by the end of the game. “It was a great game! They scraped out there but I can’t believe I paid $6 to watch the Huskies win in only three games”. After dominating the gym at home, the team will now move on to their next opponent, Redwood High School, in Marin this Saturday.
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March 2, 2010
Edin Cristofi
The boys basketball team, ranked seventh in North Coast Sectionals (NCS), played against San Leandro High School, Feb. 23. San Leandro, ranked tenth in NCS, competes in a league against schools like Bishop O’ Dowd and Castro Valley, two of the most talented teams in the NCS boy’s basketball. San Leandro looked to pull an upset against Washington but came up short. San Leandro was behind the Huskies by one or two baskets throughout the game. In the fourth quarter, San Leandro and Washington alternated the lead position. When San Leandro tied the game with a two-pointer, senior Mark Wik raced down the court with 6.7 seconds and dished a no-look pass to senior Jack Veronin. He went for the game-winning layup, giving the Huskies the ultimate lead.
“I had to keep track of the clock, so I would know how much time was left,” Wik said. “I saw the big man open, and I fed him the ball.”
After the shot, San Leandro called a time-out to prepare for a chance to tie the game. They went for the win but they failed. The Husky fans rushed onto the court at the sound of the buzzard, cheering on their team after a hard-fought victory.
The Huskies lost against De La Salle High School, 47-66, in round two of NCS, Feb. 26. De La Salle is the number two seeded team of the NCS playoffs.
This article originally appeared in the print on March 2, 2010. It has been modified to correct style and grammatical errors.
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March 2, 2010
Bach Phan
After claiming the MVAL league title, the girls’ soccer team lost to California High, 2-0, in their first round of NCS, Feb. 17. The team has been plagued by various injuries during the season, including torn ACLs, knee injuries and various other small injuries. Junior Natalie Sanchez was injured in the first ten minutes of the game. The Cal High team consisted of only ten players, but the girls seemed physically larger than the Huskies. Washington was also at a disadvantage before the game started. They had a two-day break between playoffs and NCS, while Cal High had a four-day break.
“Cal High was good even with only ten players on the team. We just didn’t bring our A game,” senior Megan Leibowitz said.
The first goal scored was a cross and finish by the Grizzlies midfielder Kayla Santacruz, giving Cal High a 1-0 lead. The second goal was a deflection off of the sweeper (the last player on defense). It was scored by Cal Highs’s Rachel Feldman, giving the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead. The Grizzlies easily passed around Washington’s defense, and they found their rhythm after constantly attacking the Huskies goal. Washington played a more defensive game due to the injuries to their offensive players sustained from the week of playoffs. Later in the game, the team played better, but they were unable to dig themselves out of the hole.
“I felt sad that our season was over, but happy that we at least won MVAL [playoffs] and we recovered from numerous injuries,” junior Andrea Bonilla said.
This article originally appeared in print on March 2, 2010. It has been modified to correct style and grammatical errors.
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March 2, 2010
Paige Castren and Christelle Xu
ASB held a lunchtime barbecue Feb. 23 to celebrate the advancement of both the boys and girls basketball teams to NCS.
“It’s been roughly 10 to 15 years since we’ve sent both boys and girls basketball to NCS together,” activities director Helen Paris said.
The funding came from ASB, athletics and the money initially meant for the “Up Yours” lunch. Leadership decorated eaves with paper replicas of team jerseys, each personalized with players’ last names and numbers.
“It was great for ASB to put on the barbecue for basketball and to show support for the team,” senior John Songponnopachon said.
ASB made the decision Feb. 22 to put on the barbecue; they set up posters and announcements around school by first period Feb. 23. Despite the unexpected rain, ASB fed over 300 students.
“The price and food was good but there was a really long wait to get the food. It took like 20 minutes,” junior Andrea Bonilla said.
ASB members began turning students away so they would have enough time to clean up, not because there was a lack of food.
“One lesson I learned was that I should do every barbecue in the rain; everybody stays on campus,” Paris said.
