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Girls’ Basketball dream together, swish together

By Hannahjane Arellano

Piedmont Hills Girls’ Basketball are making pointers on its season’s performance. While the season has been good, there is always room for improvement. The Varsity team explained how they had a rough preseason because the team was not winning games, but with hard work and dedication the girls were able to pull through.

“We’ve had a hard preseason but now that League is here, things started to clear up and our performance has been so much better,” exclaims senior Point Guard Nikki Llobrera.

The players are focused on winning more games and building a stronger team. In order for them to stay focused throughout the season, they all had to work together as one.

The girls trained persistently to make sure they put all their effort on the court. JV and Varsity both dedicated their time to achieve the power to win a tactical game. Since they lost a couple of games in the beginning of their season, they are making up for it now.

Varsity Girls’ most recent game was on Tues., Jan. 17 against Overfelt High School. The Lady Pirates won the game with a score of 62-37. Varsity girl’s record is 4-3 so far, three being league games. Junior Varsity girl’s record is 3-1. Their most recent game was on Fri., Jan. 20 against Independence High School with a score of 37-34.

“What inspires us to do our best is when everyone is having fun and when we work as a team to play the game,” expresses senior Center Analyn Nguyen.

Before each game, the girls hype each other up and keep their energy at an all time high. Additionally, each coach encourages them to get along with everyone. Although they can be pretty strict on their practices, it helps the players stay confident with themselves so there aren’t any offsets on the court.

Each player hopes to win more games throughout their season. All of them work and strive together as a team to dominate on the court. Working together and having the same goal helps improve the girls’ performance.

“A ‘team’ to me means that no matter what is happening outside, everyone has each other’s back on the court or field because we all have the same goal and you have to work together to achieve it,” declares sophomore Pointguard Zuri Nguy.

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Wrestling slams into A League

By Emilie Chau and Rianna Gallardo

For the first time in Piedmont Hills High School history, the wrestling team made it into the A-League.

The A-League is comprised of the top eight teams out of the 24 high schools in BVAL (Blossom Valley Athletic League). In order to make it into the A-League, a team has to be extremely well-rounded.

“We are trying to prove to the rest of the A-League that we belong there just as much as they do,” expresses senior captain James Grier.

The team is improving thanks to the hard work of captains Isaiah Gonzalez and James Grier.

“I work my hardest at practice and motivate myself to do my best,” reveals senior Dean Urbanski.

However, the season was not met without any complications.

“My biggest obstacle this year has been my injuries. I have dislocated my shoulder, but I have learned to drill as hard, because sometimes I cannot take it easy,” laughs Gonzalez.

Unlike many other sports, the wrestling team plays independently during competitions. Wrestling also comes with difficulties many other sports do not have such as requiring players to lose eight pounds in one day.

“In many different sports you typically take the loss as a team, maybe blame it on another team mate, bad pass or a foul. In wrestling it is all on you,” states Gonzalez.

Currently, the team is actively preparing for CCS (Central Coast Section) which will start Feb. 25.

“During CCS week most of us tend to do extra running and double practices,” explains Gonzalez.

“Our hardest dual meet was most likely Leigh,” confesses Grier.

The team currently has a record of 2-0.

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New England Patriots beat Atlanta Falcons 34-28

By Syed Rahim

After making a historic comeback in the second half, the New England Patriots rose from the ashes to defeat the Atlanta Falcons with a final score of 34-28.

The Falcons dominated the Patriots in the first half, ending the second quarter with a score of 21-3. It looked to be any easy win for Atlanta, and fans started to get ready to celebrate.

But as the clock ran down in the fourth quarter, the Patriots slowly began its comeback. Outscoring the Falcons by 19 points, a tremendously difficult catch by New England Wide Receiver Julian Edelman allowed the Patriots to tie the score with 28-28.

Edelman’s catch will likely go down in history as one of the greatest Super Bowl catches of all time. As he collided with three other players just as the ball bounced off the leg of Falcons Cornerback Robert Alford, Edelman grabbed it in the fraction of a second when it was in the air.

It was probably like 70% luck, 30% skill,” commented Edelman later in an interview on the Tonight Show.

The final result of the Super Bowl 51 left Falcons fans distraught and disappointed. Had they clinched the win, this would have been their first Super Bowl title in franchise history.

“Because of my dislike for Tom Brady, I was really happy that the Falcons were ahead by 21 points at the end of the third quarter,” said senior Matthew Hoang. “Although I dislike Tom Brady, I could not deny his clutch ability.”

Patriots fans were thrilled by the outcome of the match. This Super Bowl became the fifth title for the Patriots franchise, officially tying them with the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys for most Super Bowls won.

“I was very sad when I saw the score, and they only had three points. When they came back, I was super happy,” exclaimed junior Matthew Martinez. “When they finally won, it was just a dream come true for me.”

The game was a battle between the league’s greatest offense and the league’s greatest defense. While The Falcons’ offense tied the Los Angeles Rams for 7th most points scored in a season in league history, the Patriots’ defense allowed fewer point than any other team.

This game is considered the biggest comeback in NFL history during a Super Bowl trailing at 25 points, while the previous record holder was at 10 points. What makes this game particularly unique is the fact that it went overtime.

With the win last Sunday, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick only added to his own already impressive résumé. Already the coach with the most wins in NFL history, Belichick became the first ever head coach to win five championships.

New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady cemented his legendary status with his fifth Super Bowl victory. Tom Brady was the center of 2015’s “DeflateGate” controversy in which the Patriots were accused of deliberately underinflating footballs to gain an advantage over its opponents. Brady’s punishment, a four-game suspension, barred him from playing the first four games of the season.

Though the Falcons were not able to secure the win Sunday, the 2016 marked a turning point for the franchise. For the first time in four years, the Falcons achieved a winning record.With Quarterback Matt Ryan Wide Receiver Julio Jones setting new franchise records, the future for the Falcons franchise is bright.

The Patriots’ Super Bowl win secured its place in history as one of the greatest franchises. For Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, it means being considered by some as the greatest coach-player duo of all time. For the Atlanta Falcons players, it means hanging up their helmets, going home Sunday and waiting for redemption next year.

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Girls’ Soccer passes the ball to end the season

By Emilie Chau

On Tuesday, Piedmont Hills High School Girls’ Soccer team went against Westmont High School and won 3-0.

“The girls played well. It wasn’t our best game but we played well enough to get the win and we won three nothing,” reveals Coach Steve Sellers. “It created the opportunity where everyone got game time yesterday which was one of our goals,”

The team’s goal for this year is to make it into CCS (Central Coast Section) and to strengthen the bond among the girls which will improve their overall performance.

“We want to make it to CCS so we can have a longer season and bring a title back home!” exclaims Varsity Goalkeeper Ashleigh Alexander.

The team has a few ideas on how to enhance their teamwork and come together as a team to advance their skills.

“During practice we focus on improving ourselves and communicating with each other,” comments Alexander. “We let each other know where we are on the field and if there is a person pressuring you to get the ball.”

“We are going to have to work really hard during games and work with one another,” adds Varsity Forward Mareli Macias on how they are trying to accomplish their goals.

The team’s hard work is evident in their accomplishments throughout the season and the growing friendship among the teammates.

“I think they have truly come together as a team,” says Mr. Sellers. “They have a lot of respect for each other and enjoy playing together. You can see it on the field; we are connecting more as a group and they are playing well.”

In order to strengthen the girls’ bond, the team held some team bonding activities.  One activity included a dinner at the coach’s house.

“We all gathered at our coach’s house and had a team dinner,” explains Macias.  “It was very fun to get to know the girls and become closer with them. We’ve all gotten so close and because of that, our team is stronger.”

“Sometimes we go out to eat or we go over to Coach Freddy’s house and watch a movie,” states Alexander.

So far, the season has been going well.

“We have been a little inconsistent at times but we are in a position where we have a great opportunity to make CCS,” elaborates Mr. Sellers. “You have to be in the top three (to qualify for CCS) and right now we are in that position.”

Varsity usually practices 3:30 pm to 5 pm on Mondays, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm on Wednesdays and 7 pm to 8:30 pm on Thursdays.

“We usually do ball work to get our touches in, dynamic stretching and sprints,” expands Alexander.

Girls’ Soccer’s senior night will be held next Friday, Feb. 17. Their next game will be today at 5:30 pm against Ann Sobrato High School.

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Boys’ Soccer finishes season

By Angel Palomino

PHHS Boys’ Varsity Soccer team lost against San Jose Varsity Soccer team 5-1 last Monday at San Jose High Academy. Piedmont scored a goal in the first half; as the game started to drizzle, San Jose scored two in the first half and three in the second half . The current League season record for the Boys Varsity is one wins, eight losses and two ties.

“It’s our early game. We start off really slow, and then we play catch up for the rest of the game,” remarks Varsity Forward Jonathan Avalos.  Usually, the team does not score early on, and is playing defense for the first half.

The Boys’ Varsity team is currently in C-Division, and they are hoping to move up the league by the end of the season.

“Being on the team its just mental mistakes, and its different as in C-Division its normally two good teams and the other team falls off in skill, but this season there is four, and its just small mistakes we have,” clarifies Varsity Coach Manny Esayas.

The players practice and do warms-up. A common exercise they do is run around the football field a few times.  They also practice their blocking and shooting skills afterwards.

“Tactical base drills, we based it (practice) on previous games, correct the little mistakes and move forward,” explains Coach Esayas.

“We have to get better, and we need to get better motivation. We have people that don’t try as much,” states Goalie Nathan Avalos.

With Coach Esayas leading the team for his second year, he has developed a unique bond with the team.

“(The coach is) good, really fitness oriented, likes running and tries to motivate us to play,” remarks J. Avalos.

“We are alright, but we can do better,” explains Varsity Right Back Christian Landaverde.
Varsity latest game was yesterday at Piedmont Hills High School, at 5:30pm against Del Mar on the football field.

PHHS Boys’ JV Soccer team lost 4-1 to San Jose last Thursday at San Jose High Academy.
Their League season record currently is three wins, six losses and one tie.

The JV team is also in C-Division as well.

For their practices they do sprints, stretch, shoot, pass, and do separate exercises modified game to game.

“We are good overall, lately its been frustrating, so many of our players are injured,” elaborates Coach John Ventura.

Coach Ventura started coaching this year.

“We were down 2-0 in the first half against Santa Teresa, and then we came back and ended 3-2 in the second half after listening to his (Coach) speech,” explains Right Defense Tony Medeiros on Coach Ventura’s motivating skills.

“Our team morale is good, just we had a lot of our teammates moved up to Varsity,” clarify Coach Ventura.

On the team relationship “We are both good and bad with each other, during the games whenever someone isn’t doing their job we argue,” remarks JV Captain Juan Reyes.
Their latest game was yesterday against Del Mar at 3:15 pm at the football field.

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Swimming: the unassuming competitive sport

By Arthur Hoang

When people think of difficult sports, their minds tend to think of football, basketball, baseball or soccer. However, there is one sport that is often overlooked: swimming.

Most people think that swimming is more of a luxury or a recreational activity, but if you meet someone that has swam or coached competitive swimming, they would tell you otherwise. Swimming, whether casual, competitive or even synchronized, is a difficult sport.

Swimmers tend to have more practices than days in the week.

“We practice six days a week for two and a half hours in the evening and sometimes in the morning from five to seven,” confessed East Bay Aquatics Swimmer Kayen Chua.

With the exception of Sundays, competitive swimmers will sometimes have two practices a day, one before seven o’clock and one after four o’clock. They are followed by a series of weightlifting and other exercises to help build up muscle. Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps trains six days a week for six hours a day even if training falls on Christmas Day.

Next, a swimmer’s season is nearly yearlong. Swimmers constantly train to improve strength, endurance, technique and feel of the water. Swimmers have very diverse training from long endurance sets and short and fast sprint sets to technique and drill work. Any swimmer will tell you that after a couple days out of the water, it’s hard to remember their grip on the water.

“I was out of the water for four days and when I got back into the water I felt awful for the first part of practice,” stated Piedmont Hills freshman swimmer Andrew Hoang.

Being a competitive swimmer requires much personal sacrifice as well. Practices in the morning start at 5 am and swimmers are often forced to go to bed early to cope with their intense schedule. In addition, swimmers constantly have to make sure that they are eating a nutritious, balanced diet.

Britain’s most successful Olympic Swimmer Rebecca Adlington admits that she often missed school due to the amount of traveling that swimmers do, and she was often busier than her school friends. In 2005, she had a case of a glandular fever but she neglected it as fatigue and kept pushing until it developed into post viral fatigue.

Competitive swimming forces swimmers to go to meets, where warm ups usually start around 7:30 am and last for two hours. There are many things that can affect a swimmer’s performance at a meet depending on what they ate that morning, are they standing without shoes before their race, or whether they shave their legs to reduce drag. Even what they wear can affect their times. Are they wearing a regular practice suit? Are they in speedos? Or did they drop the $100 to $500 on fastskin to help reduce drag and are generally useable for very few times. Many factors can affect a swimmer’s race and time; and they can mean a world of difference. Shaving could make the 0.001 second difference for a 50 meter Freestyle Olympic.

With all the factors and skills that go into the sport, it’s clear that swimming is not just a recreational activity.

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Snowflake Ball fosters hope

By Arthur Hoang

Hosted by high school clubs across the Bay Area, the annual UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) Snowflake Ball was held on Sat., Jan. 21 in the L-Building at 7pm. Tickets were sold for $13 and $15 at the door.

The event drew students from many other schools, like Evergreen and Independence. Some even visited from schools in FUSD (Fremont Unified School District) as well.

The Snowflake Ball began with guest speaker Jacklyn Kurtela from the Bay Area UNICEF Next Generation, a committee of young leaders committed to saving women and children. PHHS’s SXC (Seoul Xtreme Choreography) also performed their new set “Caution.”

“It was a really good last performance that we had, even though we were down a person. I feel like we did what we could do, and we did well,” exclaims SXC Secretary Kyle Lam. “It was a good way to close out our first set of the year!”

The intermission featured a raffle for those who bought tickets at the door, with prizes such as the UNICEF paraphernalia, featured art and a stuffed animal.

Dinner of alfredo and pesto pasta were served while a range of performers and guest speakers took the stage.

All the money raised by Snowflake Ball went to the Syrian Refugee Crisis. By hosting such an event, students hoped to raise awareness on the issue.

“We don’t have an exact amount right now, but it is more than a thousand dollars,” says PHHS UNICEF President Syndie Tanujaya.”

The Bay Area Snowflake Ball originated when UNICEF clubs across the Bay Area decided to host a large event to raise money. After hosting a successful charity ball in 2014, UNICEF clubs continued it, with this year’s being the 4th annual Snowflake Ball.

“The Snowflake Ball is not nearly a ball. However, we chose to use that name for this event because the official UNICEF organization hosts a ball every year for celebrities and ambassadors to attend, which they call Snowflake Ball,” explains UNICEF Treasurer Eileen Vu.

“We wanted to honor our mother organization that way.”

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NHS hosts Induction Ceremony

By Melody Li

On Sun. Jan. 15, NHS (National Honor Society) held their annual induction ceremony in the L-Building to formally induct their members into the club.

“Induction ceremony is an annual event held by NHS to officially recognize its members for their service, leadership, and academic success.  It’s where inductees officially become members of NHS,” explains Vice President Jason Vu.

At the ceremony, each member was introduced by advisors and science teachers David Vasques and Archie Kregear as they walked the stage and lit a candle.  One advisor read their names while the other handed cords and certificates.  At the end, members came together to recite the club’s pledge and gathered for pictures.

Along with the ceremony process, the night was also filled with food and performances prepared by the NHS members.  The menu for the night included a three course meal of salad, pasta and dessert.  The meal was accompanied by numerous performances from NHS members and other clubs on campus including Indian Club and VSA (Vietnamese Student Association).  The ceremony concluded with a special performance prepared by the NHS officers.

The L-Building was covered with decorations to fit this year’s induction ceremony’s theme of “Induction Through the Ages.” Posters depicting retro-style scenes and table decor commemorating vintage eras added to the night’s atmosphere.

“The theme was chosen by a vote and we agreed that it’d be a little funny reference to how we’re the ‘last 90’s kids’ so we’re technically a part of that whole retro classical era and to expand on that, we also included references to different decades like the 60’s and 70’s!” explains Jason.

“It was definitely a night to remember. I had flashbacks of all of the accomplishments throughout my life and especially high school as I walked across the stage to light my candle,” expresses member Elaine Pham.

According to Secretary Jennifer Lai, the profits made from the induction ceremony will go to Save the Children, a charity that promotes children’s rights and provides support and relief for children in third-world countries.

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Mock Trial works to crack the case

By Tyler Vu

The newly formed PHHS Mock Trial team participated in its first matches on Tues., Jan. 31 and Thurs., Feb. 2. and last Tuesday, resulting in three narrow losses for the team.

In preparation for trials, all participating Mock Trial teams are given the same case a few months before the actual competition. This allows them to practice their arguments, polish their performance skills and study the case they are given.

This particular trial featured Cameron Awbrey, a fictional person suspected of human trafficking.  Each mock trial team is split into two sides: the prosecution and defense, one to defend Cameron’s case and another to prove his guilt in the matter.

The first match was against Castilleja High School.  Although the dedicated team practiced extensively for the trial, there were still some unfortunate mistakes that resulted in their  loss.

“Our cross examination was pretty solid, but we didn’t go through all our witnesses, so we got docked for that,” explains Vice Captain Matthew Hoang.

This loss did not deter the team, however, and the members used their new experience to better prepare for their next match.

“The first day was still really important for getting a feel of everything and to prepare for the next match,” explains team Captain Daniel Johnson.

The next match was against Gunderson High School.  The team performed much better than the previous match, just barely losing to the much older and experienced team.

“We did, in my opinion, excellent,” beams Daniel.

The third had the team facing against Pioneer. This match was as close as it could be, with the two teams tying in points. Ultimately, it came down to one vote from the final judge, who awarded the Pioneer team the win.

Losses aside, the matches were incredibly important for the future of the newly formed team.

“Some of the other schools have been around for ages and have a great support staff,” elaborates Daniel.  “With this experience, we can lay the foundations for the club for later years.”

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Follow the leader with Interact

By Melody Li

On Jan. 20, Interact hosted Me the Leader, a leadership workshop open to all students that focused on time management, professionalism, teamwork and service.

“The workshop was [designed] to help members build and gain insight on the leader they are and want to be,” explains Youth Act Coordinator Lauren Lee-Tran.

The event started with icebreakers to allow members and officers become comfortable with each other.  Then, Interact officers split the attendees into four different groups and worked on a rotating schedule to allow every member to attend workshops and presentations given by Interact officers on each of the four topics.  Three officers were assigned to each topic, allowing the officers to focus on their respective topics and lead the workshops unique to their own styles.

“My topic was professionalism.  I talked about how professionalism is about finding a balance between yourself and being presentable.  I talked a little about the topic and then played a game to describe it,” recalls Co-Historian Derek Tang.

Although it was the first time the club hosted a leadership workshop, both officers and members agree it had a smooth turnout.

“Overall, I loved the event because I saw members taking initiative and taking the next step into becoming great leaders.  All the workshops were fun and interactive,” expresses Lauren.