Category: Sports

RUN LIKE YOU MEAN IT! Freshman Sophia Xiao dashes her way through miles of terrain

By Jacqueline Nguyen

Both Girls Varsity and Boys Varsity teams will run at CCS (Central Coast Section) Championships, taking place tomorrow at Crystal Springs Cross Country Course in Belmont, Calif.   JV and Varsity Cross Country teams raced against other schools at League Championships at the same cross country course last Monday for the chance to compete at championships.

To prepare for League Championships and CCS, runners have been disciplining themselves, doing many tasks to keep their health up and their game strong.  According to Varsity runner Eric Wei, runners have been training since a month before the school year started.

“We put in a lot of energy and time because practice is six days a week for Varsity,” he comments.  “We (wanted) to do well enough to make CCS again.”

JV runner Mabel Orais has been doing what she can to get herself through the rigor of practices.

“I’ve been pushing myself hard during practice and trying to eat healthy,” she explains.  “Usually, after we run, our muscles are really sore so we roll each other out.  That usually helps us out with our injuries.”

A big challenge faced by runners is the fatigue in legs caused by strenuous and continuous running, according to Varsity member Iris Wu.

“In general, as the season goes on, our legs get really fatigued,” she elaborates.  “It takes a lot of upkeep.  We need to take care of our legs.  We need to make sure we’re stretching, and I think it’s just a lot of wear on our legs as the season goes on.”

Although they’ve made it to championships, members of the Varsity teams who will compete in championships remain humble, hoping for everyone to try their best.

“We’re mostly racing against our personal best,” expounds Wu.  “We’re trying to do the best that we can to represent our school.  We’re not particularly out there to beat a particular school or anything like that.  We’re just out there to do our best.”

Runners mainly attribute their successes in League Finals to the support of coaches, friends and family.

“The thing that contributed to our success is probably our coaches that have supported us throughout the whole season,” comments Varsity member Bryan Chu.  They put us through the right training.  They put us through all the miles we ran.”

League Championships marked a bittersweet end to the season for many runners, especially for the seniors, since this is the last year they get to run with the team before heading off on their own paths.

“This season we were all really tired,” remembers Wu.  “It’s a lot of hard work, but I have a lot of good memories with Cross Country.  The people I hang out with are the people I’ve met from Cross Country, so it’s kind of bittersweet knowing the season’s ending because (Cross Country) is something that really impacted my life in a positive way.”

Orais will miss the friendships she has made through cross country.

“It’s really sad because you get really attached to them and it’s like you’re family now,” she reminisces.

By Diane Tran

This past summer, former PHHS student Reonna Collier did not have her transfer paperwork filed to the Central Coast Section Office, the area in which she moved to and lost all of her four state titles won at CCS.

“If you strip the titles because of some administration reason, then it still doesn’t change her records!  We all know that she topped CCS with her talent and skill.  We all know that her records are legit and she’s the same beast, she always was,” Teammate Alwin Matthew argues.

She won last season in the 300 hurdles as a PHHS freshman and continued to win other CCS championships in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and the 4×400 relay.  Without her transfer paperwork filed, Collier lost all of her CCS titles that she gained last season.

According to Mercury News, PHHS sports director Pete Simos explained, “It was an administrative oversight. We’re going to put things in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Collier was known as a hardworking athlete during her time at PHHS, which got her to where she is now.

“She was a funny, hyper person, easy to talk to, and whatever she did, she did it with all her heart,” Teammate Ryan Coburn states.

She always tried to improve every step along the way.

“[She is] very confident.  She knew she was good. Very good.   She backed that up with her hard work and trained really hard with Chi,” Alwin explains.

She will be missed as a former pirate; however, her new school will gain a remarkable new student.

ZOOM! Tiffany Pham sprints down the trail.

Photo courtesy of Ian Tippetts

By Elaine Zhang

This Wednesday, Girls Cross Country raced their last league meet at Montgomery Hill.  Now their league standings are 2-3 for Varsity and 4-1 for JV.

“I think we actually did pretty well overall,” recalls reserve member Tiffany Pham.  “I saw a lot of the times as they were recorded down, and definitely a lot of us made (Personal Records).  The Varsity and JV girls did especially well.”

The top seven girls will attend an invitational meet tomorrow at Mount Sac, which is in Southern California.

The team has been training since summer, running four to seven miles every practice.  The Varsity team has increased its training from last year in hopes of becoming league champions.  They have been practicing a lot on Alum Rock in order to prepare for the meets at Montgomery, which has a lot of hills.  The Varsity team has morning practices on Mondays and an extra practice on Wednesdays after school.

“We have a lot (more) tougher workouts.  We added a lot more mileage,” explains Pham.  “We have left out some stuff.  We are staying in more of one area this time; last year, we would go out in other directions too.”

Despite the hard workouts, the members still can laugh together and enjoy running.

“The whole team in general is pretty close,” says Varsity member Kimberly Licea.  “It’s very welcoming.  Even though you’re running as individuals, there’s still a big family feeling.”

“I got 99 problems, and running causes about half of them, but it solves the other half,” jokes Varsity member Sophia Xiao.

This new season brought changes to the team as new runners joined.

“I didn’t expect to be on Varsity the first year of cross country, so I’m really happy about that,” confesses Varsity member Kimberly Licea.  “It’s fun.”

Returning members also continue to enjoy the sport.

“I feel so accomplished running cross country for four years,” says reserves team Captain Holly Hancock.  “That’s what’s important.”

By Walt Leung

Last season, members of both the Girls and Boys Varsity Track and Field teams made it to the CCS (Central Coast Section) meet held at the San Jose City College.  On the girls’ team were alumni Timarya Baynard, Bianca Bryant, Kelia Surrency; seniors Angela Sanluis and Kiane Floyd and sophomore Jade McDowell.  On the boys’ team were alumni Josh Morales and Daryon Baynard and seniors Caleb Guan, Alwin Matthew and Ryan Coburn.

Once again, the girls’ team highlighted the meet for Piedmont Hills, with Baynard winning the 400 meter dash with a time of 0:54.99 and Bryant winning the 800 meter run with a time of 2:10.95.  Baynard also placed second in the 200 meter dash with a time of 24.48.  Other girls stepped up too, with Sanluis placing 25^th in the 400 meter dash prelims, Surrency placing 27^th in the 300 meter hurdles prelims, and McDowell placing 14^th in the shot put.  Floyd also made the trials cut for CCS in the high jump, but ultimately failed to advance.

On the boys’ side, Baynard finished 12^th in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:06.45 and Morales placed 6^th in the discus throw.

Coming off of a huge season where the girls team broke CCS records by enormous margins, pressure was unusually high.

“Once you’re in that moment, it feels like you made it, but you’re not there yet.  There’s so much more, like state,” exclaimed Sanluis.

This pressure may have caused relay mishaps at CCS.  On the girls side, the 4×400 relay was disqualified in finals because a runner fell.

“Girls always had high expectations because they were the reigning champs.  That’s probably why one of our runners fell.  She was running on pressure at a pace faster than normal,” commented Matthew.  “For the guys, we felt the pressure too.

On the boys’ side, the 4×400 relay failed to make finals, finishing 19^th in the preliminaries.  However, many members of the team are still optimistic about their chances this season.

“I’m trying to make CCS for the 2 mile,” exclaimed veteran distance runner Bryan Chu, who has made the CCS cut many times for cross-country but has yet to make it for track and field.

“We’re going for the 4×400 finals, definitely.  All we have to do is each hit 51-52 and we can probably make it to finals, maybe even rank,” comments Matthew.

GREAT FORM! Freshman singles 1 Anna Hashimoto completes a graceful return.

Photo: Kylie Cheng

By Kylie Cheng

The PHHS Girls Tennis team won 5-2 against Westmont this Wednesday in its last game of the season, closing with a season record of 9-5.

The team has developed throughout the season despite facing challenges.  Without someone possessing a tennis-coaching license to lead practice, the girls have had to take improvement upon themselves through daily training and their own hard work.

“We did have a rocky start,” recalls Co-captain Kelly Chau, “especially since we lost a lot of varsity members last year, but generally we’ve been doing very well, and our girls have improved a lot.”

By analyzing one another’s performances in games, they pinpointed weak points and assessed them during practices.  Meanwhile, Coaches Bryce Itatani and Alonso Martinez would assist the team with various drills.  The team’s confidence grew as they progressed through games.

“This year we’ve been really grinding on trying to get our JV and everybody up to par with varsity, so we’ve been working them a lot harder,” Chau explains.

“We’ve been going out to practice and just working hard at every practice no matter what, and trying our best at every away match and home game, so that really helps,” states Co-captain Tiffany Nguyen.

Looking forward, the team remains eager to continue honing its skills for the upcoming BVAL (Blossom Valley Athletic League) Team Tournament for CCS (Central Coast Section) Qualifying next Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

“Even though we (had) a lot of setbacks this season, everyone’s really been trying their best and staying dedicated,” Nguyen expresses, “and that really makes me happy.”

Through their victories and their struggles, the girls maintain close-knit unity and high spirits.

“I think the best quality that this team has is how together they are and how much they get along with each other,” comments Coach Itatani.

“Their sportsmanship and their teamwork is unlike any other team,” praises Chau. “We’re literally like a family.”

By Billy Ung

Boys XC 2015 season starts off strong.  At its Oct. 8 meet, the Varsity team won 29-28 against Westmont

PHHS team dashes right into the season with rigorous training Monday to Saturday every week.

“We have double practices on Mondays.  Morning practice before school and then afternoon practices,” explains Varsity runner Andrew Nguyen.

There are two hard days each week that consists of either mile repeats or hill repeats.  These help the runners train at race pace and give them leg strength to go up the hills.  The drills at practice are A skips, B skips, lunges and karaokes.  These help them prevent injuries and also help them strengthen up for the race.  With its heavy schedule of practicing every day, the team is ready to take on any tough challenger.

Coach Ian Tippets prepares the runners by telling them the race strategies before the race, which helps them a lot.

“I feel very excited but nervous,” expresses Nguyen.

The team hopes that Varsity Captain Bryan Chu will get to state championship.  Other runners also want to qualify for state championship

“I personally want to qualify for CCS (Coast Central Section) with the varsity team,” declares Nguyen.

Cross country is different from the other sports in which the participants do not have any helper during the match.  They just run and run until they reach their goal.

Healthy food is a must to all athletes’ diet.

“I would say that GU Energy Labs has some pretty decent stuff,” claims JV runner Thomas Nguyen.

By Quynh Luu

Varsity Football

The Varsity Football team started this season with three wins against Saratoga High School, Independence High School and Gilroy High School with scores of 61-19, 34-14 and 51-26.

“This season is starting off good,” commented wide receiver Richard Fedelin.  “We’re three to zero right now.  Offense line’s doing good.  We need a little more better blocking. Our defense is missing too many tackles,.”

The teams practices nearly every day and has worked long and hard together to achieve their victories.

“We have a great team.  We have a good quarterback, good receivers, good lineman, and good running backs.  We’ve just been playing well.  We’ll just keep seeing how we do,” Fedelin further explained.

One of the main objectives for the team this year is make it to Division I of the CCS (Central Coast Section) Championships among other teams in the East Side Union High School District.

“The schools in the district will be at the CCS Championships.  It’s basically to see which team is actually the best,” states quarterback Marcus Romero.

The team won the Homecoming Game against Willow Glen High School with a score of  49–33.  The next game will happen today against Leland High School.

 

JV Football

The JV Football team began this season successfully, defeating Saratoga High School, Independence High School and Gilroy High School with scores of 61-19, 34-14 and 51-26.

“So far so good.  We’ve won all of our games so far,” stated center Joseph Flores. “ The team’s perfect.”

The strong bond between the players is one of the driving forces behind the successful games as the season continues throughout October. The players have practiced long and hard together.

“I feel like we have a very strong team this year.  We come prepared to go against a different team every week,” quarterback Jacob Vargas commented.

The JV Football team is expected to have five more games for the fall season, including one today on Oct. 23 against Leland High School.  Expectations for the outcomes of future games appear to be positive.

“Our goal is to win.  We’re going for undefeated,” Flores responded.

By Marques Mosley

Piedmont Hills Cheerleaders get into the history books by getting first place in their 1st event of the year. That is the first time it has happened in the history of cheerleading at Piedmont Hills High School. By having the best routine and hitting all their marks during it to make it look perfect.

“This is the first time this has happened in the years of competitions we have been and it’s a great feeling” comments Varsity Captain Cheerleader Danyel Lee

The competition was held on Saturday Sept 26 at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Going into the competition the girls had a lot of excitement but also they were nervous.

“Lots of people were there and I was scared I wasn’t going to hit my stunt.” said Danyel

Routine was the major part for the team’s victory at the competition. Every day during practice the team would practice their routine to perfect it and make it great any way they could. They would add new moves in the routine each day before they were settled with the best routine.

Team chemistry has not been an issue on the team this season. The girls work well together on and off the mat. They have a tight bond with each other which some cheerleaders say this team is better that last year’s.

“This year’s team has better communication between one another than last year’s.” exclaimed Varsity Cheerleader Gaby Beltran

“I wasn’t on the team last year but the other years I have been on the team we had much conflict but with this team we have no conflict and we work really well together.” said Danyel

With the heat blazing hot the girls felt heat exhaustion. But it didn’t stop them as they finished first in their division in the competition. By winning the team qualified for the National Cheer Competition event in Anaheim, CA at Disneyland where all the top cheerleaders in the United States compete.

The cheerleaders feel very confident within themselves to win some more events before Nationals. With their good team chemistry, great routine, amazing performance at the competition, looks like the cheer squad is making a big name for themselves, “National Champions, Oh Yes!”.

WATCH DEEP SERVE! PHHS Varsity Girls Volleyball eagerly await for the ball to be served over.

Photo courtesy of Vince Pereira

By Michelle Lin

The season for the PHHS Girls Volleyball team kicked off back in late September.  After winning 3-0 against Del Mar High School on Oct. 15, the team is currently first place in the league.

“We won in three out of five,” commented Varsity player Taylor Garvey on the tie-breaking game.

“Watching from the bench, I really got to see a perspective of the audience and our team,” stated Junior Varsity player Erin Kerr, who was unable to play once because she was sick.  “I thought our energy was really good.  The girls picked each other up, and we did really well.”

As one united team, the girls are all very close to each other, which is necessary when they all play together on court.

“A good team would have no cliques, and I’d like to say that our varsity team would have no specified groups.  We all mesh well together, so we’re all friends with each other.  The bond just shows on court,” claimed Varsity captain Kim Cordero.

“We work together really well.  We all get along.  We’re all friends on and off the court,” junior Allie Pereira stated.

The girls all contribute their efforts whenever they’re playing on courts, and that is what leads to a successful victory each time.

“Every girl on the court shows their highest potential and what they can really do to help in the efforts of the winning the game for the team.  Everyone does their job, and when people do that, we win games,” continued Cordero.

The team this year has been comparably much stronger than past years.  As first place in the league, the girls are confident that they will make it to CCS (Central Coast Sectionals) this year.

“I am positive we’ll make it to CCS this year,” asserted Cordero.  “I think this year our team is stronger because we have really good freshmen.”

The team has been practicing in the gym every weekday from 3:30pm to 5:30pm.

“We mostly run a bunch of drills in the beginning of practice, and then towards the end, we do game play against each other,” Garvey remarked.

The season will end sometime in November.