The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Fall Varsity Sports CCS Standings

Football
With an overall record of one win and nine losses, this year’s varsity football team was relegated from the De Anza League to the lower El Camino League for the upcoming season.
However, according to varsity football coach Bill Waggoner, the team nonetheless put a great amount of effort into its season and.
“It’s a pretty difficult league schedule, the league we’re in has some very highly rated teams…[but] we [hoped] to finish up strong,” Waggoner said.
Though the team struggled with a shortage of players, Waggoner explains that they continued to give an extraordinary amount of effort at practices as well as on the playing field and will likely be competitive contenders next year.
“Our goal is to get better every day, to get better every game,”Waggoner said. “And we will do that.”

Volleyball
Though the girls volleyball team exceeded the number of wins that qualified them for CCS last year, their post-season hopes were dashed with a second-round loss to Mountain View High School.
The team had a strong season that had been aided particularly by the return of a good number of last years players.
“[The season went] pretty well,” varsity volleyball coach Jason Kennedy said. “We’ve had a lot of [players] come back this year. We [had] a lot of seniors on the team, so there was a lot of expectation.”
The team finished with a record of 18 wins and 15 losses. As their season came to a close, the players continued to train toward their goal of advancing past the first round of this year’s CCS championships, a goal they achieved.

Field Hockey
Finishing the regular season with a ranking of fourth in the upper division, the field hockey team looked very promising with regards to both entering and competing in CCS. According to varsity co-coach Mary Donahue, the team’s bulk of senior girls was one of the factors contributing to its ability to play competitively against every team in its league.
“Being in the upper division, you’re playing against teams that are year-to-year, back-to-back CCS champions,” varsity co-coach Gerri Baldwin said. “You always are going to have these days when you’re just pounding your head against the wall because you’re playing against those champions, but at the same time it’s bringing up our level of play.”
According to the coaches, the girls worked very hard through the season and expected to accomplish their goal of advancing in CCS.
Yet despite their efforts, the team lost during the first round against Leigh High School.

Boys Water Polo
After graduating six of their seven starters from last season’s league champion team, boys water polo was expected to have a season devoted more to rebuilding than anything. However, with an undefeated record in the league (tournament games are not counted), the group clearly demonstrated that experience does not always make or break a team.
“They have exceeded all expectations by quite a bit,” varsity coach Edwin Samuels said.
Despite its outstanding record and high hopes for CCS, the team lost to Menlo Atherton in the semifinals of the tournament.

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Cross Country
Finishing up a successful season, four cross country runners qualified for the CCS Championships, which took place at Toro Park in Salinas.
Freshman Serina Rye, sophomore Ben Schnieder, juniors Erin Hicks and Eric Safai were the four athletes who qualified.
“The girls were way better than they were last year,” Plumer said. “I mean, a huge improvement over our team last year on the women’s side….I’m really really pleased with the progress that the team has made overall…it’s just an amazing improvement.”
Erin finished 15th out of more than 130 girls, and Serina came in 41st, making her the 3rd or 4th fastest freshman in the field.
Eric did not run as fast of a race as hoped, finishing 26th in over 80 degree heat. Ben finished shortly behind him in 30th place.
Looking ahead, these four runners, as well as the rest of the young team, hope to find great success in coming leagues.

Girls Water Polo
Finishing league in first place with an undefeated record, the girls varsity water polo team was guaranteed to qualify for CCS this year. Though the team’s four seniors lead the group this year, varsity co-coach Andy Maisel explains that the girls really work together as a whole to make the season as successful as possible.
The team entered the semi-finals against Menlo Atherton on Wednesday, November 19, with hopes to continue its unbeaten record.
“We’re striving to be the first team to win CCS this year,” varsity co-coach Brian Whitlock said. “This could be the first year that we have a real running chance of winning.”

Girls Tennis
With a current overall record of 12 wins and 10 losses, the varsity girls tennis team was unable to secure a spot in CCS.
“The girls have met all my expectations for the season,” Duong said. “We’ve played up to our potential and we’ve won some big matches.”
Looking ahead, the team hopes that their young members will step up next season and secure spots in the CCS tournament.
However, according to Duong, the team as a whole has played to its very best ability, and has rightly earned its ranking of fifth in the league.

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