Volume #1 Issue #1 Sept 2007

Staff ListEditors-in-ChiefCharlie Avis

Nina GertsvolfPeter JohnsonAustin SmithNoah SneiderSteven Tran

Photo ManagerAlek Milovidov

Photo Staff Allen Au

Michela Fossati-Ballani

Design EditorNoah Sneider

Photo IllustrationsNoah Sneider

Cover PhotoAlek Milovidov

Staff Ben Afshar

John ChristophersonOliver DaviesLiza DernehlAdam FurlongOlivia Garcia

Amanda HohbachIan Kellly

Lucy McComasAhna Rao

Elizabeth ScottPatrick SheehanGreg StewartMatthew TracyAdam Zernik

Logo DesignNate James (Cleveland, OH)

AdviserEllen Austin

VikingPalo Alto High School50 Embarcadero RoadPalo Alto, CA 94301

650-329-3837Email contact: theviking08@gmail.com

Letters to the editorThe Viking, a sports magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High

SchoolsAdvanced Magazine Journalism class, is an open forum for student expres-sion and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. The Viking is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. The sta wel-comes letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit all submissions for

length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity.

Advertising in The VikingThe sta publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they

are not deemed by the sta inappropriate for the magazines audience. For more information about advertising with The Viking, please contact the The

Viking by e-mail at theviking08@gmail.com or call 650-329-3837 for more information.

Printing servicesThe Viking is printed seven times a year by Fricke-Parks Press in Fremont,

Calif.

As a result of increased interest and feedback from our high school community, Palys award-winning journalism program has once again decided to branch off and add a new publication to its lineup. We invite you to read and enjoy Palys new sports magazine, The Viking. The Viking is an innovative publication, the fi rst of its kind at the high school level. Throughout the year, The Viking will bring you the best in Paly sports coverage while continuing the tradition of excellence already in place. As we all know, sports are a big part of our high school experience, as well as the larger Palo Alto community. The Viking will report not only on the day-to-day events of the sports world, but also on the important underlying issues that face athletes, parents and fans. In this fi rst publication we will be featuring season previews and personality profi les for each sport, as well as sports features, question-and-answer sessions with Paly athletes, editorials concerning controversial issues in todays sports world and top notch photos and graphics. This fi rst production has been a challenging run, and there have been a few bumps in the road as we have gotten going, but we hope youll all stick with us as the year progresses and things will get smoother. We want to cover the topics you as readers are interested in, and are looking to respond to your feedback to make the next issues as good as they can possibly be. We would like to extend a special thanks to the people who have made this possible: the Paly administration, the PTA, Coach Hansen and all of the other players and coaches who have been accessible and forthcoming for our reporters, Ignacio, Woj, Mr. Kandell, Ms. Austin, and most of all the hardworking staff who has labored long hours dealing with Ninas edits and Noahs design nitpicking. We hope you enjoy reading this magazine as much as we have enjoyed producing it. Please email us any suggestions or letters at theviking08@gmail.com. - The Editors

56 Hillary Ford

58 Mike Scott

46 Phillip MacQuitty

49 Francisca Harriss

50 Sam Tompkins

52 Will Brandin

lineupthe

Fall Sports PreviewIssue

12

On the cover: Mike Scott. Photograph by Alek MilovidovThis page: Paly football helmet. Photograph by Alek Milovidov

Profiles 36 Hallie Kennan

38 Tim Wenzlau

40 Michael Fortune

42 Leah Gaeta

44 Gracie Dulik and Sophie Bi ar

SnapshotsKevin Hall and Paly Football vs. Oak Grove

Features

7 Eight Questions: Michael Ander-son with family and friends8 Pop Culture, Say What?, By the Numbers, and Sta View

Hell WeekA detailed look at Paly conditioning

and practicing over summer

16Passing League

Palys football team makes it to the national nals

48

9 Staceys Corner advice from our trainer for athletes

10 Whos Hot/ Whos Not and Desirable Ath-letes11 Inside the Mind of Brook Seaman

Pro Sports

e NFL Five Fantasy Rookie Prospects and Pow-er Rankings for the top 15

teams

19

Fantasy Land A recap of this years fantasy baseball

season

NCAA Football Power Rankings with BCS bowl

prediction

The Last Word

60Calender

5

61

Z O OM / / / / / /mmm...SEXY SEXYSenior Kevin Hall shows us how wrestlers truly get down. Check out page 10 to see how to land this stud.

Z O OM / / / / / /Paly linemen lineup against Oak Grove during September 21st loss. The Vi-kings record stands at 2-1 as of Sep-tember 27th.

Why do people play sports? Whats the motivation? Why would a person subject them-selves to bone-crunching tack-les, ankle-breaking opponents, and cross-country courses with no end in sight? Whether its for pride, glory, or to just get in shape, these minor blemish-es should play a small role in the decision process of playing a sport. In many cases, an ath-letes mind is the thing holding them back, and acceptance of a situation and dealing with it, can be the most useful skill. It has become clear to me that running is the best sport around. People trash and slander it, not realizing that it plays a role in every sport. Football, baseball, soccer, running can be found any-

Sticking withCross-Country

By OliverDavieswhere and everywhere. So the next time you hear somebody complaining about running, set them straight. In order to be the athlete you want to be, you must overcome the dif culties of running to get there. Em-bracing the pain and sucking it up can be one of the hardest things to do, but in order to succeed, its a must. As I start my third year of Cross Country, I am continu-ally thinking of new ways to answer the same old questions, Why are you doing Cross Country? and Why would you do Cross Country its just running? The past two years, Id generally shy away from an appropriate answer such as, youre underestimating the mental and physical advan-

tages of running, its a lot better than youd think, and I would resort to my same old, it gets me my prep. Though as another year of Cross Country starts, I now realize that my routine answer could not have been farther from the truth. Granted, I did walk into practice my rst day of freshman year looking to run for that prep, but as the season wore on, my love for running grew stronger and stronger. It grew so much so that I came back Sophomore year, and again as a Junior, and I see no end in sight. My love for running doesnt come from the quick results I see and the physical stamina I build, but rather because of the mental toughness I gain while running. Should I stop now? How many more laps? When will this be over? These questions race through my head, and there is no way to avoid them. The

only thing that sets a runner apart from any other person is the strict personal discipline they develop, that enables them to turn these one-time state-ments of desperation into more fuel for the re. Although I am far from fast, and far from calling myself a good runner, I still call myself a runner. No matter how many races I come in near-last, or how many times I get close to walking, I am still a runner. My will to succeed and my mind set to never give up are the only things I need, and no four-minute miler will ever change that. As you can nd with all sports, there are only a select few at the top, and those on the bottom need to stay motivated. The same goes for Cross Country, but if anything, its easier. As long as you give it 100% every time you go out on that course, you will do ne, and in due time, you might just nd that sticking with it

8Questions with Michael AndersonKristen Witte Robbie Heeger Anne AndersonMichael Anderson

Senior linemanKristen Witte

Close FriendRobbie Heeger

Close FriendAnne Anderson

Mother

Best Friend

Secret Talent

Pre-game Meal

Favorite Band

Coolest Superpower

Pet Peeve

Coke or Pepsi

24 or LOST

Gatorade or Vitamin Water

Robbie Heeger

Guitar

Cheese House Sandwich

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Flying

High, squeaky voices

Pepsi

LOST

Gatorade

Robbie

Guitar

Nothing

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Invisibility

B-pluses

Pepsi

LOST

Gatorade

Me, Of Course

Tru e Shu e

Cheese House Sandwich

The Kooks

Flying

Little brother

Coke

24

Vitamin Water

Robbie

Performs well on little sleep

Turkey Sandwich

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Cleaning room with no e ort

Little brother wearing his clothes

Coke

LOST

Vitamin Water

Who knows Michael best?

+5

+5

+5

+5

+5

+5 +5

+5

+5

+5 +2.5

+5

+5

Total 30 15 17.5W i n n e r !

We went out and asked Palys own Michael Anderson 10 Qs about himself, and then went to two close friends and his mom to see who knew him best

This one was a little surprising -- although best friend Robbie had the best Michael impressions while giving his answers, Kristin managed to pull it out, beating Momma Anderson by an impressive 12.5 points... apparently Michael needs to spend more time at home.

as told to John Christopherson

The Viking | 7

Pop Culture Grid50 or Kanye?

Kanye

Britney Spears

Kanye

Kanye

Believes in Aliens

Hell yes!

@*!# For-eigners!

No

I do! Ugh! Believe it!

Pairs of shoes owned

Five

15, one for each day of the week

Six

I got my Nikes, Adidas, Crocs, my Uggers...(5 min

later)...New Balance, K-Swiss, Reebok...

Jessica Alba or Biel?

Alba

Biel

Alba

Biel

Can Soulja Boy Dance

Superman that ho!

Yes. Duh.

Yooouuh!

Like frickin yes!

How tuned in are our Paly sports stars?

Sam Jones (Cross Country Sr.)

Jake Zebker (Football, Sr.)

Amanda Wong (Water Polo, Sr.)

Neal Ketchum (Water Polo, Sr.)

SayOurdefenseisvitalthisseason,ifwecankeeptheotherteamsoffenseoffthefield,itwillgiveourof-fenseachancetoscore. Jordan Jefferson(Linebacker, Sr. ) 2007 Football Preview, pg. 22

IguessitwasbecauseIlikedthrowing,andIwasdecentatit. Will Brandin(Quarterback, Jr.) New Face, pg. 52

Ithinkmynameaffectsmystreetcredinapositiveway,actually.Afteryoumeetmeyourenevergonnaforgetme. Brook Seaman(Football, Sr. ) Inside the Mind, pg. 11

Itisnicetobeonateamwithsuchagoodvibeandwhereeveryonehassomuchfuntogether.Itisreallynicetoknowthatanyonecanbeonthecourtwithanyoneelse. Ashley Acuff(Volleyball, Sr. ) 2007 Volleyball Preview, pg. 14

By theNumbers29-13 The combined record of all six Paly fall-season sports (as of Sept. 25), good for a 69% win percentage.

12 Total points allowed by the Paly football defense this season over a two game span.

48.5 Quarterback rat-ing of starting quarterback Will Brandin through the seasons fi rst two games.

98 Final quarterback rating of last years starter, Nick Goodspeed, who led the Vikings to the state championship.

Whydidwe love sport somuch when we were kids?Dont you remember the dayswhen a few friendswould gettogetherandplaya littlemud-footballno pressure or com-petition?Inanagewherehighschoolstatsarerecordedandanalyzedand we know about the nextMichaelJordanwhenheorsheisstillinmiddleschool,wherehasthatcarelessfungone?Highschoolsportsthesedaysarejusttakensoseriouslythatitisnowondersomanypromis-ing athletes burn out in theirteens. Somewhere along theroad,throughthehoursofhardwork, the fun fades. Competi-tionisgreatinthatitdrivesusandmakesusbetter,butwhenitbringsusdownaswell,whatbenefitisthat? It ishardtohavefunwhena coach screams at you aftera tough game in which youplayedyourheartout.Youcantfeel proud of yourself if thecoach gives nothing but nega-tivefeedback.Themessagegiventohighschoolathletesisthattheymustsucceedthroughwinsandloss-es,punishthemselveswithhardwork, when the reality is thatthey are the same peoplewhoplayedmud-footballasakid. Sports have evolved intosomethingmuchmorecompeti-tiveandintensethanwecouldhave imagined as little tee-ballers.Sowhy,asteens,dowefall into the trapof specializa-tion in sports?Whathappenedto the days when we playedwhatever sport was in season,just for fun?We need to playhighschoolsportswithamorepositiveandalesscompetitiveoutlook.

StaffView What?

8 | The Viking

Staceys CornerIntheperilousworldofcompetitive

sports, one person has helped maintainthehealthofPalysathletesforalmost15years. Stacey Kofman, Palo Alto HighSchoolsathletic trainer,hasbeenaroundfor theups, thedowns,andeverythinginbetween in the realm of Paly sports. Arock of consistency for those woundedon Palys battlefields, Stacey possessesa knowledge of sports injuries that sur-passes that of many. Kofman recentlysat down with us to explain her viewson what all Paly athletes should know.

StaceysTopFiveTipsofTheMonth:

5) Never underestimate the gravity of a concussion

Concussion:abruisetothebrainorspi-nalcordduetojarringfromabloworfall.

Althoughconcussionsarenotanin-jury most athletes experience or witnesson afrequentbasis,therehasrecentlybeenextensiveresearchprovingtheirimpactonyoung athletesdevelopment.Manyplay-ersandcoachesdonot pay enoughattention tothe fact thatconcussionstake time toheal. Of-tentimes,the brains w e l l sup after aconcussionandanathletewillreturntotheplaying fieldbeforethebrainhashadtimetoreturntoitsnormalstate. When this occurs, the athlete is puttinghimorherselfatriskofSecondaryImpactSyndrome (a second concussion), whichcould be potentially fatal. Some com-mon symptoms of a concussion includeblacking out, dizziness, headaches, nau-sea,and forgetfulness,andeachcoachortrainerhastheirownmethodofassessinganathleteafterasevereblowtothehead.TheNFLhas implemented theImPACTSystem, in which team trainers receive

information directly from the playershelmets after every hit, allowing themto analyze injuries sooner and providetherightdiagnoses. WhilethissystemisnotavailableatPaly,Staceyandherstaffworkhard toensure thatallPalyathletesare safe before walking on to the field.

4) Be careful what you eat The reason many athletes resort to

unhealthy energy drinks is often becausetheir bodies are not properly nourished.Malnourishmentleadstoalackofenergy,whichdoesnotcomeinhandycomegametime. Foodswith ahighglycemic indexlead to a sugar high and eventually amajordropinenergyandperformance.Inorder to overcome this energy drop, ath-letes need to avoid eating foods that aresugar-packedandfinishmealsthreehoursbeforegametimeinordertoavoidcramps.

3) Caffeine is detrimental to an athletes performance

Although Red

Bull and Rock-star Energydrinks mayp r o v i d ee n e r g yb o o s t s ,o f t e n -t imest h e s e

pick-me-ups are short-lived. In fact,drinking caffeine before an athleticevent is just as bad as not staying hy-drated. By the time the halfway pointrolls around, the athlete will feel muchworse than before they even started dueto the energy loss from the caffeine.

2) Staying hydrated, an important ingredient.

Staying hydrated can sometimes be

tedious,butaccording tostudies,athletescan loseup to30percentof theirperfor-mancecapabilitiesiftheyaredehydrated.

Whiletherearemanytheoriesoutthereastohowmuchwateranathleteshoulddrinkbe-forecompeting,Staceybelievesurineistheclear indicator,pun intended. Clearurinemeans an athlete is sufficiently hydrated.

1) Cross-Training limits injuries

Throughout a year-round sport, anathletesmusclessufferfromoveruse,andinjuryislikelytooccur.Staceysayssprainsandstrainsarethemostcommoninjurysheseesbecauseoftheconstantabuseandworkthat an athletesmuscles are subjected towithoutanybreak.Staceyrecommendsatleastonemonthayeardedicatedtorestingthemuscles,sotheycanrestorethemselvesforthenextseason.Eachsporthasasepa-ratesetofmusclesthatareoverworked,butby running,weight liftingandswimming,athlete can stay in shape while restingwhichever muscles pertain to their sport.

Wellthatisitforthismonth,checkbacknexteditiontoseeStaceystipsforOctober.

Foods with a high glycemic

index lead to a sugar high and eventually a major drop in

energy and performance.

byOliverDaviesandAdamZernik--PhotographybyAlekMilovidov

StaceyworksonPalyfootballplayerMikeScott.StaceystreatmenthashelpedPalyathletesstay

healthyforfifteenyears.

The Viking | 9

Ali Bisset (Volleyball, Sr.)Bungee jumping and eating lots of food.

Heath Ledger.

Hillary Ford (Volleyball, Sr.)Going to the beach.

Paul Walker.

Michael Fortune (Water Polo, Sr.)Going to the movies; maybe din-ner.

Jessica Alba. No question.

Leah Gaeta (Cross-Country, Sr.)Something adventurous, not just dinner and a movie. (Sorry Mi-chael)

Defi nitely Fernando Torres.

Mia Lattanzi (Cross Country, Sr.) Go out for pizza.

Jude Law.

Mike Scott (Football, Sr.)Wed go to a scary movie so shed get scared, then to a nice restau-rant and eat $200 worth of food.

Kim Kardashian & Jessica Alba.

NotHot WHOSWHOSPaly passing gameWithbigholestofillallovertheoffense,thepassinggamehasstruggled.JuniorWillBrandinhasfourinterceptionsandthenewlineisnotlivinguptoexpectations.

Mr. FougHisbelovedMichiganWolverinesstartedtheseasonwithconsecutivehomelossesforfirsttimesince1959,crushingtheirnationaltitlehopesinaspanoftwogamesand73combinedpointsallowed.

ChicagoTheWhiteSoxareinlastplaceandRexGrossmancantgettheballtohisownteam.Itdoesnothelpthattheteamsonlyoffen-sivetouchdowncamefromaback-upoffen-sivetackle.BullfanswillnotbehappywithGeneralManagerPaxsonschoicetodrafttheugliestplayerinthedraft,JoakimNoah.

GunnThefootballteamstwowinshavecomeagainstteamswithacombined1-4record.Theteamreliesonseniorrunningback,NateBurpee,ahomegrownPalyproductandformerfootballteammember.Also,theyhaveyettofacePaly,whodemoralizedthem,55-12lastseason.

DesirableAthletes

Ally WhitsonAftersteppingupfromJV,Whitsonhasdonewelltofillanimportantroleasvarsitymiddle-hitter.Herearlyseasonperformancehasbeenoutstanding.

Will HolderThejuniorstrongsafetystartedtheseasonoffstrongwithaphenomenal80-yardinterceptionreturnforaTDagainstOaklandsMcClymondsHighSchool.

ClevelandTheIndiansareintheplayoffsforthefirsttimeinfiveyears.TheDerekAnder-sonerawiththeBrownsgotofftoa51-point-start.CavaliersstarLebronJameseyesurgerywillmeanmorepointsandabettershootingpercentage.

GunnThefootballteamisofftoarespect-able,2-1start,alreadymatchingtheirwintotalfromlastyearwhentheywent2-8.Volleyballhasbreezedthroughtheirearly-seasonschedule,postingan11-0record.

We all know Paly students sport good genes, but after intense scientifi c study of body tone and facial symmetry, we have selected a few of Palys fall-sea-son athletes to be named Most Desir-able. We have kindly asked each Desir-able to describe their perfect date and name his or her celebrity crush.

Kevin Hall (Wrestling, Sr.)

Go to the movies and use a gift card to go to a nice restaurant then go back to my house to do the Thang.

Girl from Transformers [Megan Fox]

Staff Favorite

10 | The Viking

Inside the Mind

of BROOK SEAMAN

ON STARTING FOOTBALL HIS SENIOR YEAR Something I wanted to do going into high school was play football, but I never got around to it. Going into my last year, I fi gured I would regret it if I never played football, so I decided to go out.

ON STARTING THE GAME ON SPECIAL TEAMS It is actually a lot of fun because you get all jacked up for the game and the crowds all into it. Im on kick return so Im usually on the fi rst play of the game. I just get to go out there and hit someone as hard as I can in front of the fans - its a lot of fun.

ON WHICH COACH IS MORE IN-TENSE: HANSEN OR DIEPENBROCK That is a hard one. Defi nitely after a win Diepenbrock goes pretty freaking crazy, so I would say Diepenbrock, but Hansen is not far behind.

ON HIS NAME AFFECTING HIS STREET CRED (ONCE AGAIN THATS BROOK SEA-MAN) I think my name aff ects my street cred in a positive way, actually. After you meet me your never gonna forget me or my name.

ON FOOTBALL BEING AN EXCUSE TO MISS B-BALL CONDITIONING (Laughs) No. I have heard of people doing that in the past, and basketball conditioning is very hard, as most people know. But I actually wanted to do football this year missing conditioning was a nice add-on but it is not the only reason I did football.

ON HIS ROLE ON THE BASKETBALL TEAM THIS SEASON Sophomore year I got a little playing time. Junior year I got

Football and Basketball

Senior Brook Seaman is a special teams player and wide receiver for the Paly football team, beginning his rst season ever in the sport. Seaman is also a guard on the basketball team and has a CCS title and state champion-ship to his name.

less playing time. So hopefully that trend will reverse itself this year. Who knows? Hopefully I will be a contributor in basketball this year.

ON DIEPENBROCKS CRAZIEST MOMENT Sophomore year he went pretty crazy one time when he kicked this guy out of practice for arguing a call. They were arguing about it and then there was a long

water break and the kid came out and kinda tried to apologize a little bit, but then they got into a fi ght again. And Diepenbrock just kicked him straight out of practice he let the expletives fl y.

ON RULING THE FANTASY SPORTS KINGDOM I follow every sport pretty closely, so when fantasy season rolls around I dominate my league and take all the money from my friends all of them.

ON PLAYING HIS FIRST FOOTBALL GAME IN A PART OF OAKLAND NICKNAMED MURDER DUBS We were driving up and there was gra ti on every building and rundown ware-houses everywhere. We rolled up and there were people yelling at our bus. When we got off , we could not even walk through the other teams locker room because there was a brawl there the year before. On the way back, we had our windows down in the team bus, and people were riding beside the bus throwing things in. It was kind of

ridiculous.

ON THE TEAMS BIGGEST GAME I am look-ing forward to Los Gatos this year, because its a home game, and they are obviously our

biggest rivals in the league. I think it will get pretty crazy at our place. - Ian Kelly

The Viking | 11

Fall

PreviewsSports

PhotographybyAlekMilovidov

Cross Country

FootballWater Polo

Volleyball

Tennis

22

Boys - 26 Girls - 2834

Boys - 30Girls - 32

14

By:MichelaFossati-Bellani

PhotographybyAlekMilovidov

Palo AltoVOLLEYBALLSolid chemistry and smart play lead Lady Vikes in quest to recapture last seasons success

UPCOMING 2007 SCHEDULE

O C TO B E R N O V E M B E R04 Mountain View 08 at Homestead10 Los Gatos

25 at Mountain View27 Spikefest Tourney30 Homestead

16 at Los Altos18 Saratoga23 at Gunn

Fall Sports Preview

Comingoff a superb third-placefinish in last yearsCentralCoast Section (CCS) playoffs, an optimistic Palo Alto HighSchoolvarsitygirlsvolleyballteamishopingtocarryitssuccessintothecomingseason. A rough loss to perennial powerhouseArchbishop Mitty inthe CCS semifinals was not representative of the Lady Vikesphenomenal season, inwhich theywent 27-9 overall andwerecrownedchampionsoftheDeAnzaleague.However,afterlosingsixseniors,fourofwhomweredominatingstarters,thisteamisfullofnewfacesinnewroles. To compare this team with last years team would justbe impossible, head coach Dave Winn said. They are twocompletelydifferentanimals. Winn, who has amassed an extensive coaching recordincludinganimpressive99-47recordduringhisfour-yearreignatLosAltosHighSchool,islookingforsolidcontributionsfrom

newplayersashekicksoffhissecondseasonasheadcoachforPaly.Theteam,captainedbyseniorsAliBisset,HillaryFordandJessicaJuarez,iscomposedofsevenseniors,fivejuniors,andtwosophomores.Suchabalanceofyouthandexperiencehasalwaysbeen cherished in high school sports, especially because of thebrightfutureitsuggests. Ford, an outside hitter who has been on varsity all fouryears, pilots the team through her outstanding play and anunparalleledwork ethic.Other players have learned to feedoffherconsistency. Shetrulyleadsbyexample;everyonestrivestofollowwhatshedoes,sophomoreMarissaFlorantsaid.Shealwayscompetestothebestofherability,soeveryoneelsehastoworkextrahardjusttokeepuptoherlevelofplay. Itappearsasthoughtheteamisalreadygelling,havingshownsignificant improvement throughout thepre-season.Aftergoing2-3intheirfirstpreseasontournament,thegirlstraveledtoReno,Nevadatotrytheirluckatthechallenging,invitation-onlyHighSierra Tournament. Seeded 34th out of 36 of the top teams in

06 CCS Playoff s 07 CCS Finals

16 at Los Altos18 Saratoga23 at Gunn

252730

N O V E M B E R 06 CCS Playoff s 07 CCS Finals

By Adam ZernikPhotography by Allen Au and Alek Milovidov Comingoff a superb third-placefinish in last yearsCentralCoast Section (CCS) playoffs, an optimistic Palo Alto High

Photography by Allen Au and Alek MilovidovBy Adam ZernikPhotography by Allen Au and Alek Milovidov

14 | The Viking

in a row, theVikings will have to overcome a lackof height by focusing on technique andworking onbasics.Youcanalwaysimproveyourballcontrol,yourservingandyouraggression,Winnsaid.Wewanttostaymentallytoughlateinmatcheswhenbothteamswouldusuallybefaltering. Another problem theVikings face isfilling theshoes of last years powerful middle blockersArielAjagu, EricaGage and JeniceWilson, but this doesnotseemtotroubleFord. Wearenot themostpowerful team,butweplayreally intelligently and we can put the ball in goodspots,shesaid.

Nevertheless, nobodyargues that the competitioninleagueisexceedinglychallenging.SuchformidableopponentsasthedangerousLosGatosandHomestead,whichplacedsecondinReno,willbecontendingthetop spot. EvenMountainView,whichwent0-12 inleagueplaylastseason,hasacompletelytransformedrosterandwillundoubtedlybefightingforatopthreefinish.

This year, league isanybodys for the taking, and I

think we have the rightpersonneltowinit,saidFord. However, ourmaingoalistoknowthat

we were the most improved team outtherewhentheendoftheseasoncomes. TheLadyVikescontinuetheircampaignnextThursday,October4at6:45PM,atMountainView.

in a row, theVikings will have to overcome a lackof height by focusing on technique andworking onbasics.Youcanalwaysimproveyourballcontrol,yourservingandyouraggression,Winnsaid.Wewanttostaymentallytoughlateinmatcheswhenbothteamswouldusuallybefaltering. Another problem theVikings face isfilling theshoes of last years powerful middle blockersArielAjagu, EricaGage and JeniceWilson, but this doesnotseemtotroubleFord. Wearenot themostpowerful team,butweplayreally intelligently and we can put the ball in goodspots,shesaid.

therewhentheendoftheseasoncomes. TheLadyVikescontinuetheircampaignnextThursday,October4at6:45PM,atMountainView.

Northern California and Nevada,they beat out the odds by taking animpressivefifthplace. InReno,weplayedreallywellasa team for thefirst time,Ford said.Itwasagreatmoraleboosterforthestart of the season.We got to spendtimetogetherandbondasateam,andIthinkourpositivechemistrytranslatedintoouron-courtperformance. The girls were then able to carrythis momentum into their first threegames. They handily defeated bothMenlo-Atherton and EvergreenValleyinnon-leaguegamesbeforetaking care of business in theirleague opener against rival LosAltos, overwhelming them by ascoreofthreegamestoone. It seems fitting that oneof the season goals Winnhas set is to be the mostcommunicative team,which includestalking on thecourt as well a shaving a l o u d andexcited bench thatkeeps the teampumpedup during games. Foragroupwithsuchpositiveteamchemistry,thisgoalshouldbequiteattainable. It is nice to be on a teamwith such a good vibe andwhere everyone has so muchfun together, senior Ashley Acuffsaid.Itisreallycomfortingtoknowthatanyonecanbeonthecourtwithanyoneelse. In order to accomplish their goalofwinningleagueforthesecondyear

KEEP YOUREYES ONMarissaFlorant>>> Opposite SetterFlorant, a sophomore, has more than proved her ability early on, compiling 44 kills in the teams rst two tournaments. As one of two sophomores on the

varsity team (the other being Alice Liang), she has already created a buzz by establishing a rm

starting spot and shining

on the court.

PROJEC TED STAR TERS

SubsOP Ashley Acuff SR #1L Helene Zahoudonis JR #3OH Ali Bisset SR #7OH Eliza Stevens JR #2

we were the most improved team outwe were thethatanyonecanbeonthecourtwiththatanyonecanbeonthecourtwith

spots,shesaid.spots,shesaid.Menlo-Atherton and EvergreenMenlo-Atherton and EvergreenValleyinnon-leaguegamesbeforetaking care of business in theirleague opener against rival LosAltos, overwhelming them by ascoreofthreegamestoone. It seems fitting that oneof the season goals Winnhas set is to be the mostcommunicative team,which includestalking on thecourt as wellhaving a

up during Foragroupwithsuchpositiveteamchemistry,thisgoalshouldbequiteattainable. It is nice to be on a teamwith such a good vibe andwhere everyone has so muchfun together, senior Ashley Acuffsaid.Itisreallycomfortingtoknow

varsity team (the other

Nevertheless, nobodyargues that the competitioninleagueisexceedinglychallenging.SuchformidableopponentsasthedangerousLosGatosandHomestead,whichplacedsecondinReno,willbecontendingthetop spot. EvenMountainView,whichwent0-12 inleagueplaylastseason,hasacompletelytransformedrosterandwillundoubtedlybefightingforatopthreefinish.

This year, league isanybodys for the taking, and I

think we have the right

maingoalistoknowthat

Nevertheless, nobodyargues that the competitioninleagueisexceedinglychallenging.SuchformidableopponentsasthedangerousLosGatosandHomestead,whichplacedsecondinReno,willbecontendingthetop spot. EvenMountainView,whichwent0-12 inleagueplaylastseason,hasacompletelytransformedrosterandwillundoubtedlybefightingforatopthreefinish.

Valleyinnon-leaguegamesbeforetaking care of business in theirleague opener against rival LosAltos, overwhelming them by ascoreofthreegamestoone. It seems fitting that oneof the season goals Winnhas set is to be the mostcommunicative team,which includestalking on thecourt as well a sa s

l o u d l o u d bench thatbench that

teampumpedteampumpedgames.

Foragroupwithsuchpositiveteamchemistry,thisgoalshouldbequiteattainable. It is nice to be on a teamwith such a good vibe andwhere everyone has so muchfun together, senior Ashley Acufffun together, senior Ashley Acuffsaid.Itisreallycomfortingtoknowsaid.Itisreallycomfortingtoknow

varsity team (the other being Alice Liang), she has already created a buzz by establishing a rm

starting spot and shining

on the court.

OP Marissa Florant SO #6 (R)

L Euna Oh SR #5

OH Allison Whitson JR #9 (R)

OH Hillary Ford SR #14

MB Daniella Florant JR #15

S Jessica Juarez SR #13

Returning Varsity

9

1315

56

14

MB Roxy Busch SR #11MB Abbie Havern SR #12MB Alice Liang SO #8S Allie Coleman JR #

She [Hillary Ford] truly leads by example; everyone strives to

follow what she does.

- sophomore Marissa Florant

The Viking | 15

4:46 p.m. on August 6th. The late afternoon sun beams on the Paly campus, its rays striking through the trees encompassing the ath-letic elds. There is a strange unspoken aura of anticipation looming over the locker room. It is summer, but no ones on vacation. The football eld is completely empty and silent, but in a matter of minutes it will be swarmed with hun-dreds of athletes and over a dozen coaches. It will become the blank canvas that the Paly football team uses to kick off its 2007 season.

HellWeek

onAugust 6. The late afternoon sun beamsonto the Paly campus, its rays strikingthrough the trees thatencompass theathletic

fields.There isastrangeunspokenauraofanticipation loomingover thelocker room. It is summer, but no one is on vacation. The foot-ball field is completely empty and silent, but in a matter of minutes itwillbeswarmedwithhundredsofathletesandoveradozencoaches.ItwillbecometheblankcanvasthePalyfootballteamusestokickoffits2007season.

4:47 PM

By Peter JohnsonPhotography by Alek Milovidov

Hell WeekHell Week

Hell WeekHell Week

Will Brandin laces up his cleats andthrows on a PE t-shirt.He and his team-matesprepareinsilence,contemplatingthephysicalstruggletheywillendurethrough-out the upcomingweek.Brandinwill notputonpads today,norwillheeventouchaball.Thisweekisnotmeantforfootballtraining,butforthesolepurposeofcondi-tioning.Itisaweekofcontinuousrunningwith fewbreaks,ofdehydra-tionandoccasionalvomiting aweeknotoriouslyknownasHellWeek.

Therearealwaysnervesgoing into the first day [ofHellWeek],especiallycom-ingoffastatechampionshipappearance, Brandin said.Everyoneisanxious.

Palo Alto High Schoolfootball has embraced thenotion of dedicating a fullweek to conditioning formanyyears.

Hell Week has beenaround for forever, juniorvarsityheadcoachDaveDu-ran said. Or at least for aslongasIcanremember.

Brandin walks out ontothefieldandisgreetedbyheadcoachEarlHansen and the rest of the coaching stafffor the first time since spring practices.Brandinandtherestoftheteamstartwitha20-minutewarm-upjogaroundthetrack.Theincomingfreshmenquicklytireoutastheydesperatelyattempttomakeasbigofanimpressionaspossiblebytryingtokeepup withthe frontofthepack.

Itisespeciallyhardforthem[thefresh-men],juniorlinemanTommyKramersaid.Theytendtowanttoimpressthecoachesrightoffthebat,andenduptiringoutdur-ingthewarmupjog.

Afterthe20-minuterun,theteamgath-ers together tostretch,ahighlyunderesti-matedaspectofthepractice.

So manypeopledonottakestretchingseriously,Kramersaid.Andthosearethepeoplecramping30minuteslater.

Stretchingseemstopassratherquicklyandtransitionsintoalongseriesofsprints.Startingwith400metersandgoingdownto20meters,thequantityofsprintsgradu-ally increases as the distances decrease.Two400s,three300s,four200s,six100s;Thefootballplayersbegintofeelthepain.

Therunningitselfwasnotthatkiller,Kramerremembers.Itwasmorethelackof any real breaks that did you in. Themaximumtimeforabreakmusthaveonlybeen three minutes. It was just constantrunning.

Withafewout-of-shapelinemencramp-ing and aspiring underclassman throw-ingup,theplayersstaggerontocomplete

thefinaldrill: twenty20meter runs,withtwentypushupsafterthefirstrun,19push-ups after the next, 18 pushups after thenext, and soon.That is a combined totaldistanceof400meters anda totalof210pushups.Theresultofthisdrill?Over200

dead beat football players paralyzedwithexhaustion.

Itisdefinitely tiring,Brandinsaid.Ittakesalotofmentaltoughnesstomakeitthroughtheday.

Afterthisrun,CoachHansenlooksathiswatchandblowsthefinalwhistle.Brandinandhisteammatesstaggerofftothelockerroomintiredsilence.Dayoneisover.

Amidstallofthis,juniortightendSte-ven Gargulio sits in an east coast hotelroomthousandsofmilesaway.

I was on vacation with my family,Gargulio said. We had planned the tripmonthsinadvance,socancelingittoattendHellWeekwasnotreallyanoption.

BecauseHellWeekstartsonAugust10,aweekbeforeCCS(CentralCoastSection)rules allowmandatory practices to begin,itmustremainoptional.

HellWeekisacaptain-run,completelyoptional conditioning week,Hansensaid.

However, according to anumberofplayers,HellWeekis not as optional as somemaybelieve.

WhenItold[coach]Peter[Hansen]thatIwasnotgoingtocome,hesaid,Thatsunac-ceptable andwalked away,Gargulio said. Technicallyit isoptional,butyoubasi-cally should go or else youarefrownedupon.

Krameragrees,Ifyouareintown,youshouldnotmissHellWeek.

This issue also brings upthesimplelegalityofhavingpreseason conditioning ses-sions.AccordingtoCCSby-

laws, holding any organized conditioningbeforeAugust10isforbidden.

No physical conditioning or practicesessionsforfootballpriortotheopeningofauthorizedpracticemaybeconductedbyahighschool,unlessspecificallyauthorized

by theappropriateCIFSection. (SectionV,CCSBylaws)

However,accordingtoHansen,thelawalso requires a certain amountofpracticedaysbeforetheseasonstarts.

You are required to have 15 days ofpractices before you can hold your firstscrimmage,Hansensaid.Itisintheretopreventinjury.

On the opposite side of the scale, JeffBilling andhis cross country team take alow-key approach to his pre-August 10practices.

I sat downwith all the seniors at theendoftheschoollastyear,andtheyagreed

It takes a lot of mental toughness to make it through the day, Brandin said.

LONG DAY Hard-hitting drills like these help prepare Paly foot-ball for their season ahead.

The Viking | 17

uponatimeduringthesummerwheretheywouldhaveseniorpractices,Billingsaid.Nothingwasmandatory. Itwas100per-centoptional.Thosekidswhowerereallyinto it showed up, those who werenotdidnot.Wehave65kidsontheteamandtherewereabout15regu-larsoverthesummer.

Billingdidnotevenmakeprac-ticesmandatoryafterAugust10th.

We had the option of startingpracticesonAugust14,butIdecid-ed not to,Billing said. Wehavejustfoundthatthekidsthatareintoandwanttoputintheworkwillberunningwhetheritismandatoryornot.Andthekidswhoarenotwilljustfindareasonnottocome.

DavidWinntakesasimilarphi-losophywiththevolleyballteam.

WehadoptionalopengymsinJuneandJulyandthentookthefirsttwoweeksofAugustoffbeforetry-outs,Winnsaid.Youdonotwanttoover-trainthegirls.

Despite the controversy, thereseemtobegeneralagreement thatpreseasonpracticesareanecessitytoasuccessfulseason.

Itisjustoneofthosethingsthatyou have to do to get ready for aseason,Hansensaid.

Thesummerwaslow-key,buttoreach

thegoalsthattheboyshavethisyearitwasnecessary, Billing said. We would notbe able to accomplish those goals if theyhadntputinthatworkoverthesummer.

Billing also empathizes with the posi-tionthatfootballcoaches,likeHansen,are

in.Cross Country is a special sport be-

cause we are essentially training for theNovember CCSmeet, not the September

meet, Billing said. So I under-standandempathizewithcoachesthatneedapreparedteamcomingintolateAugust.Itisadifficultpo-sitiontobein.

Even football players see theimportanceofHellWeek.

Whileit[HellWeek]istough,it is definitely necessary for get-ting in shape for the tough prac-tices, as well as the upcominggames, junior cornerback HarryWoolsonsaid.

Whether it is football HellWeek, volleyball open-gyms, orcross-country summer runs, thereisnodoubtthatsummerpracticesplays an important role in fallsports.

Between August 1 and thebeginning of school you have somany things going on, whetherit is club basketball, club vol-leyball, or passing league forfootball,Hansen said. It [sum-mer preparation] is just oneof those things if you do not

do it you are going to fall way behind.

INTENSE PREPARATION Paly football took many steps over the summer to prepare for their season.

X-CountryJune 18-Seniorsor-ganizelightsummertraining

Summer Sports Timeline

August 10-CCSallowsmandatorypractices

Volleyball, Water Polo, FootballAugust 13-Teamsbegintryouts

TennisAugust 20-Tryouts

X-CountryAugust 28-Practicesstart

FootballJuly 11-PassingLeagueNationalsinHouston,Texas

FootballJune 16-FirstPassingLeaguetournament

FootballAugust 6-HellWeek

VolleyballJune 14-Opengymsstart

June 14: Lastday of school

18 | The Viking

August 28: First day of school

Power Rankings By Steven TranA look at who is primed to tear up the league this NFL season. 1. New England PatriotsMoss and Thomas are big name pick-ups, but Welker will be the man who will make the Patriots unbeatable. Cheating accusations wont affect this experienced team, as they are still dominating.

2. Indianapolis Colts22-20 is close but the Titans have always had an edge on Indy. Addai is looking more and more like James.

3. Dallas CowboysTony Romo has led a strong offensive unit and the defense looks acceptable.

4. Green Bay PackersBrett Farve looks 10-years younger and the defensive has been especially sharp. 5. Baltimore RavensEd Reed and Ray Lewis seem unaffected by Thomas defection to New England.6. Pittsburgh Steelers

Big Ben seems over his 2006 woes.

7. Philadelphia EaglesWestbrook and McNabb fi nally broke out for a big game against Detroit.

8. Denver BroncosMike Shanahans team is barely scoring but the defense and kicker are playing well.

9. ChicagoOne problem: Rex Grossman

10. San DiegoAny team with this amount of talent should not be 1-2. Norv Turner needs to utilize LT more and fi nd some way to win.

11. Tennessee TitansVince Young is coming around with a 62.2 percent completion rate. The close loss to Indy was a mental victory.

12. Seattle SeahawksTough loss to Arizona wont happen again.

13. Houston Texans2-0 start for the fi rst time in history. The young combo of Mario Williams, De-Meco Ryans, and Amobi Okoye has great potential.

14. Washington Redskins15. San Francisco 49ers

Two close victories. The worst offense in the league will turn around the coaches put more confi dence in Alex Smith and Vernon Davis. Patrick Willis is a savage.

NFL

Rookie Prospects:

THE VIKING|19

Jacoby Jones WR (Houston Texans) A third roundselection out of LaneCollege, Jones stands at6-foot-2 and weighs 210lbs. He andAndre John-sonteamuptoformanat-tractivetandemforrookiequarterbackMattSchaub.WithdefensesfocusedonthefeaturewideoutJohn-son, Jones should havea chance to unleash hisspeedtothetuneofsomesurprising numbers foryourfantasyteam.

Greg Olsen TE (Chicago Bears) A first rounderoutofTheU,Olsen is alreadyoneof thebiggertightendsintheNFLat6-foot-6255lbs.Olsen is a big target over themiddleandshouldprovideareliablesafetynet,es-peciallyintheredzoneforquarterbackRexGrossman.Olsenspentthepreseasonbuild-ing a strong chemistry with Gross-man and has already establishedhimselfasago-to-guy.Althoughhewillbeoutforaweekortworecovering from a knee injury,heshouldbeintopformbytheendofSeptember.

LorenzoBooker RB (Miami Dolphins) Anearlythirdroundchoice,outofFloridaState,BookerwastakentohelpreduceRon-nieBrownsloadthisseason.Brownstruggledmightilywithoutanotherestablishedbacklastyear,solookforBookertogettouchesthrough-outtheseason,andpossiblydosomedamagetoopposingdefenseswhenBrowniswinded.Althoughheisnotastarter,

Bookermaybecomeasolidchoiceforarunningbackifoneofyourtoptail-backsisoutwithinjuryorhasabyeweek.Waitafewweeksintotheseasontoseehowmanytouchesheisreceivingbeforepickinghimup.

Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City Chiefs) Thetopse-lectionbytheKansasCityChiefswiththe23rdpick,Dwayne Bowe out ofLSU,has thepotential tobeoneof theChiefs topreceiversbytheendofthe2007season.Withnoreal

receivingthreatsoutsideofTonyGonzalez,someone will need to step up to bolsterKansasCityspassinggame.

Brady Quinn QB (Cleveland Browns) Every team that needed a superstar under

the helm and passed onQuinnmayhavejustmadethebiggestmistakeindrafthistory.Inmyopinion,heis the most NFL-ready rookiequarterback straight out of aprostyleoffenseunderCharlie

Weis at Notre Dame.Weis,Quinns mentor at

NotreDame, hasprepared himwell, not onlyfor success at

the college level,but for success in the

NFL.WithQuinnlandinginthelapofClevelandatthe 22nd pick, expect tosee him starting towardsthe middle of the sea-sonwhenBrownsheadcoach Romeo Cren-nel can start him in a

low pressure situation possiblyweek nineagainstMiami,whosepassdefenseisnoth-ingtobragabout.EvenwithstarterDerekAndersons recentsuccessBradyQuinn isstillthefutureoftheClevelandBrowns.

By Greg Stewart| Photo-illustrations by NoahSneider

Five rookie sleepers to keep an eye on

By Oliver Davies | Photo Illustration by Noah Sneider

This year, fantasy baseball has brought many disappointments, but more impor-tantly, many incredible surprises. While Chris Carpenter rehabbed his numerous ailments and Travis Hafner spent the sea-son looking for his long-lost power, many former no-names have stepped into the spotlight. This season, the Flyin Ha-waiian Shane Victorino has been run-ning all over the bases and Ryan Braun is having a debut season for the ages.If you were lucky enough to pick up Braun and avoided picking Alfonso Soriano with your high fi rst round pick, then you are prob-ably shining in the standings as we speak. On the other hand, if you grabbed Manny Ramirez, expecting his typical 40-hr, 130-RBI season, and snagged Felix Hernan-dez expecting a true breakout year, then you are sitting dead last in the gutter. For those that could not pull it to-gether this fantasy season, at least we all got to witness the important mile-stones that ew by this year. Wheth-er it was Justin Verlanders no-hit-ter, Bonds 756th, Rick Ankiels amazing comeback, or Clay Bu-cholz throwing a no-hitter in his second major league start, this season has been spectacular in and of itself. Rick Ankiels story is one for the ages. For those not familiar with Ankiels story, it is one everybody should know. Drafted out of high school, Ankiel joined the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff as a prom-ising pitching prospect. In one and a half seasons in the Cardinal rotation, Ankiel excelled and blew away the competition. Unfortunately, Ankiel suffered an el-bow injury and subsequently lost his ability to throw a ball anywhere near the plate, and lost all control of his pitches. After melting down in a playoff game, Ankiel suffered through an array of in-juries and bouts of wildness for the next three years, before fi nally calling an end to his pitching career in 2004. This year, Ankiel is back with the Cardi-nals, but this time as an outfi elder. As if the

In just 37 games, Ankiel hit 9 home runs, a pace for a 40 home run season. Recent allegations linking Ankiel to HGH, Human Growth Hormone, have failed to put a dent into his magical run. Ankiel has said that the only drugs he took were prescribed to him by his doc-tor after his ligament replacement surgery in 2004. Ankiels fans have thrown these scary allegations out the window, back-ing their hero, the man that never quit. On the topic of drugs, Bonds 756th hom-er brought lots of controversy. In an era where nobody is safe from

skepticism, and steroids and Hu-man Growth Hormone run

rampant, every record bro-ken will be looked at twice.

Unfortunately, Bonds was at the center of this con-troversy, and while nobody can and probably never will be able to prove him guilty, it seems

to be almost com-mon knowledge that

Bonds took steroids. Whether or not an asterisk should be placed by his name in

the record books is up for Major League Baseball

offi cials to decide, but it seems as if fans of baseball have made their

decision and passed their guilty verdict. As another season of base-ball ashes before our eyes, I do not think anyone can be disappointed. Whether your team blew up in your fantasy league, or your team blew up in real life, we as fans have been lucky to witness such amazing milestones and feats. So if you had a bad season, take a second, let it go, and get ready for football season!

Fantasy Baseballs Year In Reviewstory could not get any better, Ankiel dom-inated this season in the majors, showing many signs of his power-ful stroke, b e l t i n g h o m e run after h o m e r u n .

20 | The Viking

A look back at this years ups and downs fantasy baseball season

Fantasy Land Where your dreams become reality

Milwaukee Rookie Third Baseman Ryan Braun, the hottest pick-up of the year, was good for a .325 average, 33 HRs, 94 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases in only 109 games.

Football Power Rankings1. USCThe defending Rose Bowl champions get my top vote. With another top recruit-ing class coming in, they have too many weapons, both on offense and defense, to sustain more than one loss this year. Prediction: 11-1

2. LSUDespite losing JaMarcus Russel, the fi rst pick in the 2007 NFL draft, the Tigers are armed with a senior QB and talented back-fi eld, ready to make a run at USC for the National Championship. Prediction: 11-1

3. FloridaThe multi-dimensional Tim Tebow is back and ready to assume the leader-ship role for the Gators after the departure of Chris Leak to the NFL. His abil-ity to both run and pass the football confuses defenses, opening holes for their entire offense. Prediction: 10-2

4. OklahomaI was a bit skeptical of the Sooners until last weekend, when they pummeled Miami (FL) 51-13. It was all business, as freshman quarterback Sam Bradford racked up 5 TD passes, tying the previous record. Predic-tion: 11-1

5. West VirginiaWith probably the best offensive unit in the country, WVU will be tough to grind out. However, their game against Louisville (Nov. 8) will sure-ly be one to watch, with upwards of 100 points scored. Their lack of a solid defense is all that is keeping the Mountaineers out of the Top 3. Prediction: 10-2

Rams. Most Bear fans are already talking about the match up against USC Novem-ber 10. Prediction: 10-2

8. WisconsinThe Badgers have not looked very impres-sive early on in the season, which is the reason for their drop out of the Top 5. Threats at RB and QB have this teams sights on the Big Ten championship, especially because of Michigans collapse. Prediction: 11-1

9. Penn StateThe Nittany Lions have been extremely impressive early on, despite the set-back against Michigan. They are my sleeper BCS bowl game team, so do not be sur-prised if they are playing in early January. Prediction: 11-1

10. Ohio StateAfter embarrassing play in the National

Championship last year against Florida, OSU has bounced back nicely, bringing in talent on both sides of the football. However, until they make the transition to a more physical style of play, they will not be in the running for another shot at the National Championship. Prediction: 10-2

11. Oregon - Prediction: 10-212. Boston College - Prediction: 9-3 13. Rutgers - Prediction: 9-314. Clemson - Prediction: 8-415. Georgia - Prediction: 9-316. Virginia Tech - Prediction: 8-417. Louisville - Prediction 10-2

18. UCLA - Prediction 9-319. Nebraska - Prediction: 9-3

20. Alabama - Prediction 8-421-25. South Carolina,

Texas A&M, Hawaii, University of South Florida, Arkansas

The Viking | 21

6. TexasThe explosive offense was on display Saturday as the Longhorns thrashed Texas Christian 39-7. Lead by QB Colt McCoy, I am already looking forward to their game against Oklahoma. Predic-tion: 10-2

ByAdamFurlong

NCAA

Allstate BCS Championship Game (Jan. 7th) in the New Orleans Super-dome: USC defeats LSU 31-27.

7. CaliforniaAfter looking very solid in their home opener against the Tennessee Volunteers, the Golden Bears were on the verge of blowing up against the Colorado State

Palo AltoFOOTBALLPalo AltoFOOTBALLWith a potent offense and a menacing defense, the Vikings look to defend their CCS title

2007 SCHEDULE

S E P T E M B E R O C TO B E R NOVEMBER7 at McClymonds W 20-614 Burlingame W 23-621 Oak Grove L 7-2828 Los Gatos

2 Los Altos9 at Gunn

5 at Mountain View12 Milpitas19 at Wilcox27 at Santa Clara

Palo AltoFOOTBALLWith a potent offense and a menacing defense, the Vikings look to defend their CCS title

Fall Sports Preview

The Palo Alto High School football team walked off a stormy field last December at the Home Depot Center in Carson, realizing their state championship dream had washed away in a 42-28 loss to Orange Lutheran. Just eight months later, the Paly Vikings are back to contend for more. Despite losing many graduating seniors, the Palo Alto High School varsity football team is expected to be among the best in the Central Coast Section (CCS) this upcoming season. Following the teams magical12-2 season last year, which included a league championship, CCS championship and Division II state-championship game berth, the Vikes expect to rebound with another strong season this fall. Last years team was built on the strength of a massive offensive line, but all five of last years starting lineman have graduated, leaving the Vikings looking for replacements. The star-studded group included first-team all-league John Hall and John Stirrat, three year starter Uly Morales, Palo Alto Daily News first-team tackle Will Elmore, and all-state lineman and current San Jose State starter Fred Koloto. Their departures have left the Vikings looking for a number of players to fill their spots. Among those who

have replaced them are seniors Michael Anderson, Tim Crown, Donnie Salas, Ryan Drebin and Jake Zebker. I do not know if any line could compare to last years, head coach Earl Hansen said. [The linemen] have improved a ton over the last three weeks. They will make an okay transition and get better all the time. The line still is Palys weakness. Our biggest gray area is our linemen, said senior tight

end and linebacker Jordan Jefferson. They are inexperienced and have some big shoes to fill. Another noticeable change on the Viking team is the loss of last years all-league quarterback Nick Goodspeed, whose replacement is 6-foot 3 junior Will Brandin. Though Brandin has been somewhat inconsistent in the first few games with one touchdown and four interceptions, he comes with a lot of promise. I think he can be very good, Hansen said. We have got to see him in the game. He needs to stay focused and keep his head clear. Jefferson sees the Palo Alto air attack as one of the teams biggest assets. Our biggest strength is our passing game because of our great off-season, Jefferson said.

Palys offense is led by aforementioned senior fullback Mataele and senior wide-receiver Mike Scott. Mataele is a bruising fullback who can pound through the trenches by utilizing his power running game and strong frame. He used this aggressive style to gain 215 rushing yards and score four touchdowns in the teams first two games.

Having Sione [Mataele] back and being able to use him as workhouse will help us a lot, Jefferson said. Scott, who had seven receptions for 181 yards in the first two

22 | The Viking

WORK HORSE Paly looks to senior Sione Mataele to carry the load on off ense this year.

By Ian KellyPhotography by Robert DrebinBy Ian Kelly

The Palo Alto High School football team walked off a stormy

Photography by Robert Drebin

games, uses his blazing speed, great hands and pure athleticism to be a constant threat at wide-out, while also starring as one of the teams starting safeties. During the off-season, Scott competed alongside a number of Paly players in an elite passing league tournament in Houston. [see page 52] Mike Scott is excellent on both sides of the ball, Hansen said. In Houston he was the best guy there, and they had all-star teams from all over the country. The Vikings offense is particularly talented in providing a plethora of weapons for Brandin to attack opposing defenses. The skill positions are strong, Hansen said. Our tight ends, wide receivers and Sione will prove that. The Vikings are stacked at both wide receiver and tight end. Juniors Bobby Holman, Will Holder and Harry Woolson and seniors Michael Martin, Dom Powell and Brook Seaman make up a deep and talented receiving group behind Scott. Despite losing tight end Buddy Benaderet, last years Palo Alto Daily News Player of the Year, Hansen sees a major strength at the position with Jefferson, senior Kevin Johnson and junior Steven Gargiulo all providing size and depth. Despite Hansens praise about Palo Altos offensive stars, it may well prove to be the defense that is the teams greatest strength this year. The team brings back the core of its defense in returning first-team all-league senior linebackers Jefferson and James McCollough, along with the dynamic Salas. The trio forms a formidable group in the Paly defense that should be able to constantly neutralize the rushing and passing attacks of their opponents. Palo Altos defense has only allowed six points in the first two games this season. Our defense is going to be a

major factor, McCollough said. Defense wins championships. The secondary should also be particularly strong with safeties Scott and Holder being joined by cornerbacks Woolson and junior Paul Brown in a unit that limited its opponents to a mere 140 yards passing in the first two games. The Vikings are already off to a strong start, subduing powerhouse McClymonds 20-6 in their fi rst game and defeating Burlingame 23-6 in their home opener, before falling to Oak Grove 28-7. The most difficult part of the Vikings schedule appears to be the first month or so of the season, where they face a collection of whos who among local pigskin powers. The toughest part of the schedule will be all of September, Hansen said. McClymonds is a section champ, Burlingame always plays us hard, Oak Grove beat us last year and Los Gatos is our division rival. Jefferson takes the same point of view as his coach. Oak Grove is the most daunting game because it has turned into a really big rivalry, Jefferson said. Los Gatos is looking really strong this year, and that game is going to decide who wins league. The Vikings are ranked third in the Central Coast Section by the San Jose Mercury News (as of press time) and are ranked close to division rival Los Gatos and area dynasty Oak Grove. Despite the Vikings standing, Hansen sees no significance in the early-season rankings. Rankings mean nothing, Hansen said. The only ranking that means anything is the last one, and last year we were number one. One of the biggest challenges for the Vikings this season will be its ability to replace the leaders from last years squad. The losses of their offensive line, starting quarterback, wide receiver/safety Trenton Hart, running back Will Frazier and wide receiver/cornerback Maurice Williams, among others, leaves the Vikings needing new blood to pilot this years squad. You cant replace that leadership, Hansen said. Its a new group of kids. They all have to perform. In spite of the teams loss of veterans, the Vikes should have a successful season and contend for another league and CCS title, and perhaps even make it back to that field in Carson. We have to fill a lot of empty spots left by last years seniors, Jefferson said. But if we can fill them effectively, we can make it back to the state championship game.

James McCollough >>> LinebackerMcCollough, a senior inside linebacker, is a force to be reckoned with. He garnered all-league honors last year, amassing 51 tackles, three sacks and four fumble recoveries. Possessing Urlacher-esque tackling ability, excellent speed and eye-opening ferocity, McCollough will be one the teams most fearsome defenders on this years squad. In addition, McCollough will double as running back, following the loss of junior Sam Tompkins to an ACL injur,y.

The Viking | 23

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Palo Alto BoysWATER POLO

Built on the strength of a close-knit group of up-perclassmen, the Vikes aim to win a CCS title

2007 SCHEDULES E P T E M B E R O C TO B E R N O V E M B E R 7-8 Schmitt Tournament 2nd 14-15 Roche Tournament 4th 27 at Monta Vista

1-3 SCVAL League Championships

1 Los Altos3 at Gunn9 Mountain View17 at Saratoga24 Los Gatos

Fall Sports Preview

The Palo Alto High School varsity boys water polo team is gearing up for a season full of high expectations. With the bulk of its squad back from last year, coach Reid Particellis squad is a perennial contender for both a De Anza Division title and Central Coast Section (CCS) championship. The Vikings have already started off to a blistering pace, garnering second place at the prestigious John Schmitt Memorial tournament, which drew top teams from across the Bay Area. The Vikings overcame league rival Los Altos 5-3 and defeated Menlo School 7-5, only to lose to Sacred Heart Prep 7-3 in a hard-fought final. The Schmitt tournament was our first big test, Particelli said. We passed it. The Vikings also made it to the semifinals of the Scott Roche tournament before losing to an aggressive and physical Mater Dei (Santa Ana) squad. Losing just two of last years starters, Paul Reamey and Brian Hwang, the team is led by a strong core of upperclassmen. At the helm of this years crop are seniors Michael Fortune and Geng Wang, both three-year varsity players who will co-captain the squad this season. It is an honor to be captain, Wang said, I think it is one of the best water polo teams Paly has ever seen. According to Wang, the team is aiming high this year. Our goals are to win league without any losses and to win CCS, he said. Though the Vikings have been extremely successful in the pool, one of their distinguishing factors is the lack of a

single star. Both our strength and our weakness is that we do not have a superstar, Wang said. We do not have a go-to guy, but instead we have team-oriented style of offense. The Vikings distribution-style offense correlates with their long-standing familiarity. Most of these guys have been playing together for years, Particelli said. Their chemistry has gotten them to where they are now. Our chemistry is amazing, we have better chemistry than Mr. Pruzan, senior driver Cyril Gary said. Everyone knows and trusts one anothers abilities. Despite Garys tendency to be the comedic, the Vikings

are taking this years season extremely seriously. Were working really hard because we want to be able to look back and say we gave it our all, Wang said. In addition to Fortune and Wang, the Vikings look to the leadership from senior drivers Scott Mielke and Neal Ketchum, junior driver Tim Wenzlau and senior goalie Will Simon. Simon, a four-year letterman and starter, is an absolute menace in the net. You really cannot measure the fact that Will is behind us on defense, Particelli said.

Simons teammates concur. We have the best goalie in CCS, said Fortune. By far. The teams road to a league title will have to go through Los Altos High School, with returning star Elliot Samuels. Even though Paly has already beaten the Eagles once this season [in a non-league match], by most accounts the Eagles are the Vikings only legitimate opposition for the De Anza Division title. Los Altos is our biggest rival and they are our only competition in league, Fortune said. Winning league depends on whether we beat Los Altos or not.

By Ian KellyPhotography by Ian KellyBy Ian Kelly

The Palo Alto High School varsity boys water polo team is gearing up for a season full of high expectations. With the

Photography by Ian Kelly

Los Altos is our biggest rival and they are our only com-petition in league, Fortune said. Winning league de-pends on whether we beat Los Altos or not.

5-3 and defeated Menlo School 7-5, only to lose to Sacred Despite Garys tendency to be the comedic, the Vikings

Los Altos is our biggest rival

26 | The Viking

In addition to Los Altos, the Vikings biggest threats during the CCS playoffs include the likes of private school powerhouses Sacred Heart, Bellarmine and St. Francis. Though last years Vikings won the league title, they were only able to advance to the CCS quarterfinals. Many think this year will be different. We have a better team this year, Fortune said. We are ready to take the next step. Gary agrees. Our expectations are nothing less than perfect, Gary said. We are going to take no prisoners. Particelli believes the way in which to achieve the Vikings success is to continuously raise their standard of play. Our key is continuing what we have started by not being complacent, Particelli said. We have got to put our head down and keep working hard. It appears that with this years group, the Vikings will go far. We can go as far as they guys want to take us, Particelli said. Its up to these guys in how they want to band together.

KEEP YOUREYES ON

Bobby Abbott>>> Driver

Projected O ense Projected Defense

131

5

2

10

11

3

Starters1 Will Simon Goalie3 Michael Fortune Driver13 Geng Wang Driver10 Aaron Johnson 2M/Driver5 Scott Mielke Driver11 Neal Ketchum 2MD/Driver2 Tim Wenzlau Driver

O the Bench 4 Bobby Abbott Driver 9 Cyril Gary Driver 8 Sung Kim 2M/2MD 7 Jeremy Kim Driver

Abbott, only a sophomore, pos-sesses good speed and uses his slim frame to tire out opposing defenses. The underclassman has one goal and eight assists thus far. Despite being the only sophomore on the squad, Ab-bott has earned the admiration and praise of teamates. Bobby has good talent and possesses a ton of potential, teammate Scott Mielke said. Look for Ab-bott to get a lot of playing time and be an important xture to the success of this years squad.

4987

13

3

5

2

788994

11

10

The Viking | 27

Palo AltoGIRLS WATER POLOWith a very strong senior class, girls water polo seeks to defend their league title

2007 SCHEDULE

O C TO B E R N O V E M B E R1 Los Altos 3 Gunn6 Menlo9 Mt. View

1 SCVALs17 Saratoga24 Los Gatos

Fall Sports Preview

After a league-championship season, the Palo Alto High School girls varsity water polo team is ready to repeat last-seasons performance. Boasting a strong line up with players including senoirs Hallie Kennan, Lizzie Abbott, and senior Christy Campbell, the team hopes to outwork their opponents. Captains Lizzie Abbott and Hallie Kennan are more than ready for the promising season ahead. We have a lot of potential, Kennan said. Almost everyone on the team now was on the team last year, so were all pretty experienced. B o t h K e n n a n and Abbott are singled out by their teammates as key players for this years team. H a l l i e is very strong and inspiring, she has a really hard shot, sister and teammate Emily Kennan said. Lizzies good at pumping up the team, her loud voice is very commanding, she is a very aggressive person in the water. In addition to the two captains, the Lady Vikes have yet another new leader. After an extremely successful two-year career, coach Theo Ludwick left his position as head coach, passing it on to new head coach Cory Olcott. [Olcott] is pretty good, theres obviously a difference between him and our past coach, Emily said.

Following a successful season (SCVAL league champions and fourth in Central Coast Section) the girls are looking to improve upon last season. We want to win CCS, Hallie said. We are really going to work towards winning it. Although the team has lost arguably one of the best players Palys seen in a while (Tanya Wilcox) the girls are confi dant that they will do as well, if not better than they did last year. While we lost a really good player in Tanya, a lot of other teams lost a lot of really good players, Hallie said. We were all really close, so losing Tanya was really more of an emotional

loss. Although the team is full of t a l e n t e d players, the girls realize that they do not have a go-to player that will

carry the team. They plan to rely more on the team as a whole rather than on the individual player. We can no longer rely on one single player, Emily said. Its good because now we have to rely on the team as a whole. Utilizing players strengths is going to be the key to success this season. With fast swimmers like Abbott and senior Amanda Wong; a huge part of the Lady Vikes offense is going to be counters. Were all fast, all of us swim in the off-season, Hallie said. We can counter a lot of teams.

(Home games in bold)

We want to win CCS, Hallie said. Were really going to work towards winning it.

loss. Although the team

go-to player that will

BY BEN AFSHAR

28 | The Viking

KAILEYFLATHER

As one of the three sophomores on varsity this season, A lot is ex-pected of Flather. Her experience promises great po-tential for the fu-ture. Flathers got speed, skills, and an attitude to match, there is no doubt Flather will make an impact this season.

Flather Facts

KEEP YOUREYES ON The Lady Vikes seem to have found a decent shooter in Campbell, who has absolutely no problem taking (and making) perimeter shots from anywhere on the outside. Christy is not afraid to take the risky shots that other players can sometimes be afraid to take, Emily said. She has one of the best shots on the team, the fact that she is willing to take risks makes her a good player. Between Abbott and Wong on the counters, Hallie in set, and Campbell on the outside, the Lady Vikes have offense pretty well covered. Second-year varsity goalkeeper, senior Talia Kori, will lead the Lady Vikes defense. Kori is no stranger to varsity play, having played as a junior; she is well up to the challenge. Talias an excellent goalie, however, we do have to help and support her defensively, Emily said. In addition to the starters, Paly has a talented substitution pool. First off the bench is Emily, who might as well be labeled the 7th starter. After Emily, senior Allison Feeney is next off the bench. Both of these players come into the game with explosive energy that adds greatly to the dynamic of the game. Outside of the water, the team maintains a close relationship; they plan on utilizing their close relationship during games. We know each other really well, Hallie said. That transfers into the pool, we have really great in-game chemistry. Aside from the obvious, part of the reason that the team wants to win CCS so badly is the fact that the majority of the team are seniors The girls attributed part of their fi erce determination to winning a CCS title to the boys team. The boys team has really been an inspiration for us, Hallie said. Weve seen how badly they want to win CCS. As the season gets started, the girls are sure to be found working hard in the pool, preparing for endless tournaments and six league games. With high aspirations and lofty, yet attainable goals, the girls water polo team is promising to deliver an exciting season.

GAMESGAMESSt.FrancisMitty

Menlo

Castilleja

L

L

WW

The Team

112346789

Coach:Assistant:

CoryOlcottKellanHori

TaliaKoriLizaDernehl

DanielleCarlsonLizzieAbbottAlexiDagan

ChristyCampbell

XioPintoJennyWhyte

MalaikaDrebin

TaraMuraoKaileyFlather

MadisonHoffackerHallieKennanAllisonFeeneyAmandaWongEmilyKennanSamBromberg

TaliaKoriLizaDernehl

The TeamCoryOlcottKellanHori

TaliaKoriTaliaKoriLizaDernehl

The Team

1

Coach:Assistant:

11 LizaDernehl

DanielleCarlsonLizaDernehlLizaDernehl

DanielleCarlsonLizaDernehl1

21

DanielleCarlsonLizzieAbbott

DanielleCarlsonLizzieAbbott

23

DanielleCarlsonDanielleCarlson2LizzieAbbottAlexiDaganLizzieAbbottAlexiDagan

34

LizzieAbbottLizzieAbbott3AlexiDagan

ChristyCampbellAlexiDagan

ChristyCampbell46

AlexiDaganAlexiDagan4ChristyCampbellMalaikaDrebin

ChristyCampbellMalaikaDrebin

67

ChristyCampbellChristyCampbell6

XioPintoMalaikaDrebin

XioPintoMalaikaDrebin7

8MalaikaDrebinMalaikaDrebin7

XioPintoJennyWhyte

XioPintoJennyWhyte

89

XioPintoXioPinto8JennyWhyteTaraMuraoJennyWhyteTaraMurao

9 JennyWhyteJennyWhyte9TaraMurao

KaileyFlatherTaraMurao

KaileyFlatherTaraMuraoTaraMurao

KaileyFlatherMadisonHoffacker

KaileyFlatherMadisonHoffacker

KaileyFlatherKaileyFlatherMadisonHoffacker

HallieKennanMadisonHoffacker

HallieKennanMadisonHoffackerMadisonHoffacker

HallieKennanAllisonFeeneyHallieKennanAllisonFeeneyHallieKennanHallieKennanAllisonFeeneyAmandaWongAllisonFeeneyAmandaWongAllisonFeeneyAllisonFeeneyAmandaWongEmilyKennanAmandaWongEmilyKennanAmandaWongAmandaWongEmilyKennanSamBrombergEmilyKennanSamBrombergEmilyKennanEmilyKennanSamBrombergSamBrombergSamBrombergSamBromberg

1112131415161718

Assistant: KellanHoriKellanHoriAssistant:

Flather Facts

Movie: Shes the ManIce Cream: Coconut

Age: 15Height: 56Position: Driver

The Viking | 29

Palo Alto BoysCROSS-COUNTRY

2007 SCHEDULE

S E P T E M B E R O C TO B E R NOVEMBER6 Gunn, St. Francis22 Lowell Invite25 SCVAL invite 29 Stanford invite

10 CCS 24 State fi nals

6 Clovis invite9 SCVAL @ Crystal13 Punahou Invite

Fall Sports Preview

23 City30 Leagues

ByLucyMcComasPhotosbyAlekMiovidov

Afterastrongseasonlastyear,thePaloAlto High School boys cross-countryteamispreparedfortheupcomingseason,one which Coach Jeff Billing believeshasthepotentialtowinaspotinthestatechampionships. Last year waspretty much fo-cusedonpreparingforthisyear,saidBilling. The team,which includes 21returning seniors,has been workingall year to stay inshape to start theseason off with abang. I would per-sonally like tobuild off of mysuccess from lastyear, and as forthe team, I wouldliketoseeusgotostates, senior andteam captain Ra-janNarangsaid. This year theteam returns withall of the samerunners, exceptfor graduate Zev Karlin-Neuman. Withlastyearstopsevenrunnersreturningthisseason,theteamhasastrongerfoundationtobuildon.

There are somanygood seniors thisyear that I have no idea who would bethebest,Billingsaid.Therearearoundsevenseniorswhocouldallbeconsideredtoprunners.

In addition, sophomore runner PhilipMacQuittylookstoplayakeyrole.Mac-Quittysetbothstateandnationalrecordslast.

Billingseesthisyeartobeaspecialoneandhasdecidedtotakeagroupofmostlyseniors and several outstanding under-classmen to an invitational in Hawaii inOctober.InHawaii,theteamwillcompete

against schoolsfromalloverthewestcoast. This isa spe-cial year and Iwanted to dosomething funfor the guys,Billing said re-garding the up-comingtrip. Thisyearsse-niors have moreexperience andare looking for-ward to goingonthetriptoHa-waii. Hawaii willbe fun, Narangsaid. It is willbeagreatexperi-enceforallofusand we will beable to run fastagainst a bunchof schools wedonotnormally

competeagainst,Narangsaid. Cross-countryisscoreddifferentlythanalmost all other sports. The number ofpointsarunnerearns isequivalent to the

Theboyscross-countryteamworksoutinpreparationfortheseason.(Lefttoright)SamJones,BrianKarvelas,SkylerCumminsandWillieXiangruntogether.

for graduate Zev Karlin-Neuman. With In addition, sophomore runner Philip

of schools wedonotnormally

competeagainst,Narangsaid.

30 | The Viking

1. Philip MacQuitty- 15:59

2. Charlie Avis -16:24

3. Rajan Narang- 16:54

4. Gilbert Choi- 17:03

5. Sam Jones- 17:16

6.Skyler Cummins- 17:17

7. Jeremy Jacob- 17:41

Record Course time- 14:28

KEEP YOUREYES ONSkyler Cum->>>Junior

After a summer

of long runs and exhaust-ing work outs, junior

Skyler Cummins has trans-

formed him-self from a junior varsity

runner to a top-notch varsity com- petitor athlete. Cummins has goals for himself as well as the team. I would like to break 16 minutes at the Crystal Springs course and as for the team I would like to see us go to states, Cum-mins said.

Ireallythinkwecanmakeitall thewaytostates.Theteamisdrivenandcompetitive thisyear, seniorcaptain

SamJones.

Top seven runners, Crystal Springs course

Seniors:Austin SmithMichael FittoriaTommy AngelopoulosBrian HsuehGilbert ChoiBrian KarvelasShaun GaoAlok SubbaraoBryan WellsAlfred ChenWes DuplantierHenry Becker Fedor SnarskyRajan Narang

Daniel YehJohn HicksJay Nguyen Alex BrowneErik KlingbeilCharlie AvisColin Schmit

Sophomores:Evan GittermanPhilip MacQuittyConor Ney Scott Alexander Henry Jordan Peter Wilson

Stuart YeeJujhaar Singh Josh NewbyReed Carter John OlsonNikhil BhargavaRichard Chern Robert Fox Avi Arfi n Jordan BrownSpencer BrockChris LoAlex VoetVarun KohliJamie Blake

Andrew StoberEvan HahnChris GallagherPhilip Chen

Freshmen:Brandon DukovicRyan BrennerKenta SuzukiMichael Bouteau

Coach: Jeff Billing

Alex GromobPhil Schroder Willie Xiang Ben Sklaroff Mohammed AbidNathan TallSam JonesJulius Berezin

Juniors:Justin EllmannMatt TracyOliver Davies Jack GaleSkyler Cummins

Seniors:Austin SmithMichael FittoriaTommy AngelopoulosBrian HsuehGilbert ChoiBrian KarvelasShaun GaoAlok SubbaraoBryan WellsAlfred ChenWes DuplantierHenry Becker Fedor SnarskyRajan Narang

Paly Boys Cross Country Team

After a summer

junior Skyler

formed him-

runner to a top-notch com-

placeinwhichhefinishes(firstgetsonepoint,secondgetstwopointsandsoon).Eventhoughitappearstobeanindividualsport,theteamscoreisbasedonthecombinedfinishofthetopfiverunners.Unlikemostsports,pointswork against the team ratherthaninitsadvantage. Withgreatchemistryandastrongcore,theVikingshavehighhopesfortheseason. Thisisahugeyear,Jonessaid.We have about 30 guyswho haverunallfouryearsofhighschool.Itisgreat, The top seven runners returningfromlastyearincludeMacQuitty,ju-niorsCharlieAvisandSkylerCum-mins, and seniors Narang, GilbertChoi,JeremyJacobandSamJones. MacQuitty, the fastest runner onthe team, is working to break 15minutes on the famous 2.95 milelongCrystalSpringscourse.Hecur-rentlyrunsthecourseat15:59. MacQuittyputspressureonhim-selftoalwaysimproveonhistimes.Ihavetwomaingoalsforthissea-son,Macquittysaid.OntheCrys-tal Springs course, I want to run14:50, and I want to get 15 on thestatecourse,Woodward. Macquitty isnot theonlyoneofthe boys with an objective for thisyear.Thereareaboutsevenoreightboys that are all working to breakseventeen minutes. We are goingto work year-round to achieve ourgoals, Billing said. My personalgoalfortheteamistogotoleaguesandwin, go toCCS,win, and then

makeittostates. Jones,acaptainoftheteam,agreeswithBillingshighexpectations.Ireallythinkwecanmakeitallthewaytostates,hesaid.Theteamisdrivenandcompetitivethisyear. However,thefreshmenturnoutthisyearislowerthaninallpreviousyears.Billinghasneverseensofewfreshmencomeoutinallhisyearscoachingtheteam. Despite the lack of newcomers, the team isreadyfortheseasontobegin. Basedonlastyearsstats,Palyboyscross-coun-tryhasagoodchanceofwinningleaguesthisyear.

Lastyear,theboyscameinatfifthplaceby27points.Palyhadtwoboysinthetop20lastyearandbysub-tracting all of the seniors from last year, that putsPaloAltowithfiveboysinthetoptwentyatSCVALleaguefinals. Fortunately for the boys, the same competitionfollowstheteamfromleaguesallthewaytostates.Nomatterhowmanyteamsorwhatstageinthecom-petitiontheteamis,themostchallengingteamswillalwaysstaythesame.Theyareallinourleague,evenattheCCSlevel,Billingsaid.ThetopfourteamsatCCSDivisionIIare LosGatos, us,Gunn and SantaClara,Billingsaid. I thinkLosGatos isourbiggest competitionbutsomepeoplewouldsayitisSantaClara, TheboysandthePalycommunity,haveanexcit-ingseasontolookforwardto.Thisistheyear,Bill-ingsaid.AttheLowellInvitational,thevarsityteamcame in fourth,despitemissingbothCumminsandNarang.

The Viking | 31

DGirls Cross Country

By Adam Furlong

Armed with senior leadership, the Lady Vikings are looking to make an impact at the League Championships this year. Seniors Leah Gaeta and captain Ari-ana Hoyt lead the team, along with junior captain Tamar Ben-Shachar. Although this

years team is short on racing experience, coach Paul Jones has little doubt that the team will prove itself early on in the sea-son. Although over half of the team has not run cross-country before, they are all excellent athletes, coach Jones said. Last year was a year to remember for the team. With two runners qualifying for the state meet, Palo Alto had fi nally bro-ken the top echelon in the sport: state-wide recognition. Unfortunately, with both state-qualifying racers graduating last year, as well as the third and fourth

TheLadyVikingslooktoworktheirwayintoanexcellentfinishthisyearintheDeAnzaDivision.Thoughinexperi-enced,theextremelytalentedteamplansonsolidifyingitsnameinthemindsoftheiropponents.

Palo AltoGIRLS CROSS COUNTRYWith a new look to the squad, the Vikings look to open strong and make a run at a League title.

2007 SCHEDULE

S E P T E M B E R O C TO B E R NOVEMBER22 Lowell Invitational25 SCVAL @ Central29 Stanford Invita-tional

10 CCSTournament 24 State Finals

6 Clovis Invitational9 SCVAL @ Crystal13 Punahoe Invitational23 City Championship30 League Championship

Fall Sports Preview

espite losing the top four runners from last years team, the Palo Alto High School girls varsity cross-

country team is poised for another terrifi c season.

Photography by Allen Au

Training Hard: The girls cross-country team practices during one of their after-school training runs. After losing four of their top seven runners, the team hopes to make this rebuilding season into a successful run at leagues.

32 | The Viking

rather smooth. Leah fi nished strong for the Lady Vikings in their fi rst meet, with a team-best time of 14:26 over the 2.2-mile course. I really could have done better, she said. I was feeling really nervous and sick about my fi rst race, so that aff ected my time. Loving to run is important in the sport of cross-country. A racer must genuinely

KEEP YOUR

EYES ReginaWang>>> SOPHOMORERegina Wang has had a strong start to the beginning of the cross country season. Finishing second for the Vikings in their rst race, Regina has solidi ed her spot as one of the top runners on the team.Only in her second year of cross country, look for Regina to break out this year and post better and better times each race. As she gains racing experience, her times will only become faster.

Only in her second year of cross country, look for Regina to break out this year and

experience, her times will only become faster.

Only in her second year of cross country, look for Regina to break out this year and

experience, her times will only become faster.

Only in her second year of cross country, look for Regina to break out

experience, her

Althoughoverhalfoftheteamhavenotruncrosscountrybefore,theyareallexcellent

athletes.

fastest runners, this years squad was left short-handed. We have several nice additions of raw talent, but it will take a while for them to realize that racing is all about tempo, coach Jones said. Leah Gaeta is one of those examples. Having been on the girls varsity soccer team for the last three years, she decided to pick up cross-country this year. She is a great soccer player, but she is still just learning how to run, coach Jones said. Despite the vast diff erences between the two sports, Leah has attributed her past in soccer to an excellent start to run-ning. Soccer has helped me in many ways, she said. It motivated me this summer to come out to the track everyday and do intervals. This transition seems to have been

love the sport in order to succeed. Although some people may think soccer is my number one sport, cross country has defi nitely grown on me, Gaeta said, I am taking this sport ex-tremely seriously. Senior Ariana Hoyt, one of the fi ve captains on the team, also has an opti-mistic approach to the upcoming sea-

son. We have the potential to continue improving throughout the season, Hoyt said. We do not have any superstar run-ners, so working together as a team will be even more important. With 35 racers on the team this year, competition for the seven racing spots will undoubtedly be intense. Despite the heated rivalry between the athletes, unity still plays a crucial role on the team. I really like the people and the sup-portive atmosphere of cross-country, Hoyt said.

I really like the peo-ple and the support-ive atmosphere of cross-country.

More than any other sport, cross-country is all about getting in shape, a goal which requires lots of hard work.

I came out to the track almost every day and ran, Gaeta said. The whole team is buying into the same philosophy -- work hard and any-thing is possible. We are trying to improve as much as possible by putting in as much eff ort as we can, Hoyt said. In the fi rst race, Gaeta fi nished fi rst for the Vikings, followed by sophomore Regina Wang at 14:31 and Gillian Lui at 14:38. Elizabeth Scott came in at 14:46 and junior Grace Park at 14:50 to round out the top fi ve fi nishers for the Lady Vi-kings. In the aftermath of the excellent sea-son last year, the Lady Vikings are look-ing to repeat as League Champions and qualify for CCS, if not go farther in the postseason. I think well do as well as last year, possibly better, Coach Jones said.

TimesforGunn/St.Francis

Meet9/6(2.2-milecourse):

1.LeahGaeta(Sr.)-14:26

2.ReginaWang(So.)-

14:31

3.GillianLui(Jr.)-14:38

4.ElizabethScott(Jr.)-

14:46

5.GracePark(Jr.)-14:50The Viking | 33

Palo AltoGIRLS TENNISStrong underclassmen to lead the Lady Vikes back into the De Anza Division.

2007 SCHEDULE

S E P T E M B E R O C TO B E R NOVEMBER6 Los Altos11 Wilcox12 Lynbrook13 Cupertino18 Los Gatos19 Castilleja20 Mt. View25 Fremont27 Milpitas28 Paly Tourney

7 CCS Team 20 CCS individual

Home*

2 Santa Clara3 Gunn4 Cupertino10 M-A 11 Mt. View 16 Fremont18 Wilcox23 Milpitas25 Santa Clara30 SCVAL playoff s

Fall Sports Preview

By Greg StewartPhotography by Allen Auand Alek Milovidov

Coming off a disappointing 2006 campaign, the Palo Alto High School varsity girls tennis team is looking to right the Vikings ship with one of the best incoming freshman classes in CCS. The past three years the team has been a bit too social, this years squad is much more competitive head coach Andy Harader said. The 2006 team struggled right from the start last year, losing early season matches, and fi nishing with 7 wins and 11 losses, which dropped them from the DeAnza Division to the El Camino Division. This years players are hopeful about the upcoming season. The key to this year is getting off to a good start, sophomore Sophie Biff ar said. With several tough opponents and an early season tournament scheduled, the team should have an accurate idea of where it stands among some of the top teams in CCS. With the 2006 season far in the rearview mirror, the team is focused on fi xing the problems that held back last years team.

Although talent was not the problem, the team could not fi nd a way to close out some of the tougher opponents during league play. Some players did not seem to have tennis as their number one priority last year. However this year the team is more serious about its game. This year we are together as a team and ready to go, sophomore Gracie Dulik said. The transition to the weaker El Camino Division should also lead to an improved record. This years lineup features a number of fresh faces. With nine underclassmen on the roster, the team looks as though it may be in a rebuilding year. Of these nine underclassmen, fi ve are freshman, several of whom are ranked in Northern California. All the incomin