100 Cardinal WayRedwood City, CA

94063-4755(650) 385-5000

Volume 3 Issue #3 December 2009

Volume 3 Issue #3 December 2009

Staff ListEditors-in-ChiefChristine Chang

Emily FowlerCassie Prioleau

Section EditorsLauren Hammerson

Hana Kajimura

Photo EditorMalaika Drebin

Design EditorVarun Kohli

In Depth Features EditorKylie Sloan

Copy EditorsSam Greene

Erin Kiekhaefer

StatisticianSana Bakshi

Business ManagersSophie Biffar

Chase CooperWade Hauser

StaffMary AlbertolleGeorge BrownMichael Cullen

Brandon DukovicWill Glazier

Alex KershnerCooper Levitan

Sam MaliskaGrace Marshall

Talia MoyalDustin NizamianMariah PhilipsMark RaftreyMarco ScolaAllie Shorin

Spencer SimsJack Smale

Alistair Thompson

The VikingPalo Alto High School50 Embarcadero Road

Palo Alto, CA 94301650-329-3837

Email contact: vikingeds@gmail.com

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

School’s Advanced Magazine Journalism class, is an open forum for student ex-pression 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 staff welcomes 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 staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are

not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience. For more information about advertising with The Viking, please contact the The Viking

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

Printing ServicesThe Viking is printed six times a year by Fricke-Parks Press in Fremont, Calif.

AdviserEllen Austin

PAGE 15 24

4

KICKOFF6 | STAFF VIEw

8| ZOOM 10| HOT/NOT METEr AND By THE NuMBErS

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The LineupMaking the choice between being a JV star or varsity benchwarmer can be a hard one; The Viking offers a possible solution.

15| INSIDE THE MIND OF JOSE TOCHEZ

12|ZOOM

26 | wINTEr PrEVIEwS

29 | CONTINuINg THE LEgACyThe story of Paly’s Joseph Lin (‘10) and Kevin Brown (‘10) following in the steps of their brothers Jeremy Lin and Steven Brown and how they were motivated to pursue the legacy. by Brandon Dukovic and Talia Moyal

34 | DrIVINg INSPIrATIONFour year varsity soccer player Maeve Stewart (‘10) leads her team to victory as team captain.by Allie Shorin

PrOFILES

37 | JuDON’T wANT TO MESSRyan Oshima (‘12) shares his expe-rience as a national judo wrestler and a varsity wrestler at Paly.by Mary Albertolle

December 2009Volume III, Issue III

14| TEN Qs wITH TrEVOr LOVELESS

16| HOLIDAy gIFT guIDE18| THE grEAT DEBATE: IS AN ATHLETE BOrN Or MADE?by Sam Greene and Sam Maliska

29

24 | THE BEST SPOrTS MASCOTSThe nation’s best mascots ranked in several different categories.by Cooper Levitan and Will Glazier

TrENDS20 | CrASH COurSEThe level of danger involved in some of the worlds most popular sports.by Mark Raftrey

A quick overview of the winter sports, basket-ball, soccer and wrestling, coming up this season.

26

7| BEHIND THE PHOTOS

PAGE

57 | COMMITTEDRecruited athletes skip the stress of senior year.by Gracie Marshall

57 | COMMITTEDRecruited athletes skip the stress of senior year.by Gracie Marshall

The Lineup

64

5

FEATurES

ISSuES

LAST wOrD

62 | THE LAST wOrDA reflection and solution to pee problems in the pool.by Michael Cullen

42 | rELIgION IN SPOrTSA look into the influence that religion has on athletes in their pursuit of success in today’s athletic world.by Alistair Thompson

54 | CONFESSIONS OF A JV uPPEr-CLASSMANUpperclassmen find themselves considering their athletic careers once offered a spot on JV.by Erin and Mariah Phillips

48 | HOw ATHLETIC IS PALy The most athletic schools in the bay area in comparison to Paly athletics based on exten-sive statistical analysis. Check out the behind the photos section (pg. 7) to see how we took the cover photos.by Alex Kershner

61 | CALENDAr

62

December 2009Volume III, Issue III

5748

6

issue 3

KicKoff Previews last wordProfiles features

staff view t’s an issue that affects every major sport at Paly. One that can define a career and make or break a

season. The choice is between varsity, with the status, level of play, and JV, offering individual success and invaluable playing time. For Paly athletes who fall somewhere in between the two levels, the question is simple, yet daunting: JV standout or varsity sit-out? There are many considerations when deciding whether an athlete should play at the JV or varsity level. These include an athlete’s underlying motives for playing high school sports: athletes who plan to take their game to the next level will, understandably, have a different outlook than those whose careers will end on Paly turf. The Viking cannot provide a single golden so-lution, but rather provide a general framework within which the Paly athlete can begin to formulate his or her correct choice.

Among the positive aspects of playing on JV are the amount of playing time and resulting in-game experi-ence. Athletes who straddle the border often have the opportunity to not only start on, but also to dominate the JV game. One could argue that these athletes will develop their game more from playing in games than their varsity counterparts warming the bench. Counter to this idea is the notion that the “best of the worst”, JV stars, improve less from their in-game experience than the “worst of the best”, varsity bench-warmers, achieve through practice. Although this statement varies with individual cases, The Viking feels that practicing alongside superior competition is an altogether surer method for improvement. Leadership is another crucial dimension in the JV/varsity question. On JV, an athlete can be a team captain and grow as a leader, as well as gain confidence from individual suc-cess. Athletes build confidence from the knowledge that they are good enough to play at the highest level in high school. An extra year on varsity also paves the way to a future leadership role. As for team chemistry, athletes who have spent an extra year on varsity can

help new teammates from their same grade keep up with the steep learning curve of adapting to the varsity game. Perhaps the most profound dichotomy in this issue is between the interests of the program and individual ambition. For a rising athlete, the urge to get in the game and succeed can trump all other factors. The life of a varsity bench-warmer is an odd trade-off. An athlete commits hours upon hours of his life to practice, off season workouts and games. He spends the lion’s share of that time playing on scout teams and game simulations to improve his starting teammates. When game time comes, he cheers his team on from the sideline, keeps the books or occasionally fills a va-cated spot. In exchange, an athlete learns the nuances of the varsity game and practicing against a superior level of competition forces him to raise his level of play.

The Viking believes that sitting the bench on varsity is for the most part the wiser decision. The lone caveat to our view is that a player brought up to varsity ought to contribute something to the team, if not traditional in-game play. Whether it be pinch-running, playing on special teams or simply simulating an opposing de-fense, pulling a JV player up to varsity should always be done out of a concrete team need. For athletes faced with the decision, it might seem easier to play in a comfortable environment with team-mates from the same grade. However, sacrificing individual glory in the present often proves to be worth the eventual varsity success that so characterizes Paly sports. An old saying goes, “The reason people fail is because they give up what they want most for what they want at the moment.” Not all athletes who sacrifice for the benefit of the program reap the benefits of their hard work and The Viking is genuinely grateful for such unsung heroes as these. Regardless of the tangible results, the principle of pushing oneself to the highest possible level is an in-valuable trait that will serve an athlete well in all walks of life — whether on the field or off. <<<

JV star or varsity benchwarmer?

The Viking feels that practicing alongside superior competition is an altogether surer method for improvement.

I

7

staff view

The Viking feels that practicing alongside superior competition is an altogether surer method for improvement.

Behind T PhotosThis issue, The Viking decided to try something

totally new and bright for the cover. With our sports silhouettes, inspired in part by the original iPod commercials, photographer Malaika Drebin combined our signature photo work with new editing techniques. Drebin used a white backdrop and aimed two strobes at it to create a pure white backlight. The models posed in front of the lights, creating sil-houettes. To create the colorful backgrounds, we simply adjusted the levels of color in Photoshop.

Though the shoot was relatively simple, we had a few scary experiences: a volleyball serve hit the camera, and an overzealous bicycle kick almost knocked the set to the ground. The Vi-king would like to thank all of the athlete mod-els for their patience and cooperation, as well as Bob Drebin for helping with the equipment.

COrrECTIONS - In last month’s piece, “Paly’s Competitive Edge-ucators”, Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson was incorrectly referred to as the head baseball coach at San Mateo College. He was the head coach at San Mateo High School.

I just read “What it Takes” (Issue 1, p. 48) and I wanted to offer my sincere congratulations. With the exception of a few typos, I thought this article was dead-on, well-written and perfect for the cover story.

I liked very much the treatment of multiple issues such as eco-nomics (my personal favorite), effects on school, personal life, getting into college, professional aspirations, dealing with the media and the sacrifices required and much evidence to back up and support the assertions made.

Marco’s treatment of the NCAA and its rules is very timely and the semi-professionalization of collegiate athletes is a dis-turbing reality that Marco makes vivid in his article. I was im-

pressed by the effortless flow of sports knowledge from Rule 4 Draft eligibility to NCAA regulations and this shows authority in his writing. At Paly, we are blessed with many intelligent and wonderful writers and Marco’s article certainly should place him very high among that group. Keep up the good work,

HE

letter to the editors

-- Grant Blackburn, Paly history teacher

ZOO

M Alex Freeman (‘10) takes a throw-in during the Vikings ‘ opening home game against St. Ignatius last Tuesday, ending in a 1-1 tie.

Photo by Talia Moyal

ZOO

MGerrit van Zyll (‘12) wins the ball from a St. Ignatius attacker in Paly’s first home game of the season.

Photo by Talia Moyal

The PoP CulTure Grid

10

AJ Castillo(wrestling ‘10)

Scott Alexander(Soccer ‘10)

Nehika Miglani(Basketball ‘10)

Brooke Alexander(Soccer‘13)

Tiger woods is...

give or receive this holi-

day season?

Favorite character from The Office?

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when I feel like dancing I put

on.....

in deep s**t

Receive

Michael

Thizzle Dance

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a good role model

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D**k in a box

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screwed

Both

I don’t have time to watch TV

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Matt LeBlanc

a cheater

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Kevin Malone

Milkshake

Queen Latifah

Tory Prati(Basketball ‘12)

not what I thought he was

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Receive

Phyllis Vance

Matt Damon

Meet Me Halfway... that’s

my jam right now

BY THE NUMBERS

72kg number of matches won in the 2009 volleyball season. The team broke the previous school record of 34 wins from the 2000 season.

issue 3

3636

355% + 1(5) + 42 = 102

Judo weight class that Ryan Oshima (‘12) competed in for the national tournament.

Number of times varsity boys’ soccer has tied – already more than last year.

KicKoff Previews last wordProfiles features

Underclassmen on varsity boys’ and girls’ soccer and basketball teams.

The equation that puts Paly as the second most athletic school compared to other schools in CCS. (% of student body on Paly teams + # of CCS champi-onships + # of teams)

number of matches won in the 2009 volleyball season. The team broke the previous school record of 34 wins from the 2000 season.

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11

Tory Prati(Basketball ‘12)

SpoTlight GaME

Number of times varsity boys’ soccer has tied – already more than last year.

SpoT1/12/10

paLY SoCCERvs. Gunn

Both the Paly boys’ and girls’ soccer teams will go head-to-head against crosstown rival Gunn High School on Jan. 12. Both Paly teams came away with victories in last year’s match-up on Jan. 23, 2009. The teams play at 3:30: the boys @ Gunn, the girls @ Paly. They hope to maintain the Paly tradition of athletic superiority over Gunn.

HoT

NOT

or

Explain Yourself...

Jeremy LinThe Paly grad dropped 30 points and nine boards in Harvard’s Dec. 6 showdown with 13th ranked UConn. After the game, Huskies coach Jim Calhoun called Lin “One of the better kids, including Big East guards, who have come in here in quite some time.” Can you say, “NBA”?

Paly Boys’ LacrosseAfter several years of calling for lacrosse at Paly, the sports gods hath delivered. Following the successful introduction of girls’ lacrosse in 2008, LAX boys will field their first team starting this spring.

BhangraThe popular Indian dance has hit Paly with full force. With a sensational lunch performance on Dec. 9, the Bhan-gra club thrust the trendy dance into the spotlight with catchy music and high energy dancing. The next Jerk? Only time will tell.

tiger woods

Really, Tiger? Really...?

Paly Boys’ soccer tie streakAfter ending last year’s season in a tie for the CCS championship, this year’s squad has kept the streak alive. The team has already tied its first three games, matching last year’s total number of ties for the season.

toby GerhartStanford’s senior tailback rushed for 205 yards and three TD’s, and added an 18-yard TD pass in a nationally televised victory over Notre Dame on Nov. 28. His reward? An invitation to New York as one of five Heisman trophy finalists.

the BCs systemWith five teams finishing the regular season unbeaten, and only two able to play for a national title, cries for a playoff system are growing louder than ever. The real question: is it time the NCAA starts listening?

New Jersey NetsBeginning the season 0-18 (an NBA record worst), the Nets have already fired their head coach and find themselves searching for answers. Where is the silver lining, you ask? Stanford grad Brook Lopez leads the squad with 18.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

I really liked her deodorant. It smelled really good. I couldn’t resist.-Emy Kelty (‘12)

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rebin and Talia Moyal

BREAKING NEWS

Basketball coach Slayton let go midseason, Roehl presumed to replace him as head coach.

--Read the full story on voice.paly.net

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10 Questions with Trevor LovelessWHO KNOWS SENIOR BASKETBALL STAr TREVOR LOVELESS BEST? FrIEND

DREW PEARSON, FATHEr ALAN LOVELESS, or LOVE INTErEST SARAH KORTSCHAK?

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“Inside the Mind

M a c h o L i b r e

Jose Tochez (‘11), a 215 pounder who destroys every-one in the ring that tries to take him down, was kind enough to talk to the The Viking about what goes on in his mind.

By SPENCEr SIMS Photography by Malaika Drebin

Jose Tochezof

15

“ on his nicKnames

i have multiple nick-names. My favorite is Toch, and PBT(Pretty Boy Toch). i think it’s

cool having nicknames ‘cause only the biggest

bosses have nicknames like the Great Bambino.

on fashion

it’s all about Abercrombie, North Face and Puma shoes. on game day, i go all out in swag with multiple under Armours and striped socks.

on the YanKees

That’s my team. My favorite play-ers are derek Jeter and A-rod, and

i was happy when they won the World Series this year. i like them because my dad

is from New Jersey, and he liked the team.

on Pregame with toch

Before every game i do an episode of “pregame with Toch” with different guests. historically, anyone who has ever been on “Pregame with Toch” has performed well that day. Kids have even said, ‘hey, can i go on Pregame with Toch, ‘cause it’s a big game.’ And i say, ‘naw sorry i’m booked,’ cause it’s my show.

on the catalina wine mixer

Pow!

on wrestling

i’m on the Salvadorian olympic team. My record is infinity and 0. Nah, i’m just kidding. in all seri-ousness, i had my first tournament and i went four and zero. i am making a bold predic-tion: i’m going to go undefeated for the entire season like the ‘74 dolphins. Check the date. i don’t know if that’s the right year.

on football

i didn’t get much playing time, but i was always swagged out for every game. Just ask my boy Mike.

“he was always looking good.” Michael Cullen (‘11) said. “he had like four dif-ferent colors on his arms at once.” i had the best hands of all the offensive linemen.

on food

i’ve often been criticized for my financial decisions when it comes to food– Just ask my boy Mike.

“he spent $15 on three meatballs at Mayfield,” Cullen said.

My favorite food is a New York steak, medium-well.

on fashion

it’s all about Abercrombie, North Face and Puma shoes. day, multiple striped socks.

on the Yan

That’s my team. My favorite players are d

i was happy when they won the World Series this year.

is from New Jersey, and he liked the team.

on Pregame with

Before every game i do an episode of “pregame with Toch” with different guests. anyone who has ever been on “Pregame with Toch” has performed well that day. Kids have even said, ‘hey, can ‘cause it’s a big game.’ And booked,’ cause it’s my show.

on the catalina wine mixer

Pow!

restling

’m on the Salvadorian olympic team. My record is infinity and 0. Nah, i’m just kidding. in all seri-

had my first tournament and i went four am making a bold predic-

’m going to go undefeated for the entire season like the ‘74

olphins. Check the date.

every game. Just ask my boy

my financial decisions when it comes to food– Just ask my

e spent $15 on three meatballs at Mayfield,” Cullen

My favorite food is a New

34

issue 3

KicKoff Previews last wordProfiles features

Electric Blaster Sunglasses$109.99“A sweet pair of shades is the center-piece of any true lax bro’s get-up. It’s a major part of my laxformation.”

-Dustin Nizamian (‘11)

Wilson A2000 Baseball Glove$199.99“I need a new glove, and A2000’s are sick.”

-Sam Maliska (‘11)

Adrenaline Rasta Socks $7.99“I can’t explain it. If you can’t tell [why I want them] by looking at them, you’re crazy.”

-Emily Fowler (‘10)

Nike Headband/Earwarmer$15.00

“I gotta keep my precious ears safe from the cold during soccer games.”

-Alex Kershner (‘11)

Holiday GIFt GuIDEHoliday Holiday

Stumped on what to get a sporty friend this holiday season? The Viking staff shares what’s at the top of its wishlist this season to give you a little inspiration.

design by Cooper Levitan

http://is.gd/5k3Me (snowman), http://is.gd/5k3Ce (baseball glove), http://is.gd/5k3Ur (menorah)

35

Muscle Milk$22.37

“It tastes delicious, and I wan-na get yoked. It sounds totally bad***”

-Michael Cullen (‘11)

The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons

$12.00“Bill simmons is my idol. He is an awesome writer, and I look forward to reading “the sports guy’s” new book.”

-George Brown (‘11)

Stanford university Sweatshirt$59.99“Considering it has been so frickin’ cold outside, lately, I’ve been needing to clad my body with every layer possible. A college sweatshirt would do the trick. Plus, the logo is pretty cool.”-Gracie Marshall (‘11)

The Viking’s Official Lanyards$4.00“Why wouldn’t you want a gift that would let you take the sickest mag on the planet with you everywhere? ESPN and SI ain’t got nothin’ on us.”

-Christine Chang (‘10)

The Viking’s Lanyards

Holiday GIFt GuIDE

Happy Holidays!Love,Love,

18

issue 2

KicKoff features wraP-uPs last wordcolumns Profiles

THE GREAT DEBATE:

Born or Made? Listen close my man, when it comes down to it, you know as well as I do that a striker, quarterback, point-guard, ballerina or what have you, all need to put in the hours to make it to the top. Figure this, you could be born a skinny 6’5” fool with the lanky arms and natural talent to put away three-pointers but that just won’t cut it when you’re trying to rise to your athletic potential.

Are you describing me or debating? I agree that some work is necessary for athletes to reach the profes-sional ranks, but is there any question that Shaquille O’Neal had an easier time becoming an NBA super-star than a 6 foot nothing like Allen Iverson? And why? Because he was born to be the giant he is today.

You know what, it’s all gravy that he was towering everyone from day one, but how can you just say it was easier from the outset to play basketball than to play a true sport simply because of that and nothing else? No doubt Shaq’s size naturally allows him to swat balls, but how about the other aspects to basketball? Shooting, driving, dribbling. When it comes down to the slightest step, ev-erything is consequence to hours and passion.

While I’m sure that hours of blood, sweat and tears do pay off, answer me this: In a 2007-2008 NBA survey the average height of all the players in the league was calculated to be 6’7” tall. Conversely, the average height for adult males in the US is 5’10”, which only six players in the league measure up at or below. Given that our nation’s population is 304,059,724, and there are less than 500 play-ers in the NBA, how can you say that everyone can make it by gaining an extra step?

Gaining an extra step? Everyone’s got potential in one way or another. Basketball, by the nature of the sport, shapes its athletes to be a number of things, one of them being tall. You can’t train someone to be tall, but you sure as hell can train them to be quick, agile, explosive, relentless... the attributes are endless! Figure it this way, just because you’re tall doesn’t make you an athlete. Just because you’re an athlete doesn’t make you tall!

So it’s not a completely commutative statement, but it does pertain to more sports than just basketball. As a soccer player yourself, I am surprised that you would argue otherwise. How many times have you competed against someone who was just flat out better than everyone else on the field? Let’s be honest, we can’t all be Usain Bolt, no matter how hard we train. Some just have it, others don’t.

Every time I step out onto the field, I don’t give hoot about how tall, big or fast any of these other football’n goons are. At the high-est level of soccer, you need dedication to the weight-room, a die-hard passion, and a vision of perfection in each shot, tackle and step. How many people in the world do you think play soccer? Now, how many of them are athletes?

I would think that the majority of people who play soccer would consider themselves athletes and, technically speaking, everyone of them is. But they are all at different levels of athleticism. Why is that statistic relevant?

Let’s move on to technicalities: What is an athlete? And don’t give me some Merriam-Webster junk.

Are athletes born or made?FEATURING: SAM MALISKA AND SAM GREENEPHOTOS BY SAM MALISKA AND SAM GREENEPHOTOS COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

DEBATE:DEBATE:DEBATE:DEBATE:DEBATE:

Are you describing me or debating? I agree that some work is necessary for athletes to reach the profes-had an easier time becoming an NBA super-

star than a 6 foot nothing like Allen Iverson? And why? Because he was born to be the giant he is today.

that he was towering everyone from day one, but how can you just

Photo by Sam M

aliska

19

Personally, I would define an athlete as someone, who [gasp] takes part in athletic contests such as soccer, baseball, etc. Anyway, the point is that athletes are not made equally; having small hands or bigger feet will make the difference in some cases, and we need to acknowledge the fact that the gene pool is less kind to some of us. Ever heard a football player maxing out their body’s potential for strength?

Are you trying to tell me that just because you have some physical attribute, it makes you naturally more or less of an athlete? And for your football player, I’ve never heard of such a thing, there’s always room to grow, if not physically, then mentally. And that’s why it’s a business. If companies like Coca Cola GM and AT&T didn’t invest in college athletics, then no one would see the games, and the athletes wouldn’t get any exposure.

No, I am simply saying that these attributes will, and do, have a great deal of impact on a person’s interest in pursuing certain sports, as well as their initial ability to succeed at them. They do not directly make a person less of an athlete, but they factor into the skill and desire that a person has to excel in certain sports. I’m tall, pretty skinny, and lost arm-wrestling matches to my mom until eighth grade. Don’t judge me. Given this, do you really think that I am fit to be a power lifter?

Those natural physical attributes basically differentiate athletes through their youth and teens and do allow them, initially, to succeed. But that’s only because no one has truly found a way to advantageously combine their own natural athletic ability with the skills and techniques that they acquire over time. If everyone dwelled on the fact that they didn’t run a four second forty, how would anyone grow to become those very

athletes they admire?

But that’s my point. Despite the fact that we shouldn’t, I know for a fact that many athletes discontinue their endeavors in certain areas due to their epic fails, and even though some of them succeed elsewhere after thinking they aren’t cut out for one sport (i.e baseball rejects fleeing to the lacrosse field.) Others continue to fail, despite a good work ethic.

It just seems like you’re defining what it means to be a weak, unmotivated athlete. I’m not talking about those fools. I’m talking about 5’5 Joe Shmoe who gets high off football everytime he steps out onto the field, and uses

that high to fuel him to improve and perfect his game, while using his “disadvantages” to his advantage.

Sounds to me like you’re talking about the movie Rudy, man. F.Y.I, it’s the real-life story of a 5’5” guy who worked his @$$ off his entire life just to be a mere BACKUP on the Notre Dame, football team.

And you know what? I bet my man Rudy loved it, worked on it, and became great at it, no?

To an extent, yes. He did become happy and achieved his goal, but that still doesn’t mean he was able to realistically compete at even the collegiate level of sports.

I don’t know about you, but any backup line backer for Notre Dame is an athlete in my book. And all thanks to what? Hours. Passion. Discipline. If you don’t have those three, you don’t have what it takes to be an athlete. I don’t care who your daddy is.

I’m not sure about you, but I wouldn’t mind having LeBron James or Usain Bolt as my papa.

Pshh! I don’t need the blood of an athlete! I need the attitude, and that’s something you aren’t born with.

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Crash

CourseBY MARK RAFTREY

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1 FootballWhat’s more dangerous than 22 of the

biggest athletes looking to smash each other? Nothing. In 2008, there were 14 football-related deaths in high school football in the country, a rate of one in every 106,383 players, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR). This tally is the highest of any major high school sport. However, new equipment, includ-ing better helmets, continually makes the game safer. Also, the technique of tackling opponents by “spearing” them with one’s helmet is now illegal, drastically cutting down neck and spinal injuries. Over the past 40 years, the death toll has decreased steadily from a high of 36 in 1968.

2 SkiingHurtling down a snowy slope on a pair

of greased two by fours is bound to be wrought with dangers. According to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), one of every 400,000 skiers and snowboard-ers dies on the slopes. That works out to an average of 34 deaths per year over the past 13 years. Aside from death, more than 20,000 skiers in the United States suffer from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in-juries each year, according to the Big Bear Valley National Ski Patrol website. Thanks to newer skis that disengage the bindings in a crash, lower-leg breaks are much less frequent. Also, helmets significantly de-crease the risk of head injury.

Course

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OUCH Medical personnel wheel away University of California running back Jahvid Best. Best made a full recovery after sustaining a concussion.

FOCUS Paly grad Sam Rudy (‘09) picks his way through moguls at high speeds.

here are a select few sports that most will never compete in because they are, simply put, likely to cause pain, but cheerleading and golf? Seriously? Believe it or not, these

activities that are often considered tame or not even sports at all can be unexpectedly dan-gerous. Bring your first-aid kits and Advil, this could get ugly. An examination of the frequency of injuries in certain sports reveals that while the com-mon conceptions of violent sports remain accurate, there are definitely some surprises. For this report, rates of death, catastrophic injury and injury in general determine rank-ings in descending order of importance.

Photo courtesy of Stephan Rudy

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3 CheerleadingCheer is no longer all pom-poms and fun

chants. Cheerleading accounts for 67 percent of all high-school female catastrophic injuries (death or severe head or neck injury), accord-ing to the NCCSIR. Unlike football, cheerlead-ing has become ever more dangerous due to more extreme stunts. This, compounded with a lack of proper coaching and training for such maneuvers, leads to many severe injuries. It is not uncommon for a cheerleader to fall through the awaiting arms of her fellow athletes after sailing high into the air, causing broken bones, internal injuries and death.

4 RugbyRugby is essentially football, but without pads. Only thin

helmets and mouth-guards protect these athletes. Accord-ing to the British Columbia Injury Research and Prevention Unit, rugby players are almost three times as likely to sustain an injury as football players are, but less likely to sustain a fatal injury. During a single season, as many as one in four players will be injured.

5 BicyclingWear your helmet! Next time you hop on your bike, think twice

about leaving the lid at home. In 2004, 900 bicycle riders in the United States were killed by cars, a rate of about one in every 45,000 bikers according to the National Safety council. Head injuries cause three out of every four deaths related to bicycling, according to the Johns Hopkins Injury Prevention Center . Despite such high rates, riders us-ing biking as a mode of transportation make up much of the total.

6 GolfGolf, believe it or not, has a significant number of injuries each

year. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, 60 percent of professional and 40 percent of amateur golfers suffer from injury each season. However, the vast majority of these are merely from overuse or strain. Also, lightning strikes to players are relatively common, with five percent of all lightning strikes occurring on golf courses.

GO VIKES Paly cheer leaders wait for the beginning of a football game.

ZOOM Helmet-clad cyclist Charlie Avis (‘09) flies down a bike path. Avis is a currently a member of the Trek Livestrong Under-23 age group cycling team.

SHH Pierce Marchant (‘09) prepares to hit the ball.

TREATMENT A Tongan rugby player gets medical atten-tion at the 2008 Rugby World Cup.

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wishes you a happy and safe holiday

season.

See you in 2010!

Cheers!

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JUST MOVED TO TOWN AND COUNTRY855 el Camino real 108

Palo Alto, California, 94306(650) 323 1515

www.createitceramics.com

10% offfor Paly students and

familiesCoupon must be presented to receive discount. only one coupon per

customer. offer can not be combined with any other promotion.

would like to thank our Viking parents and the Paly community for their generous sup-port of our magazine!

Anonymous &

Jane Solomon

BUY ONE SLICE

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wishes you a happy and safe holiday

season.

See you in 2010!

Cheers!

Hungry???

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by Cooper Levitan and Will GlazierPhotos courtesy of Creative Commons

s smoke fills the stadium tunnel and the deafening roar of the crowd overwhelms the sound of the band playing the school’s fight song, one

person in particular prepares to lead the team out to the field. This per-son, preparing to lead the charge out of the tunnel, is the schools mascot and it is their job to represent the “fighting spirit” of their team. Whether it is human or animal, real or imaginary, it is the mascots duty to entertain the crowd and help “fire-up” supporters to propel their its to victory.

A

Biggest HeadThe Ohio State

Buckeye

Most UnderratedTexas Christian University

Horned Frog

LargestBevo the Texas Longhorn

Most Bee-utifulBuzz the Georgia Tech Hornet

Most IntimidatingWest Point Academy

Black Knight

Most OverusedOver 25 colleges nationwide, including Auburn, Memphis, Clemson and Princ-eton universities use the tiger as a mas-cot. Additionally, the tiger is the mascot of the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals and the MLB’s Detroit Tigers. Local tiger mascots include Terra Nova High School and Ter-man Middle School.

THE BEST SPORTS MASCOTS

Most EntertainingMilwaukee Brewers Sausage Races

25

your favorites1. Lou Seal

“S.J Sharkie [is the best] for sure. He enters the rink from the ceiling. You can’t really beat that.”

-Ilana Magill (‘11)

“I would have to say Lou Seal [is the coolest] due to his insane dance moves.”

- Jacob Lauing (‘12)

“None of that people in furry costumes [exple-tive]... as much as I hate USC, traveler is pretty sick”

-Maya Fielder (‘10)

“Uga!! [He is] so, so, so, cute.”-Maddie Saal (‘10)

“For college, it’s the tree from Stanford. It is a funny mascot who knows how to keep the crowd hyped.”

-Israel Hakim (‘12)

“S.J Sharkie [is the best] for sure. He enters the rink from the ceilingcan’t really beat that.”

“S.J Sharkie [is the best] for sure. He enters the rink from the ceilingcan’t really beat that.”

3. SJ Sharkie4. Tommy Trojan & Traveler

tive]... as much as I hate USC, traveler is pretty

-Maya Fielder (‘10)

4. Tommy Trojan & Traveler

5. Uga the Bulldog

2. Stanford Tree

1Phillie Phanatic

Hometown: Philadelphia, PAOrigin: Created by Acme Mascots of New York CityFun Fact: Instead of a number on the back of his uniform, he wears a star.

Wally the Green MonsterHometown: Boston, MABirthplace: The 37 foot high green monster of Fenway ParkFun Fact: On Kid’s Opening Day in 1997, Wally threw out the ceremo-nial first pitch and was booed by many fans.

SpartyHometown: East Lansing, MIOrigin: Sparty was born in 1925 when Michigan State University voted to change their team name to the Spartans.Fun Fact: Sparty was nominated for the Mascot Hall of Fame in July 2006.

our favoritesWe polled about 100 Paly students to find out who you though was the coolest mascot.

After hearing your opinions, here are ours.

THE BEST SPORTS MASCOTS

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2009 Winter Previews

wrestling Coach: David DuranLast Year’s Finish: 5th in CCS

Key Match-Up: Los Gatos at home 1/21/10

Player to Watch

ryan Oshima (‘12)

Jack Sakai (‘10) wrestles his opponent to the floor in a home match last season. Sakai is a leader on the team this year.

The Palo Alto High School varsity wres-tling team looks forward to a successful season as it starts the season ranked 15th in the Central Coast Section (CCS) pre-season top 20.

With a large incoming freshman class of about 30 new players, according to varsity wrestler Jack Sakai (‘10), the team aims to improve on last year’s season, in which the Vikings finished second in the De Anza League.

“We lost Erez Arnon (‘09), Patrick Shee-han (‘09) [and] Noah Feldstein (‘09). They were all seniors, and they were a big loss, but we gain a lot because a bunch of guys were working hard in the offseason and have gotten a lot better,” Sakai said.

Returning coaches to the team include head coach David Duran and assistant coaches Tony Brewer, Richie Nole and Mark Anderton. Captains Max Simon (‘10), Adrian Castillo (‘10) and Ryan Os-hima (‘12) will augment the leadership provided by the coaches.

“Nick Ortiz (‘12), Joey Christopherson (‘12), Ryan Oshima, Kalen Gans (‘12), A.J. Castillo (‘10), Max Simon (‘10) and myself have all been training really hard in the off-season,” Sakai said.

Despite their tough competition, the Vikings have lofty goals for the upcoming year.

“We want to win league; we want to win every duel we have, and we want to send every person we can to states,” Sakai said.

“He had a huge impact last year, especially at the gunn meet,” Mi-chael Cullen (‘11) said. “And he’s only gotten better with time.”

Paly girls’ volleyball loses to Mitty in the CCS finals after three games. Paly went on to the NorCal semifinals and ended the season with a record of 36-5 and a win streak of 33, the longest in CCS public school history.

Highlight Game: Volleyball vs. Archbishop Mitty

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Boys’ Soccer Coach: Donald BriggsLast Year’s Finish: 1st in CCS

Key Match-Up: Bellarmine TBA

Player to Watch

“He’s a good captain, so he’ll be able to get us through the games,” Richardson (‘11) said.

Jenner Fox (‘10)

Ethan Plant (‘10) scored Paly’s only goal in a home game against St. Ignatius. The Vikings tied the Wildcats 1-1 in the second game of the season.

girls’ SoccerCoach: Ernesto CruzLast Year’s Finish: 2nd in CCS

Key Match-Up: Monta Vista at home 2/02/10

Player to Watch“You haven’t seen intense

until you’ve tried to play soccer against her.” Emy Kelty (‘12)

Erika Hoglund (‘10)

Captain Kelly Jenks (‘10) dominates the field as a leader in her fourth year on the squad.

The Palo Alto High School girls’ varsity soccer team ended its last season with a devastating loss in the CCS Finals to the enduring Monta Vista, with a final score of 2-1. The team, however, was ranked 6th in CCS, and it was a surprise to many that they even made it to the championship.

“After last year’s loss in the CCS cham-pionship, the team is ready to get back out there and pull out a victory,” Maeve Stewart (‘10) said. “I think we can do this as long as we keep up our hard work and team chemistry.”

This year, the Lady Vikes are preparing for regular season play this year by host-ing the Winter Classic Tournament.

So far, Paly’s preseason record is 3-1; the girls defeated Sacred Heart Prep, San-ta Clara, and Aragon in the tournament. The Lady Vikes lost 3-0 in the semifinals of the tournament to Woodside Priory.

They expect to recover and come back strong with the help of key players Kelly

Jenks (‘10) and Erika Hoglund (‘10).After losing six seniors last year, two

of which were star players Jessie Duller (‘09) and Sammie Bengston (‘09), the Lady Vikes find themselves with inexpe-rienced players in the midfield. However, the team now has an even distribution of upperclassmen and underclassmen this season.

The JV team, led by Jordan Smith (‘13) and Brooke Alexander (‘13), have high hopes for their season as well.

The Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity soccer team (0-0-3) came into the season with lofty expectations after the Vikings earned Central Coast Section (CCS) co-Champion honors last year. This year’s team hopes to repeat the triumphs of its predecessors.The Vikings, who went 10-0 in the 2008 league season, lost several key members including goalie Peter Johnson (‘09) and midfielders Michael Hanabusa (‘09), Adam Zernik (‘09) and Kevin Ashworth (‘09).

However, the team will also retain sev-eral major contributors from last season.

“I think we’ll be ok this season,” center midfielder John Richardson (‘11) said. “We have a lot of good seniors this year and a good core group of upperclassmen.”Center midfielder Jenner Fox (‘10) will lead the team this year as the driving force behind the team’s offense.

After a strong effort against nonleague opponent St. Francis, in which Paly tied the Lancers 0-0, the Vikings took on the El Camino Division’s Santa Clara High School

on Dec. 5. The Bruins gained the lead ear-ly in the game until forward Grant Sauer (‘11) scored midway through the second half, tying the game with a final score of 1-1. In Paly’s third game of the season, the Vikings took on the Saint Ignatius Wildcats and came back from a 1-0 deficet in the second half with a goal from midfielder Ethan Plant (‘11). The Vikings tied the game 1-1.

“I think we can win league and do well [this season],” Plant said. “We want to get back to the CCS finals this year.”

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Boys’ Basketball Coach: TBALast Year’s Finish: 14-12

Key Match-Up: Gunn at home 1/15/10

Player to Watch

“He’s an all around great player,” Trevor Loveless (‘10) said, “He has a great attitude on and off the floor.”

Joseph Lin (‘10)

Davante Adams (‘11) shoots a freethrow in the Vikings’ preseason game against Piedmont Hills. The Vikings won the game 49-45.

girls’ Basketball Coach: Scott Peters Last Year’s Finish: 5th in SCVAL

Key Match-Up: Gunn at home 1/15/10

Player to Watch

“Stephanie sparks the intensity of our team,” Nehika Miglani (‘10) said, “Come game time, she’s unstoppable.”

Stephanie Allen (‘13)

Lauren Mah (‘10) practices her dribbling abilities during the 08-09 season. As one of the three seniors on the varstiy team, Mah is a leader on the team this year.

The Palo Alto High School varsity girls’ basketball team is entering a re-building period after losing all five start-ers from last season. The team started off the season strong with an impressive victory against Milpitas High School on Dec. 1. With only three seniors, the team relies primarily on underclassmen and lacks the experience it had last year. Emiliee Osageidee (‘12), Jordan Plem-mons(‘13) and Stephanie Allen (‘13) are rising stars who have contributed sig-nificantly to the team’s recent success.

The team has also switched to a style of play to reflect its young talent.“This year we play a scrappier game, which requires foot speed and court awareness,” Mah said. “Since we are a fairly young team, I think that one of our weaker points is working together as a team, and being able to read each other. However, I think as the season progresses, this weakness can be easily

overcome.” Despite a disappointing season last

year, the Lady Vikes are excited about the prospects of the new year.

“Collectively, the team may not nec-essarily have the most clean cut skills, however, we make up for that deficit in heart and hustle,” Mah said, “I think we will be a pretty good team because of our determination to play well together and win.”

Coming off a mediocre first season (14-12, 6-6) as head coach, especially after stepping into the shoes of legend-ary coach Peter Diepenbrock, who led his team to a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state championship in 2006, basketball coach Andrew Slayton hopes to have a smoother season this year. The team has four returning start-ers, including standout guard Joseph Lin (‘10).

“I expect to co-lead with a couple other seniors, and I expect to provide an offensive presence to our team,” Lin said. “Our goals for the team are to win eight-plus games in preseason, win league, qualify for CCS [Central Coast Section playoffs] and then we’ll go from there.”

Even though it is still early in the pre-season, the Vikings are facing a formida-ble obstacle in the loss of power forward Steven Kerr (‘10). Kerr broke his hand on Dec. 5 and expects to miss four to six weeks of the season

The team’s depth has already been tested with this injury, and other senior leaders have stepped up.

“Steven’s injury is a bummer for sure, but things happen and we have to keep working hard no matter what,” Lin said. “We’ll definitely miss his ‘fighting’ desire on the court, but we can’t let this hold us down.”

“We’re definitely going to be better than the New Jersey Nets,” forward Tory Prati (‘12) said.

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n March 17th, 2006, the Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity bas-

ketball team amassed a 24-1 record in regular season games, culminat-ing in the state championship. Few people expected them to go that far, even fewer expected them to win. At Arco Arena in Sacramento against the Mater Dei Monarchs, Kevin Brown

(’10) and Joseph Lin (’10) stood in the stands among hundreds of fans in sup-port of the team, but more specifically in support of their brothers: starting forward Steven Brown (’06) and start-ing point guard Jeremy Lin (‘06). Kevin watched his brother race up and down the court and wondered if that would be him someday- if he would ever step on the court to play in a state cham-pionship game. Joseph looked to his brother while the final buzzer rang and the final score was 51-47. Excite-ment washed through his body, as his brother’s team took the Division II CIF State Championship. Four years later, Kevin and Joseph find themselves approaching a simi-lar situation, the difference, a capable team with a chance to go to states.

Continuing the LegacyBY TALIA MOYAL & BRANDON DUKOVICPHOTOGRAPHY BY TALIA MOYAL & MADRONO

“Being the younger brothers of two renowned Paly basketball players makes us want to achieve something just as great as they did: State Championships. We want to go to the same place they did, do the same things they did.” - Joseph Lin (‘10)

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Kevin Brown (‘10) Joseph Lin (‘10)

Steven Brown (‘06) Jeremy Lin (‘06)

Photo courtesy of Madrono

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evin Brown and Joseph Lin set out this season planning to continue

their brothers’ legacies of domination on the basketball court, hoping to lead their team to victory. Joseph and Kevin, although they resemble their brothers in many ways, bring different strengths to the court, each acting as different players offensively and defensively. But regardless of their different skills, the younger boys still look to Steven and Jeremy for motivation as they push themselves to their utmost potentials.

Kevin and Jeremy are both four years apart from their older siblings Steven and Jeremy. This age gap allows them to exclude the competitive factor that would accompany brothers closer in age, if they played for Paly at the same time. The Brown’s and Lin’s have unique relationships; they share a bond that not many can say they have with their siblings. Even with Jeremy across the country at Harvard, Joseph and Jeremy maintain a strong connection.

“We’re really close,” Jeremy said. “Me, him and my older brother grew up together and have always done every-thing together. We keep a really close

relationship.”The boys realize that they are not like

other families. The amount of time they spend together exceeds the amount of time most other siblings spend togeth-er.

“Whenever Jeremy is back for a cou-ple of days, during winter break and all summer starting in May, we don’t re-ally do much with other friends,” Joseph said. “We do; but not like we hang out with our friends every day like most high school and college kids do. We spend a majority of the time with each other.”

They are also able to relate to each other. Jeremy does not only act as a big brother, but also as someone who went through everything Joseph is going through now.

“Our relationship is special and re-ally different than a lot of typical other ones,” Jeremy said. “I think part of it is because we’re a lot closer than the av-erage brother-to-brother relationship. Everything I’ve been through he’s been through, too, and it’s an interesting dy-namic with both of us playing basket-ball. A lot of what he goes through I’m

able to connect with and help him out with.”

Jeremy is Joseph’s best friend; a sup-port that will always be helping him. Jer-emy knows him better than anyone and knows his potential better than anyone.

“There’s really no one else I would rather talk to,” Joseph said. “No one who can make me feel better. It’s a relation-ship I can’t describe.”

During the summer, the boys have the chance to play basketball together. As Jeremy disciplines himself for his Harvard University basketball season, he trains with Joseph. They go to the gym and play pick-up games; anything that Jeremy thinks will help Joseph gain experience about varsity competition.

“Jeremy will always involve Joseph to go work out with him,” mother Shirley Lin said. “Jeremy takes care of Joseph like a big brother takes care of a little brother. If Joseph wants to pursue bas-ketball, Jeremy will help him be a better player.”

Jeremy and Joseph’s relationship is not just special in the way that they are close. Being Christians, they connect a lot of their discussions to their faith. The brothers try to bring a deeper meaning to their lives.

“What makes our relationship differ-ent than most brothers is our spiritual life,” Joseph said. “There’s so much more to everything we talk about because of the fact that we have a spiritual life. There’s more of a purpose, a certain at-titude to show which is humble. When we talk about basketball, we always re-late it to our spiritual life. All of our talks are centered on Christian life.”

Joseph’s passion for basketball did not only stem from his brother’s love but also for the game. His own interest initially sparked his desire to play the sport. Even though Jeremy and Joseph can relate through basketball, they dif-fer on and off the court. “We’re brothers with two very dif-

ferent personalities,” Jeremy said. “I’m naturally more competitive and he’s [Joseph] really laid back. He just enjoys having fun and doesn’t really get both-ered by anything.”

Shirley Lin also recognizes the differ-

Past Jeremy Lin (‘06) (left) and Steven Brown (‘06) (right) dominated the court at Paly.

Photos courtesy of Madrono

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ences between her sons’ personalities regarding their attitude towards bas-ketball and competition in general.

“To Jeremy, winning or losing is very important,” Shirley said. “His desire to win is stronger than Joseph’s.”

Joseph acknowledges Jeremy’s inten-sity as an admirable quality.

“Jeremy is one of the hardest work-ers I’ve seen,” Joseph said. “He’ll wake up at six in the morning to work out and when he was home early we went before school. He does a lot of stuff to try and improve himself, just trying to get better every day. His work ethic is ridiculous.” Jeremy has a hard working interior that Joseph idolizes. Joseph sees Jere-my’s accomplishments as ones he hopes to achieve someday, too.

“For Joseph, Jeremy is his role model and he will follow him,” Shirley Lin said. “For Joseph, there is no jealousy or pres-sure because Jeremy is so good, he is ac-tually proud of his brother for being so good.” But, the pressure of his brothers’ reputation can get to him; as Jeremy Lin’s little brother can be intimidating. People look to the court and see Joseph, they immediately compare him to his brother. “I don’t really pay attention to the pressure that much, I’m just trying to do what I can so we can win,” Joseph said. “But, there’s definitely a little bit of pressure that I’ll have to do well because people are expecting a lot from me.” Because of this pressure, Joseph re-mains open to any insight or assistance Jeremy can offer. He accepts the option of practicing with him to the extent of

utter exhaustion. “In general, I try to tell him where he can improve,” Jeremy said. “That’s part of being an older brother, pushing him and motivating him. This summer we worked out a lot as I was getting ready for my season. Everything I did I brought him along and tried to push him to work harder than he’s ever worked before.” Jeremy’s influence on Joseph does not only play out in basketball, but also ventures to teach Joseph lessons that he can bring to his everyday life. Jeremy learned much of what he wants to pass on to Joseph from Paly’s previous head basketball coach, Peter Diepenbrock. Diepenbrock coached and mentored Jeremy all four years of his basketball career, motivating him to be-come a more prominent individual on

the court. “He [Diepenbrock] was a mentor to me,” Jeremy said. “With everything we went through he’ll be a lifelong mentor, and I’ll always give him a call. Diepen-brock really instilled a work ethic in me, and that’s what I’m trying to do with Joseph. He taught me about responsibil-ity and integrity, a lot of which can be applied outside of the basketball court. Those are the things I want to instill in Joseph.” Joseph receives all of Jeremy’s advice on life openly. He admires Jeremy’s abil-ity to promote his well being as well as the people around him. “Being his younger brother, I experi-ence him being a leader towards me all the time because he helps me a lot and mentors me,” Joseph said. “When he says things, you want to listen and follow. On the court, I see him tell his teammates

things and they nod in agreement, like they are saying ‘yes, I’ll do it.’”

Just as Joseph looks up to Jeremy, Jer-emy looks up to Joseph. He admires his talents, only criticizing to support. The brothers learn from each other, search-ing for ways to improve. Jeremy sees tremendous potential in Joseph.

“He has a God-given talent of being able to score, left hand, right hand, in-side, outside,” Jeremy said. “Offensively, he’s really dangerous.”

For Jeremy, associating himself with parts of Joseph’s life is just part of his responsibilities as a big brother. Steven Brown also shares this view.

Steven Brown, now at California State University Chico, frequently in-volves himself in pickup games with his brother Kevin. Steven pushes Kevin to

“He [Diepenbrock] taugHt me about responsibility anD integrity, a lot of wHicH can be applieD

outsiDe of tHe basketball court. tHose are tHe tHings i want to instill in josepH.”

- jeremy lin (‘06)

HeiGHt Kevin Brown (‘10) slams down a dunk for an easy two points in a practice.

Photo by Talia Moyal

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help him improve.“He would motivate me; playing a

pickup game, he would guard me twice as hard as anyone else,” Kevin said. “He really challenged me, and I never asked. Even today, he plays against me 100 percent, because he wants to prove he’s better and also teach me.” Unlike the Lin brothers, Steven and Kevin share a competitive drive. Wheth-er on the court or playing video games, they are in constant pursuit of proving the other inferior. This drive allows them to feel a deeper connection than that of most brothers, similarly to the conjunc-tion between Joseph and Jeremy.

Although the two are very close, most of Steven’s biggest role in Kevin’s life re-volves around basketball.

“I motivate him in basketball in a trash talking sense,” Steven said. “With school, he takes it seriously. Him seeing me and seeing other brothers and sis-ters not do so well in school made him realize that he needs to take it seriously. An older brother is someone to look up to, so I’m not necessarily telling him to do his homework.” Despite Steven’s lack of influence in Kevin’s academic world, he knows how to push Kevin, teaching him not only about basketball, but also about life. As Steven went to States, he realized the meaning of all the hard work that went into reaching the championship- the goal he had set for himself at the start of the season. “I remember when the buzzer went off, I was kind of struck and didn’t know what to do,” Steven said. “It makes you realize if you want to do something in life, you can make it happen as long as you believe and put your mind to that certain goal. I don’t think anyone in the state would have imagined that we would win the championship. Some of the best players in the country were on that team: I don’t think anyone knew we would win. Just work hard and you don’t realize until you get your goal that you could achieve it.” To Steven, this means Kevin can ac-complish whatever he sets his mind to. For Kevin, this being his fourth year on Paly’s varsity team, he feels inspired to

win the championship this year.“I want to win a state championship

too, especially because of my brother,” Kevin said. “I walked past Diepenbrock freshmen year and he said, ‘Now we have to win one with you.’ I was really motivated.”

With Steven as inspiration, Kevin keeps pushing to achieve his goal. With senior year being most important to pursue a future career in basketball, he knows the amount of work he needs to put in.

“Kevin needs to work hard at every game and every possession,” Steven said. “That will make him a much better player at the next level. He definitely has a future playing, but depending on how he does this season, it will dictate where he will end up. This season has a lot to do with how he continues to work hard every day and expand his game. He’s not that big compared to the competition at the next level.”

Even though Kevin and Joseph look up to their brothers for motivation, it helps that they also have each other.

“We’re close, good friends, but he’s busy with football a lot, and I don’t re-ally get to hang out that much,” Joseph said. “Me and Kevin have known each other for a really long time.”

Kevin feels similarly about his friend-ship with Joseph.

“I’ve known him since second grade, and played on his team from third till now,” Kevin said. “We’re good friends, even though we don’t hang out much.”

Because Jeremy and Steven are also the same age, Joseph and Kevin have been able to share the same emotions regarding what it means to be “the next Jeremy” or “the next Steven.” The two have a lot in common with their older brothers, but not necessarily on the court. Each exhibits different strengths than their older siblings.

“They’re both very different play-ers from their brothers; they both have different strengths than their brothers did,” Diepenbrock said. “Kevin’s more of an inside player; and Joseph is more of a scorer. It’s hard to compare the two to their siblings.”

But, when the four combine strengths,

sKiLL Joseph Lin (‘10) takes a jump shot 3-pointer against Piedmont Hills in the championship game of the Lick Tourna-ment. Paly lost the game 45-49.

Phot

o by

Tal

ia M

oyal

33

they overshadow any competition.“Sometimes we go play a pickup

game,” Kevin said. “Sometimes we play on a different team, but when we’re on the same team, we dominate.”

Jeremy and Steven also share a simi-lar contingency with each other. They have been friends since the third grade and have played basketball together on the same team until they separated to take on their collegiate careers. “I don’t think I’ve had a friend that long,” Steven said. “When he comes back for summer we workout together, we’re close. I think the friendship will always be there.” The two sets of brothers consider themselves lucky to be in such circum-

stances that allow them to relate so closely with someone else. Their similar conditions have helped Joseph and Kev-in immensely, being able to ascribe to each other, as they attempt to continue on a career that has been partially con-structed for them by Steven and Jeremy. “We had to go on our basketball jour-ney alone,” Jeremy said. “We didn’t have brothers to pave the road. Joseph and Kevin are following in our footsteps, and we’re trying to guide and motivate them, as well as give them advice.” As the season starts, both boys real-ize this is the season to excel. It is now or never for them to prove that they have what it takes to bring it to the next level. With their brothers’ full support

behind them they have the ability to become magnanimous; their close rela-tionships all them to galvanize each oth-er. As Jeremy induces Joseph through a summer workout or as Steven plays against Kevin in a pickup game, each of the boys have someone they can call an idol. Joseph and Kevin continue to fight to reach the place their brothers were four years ago.

“Being the younger brothers of two renowned Paly basketball players makes us want to achieve something just as great as they did –State Cham-pionships,” Joseph said. “That makes us work harder, giving us motivation. We want to go to the same place they did, do the same things they did.” <<<

teaMwORK Joseph Lin (‘10) and Kevin Brown (‘10) stand together preparing to rebound during a freethrow against Mills High School in the Burlingame tournament. The Viking won the game 54-34.

Photo by Talia Moyal

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hile most girls sit on the sidelines tying their cleats and talking about their day, one girl picks a ball up and begins juggling. A few of her teammates watch her gracefully

bounce the ball off her feet and head and soon follow suit. Within a few minutes all the soc-cer balls are taken.

W

Co-captain Maeve Stewart (‘10) inspires her teammates to perform their best.

Photo by Hana Kajimura

BY ALLIE SHORINPHOTOGRAPHY BY HANA KAJIMURA & MALAIKA DREBIN

35

Maeve Stewart (‘10), co-captain and four year member of Palo Alto High School’s varsity girls’ soccer team, is known amongst the team for more than just her ball skills. Her teammates rec-ognize her for her leadership capabili-ties and work ethic, which makes her an integral part of this year’s squad.

“She is an amazing player, so she is a leader by example,” teammate Sophie Cain (‘10) said.

Cain feels that Stewart has an innate ability to lead her teammates and that this leadership stems from her talent.

“She’s also a leader vocally because you always hear her,” Cain said. “She is a leader because she pumps us up and inspires us. She is the one that gets up pumped before every game, she is like ‘Come on guys, lets do this!’”

Her teammates also recognize the role Stewart has played when it comes to helping the underclassmen improve their game. This year, of the 26 players on the girls varsity soccer team, ten are underclassmen.

“She’s very good at being encourag-ing and helpful to the underclassmen,” co-captain Kelly Jenks (‘10) said. “You just see her giving tips and advice on how to play together, and how we play, and strategy on how we work together and move around for each other.”

New to varsity this year, teammate Emy Kelty (‘12) believes that Stewart demonstrates her leadership and is very helpful on and off the field.

“She’s a really good leader,” Kelty said. “She teaches me a lot and tells me what I’m doing wrong, but in a good way, like if I’m not passing well, she’ll give me great tips.”

Kelty also views Stewart as a great role model. “I have a lot of role models on the team and Maeve is definitely one of them, she’s really good,” Kelty said.

According to Kelty, she and the un-derclassmen look up to Stewart because of her athletic ability and motivational skills.

“I think that the underclassmen do look up to her,” Kelty said. “It’s kind of weird, but whenever I refer to some of the players, like Kelly [Jenks], Erica [Ho-glund] (’10), and Maeve, I always call

them the superstars, because they’re all blonde and amazing, ‘super starish’. And they’re all just so motivational; I really

look up to that. And they [play] at such a high level that I want to match that, and I feel like a lot of people feel like that too, you want to improve because you want to play with them, make sure you can give them good passes and stuff.”

According to Jenks, Stewart also has a talent for getting her teammates loose

and “fired-up” before every game.Stewart views her “inspiration” as

being helpful to her teammates and she gives her teammates feedback to encourage them and help the team get better.

“When I am playing, I like when some-one tells me when I do something well, or if I am not doing something well,” Stewart said. “So, if I see someone doing something that has helped the team or has been really good in the game, I defi-nitely will say something like ‘good job, keep up the good work,’ and stuff like that.”

Moreover, Stewart believes that her teammates play better when they know they have the support of the other play-ers.

“A lot of players play a lot better when [their teammates support them], espe-cially when a coach is getting on them for doing something bad,” Stewart said. “I just want to be there for my team-mates and help them out.”

Ernesto Cruz, Paly’s girls’ varsity soc-cer head coach, feels that Stewart’s am-bition has helped the team.

“I think she has the biggest heart in the whole campus,” Cruz said. “She’s very dedicated, and she always gives you 100 percent all the time.

Stewart’s determination and drive does not go unnoticed by her team-mates.

“She just never stops working,” Jenks said. “She just understands that to get farther you need to push yourself, which can be hard.”

Jenks has also come to understand, after four years of playing on Paly soc-cer together, that Stewart has learned the rewards and benefits of hard work.

“[She knows] that you’re going to get as much out of it as you put into it, so she’ll go the extra mile,” Jenks said. “In-stead of just doing what’s required, she always pushes herself harder than other people.”

Kelty also feels that Stewart never gives up and always puts her best effort every time she steps on the field.

“She’s always working hard, and she’s so quick. She is really inspirational, I just want to play like her. And she never

“I think she [Stewart] has the biggest heart in the

whole campus . She ‘s very dedicated, and she always gives you 100 percent all

the time. ”

- Coach Ernesto Cruz

PRaCtiCe Stewart works on her touch and skills by juggling.

Photo by Malaika Drebin

gives up, and even if the ball is really far away from her she’ll still sprint to it,” Kelty said.

Cruz has coached Stewart for the last four years and has also noticed that Stewart has an exceptional work ethic.

“[Another] good thing about her is she is very coachable, whatever you tell her, she follows,” Cruz said. “You tell her ‘this is what I want’ and she does the job.”

Playing on varsity for the last four years, Stewart has had the opportunity to play with experienced and exception-al teammates. Stewart believes she has become a better player and learned how to become a role model for her team-mates from playing alongside them.

“[I remember] playing with Tere-sa [Noyola] (’08). She’s such a smart player, and she was super encouraging,” Stewart said.

Noyola won the Gatorade National Soccer Player of the Year award while at Paly and now plays division one soccer at Stanford University. Stewart admired Noyola’s capability to inspire and be a leader to her teammates.

“Everything she said, everyone lis-tened to,” Stewart said. “And I think that kind of just helps, when you look up to someone, like a role model, and you aspire to work as hard as them, and to play like them. When you are playing on the field with them and you know you can count on them, and you want to be able to have them count on you [too], it drives you to be a better player.”

Stewart has also learned that having a good work ethic is key to her success.

“I would say [that I have learned to be] a pretty hard worker,” Stewart said. “I don’t like going to a practice and not getting anything out of it, so I try my hardest at practice.

Furthermore, Stewart has discovered that after a certain point, when one’s skills have peaked, the most important thing to improve is one’s mental aspect of the game.

“Skill-wise there is not much you can do once you reach a certain point, but from just playing with the different players and from playing with people like Teresa [Noyola] and Kelly [Jenks],

I’ve just learned a lot about the game,” Stewart said. “I feel like I’ve learned how to be ‘game smart’, make the smart passes, and I think that I’ve developed into a smarter player.”

Jenks thinks that Stewart was chosen as captain not only because of her talent and role on the playing field, but also because of her personality.

“It’s helped that she has been on var-

sPeeD Stewart helped lead the Lady Vikes to a 2-1 win over Sacred Heart Prepatory.

sity for all four years, but she also just has a good vibe that she brings to the field.” Jenks said. “She’s always in a good mood, she works hard, she is en-couraging for other people, and she’s not intimidating.”

According to Cruz, Stewart was placed on varsity because she had a lot to of-fer to the team athletically and because of her character. “I put her on varsity because of her skills and her personal-ity,” Cruz said. “[When I meet her] as a freshman, she had speed, and foot work. She’s the type of player everybody likes, very cheerful, she was a full package. Stewart is also a very versatile and well-rounded player Jenks noted, and has played various positions including

defender, midfielder and forward. Cur-rently, Stewart is the part of the starting team, playing forward and outside mid-fielder.

Cruz has only one goal for Maeve and this year’s team; to win Central Coast Section (CCS).

“My goals for this group and Maeve is to try to go as far as we can in CCS. Its been 25 years since we last won, so we

want to make history.”Stewart also shares this goal. “During freshman year, Ernesto told

us that during our four years we would win CCS, so that is definitely the goal this year.,” Stewart said.

Another goal for this season is keep-ing the team happy, noted Stewart.

“I want to help the team any way pos-sible,” Stewart said. “I want to keep my teammates happy and help them to have a lot of fun this season. I want to keep the mood light during games and lead by ex-ample on the field.” <<<

Reporter’s Note: Next year, Stewart will attend Tufts University and play on the soccer team as a Lady Jumbo.

Photo by Hana Kajimura

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by Mary Albertolle Photography by Malaika Drebin

JUDO n’t want to

mess

Ryan Oshima (‘12) balances his wrestling and judo ca-reers, winning locally and nationally for both.

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n most sports, a competitor loses con-sciousness, usually causing uproar. But in the sport judo, Ryan Oshima (‘12) reg-

ularly hooks his arm under his opponent’s to knock him out. Oshima, only a sophomore, excels in both wrestling and judo by blending moves from each of his sports into a unique style. Oshima joined the Palo Alto High School varsity wrestling team as a freshman after beating two upperclassmen for the spot. He now leads the team as a captain. Judo, a Japanese martial art, has passed from gen-eration to generation, starting with Oshima’s paternal grandfather.

“I was introduced to judo when I was 10 by my Dad, around six and a half years ago,” Oshima said. “I think he introduced me because he wanted me to get involved in the sport that a lot of my family has become a part of. It’s re-ally a family tradition.”

His father, Ryan Sr., also practiced judo in high school and college. He now passes the legacy on to his sons. “I always tell my sons that judo takes a lifetime to learn, and that they should look forward to practicing, learning, and teaching judo, wherever and whenever they are in life,” Mr. Oshima said.

Mr. Oshima coach-es his sons in compet-itive judo and has at-tended all of his judo and wrestling tournaments except for two. “If [my dad] wasn’t my coach I wouldn’t get the in-depth analysis that he gives me,” Oshima said. “He helps me learn

where to improve on.”Oshima and his father critique record-

ed videos of every match. The critiques help Oshima understand where he needs to improve and what moves are success-ful.

“[Watching Videos] is a very painful process, and is always a source of tension, but is one of the best tools to improve performance,” Mr. Oshima said. “Ryan is doing his own analysis now, and is even more critical of himself than I ever was.” Oshima’s dad does not only help his son’s judo career, but also encourages his wrestling endeavors. Despite Mr. Os-hima’s lack of wrestling knowledge prior

to Oshima’s interest in the sport, he fully supports his son and his

accomplishments. “I have a very

selfish reason for at-tending my sons’

competition, I love to watch

them [My sons] com-

pete,” Mr. O s h i m a s a i d . “ T h e y compete [for] very

few years of their

lives, and if I don’t watch

them now, the chance is lost forever.”

Oshima not only enjoys judo, but he has also had a very successful career since his start at age 10. In fifth grade, he began competing at tournaments. This past summer, Oshima received first place in two national tournaments and placed

second in another. “[The San Di-

ego tournament] was small, only six guys in the bracket,” Oshima said. “[In] the other

nationals, I got first, there were about 10 [competi-

tors]. Judo brackets are usually smaller

I

39

grade at Jordan Middle School. Since then, Oshima has incorporated many judo moves and throws into his repertoire of wrestling techniques. “Judo has been a big part of my wres-tling,” Oshima said. “I integrate it a lot. It helps me win a lot of matches, trying to come up with a good offense. [I plan to] keep on doing what I’m doing and in-tegrate judo into my strategy with more things that people don’t expect, like a lot more throws and different combinations of throws.”

Not many opponents expect Oshima’s judo moves; he catches them off guard.

“He’s very good with balance and stance, and he’s very good at throwing people,” wrestling head coach David Du-ran said. “He’s very dangerous and the better wrestlers that have wrestled him know that already and it kind of takes

away some of their offense because they don’t want to get caught in a position to get thrown because he’ll throw you, and he’s good at it.”

As a freshman, Oshima beat older wrestlers with judo throws and other techniques. His coaches, seeing this strat-egy, had Oshima help his teammates mas-ter these moves as well.

On Gunn High School’s senior night last year, Oshima was set to wrestle a senior ranked in the top 10 Central Coast Section (CCS). Behind five points in the second period, Oshima saw the opportunity to pin his opponent by throwing him onto his back.

“He was wrestling a senior and he was losing the whole match until he got him into one of his throws and caught him on his back and pinned him,” wrestling team-mate Joey Christopherson (‘12) said.

The win helped boost the team’s mo-rale for them to win the entire dual and beat rival Gunn.

“That was one of the big matches that helped turn that dual meet around, which we ended up winning,” Duran said.

Oshima not only beat many upper-

classmen in such duals, but he also beat then Paly junior Chris Hood (‘10) and Sean Keohane (‘09) for his spot on varsity.

“Ryan moved up to varsity and nobody doubted the fact that he deserved it be-cause of his judo background,” Keohane said. “He had a ton of previous experience with grappling, so when he got out on the mat you could tell he was a lot more com-posed than most wrestlers that had just as much experience as he did. Not to men-tion his throws were second to none.”Injuries, weight fluctuations, and many other obstacles prevent a wrestler from remaining on varsity. Oshima’s opportu-nity came when Keohane tore his rib car-tilage at the Reno Classic last year, which opened a spot on varsity.

“I was coming off a rib injury, so in order to win back my spot I had to go through

Ryan, which is by no means an easy com-petitor,” Keohane said. “Unfortunately, I lost the challenge match and I was torn, I’m not one to take losing easily and the loss pushed me to work harder, but unfor-tunately, time was not on my side.”

Oshima’s teammates and coaches see that judo assists his wrestling career. Judo also gives him the tools he needs to be successful, such as remaining calm and collected on the mat.

“There are many concepts in com-mon and many of the instructions I hear from the wrestling coaches are exactly the same instructions I shout out in judo,” Mr. Oshima said. “I believe that as Ryan’s wrestling skills develop, his judo knowl-edge will be a great advantage.”

Oshima believes that judo helps his wrestling more than his wrestling helps his judo due to the differences between the sports.

“I don’t know what his first love is, judo or wrestling, but whatever it is, he’s good at both of them,” Duran said.

Although the two sports share similari-ties, they have many differences like scor-ing. In wrestling, the winner has to pin

than most other sports because not as many people do the sport, but the level of competition is the same as other sport’s national competitions.”

As far as weighing in and other routines go, Oshima, a competition veteran, knows what to expect when he travels across the country.

“The whole process was pretty rou-tine,” Oshima said. “I’ve been going to nationals for a few years so it wasn’t any-thing new. The awards for nationals are really grand: big medals and a lot of peo-ple. It feels great to be on the podium.”

Mr. Oshima shares the feeling of ac-complishment with Oshima after his breakthrough performances.“Although these were great accomplish-ments, I was more pleased with the way he won, using a wide variety of throws,

combinations and strategies,” Mr. Oshima said. “He is really maturing as a competi-tor.”

When Oshima returned home from tournaments, his coaches, family and friends congratulated him for his first place national finish. Although he had won first at a national tournament, Oshi-ma did not notice much change in the way people treated him at practice. The win makes him the first person at his Stanford club to win a national tournament. Prac-ticing at Stanford, with older and heavier competitors, has helped bring his judo to the national level.

“At my old club [Palo Alto Judo Club], I wasn’t gaining the same type of practice because I was going against a lot younger kids,” Oshima said. “Now, at Stanford, ev-eryone’s usually about 10 to 20 pounds heavier than me, but that helps me deal with stronger people. I think that’s what makes a good team: when everyone’s at the same level as each other and every-one really wants to learn and become bet-ter.”

Oshima’s successful judo career in-spired him to begin wrestling in the sixth

“He really knows what he’s doing and how to lead and show the underclassmen how they should act and what they need to do to be a good wrestler. He has shown me some of his judo moves and also how he has been a good wrestler and a good role model to the team.”

-Joey Christopherson (‘12)

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TEAM “You have different teammates that help you push different things and it really makes you a lot better than being by yourself.,” Oshima said.

41

the opponent with his shoulder blades touching the mat for two seconds; if both wrestlers fail to pin the other, then the match is determined by a system of points. Points vary when a player takes his opponent down, escapes from a hold, reverses from underneath to gain control or nearly pins the other. “You can either pin them for 25 sec-onds, get a choke until they pass out, arm bar until they pass out or you can throw them on their back with enough force,” Oshima said.

Along with two different scoring regu-lations comes two different techniques and approaches to judo and wrestling.

“Judo is more focused on throws, but there’s also chokes and arm-bars, whereas wrestling focuses on take downs,” Oshima said.

Both sports require a strong base in ad-dition to a muscular build and athletic en-durance, so the sports have similar train-ing.

“The two sports are really similar in that they are both contact sports where repetition in training and being [in top] physical shape is necessary to win,” Os-hima said.

In the end, Oshima treats both judo and wrestling very similarly taking both sports to the top.

“He’s a really dedicated wrestler,” Christopherson said. “He does a lot of judo and after our practices he goes to Stanford to do judo practice. He also does a lot of clinics for extra wrestling and does a lot of weight training.”

Oshima’s continuous participation on the mat and in the weight room makes him one of the most devoted players on the team. Duran made Oshima team cap-tain due to his belief that dedication goes hand in hand with leadership.

“He has very strong leadership skills and a very strong work ethic,” Duran said. “He is a very good student. He is very qui-et as far as his vocals compared to other captains that we’ve had, but he does lead by example. He’s the kind of kid that ev-ery coach would want to coach.”

As team captain, Oshima leads by example, always pushing himself dur-ing practice and tournaments. Oshima is encouraged by his coaches to teach and explain his judo moves to all wrestlers, re-

gardless of age. He also motivates his fel-low wrestlers during practice.

“He really knows what he’s doing and how to lead and show the underclassmen how they should act and what they need to do to be a good wrestler,” Christopher-son said. “He has helped me by showing me what I need to do in order to be the best I can. He has shown me some of his judo moves and also how he has been a good wrestler and a good role model to the team.”

Oshima helps to create a healthy team atmosphere in the Paly weight room.

“[Oshima] is a very quiet kid for the most part, but it’s all one big family in there, a little different than the other sports because everybody goes through the same thing, even the kid who is brand new to the better kids,” Duran said. “Ev-eryone goes through the same thing, but I think he’s finding out who he is a little more as a person, so the interaction be-tween the kids is much better.”

Another reason Judo and wrestling are similar is that they are both individualis-tic sports that require less team chemistry and more individual motivation.

“It is similar in that they’re both indi-vidual sports because it is one versus one, but wrestling for Paly is really working for a team and you have that team bond and team chemistry,” Oshima said. “I think [working as a team] is better because you have different teammates that can help you push different things and it re-ally makes you a lot better than being by yourself.”

Oshima dreams of placing in the state tournament by his senior year, and he hopes to once again qualify for CCS.

“I think he has put in the most work out of all of us and he has the most po-tential and he could easily go to the state meet either next year or senior year,” Christopherson said.

Duran noted that many of Paly’s finest wrestlers have advanced to states. He be-lieves that Oshima is capable of placing in CCS, and in states, in his next three years at Paly. Oshima feels undecided about whether to pursue wrestling or judo in college; he is reluctant to devote his en-tire life to either sport. But until then, Os-hima will focus on this season of wrestling at Paly. <<<

TEAM “You have different teammates that help you push different things and it really makes you a lot better than being by yourself.,” Oshima said.

42

spor s

religion

inDrew Pearson (‘10)

Nehika Miglani (‘10)

DJ Fotsch (‘11)

Photos top to bottom by Hanna Brody, Malaika Drebin & Malaika Drebin

43

spor s

religion

sporspor spor spor ss

in

Beyond the north end zone ofNotre Dame

Stadium, high above

the scoreboard and all of the

action that takes place on the field below, stands the south wall of the

Hesburgh library. Adorned upon that

wall is the “World of Life” mural, known

by countless col-lege football fans as “Touchdown Jesus.”

(continued next page)

BY ALISTAIR THOMPSON

44

he mural epitomizes the con-nection between athletics and religion. “Touchdown Jesus” reminds athletes, students and

regular fans alike that whether for posi-tive or negative, motivation or restric-tion, religion appears to be ever present in the athletic world.

The foundations of athletic excellence can be drawn from a variety of sources. Although controversial, religion is con-sistently cited by athletes as source of motivation and guidance that teaches discipline and the other tools necessary for success as an athlete.

On Friday, Sept. 18, 2,254 miles away from Notre Dame, the Palo Alto High School football team knelt in a

circle and recited a prayer before tak-ing on the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs in Paly’s second game of the season. No fan would be surprised if they saw the Monarchs praying before the game, see-ing as Mitty is a Catholic school and part of the West Catholic Athletic League. However, it may have appeared more unusual for Paly, a public school with no religious affiliation, to hold a pregame prayer.

Onlookers may have wondered what kind of role religion plays in a high school football game. It was not clear why this public school team chose to look to God for guidance. Nonetheless, the entire team knelt together, asking for safety and the ability to play to its fullest potential. This team, composed of diverse religious views, prayed to-gether under a common set of ideals.

On Sept. 18, different players held the prayer in different regards. Maybe some players took the words to heart. Maybe some saw the prayer as just another

part of pregame warmups. Although re-ligion may not be as prevalent on high school fields as on the overgrown grass at Notre Dame stadium, the fact remains that religion plays some kind of role on many athletic teams, regardless of the school.

Some athletes choose to ignore re-ligion, and some choose to accept it. Some believe that a commitment to reli-gion can hold an athlete back and create conflict. Others believe religion can pro-vide motivation and guidance in pursuit of goals.

Paly varsity lacrosse player Sam Her-zog (‘10) chooses to play an active role in her Jewish community. Although she follows the guidelines of reform Juda-

ism, which essentially allows her to de-cide how big of a role she wants religion to play in her life, Herzog holds her in-volvement with her religious communi-ty as a high priority. Despite her sports schedule, Herzog makes countless sac-rifices in order to uphold her religious commitment. In regard to her athletic career, Herzog finds that certain con-cepts tie religion and sports together, for instance, the idea of a strong com-munity. “The most important thing that ap-plies for me is ‘kehillah kedosha,’ which literally means ‘sacred community,’” Herzog said. “It’s the idea of creating a holy community, which means, to me, a safe, close-knit and supportive commu-nity, and this definitely applies to how I feel about the lacrosse team.” Throughout her athletic career, as well as in her day to day life, Herzog finds that religion affects the way peo-ple carry themselves both on and off the field.

“The [religious] values I was brought up with govern how I act in everyday life, including lacrosse for me,” Herzog said. “Because religion plays a big role in the way people think, it inevitably changes the way people play.”

Herzog also believes that religious influences in sports can raise conflicts.

“People aren’t really aware of the commitment conservative and orthodox Jews have to their religion,” Herzog said. “They cannot really commit to sports because they have to miss Friday night and Saturday practices for Shabbat.”

Even on the professional level, play-ers must choose between commitment to faith and commitment to their sport, team and fans.

Sandy Koufax, a hall of fame pitcher for the Brooklyn, and later, Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955-1966, refused to pitch in game one of the 1965 World Se-ries because the game fell on Yom Kip-pur. Instead of pitching, Koufax went to a nearby synagogue in accordance to the customs of Yom Kippur. Dodger great Don Drysdale took the mound in Koufax’s place. Newspapers covering the game reported that when manager Walter Alston took Drysdale out of the game after a decidedly lackluster two-inning performance, Drysdale sarcas-tically suggested to Alston, “I bet right now you wish I was Jewish, too.” The Dodgers lost 8-2 and Koufax’s decision fell subject to a great deal of skepticism from the media and fans.

Like Herzog, Paly swimmer DJ Fo-tsch (‘11) grew up with sports and re-ligion as two overlapping elements. Fo-tsch was raised in a Catholic family and attended a Catholic school until eighth grade. All his life, religion has been a

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inevitably changes the way people play.”

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constant presence in his life. While he feels that religion guides him in every-day life, Fotsch feels an especially strong connection in swimming.

“I feel that God gave me the talent of being a good swimmer, and I am doing my best to thank him by trying hard to improve,” Fotsch said.

Fotsch plans to maintain this connec-tion between swimming and religion as he continues to pursue his goals. He hopes to swim competitively at the Uni-versity of Notre Dame.

Beyond his own experience, Fotsch feels religion is generally seen as a posi-tive influence in the sports world.

“I feel people view [religion] as a positive thing because it usually makes players behave better,” Fotsch said. “[Re-ligion] keeps them from getting into too much trouble.”

Few athletes are better at staying out of trouble than Arizona Cardinals quar-terback Kurt Warner. USA Today recent-ly recognized Warner, who is a devout Christian, with the Most Caring Athlete award for 2009. In a recent Sports Illus-trated poll of 296 NFL players, Warner was voted the best role model in the NFL. Warner and his wife Brenda run a Christian foundation called First Things First. Through this program, Warner raises money for charities and hospitals all over America while emphasizing the importance of placing faith, whether it is in religion, family or ability, above all else. Throughout his football career, War-ner endured countless highs and lows, but he attributes his ultimate success to his faith in God. Many athletes suffer through failures, but great athletes turn failures into motivation. Throughout his career, Warner has been able to channel his failures and frustration through his persistent faith in God. After multiple NFL teams turned Warner down, he took a job as a bag boy at a Hy-Vee grocery store in Cedar Falls, Iowa near his hometown of Burlington. While working for minimum wage at the grocery store, Warner continued his football career while playing in the AFL for the Iowa Barnstormers and even-tually in NFL Europe with the Amster-dam Admirals. After short stints in both leagues, the St. Louis Rams signed War-ner in 1998.

After starter Trent Green suffered a torn ACL in a preseason game in 1999, Warner promptly stepped in and lead the Rams to a Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans. During that sea-son, Warner became the sixth player ever to win MVP awards for both the regular season and the Super Bowl. But, after receiving another MVP award in 2001, Warner began to strug-gle. After a lackluster 2002 season, War-ner began the 2003 season by fumbling six times in the Ram’s season opener. Warner warmed the bench and drifted into obscurity after the Rams’ dealt him to the Giants the following year. Warner was later traded to the Cardinals where, after competing for the starting posi-tion for four years, he lead Arizona to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2008 season. Despite Arizona’s loss, Warner found a way to overcome the challeng-es placed before him. Today, Warner presents himself as living proof of what commitment and faith can bring to an individual and those around him. In postgame interviews, Warner al-ways thanks God and Jesus for guidance.

While many people find this humble gesture refreshing, others see his allu-sion to religion as unnecessary.

Paly varsity tennis player and Mor-mon Drew Pearson (‘10) views the idea that God guides athletes as unrealistic. While Pearson sees religion in sports in a positive light, he believes that, in gen-eral, the sports world would disagree with him.

“When people hear a pro say they were guided by God or something they just get turned off from it and find it ri-diculous,” Pearson said.

Pearson believes that God may “watch over” athletes, but beyond that, the indi-viduals determine the end result.

Paly basketball player Nathan Bills (‘12) believes that, when compared to an athlete’s skill level and work ethic, religion plays a negligible role in an ath-lete’s success.

Bills does not look to religion for mo-tivation or guidance while playing and he chooses not to worship any God. In-stead, Bills relies on his own skill and confidence to compete to the best of his ability.

FAITH “I feel that God gave me the talent of being a good swimmer and I am doing my best to thank him by trying hard to improve,” Fotsch (below) said.

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“I don’t think religion makes a dif-ference in the way athletes play their sports,” Bills said. “The success of an athlete depends on their work ethic and skills, not their religious beliefs.” While Bills recognizes that many athletes demonstrate their faith while playing, like when athletes point to the sky after making a big play, he feels that faith neither assists nor restricts an ath-lete in their pursuits of their goals. Despite his skepticism about the extent of God’s involvement with indi-vidual athletes, Pearson feels the effects of religion in his everyday life, as well as in his athletic pursuits. However, unlike Fotsch, Pearson does not have religion pushing him to play at the next level. His Mormon commitment does not al-low him to play on the Sabbath, which for Mormons is Sunday. Unfortunately for Pearson, the bulk of tennis tourna-ments are on Sundays, which leaves him no choice but to sit out. “I have not participated in any tour-naments, so I have not been able to get a good ranking,” Pearson said. “Getting recruited to college is basically impos-sible.” While Pearson faces this obstacle, he does not think it affects the way he plays the game. In fact, he believes his faith works to his advantage by giving him a broader perspective. “While I am playing, my faith helps the way I feel,” Pearson said. “I try to remember that this one match or game is not that important when compared to the big picture.” This mindset allows Pearson to relax and play to his fullest potential without worrying as much about the end result. Like Pearson, Paly basketball player

Nehika Miglani (‘10), who is Hindu, feels that faith is vital in maintaining a com-petitive mindset. “Religion affects a person’s mental-ity,” Miglani said. “If athletes can find their inner strength and get past their mental block of how tired they think they are, they can push through and go harder.” Miglani also feels that in order for an athlete to contribute to her team, she has to maintain a positive attitude, re-gardless of the situation. “The gods I pray to teach that one must always keep positive energy in bad situations,” Miglani said. “When my team is losing a game or just playing horribly, I make it a point to make sure the team does not get an attitude or give up.” Focus and strong mentality play vital roles in the success of athletes in mul-tiple sports of all levels. Paly cross-country and track stand-out Philip MacQuitty (‘10) agrees that mental toughness is the most important strength for a long distance runner. “[In training], you are essentially giving yourself the opportunity to take more pain for a longer period of time,” MacQuitty said. “That is all mental toughness. For the second half of the race, it is in your head whether you do well or not.” While coordination and raw athleti-cism are not as essential to running long distance as they are to playing other sports, rarely do athletes face a greater mental challenge than running a mara-thon. Due to cross-country’s demand for mental toughness and endurance, it may not be a coincidence that many of

the sport’s top competitors are devoutly religious. A runner’s faith may give them more strength when their endurance is at its end.

In recent history, African runners, many of whom are devout Christians, have been dominant. Since 1988, only two non-Africans have won the Boston Marathon. Scientists cite the high alti-tude of the Rift Valley and genetics as the main contributors to the African’s dominance, but faith in religion is rarely brought up as a reason for the runners’ success.

Twenty-seven year old American runner Ryan Hall, a devout Christian, is one of the few non-Africans considered

wATCHINg OVEr Touchdown Jesus above the north scoreboard at Notre Dame Stadium.

“I don’t think religion makes a differ-ence in the way athletes play their

sports. The success of an athlete de-pends on their work ethic and skills,

not their religious beliefs.”-Nathan Bills (‘12)

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when the topic of the best runners in the world arises. At the London Mara-thon on Apr. 13, 2008, Hall ran in his third marathon and finished fifth with a time of two hours, six minutes, 17 sec-onds, the second fastest time ever by an American. In April of this year, Hall came in third at the Boston Marathon, posting a time of two hours, nine min-utes, 40 seconds. Hall finished behind Kenyan Daniel Rono and Ethiopian De-riba Merga.

Although he did not grow up in the Rift Valley climate like many of the Afri-can runners, Hall does share a common faith. In interviews, he frequently attri-butes his success and mentality to his faith in God. Hall believes that God in-tended for people to work hard and that running is a way for him to fulfill God’s will.

Hall may draw his beliefs from bibli-cal passages, such as Paul’s letter to the Corinthians 9:24-25, which reads: “Do you not know that runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in ev-ery way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.” The struggle of a long distance run-

ner may even be comparable to Jesus’ forced march with the cross on his back. Jesus’ suffering may give a Christian runner the faith and determination that allows him or her to battle through pain and put forth their greatest effort. For individual athletes, religious commitment is often of their own voli-tion, but when religion is forced upon a group, athletes can be restricted. Not all athletes have the freedom to choose whether or not they want religion to be involved in their athletic careers. Such was the case in Afghanistan. Under the rule of the Taliban, women were denied the right to appear in pub-lic unless wearing full-body clothing. They could not be subject to any kind of education, much less participate in any kind of sport. With women out of the education system, the Taliban used male teachers to spread radical ideas empha-sizing the restriction of basic freedoms, particularly for women. The Taliban ran madrasas (schools) that taught radical views derived, frequently incorrectly, from their religious guidelines. The Taliban derived its laws from Sh-aria, the Islamic religious law. The Tali-ban’s interpretation of Sharia became progressively more radical as their pow-

er grew. By the time the Taliban gained power in Afghanistan in 1996, womens’ participation in sports was unaccept-able and severely punished.

At this time, women in Afghanistan had no choice but to sacrifice all athletic pursuits and abide to the Taliban’s re-strictions. The issue was far beyond the idea of religion providing guidance or motivation in sports. Instead of being a positive influence in athletics, the gov-ernment’s interpretation of religion de-nied women the right to compete. Ever since the US and coalition forces over-threw the Taliban in 2001, womens’ sports have come back into prominence. Without the restrictions of a radical reli-gious government, female athletes now have the right to compete.

In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, then 17-year-old Afghan sprinter Robina Muqimyar took advantage of her new-found rights. Muqimyar became one of the first two women ever to represent Afghanistan in the Olympic games. Wearing a t-shirt, long pants and a head-scarf, Muqimyar clocked a time of 14.14 seconds in the 100 meters. Although she finished three seconds behind Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell, the significance of Muqimyar’s achievement for Afghani-stan is immeasurable. Since Afghanistan is almost completely devoid of training facilities, it was difficult for Muqimyar to prepare. Prior to the games, Muqimyar trained in stadiums formerly used by the Taliban as execution sites. Muqim-yar’s achievement opened up the door for female Afghan athletes, who now, free from the rule of their past radical religious government, have the freedom to compete.

Many great athletes believe they suc-ceed in today’s athletic world because they have faith in something greater than themselves. However, in other cir-cumstances, such as those faced by Ro-bina Muqimyar, there is no greater re-striction than the influence of faith. But, even while Nathan Bills watches a favor-ite athlete point to the sky, thanking God for the ability to make a play, the pres-ence of religion is seemingly ubiquitous. So, whether the player who glides into the north end zone at Notre Dame sta-dium points to the sky or not, “Touch-down Jesus”, with outstretched arms, will always be there to take it in.<<<wATCHINg OVEr Touchdown Jesus above the north scoreboard at Notre Dame Stadium.

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How AtHletic

Equation (based on 2008-2009 stats):

For this issue, the staff of The Viking underwent an extensive search for the most athletic school in the Central Coast Section. We developed a rigorous evaluation process to locate and honor the high school with the greatest athleticism. Our criteria to find the most athletic high school was based on the percentage of the student body involved in a sport (varsity, JV and freshman teams included), team success (number of CCS championships last year), skill (notable Division I athlete alums) and importance to the school (how the school communicates about its athletics programs).

# ‘08-’09 CCS championships

# of teamsOverallScore

# of athletes# of students 5( (

It’s not all about sports, of course. These are schools after all. Our calculations will also rank schools with particularly high achieving student athletes and strong academic programs. In ad-dition, there will be two brief descriptions about nationally known athletic high schools.

How does Paly stand up?

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How AtHletic isPAly?

# of teams

“I can give you the three ingredients [of a successful athletic program, such as Paly, number one, the school has the best kids. Number two, all I do is try to find the best coaches, not necessar-ily the most popular coaches, but ones that will guide the students. What I like about Palo Alto is if you get a bad coach, the kids will know it. They know the difference, They can deal with some-one they maybe don’t like as long as they [the coach] know what they are do-ing and are fair about it. And [thirdly], we get great support from parents.

-Athletic Director Earl Hansen

BY ALEX KERSHNERPHOTOGRAPHY BY MALAIKA DREBINPHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MALAIKA DREBIN & HANA KAJIMURADESIGN BY EMILY FOWLER &VARUN KOHLI

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1

2

St. Francis- Private

Archbishop Mitty- Private

175 pts

138 pts

total students: 1699Percent Athletes: 69%ccs championships: 5Number of teams: 44

total students: 1600 Percent Athletes: 84%ccs championships: 5Number of teams: 66

Notable D1 athletes

Notable D1 athletes

Lindsay Dickerson (‘09) (left): Stanford Soccer

aaron Bates (‘02) (left): North Carolina State BaseballBoston Red Sox

eric Byrnes (‘94) (right): UCLA Baseball

Arizona Diamondbacks

Keilani Ricketts (‘09) (right): University of Oklahoma Softball

Images taken from

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Castilleja- Private

Woodside Priory- Private

Menlo Atherton- Public

Gunn- Public105 pts

105 pts

98 pts

91 pts

total students: 1950 Percent Athletes: 52%ccs championships: 1Number of teams: 52

total students: 240Percent Athletes: 61%ccs championships: 4Number of teams: 17

total students: 273Percent Athletes: 73%ccs championships: 0Number of teams: 18

total students: 1900 Percent Athletes: 55%ccs championships: 0Number of teams: 50

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Paly- Public

Monta Vista- Public

Saratoga- Public

total students: 1755Percent Athletes: 44%ccs championships: 1Number of teams: 42

total students: 2450 Percent Athletes: 37%ccs championships: 2Number of teams: 40

total students: 1340 Percent Athletes: 31%ccs championships: 2Number of teams: 44

Notable D1 athletesNathan ford (‘05) (left): Cornell Footballteresa Noyola (‘08) (right):

Stanford Soccer

91 pts

87 pts

85 pts

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10 Los Altos- Public

total students: 1700Percent Athletes: 42%ccs championships: 0Number of teams: 36

sports illustrated top three High school Athletic Programs

1. Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii)

19 state championships in the (’08-’09) school year

2. Jesuit (Portland, Oregon)

7 state championships in the (’08-’09) school year

3. Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, California)

4 state championships in the (’08-’09) school year2 number one ran kings in the country

Note: Aragon, Bellarmine, Burlingame, Carlmont, Cupertino, Gilroy, Homestead, Leland, Los Gatos, Lynbrook, Menlo, Milpitas, Moun-tain View, Pioneer, Sacred Heart, St. Ignatius, and Woodside were not included due to missing data or low scores.

78 pts

Reporter’s Note: Statitistics for all schools except for Paly were drawn from last year’s state records. The Viking calculated stats for Paly. While other school’s percentages were calculated counting multi-sport athletes as multiple individuals, Paly’s percentages counted multi-sport athletes as single individuals.

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BY MARIAH PHILIPS AND ERIN KIEKHAEFERPHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK SMALE AND TALIA MOYAL

he athletes surround the coaches, still breathing hard, sweat beading up from their effort as they anxious-

ly await the announcement.The Palo Alto girls’ varsity basketball

coach Scott Peters complements the girls for working hard in a solid practice. He stands before the girls and announces that they will make up the varsity squad and offers his congratulations to the members of the final roster.

For an upperclassman that does not make varsity, the announcement is much more meaningful. It symbolizes the pro-verbial fork in the road: the decision be-tween playing as an upperclassman on a junior varsity (JV) team filled with un-

derclassmen or quitting a once enjoyed sport. Most players on a Paly team have gone through the anticipation of listening for their name called for the varsity roster. For most upperclassmen, they expect to play on the varsity team, but select juniors and seniors must deal with the apprehension of whether or not they will make varsity. Some coaches talk to these players before making the final roster and give them the option to either move up to varsity with little to no playing time, to remain on the JV team, perhaps as strong leaders, or to not play the sport for that season. For Charmane Breckenridge (‘11), a basketball player at Palo Alto High School,

Confessions of a JV

upperclassman

wALK IT OFF Charmane Breckenridge (‘11) walks toward the sideline in a preseason game against Woodside High School.

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the decision to keep playing basketball for the Paly girls JV team was not made eas-ily.

“I told myself that if I were going to be put on JV I wouldn’t play,” Breckenridge said. “But, the JV coach pushed me to play, even though I didn’t want to be on the team.”

Breckenridge, who has played basket-ball since first grade and for Paly since her sophomore year, recalls having had big dreams for basketball. However, her love of the game began to wither, due largely to her team placement.

“When I was little, I wanted to play basketball in college,” Breckenridge said. “But as I got older it just wasn’t my thing

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Upperclassmen speak out about decisions they made after being offered a spot on JV.

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Confessions of a JV

upperclassman

Photo by Jack Smale

INTENSE Breckenridge (‘11) prepares to shoot as the Paly girls’ varsity basketball team cheers the girls’ JV team on from the stands above.

anymore.” Although she felt disappointed about her placement on JV this year, Brecken-ridge acknowledges the advantage of be-ing an older and more experienced player on a young team, which translates to a larger role on the court during games. Girls’ JV basketball coach Brianna Clay expects her older players to step up to leadership roles. “I would expect them [upperclassmen] to take on a leadership role because they are older and hopefully mature enough to be able to handle certain responsibilities on and off the court, Clay said. “I expect them to not only lead with their voice, but also lead by example and do the right thing.” Aside from holding a leadership role, Breckenridge acknowledges that she will be able to increase her game experience by playing with the JV. “On JV, I’ll get more playing time,” Breckenridge said. “Also, I like the JV coach better than the varsity coach.” Paly girls’ varsity basketball coach, Scott Peters acknowledges that some players perform better at the JV level than at the varsity level, and takes both grade level and years in the program into ac-count when placing a player on a roster. “[Age] is a factor,” Peters said. “The number one factor is what’s best for the program, and also what’s best for the player. If it’s someone I see playing on the varsity team and, looking at their past if they’ve established themselves as a JV player, then I would probably put them on varsity.” Clay coaches regardless of age in at-tempt to prepare them for varsity and strengthen the basketball program as a whole. “I think my main focus as a coach would

be to help develop skills in general for all the girls, and by doing that we as a team can help build the program,” Clay said. “As time progresses, it would be up to

each individual to not only put in effort, but also work hard to prepare themselves for varsity if that is what they want.” Clay realizes that much of the work must be done by the player, however. “I treat everyone equally and teach everyone the same skills,” Clay said. “But it is up to the players to put in the extra effort to do what it takes to be varsity bound.” Breckenridge spoke to Clay about con-tinuing her basketball career on JV this season, and Breckenridge decided that playing on the team was what she wanted for herself. Breckenridge hopes that playing on JV this season will give her more experience and leadership as a player, even though it was not her first choice. Other athletes at Paly have gone through the same situa-tion as Breckenridge. One of two juniors on the Paly JV soc-cer team, Brandon Nguyen (‘11) looks forward to being a dedicated team leader and captain this year. He remains positive and believes the players will become clos-er this year, partly because of his experi-ence on the team. “Since I played JV last year, I know what to expect, and I have experience that the underclassmen don’t have,” Nguyen said. “I was named a captain, and I try to lead by example.” In his eleventh year of playing soccer, Nguyen started the season with the in-tention of training with the JV team for a short period of time and then moving up to varsity, but the coaches asked him to stay on JV. “I was asked if I wanted to play JV, and I accepted with the idea that I would prac-tice with varsity and later in the season play varsity,” Nguyen said. “But it turns out that JV needed help, so I decided to

play JV.” Nguyen has set specific goals for him-self this season, which mainly include im-proving his tempo and ball skills.

“My main goal is to improve my tech-nical game as in touch, passing, and then my speed of play so that I can possibly get moved up,” Nguyen said. “I just need to work harder on my own.” Since this is Nguyen’s third consecu-tive season playing for JV, he knows that keeping a positive attitude will keep him upbeat and optimistic this season. While playing for JV was not his first choice for his junior year soccer season, Nguyen be-lieves that this is where the Paly soccer program needs him the most. Another soccer player, Ethan Plant (‘10), found himself facing the same is-sue as Nguyen and Breckenridge his ju-

“Yeah, [age] is a factor. The number one factor is what’s best for the program and also what’s best for the player,” Scott Peters said.

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DEFENSE Ethan Plant (‘10) dribbles past a Saint Ignatius defender during one of the Viking’s first preseason games.

Photo by Talia Moyal

nior year, but decided to take a different route.

Plant, who has played competitive soc-cer since sixth grade, debated playing for the Paly varsity team last year, which was predominately composed of seniors or taking the year off and focusing on other commitments.

“I didn’t believe I was going to play a lot,” Plant said. “Coming from a club team and playing a lot consistently, I wasn’t go-ing to improve being a utility player.”

Plant decided to take the year off, fo-cusing on academics, club soccer and oth-er factors. However, Plant does slightly regret leaving a team as successful as the

2008-2009 Paly boys’ soccer team. “On the whole, I would have loved to

play, especially since we were so good,” Plant said. “But I think it was the right de-cision [not to play for school] because it was helpful for club [soccer] and academ-ics and to focus on higher priorities.”

Because of this decision, Plant lost a year of team bonding with his current team. Despite this fact, Plant still believes he can maintain a strong relationship with his teammates and also be a potential leader for the varsity team this year.

“I played with a bunch of these guys my sophomore year,” Plant said. “I got to assimilate into their culture, and it is a

tight knit group by trade.”Plant also recognizes that it is his last

opportunity to play school soccer, as he will not be playing soccer for a college team.

“Since I won’t be playing in college, this will be my last school soccer season,” Plant said. “I think it is a good thing for me to do.”

Each athlete faced the JV decision and made a choice that suited him or herself best, whether that meant quitting, taking a year off, or continuing to play at a level lower than they hoped, the three players feel content with their different paths. <<<

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Fox, who committed to Yale University in September to play soccer, went about his recruitment process by sending emails and skills videos to over thirty coaches. Like Pederson, he also received recogni-tion by playing in showcase tournaments, through which he received the most at-tractive offers from Yale and Brown Uni-versity. Although Fox held both schools in equal esteem, Yale felt like a better fit. “Both schools provided extraordinary educational opportunities and they were offering the same amount of financial aid,” Fox said. “I felt comfortable with the guys on the team at Yale, and I really liked the coach. Even though Brown’s soccer team was better than Yale’s this year I felt like I would be happier at Yale, and that I would be able to come in and make an impact on the field right away.” For many college recruits, including

Saint Mary’s, Cal State Fullerton, and a few schools in Florida. However, Jenks’ decision came down to University of Pa-cific and Santa Clara University.

“They were both similar, but Santa Clara was the whole package,” Jenks said. “When I was a little kid, I always thought it would be amazing to play there, but I never thought I would be good enough.”

Other seniors, such as Erika Hoglund (‘10), Jenner Fox (‘10) and Joc Pederson (‘10) committed during the summer of 2009. Pederson, who will attend Univer-sity of Southern California in the fall of 2010 to play baseball, committed in Au-gust of 2009. He also considered Arizona State University, University of Oregon and Oregon State. Pederson began his recruit-ment process by attending showcases in the summer where west coast college coaches were in attendance.

For most 2010 high school graduates, first semester of senior year has not been treating them too kindly. With SATs, col-lege applications and regular classes on their plates, Paly seniors cannot wait for second semester to roll around. But for a select few, second semester senioritis kicked-in before the school year even be-gan. For these athletes, the anxiety that encompasses the initial months of senior year has been pushed aside because their college careers are already set in stone thanks to their excellence in athletics.

Kelly Jenks (‘10), Paly varsity girls’ soc-cer player, set aside her college worries on March 24, 2009, when she committed to Santa Clara University to play for its Divi-sion I team. Jenks, who has been playing on the varsity soccer and softball team for all four years of her high school career, was also recruited by University of Pacific,

March 2009

August 2009

August 2009

hile the rest of their classmates are burning in “application hell” and bogged down with SATs, the handful of seniors at Paly who have already

committed to play a sport in college are enjoying a stress-free year.

by Gracie Marshall

Photography by Malaika Drebin,

Hana Kajimura and Talia Moyal

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“People say doing college applications is like taking a whole other AP class,”

Hoglund (‘10) said.

Fox, the balance between school and ath-letics plays a large role in deciding which school to play for. “When I was making my decision I tried putting how much soccer would affect my life at either school into perspective,” Fox said. “I figured it would take up about a third of my time, and even though Brown played a sweet brand of soccer, I liked the whole picture at Yale.”

Hoglund, who committed to play soc-cer at Princeton University, got a late start in the process of marketing herself as a collegiate athlete.

“I was actually really late in my recruit-ment and my commitment was not at all [done in] the normal way,” Hoglund said. “I went to their [Princeton’s] camp at the end of July and that was the first time they had seen me play. It was a four-day camp and at the end of the week they told me they were really interested and that they wanted me on their team and that they had a spot for me. Then they saw me play the next week at the Surf Summer Cup in San Diego. That was when I committed. It was a very, very short process.”

For all of these seniors, they have felt relieved academically since they have committed to their respective schools.

“After I finished my Yale application in September, this semester became very manageable,” Fox said. “So far, it is much easier than last year, partly because the pressure is off. I’m not constantly writing emails and I’m not studying for SAT’s. My work load is less intense.”

Hoglund feels similarly and because she committed before the school year commenced she was able to alter her schedule so that her workload would be a lot less strenuous.

“I had a full schedule this year,” Ho-glund said. “I was taking seven classes and I decided after I committed to drop AP English. I hadn’t done most of the sum-mer reading and wasn’t really looking for-ward to doing it, so I was glad to be able to drop it. It was a load off my schedule.”

Unlike many seniors who end up taking the SAT or ACT multiple times, Hoglund only needed to take the SAT once because of her early commitment to college.

“I only took it [the SAT] once,” Hoglund said. “I was happy with my score but not 100 percent satisfied. I was planning on taking it again this fall. But once I com-mitted and told them [the coaches] my scores they said that was fine, so I didn’t think about taking it again.”

Although these seniors have been able to adjust their schedules since they have committed to their respective colleges, they also must maintain their grades in order to keep their spot on the team.

“The coach did make sure to tell me ‘this is a Division I school but it’s not like UCLA or Cal where athletes get a free pass

academically’,” Hoglund said. “It’s an Ivy League school and there are certain dif-ferences between Ivy division one schools and regular division one schools. I have to maintain my GPA as well as I can and he [my coach] said C’s are unacceptable.”

Fox also must maintain his current GPA

sPeeD Kelly Jenks (‘10) uses her agility and foot skills to force the ball into of-fensive territory and toward the goal.

sKiLL Jenner Fox (‘10) blocks off his defender as he drives toward the goal.

Phot

o by

Alli

e Sh

orin

Phot

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Tal

ia M

oyal

Phot

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aika

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59

“People say doing college applications is like taking a whole other AP class,”

Hoglund (‘10) said.

to keep his spot on the team. Pederson, although not attending an Ivy League, is also mandated to get good grades.

“They told me the worse case scenario would be if I got all C’s” Pederson said.

Along with the expectation to sustain a sturdy grade point average, committed seniors are also required to maintain their skill level in their respective sports.

“I have to workout every day,” Peder-son said. “I come home from practice, hit, go eat and then I lift weights.”Jenks also lifts weights to stay in shape for her college team.

“I am starting a weight program, not to bulk up but to get toned and to get faster,” Jenks said. “I’m trying to rev it up before summer.”

All the committed seniors receive workout programs over the summer to prepare for the college level of play.

“Colleges give you summer fitness plans so you come in ready to go and are pre-pared fitness wise,” Hoglund said. “[They give out fitness plans] so that you’re able to keep up with college level fitness and

so you are not coming in after a summer of not having played.”

Despite the hard work required to get in the physical condition necessary to compete at a collegiate level, the handful of Paly seniors who have already commit-ted to play a sport in college are reaping

the benefits of not having the constant anxieties that encompass college applica-tions on their minds.

“People say doing college applications is like taking a whole other AP class, so that has been a major help,” Hoglund said. “My whole attitude toward school is a whole lot less stressed, and it’s a lot more relaxing just to sit back and enjoy my senior year. I have to still work hard but I get to do so knowing that the expec-tations aren’t as high.”

Fox has felt similar relief and feels es-pecially lucky that he is not in the same situation as his friends.

“I feel very lucky that it worked out the way it did,” Fox said. “I don’t like talking about already getting into Yale with my friends because most of them are in appli-cation hell and are uncertain about what schools they will by accepted by. This stress sometimes produces animosity to-wards my situation but always in a joking manner.”

Jenks can also relate to the relief that the other committed seniors have felt

since their decision to play at their respec-tive schools.

“I can’t imagine having to apply to like fifteen schools like some of my friends are. I think that’s crazy,” Jenks said. “I al-ways knew that I wanted to play soccer in college and it paid off.” <<<

stRess fRee Paly’s committed seniors, unlike their fellow classmates, are able to free their minds of SAT and college applications and enjoy a more relaxing senior year.

aGGRessiON Erika Hoglund (‘10) boots the ball up to open teammates.

POweR Joc Pederson (‘10) drives the ball over the heads of the outfielders.

Photo by Malaika D

rebinPhoto by H

ana Kajimura

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SUNDAY

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issue 3

KicKoff Previews last wordProfiles features

f I played water polo or swam competitively, there would be nothing more disheartening than to be pulling away on

a fast break during a game and to hit a mysteriously warm pocket of water, especially with my head bobbing in and out of the water and my mouth open trying to catch my breath.

For me, the water is a place where I like to feel clean and re-freshed. If I took a second to think about the fact that I was swimming in another player’s processed Gatorade, I’d be out of the pool and into the shower faster than you can say Fé-dération Internationale de Natation swimsuit regulations. “Everyone pees in the pool” the old saying goes. That means little tykes in their floaties, senior citizens doing aqua aero-bics and… athletes?

It recently dawned on me while chatting with my wa-

ter polo buddy Jack Smale (‘11), that swimmers and water polo players often contribute their own special ingredi-ent into the waters that host them in their athletic contests. The funny thing is, these athletes are going mid-play, mid-game, mid-shot. in how many other sports can you empty your bladder during the middle of a fast-break? That’s the beauty of it, and at the same time, the repugnance of it. It’s not that easy to pee in the pool discretely in the compa-ny of family members or friends, so to be able to pull off a potty break in the middle of a game definitely deserves some credit. It makes you wonder though, how many swimmers at the highest level deploy ‘heat packs’ on the go? Phelps? Spitz? Aquaman? This, of course, is why we have chlorine in pools. Obviously, someone before me had the same realization and an access to chemicals that I unfortunately do not have. But I do have this magazine, so I might as well contribute my own idea to the proverbial waters. Someone out there needs to invent a compound similar to chlorine, which when triggered by a cer-tain ‘accident’ in the pool, will turn the water in the affected area a different color, preferably a fluorescent orange, or neon purple. Frankly, it would be epic. Think Caddy-shack. First there would be confusion, then disgust, then panic as everyone (including the culprit) would swim as fast as they could away from the danger zone to avoid blame. Coaches could use it to their advan-tage, having a designated and hydrated player change the color of the water in the defensive zone, immediately bringing the offensive attack of the opposition to a screeching halt. The other team has a star player—how do you stop him? Pee in the water he’s been hitting shots from all game. He won’t be the hot shooter anymore–more like lukewarm. If there’s a ferocious net-mind-er blocking everything thrown their way, send a driver towards the cage and let them unleash the inner de-mons of their urinary bladder into the opponents’ territory.

I guarantee you a goalie is not entirely focused on the game when the waters around him or her are fluorescent orange. It’s brilliant, and I will be the first one to laugh when wopo stud Jack takes off on a fast break and a trail of neon purple highlights that Smale was doing more than just paddling to-wards the goal with intent to score. I would be laughing right up until the next time I jumped into a pool, and all eyes turned to me as my board shorts were soon obscured by an all too ironic cloud of fluorescent orange… <<<

I Put the ‘P’ in Pool

Tsk tsk... Don’t worry, he has a gatorade bottle filled with water from the pool.

by Michael Cullen

Phot

o by

Cas

sie

Prio

leau

-shack. First there would be confusion, then

“The other team has a star player: how do you stop him? Pee in the water they’ve been hitting shots from all game! They won’t be the hot

shooter anymore—more like lukewarm.”

I

Phot

o by

Tal

ia M

oyal

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