Viking Volume 1 Issue 2

Volume #1 Issue #2 Dec 2007

Staff ListEditors-in-Chief

Charlie AvisNina GertsvolfPeter JohnsonAustin SmithNoah SneiderSteven Tran

Photo ManagerAlek Milovidov

Photo Staff Allen Au

Michela Fossati-Bellani

Design EditorsNoah SneiderAustin Smith

Business Manager:Steven Tran

Staff Ben Afshar

John ChristophersonOliver DaviesLiza Dernehl

Adam FurlongOlivia Garcia

Amanda HohbachIan Kelly

Lucy McComasAhna Rao

Elizabeth ScottPatrick Sheehan

Greg StewartMatthew TracyAdam Zernik

Logo DesignNate James (Cleveland,

OH)

AdvisorEllen Austin

VikingPalo Alto High School50 Embarcadero Road

Palo Alto, CA 94301650-329-3837

Email contact: [email protected]

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

School’sAdvanced Magazine Journalism class, is an open forum for student expres-

sion and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. The Viking is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. The sta� wel-

comes letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity.

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

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

Viking by e-mail at [email protected] or call 650-329-3837 for more information.

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

Calif.

In an attempt to publish the fi rst edition of the magazine as quickly as possible, we went into our fi rst production week after only four weeks of school. Our goal was to publish the fi rst ever edition of the Viking before any other publication at Paly. Unfortunately, due to technical diffi culties and problems with the publishing company we had not foreseen, we were not able to drop by the deadline we had previously set for ourselves. We ended up spending an extra week trying to fi x the problems that had come up, and publishing several weeks later than we had hoped.

Though we had not met our original goal, everyone on staff was proud of the resulting magazine. It was a hectic and stressful fi rst production, but the fi nal product was most defi nitely worth it, despite the small errors and typos throughout the magazine.

In order to bypass many of the problems we encountered in our fi rst production cycle and respond to some of the requests and comments we received from our readers, we made several changes to our (still new) routine for this second edition. As you fl ip through this edition, you will see that the layouts are standardized and more uniform so that the magazine will be easier for the readers to follow. We expanded our coverage of JV sports as well as sports outside of Paly. We also wanted to explore some of the deeper underlying issues that affect not only the sports contingent at Paly but also the greater community and culture that we have developed and accepted at our school.

In addition, we decided to allot ourselves more time for this production cycle so that we would have more time to deal with any unexpected problems or complications. However, of course we procrastinated until the last few days to fi nish all our work, despite the extra time we gave ourselves. I’m currently typing this up arount 10 PM on Sunday night in order to be able to send the magazine to the publishing company by tomorrow morning.

We hope you will enjoy the new changes we made to The Viking, and we welcome any comments, feedback or suggestions you have at [email protected]!

- The Editors

Z O OM / / / / / /Phillip MacQuitty cruises to his landslide victory at the city championships at Gunn. MacQuitty ran the third fastest time ever at the Bol Park course with a 10:43 over 2.18 miles in Paly’s rout of Gunn

Z O OM / / / / / /Junior Kevin Ashworth watches as senior Ian Kelly heads a ball in Paly’s 1-0 loss to Mountain View. As beautiful as this play was, Paly could not get it going on offense.

photos by Alek Milovidov

The Viking

6 | The Viking

LineupDecember 3, 2007Volume I, Issue 2

F E A T U R E S WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 8

CREW12 The True VikingsThe Viking takes you inside one of the lesser-known high school sports. Despite not being a Paly team, crew at-tracts a multitude of Paly students.By Amanda Hohbach

HAZING16 The Dark SideEveryone knows what happens on the fi eld, but what happens when the lights are off? The Viking explores the dark side of Paly sports.By Peter Johnson

22 Boys’ Basketball24 Girls’ Basketball26 Wrestling28 Boys’ Soccer30 Girls’ Soccer52 The Best of the BestSenior Teresa Noyola lives for the game and brings her passion to the Paly team.By Nina Gertsvolf & Austin Smith

56 The Force Comes to PalyJuniors Mike Hanabusa and Kevin Ashworth bring new talent to the Vikes.By Steven Tran

COACHES32 Halftime HuddlesHalftime speeches have been immortal-ized in classic sports movies such as Hoosiers, but what are they like in real life? By John Christopherson

JIM HARBAUGH40 FlashbackThe Viking travels back in time to take a look at Stanford football coach and former NFL star Jim Harbaugh’s roots as a Paly standout in the early 80’s.By Noah Sneider

40

The Viking

The Viking

Departments

4 Snapshots

8 KickoffInside the mind By the NumbersPop CultureAthlete SuperstitionsWho’s Hot and Who’s Not10 Q’s

14 OpinionsStaff ViewConfessions of a Backup

Goalie

35 Pro SportsWorld Soccer Rankings

36 College SportsCollege Basketball PreviewStanford Basketball PreviewStanford Football

54 Reviews

55 Stacey’s Corner

58 Recruiting

60 Calendar

62 The Last Word

Lineup

ALUMNI38 Catching up With Last Year’s StarsFind out where last year’s Paly sports stars are playing today. Includes wres-tling captain John Hall and volleyball captain Erica Gage.By Olivia Garcia

54 Another Year of High SchoolClass of 2007 graduates Nick Good-speed and Will Elmore extend their high school football careers with a 13th year program at Choate High School.By Charlie Avis

FALL SPORTS WRAP UP

42 FootballBy Ian Kelly

43 Boys’ Cross CountryBy Ahna Rao

44 Girls’ Cross CountryBy Adam Furlong

45 VolleyballBy Adam Zernik

46 Boys’ Water PoloBy Ahna Rao

47 Girls’ Water PoloBy Ben Afshar

48 Girls’ TennisBy Greg Stewart

42

2 0 0 7

The Viking | 7

The Viking

Kicko�

8 | The Viking

““Inside the Mind

of Cyril Gary

ON SPENDING TWO THIRDS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IN A SPEEDO Well we always get the speedo question and it always pisses me off . What are we supposed to wear, leotards? The normal bathing suit slows you down in the water, so it’s just not an option. Going naked creates drag too, so the speedo really helps opti-mize your speed. It’s why it’s called speedo.

ON THE TEAM’S POLICY PROHIBITING ALCOHOL AND DRUGSWe had a few blips on the radar, but we cleaned those up pretty well, everyone did a pretty good job of sticking to the policy. Last year we had the exact same policy, but no one followed it and it’s pretty clear we are a better team this year. I’m not sure if that’s due to the policy or the perfor-mance and experience, but I think that the policy has psychologi-cally helped everyone a lot.

ON THE INFAMOUS CCS PARTIESOur parties are wet, wild, and whole-some. We all learned that Scott Mielke has more stamina than we thought. Most of what we do is have slumber parties and play games like risk charades.

ON WATER POLO’S CULT STATUSWe’re not a cult in the traditional brain-washing, self-sacrifi cing sense. But I think that people may refer to us as a cult because we’re such a tight-knit group – it borders on being exclusive – but the reason people think it’s exclusive is because we spend so much time together. We’re kind of one big family - with the exception of a few people who I won’t care to mention. We’re really close and that’s a big reason for our success because we trust each other

Water Polo

Senior Cyril Gary is a driver on the Palo Alto boys’ var-sity water polo team. � e team � nished a close second to Los Altos in the SCVAL De Anza Division and nar-rowly lost to Menlo-Atherton 3-2 in the CCS DI � nals.

and we love spending time with one another – especially the Keiser Chief [Andre Keiser]. You know how everyone says “Oh yea you guys are so gay you wear speedos”? They’re all

just jealous.

ON THE MOTIVATION TO PLAY WATER POLOOriginally, I just started playing because Scott Mielke was like “Dude you should play”, and I was like “No it’s lame”. And then he was like “No try it out”, so I tried it out and it wasn’t that lame. So I guess I kind of stuck with it and I think a major reason why I keep playing is because of all the friends that I have, and that I

couldn’t be a part of their elitist circle if I wasn’t on the water polo team - so peer pressure is a big part.

ON HIS NOT-SO-IMPECCABLE PHYSIQUEI have a six pack in the keg, mind you, it’s just waiting to break out. It’s all muscle really - even if it jiggles. I can fl ex it, but I just don’t want to.

ON HIS RUSSIAN ANCESTRYFirst of all, I can tell you the week after the

water polo season ends my skin will go back to the color of sheet paper. It keeps the tan on. One thing I don’t think I inherited from my Russian ancestors though is the ability to swim in cold water – me and cold water don’t hang.

ON HIS FEAR OF LAND SPORTSIt’s not that I’m afraid of land sports, it’s just that I’m much less coordinated on land. Land sports are just too sweaty and unclean and dirty and icky. Also I prefer the pool because the water cleanses me and it keeps the hair off - I haven’t been able to grow a beard in like seventeen years.

BY IAN KELLY Photography by Allen Au

leotards? The normal bathing suit slows you down in the water, so it’s just not an option. Going naked creates drag too, so the speedo really helps opti-mize your speed. It’s why it’s called speedo.

ON THE TEAM’S POLICY PROHIBITING ALCOHOL

We had a few blips on the radar, but we cleaned those up pretty well, everyone

the policy. Last year we had the exact

Our parties are wet, wild, and whole-

thought. Most of what we do is have

We’re not a cult in the traditional brain-washing, self-sacrifi cing sense. But I think

because we’re such a tight-knit group – it borders on being exclusive – but the reason people think it’s exclusive is because we spend so much time together. We’re kind of one big family - with the exception of a few people who I won’t care to mention. We’re really close and that’s a big reason for our success because we trust each other

ON THE MOTIVATION TO PLAY WATER POLOOriginally, I just started playing because Scott Mielke was like “Dude you should play”, and I was like “No it’s lame”. And then he was like “No try it out”, so I tried it out and it wasn’t that lame. So I guess I kind of stuck with it and I think a major reason why I keep playing is because of all the friends that I have, and that I

wasn’t on the water polo team - so peer pressure is a big part.

ON HIS RUSSIAN ANCESTRYFirst of all, I can tell you the week after the

water polo season ends my skin will go back to the color of sheet paper. It keeps the tan on. One thing I don’t think I inherited from my Russian ancestors though is the ability to swim in cold water – me and cold water don’t hang.

ON HIS FEAR OF LAND SPORTSIt’s not that I’m afraid of land sports, it’s just that I’m much less coordinated on land. Land sports are just too sweaty and unclean and dirty and icky. Also I prefer the pool because the water cleanses me and it keeps the hair off - I haven’t been able to grow a beard in like seventeen years.

PalySuperstitions

Kicko�

10 | The Viking

“I have a six pack in the keg, mind you, it’s just waiting to break out. It is all muscle really-even if it jiggles. I can fl ex it, but I just don’t want to.”

—Cyril Gary (Water Polo, Sr. ) Inside the Mind, pg. 8

“This year we are all going to have to improve as individuals and work together to be a strong team.”

—Taylor Lovely (Basketball, Jr.) 2007-2008 Girl’s Basketball Preview, pg. 24

“It is a bit disappointing [loss in CCS fi nals]. If you look at our performance last year compared to this year it is a great improvement, so that is one way to look at it.”

—Michael Fortune (Water Polo, Sr. ) 2007 Boys Water Polo Wrap Up, pg. 46

“The thing that we will all take away from this sea-son is not the fi nal score of our postseason games, but the team dinners, dodge ball games and the interactions between our teammates.”

—Hallie Kennan (Set/Utility, Sr. ) 2007 Girls’ Water Polo Wrap Up, pg. 47

By theNumbers18-8 Record of the Paly Boys’ water polo squad, in-cluding tournaments, league play, and CCS playo� s.

23-13-8 Combined record of both soccer teams last year, including the boys’ trip to the CCS championship.

1402 Total points scored by the Palo Alto boys’ basketball team last season. The Vikes went on to the CCS semi� nals where they were knocked out by state � nalist Mitty.

39.4 Points per game averaged by the New England Patriots. The runner-up: Dallas Cowboys at 32.9.

Tyrell Walker (Football, So.)

Kushal Tantry (Tennis, Sr.)

James McCollough (Football, Sr.)

Pop Culture GridPaly athlete and sport Hottest

actressBest candy Boxers or

briefs?Must-have

mealFavorite fl ick

Leslie Bibb Jolly Ranchers Hmmm... Stanford Cardinal

Green Street Hooligans

Peter Hughes (Downhill Skiing, Sr.)

Bobby Abbott (Water Polo, So.)

Keira Knightly Snickers Neither Fettucini Alfredo

Happy Gilmore

CrashRosie

O’Donnell Toblerone Boxers...duhChicken Tikki

MasalaScarlett

Johansson Milk Duds Boxer-briefsChicken and Watermelon Finding Nemo

Jessica Alba Twix BoxersTeriyaki Chicken

American Gangster

What?ExplainYourself

Senior mid� elder Ian Kelly is having a bad hair day. What went wrong?

“Well, I wanted to know what it feels like to have a mop like Peter Johnson’s, and it was really windy out and there wasn’t a Supercuts nearby.”

Say

Kicko�

The Viking | 11

NotHot WHO’SWHO’S

VoicePaly’s Web Publication recently challenged us (The Viking staff) to a game of capture the fl ag. Naturally, we accepted, and of course dominated 3-0. They had at least double the amount of people we did.

PalySuperstitions

Paly Girls TennisThis season the Vikings went 21-0 in the regular season and the unstoppable ladies won their way to a El Camino Division Title.

Marissa Florant (Volleyball, So.)“My sister always braids my hair before volleyball games. When I am always on the left side of our warm-up lines. The vol-leyball team always listens to “Crank That” before volleyball games.”

Mike Scott (Football, Sr.)“I always eat sour gummy worms before games. Also, everyone in the locker rooms listens to the Track Boy theme songs.”

Harry Woolson (Football, Jr.)“I always wear the same shirt under my jer-sey when I wear it to school. I also always put on my clothes in the same order before a game.”

James McCollough (Football, Sr.)“I always sing songs and dance before a game.”

Jordan Jefferson (Football, Sr.) “I always wear one white sock and one black sock. They have to be brand new and the white sock is always on the left foot. I also wear my lucky boxers.”

Chris Gonnerman (Baseball, Sr.)“Every time I pitch I step on the mound with my right foot.”

Peter Abrams (Baseball, Sr.)“I always listen to salsa and reggaeton and I pray to the Hawk.”

Jenny Whyte (Water Polo, Sr.) “We (the Water Polo team) never wear our own caps or numbers during practices. We always psych ourselves in the locker room to get ready before a game. I always have to be chewing gum during a game.”

Scott Mielke (Water Polo, Sr.) “I always wear the same shoes.” Saved: Simon prepares to block a � ve meter shot for the Paly varsity water polo team.

Peyton ManningThe 2004 MVP has led he Indianapolis Colts to two pathetic losses. The fi rst loss came against New England, the second against San Diego, where Manning threw six interceptions, a Colts record for most picks in a game.

Number Two’sCollege football’s second position has been cursed this season. Beginning with Appa-lachian State’s amazing upset of Michigan, every second-ranked team has lost this season to an unranked opponent.

49ersAfter a 2-0 start and aspirations of a division championship, the Niners have dropped 8 straight, and average less than 12 points a game. They also went 12 quarters without an offensive touchdown going into their showdown with the Arizona Car-dinals. Injuries haven’t helped either, as key offensive players QB Alex Smith, RB Frank Gore, and TE Vernon Davis have all missed time this season.

Tom BradyThe three time Super Bowl champion is at it again, on pace to set the record for the most touchdowns in a single season, in addition to leading his team to the fi rst undefeated season since the Miami Dolphins in 1972; not to mention he was included in People Magazine’s 50 most Beautiful People.Phillip MacQuittySophomore cross country star MacQuitty surged to the front of the pack in the last 300 meters after running a passive, sticking towards the back of the pack, winning the CCS title.

Will SimonDespite a disappointing loss in the CCS Finals, Senior Will Simon, the Palo Alto goalie has nothing to be ashamed of. The four year varsity starter ended his Paly career with a fantastic game which included 12 blocks, two steals and two incredible fi ve meter shots. While it was his last game in green and white, his water polo career has just begun, as he plans to play in college.

Photography by Allen Au

Feature

12 | The Viking

a.m., most Paly stu-dents are

sound asleep in their beds, but for some it is the time they wake up almost every morning. The sun has not yet risen and it is still cold out-side. The students climb out of their warm beds into their cars and drive to practice. Once at practice, the row-ers get into their boats, push off of land and begin to glide across the chilly water. Left, right, left, right; their oars stroke the water with a rhythmic beat. Trav-eling across the water, the rowers practice technique and effi ciency. Crew is a physically and mentally demanding sport that requires practice and dedication. “Waking up so early is hard; you really have to like crew,” senior Andrea Pan-ayides said. “Compared to other sports crew requires a lot of dedica-tion and effort.” Mainstream sports like basketball, foot-ball, swimming and soccer are well known at Paly, but most students have not heard about crew. Although crew is not a school sponsored sport at Paly, many students become in-volved in high school. Unlike many other sports, rowers do not have to start crew at a young age to be suc-

cessful. Freshmen year in high school is a common time to start. “It is something where you can start late in high school and not be horrible at,” senior Beth Nitzan said “It is really cool because most sports are not like that.” Along with Nitzan, senior Cecilie Kern started crew as a freshman. “When I was a freshmen I had friends who were juniors and they were handing out fl yers for crew on Club Day,” Kern said “It

The True Vikings4:30

BY AMANDA HOHBACH Photography by Alek Milovidov

looked interesting so I thought I would try it out.” Kern rows for the Palo Alto Club crew team, one of many in the Bay Area. Along with the Palo Alto Club, many Paly stu-dents row for Stanford, Nor-Cal and the Sequoia club teams. Panayides, a rower for Nor-Cal, who is being recruited by UCLA started crew due to a soccer injury. She did not choose crew by choice, but grew to love it.

ROWING: “It is the best team experience I’ve ever had,” senior Andrea Panayides said. “You make great friends and they all come from di� erent places around the bay.”

The Viking | 13

“I tore a liga-ment in my knee and my mom made me do crew as a sort of rehab,” Panayides said. “Once I started rowing I real-ized that I really liked it, and I have been playing ever since.” Although row-ers can begin crew late in high school, practices are different be-cause rowers have to wake up at the crack of dawn to make it on time. “We have to wake up at 4:30 every morning, except for Thursdays when we have practice after school,” Kern said. “We have practices six days a week, all of which are over two hours, so I try to be in bed by nine and have my stuff ready for the next day. You do eventually get used to waking up early in the morning.” Though crew is not a Paly sponsored sport, it still requires a lot of dedication and hard work. “It is a workout for your entire body both mentally and physically,” Kern said. Rowing requires the rower to push and pull their oars in rhythm with the rest of the team. “I have never sweat so much or felt as close to throwing up in any other sport,” senior Jake Brisken said. “All

to make yourself do it both mentally and physically.” Like other sports teams, crew teams must have good chemistry to-gether in order to function well. “It is the best team experience I’ve ever had,” Pan-ayides said. “You make great friends and they all come from different plac-es around the bay.” As one of the highest recruited sports by colleges, many ask why Paly

students do not have the opportunity to par-ticipate in crew as a school sport. The an-swer is easy: money. “We have to fundraise for all our equip-ment which includes boats and oars,” Kern said. “I would say it is one of the most ex-pensive sports.” The boats, oars and uniforms can end up costing thousands of dollars. In order be on a crew team, rowers have to put all their ef-fort in and really enjoy it, because it takes a lot of dedication, money and time. “It is a hard workout, but when the sun rises in the morning it is relaxing, stress re-lieving and so worth it,” Kern said. Crew is a sport for hard workers, and people who are willing to give 100 percent in every practice. “Either you love it or you hate it [crew],” Panayides said.

CHILLY: Early morning practicecs are just one di� cult element of crew.

Coxswain

Stroke Side

Bow Side

BowStern

Feature

Shell (Racing Boat)

of our workouts are intense; we don’t mess around.” Crew also involves hours of practice in order to refi ne the complex stroke tech-nique. Rowers typically practice over ten hours a week. “Strength alone is not enough, rowing depends on technique,” Nitzan said. “We practice to get a specifi c movement down, muscle memory is a key factor to a team winning.” Mental toughness plays a vital roll in rowing as does technique. Both of these ele-ments are essential in order to succeed. “You have to be able to keep going even when it hurts,” Panayides said. “You have

Opinions

14 | The Viking

There is a fi ne line be-tween friendly team-bonding activities and harassment. Some practices that fall un-der the category of “hazing”, such as shaving heads and weird pre-game outfi ts, are not detrimental to the mental or physical health of athletes and may actually help team unity. But according to a survey done by Alfred University in 2000, 29% of high school students are hazed in a po-tentially illegal way, consti-tuted by physical, emotional, or verbal harassment. If this number is true for the student population at Paly, about 485 students at Paly have been harassed for initiation. As an example of con-structive “hazing”, Paly’s varsity boys’ soccer team

had a positive experience. At a team pasta feed, the seniors led the charge and shaved their own heads before then shaving the heads of the re-maining players on the team. Everyone knew who the soc-cer team was the next day at school by the buzz-cuts, zig-zags, bleached hair or new mohawks, not by the limp after numerous blows to the groin or the green face after a cake full of hair. Even though there was pressure for the underclassmen to lis-ten to and follow the seniors, the whole team came togeth-er with their bald heads and developed a strong bond. “They [the seniors] were nice about it and you got to choose what haircut you got,” sophomore Jenner Fox said. “Everyone looked stu-

pid together and we got to know each other better [that way].” The haircuts did not hurt anybody mentally or physi-cally and, of course, hair al-ways grows back. Converse-ly, stories of football players eating cakes of pubic hairs and wrestlers taped to show-ers and paddled goes far be-yond the fi ne line. A player deliberately punching his or her teammate in the groin does not form any positive bond within the team. “It just made me hate [my teammate],” an anonymous football player said of his treatment. Hazing is team building up to certain degree, but once the treatment falls under the category of harassment, it must be stopped.

The line is drawn where the victim is no longer hav-ing fun and the intent is to put the athlete in an uncom-fortable situation. Dressing up in odd costumes and cutting bizarre haircuts are in good fun, and do not infl ict harm or pain on the victim. The line is crossed when the athlete has to lick choc-olate sauce off their team-mate’s nipples, a repulsive experience that the athlete will never forget. Hazing may be a tradi-tion in some sports, but players need to sense when the line is crossed. Hazing is a problem and students need to acknowledge the line between team bonding and illegal hazing and have the courage to stop it. <<<

St aff View

Letters to the Editors

I’ve been reading and enjoying The Vi-king on my recent travels to public radio stations around the Midwest and New England... and fi nd it a great companion on fl ights of any length or duration..! The variety of articles, the range of in-terests, and most of all, the level of writing - detailed when it has to be, entertaining when it could be, straight-on honest when it should be - all terrifi c! I salute you and your crew for an out-standing Vol. 1, No. 1.... Chalk it up in the win column!

- Kevin Klose, President of National Pub-lic Radio, Washington, D.C.

You are all to be congratulated on a wonderful Fall Sports Preview! Personally, I would never have imagined such an ex-citing publication would be driven by high

school students. You are truly blessed to be in a program preparing you to reach new heights in the future. May all of your talents continue to shine!

- Mrs. Lori Dobler, Rockford Lutheran High School, Rockford, Il

The last issue was very impressive! The fonts and interesting layouts made the reading even more interesting. I enjoyed reading the fun quizzes following each profi le. The edited pictures were also very dramatic and fascinating to look at. Over-all, the issue is very complete, although there is room for improvement.

- Selena Mao, Paly sophomore

I thought you guys did really well with this, especially for the fi rst one. I thought it was great that you could fi ll it up almost entire-ly with Paly sports stuff and not too much

on the Pro leagues. The profi les were also really fun to read. The Viking seems to be like Sports Illustrated. It could also use some cool color.

-Varun Kohli, Paly sophomore

This magazine is okay. Some articles are boring and pointless. You should think about having more variety of ar-ticles. The magazine is not diverse at all. However, some articles are really inter-esting and are topics I’m sure Paly stu-dents want to read about.

- Anonymous Paly Student

The sta� welcomes letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity.

Please submit letters to: [email protected]

Drawing the Line: When fun stops and hazing begins

The Viking | 15

Kicko�

10Questionswith Maeve Stewart

Sophie Cain Greg Stewart Anne Stewart

Maeve StewartSophomore varsity soccer player

Sophie CainClose Friend

Greg StewartBrother

Anne StewartMother

Dream Date

Favorite soccer player

Favorite Snack

Coolest Superpower

Favorite Song

Best Friend

Lucky Number

Favorite vacation spot

Coolest extreme sport

Adam Brody

Ronaldinho

Sea salt and vinegar chips

Flying

Fergalicious

Camilla McHuch

4

Sweden

Dirt biking

The O� ce

Clay, from Newport Harbor

Cristiano Ronaldo

M&M’s

Flying

Fergalicious

Gracie

4

Sweden

Bungee jumping

Newport Harbor

Some dude from The Hills

Mia Hamm

Crepes

Invisibility

Pictures of you

Gracie

23

Cape Cod

Hang gliding

One Tree Hill

Clay

Mia Hamm

Trail Mix

ESP

Tear drops on my guitar

Camilla

4

Whistler

Sky Diving

The O� ce

Who knows Maeve best?

+5

+5

+5

+5

Favorite TV Show

20 0.5 15W i n n e r !

We went out and asked Paly’s own Varsity Soccer player Maeve Stewart 10 Q’s about herself, and then went to a close friend, brother and her momas told to John Christopherson

+5

Confessions of a Back-Up Goalie

I’ve been playing water polo since I was in seventh grade.

I’m good, but you certainly would not know it if you came to one of our games. You’ll usually fi nd me at left bench (my primary position), huddled in a towel with my parka and clutching a water polo ball.

Occasionally I get up to throw this ball in; commonly known as the ‘counter ball’, when the one used in the game gets knocked out.

It seems simple but it is an art. I wouldn’t want the other goalie to have to swim more than two strokes to get this ball before having to pick it up and pass it. If it takes too long, opportunities can be missed.

As soon as the counter ball is needed, the coach begins to yell, “Ball! Ball! Ball!” As if I

haven’t done this before, coach: I’m a seasoned vet in this business.

On its journey into the pool, the counter ball may meet various obstacles. I became aware of the most embarrassing obstacle last season. As the shot went over the cage and I rose up in glory to throw the ball in, I was so blinded by the adrenaline rush that I threw the ball right into a pole in front of me. Where the pole came from, I do not know. As the ball bounced right back to me, it caused me to be completely and utterly discombobulated.

This resulted in another “BAAALLLLLL!” from my coach.

Hey, at least I tried.The counter ball is not

the only topic that I focus on while warming the bench.

Conversations vary from the game (sometimes), to school (rarely), to food (always), to the girls on the other team (often) , and then back to food (again).

During a recent tournament, I was craving a burrito. A specifi c one, from Rojoz, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. I tried to imagine myself in Rojoz looking up at the sign above me and seeing the name of that fateful burrito.

When that didn’t work, a couple of my fellow bench warmers and myself tried to name every type of burrito we could think of, hoping to get a lead.

“Holy Frijole?” “No.” “Sonora chicken!” “Does that have guac’?” “I don’t think so.” “Then no.” We eventually received a “shut up” look from the coach, but the name of the burrito

consumed me for the rest of the game. [It was a Baja California, and I had one for lunch the next day. It wasn’t nearly as good as I had remembered.] Don’t get me wrong; I also watch the game and cheer for my teammates. The starting goalie is a senior, Talia Kori, and she’s fantastic. Last year we felt the need to compete with each other, which made our relationship tense. This year we overcame this, which makes the season a lot more fun. My parents gave me the nickname ‘Steve Young’, implying that I will eventually be given my time to shine. She’s my support and I’m hers, in and out of the pool. I’m so glad that we were able to spend a glorious three years together, playing a game had a surprising loss to Leland inCCS Continued on page 51

By LizaDernehl

+0.5 (mercy points)

+5

+5

fter an impressive league championship campaign last season, a more experienced Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity basketball team has its sights set not only on a second league title, but also on

a Central Coastal Section (CCS) championship for the upcoming season. “All of our guys are now one year older, more experienced and much smarter,” head coach Peter Diepenbrock said. “We can defi nitely repeat as league champions this season and even win CCS.” Though the varsity roster will not offi cially be set until after the football season, Paly will likely return eight athletes from last year’s varsity squad, including three of last season’s starters: junior point guard Nick Robinson, senior shooting guard Mike Scott and senior center Dom Powell. With an impressive 19-8 overall record [10-2 record in league] last season, Paly will look to defend its league title this year and avenge a rough CCS semi-fi nal loss to powerhouse Archbishop Mitty High School. Another

Palo Alto Boys’ Basketball

22 | The Viking

WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW 2007-08

Palo Alto Boys’ BasketballAn experienced core looks to lead the Vikes back to a CCS title

By Patrick Sheehan • • • Photography by Michela Fossati -Bellani

A

2007-2008 SCHEDULE

year of practice under successful coach Diepenbrock will undoubtably help the team achieve those goals. “Since last year was the fi rst year I had worked with most of these athletes, I believe we will work much better together this season,” Diepenbrock said. A great team chemistry will also add to the effi ciency of Paly’s varsity squad this year. “Our chemistry is great,” Robinson said. “We are all friends off the court and some of us have been playing together for three years. The biggest key to our chemistry is that we call each other on our mistakes and try not to talk behind each

others’ backs.” Robinson, a second year varsity starter, will run the point again for the Vikings this season and will look to contribute by playing solid defense, distributing the ball well to his teammates and improving his shot. “I think this year’s team has the potential to be very good,” Robinson said. “I’m just going do all I can to help the team succeed.” Also leading the Vikings this season will be center Powell.

November28 at James LickDecember5 at Hillsdale8 Riordan13 Rockline Tour-nament18 at Woodside21 Menlo - Ather-ton

27 St. Francis TournamentJanuary5 Saratoga9 at Cupertino11 Milpitas16 at Los Gatos23 Fremont25 at Saratoga26 at Gunn

JV Watch...This year’s junior varsity squad will feature a lot of young tal-ent in the form of sophomores Steven Kerr and Ethan Black. Along with a solid set of guards, Kerr and Black will look to lead their team to a league championship. Sharp shooting freshman Max Schmarzo will also add to the team’s offensive power with his tremendous outside shot. With a large gradu-ating class this year, look for many of the junior varsity stars this season to shine on the big court for Paly varsity basket-ball next season.

Lockdown Defense: Nick Robinson plays hard-nosed defense in practice.

In his fi rst season as a Viking last year, Powell led the team in scoring with an average of 10.8 points per game, and proved to be a leader on the court. Powell will once again be a key to success for the Viking off ense this season both as a point scorer and as a defensive force. This year’s team will strategically play in the typical Diepenbrock coaching scheme that revolves around a solid, hard-nosed defense. The Vikings will look to use a strong defense to create openings for the off ense. “Stylistically we will look to be very solid defensively and limit opponent’s scoring while scoring off of our defense,” Diepenbrock said. “On off ense we will look to get the ball in to our center, Dom Powell.”

Along with senior leaders Powell and Scott, the varsity squad will a look for contribution from underclassmen Joseph Lin and Kevin Brown. “The underclassmen are a bunch of goofs off the court, but on the court they are great guys and are very good basketball players,” Robinson said. “Joseph is going to surprise a lot of teams with his off ense and Kevin has improved a lot over the summer. “ High expectations precede Lin, a sophomore, due to his brother, Jeremy Lin’s incredible performance throughout Paly’s fairy tale state-

The Viking | 23

championship season in 2005. However, Diepenbrock believes that he has the off ensive talent to help the team and anticipates Lin

will be a key contributor to the team this season.

“I hope to contribute to the team by scoring with

both outside and jump shots,” Lin said.

In preparation for the season, the team has been intensely conditioning since early October. Conditioning workouts consist mostly of running (both long distance and sprints) and help to support Paly’s strong defense by improving the players’ stamina. Though conditioning is not

very popular with the athletes, they know that it will pay off for them during the season. “The conditioning helps to make us mentally

tough along with getting us into ideal basketball shape,” Robinson said. Looking ahead to the season, the Vikings’ league championship hopes will be tested at home against Milpitas and Los Gatos High Schools on January 11 and February 6 respectively. In CCS, the Vikings’ greatest competition will come in the form of defending CCS champion Archbishop Mitty High School and powerhouse Saint Francis High School. The Vikings will kick off the season against James Lick High School on Wednesday, November 28. <<<

Up andComing

JOSEPH LIN>>> Sophomore Guard<<<Joseph Lin, a sophomore, will look to impact this year’s varsity squad with his high-powered off ense. Head coach Peter Diepenbrock believes that he has the talent to be a

key contributor to the team in his fi rst year as a varsity athlete. Perimeter shooting, Lin’s speciality, will bring a much needed aspect to the team’s off ense. Lin will be a key player for Paly basketball this year, and for years to come.

very solid defensively and limit opponent’s scoring while scoring off of our defense,” Diepenbrock said. “On off ense we will look to get the ball in to our center, Dom Powell.”

Along with senior leaders Powell and Scott, the varsity squad will a look for contribution from underclassmen Joseph Lin and

“The underclassmen are a bunch of goofs off the court, but on the court they are great guys and are very

In preparation for the season, the team has been intensely conditioning since early October. Conditioning workouts consist mostly of running (both long distance and sprints) and help to support Paly’s strong defense by improving the players’ stamina. Though conditioning is not

tough along with getting us into ideal basketball shape,” Robinson said. Looking ahead to the season, the Vikings’ league championship hopes will be tested at home against Milpitas and Los Gatos High Schools on January 11 and February 6 respectively.

“We can defi nitely repeat as league champions. . .and

even win CCS”

- Head Coach Peter Diepenbrock

“ Our chemistry is great. We are all friends off the

court and some of us have been playing together for three years.”

- Junior Guard Nick Robinson

his year, the Palo Alto High School girls’ var-sity basketball team will start off the season

with an entirely new lineup. Key players were lost to gradu-ation, injury, and change of sport. With no go-to players, the girls will have to step up as a team in order to achieve their goal of winning leagues. Despite losing the entire starting lineup after last year’s successful season, the girls expect to hold their two-year running title as league champi-ons. With no returning starters, the girls plan on utilizing their strong team defense instead of a fl ashy off ense as the means to overcome their opposition. “We are more of a defensive team,” junior wing player Tay-lor Lovely said. “If we are not strong on defense we’re going to lose every game.” Although the team lost four of its fi ve starters, senior post player Nicole Behr will contin-ue leading the team through the season despite a yearlong injury. Over the summer, while participating in the exclusive


24 | The Viking


Palo Alto Girls’ BasketballA fresh group of girls’ look to lead the Lady Vikes to a victory at the league champs

By Lucy McComas• • • Photography by Alek Milovidov

T

2007-2008 SCHEDULE

AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) league, Behr tore her ACL, pre-venting her from playing dur-ing the upcoming Paly season. “We lost a lot of our team, but our biggest loss was Ni-cole’s ACL tear because she is going to be out for the rest of the season,” head coach Scott Peters said. As the season fi nished up last year the girls once again held the title as league cham-pions, qualifying for the Cen-tral Coast Section playoff s. The girls did not make it past the fi rst round. This year, the team’s am-bition and dreams have not changed very much. As the season quickly approaches, the girls are focusing on win-ning leagues and improving their game as individuals and as a whole. “This year we are all going to have to improve as individu-als and work together to be a strong team,” Lovely said. Losing the teammates from last year has also created op-portunities for many newcom-ers to the team. Two standout

January5 Wilcox8 Mountain View11 Milpitas15 Los Gatos22 Fremont25 Wilcox29 Mountain View

February1 Milpitas4 Gunn5 Los Gatos12 Fremont15 Gunn

JV Watch...Palo Alto girls’ JV basketball team has been working hard to prepare for the season. Coach Nic Cavigliano has been unable to create a solid starting lineup while the Varsity team is still being decided. Freshmen Mariah Philips and Katerina Peterson are bouncing in between the two teams. Despite the undecided teams, the outlook for the season is positive. “I think we will do pretty well this season no matter which freshmen are on the team,” sophomore Brianna Boyd said. The team will kick off the season with a game in three weeks.

TEAMWORK: During practice the girls’ basketball team works on skills in preparation for a game.

The Viking | 25

freshmen Mariah Philips and Katerina Peterson will be joining the varsity team this year, as well as sopho-more Lauren Ma, a new stu-dent from Castilleja. The newcomers hope to improve throughout the season and become part of the team. “Everyone is really nice and if you make a good play they are always en-couraging,” Philips said. “After a good play I will always get a high-fi ve.” Prominent leaders juniors Lovely, Olivia Garcia, Madison Hoff acker and senior Liz Slater, will lead the new-comers.

Along with these key players, Behr will play a huge part in leading the team to victory by acting as a support system for the newer girls who are na-ïve to life on the basketball team. “We have a young team and Nicole has been on varsity for the past three years so she has been through it all,” Peters said. “She knows what it’s like to play in games and will be able to help the younger girls throughout the sea-son.” With determination and guidance from Coach Peters and Behr, the team has the ability to reach their universal goal. “Winning leagues is an attainable goal,” Behr said. “We are going to have to work as a team in order to get it.” Although the team has been con-ditioning twice a week since the third week of school, their fi rst offi cial prac-tice was October 22, about four weeks prior to the start of the season. They

hope that practice and endurance will carry them through the sea-

son and help them against their biggest competition starting

with their fi rst league game on January 5 against Wil-

cox. “Wilcox is always at the top of the league, and Gunn is always the big-gest game so those two teams are defi nitely our biggest competition of the season,” Peters said. The girls are relying on their positive team chemistry and ability to play together to help them get through the toughest games with a win. “We’re going to have to play as a team and play hard all the way through the season,” Behr said. Along with the starters (who have yet to be decided) the team has a strong and willing group of substitutes whom will also be a big help in carrying out the goals for the season.

“We have a great group of girls most of whom have been part of the team for a couple years now,” junior Kirsten Atkinson said.

With a large amount of practice time under their belts, the Paly girls’ basketball team has determination and goals set in mind and are sure to bring an exciting year. “We may not win every game but we got a shot

and it will most defi nitely be an exciting year,” Hoff acke r sai d. <<<

Up and Coming

Liz Slater is a senior post player for the Palo Alto girls’ basketball team. She has been an avid basketball player since second grade, but did not become seriously involved until her freshmen year. Until this year, Slater also known as toothpick was a junior varsity player. “Toothpick”, stepped her game up this year and her precision a n d dedication was noticed by Coach Scott Peters. Slater has quickly risen from being a JV player to a varsity s t a r t e r. She is

pumped and ready for the s e a s o n to start. She can be found singing H a n n a h Montana songs every day before practice.

has a strong and willing group of substitutes whom will also be a big help in carrying out the goals for the season.

“We have a great group of girls most of whom have been part of the team for a couple years now,” junior Kirsten Atkinson said.

With a large amount of practice time under their belts, the Paly girls’ basketball team has determination and goals set in mind and are sure to bring an exciting year. “We may not win every game but we got a shot

and it will most defi nitely

dedication was noticed by Coach Scott Peters. Slater has quickly risen from being a JV

and ready for the s e a s o n to start. She can be found singing H a n n a h Montana songs every day before

“This year we are all going to have to

improve as individu-als and work together to be a strong team,”

Lovely said. “We may not win ev-ery game but we have a shot and it will most de� nitely be an excit-ing year,” Ho acker

said.

>>> Senior Post Player<<<LIZ SLATER


26 | The Viking


Palo Alto Boys’ WrestlingPaly boys set sights on winning CCS after an extensive off season of training.

By Oliver Davies• • • Photography by Alek Milovidov

S

2007-2008 SCHEDULE

weat already pours down the wrestlers’ faces, but the workout has just begun. Palo Alto High

School’s wrestling team motors around the track, preparing for the long season ahead. From the inexperienced freshmen to the seasoned veterans, every step they run is a step closer to their ultimate goal of placing fi rst in Central Coast Section. Paly’s wrestling team prepares for the 2007 wrestling season with intense workouts, designed to maximize the results the wrestlers will see this upcoming season. “We ramp up our lifting and we start eating the right food to burn off summer fat,” senior Cooper Newby said. Last season, standout captain John Hall led Paly to a tenth place fi nish in CCS. The Paly wrestling team worked its way up through the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, which is regarded as the hardest wrestling division in CCS. Competing against strong wrestling teams such as Los Gatos, Fremont and Gunn High Schools, Paly needed to be at

the top of its game to keep up with the opposition. Although many would consider Paly’s 2006 season accomplishment of sending ten guys to CCS to be an incredible achievement, head coach Dave Duran believes his wrestlers could have gone farther. “We left medals out on the mat; some people were losing in the fi rst round,” Duran said. Last year, John Hall infl uenced Paly’s wrestling team in a major way. A motivator, a coach and an athlete, Hall, who is wrestling at Boston University this fall, was a mentor to Paly wrestlers. Senior Ryan Drebin says he hopes to model himself after Hall, and hopes he can emulate his extraordinary leadership abilities. “Wrestling with John [Hall] in practice was brutal because he always gave it 100 percent,” Drebin said. “I want to try and keep that intensity during practice.” Drebin, in his fourth year wrestling for Paly, hopes to place top eight in the state

December6 St. Francis Dual Meet19 Los Gatos Dual Meet29 Sierra Nevada ClassicJanuary3 Los Gatos Meet10 at Fremont Dual Meet24 Gunn Dual Meet31 Los Altos Dual MeetFebruary6 at Milpitas Dual Meet

JV Watch... Palo Alto High School’s Junior Varsity wrestling team has high hopes for this season, maintaining a special focus on increas-ing wrestling experience. Palo Alto provides minimal opportunity for wrestling, and many Paly wrestlers have had no previous time on the mat before their high school career begins. Only two current Paly seniors, Kevin Hall and Ryan Drebin, wrestled before they came to Paly. Coach Dave Duran has three goals for his Junior Varsity squad this year, have fun, learn to be a better wrestler, and help contribute to the Varsity team.

CAPTAIN Senior Cooper Newby, an integral part of Pa-ly’s wrestling team, drills with another Paly student dur-ing preseason Paly Wrestling practice.

The Viking | 27

tournament in the 171-pound weight class. Paly also has high hopes for junior captain Patrick Sheehan, who narrowly missed advancing to the State Tournament in the 119-pound weight class last year. “Last year I came up just a bit short of my goal, but this year I plan to place in the top eight in the state,” Sheehan said. Sheehan will likely wrestle in the 145-pound weight class, a major step up from the 119-pound weight class he wrestled in last year. “Patrick pushes us in the room,” senior Eliot Wilson said. “He is a tough competitor and he motivates us to practice as hard as we can.” Duran and his team captains return this year with a squad they feel may fare better come time to compete in CCS. They are already a step ahead as many of the wrestlers have spent the whole off -season training with other clubs and teams. Senior Cooper Newby, a veteran

on the Paly wrestling team, attended an intensive wrestling camp at Duke University over the summer. Junior Noah Feldstein participated in a camp at the University of Michigan, and wrestled alongside wrestlers from Michigan’s Division I program. Along with various wrestling camps, many of Paly’s dedicated wrestlers participate in Stanford’s Wrestling Club, along with training with C.C. Fisher, a wrestler who at one point was ranked fourth best

in the world. Fisher is currently training for a spot in the 2008

Olympic games. “Coach Duran and Coach

Brewer have made a huge eff ort to give their team a

high level of exposure to wrestling,” Fisher said. “They have encouraged their wrestlers to go to camps and clinics. They are always accessible to their wrestlers if they have questions or need advice. All these things are key when making your program

stronger.” The extra time these wrestlers have put in to their sport does not go unnoticed, especially by the

coaches. “These boys know that

the more time they put in, the more success they will have on the mat,” Duran said. “That is what made Hall such a good wrestler, he loved those off -season

workouts.” Whether it is intense

preseason workouts, long hours or distances traveled

on the way to tournaments across the United States, the Paly

wrestling team remains a close group, with each member focused

on achieving success as a team. “I think they will surprise their league and section this upcoming season,” Fisher said. “The nucleus of their team has trained all summer long. They will build on some of the successes that they had last season.” Fisher is not alone in his optimism for this season’s results.

Both Sheehan and Drebin state that their goal is to win CCS.

“We’re looking to have a great season with a bunch of

dedicated wrestlers,” Drebin said.

Up andComing>>> 152 Pounds <<<

After placing in the Junior Varsity Leagues last year, Feldstein has accelerated his off season training, attending wrestling camps at both Stanford and the University of Michigan. Look for Feldstein to have a solid season on Varsity.

“ These boys know that the more time they put in, the more success they will have on the mat.”

- Coach Duran

this year with a squad they feel may fare better come time to compete in CCS. They are already a step ahead as many of the wrestlers have spent the whole off -season training with other

Senior Cooper Newby, a veteran

on the Paly wrestling team, attended an intensive wrestling camp at Duke University over the summer. Junior Noah Feldstein participated in a camp at the University of Michigan, and wrestled alongside wrestlers from Michigan’s Division I program. Along with various wrestling camps, many of Paly’s dedicated wrestlers participate in Stanford’s Wrestling Club, along with training with C.C. Fisher, a wrestler

stronger.” The extra time these wrestlers have put in to their sport does not go unnoticed, especially by the

coaches. “These boys know that

the more time they put in,

Whether it is intense preseason workouts, long

hours or distances traveled on the way to tournaments

across the United States, the Paly wrestling team remains a close

group, with each member focused on achieving success as a team.

“I think they will surprise their league and section this upcoming season,” Fisher said. “The nucleus of their team has trained all summer long. They will build on some of the successes that they had last season.” Fisher is not alone in his optimism for this season’s results.

Both Sheehan and Drebin state that their goal is to win CCS.

great season with a bunch of dedicated wrestlers,” Drebin said.

These boys know that the more time they put in, the more success

the mat.” - Coach Duran

Noah Feldstein

“Weramp up our lifting and start eating the right food to burn off summer fat.“

- Senior Cooper Newby


28 | The Viking


Palo Alto Boys’ SoccerAfter a disheartening loss in the CCS Championship game last year,

By Matthew Tracy• • • Photography by Alek Milovidov

A

2007-2008 SCHEDULENovember 20 at Sequoia24 Homestead Cup29 at WoodsideDecember3 at Menlo-Atherton6 Carlmont12 at Milpitas14 Los Altos19 at Los Gatos21 Santa Clara

January11 Gunn14 Saratoga16 Milpitas18 at Los Altos23 Los Gatos25 at Santa ClaraFebruary1 Gunn6 at Saratoga11 CCS begins

the Vikings return to action with a renewed sense of determination.

s the returning members of Palo Alto High School’s boys varsity soccer team suit up for the fi rst day of tryouts, distant memories of what could have been haunt their

every thought. Last season, the Vikings received a Central Coast Section (CCS) berth late in the season, entering as the 15th seed. They fi rst rallied to win two key games against Santa Cruz and Branham High Schools. Next they played the St. Francis Lancers, and with an early goal from forward Matt Staiger, the Vikings were able to hold off the fourth seeded team. Finally, the Vikings advanced to the CCS fi nals where they faced the Gonzalez High School Spartans. The Vikings fought hard, but their best eff orts were not enough to stop the relentless attack of the Spartans. “We fell short by one game last year,” junior utility player Greg Stewart said. “But we won’t let that happen again this year.”

Although the Vikings did not bring home the championship trophy, the team learned important lessons and gained irreplaceable experience.

“We defi nitely feel the need to prove that we should have been the champions last year,” Stewart said. With aspirations of another CCS fi nals appearance at the end of the 2007-2008 season, the team prepares for a long year of practices, various conditioning exercises and countless team bonding pasta feeds . However, with high expectations comes greater responsibility on the shoulders of each player. With numerous returning players that

saw extensive playing time in the 2006-2007 season, the team seems capable of overcoming a lot of adversity. “We have a more talented squad this year than any other I have ever been a part of,” senior midfi elder Ian Kelly said. Last year, the Vikings relied on their strong defense and frequently scored goals. “We lost Patrick Alonis, the SCVAL [Santa Clara Valley

The Lineup: The team lines up together as they look out onto the � eld before their � rst scrimmage game against home team Mountain View.

JV Watch...With an abundance of players trying out for both JV and varsity, JV coach Manny Henriquez has a solid group of talented players, many of whom have var-sity level talent and potential. Key players include freshman Tony Panayides, junior Alex Wein, and freshman John Richardson who look to contribute at all levels. Look for players to be shifting between the two teams during the year in order to maximize player potential and experience.

The Viking | 29

Up andComing

Beginning his second season of varsity soccer, sophomore midfi elder Eliot Sanborn has already shown that he can handle the pressure, gaining invaluable experience last year

both throughout the season as well as in CCS. Also, an incredibly talented gymnast, Sanborn has the incredible ability to “fl ip-throw” when he performs throw-in’s. This gives the team an excellent opportunity to score from any angle of the fi eld, and should help lead the Vikings back

>>> Midfi elder<<<

“We have a more talented

squad this year than any other

I have ever been a part of.”

-Senior midfi elder Ian Kelly

Athletic League] defensive player of the year, and Matt Staiger, SCVAL’s second leading scorer,” head coach Don Briggs said. With the loss of these two infl uential players, the Vikings will have to rely on a diff erent style of play. “Midfi eld is defi nitely our strongest area,” senior defender Zal Dordi said. “We defi nitely will be relying heavily on their ability to keep us in the game.” The talented midfi eld will be built around junior Adam Zernik and sophomore Jenner Fox, who were able to build chemistry and gain experience together last year while playing the same positions they are projected to play again this year. Along with a sound midfi eld, the Vikings also have a solid back line, including returning players junior John Christopherson and senior Bubba Paguirigan, as well as new additions sophomore Ryan

Holland and junior Kevin Ashworth. As a last line of defense, fi rst team all-league goal keeper Peter Johnson will return after a spectacular season in 2007. “We also have our keeper returning, one of the best in the league, and he should be able to keep us in any game,” Briggs said. In addition, the Vikings will feature sophomore Spencer Sims and returning senior Scott Ostrau at the forward position. Another highly infl uential addition to this year’s talented squad is junior striker Michael Hanabusa, as well as aforementioned Ashworth. The past

two years, both players’ club coach forbid them from playing for the Vikings, so Ashworth and Hanabusa will be making their Viking debuts

amidst considerable hype. “Bringing two big players to the team with great talent

will really pay off this season, and will give us an edge over the other teams in the league,” Christopherson said. Although the team looks stronger than in recent years, the loss of team captains Roy Newman and Alonis leaves the Vikings longing for leadership. The team needs to fi nd new members of the team that are willing to step up and take on the important role of team captain. A few frontrunners include Dordi and Kelly. “Both Ian and I are well aware that we can’t replace Patrick [Alonis],” Dordi said. “However, we both know that we have a strong team this year and we’re confi dent that we can bring the team back to the [CCS] fi nals.” As the Vikings head into their season, the experienced group looks forward to a productive season to help wipe out the sour taste of last year’s crushing CCS defeat. “We

“Midfi eld is defi nitely our

strongestarea. We defi nitely

will be relying heavily on

their ability to keep us in the

game,”

-senior defender Zal Dordi

have some new additions to the team, great returning players, as well as good team chemistry,” returning junior forward Jonathon Harrison said. “With these tools we are hoping to get the chance to go back to and win the CCS fi nals.” <<

Eliot Sanborn

fter an impressive 12-4-4 record last year, the Palo Alto girls’ soccer team is to start off this season fresh and confi dent. Though their regular season was quite successful last year, the team’s Central Coast Section

(CCS) career ended short-lived after an unexpected loss to Archbishop Mitty High School. Tryouts began November 1st with a two-mile time trial around the track. As players of all levels of fi tness and experience began the eight grueling laps, experienced runners separate themselves from the rest of the pack to impress head coach Ernesto Cruz. “It was a lot of running,” junior Jessie Duller said. “[It was] more than what most people were used to.” Varsity players are expected to run the two miles in around 14 minutes because speed is vital to an impressive team, according to Cruz. He expects players to improve their paces dramatically throughout the season to maintain stamina during regular season and championship games. Cruz began his soccer career in El Salvador where he


30 | The Viking


Palo Alto Girls’ SoccerReturning players and fresh faces look to lead Vikes to a possible CCS title

By Elizabeth Scott • • • Photography by Alek Milovidov and Austin Smith

A

2007-2008 SCHEDULE

was a star player on a second division team. This season will be his ninth year coaching high school soccer. Cruz originally coached at Woodside High School, but was hampered by its small program and decided to move to Palo Alto.

“I was at a meeting at Stanford and looked across the street to Paly,” Cruz said. “I knew that was where I wanted to work; I made it my goal to coach at such a great school.” Despite the bulk of underclassmen players on last year’s team, its loss of powerful seniors makes the future seem unsure. Eight of the stronger players including seniors Sarah Flamm, Allison Seedman and Chelsea Williams who brought the team to its CCS berth graduated last year. As a result the team almost lost its entire defensive line. “Chelsea [Williams] and Allison [Seedman] were both really strong,” junior Shaina Kaye said. “Allison was really speedy and Chelsea was a solid wing player.” Replacing these trusted players will be vital to making the team’s goals a reality. As new faces show up to tryouts, third year coach,

December5 at Saratoga6 Santa Clara12 Homestead14 at Los Altos19 Los Gatos21 at Mt. View

January11 Gunn14 at Monta Vista16 at Homestead18 Los Altos23 at Los Gatos25 Mt. View

JV Watch...The junior varsity team is coached by Oleg Volfovskiy, a

Gunn High School soccer alumni and experienced coach.The team focusses primarily on skill development, though many of the players have a lot of prior experience.

JV players must always be prepared to play for the varsity team if the need arises later in the season. Watch out for star players junior Sarah Nordman and sophomore captain Chel-sea Brunett.

“I am really looking forward to this season,” Brunett said. “We are ready to work hard and win.”

February1 at Gunn6 Monta Vista9 CCS Seeding Announced

CHIP SHOT: Elizabeth Petit kicks a ball into the air

The Viking | 31

Ernesto Cruz, feels optimistic. “There are lots of tall, strong freshmen,” Cruz said. “They have great skills. They [new freshmen] keep getting better every year. Many of the girls also play on private club teams year-round. Junior Sammi Bengston plays for a club team and also attended the USL (United Soccer Leagues) Olympic Development Player National Camp this year. “The training on Paly is less intense [than on club teams]” Bengston said. “Because of that, there is a bigger range of skills on the Paly team.” Though many of the returning juniors played on the varsity team last year, their improvement over the past months has been substantial. “The juniors from last year are bigger, stronger and smarter players,” Cruz said. “With the addition of new freshmen, the team will be even stronger.” The major goal for the team this season will be to remain healthy to claim victory in league championships and potentially CCS according to Cruz. Last year, many injuries prevented superior performance from the team as a whole. Kaye suff ered a devastating knee injury, which was treated with surgery and intense physical therapy. Other players dealt with chronic pains that aff ected their practice and performance. “We did well last year, but we still have a lot to improve on,” Kaye said. “Transitions on the fi eld from midfi eld to forward to scoring was sometimes slow and diffi cult.” The team also needs to improve its overall communication and leadership on the fi eld, according to senior Teresa Noyola. Cruz is poised and ready to tackle any faults from last year’s team. Many strong teams from past seasons have returned with even greater skills. Teams such as Los Altos, Monta Vista and Los Gatos have consistently threatened Paly’s standings in both regular and

post season games. “Los Altos is a very skillful and

well coached team,” Noyola said. “Monta Vista is tough, well-

organized and is a major threat in our league.”

Practices are scheduled Monday through Friday directly after school and include running, speed work, drills and scrimmaging. Last year, the team was able to practice at the Palo Alto Mayfi eld Soccer Complex. These newly constructed fi elds provided a better training facility than the Paly fi elds. Currently, Cruz and the team are working with Principal McEvoy to allow the team to practice there again since it is not on Paly campus. “I liked practicing at Mayfi eld,” Kaye said. “It really improved the play of the game.” In addition to practicing at Mayfi eld, all of the players fi nd it vital to continue the strong chemistry from last year’s team. “It is really important for us to bond as a team if we want to be successful,” Duller said. The major goal for the team is to improve from last year according to Kaye. They have consistently performed well during the normal season and qualifi ed to CCS, but this year they hope to go even further. “It would be great to win leagues, and maybe even CCS,” Duller said. “We always make it to CCS,” Kaye said. “I think a realistic goal would be to make it past the fi rst round, maybe win if we are really together and people step it up.” The team as a whole would like to be recognized by the local soccer community. “We want to establish ourselves as a major contender to win CCS and as a smart and skillful team that plays attractive soccer,” Noyola said. A talented mixture of seasoned players and new energy will bring the Lady Vikings to victory. Paly will be the team to watch out for as the girls tear up the fi eld and bring home a CCS title. <<<

Up andComingKelly Jenks >> Sophomore Forward<<

Jenks has been on Palo Alto High School’s varsity soccer team two years running. As a freshman, she contributed greatly to the team’s successful season. Now a sophomore, Jenks has gained experience, confi dence and skill. She is poised to lead this years team to victory in SCVAL League SCVAL League

Features

32 | The Viking

Inside the Locker Room: Halftime Huddles

On December fi fth’s game against Hillsdale High School, the Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity basketball team will have the choice of two outcomes by half time; they will either be jazzed up and lead-ing the fi rst game of the season, or in need of a word of wisdom from long time coach Peter Diepenbrock. Halftime speeches can make or break the game for most athletes. Diepenbrock has a long-standing tradi-tion of giving intense powerful halftime speeches.

“I always make sure the team is clear on what they are doing well, and what needs to be fi xed in the second half,” Diepenbrock said.

Halftime speeches are a big part of Paly sports, and play a key role in the outcome of the game. Fall athletes such as football players know the benefi ts of a powerful talk from the coaches.

“We always go over the things the coaches see in the other team, and what to look out for in the second half,” junior Sam Tompkins said. “Peter Hansen gets us

By John Christopherson Photography by Alek Milovidov

MotivationThe Locker Room

fi red up after each time we score. He helps us stay focused, and he is always into the game.”

Whether heading into halftime with a twenty point lead or a fi ve point defi cit, the coach’s speech usually determines the tempo brought into the second half.

Perfecting a halftime speech does not come naturally to everyone, so some coach’s resort to notes or just cannot fi nd it in themselves to motivate their players. Diepenbrock brings the same attitude into the locker room each game.

“Diepenbrock is the kind of coach that tells us what we need to work on and how to pick up our game play after each quar-ter,” starting point guard Nick Robinson said. The team hovers over Diepenbrock, trying to take in any piece of advice that might help them improve their game or re-focus their attention.

Making sure that the Vikings head out ready to play is the most important task, but depending on the opponent, Diepen-brock has different ways to prepare for

each game.Because Paly is one of the teams that

play in the (SCVAL) Santa Clara Valley Athletic League division, each year they play teams that are inferior to them in tal-ent. Diepenbrock makes sure to warn his team of possible let-downs and lets them know that they need to come out gunning each quarter of every game.

“If what I say isn’t enough to wake them up and we come out playing sloppy basketball, I use an early timeout to regain focus,” Diepenbrock said.In other cases when Paly goes head-to-head against an opponent with great players, Diepenbrock knows exactly what to do, and tells his boys how to stop them.

“[I tell] them that it is their senior year and their time to

play, not mine.”

-Coach Diepenbrock

maintains an honest relationship with the players and doesn’t hesitate to give harsh criticism.

“If someone is not having a good game, Diepenbrock will let you know,” Robinson said. “He will call you out in front of ev-erybody and list everything you did wrong that half.”

Like every good coach, Diepenbrock brings the same winning mindset to each game, but is able to do something many coaches cannot. He digs deep and give his players an extra push, which is often all the Vikings need to boost them on the victory. Boys varsity basketball look to build off last years season, and move on to the Cen-tral Coast Section fi nal. <<<

Features“If my speech doesn’t get the boys

ready for another half, I like to person-ally challenge them,” Diepenbrock said. “[I tell] them that it is their senior year and their time to play not mine.”

Going into one of the biggest games in Paly basketball history, Diepenbrock told his players what it was like to be an under-dog, and how to best prepare for the game of a lifetime. Against the power house Mater Dei, Paly’s team unity made up for their lack of talent. “Every year it seems like the boys become so close and having a tight team really pays off on the court,” Diepenbrock said.

Giving a meaningful pre-game speech

is not the only thing a coach does for his team. On game days, the varsity team has a half court shoot out during lunch while they go over their game plan for that nights game.

“In the locker room there is a pretty laid back attitude if we are playing well,” Robinson said “But its scary if we are not playing like we should be.”

Some coaches spend hours the night before trying to plan out one of the speech-es seen in movies, one that has you holding back tears or wanting to stand up and clap. However, Diepenbrock does not follow that path.

“I occasionally plan out my pre-game talk if it’s a big game like states, but will only think of the key points on the bus ride and do a brief run through in my head,” Diepenbrock said.

Coach Diepenbrock makes sure his players know the tradition of playing bas-ketball for a school like Paly, and the pride that comes along with it.

“I like to remind them that I have been coaching for twenty years, and will be coaching for many more,” Diepenbrock said. “So play each game like its your last, for the seniors it could be their last game of organized basketball.” Diepenbrock

“In the locker room there is a pretty laid back attitude if we are playing like we should be,” Robinson said.

State Championship

INSPIRATIONAL: The varsity basketball team � nishes their practice strong with a team break and a few words from coach Peter Diepenbrock.

The Final Say

Heard in the locker room “To give anything less then your best is to sacrifice a gift.”

-Steven Prefontaine

“The only place success comes before work, is in the dic-tionary.”

-Tom Brady

“Champions are made from something deep inside them, a desire, a dream, a vi-sion.”

- Muhammad Ali

Photography by Allen Au

The Viking | 33

Arsenal >>> The young Gunners have been absolutely astounding this year, maintaining an undefeated record in the English Premier League. The old generation of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Freddie Ljunberg has been replaced by new wonder-kids Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor. While many glorify their unblemished league mark, don’t forget their 3-0-1 record and 11-0 goal diff erential in Champions League. At this point, the North London club is one of the clear favorites for the Champions League and EPL titles.Real Madrid >>> Real has regained some of the magic from years past under the guidance of new coach Bernd Schuster. Star forwards Robinho and Ruud Van Nistelrooy have brought fl air to the Galacticos, pushing them to fi rst place in both La Liga of Spain and Group C of the Champions League.Manchester United >>> How can anyone doubt them? After a shaky start in the Premier-ship, Rooney, Ronaldo and the Red Devils have annihilated the competition. Since their 1-0 loss to Manchester City in August, United has outscored their opponents 22-5 in eleven Premier League matches.Bayern Munich >>> The Bavarian outfi t has emerged as the undisputed favorite for both the German Bundesliga and UEFA Cup. Striking partners Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni have netted 16 goals early on, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery providing superstar talent from the midfi eld.Inter Milan >>> The undefeated Nerazzurri sit atop the Italian Serie A, in addition to leading Group G of the Champions league. The Italian club has been helped by a breakout year from Swed-ish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and will look to retain their league crown and fi nally make it deep into the Champions League.

Barcelona >>> Henry, Messi, Ronaldinho and co. haven’t lit up the scoreboards yet. Though the squad possesses superstar talent and a beautiful playing style, the Catalonians have not dominated opponents like in years past. Atop Group E of the Champions League and at the front of the table in Spain is not bad, and it should not be long before Barcelona begins exploding past their opposition.

Rangers >>> After falling behind arch-rival Celtic the last few years, Rangers is back. Under new manager Walter Smith, the Glasgow club is just behind powerhouse Barcelona for fi rst in Group E of the Champions League, while turning Ibrox stadium into a fortress. Look for them to be a surprise in the Champions League and contend for the Scottish Premier League title.

Chelsea >>> No Mourinho. No problemo. After head coach Jose Mourinho was given the axe, new gaff er Avram Grant has led the team to Champions League victories over Valencia and German side Schalke, despite remaining outside the top two in the English Premier League.Olympique Lyon >>> What a diff erence a year makes. Twelve months ago the French side was manhandling opponents in the Champions League, emerging as a perennial favorite to capture the crown. Compare that to this year, where the squad has only six points to show from four Champi-ons League games. Despite the losses of star defender Eric Abidal to Barcelona and winger Florent Malouda to Chelsea, under the leadership of God-like captain Juninho the team should win another French Ligue title and still have a chance at making the Champions League knock-out round.

Shakhtar Donetsk >>> Who??? Yes, you read that correctly. The boys from Ukraine sit above both Celtic and Benfi ca in Champions League Group D, and losses to AC Milan are all that is keeping them from an undefeated record. Though virtually unknown in most soccer circles, Donetsk boast Mexican phenom Nery Castillo and Italian international Cristiano Lucarelli, and should have a good shot at making a shock inclusion in the Champions League knockout stage.

Pro Sports

34 | The Viking

UEFA Club Football Rankings

On The Fringe: Liverpool, Roma, Celtic, Villarreal, Juventus

Real Madrid >>>Real Madrid >>>

shot at making a shock inclusion in the Champions League knockout stage. shot at making a shock inclusion in the Champions League knockout stage.

123456789

10

BY ADAM ZERNIK & IAN KELLY

College Basketball

36 | The Viking

By Greg StewartPhotography by Alek MilovidovBy Greg StewartPhotography by Alek MilovidovPhotography by Alek Milovidov

1. University of North Carolina (2006 record: 28-6) – Junior center Tyler Hansbrough along with future hall of fame coach Roy Williams lead the charge for the Tar Heels who enter the season as the front runner for the national championship.

2. Memphis University (30-3) – The team’s newest addition, top recruit Derrick Rose, brings promise of a deeper run into March than the Tigers usually experience.

3. Kansas University (30-4) – Junior Brandon Rush and sophomore forward Darrel Arthur look to lead the Jayhawks back to the Final Four for the fi rst time since 2002.

4. Georgetown University (26-6) – Aside from its recent loss of Jeff Green to the NBA, the Hoyas will look to advance deep into March once again as they return with the exact same team that reached the Final Four a season ago.

5. University of Louisville (23-9) – Coach Rick Pitino along with sophomore guards Edgar Sosa and Earl Clark bring the Cardinals back into the college hoops spotlight.

6. UCLA (26-5)– Aaron Affl alo’s departure leaves the Bruins with a big hole to fi ll; incoming freshman phenomenon Kevin Love could be the man to do it.

7. Tennessee University (22-10) – The same team that nearly defeated Ohio State in last year’s tournament returns with all of its starters, including one of the nation’s best players, Chris Lofton.

8. Indiana University (21-11)– Pre-season All-American D.J. White and coach Sampson lead the way in the Hoosier’s quest to regain college basketball supremacy.

9. USC (23-11) – The O.J. Mayo era begins in Los Angeles in which the team looks to win the fi rst ever national championship for the men of Troy.

10. Washington State (25-7) – With four returning starters, including workhorse Robbie Cowgill, the Pac-10 runner-up looks to build off last year’s success under second-year coach Tony Bennett. Best of Rest11. Marquette University (24-9)12. Kentucky University (22-12)13. Duke University (22-11)14. Syracuse University (24-11)15. Michigan State (22-11)16. Kansas State (16-14)17. Texas University (24-9)

2007 Men’s College Basketball Preview

Stewart’s Season ScopeThis year’s college basketball season looks as if it could be simi-

lar to the 2006-2007 campaign in which there were few upsets and the powerhouses remained on top throughout the season and deep into March. The reason for major college basketball programs’ suc-cess was the recent rule implemented by the NBA stating that no one under the age of 19 would be eligible to enter the NBA draft. The top prospects who would have jumped to the NBA are now joining the nation’s top teams in order to gain proper exposure, leaving the mid-major programs out to dry. In the 2007 season, look for more of the same, as the University of North Carolina will cut down the nets in the championship game with a Final Four including Memphis, Tennessee and Indiana. <<<

Bold Final Four Predictions

Kirk Hinton : English teacher

Brendan Ruh : sophomore

Shaina Kaye : junior

Mikey Calonne : junior

Andrea Panayides : senior

1. UNC (Champion) 2. Kansas 3. USC 4. Washington St.

1. Washington St. (Champion) 2. Memphis 3. USC 4. UCLA

1. UCLA (Champion) 2. Duke 3. Kentucky 4. Xavier

1. UNC (Champion) 2. UCLA 3. Syracuse 4. Kentucky

1. Duke (Champion) 2. UCLA 3. USC 4. Marquette

18. Alabama University (20-12)19. Gonzaga University (20-12)20. Villanova University (22-12)21. Stanford University (18-13)22. University of Virginia (21-10)23. Georgia Tech (20-12)24. University of Oregon (29-8)25. Xavier University (25-9)

The Viking | 37

College Basketball

Although the Pac-10 is arguably the best conference in college basketball this season, the Stanford Cardinal is well-armed and looks to be competitive. Returning all fi ve starters from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, the Car-dinal expects to compete for the Pac-10 championship.

Stanford will need big numbers from juniors Anthony Goods (12.8 points per game in 2006) and small forward Lawrence Hill (15.7 ppg and 6.0 rebounds per game) if they hope to compete with second-ranked UCLA and the other four ranked teams in the Pac-10 this year.

Injuries plagued the Cardinal last year, as it lost Goods for multiple games with a knee injury and seven-foot sophomore center Brook Lopez with a back injury for nine games. Academic ineligibility has also become a ma-jor issue for the Cardinal. Lopez is scheduled to miss all of Stanford’s non-conference games due to failing grades. This absence will be sorely missed. Lopez averaged 12.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a freshman, on his way to being nominated to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team.

The main question that has yet to be answered about Stanford this season is whether or not a solid point guard will step up to lead the team. Unfortunately, that posi-tion hurt Stanford last year, as starting point guard Mitch Johnson was often in foul trouble early and back up An-thony Goods was ill-suited for the position.

Without a solid guard, Stanford will fi nish in the low-er half of the conference, as other ranked Pac-10 teams have experienced point guards, (Darren Collison at UCLA, Tajuan Porter at Oregon), ready to lead their teams.

Junior transfer Drew Schiller is expected to relieve some of the pressure from Johnson. Schiller, who played for USF two years ago (due to NCAA rules, transfers must sit out an entire year before being eligible to play for their new college), averaged 4.4 points per game in 16 minutes as a freshman.

Stanford opened up its season at home against Har-vard, crushing the Crimson 111-56. The Cardinal also handled business against Northwestern State, 97-58 and UCSB 67-48.

On their fi rst road trip of the season, Stanford opened strong against Northwestern, winning comfortably, 71-60, improving their record to 4-0. Stanford was upset by the Siena Saints two days later, falling to 4-1. The Cardinal returns for another three-game homestand, starting with Yale on Nov. 20.

Stanford opens up their Pac-10 conference play at home against second-ranked UCLA January 3. <<<

2007-2008 Stanford Basketball PreviewBy Adam FurlongPhoto Illustration by Noah SneiderBy Adam FurlongPhoto Illustration by Noah Sneider

You guys return basically your whole team from last year, what are your expectations for this season? How far do you think this team can go?Our expectations are always to win the next game, and as long as we do that, then we will meet our goals of winning a Pac-10 championship fi rst.

What do you think separates you [Stanford] from other Pac-10 teams? What’s going to be the key aspect for you guys to succeed?Our strengths lie within every player doing his job to help the team. Anyone can lead us in scoring, rebounding, and effort. I feel like we are very balanced but we’re especially strong inside.

What kinds of things did you (yourself and the team) focus on during the off-season?Taking care of the ball and playing within ourselves. Coach wants us to become better players and we all worked harder each day in the summer to get better at everything.

You guys look like you’ve gelled really well in the fi rst few games this year, how is the chemistry on this team? Has it helped to have the same core group of guys back from last year?Having us all together helps but we are expected to play to an elite level, so it shouldn’t matter much if we played with people we didn’t know too well. Once we’ve been through a certain number of games and practices, everyone knows what to do.

How are you guys going to compensate for brook’s absence in the pre-season? Who’s going to have to come up big?Everyone steps us and plays hard. That shouldn’t change when he comes back either, because our team is only as strong as it’s weakest link.

How did the fi rst round loss you Louisville affect your mindset and preparation for this year? Do you feel any sense of redemption?We don’t dwell too much on the past, especially last year, but we know what happened and why. We have to play better than that today if we plan on becoming a better team tomorrow. That’s our mindset. Redemption doesn’t exist, just an urge to beat anyone who steps on the fl oor with us the next game. ~ Peter Johnson

Player ChatReturning All Pac-10 forward junior Lawrence Hill gives us the scoop on the team this year...

with Lawrence Hill

Features

38 | The Viking

Ariel Ajagu started on the varsity volleyball team at Paly both her junior and senior year, leading the team to a De Anza league championship in 2006. Ajagu was awarded with fi rst team all league player honors. Now, she plays middle blocker for the Division III UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. Ajagu fi nished the season with 246 kills and six assists and the team fi nished with a record of 14-18.

ARIEL AJAGUUC Santa Cruz >>> Volleyball

Fred Koloto played both off ensive guard and defensive tackle for the Paly varsity football team last year. He was a three-year varsity starter and was selected as the most valuable lineman of the SCVAL De Anza league both his junior and senior year. This year, Koloto is an off ensive guard at San Jose State University. Koloto has played in nine games this season and started in six. The Spartans have a record of four and six with two games left.

FRED KOLOTOSan Jose State University >>> Football

JOHN HALLBoston University >>> Wrestling

ERICA GAGEUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks >>> Volleyball

BUDDY BENADERETDartmouth >>> Football

Last year, Hall was a force in the 189-pound weight class. He began wrestling his freshman year of high school and since then has stuck with it. Senior year, Hall was ranked number one in CCS. He also became the third Paly wrestler ever to make it to the state fi nals , and won a silver medal. This year, Hall is wrestling in the 197-pound weight class at Boston University. He placed fourth at the Keystone Classic, their fi rst tournament of the season (November 18-19). “I am look-ing forward to the chance to compete at the highest level of collegiate style wrestling in the country and the chance to be a part of a team with people that have the same passion for wrestling as I do,” Hall said.

Buddy Benaderet played defensive end and tight end at Paly last year and was chosen defensive line MVP of the SCVAL De Anza Division. Throughout the 2006 season Benaderet had seven sacks, two blocked fi eld goals, one blocked punt, three fumble recoveries and 16 catches for 302 yards. This year, Benaderet plays defensive end at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League team. As a young player, Benaderet is defensive end on the JV team and has made a total of 27 tackles this season.

Erica Gage was middle blocker for the Paly varsity volleyball team and captain as a senior. The team had a record of nine wins and three losses. They fi nished the season as the De Anza Division Champions. This year, Gage plays middle blocker for University of Alaska Fairbanks, a Division II team. They fi nished this year’s season with a record of 10-16 and Gage had an excellent year with 159 kills and eight assists.

Photo Courtesy of UC Santa Cruz

Photo Courtesy of San Jose State

Photo Courtesy of Boston Univ.

Photo Courtesy of Alaska Fairbanks

Photo Courtesy of Dartmouth

By OliviaGarcia

IAS is proud to support The Viking!

IAS is proud to support The Viking!

Wrap Up

42 | The Viking

BY IAN KELLY Photography by Alek Milovidov

Football

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS The Vikings line up on o� ense against the Los Altos Eagles on November 2. The squad is deep in the playo� hunt once again and will look to capture yet another CCS crown.

At the beginning of the year, Palo Alto High School varsity football coach Earl Hansen said that September would be the Vi-kings’ hardest stretch of the season. He was right.

After struggling through the beginning of autumn with inconsis-tent play illustrated by thrashings at the hands of Oak Grove and Los Gatos, the Vikings fi nished their tough schedule magnifi -cently.

A three seed in the large school division of the Central Coast Section playoff s, the team will look to win another CCS title. The team blew out El Camino 38-0 in the fi rst round before narrowly defeating North Salinas 7-0 in the semifi nals. Both victories set the Vikings up for a daunting champion-ship battle against Menlo-Atherton.

“We played the best teams, so no one can complain about our schedule,” Hansen said. “I think we are better than we were at the beginning of the year.”

After Los Gatos dominated the Vikings 42-7 in their fourth game, Hansen’s squad swept the rest of its De Anza Division games by defeating Mountain View, Milpitas, Wilcox, Santa Clara

and Los Altos to fi nish as a runner-up in the De Anza Division.To fi nish things off , the Vikes crushed a not-so-spectacular Gunn squad 49-0 in its season fi nale.

“Coming off our success last year, there was a lot of pressure on us as a team,” senior lineman Ryan Drebin said. “We let our-selves down in our Oak Grove and Los Gatos losses, but I think that they were reality checks for us in that we realized that were

going to have to work hard this season and would not be able to just coast through it.”

Despite failing to receive a berth in the elite Open Division, the Vikings third seed in the Large School Division puts them in contention for another CCS title.

“It’s going to be a tough road for us,” Hansen said. “In order [for us to be successful] we are going to have to stay healthy, which has been a real is-sue this year.”

The Vikings stumbled through a diffi cult open-ing four game stretch, obliterating any hope they had of returning to the state championship game. However, accord-ing to many team mem-bers the team improved a lot.

“Our off ensive line and Will Brandin got a lot better,” senior linebacker and tight end Jordan Jeff erson said.

Drebin agrees with his teammate, noting the line’s steady improvement over the season.

“Coming in with a completely new line was rough, Drebin said. “We had a little bit of a rocky start, but now we’ve really started to work well together. Our communication has especial-ly improved and that’s key for a successful blocking scheme.”

As expected, the Vikings were led off ensively by senior wide receiver Mike Scott, who led the team with thirty-eight re-ceptions for 671 yards, good for ten touchdowns. In addition, senior fullback Sione Mataele scored ten touchdowns and aver-aged 4.42 yards per carry. However, many would say the team’s defense was the strength of the team. The secondary of Scott and juniors Will Holder, Harry Woolson and Paul Brown com-bined for sixteen interceptions over the course of the season, and senior linebackers James McCollough, Jordan Jeff erson, Donnie Salas and Kevin Johnson powered a unit that dominat-ed opponents.

Despite the overwhelming expectations heading into the season, the Vikings still managed to pull out a good season and emerge as a favorite for another CCS title.

“It has been a successful season,” Drebin said. “We were not really fi ring on all cylinders at the beginning of the season, but now we have really become a unifi ed team.” <<<

“We played the best teams, so no one can complain about our schedule,” Hansen said. “I think we are better than we were at the

beginning of the year.”

Boys’ Cross CountryWrap Up

For the second time in three years, the Palo Alto High School’s boys’ varsity cross country team fought its way to victory at leagues, bringing the season to an impressive fi nish. Topping records from 1991, the 2007 cross country season will be remembered as one of the most successful in Paly history, with a tenth place fi nish in the Stanford Invitational and a crushing defeat over rival Gunn High School. “This season has been really great, and we have had lots of successes,” head coach Jeff Billing said. “Winning leagues was defi nitely one of the highlights.” The varsity boys delivered a strong performance at the Crystal Springs course for the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League championships, with sophomore Phillip MacQuitty fi nishing fi rst with a record breaking time of 15 minutes and 12 seconds on the 2.95 mile course. All of the varsity boys fought their way to the fi nish line in under 17 minutes. “We got a great surprise in the beginning of the season with all the great newcomers,” Billing said. “We have a lot of new talent.” This season was one like no other, as the team received the opportunity to travel to Hawaii for the Punahou Invitational. The boy’s varsity team swept up an easy victory, with fi ve Paly runners placing in the top ten. “We were defi nitely favored entering into the meet,” senior co-captain Sam Jones said. “Just looking at times we defi nitely had the advantage over the other teams competing out there.” Those who had the opportunity to go, claim that the experience was invaluable. The coaches agree that it was a meet to remember. “Hawaii was defi nitely a high point of the season, “ Billing said. “It was just a great experience.” The teams’ victory in Hawaii set the tone for the remainder of the season and the team achieved some of it’s all time goals; one of which was to beat rival varsity team Gunn on their own turf.

The city meet at Gunn high school off ered this opportunity. “Beating Gunn was awesome,” senior co-captain Rajan Narang said. “It proved we are just better.” There is no doubt that all of the Paly runners were proud of their performances. At the Gunn meet, MacQuitty ran the third

fastest time ever on the course, averaging 4:54 per mile in the 2.18 mile race. Junior Charlie Avis also set a record for the course, running the sixteenth fastest time of 11:01. Coach Billing claims that the seniors play a prime role in leading the team. “We just have a great group of seniors this year,” Billing said. “I have worked with them for four years, and they have just made it a great season.”The Central Coast Sectional meet was a chance for the top seven Paly runners to prove themselves. However, when three of the varsity runners fell victims to the fl u, alternates Rajan Narang, Jeremy Jacob, and Brian Hsueh stepped up to the plate. “Our original plan was to run the same people we had at leagues but then three of us fell sick,” Jones said. “ We basically told the guys [alternates] to go out

there and run the best they could.” Though Paly did not earn enough points to qualify for states as a team, individuals MacQuitty and Avis will both be competing in the state meet. MacQuitty came in fi rst place at the CCS meet at Crystal Springs, covering the 2.95 mile course in 15:26, and Avis fi nished at ninth place with a time of 15:47. “I am really happy to be moving on to state,’ MacQuitty said. “I am even more excited that Charlie [Avis] is coming with me.” Seniors Rajan Narang, Julius Berezin, Gilbert Choi and Jeremy Jacob also participated in the CCS meet, and their phenomenal performances demonstrated the improvement they achieved over the course of the season. “We just went out there and gave it our best,” Narang said. “I’m really proud of how the team performed.” <<<

BY AHNA R AO Photography by Alek Milovidov

LEADING THE PACK junior Charlie Avis speeds ahead of opponents in a � at stretch of the City Championship meet at Gunn High School, Oct. 26.

The Viking | 43

Wrap Up

44 | The Viking

Girls’ Cross CountryDespite struggling early this year, the

girl’s varsity cross country team rallied marvelously, fi nishing third in leagues and earned themselves a spot in CCS.

The League Championship meet was held at Crystal Springs October 30. Mia Lattanzi fi nished fi rst for the Lady Vikings, posting an impressive 19:21 over the 2.95 mile course. Seniors Leah Gaeta and Gil-lian Lui came second and third, with times of 20:02 and 20:03, respectively.

Junior Elizabeth Scott came in next at 20:31, followed by sophomores Kathleen Higgins at 20:32, Regina Wang at 20:35 and senior Ariana Hoyt at 22:25.

At the start of the season, the Lady Vikings set their expectations high. They wanted to run well at leagues and CCS.

“We by far exceeded our previous ex-pectations,” Lattanzi said. “Especially with our great showing at leagues.”

Improving dramatically from the be-ginning of the season, the Lady Vikings

dropped their times across the board.“There are so many improved run-

ners this season,” Leah Gaeta said. “I think all of the inexperienced runners have improved drastically and have learned to love running even more.”

Several of the runners who ran at Crystal Springs posted personal re-cord times, showing a major improve-ment, especially on such a challenging course.

“I really liked the Crystal Springs course,” Lattanzi said. “Even though it was hilly, it did not feel like it was that long.”

The CCS meet, also held at Crystal Springs, gave the Vikings an advantage since they had raced there only one week prior.

“I looked forward to having CCS at Crystal Springs because the team had gotten used to running on the course and had learned how to handle it,” Lat-tanzi said.

The Lady Vikings suited up for the CCS meet on November 10. Despite the light rain, the team ran well. Lat-tanzi fi nished with a team-best time of

18:55 followed by Lui at 20:03. Elizabeth Scott placed third for the Vikings, posting a time of 20:11. Wang and Higgins came in together just behind Scott at 20:14.

The girl’s cross country team rebound-ed well from a disappointing start to their season. Despite a 9th place fi nish in CCS, the team looks optimistically towards next season. Even graduating members of the team agreed.

“[The runners] are going to be great next year as they get older and stronger,” Gaeta said. <<<

CCS Times at Crystal Springs (2.95 miles)1. Mia Lattanzi - 18:552. Gillian Lui - 20:033. Elizabeth Scott - 20:114. Regina Wang - 20:145. Kathleen Higgins - 20:14

FOOTFIRE Senior Mia Lattanzi ran her way to 11th place overall in CCS.

By Adam FurlongPhotography by Alek MilovidovBy Adam Furlong

Despite struggling early this year, the

Photography by Alek Milovidov

DETERMINATION Junior Elizabeth Scott posted an impressive time.

n what was dubbed by many to be a “rebuilding year”, the girls on the Palo Alto High School varsity volleyball team were not ready to accept the mediocrity that was expected

of them. With previously unheard of players stepping into big-time roles, the Lady Vikings defi ed all odds by winning league and advancing in CCS before being conquered by the mighty Lanc-ers of St. Francis. “Nobody expected much of us this year, but with all the young players showing what they could do along with the depth of tal-ent, everybody was forced to play to best of their ability to get playing time,” senior Abbie Havern said. “I think that’s what really drove us to success.” The team was able to accomplish most of head coach Dave Winn’s preseason goals, one of which was improving the most of any team in CCS. After a shaky preseason, the girls started gain-ing momentum and never looked back. “We are defi nitely on the right path to being the most im-proved [team in CCS],” Winn said. “At the beginning of the sea-son, other coaches were saying there was no way we could make up for the six seniors we lost.” Going into the season, the team knew that winning league would be no easy feat considering the strength of their division-al opponents Homestead and Los Gatos High Schools. The race for fi rst place was going to be tight throughout the course of the season, and the Vikings knew it would take something extra to overcome the challenge and become league champs. The Vikings got off to a solid start, disposing of Los Altos 3-0 in their league opener. Since Winn’s departure from Los Altos two years ago, victory against them has always been sweet.

The Viking | 45

Wrap Up

Girls’ Volleyball Wrap Up

The wins continued to pour on against Los Gatos (3-1), Gunn (3-0), Saratoga (3-2) and Mountain View (3-2), and after fi ve games, the team was a perfect 5-0 in league competition and in an ideal position for their showdown with Homestead, which was also fl awless through fi ve. When game time came, the team did not play to its full capability, and Paly was handed its fi rst loss in league. Just two days later, spirits were further dampened as the girls were dealt another defeat at the hand of Los Gatos.

However, according to Winn, the losses also served as a wake up call for the Vikings, who no longer controlled their own destiny and would have to depend on other teams to take down the big guns. “[After the two losses,] there was a renewed dedication in practice,” Winn said. “Everyone stepped up [in order] to not rely on the go-to players.” At a pressing time in the season, it was time for fi rst year impact players such as junior Daniella Florant, sophomore Marissa Florant, and most notably junior Ally Whitson to take their games up a notch. Whitson, an outside hitter, racked up a team leading 394 kills on the year, surpassing even senior Continued on page 51

BY ADAM ZERNIK Photography by Michela Fossati Bellani

“At the beginning of the season, other coaches were saying there was no way we could make up for the six seniors we lost.”

DIGGING DEEP Senior Euna Oh, right, concentrates intensely during Paly’s 3-0 victory against Lynbrook in the opening round of CCS. The Lady Vikes fell 3-0 to St. Francis in the quarter� nal match, a disappointing end to an overall successful season.

I

The Palo Alto High School boy’s varsity water polo regular season ended with a phenomenal victory against rival Los Gatos High School in the 9-2 victory. The Vikings’ hopes remained high as they entered the post-season; the state tournament and Central Coast Section games. “The team has just gotten better and better,” head coach Reed Particelli said. “ I am happy with how things have gone.” With the seniors leading the way, the Vikings demolished all of their opponents claiming their regular season title with a 6-0 league record. Though they remained undefeated in leagues, the team suff ered an embarrassing loss to Saint Francis High School in the Saint Francis Invitational. On November 3, the team played Los Altos and sacrifi ced the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League championship title, but managed to place a close second. The Vikings continued the fi ght all the way through overtime, only to lose by one goal. “The loss to Los Altos was defi nitely [a low point],” Particelli said. “The boys really wanted that one.” Senior co-captains Geng Wang and Michael Fortune used their game experience to perform their best and unite the team. Their talent and eff ort did not go by unnoticed by teammates. “The strength of the team comes from the strong defense and

goalie,” junior Tim Wenzlau said. “Seniors are essentially our entire line up.” The team entered the state tournament with high hopes, but lost to both Bellarmine and Sacred Heart High Schools. The team emerged disappointed from the tournament, but their second place fi nish in leagues still allowed them the chance to win the Central Coast Section tournament. “We just started out slow in the game [against Sacred Heart] ,“

Fortune said. “We were losing by a lot at the half and couldn’t come back.” “However in the CCS tournament, the team progressed to the semifi nals snatching away a close victory from third ranked Leland High School. In the heated match, Wang forced six ejections and slammed four goals into the net.

“It was a pretty great win,” Particelli said. “The guys showed that they could sustain play throughout the game.” With a victory in the semifi nals, the Vikings moved on to the CCS fi nals on Saturday, November 17th. Their defensive fi ght lasted throughout the game but they failed to seal the victory with a fi nal score of 3-2 Menlo Atherton. “It is a bit disappointing [loss in CCS fi nals],” Fortune said. “If you look at our performance last year compared to this year it is a great improvement, so that is one way to look at it.” <<<

Wrap Up

46 | The Viking

Boys’ Water Polo

BY AHNA R AO Photography by Allen Au

ADRENALINE RUSHED as senior Neil Ketchum attempts to shoot during the intense CCS � nals game against Menlo Atherton on Saturday November 17. The Vikings were defeated 3-2, giving Menlo Atherton the CCS title.

“The team has just gotten better and better.”

- Coach Reid Particelli

Wrap Up

By Ben AfsharPhotography by Robert DrebinBy Ben AfsharPhotography by Robert Drebin

Girls’ Water Polo

The Girl’s Water Polo team’s season ended after a disheartening defeat in the quarterfi nals of Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs. Finishing with a 17-10 record, the girls were less than thrilled with their post-season performance. The team headed into the post-season with a 4-1 record that in-cluded victories Gunn, Los Gatos, Moun-tain View and Saratoga. “The entire post-season we were work-ing out the bracket with the expectation that we would make it to at least the semi-fi nals, if not the fi nals,” senior co-captain Hallie Kennan said. “It’s frustrating to know that teams we had beaten made it farther than we did.” With only one regular-season loss to pe-rennial powerhouse Los Altos, the squad was optimistic heading into the league tour-nament. After a fi rst-round bye, the girls played Los Gatos for a spot in the league championship game. Having already beaten the Wildcats by six in the regular season the Lady Vikes went into the game a bit com-placent.

“We went into the game with the idea that we did not really have to play our best in the fi rst half,” Kennan said. “We were go-ing to rely on the second half like we had in the fi rst game.” Unfortunately for Paly, the Wildcats played strongly in both halves, forcing the Lady Vikes to attempt to overcome a fi ve-goal defi cit in the fourth quarter. Although they staged a hard-fought fourth quarter, Los Gatos left with the win with a score of 10-9. The girls fi nished the tournament in third place, beating Mountain View in the conso-lation game. Although upset and dissatisfi ed with the outcome of the tournament, the girls were determined to use their disappointment as motivation for success in the CCS tourna-ment. “We were really excited for CCS,” Ken-nan said. “The week of practice leading up to our game saw the entire team focused and working hard.” Seeded fourth and slotted to play the winner of a Leland-Independence match up, the girls went into yet another tournament with a fi rst-game bye. After Leland toppled

Independence, the Lady Vikes prepared to face Leland for the fi rst time this sea-son. “We did not know what to expect from Leland,” Kennan said. “We came into the game knowing that we were go-ing to have to work.” And work they did, keeping the game close as neither team never had a lead more than one. Both sides traded goal for goal over the entirety of the game. The nerve-wracking match ended with Leland defeating the Lady Vikes 10-9. “The game just happened to end while they were up a point,” Kennan said. “It could have gone either way, we had some outstanding opportunities in the fourth quarter that we failed to capitalize on.” While the season did not end on the note that the team was hoping for, over-all the Lady Vikes were happy with this season. “The thing we will all take away from this season is not the fi nal score of our post-season games,” Kennan said. “What we will truly remember are the team din-ners, dodgeball games and interactions between our teammates.” <<<

A disappointing � nish follows early success as the season abruptly ends with a third place � nish in league and a 17-10 record.

STRUGGLING LATE After a strong regular-season start, led by senior driver Lizzie Abbott (left) and senior goalie Talia Kori (right) the Lady Vikes began to falter in the post-season, losing to Los Gatos, later placing third overall in leagues.

The Viking | 47

Wrap Up

48 | The Viking

Girls’ Tennis

BY GREG STE WART Photography by Allen Au

COACHING Andy Harader coached the Paly girl’s tennis team to a 21-0 record, El Camino Division Crown as well as a birth in the CCS playo� s in which the Vikings were bounced in the second round by a feisty Monta Vista team.

The Palo Alto High School girls’ varsity team fi nished the 2007 regular season with a perfect record, 21-0, despite losing in the postseason.

“The team was in a much more competitive mode this year,” head coach Andy Harader said. “It was much more capable of winning than last year’s squad.”

The team played well right out of the gate as it toppled upper division foe Los Altos in one of the most anticipated matches of the season. The victory was key for the Vikings, who had not beaten Los Altos in many years.

“The toughest match was defi nitely against Los Altos,” sophomore Gracie Dulik said. “It was our fi rst match as a team. Since we had so many new people on the team we were just starting to get a feel for working together.”

It was after the match against Los Altos that coach Harader knew he had a great team.

“When I looked into the players’ eyes at the beginning of some third setters and I told the girls that the pressure was on and that we needed these individual matches to win the team match, they confi dently took care of business without hesitation,” Harader said.

Last year, the team held several leads going into the later matches, only to see those leads disappear, eventually leading to losses. However, the 2007 squad was able to handle pressure late in matches, resulting in a 21-win season, which tripled last year’s win total.

Junior Vrinda Khana credited much of the season’s success to the fact everyone on the team was dedicated to winning. The Vikings had a very consistent season with little competition in the El Camino Division. The Vikings only ran into stiff competition a few times throughout the season in matches against Lynbrook and Menlo-Atherton.

Contributions came from every player throughout the season.

“Every player was instrumental in our success”, Harader said. “There is no ‘I’ in team.”

With an El Camino Division title in their hand, the Vikings entered the CCS with an at-large bid in which they faced Stevenson High School in the fi rst round. The Vikings easily defeated the Pirates 5-2, sending them to the second round for a date against top seeded powerhouse Monta Vista. The magical ride of the 2007

came to disappointing, yet satisfactory end. Players were upset to see the season come to a close, yet proud of their quick turnaround.

The Vikings will return next year with the entire roster still intact, minus senior Shireen Tofi g. Coach Harader believes that they will only get better because most of the players will continue to focus on tennis during the off -season.

“There is no doubt in my mind, we should be one of the top teams next year,” Harader said.

Look for the Vikings to return to the CCS next year looking for some hardware to bring home. <<<

“Every player was instrumental in our success”

- Coach Andy Harader

The Viking | 49

College Football

Stanford Football: A Fan’s Point of View

he 2006 Stanford football team did everything in its power to make the opening of the new 50,000 seat sta-

Injuries to starting wide-outs Evan Moore and Mark Bradford did not help clog the holes either. Besides the signing of new head coach, Jim Harbaugh, I saw no reason to expect any im-provement this year. As the team lost its starting quarterback and several key defensive players,

Tdium a disappointment. Finishing an abysmal 1-11, Stanford’s worst season in 45 years, the Cardinal were the team that most opponents looked forward to playing. Coming from a Stanford fan like myself, we were better suited to play Division II foot-ball last season. Some of that was Walt Harris’s coaching, whose play calling was so unimaginative a kid in middle school could have produced a simi-lar game plan. However, much of the problem laid with the players. Harris’s recruiting was marginal as well, as the team was obviously overmatched in skill, resulting in eight losses by at least 20 points or more. The frustrating part was that we had play-ers whose talent was evident. Trent Edwards, the Los Gatos High School star and quarter-back for the Buff alo Bills, knew how to play football. The only problem was that his off ensive line was as porous as swiss cheese, leaving him on his butt more often than on his feet.

I fi gured that my last year to watch Stanford football in person would turn out to be just like the previous year - a waste. However, I was pleased to see the passion that Har-baugh brought to the team. Obviously unaff ected by the 1-11 embarrassment that had occurred on The Farm the year before, he stepped right in and instilled confi dence. Although his track re-cord was good, winning two straight Division II champion-ships at the University of San Diego, I was admittedly skep-tical about how well he would make the transition to Division I football. I could not foresee Stan-ford winning more than two or three games this year. Har-baugh, because of his late ar-rival on The Farm, was unable to recruit any key players this year. Ten games into the 2007 season, Stanford has three wins, against San Jose State,

BY ADAM FURLONG Photography by Alek Milovidov

College Football

50 | The Viking

USC, and Arizona, accumulat-ing a 3-7 record. Most of this was without running back Toby Gerhart, who has been out of the past eight games. Gerhart hurt his knee in the win against San Jose State. There are two rivalry games every year for Stan-ford: Cal and USC. If you win, many of your team’s problems are forgiven. However, if you lose them, the team’s prob-lems worsen exponentially. I will always remember where I was when Stanford upset USC, 24-23, ending USC’s 35-game home win-ning streak - at work. But I still get goose bumps when I see our last drive on ESPN, with backup quarterback Tavita Pritchard converting a fourth and 20 and fourth and 9 to win the game. As troubled as our re-cent past has been, it has been comforting, as always, to watch the Bears’ fall from grace. With all of the upsets

that have plagued college football this season, Cal was not only upset once, but twice in a row, fi rst by Oregon State, then UCLA. Add in a road loss to Arizona State, add another against USC at home and one more at Washington, and Cal’s

season has quickly gone south. As Stanford progresses through this season, I can only hope that the going gets easi-er. The drastic turn-around, go-ing from one win, to hopefully four, is incredible. Hopefully in the future, up-

sets of the number 1 ranked team won ’t be so much of an upset. Hopefully, in the future, talented recruits will come to Stanford and help put the program on the map. Hope-fully. <<<

The Viking | 51

Wrap UpContinued from page 45captain and star player Hillary Ford, who ended with 327. “I’ve been playing with Ally [Whitson] since sixth grade vol-leyball at Jordan [Middle School],” junior Eliza Stevens said. “She has improved so much since then it is ridiculous, and to think that she is now a fi rst team all-league player is incredible. Her journey is amazing.” The strong-willed team, which always remained vocal and supportive both on and off the court, was not ready to give in just yet. In the next fi ve games, the girls went undefeated and capped off the season with an electrifying fi ve game match against Homestead to win the league championship. “Our coach almost cried,” junior Daniella Florant said. “It was crazy.” The next step for the girls was CCS, where they were seed-ed sixth and were matched up against undefeated Lynbrook in the opening round. Well-prepared for the encounter, Paly dominated the match from beginning to end and won in straight games, never allowing Lynbrook to come close. In the CCS Quarterfi nal match, the underdog Lady Vikings’ season was brought to a close by a talented St. Francis squad, which defeated Paly 3-0. Despite the loss to St. Francis, the Vikings have reason to re-main hopeful with their abundance of young talent, and have a positive outlook toward next season. “People did not expect anything from us this year, and look what we were able to do,” sophomore Marissa Florant said. “Even though we are losing so many key players, I am expecting no less than to win league again next year.” <<<

Continued from page 15

CCS quarter fi nals, when we had the potential to go all the way. Our whole team was on the verge of, or in tears. Since our team consisted of 11 seniors, it was a bitter end to a sweet three years together. Talia and I cried together. Goalies often take losses much harder, feeling an added responsibility

for losing a game. When the defense collapses and the other team shoots, we are expected to be there. Talia and I joked that it would have been great if the both of us could sit in goal. Yes, I am a back-up goalie, but it isn’t as lame as I make it sound. I have no problem being Talia’s back-up, anywhere, anytime; I’ve literally got her back. To all of you fellow bench warmers out there, my advice to you is simple: Don’t

waste your time hating your teammates because they get more playing time than you. Focus on your game. One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever gotten, which I couldn’t recognize at the time, came from one of my teammates’ dad’s. He told me, “Go into every game, every warm-up, with a smile on your face and always be ready to play.” <<<

T E A M S E A S O N L E A D E R S

KILLS

1. Ally Whitson

2. Hillary Ford

3. Daniella Florant

4. Marissa Florant

5. Abbie Havern

SERVING ACES

1. Euna Oh

2. Ashley Acuff

3. Hillary Ford

4. Ali Bisset

5. Allie Coleman

BLOCKS

1. Daniella Florant

2. Ally Whitson

3. Abbie Havern

4. Hillary Ford

5. Jessie Juarez

DIGS

1. Euna Oh

2. Hillary Ford

3. Ally Whitson

4. Ashley Acuff

5. Jessie Juarez

394

327

188

107

100

54

53

43

21

19

81

59

25

17

16

453

451

208

190

107

TOTAL DOMINATION Senior superstar Hillary Ford goes up for one of her season-total 327 kills against Lynbrook in the � rst round CCS match.

Source: David Winn

Pro� les

B Y N I N A G E R T S V O L F& A U S T I N S M I T H

The Best OfThe Best

P h o t o g r a p h y b y A l e k M i l o v i d o v

he foundations of the stadium rattle from above as the fans join together in a wild fi t of song, stomping to each beat

of the Brazilian national anthem. In the dim light of the locker room, Teresa Noyola drops one knee to the unforgiving cement fl oor. She straps on her shin guards, pulls up her socks, and rises to join an already fl owing line of teammates out into the dark and narrow tunnel, leading her only to the bright light of a fi eld inhabited by living legends. As she emerges into the blindness, the dampened melody of the song explodes into the voice of over 70,000 of the world’s most impassioned fútbol fans.

T

The Viking | 53

Pro� les

“My ultimate goal would be to play in the Women’s World Cup,” Noyola said. “I would love to be called up.”

he summer before senior year, most Paly students get jobs or go to summer school. One Paly student, however, had a slightly

different experience.Noyola and her teammates on the

Under-20 USA Women’s National Team had the thrill of playing in front of crowds of over 70,000 at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this past summer.

The team won silver medal, competing against full national teams from across the North and South American continents. The team played well, losing only to the Brazilian Full National Team 5-0 in the fi nals, a team that included some of the world’s most talented female soccer stars.

“It was unbelievable to have that experience,” Noyola said. “Obviously Brazil is crazy about soccer, but there have never been that many people at a women’s athletic event before, even in Brazil. They almost fi lled up one of the biggest stadiums in the world.”

Meeting and playing against top soccer players was one of Teresa’s favorite parts of the games.

“Brazil was probably the best team I’ve ever seen in my life,” Noyola said. “They were amazing. Playing with some of the best players in the world and getting to meet them was really awesome.”

On the trip, she enjoyed

T

living in an Olympic athletes’ village with not only native Brazilian athletes, but top-tier athletes from all over the Western Hemisphere.

“Just being in that environment where everyone was an athlete and had that in common was a really unique experience,” Noyola said.

Exploring the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Noyola and her teammates discovered the

liveliness of the Brazilian culture, only adding to the learning of the experience.

Noyola sees the experience in Brazil as one that will enhance her love of the game and build her character in the future.

“My favorite part of the trip was probably the whole atmosphere of being in a country where everyone loves soccer,” Noyola said. “I don’t think I’ll have any experience like that again.”

oyola, a senior at Paly, is widely considered one of the nation’s top

young soccer players. Her exceptional talent

earned her the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas Youth Player of the Year and 2007 Girls Player of the Year PARADE Magazine awards last year as a junior. The feat is even more terrifi c because both distinctions are most commonly won by seniors.

Noyola’s coaches call her a true student of the game. Uderstanding soccer has contributed to her success just as much as

her skill with the ball.“She has so much knowledge about the

game,” Palo Alto head coach Ernesto Cruz said. “She knows more than most coaches around here.”

Off the fi eld, Noyola has been just as inspiring. Renowned for her quiet modesty and unselfi sh play, she has infl uenced her teammates to be better people, not just better players.

“We all admire her so much,” junior midfi elder Sydney Lundgren said. “She’s supportive, and caring, and wants the whole team to mesh and do well together.”

More impressively, Noyola is also a standout student despite the time commitment she has dedicated to soccer.

oyola currently plays for the Mountain View-Los

Altos Mercury club team and Palo Alto High School varsity girls’ soccer when she doesn’t have commitments with the national team.

Noyola discovered soccer in the same way as most other kids in Palo Alto. After playing several years in her local AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) league, Noyola switched up to the higher division CYSA (California Youth Soccer Association). By age 12, Noyola was playing for the highly competitive MVLA Mercury club team of which she is still currently a member.

“[The Mercury] was defi nitely more of a competitive,

higher-level team,” Noyola explained. “I liked the coach and the players on the team, and I really wanted to be challenged a little bit more, so that’s why I decided to switch [from the CYSA Stanford Blizzards to the MVLA Mercury team].”

Unlike teams in the AYSO league, the girls on the Mercury stayed together from

Continued on pg. 59

N

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Features

54 | The Viking

To most high school students, one more year of high school after graduation only occurs in their nightmares, but to Palo Alto High School grads Will Elmore, ’07, and Nick Goodspeed, ’07, it is an ideal oppor-tunity to get away from home without the pressures of college. The two stars from last year’s state runner-up football team at Paly are both attending Choate Rosemary Hall Preparatory School for the 2007-2008 school year, not only to further improve their academics before college, but also to play football. Elmore, a key factor in last year’s domi-nant off ensive and defensive line for Paly, still wants to polish his skills before taking on collegiate athletics. “A PG [postgraduate] year gives me more time to improve and to be seen by coaches of east coast schools,” Elmore said. The fi nal goal: to get recruited to play college football. “A lot of coaches come through [Cho-ate],” Goodspeed said, “so we are hopefully getting noticed.” Both Elmore, off ensive and defensive line, and Goodspeed, quarterback, start on the Choate Harriers’ varsity football team, a team which is comprised mostly of juniors and seniors and a handful of postgraduate students. The team boasts a 5-2-1 overall record so far this season and a 1-1-1 record in league. “There is not much depth [on the prep school teams] compared to public schools,” Goodspeed said. “The impact players are comparable, but if one gets injured there is no one to fi ll the hole.” All the teams that play in Choate’s Class A prep school league are allowed a maxi-mum of eight postgraduate players on their roster. Choate has 20 postgraduate students total, so a high percentage of PG students play sports, but not all have re-cruiting in mind. “Not all the players are here to get re-cruited,” Goodspeed said. “Some come to help their academics.” According to the Choate Web site, a postgraduate year is also helpful in getting accustomed to living away from home and

Another Year of High School

Nike and Apple have come together for an im-peccable collaboration that combines the thrill of run-ning and the precision of technology. The idea of the product is great and ulti-mately easy to use. Howev-er, the product costs more than the posted $29.99. In order to use the product, one must also own the proper Nike running shoes, which range from $65.00 to $140.00, as well as an iPod nano. The two companies have produced a product called the Nike+ sport kit which includes a small transmit-ter that connects to an iPod nano and a small, fl at sensor that slips in to the Nike running shoe directly below the sock guard, in a slot specifi cally designed

for strengthening student’s academic re-cords before college. As a private prepa-ratory school, Choate has a reputation for tough academics. “[Choate] is harder than most colleges,” Elmore said. “I have a strict curfew and a lot of work. It’s a lot less fun than Paly.” The PG students do not get the freedom that col-lege students enjoy. There is a strict set of rules, such as an eleven o’clock curfew on weekend nights and a 9:30 curfew during the week. Goodspeed still fi nds the experience enjoyable, though. “There’s not too much

Former Paly football stars improve on the fi eld and in the classroom with a postgraduate year

you can do with the rules,” Goodspeed said, “but it’s not too bad. The change from living at home is nice.”

Goodspeed has his own reasons for postgraduate year, football and academ-ics aside. Wick Goodspeed, Nick’s father, encouraged Nick to take a postgraduate year because Wick attend-ed school in England for a high school postgraduate year. “A postgraduate year seemed like a great transi-tion to college,” Wick said. “It is an opportunity to get stronger as an athlete and to be stretched academi-cally.” <<<

for the sensor. The sensor and transmitter commu-nicate wirelessly while the person is running. Not only does it play music, but it also allows the user to de-sign his or her own work-out. It keeps track of data such as calories burned, distance and time, which can be collected at the end of a run on both your iPod and your personal workout data page at nikeplus.com.One of the most desirable parts of the system is while one is running, one can choose either a male or fe-male voice, which will state the current pace, distance and time one has been run-ning. After the information is given, the music fades in and continues playing. The program is easy for every-one to use and is designed to help track the progress

to reach one’s goals. Before beginning the run one can pick three pieces of information, which are displayed on the iPod’s screen. The pri-mary information is at the center of the screen and the secondary informa-tion is smaller and at the bottom of each corner of the screen. The main menu includes the work-outs to can choose from as well as music playlists. Whenever one needs that extra push, one can have put a favorite pump up song on constant standby, accessible by the push of the center button. This product will make workouts more produc-tive and will help keep track of the progress one is making after and during each run.

Apple and Nike combine to create great running experience and raise bar for running equipment

JUST LIKE PALY Goodspeed picked up where he left o� and starts at QB like he did at Paly for past two years.

By CharlieAvis

By LucyMcComas

Courtesy of Madeline Foote

The Viking | 55

Stacey’s Corner

As lifelong spectators of countless sports, most of us have split boys and girls into separate arenas without thinking twice. But have you ever wondered what really makes these two groups diff erent from each other? Some theories have arisen, including the disparity in training, competition, and the mental aspect of sports. We went to Paly’s trusted athletic trainer, Stacey Kofman, to unearth these mysteries.

According to Kofman, a clear diff erence in the types of injuries boys and girls experience has emerged over the past 15 years. The distinction between boys’ and girls’ sports appears to lie in the genetic make-up of thathletes.

Studies have shown that due to a skeletal, and consequently, a musculoskeletal diff erence from boys, girls are more prone to Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tears, among other injuries.

In other words, females’ natural predisposition towards wider hips and diff erent alignment of the lower body is the problem that accounts for their propensity for lower extremity injuries.

This includes foot pain, strains of the quadriceps or hamstring, and “jumper’s knee”, an infl ammation of the patellar tendon caused by weak knee-supporting muscles.

Kofman believes these ailments may also occur because of a lack of focus on mechanics in girls’ sports at an early age.In sports like

Kofman has been sur-rounded by athletics since an early age. In high school, she participated in sports by earn-ing a spot on her school’s boys’ water polo team.

After missing her college softball team by only two

spots, Stacey stayed in the ¦ eld of athlet-ics by becoming more

involved in athletic training.

Training was nothing new to Kofman, who began

her athletic training career volunteering in

a clinic at the age of fourteen.

“I have been working in

this ¦ eld for over half my life,” Kofman said. “I al-ways knew I

wanted to be involved in athletics.”

Studies have shown that due to a skeletal, and consequently, a musculoskeletal diff erence from boys, girls are more prone to Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tears, among

In other words, females’ natural predisposition towards wider hips and diff erent alignment of the lower body is the problem that accounts for their propensity for lower

This includes foot pain, strains of the quadriceps or hamstring, and “jumper’s knee”, an infl ammation of the patellar tendon caused by weak knee-

Kofman believes these ailments may

in the ¦ eld of athlet-ics by becoming more

involved in athletic training.

Training was nothing new to Kofman, who began

her athletic training career volunteering in

a clinic at the age of fourteen.

working in

wanted to be

basketball, boys are frequently told to work on their

“jump-stop”, which develops certain leg muscles, as opposed to girls, who are not taught to do so. As a result, girls have the tendency of taking extra steps before stopping, thus increasing the risk of injury.

Junior Ella Richardson suff ered a torn ACL during soccer practice her freshman year.

“Someone pulled a move on me, and I planted my foot to change direction to follow the

ball,” Richardson said. “But when I planted, I felt a pop and when I tried to take another step, I could not put any weight on it.”

This acute injury came at an inopportune time for Richardson, as she needed to wait six months for surgery in order for her growth plate to fi nish developing, and an additional entire year to rehabilitate.

Richardson is not the only girl who has gone through a similar ordeal. According to Richardson, at least four of her teammates for either Paly or her club team have torn their ACL as well.

As mentioned in the last edition of Stacey’s Corner, Kofman believes cross-training and

Did you know?

“But when I planted, I felt a pop and when I tried to take another step, I could not put any weight on it. ”

-Junior Ella Richardson

By Oliver Davies and Adam ZernikPhotography by Alek MilovidovBy Oliver Davies and Adam Zernik

As lifelong spectators of countless sports,

Photography by Alek Milovidov

Stacey’s Corner

<<<

Pro� les

56 | The Viking

“I’ve always wanted to play for Paly, so I’m pumped for this year,” junior Michael Hanabusa said.

After playing eight of years of club soccer, Palo Alto High School juniors Hanabusa and Kevin Ashworth joined the Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity soccer team for the fi rst time this year.

Ashworth and Hanabusa are from the De Anza Force 90B, an elite club team that has produced phenomenal players. Cur-rently, the team consists mostly of juniors and has prospects that have committed to Stanford University, Cal Poly and University of California at Davis. The Force also has alumni at many top col-leges and clubs, such as Stanford and Harts in Scotland.

Their former De Anza Force head coach Jeff Baicher, a for-mer professional soccer player, believes that full commitment (no high school soccer) is required if a player decides to play on a club team.

“If they receive the right training during this period, they in-crease their chances of playing soccer in college,” Baicher said in

an email. “Playing for the Force allows them to receive profes-sional coaching year around.”

However, the Force team has a new coach this season, Chris Dangerfi eld, who allows his players to play with their high school teams.

Hanabusa and Ashworth began their soccer career in kin-dergarten. After a few years of AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization), Hanabusa and Ashworth decided they wanted more of a challenge. In third grade, they joined the Stanford club team, and have been playing together since.

When the Stanford team combined together with another team, Hanabusa and Ashworth decided to join a Palo Alto Club team.

After a few years, they took it to the next level by joining the De Anza Force.

“We wanted to play on a team that off ered a more competi-tive and higher skill level,” Ashworth said.

BY STE VEN TR AN Photography by Alek Milovidov

The Force Comes to Paly

“I’ve always wanted to play for Paly, so I’m pumped for this an email. “Playing for the Force allows them to receive profes-

Hanabusa and Ashworth excelled in their fi rst few years on the team, as both players were selected to the De Anza Force USL Y-League team multiple times. The USL Y-League is the highest level league in youth club soccer in North America, with top clubs from the US and Canada. In 2005, the De Anza team dominated their division and won the league championship. Both players learned lessons from their experiences.

“I learned it’s not an individual sport but a sport you play as a team,” Ashworth said. “A lot of our games came down to one play.”

Hanabusa learned what to do before games.“We learned how to prepare ourselves before games since we

traveled frequently,” Hanabusa said. “We can’t party before games and you have to get yourself in shape, and stay as fresh as possible.”

Both players hope to duplicate their success on the club level at Paly. Paly head coach Donald Briggs be-lieves that the Ash-worth and Hana-busa have the right training for success.

“They come from sound, suc-cessful club pro-grams and they have been strong, versatile midfi eld-ers in the past,” Briggs said.

Hanabusa and Ashworth feel that they need to keep up their club’s reputa-tion.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to keep up our [club] level of play and contribute to success of the team,” Hana-busa said.

They are also excited with the prospect of representing their school, something they have never been able to do previously.

“It’s cool now that we can support our team now,” Ashworth said. “I haven’t had the chance to represent our school so it should be fun.”

Even though they have been with the Paly team for only a few months, the transition has been smooth. Both players have fi t in well with the team chemistry and are well liked by the rest of the team. Hanabusa has already added a little humor to the team.

“He’s a clown,” Senior Zal Dordi said. “He keeps us on our toes.”

Hanabusa believes that he brings aggression to the team, something that Baicher has always seen with him.

“Mike is very aggressive and very skillful which is not com-mon,” Baicher said “He has the ability to score goals but equally as

The Viking | 57

Pro� les

the team, as both players were selected to the De Anza Force USL Y-League team multiple times. The USL Y-League is the highest

from the US and Canada. In 2005, the De Anza team dominated their division and won the league championship. Both players

a team,” Ashworth said. “A lot of our games came down to one

traveled frequently,” Hanabusa said. “We can’t party before games and you have to get yourself in shape, and stay as fresh as

their success on the club level at Paly.

worth and Hana-

training for success.

from sound, suc-cessful club pro-grams and they

versatile midfi eld-ers in the past,”

Ashworth feel that they need to keep

tion.

school, something they have never been able to do previously.

said. “I haven’t had the chance to represent our school so it should

few months, the transition has been smooth. Both players have fi t in well with the team chemistry and are well liked by the rest of the team. Hanabusa has already added a little humor to the team.

toes.”

something that Baicher has always seen with him.

important he can create scoring chances for others. He also has the unique ability to dictate rhythm and fl ow in a match. Control-ling tempo is a very diffi cult concept to understand for the young soccer player.”

Baicher holds Ashworth in high esteem for his strong work ethic.

“Kevin Ashworth is the player you can always rely on,” Baicher said. “Kevin’s unique ability is his work rate and desire to accom-plish tasks. Kevin has an engine that allows other players to focus energy more on off ense then defense. He is a player that shows up everyday and gives 100%.”

Both players have enjoyed their experience so far. While both play defensive midfi eld on the De Anza Force, Hanabusa will have

a chance to play for-ward.

“I’m looking forward to playing up front and having the chance to score some goals,” Hana-busa said.

A s h w o r t h hopes to keep his performance at club level.

“Hopefully I’ll play well and score a couple of goals,” Ashworth said.

Even with their Paly commitments, both players are still part of their club team and dedicate at least two hours a day, six days a week to soccer.

With the depar-ture of last year’s start-ers: Ari Memar, Roy New-man, Patrick Alonis, and Matt Staiger, the team

looks to Hanabusa and Ashworth to fi ll in the void left by these departing players.

“We are losing a couple of key players including the SCVAL defensive player of the year [Patrick Alonis-3 year varsity letter-man] and the leagues’ 2nd leading scorer [Matt Staiger].”

Dordi agrees with Coach Briggs.“Hanabusa will need to fi ll Staiger’s role and it’s a pretty big

hole up front,” Dordi said. “Ashworth will be joining a weakened defensive unit, since we lost both Alonis and Newman, so Ash-worth will be one of the guys who will need to step up.”

Both Hanabusa and Ashworth plan to continue soccer in the future.

“We’ve been getting recruited by [University of California] Davis, Cal Poly, Navy, [UC] Santa Cruz and [UC] Santa Barbara,” Hanabusa said.

With their previous track record, everyone on the Paly soccer team has high expectations for both Hanabusa and Ashworth.

The Masters: Ashworth and Hanabusa bring fresh talent and sea-soned experience to the Paly varsity boys’ soccer team.

Recruiting

58 | The Viking

Viking Recruiting UpdatesFive of Paly’s recruited senior athletes share their top three choices for the fall of 2008.

By OliviaGarcia

The Viking | 59

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year to year. With the Mercury, Noyola began traveling around the state and the far west region. The team won their division title three years in a row.

It was on this team that Noyola developed her skills to their current level. She attributes a lot of her success to her Mercury coach, Albertin Montoya.

“He’s really the one that taught me most of everything I know about soccer on and off the fi eld,” Noyola said. “He’s an amazing player himself. After taking me under his wing when I fi rst joined the team and training me with the team and on my own, he really developed my technical skill. Developing skill with young players is really what he specializes in so that’s where I really improved.”

On the Mercury, Noyola began receiving exposure to a variety of teams and players. As

she developed under Montoya’s guidance, she caught the eye of the Olympic Development Program at the age of 13.

As she grew older, she matured more technically and tactically with him and with Mercury. At 14, Noyola was called in to play with the Under-16 Women’s National Team.

Last year, Noyola scored four goals in 11 matches for the Under-17 Women’s National Team. Noyola was called up for the Under-20 team this summer.

Between the multiple teams Noyola plays on, she practices year round. With the excessive time commitments of soccer, she often fi nds it hard to manage anything else in her life.

“I just have to plan my time a little more strictly,” Noyola said. “There are just certain things I fi nd myself sacrifi cing.”

One of those sacrifi ces was music. An avid music lover, Noyola has played the drums

since she was ten. Once a member of Paly’s own Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Band, soccer commitments forced Noyola to hang up the drumsticks during her junior year.

oyola has left her mark on both the coaches and the

teammates she’s played with.“We’re very blessed to have

her,” Cruz said. “She brings up the rest of the players. I learn about the game from her. I have a lot of respect for her.”

This year, Noyola looks to continue her success with all three teams. As a senior, she knows that this season will be her last before college, and expects changes.

“[This season] will be different because most of the girls are already committed to colleges,” Noyola said. “So, rather than showcasing for recruiters, we’ll be playing for each other. We want to win

Continued from pg. 53 because it’s our last year together and we are all really close because we’ve been playing together for such a long time.”

Noyola has also already committed to a college. She will be attending Stanford University next year.

“Living here, it’s [Stanford] always been my dream school,” Noyola said. “It has a great balance of academics and athletics.”

However, she does not limit her future goals to college soccer.

“My ultimate goal would be to play in the Women’s World Cup,” Noyola said. “I would love to be called up.”

Those who have seen her in action believe that her soccer career will not end with playing, even at the elite level.

“She’s a natural coach,” Cruz said. “Someday, she will be one of the great coaches out there.”

N

intensity extreme Pokémon cage-match trivia show-down. You stand no chance. 151 Pokémon and I know them better than I know my own parents. Yeah, you won’t be laughing when I singe off your body hair with a vicious Pikachu-style energy blast of factual Pokémon enlightenment.

Victim Number Two: Hillary Ford(senior volleyball megastar)

Be very cautious of her, she comes from a whole family of overachievers. Just look at her brother Na-than, an Ivy League starting quarterback. She dominates the volleyball court (and me in frosh/soph math class.) Watch out Hillary, because I’m not sexist. I’ll punch a girl the same way I would a dude. Which is why I intend to shame her entire family after I out-move her and out-groove her in a head-to-head dance contest. We each are allowed to pick one song that each must get jiggy to. I’ll even give her a head start and tell her which song I’ve chosen. Nobody knows who or where this earthquake of techno-rage and fury came from, but it’s known only in

street legend as Sex in a Volcano. Research it people, because it gets wild and it gets wild fast. I’m Filipino. I can’t lose this one. Filipinos have mas-tered the art of dance

(along with karaoke, rice planting and extremely biased Japanese history). Just to emphasize the utter hopeless-ness in which she enters this contest: I’m judging.

Victim Number Three: Teresa Noyola(senior soccer stud who makes Beckham look like a little Redcoat schoolboy again)

What can I say? We all know Teresa. She’s the best soccer player I’ve ever seen. I didn’t know what soccer was until I witnessed her tally three goals and two as-sists in a game last season. And I’m going to throw out a number here. 4.7. For reference, that’s not her Good Play Accumulation ranking on the fi eld. It’s David vs. Goliath. That’s why she deserves to really be taught a lesson. Here’s the scheme: one Saturday we take the train to Bay Meadows and put our money on two swift-hooved thoroughbreds. Not that I’m giving up, (Never give up, never surrender) but the fact is, I’ll have the best chance against an all-around superhero like Teresa if we just leave it up to luck.

Praise me. Adore me. Name me your savior and turn my story into legend. Once I succeed all will be free to have the ambition to be good at one thing, and one thing only.

Mia Lattanzi. Liv Jensen. Watch out. You’re next.

The Last Word

62 | The Viking

It’s On

There are some principles of life that I fi nd to be com-mon knowledge. I’m talking about obvious things you don’t do. You don’t kill people, that’s shady. You don’t leave your goods in the bowl without fl ushing, that’s dirty. And for certain you don’t try hard and excel at everything you do in life, that makes us all look bad.

I strongly dislike people who are better than me. That’s the basics of it. The way I see it, we’re all in this together, so let’s divvy up the success. It’s got nothing to do with jealousy or communism, but everything to do with unity.

This is a call to arms. Overachievers are the biggest threat to society today, even more so than bears are a threat to salmon, Sione Mataele’s family is to a Home-town Buffet, or gold-digging women are to a thirty year-old me.

The worst part is, Paly is full of these do-gooders. We’re behind enemy lines. All around us are kids who meet the three standards: good-looking, athletic, and smart to boot. Someone has to take action. That’s where I come in.

After intense calculation and observation, I’ve con-cluded that there is only one way to bring these “perfect people” down from their pretty little perch. We must teach them how to lose. Losing is contagious. I hang out with kids who are straight-up losers (Kushal Tantry) and can see that it infects the body like a virus. All we have to do is open that door and let Mother Nature go to work.

Here’s the mission: I round up the leaders at this school and systematically crush them in competition. One after another they’ll fall to me in contests that I propose; take them down at what I’m the best at. Seems unfair, huh? Wrong! The way we breathe, yeah, that’s how these kids live. They think it’s so easy. That’s why they have to go up against my strengths; beat me at my own game.

Publicize it all over the world. Chat it up with your little friends, because it’s going down. I lay down the law here. This is a challenge.

Victim Number One: Michael Anderson(senior chunky-chested football lineman)

Yale?...Yale? This kid is already Hottest Hottie, what more does he want? That’s why he falls the hardest. I challenge you, Michael Anderson, to a one-on-one, full-

I strongly dislike people who are better than me.

by Austin Smith

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Viking Volume 1 Issue 2

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