Upcoming spring sports season provides diverse opportunities

Boys Lacrosse

Team captain junior Alex Farrington, a midfielder, is looking forward to the lacrosse season with many new players joining the team. 鈥淲e are hoping to get a better record than [that of] previous years and win more games,鈥 Farrington said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fairly new team, so I鈥檓 excited to see what we can do. We have good players and a lot of athletes.鈥

Farrington also looks forward to progressing both individually and as a team. 鈥淚 want to have fun while playing, improve overall as an athlete and hopefully get some good stats,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 want to get the team close and playing well together.鈥

Girls Lacrosse

Sophomore Julia Eide, an attacker and midfielder, explained what her goals are for the up-coming lacrosse season. 鈥淚鈥檓 expecting [our team] to put their all into every game required so that we can go to the Central Coast Section [CCS] Championships,鈥 she said. Eide also noted the importance of strengthening team bonds. 鈥淎s a team, getting to know how we each play individually will help us work better together,鈥 she said.

Boys Tennis

Team captain junior Raghav Jangbahadur plays singles for the tennis team and is excited for the upcoming season after last season鈥檚 irregularity due to COVID-19. 鈥淲e are going to do a lot better than last year since [last] season was rushed and there weren鈥檛 many practices before matches started,鈥 Jangbahadur said. 鈥淭his year鈥檚 team is very solid, and we can go far in our league and CCS.鈥

Because Jangbahadur plays in national-level tournaments as a solo athlete, he welcomes the differences that came with playing as part of a team. 鈥淚 really enjoy the tennis season,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very different for me than competing individually.鈥

Badminton

Mixed doubles player junior Ashley Siu reflects on past badminton seasons. 鈥淢y expectations are pretty low given that I was the only girl on the team last season, so we had to forfeit most of our matches,鈥 Siu said.

However, she is ready for a fresh start this season. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited about the [season] since last year didn鈥檛 really count and freshman year got taken away from me [because of the pandemic],鈥 she said. 鈥淎s a team, we are looking forward to improve on conditioning and badminton skills. Personally, I鈥檓 looking forward to improve on how I work with people and the team.鈥

Boys Volleyball

Team captain senior Sebastian Caldera, a setter, reflected on changes to the team鈥檚 roster. 鈥淎 lot of starting players graduated last season, and I was sad to see them go,鈥 he said. 鈥淗owever, I鈥檓 hopeful this season because I see a lot of talent and height among the new players, and they have a lot of potential. I鈥檓 really excited for the rest of the season, and I鈥檓 looking forward to playing Palo Alto High School [Paly] again.鈥

Looking ahead, Caldera sees room for improvement after their first win. 鈥淲e were a little uncoordinated on teamwork,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hings weren鈥檛 going exactly how I wanted to, but we still came out with the win. I鈥檓 really proud of our team.鈥

Boys Golf

Team captain senior Rishi Valluru is optimistic about the upcoming season. 鈥淚 hope that we are able to stay in the upper league and finish in the top six so that we can qualify for the league championships,鈥 Valluru said. 鈥淲e want to have more focused practices but also have fun playing together as a team.鈥

Valluru is also eager to form connections with underclassmen. 鈥淚 want to be a leader and help everyone by guiding and showing them around,鈥 he said.

Track and Field

Senior Aditya Mittal, who jumps and runs sprints, is looking forward to the new talent on the team and both personal and team progress. 鈥淚鈥檓 expecting a lot of growth this season just because none of us have been able to run for the past year and a half,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited to see the freshmen or sophomores come out and just try events.鈥 Mittal is also excited for competitions they missed out on last year. 鈥淭he Paly versus Gunn dual meet is always really fun,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited for invitationals like Firebird [Relays] and the St. Francis Invitational.鈥

Swimming

Freshman Riley Hill specializes in butterfly and is excited to join the varsity swim team this year. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my first year on the team, and everyone has been nice,鈥 Hill said. 鈥淚 also got to know some upperclassmen.鈥

Hill looks forward to getting to know her teammates.鈥淸COVID-19] set everyone back, so I鈥檓 not expecting too much,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 want to swim for all of high school, and it would be nice to get to know the team better. I haven鈥檛 done a high school meet yet, but I鈥檓 excited for the social aspect.鈥

Softball

Sophomore Ruth Jaquette, a pitcher and outfielder, hopes to go undefeated and win the league championship this year. 鈥淚 think we鈥檒l do well because we have a similar team [as last year],鈥 she said. 鈥淲e have a lot of seniors, and we won league last year. I鈥檓 really looking forward to league and out-of-league play, and I鈥檓 excited to see how we do against other leagues.鈥 She also hopes to bond with her teammates. 鈥淎s a team, we鈥檙e really looking forward to not having COVID-19 as a big issue,鈥 she said. 鈥淎lso, we want to get closer as a team.鈥

Baseball

Junior Jonathan Xu, a catcher, hopes to build off of and improve from last year. 鈥淚 hope that our team will be able to make CCS because we were really close last year,鈥 Xu said. 鈥淲e have a lot of returning players and also some new talent, so I think we鈥檙e looking good this year. For this season, I think we should work on our communication since in a team sport, communication is vital to success on the field. I鈥檓 really looking forward to the progress we鈥檙e going to make this season since we all trained really hard during preseason.”