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Sports
February 27, 2014
The younger side of Sochi
 Here are just a few of the athletes who proved through their exceptional
performances that age is just a number, not an indication of skill
by Christian Blandin
A&E Editor
T
he Sochi Olympics have ended, with a few exceptional young men and women who, despite their age,
proudly represented their country.
Ayumu Hirano | Snowboarding
I
nspired by his brother, Eiju, this
Japanese Olympian has been snowboarding since age four. Born and raised
in Murakami, Niigata in Japan, Hirano,
15, is the youngest winner of the overall
half pipe competition at the World Snowboard Tour, winning in 2013. He admits
that fitting in school and snowboarding in
the same schedule is quite a struggle, but
informed the Denver Post, “My school is
very supportive of my snowboarding, so
they make it happen for me.” This year,
Hirano was awarded a silver medal in the
mens halfpipe competition.
Yulia Lipnitskaya | Figure Skating
F
rom Moscow, Russia, this Olympian made the minimum age cutoff
for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics by just
26 days. Lipnitskaya has been gracefully
gliding on ice since the age of four. Ranking first in Team Ladies Short Program and
Team Ladies Free Skating, she has greatly
contributed to Russia’s success in earning
the gold medal this year in Sochi. Currently, at 15 years old, she is the Master of
Sport of International Class in Russia and
is the youngest European champion to date
due to winning gold in singles this year in
Budapest.
Gianina Ernst |
Ski Jumping
T
urning 15 on Dec. 31, 2013, Ernst
is the youngest athlete competing
at the 2014 Winter Olympics. This competitor, hailing from Oberstdorf, Germany,
began her career at the age of eight and won
her first title at age 12 at the Swiss championships. Last December, Ernst earned her
spot on Germany’s Sochi team by placing
second at the Lillehammer World Cup, the
best record any female German ski jumper
has ever achieved in a World Cup competition. She stated to Olympic.org that, “Just
by participating here [at Sochi] I have
already accomplished a big objective. A
dream came true.” Ernst makes her mark in
history as the youngest athlete to compete
at the games, which is hosting the Olympic
debut of womens ski jumping.
Wrestling members advance to C.I.F.
 Success at league
finals brings wrestlers
on to compete at C.I.F.
individuals
by Alex Tran
Staff Writer
P
assing the first round of C.I.F. individuals which took place Feb. 2122, Emmanuel Anaim, who placed second, and Scott Ha, who placed third, will
proceed to the Masters round of C.I.F.
Boys wrestling (3-0-2) placed third after the Pacific Coast League finals on Feb.
1. Seniors Anaim and Ha as well as junior
Andres Aragon placed first in their weight
categories at league.
In preparation for these events, the
wrestlers focused on restricting their diets
and cutting weight before their matches in
addition to working out and maintaining
their high standard of fitness.
“The way wrestlers focus on their commitment to their weight really sets the sport
apart from others,” coach Chris Crosson
said. “Their drive and dedication pushes
them to watch what they eat and put out,
and ultimately the sport just gives them
that boost of confidence and self-esteem.”
Photo courtesy of Titi Vu
SENIOR EMANNUEL ANAIM executes a takedown during league finals competing for first
place.
Although the team suffered over nine
injuries throughout the season, the team
stuck through and made its way towards
C.I.F. Despite the injured conditions of
teammates, each competitor entered every
match with only one focus: to win.
“When I step out onto the mat and I’m
in my zone, the first thing on my mind is
‘How bad do I want to win this?’ and that
question alone pushes me to do whatever I
can to win,” junior Athan Diep said.
Although the team fell short of its primary goal of beating long-time rivals
Beckman High and Irvine High, the boys
aim to cheer on their teammates at C.I.F.
Masters. With this encouragement, the
boys are set on making their way to state
and the championship title.
“I’ve always been a competitive person
and when it’s time for me to compete, all I
think is winning; that’s all I care about on
the mat,” Ha said.
When asked what he felt was the best
thing about wrestling, Crosson responded
with a quote from retired head wrestling
coach of the University of Iowa Dan Gable:
“After you do wrestling, everything in
life becomes easier.”
17
A modern day
game changer
by Michelle Bau
Staff Writer
O
n Feb. 9, 2014, Michael Sam
announced that he is gay in a
public interview, making him one of
the first openly gay college football
players.
Since then, the name Michael Sam
has exploded onto the media’s center stage, appearing everywhere from
magazines and news articles to interviews and more. So who is the man behind the name?
Sam is a senior at the University of
Missouri and a defensive end for the
Missouri Tigers. In 2013, Sam competed in the Southeastern Conference
(SEC) with the Missouri Tigers where
he was named the SEC Co-Defensive
Player of the Year after recording 11.5
sacks and 19 tackles for loss, leading
the SEC in both categories.
He has entered the 2014 NFL Draft
and speculators project that Sam will
be drafted within the early rounds of
the NFL draft in May, according to
the New York Times. Sam’s promising
prospects in the NFL, however, are not
the primary reason he has garnered nationwide coverage.
As one of the first publicly gay college football players, Sam not only set
a path for future coming-out football
players, but has also affected those
outside of the sports arena, such as the
LGBT community. According to ABC
News, Sam is a role model for other
homosexuals, giving them a push of
confidence and a boost of self-esteem.
He will not only be challenging the
stereotype of gay men’s masculinity,
but will also illustrate the importance
of tolerance in every community, especially in the sports world.
On the other hand, Sam’s coming
out has, unfortunately, hurt his NFL
drafting prospects. Speculators have
projected a drop in Sam’s draft stock
because the NFL locker room culture
may not be prepared to deal with an
openly gay player, according to Sports
Illustrated.
As a result, some NFL coaches have
said that Sam may not be drafted by
the NFL in the early rounds. Instead,
he may be drafted in later rounds, thus
decreasing his chances of becoming a
successful NFL player because he may
not be sought after by other NFL teams.
18
February 27, 2014
Sports
Girls basketball reaches the second round of C.I.F.
 Girls basketball
finished their second
round of C.I.F.
yesterday with a game
against Norco High
by Malalai Fazilat
Staff Writer
G
irls basketball (15-11) played its
second round C.I.F. game yesterday at home against Norco High. The team
won a tight game on Feb. 22 against Carter
High with a final score of 47-45. The game
was single elimination, determining that
the team would remain in the C.I.F. championships.
“This season can be summed up in one
phrase and that phrase is injured knees,”
head varsity coach Eric Bangs said.
Three of the key players Sierra Vaglica,
Patricia Zhao, and Sophie Sarchet, have
suffered from knee issues, such as a torn
ACL.
Photo by Malalai Fazilat
JUNIOR BONNIE SARCHET drives into the lane for a shot during a recent practice in preparation for their second round of C.I.F.
The girls are working hard on improving. The girls were in first place in
the championship, but lost a few of their
games due to absence of these crucial players. Some JV players will help assist the
team in practice, preparing them for future
games to fill up the team.
“We are not exactly where we wish to be
because we have hit some bumps, but we
still have a chance in C.I.F.,” junior Bonnie
Sarchet said.
Losing so many players has definitely
taken a toll on the team, but they have not
let that stop them.
“We are super close as a team; all of us
get along and are friends,” senior Kelly
Robinson said.
Having a team that works together is a
key component in the team’s ability to win
games. The team members constantly work
together to improve their skills on the court
and off to help them with games. Depending on the schedule that week, the amount
of practice time the team gets varies.
“We have a couple of injuries; we are
trying to get everyone healthy… right now
we are trying to get on pace and preparing ourselves to go full on in and win for
the C.I.F. championship,” assistant coach
Keith Clarkson said.
Shoutout to the boys frosh-soph soccer team; they went
undefeated in season and had the best record in their league!
The changing role of gender in modern day sports
 “We hold these truths
to be self-evident: that
all men and women are
created equal” - except in
the sports world.
by Makeez Manely
Staff Writer
G
ender roles of men and women
have evolved greatly in society, but
are they completely equal when it comes to
the world of sports? In most sports, treatment of female athletes is not much different from their male counterparts, but there
is a certain set of sports that is still viewed
as “male-only” sports, including football
and wrestling.
According to Verdict, a magazine legal
analysis and commentary magazine, in
1971 there were fewer than 300,000 female high school athletes and today there
are more than three million.
Juniors Sophia Nazarzai and Kim
Villegas, however, had a slightly different experience when they tried out for the
football team this year as juniors. Neither
Nazarzai nor Villegas had any past experience with football or with any team sports
at Woodbridge but had always been interested in football.
The girls trained with the rest of the
players during the intense summer camp,
but when it came time to play their first
game, the coaches and their parents agreed
that it would not be safe for them to play.
When asked about the situation, coach
Rick Gibson stated,
“I evaluate every football player the
same, whether they are male or female. I
have had female players play with us, and
I have also had males play with us that I
have said to them that it is not safe for them
to play because you don’t have the skills.”
This is what happened in Nazarzai and
Villegas’ situation. Their parents and the
coach mutually decided that they would
not be playing games, but rather helping
the team in any way they felt comfortable,
such as taking stats during games.
“If someone came in and I thought they
couldn’t defend themselves in a practice
situation, I am certainly not going to put
somebody’s safety over anything,” Gibson
said.
When asked about how it made her feel
when she was told she could not play, Naz-
arzai responded,
“It was very irritating to me since there
is a chance for everybody to get hurt when
you play, not just us.”
The two participated in the same exercises as their male teammates.
”It was really hard, since I had never
lifted before and the bar alone was just so
heavy,” Villegas said.
The girls went on to say that they really
enjoyed the sport.
When asked if he had any suggestions
for females who wish to play for the football team, Gibson said,
“A suggestion to any, male or female,
[is] watch it on TV, understand the rules,
watch a practice, watch a high school game
if you can. I think at least one year of youth
football would be good, play flag football
and start out playing your freshman year.”
“Being a symbol for the idea that girls
can do anything they put their mind to,”
was one of the best parts of being on the
team, according to Nazarzai.
When asked how people at school reacted to knowing that they were on the team,
Villegas responded,
“Mostly shocked, and some even told us
that we are their ‘girl heroes.’”
According to The Women’s Sports
Foundation, female sports participation has
led to academic achievement, job success,
positive self-esteem and reduction of selfdestructive behaviors.
Cece McWilliams is a member of the
frosh/soph wrestling team.
“The coaches were surprised at first, but
once I joined they were all very nice, accepting, supportive and helped me be the
best I could be,” McWilliams said.
McWilliams does most of the same
exercises as the rest of the team but does
push-ups on her knees instead of the traditional style. Wrestlers play matches only
when they make weight, and the same goes
for McWilliams.
In McWilliams’ first match against University High, she pinned her male opponent.
“Wrestling isn’t all about strength,”
McWilliams said. “You have to know the
moves, and it is about technique too.”
When asked about her overall experience as a wrestler, McWilliams responded,
“It is one of my favorite sports and because
wrestling is more of an individual sport it
can be easier in a way, since you are only
depending on yourself. Overall it’s been an
amazing learning experience for me.”
Sports
A look back at last season
 Reflecting on how a few winter sports performed this last season
by Samiha Ali
S
In-depth Editor
ince this year’s winter sports teams have finished their seasons, here is a quick recap on four of last
season’s sports. Boys basketball
B
oys basketball (8-2) tied for first in
league with Corona Del Mar High
and lost in the first round of C.I.F. on Friday Feb. 21 against La Habra High (7469). This year marks the 11th league title
in the school’s history for boys basketball.
Some players also left with some awards
of their own. Senior Michael Scarlett won
League MVP after playing on varsity since
his freshman year. Senior Truman Brown
made second team all-league and senior
Jason Gregson made first team all-league.
“We achieved our first goal of winning
a league title,” coach John Halagan said.
“The second goal was to advance far in our
division playoff bracket. Team leadership
and chemistry has improved throughout
the season due to great senior class leadership. There were no downs this season,
only ups.”
Girls water
polo
G
irls Basketball (5-5) finished fourth
in league and won in the first round
of C.I.F. against Carter High (47-45) on
Feb. 22.
“A lot of the girls on the team had not
played with each other before the start of
the season, but I think we’ve improved because we have a lot more team chemistry
now,” senior Sophie Sarchet said. “Our
goal for C.I.F. was to get to the second or
third round, but more importantly, we just
wanted to give it our best shot and play really hard all the time.”
G
Photo courtesy of Keith Clarkson
JUNIORS ANNIKA WALKER AND BONNIE
SARCHET block a shot during a game.
Boys wrestling
B
Photo by Aashi Jain
SENIOR SCOTT HA AND EMANUEL ANAIM
wrestle it out hard during practice.
Photo courtesy of Kyusung Gong
SENIORS JASON GREGSON AND TRUMAN
BROWN celebrate after a game-winning shot
made by Brown.
Girls
Baskeball
oys wrestling placed third in league
with a team score of 119. Although
the team did not qualify for C.I.F. collectively, individuals who placed in the top
three at league finals advanced. C.I.F. qualifiers include seniors Scott Ha and Emmanuel Anaim; and juniors Andres Aragon, Jonathan Nicklaus, Ryuta Claudio,
Austin Prock, Darron Petit and Ken Nakama.
“Our ups for the season were during
the beginning of the year when we had a
three game winning streak,” Ha said. “Our
down was when we lost to Irvine because
it was the first game we lost and our worst
loss. Our goal this season was to place first
in league, but third in league is still pretty
great.”
19
February 27, 2014
irls water polo (4-6) finished its
season fourth in league and lost
in the first round of C.I.F. against Foothill
High (8-4) on Feb. 19, after beating Costa
Mesa High (18-6) in a wild card C.I.F.
game on Feb. 18. The team has overcome
several challenges this season, advancing
to C.I.F. for the second time in nine years.
“Because half of the team moved up
from junior varsity and half of the team
members were already varsity starters,
our main goal this season was to help the
team play together instead of as two separate groups,” junior Tina Frechette said.
“Our main scorer, Shawna Kedzie, was
also injured this season; however she’s
still been playing amazing.”
Senioritis Stings
I feel like every senior editor has
dedicated AT LEAST one column to the
topic of senioritis, and I’m no exception. It’s a term that we are all familiar
with; even freshmen joke about having
it, which is strange since their motivation for doing well in high school
shouldn’t have tanked that quickly.
However, for most of us second-semester seniors, both our motivation and
ability to be productive have probably
gone down the drain at this point. And
why shouldn’t it? After the ordeal of
creating the perfect personal statement,
filling in dozens of tedious application
forms, and, at the same time, striving to
get great grades for a favorable midyear
report, shouldn’t we be allowed a little
bit of reprise? Is that too far-fetched of
an expectation?
But it is. Only now, as I struggle to
keep up with all the work that I willfully
neglected, do I realize that my expectations were far from realistic. Futuresecond semester seniors: keep this in
mind. The course load does not get any
lighter; the teachers don’t give you less
homework, and grades and tests still do
exist. For some reason, and I speak for
myself, I assumed that second semester
would bring with it a radical change in
my teacher’s expectations of us. But
that’s definitely not the case. As of now,
there are still four and a half months to
go until graduation.
But even four and a half months is
actually not that far away at all. For us
seniors, it should definitely fly by. And
after those four and a half months are
over, we’ll be in college. We’ll meet
new people, discover new favorite
things and grow and mature as people.
So in the time that I’m still here, I hope
I can drag myself out of this senioritis
mindset and snap back into it; I want to
leave high school knowing that I tried
my hardest until the end, both in terms
of academics and athletics. Television
shows, the beach and spontaneous food
trips can all wait until summer.
Sincerely,
Isabel
Photo courtesy of Jeff Frechette
JUNIOR TINA FRECHETTE winds up in
preparation to make a shot.