Volume 8 Issue 6

YEAR IN REVIEW2 0 1 5

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Suzanne and Robert BellDraegers Supermarket

Malcolm Slaney Sara Anderson

Jason and Lisa Peery Laurie Michele

Briana and Kayla GaskillTony Levitan

Rick ChrystNatacha Poirier

Nicole Garatt and Eric Schulman

Tammy WilsonHolly and Andy Cohen

Kevin KwanChristopher Atwater

Bob and Phyllis Carlson

Elaine HansenAnne Guionnet

Katie and John KinnamanRebecca Bara

Peggy SchmidtJohn Harrington

Eve LevitanJeff Ally and Bella Stuart

Illene Frommer

Diana NemetSteve Douty

Addy and Steve DawesKathleen Avery

Anne MosesTatum Angotti

Alistair MurraySteven Shavell

Kathleen AveryRay and Debi Lipkin

Glenn and Mary AtwaterLucky and Sal Gomez

Nate OlmsteadRuby Verwillow

Hunter and Jonathan MacQuittyNancy PetroneMickey Levitan

Cover photos courtesy of Visual Sports Media

MAY 2015

Volume VIII, Issue 6 May 2015

Staff ListEditors-in-Chief

Kylie CallanAlys Olmstead

Managing EditorsMaddy Atwater

Sam DesréMeredith Kinnaman

Design EditorAlys Olmstead

Photo EditorsMaddy Atwater

Meredith Kinnaman

Multimedia EditorSam Desré

Daniel Douty

Business ManagerKylie Callan

ColumnistDaniel Douty

Staff WritersBryn Carlson

Reuben Kramer

The VikingPalo Alto High School50 Embarcadero Road

Palo Alto, CA 94301650-329-3837

Email contact: [email protected] and Sponsorship Contact: [email protected]

The Viking, a sports magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Advanced Magazine Journalism class, is an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. The Viking is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. The staff welcomes letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit all

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

Advertising in The VikingThe staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience. For more information about adver-

tising with The Viking, please contact the The Viking by email at [email protected]

Printing Services2,500 copies of The Viking are printed, six times a year by Fricke-Parks Press in Fremont, Calif.

Paige AndersonPaige Bara

Priscilla BellZoe BhargavaGillian ChrystAnna Dukovic

Katie FougClara Harrington

Zach LevitanIsaac Kasevich

Senior Staff Writers Maddie Kinnaman

Rowan McEvoyAlex Murray

Michael PappasHayley Poore

Garrett ReynoldsOlivia Scola

Sheila SubramanianMegan Valencia

Staff AdviserPaul Hoeprich

Owen Staiger (‘15) tries to get possession of the ball for Paly in a game against Mountain View. The Vikings won the game 9-8 and advanced to the SCVAL finals.

Photo by Meredith Kinnaman

Dami Bolarinwa (‘16) leads Paly in the 200 meter race against Milpitas. Bo-larinwa edged Paly to a win in this event.

Photo byOlivia Scola

Cory Bicknell (‘15) pitches a ball to a Los Gatos player. The Vikings went on to win against Los Gatos to advance to the SCVAL finals.

Photo by Maddy Atwater

TOP TEN MO-MENTS

A list of the 10 best mo-ments Paly sports had

this school year.by PAIGE ANDERSON and

KATIE FOUG

Volume 8 Issue 6May 2015

LINE UP18 SEASON WRAP-UPS

A recap of how all of Paly’s sports seasons went this

year.by DANIEL DOUTY, CLARA HAR-

RINGTON and ALEX MURRAY

31 COACH OF THE YEARRecognization of Scott Pe-

ters, one of the best coaches Paly had this year.

by MEREDITH KINNAMAN

32 GIRLS’ TEAM OF THE YEAR

A look at the girls’ basketball team and the successful

season they had.by REUBEN KRAMER

34 BOYS’ TEAM OF THE YEAR

A look at the boys’ cross-country team and the successful season they had.

by PRISCILLA BELL

36 UNDERCLASSMEN OF THE YEAR

Recognition of two of the most influential underclass-men athletes from this year. by MADDY ATWATER and SAM

DESRÉ

42 ALOK SUBBARAORecognition of the player on a team who shows the most

heart and dedication. by ROWAN MCEVOY

26 BOTTOM TEN MO-MENTS

A list of the 10 worst moments Paly sports had this school year. by BRYN CARLSON and

MICHAEL PAPPAS

28ZOOM

Slash 4Dash 6Ched 8

KICKOFFStaff view 12Pop culture grid 1310 questions 14 with Max Jung-Goldberg (‘18)

Inside the mind 15 of Riley Schoeben (‘16)

Recruitment map 24In the news 46

COLUMNSLast word 47

16 QUIDDITCH TAKES FLIGHT ACROSS

THE US A look at how Quid-

ditch began and spread throughout the US.by ANNA DUKOVIC and

HAYLEY POORE

44 SENIOR AWARDSA tribute to the 19

wonderful senior staff members we’ve had

this year.by CLARA HARRINGTON

and ALYS OLMSTEAD

TOP STORIESBATTER UP Lead-off hitter Phil Lewis (‘15) prepares to swing at a pitch thrown by his Los Gatos opponent.



Athletes of theYear

pg 38

pg 40

Photo Courtesy of Al Chang

Photo Courtesy of Rob Hull

12 | T H E V I K I N G | w w w. v i k i n g s p o r t s m a g . c o m

From the editorsDear readers,

See you next year!Kylie CallanAlys Olmstead

Staff viewASB should bring Powderpuff back Each year, there comes a time when girls from each grade line up on the lacrosse field with flag belts around their waists and a foot-ball in their hands. With coaching from Paly football players, these all-girl flag football teams compete in a battle of the grades. This spring tradition called Powderpuff has oc-curred for many years at Paly. However, this year, the tradition has been broken. The As-sociated Student Body (ASB) has canceled Powderpuff and replaced it with the “Viking Best of the Best Sports Fest.” While it is great to have another event like Spirit Week, The Vi-king does not see why both Powderpuff and the newly-instated “Sports Fest” cannot be kept as spirit events for Paly students. The Viking be-lieves that Powderpuff should be reinstated as a school-sponsored event. There are multiple reasons why Powderpuff should be kept at Paly. For one, it is a Paly tra-dition, and one that many students participate in. It is also another chance for a friendly, spir-ited competition between the classes. Many other schools in the Bay Area have Powderpuff as a school-sponsored event, and it has not be-come an issue for them.

ASB stated that it decided to cut Powderpuff because it is sexist. ASB argues that Powder-puff excludes male participants other than the coaches and also mocks the athletic ability of the female students who participate in it. Al-though some argue that even the name “Pow-derpuff ” is inherently sexist, as it implies that girls cannot play “real” football, only the deli-cate version which excludes contact. Although The Viking agrees that the name of Powderpuff is condescending and undermines the athlet-ic ability of women, our staff does not believe that it discourages female athletes from trying out for the football team. We do not believe that Powderpuff puts barriers up for girls who want to play football, rather, it breaks those barriers down. A female student who is able to show her football ability while playing Pow-derpuff football and interacting with the male football players who coach Powderpuff may feel more comfortable going out for football, whether school or club, herself. As for the issue of boys being excluded from Powerpuff, The Viking believes that rather than cut Powderpuff altogether for being exclusive, ASB should simply add a male version of Pow-

derpuff with male students playing volleyball. This way, Paly students could experience play-ing the sports that they are not usually encour-aged to play, and could avoid all sex-based exclusion that was one of the causes for ASB’s concern. Powderpuff is a well-loved tradition that en-courages good-spirited competition between the classes. The Viking also believes that it breaks down gender-based barriers with re-gards to sports. For these reasons, The Viking believes that Powderpuff should be reinstated, possibly along with a new volleyball version for male students. We fully support ASB changing the rules and the name of Powderpuff in order to make Powderpuff more respectful towards and inclusive of all Paly students. While some students may not mourn the loss of Powderpuff as a Paly tradition, we here at The Viking certainly believe that it should not be canceled. We also worry that other plat-forms for Palo Alto High School spirit could be next on the chopping block. Could we lose Spirit Week? Team sports? We at The Viking certainly hope not, but feel that it is our job to wonder. <<<

We’re very proud to present the sixth and final issue of The Viking for the 2014-2015 school year. As we have in the past, we chose to take this issue as an opportunity to look back on the best of this year in Paly sports, high-lighting the most notable coach, teams and players, as well as revisiting some of the most memorable moments teams had.

As the year comes to a close, we want to thank all of our readers, contributors and sponsors for helping us complete another

wonderful year of The Viking. We would espe-cially like to thank our 19 amazing seniors who have contributed so much to the magazine. We will miss you so much next year and we wish you the best of luck in all that you do.

We would like to specifically pay gratitude to our editors-in-chief of this year Zoe Bhargava, Rowan McEvoy and Alex Murray for teaching us everything we need to know to continue to make this magazine great. Also, a special thanks to our advisor Mr. Hoeprich, who has

contributed both time and energy into helping us publish our issues.

As the editors-in-chief for the next year of The Viking, we are eager to continue and build on the foundation set by the previous eight leadership staffs.

Thank you so much for your continued readership and support. We hope you have a fantastic summer!

MAY 2015

W H A T D O P A L Y A T H L E T E S S A Y ?

Adee Newman (‘18)Girls’ Track

Kabria Dame (‘15)Softball

Eli Givens (‘16)Boys’ Track

Summer plans?

Ice cream

Will Snodgrass (‘15)Baseball

Reid Walters (‘16)Girls’ Lacrosse

Froyo or ice cream?

Best part of the year

Looking forward to...

Best breakfast spot?

No homework

Traveling

Spirit week

LaBoulange

Ice cream

Track State Meet

Playing football

Football season

My house

Ice cream

Alaska trip

Spirit week

Stacks

Turn up

Grad night

Spirit week

Stacks

Ice cream

Euro trip and Tahoe with the boys

Beating the Juniors in Spirit

Week

Dairy Store

Pinkberry

The op ulture GridP C

NOT

HOT Joc Pederson (‘10)

Recently our very own Paly alumnus has been tearing up the baseball feild for the Los Angles Dodgers. Joc went seven straight games hitting a homerun for every one of his hits at bat, tying the MLB league record for most consective home run hits. Joc has moved up to the number one spot in the batting order for the Dodgers. Keep it up Joc !

Bowers to be new ADNews has spread and the words are true! Our very own Kathi Bowers has been named Atletetic Director for the 2015-2016 school year. This annoucement came along with other Viking sports news. Jekara Wilson has been named the new volleyball coach and former boys’ basketball coach Peter Diepenbrock has been named the boys’ head coach. Congrats to everyone on their new positions! Lots of changes to come, Paly!

The end of PowderpuffI think it is safe to say that all of us over here on The Viking publication have shed a tear over the loss of Powder Puff this year and for the following years to come. ASB has elected to remove the Paly tradtion due to it’s exclusivtiy. The Paly tradition among many others will truly be gone but never forgotten. R.I.P.

Tom BradyWho is a better quaterback for the Patriots? Tom Brady or Dom Grandy? The superstar quarterback has recently been suspended by the NFL for 4 games with a one million dollar fine for not turning over text messages containing information about the Deflate Gate Scandal. Sorry Brady, better luck next time!

Images taken from

Summer shenanigans &

college

Sleeping in & the beach

The Viking asked Paly baseball player “June Bug” (‘17) 10 questions about himself and then compared his responses to that of his coach Colombo, friend Nathan Willis (‘17) and teammate Phil Lewis (‘15). Read on to discover who knows June Bug best!

Me

Baseball World Series

20%

Favorite baseball player?

Favorite piece of baseball equipment?

Favorite pre-game snack?

Favorite class at Paly?

Favorite pump up song?

Beach or Mountians?

Celebrity crush?

Favorite annual sporting event?

Team goal?

Most hated team in the league?

Robinson Cano

Glove

No One

Do not have one

Math

PB & J

Questions Nathan Willis (‘17)Friend

Pete ColomboCoach

Phil Lewis (‘15)Teammate

as told to Paige Bara and Gillian Chryst

Images taken from

10With

Questions

20%

Max Jung-Goldburg (‘17)

Varsity baseball player

60%

Max “June Bug” Jung-Goldberg (‘17)

Evo shield arm sleeve

Beach


Win CCS

Los Gatos

Domingo Ayala

Chocolate Milk and Apples

March Madness

The Man by Aloe Blacc

Win CCS

Los Gatos

Beach

Scarlet Johansen

Photography

Dustin Pedoria

Bat

Nuts

Niko

Baseball 101

Mountians

Get in ‘em

Los Gatos Los Gatos

Robinson Cano

Steroids

Glove


Lifestyle by Rich Gang feat.Young Thug

Physical Education

Ellis Obrien

Beach

Win CCS

“I love Brett Favre. He is my idol. He is the greatest quar-terback and football player ever.”

Riley Schoeben (‘16)Inside the mind of

as told to Paige Bara and Gillian Chryst

On his bracket strategy“I picked with my heart. I picked with my favorite teams in addition to being strategic. Normally it does not work out, but this year it did. I picked Duke all the way.”

On Duke University“Well my dad went to school there so I have always grown up watching them. I have grown a hatred for UNC and their rivals, it was exciting to see them lose in addition to Duke winning.”

On the Daily Dulik Instagram “I like running different Instagram’s. In the beginning of the year I created the Daily Dulik to describe and show the positive aspect of Owen Dulik’s (‘16) life through pho-tographs submitted by people. Our goal is to show Dulik in the best light possible.”

On his sports idolOn Ethan Stern (‘17)“He is like a son to me, we do everything together from turning double plays to eating Chipotle on week nights.”

“I think it’s really a thing. Junior year is a tough year, you’re just trying to get to the end so [when] you kind of can sense the end it can get difficult. I don’t think it is anywhere close to SSS.”

On SSJ

photo by Gillian Chryst

The Viking’s March Madness Bracket Winner


Quidditch takes flight across

WORLD CUP Since 2005, quidditch has gained popularity throughout the U.S., especially at the college level. Pictured above are two athletes playing in the seventh Quidditch World Cup, which took place in 2014 and was played between UCLA and Arkansas.

images taken from

the U.S.by ANNA DUKOVIC and HAYLEY POOREThe ficticious, wizarding-world game of quidditch created in J.K. Rowling’s famous Harry Potter series was adapted in 2005 by students at Middlebury College and has since then gained popularity and spread across the country. Read on to see how the game of quidditch hit the ground running.

MAY 2015

O ut of the corner of your eye you see a blur of gold fly by. Your heart begins to race as you dart after it. As you get closer and closer your grip on the wood-

en broom beneath you loosens, you extend your arm, open your hand and quickly grasp the cold, metal wings of the golden ball. Af-ter a long tiring game, you finally did it. You caught the golden snitch and won the game. Golden snitch? Flying? Wooden brooms? These are all elements of the fictional game of quidditch created by J.K. Rowling in the world famous series of Harry Potter. Although the quidditch Rowling creat-ed is fictional and involves many magi-cal elements, Harry Potter fans were able to adapt the game to be played in real life. The quidditch in the “muggle” world, or human world, is played on the ground, and instead of flying on a broom, players hold brooms between their legs as they run. The objective of the game is the same of that in the wizarding world: to score points by put-ting balls through hoops, and to catch the golden snitch. To break it down, there are five different positions. To begin with there are three players from each team that are deemed as chasers who attempt to score points by throwing a volleyball, referred to as a quaffle, through one of the hoops. Each time a chas-er successfully gets a ball through a hoop they earn their team 10 points. In an attempt to stop the other team from scoring, each team

gaining more and more popularity each year throughout the US, including right here at Paly. At the end of April, Paly’s Associated Stu-dent Body (ASB) hosted a Harry Potter week, which included quidditch matches between all of the classes. Each team consisted of 20 play-ers from that class. In the first round, the se-niors (Gryffindor) played the freshmen (Huf-flepuff) while the juniors (Slytherin), took on the sophomores (Ravenclaw). Both Gryffindor and Slytherin won their matches the first day handedly and moved on to compete against one another for a chance to win the title of quid-ditch champions. Although Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff lost the first day, they battled it out for third place, with Ravenclaw getting the win. In the end, in the championship game came down to which team’s seeker could capture the snitch. Although Edward Chen (‘15), Gryffin-dor’s seeker, had a close grab at the snitch,Mr. Hall’s flag, it was Dami Bolarinwa (‘16), Slytherin’s seeker, who managed to rip the flag free and claim the victory for Slytherin. For Paly students, the game of quidditch became a fun way to get some exercise and enter the magical world of Harry Potter. Quidditch, a once fictitious sport, has been transformed and is now played at hundreds of colleges and high schools throughout the country. Although the game does lack a few key elements of the sport found in the Harry Potter books and movies, it has it’s similar-ities and who knows, sometime in the near future you may just see your grandkids fly by on a broom in search of a golden snitch.<<<

has one keeper to protect the hoops and two beaters who through dodgeballs, referred to as bludgers, at the other teams’ chasers in order to “knock them out”. Knocking an individual out makes them ineligible to play again until they sprint back and touch their own goal hoops. The last position, and often the most cele-brated, is the seeker who attempts to find the golden snitch, capture it for 30 points, and end the game. In the wizarding world the golden snitch is a flying ball that darts around the are-na and is hard to spot. In the muggle version, a person dressed in yellow or gold runs around with a ball or flag attached to their waist. This individual is a neutral player and they run and hide in order to avoid a seeker from snatching the snitch. However, once a seeker is able to grab the snitch, the game ends and the points are tallied. If the score is tied the game goes into overtime, but if not, a winner is declared. Although the rules of muggle quidditch are well known around U.S. colleges today, the game didn’t exist until a few years ago. It wasn’t until 2005 in the United States that quidditch was created at the intramural level by students at Middlebury College. It has since then gained popularity and spread across the country. Originally, the game was created as a fun way to pass time on Sundays, but it quickly grew into an intense, physical sport. In 2007, the first World Cup was held between Middle-bury College and Vassar College, and by 2010, U.S. Quidditch was incorporated as a nonprof-it organization, with 46 teams competing in World Cup IV. The game of quidditch is still

FLYING A Ravenclaw player takes a shot against Cole Tierney (‘16), the keeper for Slytherin. To see a recap of the first two games (Quidditch Day 1) visit vikingsportsmag.com.

phot

o by

Mer

edith

Kin

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>>> For more online coverage and game recaps, check out vikingsportsmag.com

WRAP-UPS

As the school year draws to an end, Paly’s athletic teams are wrapping up their sea-sons. The Viking has compiled briefings of every varsity sport from the 2014-2015

seasons of sports. Read on to get filled in on the last year of athletics at Paly!

BOYS’ WATER POLOThe boys’ water polo team played their way to a 14-13 overall record, impressively winning 9 out of their 12 games in league play. Notable players that will be leav-ing this year include Seth Alston (‘15) and Lucas Novak (‘15), who combined for a total of 74 goals over the course of the season. Winston Rosati (‘16) will be ex-pected to lead the line next year.

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Aly

s Olm

stead

GIRLS’ WATER POLOGirls’ water polo had a slow start to its season, with the loss of many senior players on the team over the past two years. In addition, the team faced a turnover in coaches as Danny Dye was replaced by Aileen Delaney. The girls had an overall record of 15-16, and a 6-6

record in league. Tess Van Hulsen (‘15) and Olivia Scola (‘15) will be leaving the team this year and will continue on to play at Claremont McKenna College and Pitzer College, respectively. Girls’ water polo will look to players Claire Drebin (‘16) and Katie Francis (‘16) to carry the team next season.

SEASON

by DANIEL DOUTY, CLARA HARRINGTON and ALEX MURRAY

FOOTBALLThe first season with coach Jake Halas resulted in a three-win sea-son for the Vikings. The team’s major losses include running-back Jayshawn Puckett (‘15). The team should have higher expecta-tions for next year with Justin Hull (‘16) as quarterback and Eli Givens (‘16) catching passes. The defense will boast heavy-hit-ting Shaun Pike (‘16) and safety Riley Schoeben (‘16).

BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRYWith Kelsey Feeley as the head coach, boys’ cross country placed first in El Camino and second at CCS. The team will be graduating star runners Lucas Matison (‘15), but is expect-ed to be carried by strong members of the team. Kent Slaney (‘17), Naveen Pai (‘17) and Sam Desré (‘16) are amongst the leading runners for next season.

GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRYThe girls’ cross country team placed fifth at CCS this year, led by coach Paul Jones. The team will be losing Katie Foug (‘15) as she heads off to college. Next season, the girls will look to runners Bryn Carlson (‘16), Maddie Feldmeier (‘17) and Julia Doubson (‘18) to lead.

VOLLEYBALLAfter winning two state titles in the past five years, the volleyball team has been under tre-mendous pressure to perform. Despite losing coach Daniele Desiderio for a period of time midway through the season, the team finished with an overall record of 19-12. Notable play-

ers graduating include Jade Schoenberger (‘15), Anna Dukovic (‘15) and Hayley Poore (‘15). Some highlights of the season include beating Gunn on Senior Night and winning the Carlmont Tourna-ment. The team will look to Claire Dennis (‘16) and Jessica Lee (‘17) next season.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALLGirls’ basketball enjoyed its best season in a while, finishing undefeated in league play and 22-5 overall under the leadership of the Paly Coach of the Year, Scott Peters. The team made it to the first round of NorCal playoffs before its season ended from a loss to Oak-

land High School. The team hopes to improve, with all of its players returning and young players on the team having time to improve. Players to look out for next year include standout sophomore Lauren Koya-ma (‘17), 6’3” center Alexis Harris (‘16) and facili-tating point guard Maddy Atwater (‘16).

BOYS’ SOCCERThe team had an overall record of 13-2-3 and an 8-2-1 record in league, going on to win leagues. The boys will have to overcome the losses of key seniors Wesley Woo (‘15), Preston Kuppe (‘15) and Steven Blatman (‘15). Returning players key to next year’s success in-clude goalkeeper Eli Friedlander (‘16), Dami Bolarinwa (‘16) and Derek Schoenberger (‘17).ph

oto

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BOYS’ BASKETBALLThe team played well for much of the season, finishing 7-5 in league and 17-8 overall. Un-fortunately, the team exited in the first round of CCS playoffs after a premature end to the season. Next year, watch for rising players like Miles Tention (‘17), Mikey Grandy (‘16) and

Justin Hull (‘16) to fill the shoes of departing players Kevin Mullin (‘15), the team’s leading scorer, and Jon-athan Rojahn (‘15). Peter Diepenbrock will take over as the head coach next year. Highlights of the year include beating Gunn on Senior Night, causing Paly fans to storm the court and celebrate with the team.

GIRLS’ TENNISThe girls’ tennis team had a phenomenal season, with an undefeated record in league matches. Unfortunately the team was knocked out of CCS in the first round after its regular season. Members of the team such as Kelsey Wang (‘16), Halle Biorn (‘16) and Avanika Narayan (‘17) will hope to improve on the team’s season despite the losses of grad-uating seniors, including Madeline Lee (‘15).

BADMINTON

BOYS’ GOLFBoys’ golf had somewhat polarizing season. After earning a 12-0 record and winning leagues by 27 strokes, the team was unexpectedly eliminated in the first round of CCS. John Knowles (‘15) and Alex Hwang (‘15) will graduate this year, but the Vikings’ will have plenty of talent returning next year. Alongside Matthew Lewis (‘16) and Henry Hughes (‘16) will be freshmen Ali Ahmed (‘18) and Joon Sung (‘18).

The Vikings had a successful season, led by new coach Justin Halas. They went 4-8 in league, high-lighted by their win over Los Altos High School on senior night. This year, badminton will graduate top players Joseph Chang (‘15) and Promise Lee

(‘15). The team will look to Eric Chiang (‘16) and James Wang (‘16), amongst other young players, to head the team next year.

GIRLS’ SOCCERGirls’ soccer dominated this year on its way to a 17-3-1 record (9-2-1 in league match-es) and an appearance in the CCS finals. The team outscored opponents by nearly three goals per game, and held opponents scoreless in 13 matches. The team was piloted by Jacey Pederson (‘16), who led in both goals, with 26

overall, and in assists, with seven overall. Next year, the Vikings look forward to the return of underclass-men Dhara Yu (‘17) and Emma Tomz (‘18), the only freshman on the squad.

WRESTLINGWrestling finished sixth in SCVALs this year, with a 1-5 record in duals. The graduating seniors on the team in-clude Chioke Bryant-Anderson (‘15), James Giaccia (‘15) and Alexa Austin (‘15). Among the students returning to the team next year are Seth Goyal (‘16), Emil Wolfgramm (‘16), Sarah Aguilar (‘17) and Keahi Asing (‘17).

BASEBALLThe baseball team, coached by Pete Fukuhara, went 18-12 overall and 8-6 in league matches, and won the league championship series. Among players graduating at the end of the school year are Phil Lewis (‘15), Isaac Kasevich (‘15) and El-lis Obrien (‘15), who will continue to play at Bates

BOYS’ LACROSSEThe boys’ lacrosse team had a great season, going 17-9 and reaching the SCVAL championship game, where they beat Los Gatos High School 9-5. The team will lose many important players this year, including Owen Staiger (‘15) and John Rogers (‘15). Fortunately the team will still have players such as Quintin Valenti (‘16), Cole Tierney (‘16) and Matthew Seligson (‘16) to lead them next year.

College. This team has plenty of talent to fill the shoes of seniors. Look out for Owen Plambeck (‘16), Justin Hull (‘16) and Ethan Stern (‘17), as they should all be key contributors.

GIRLS’ LACROSSEDespite the loss of Ami Drez (‘14) and Kris-ten DeStefano (‘14) last year, girls’ lacrosse had another strong season with an undefeat-ed twelve-game streak in league. The team finished off the season by winning the SCVAL championship game 12-11 in overitme against

cross-town rival Gunn High School. The team will be graduating 10 of its players this year, includ-ing Paige Bara (‘15) and Allie Peery (‘15). The Vikings will look to Maya Benatar (‘16), Kaitlin Chiu (‘17) and Reid Walters (‘16) to lead the girls to victory next spring.

GIRLS’ GOLFGirls’ golf excelled this year, placing third in CCS, second in SCVALs and fifth in NorCals. The team will be without Mi-chelle Xie (‘15) and Olivia Johnson (‘15) next year, but the team will be led by returning players Emily Hwang (‘17) and Stephanie Yu (‘18).

SOFTBALL

BOYS’ SWIMMINGAfter a 5-2 record overall, boys’ swimming placed second in leagues. Winston Wang (‘15), William Shin (‘15), Ryan Drover (‘15) and Lucas Novak (‘15) will all be leaving the team this year; they will continue to swim at the University of Chica-

GIRLS’ SWIMMING

TRACK & FIELDBoth track teams, coached by Kelsey Feeley, had good seasons this year. The girls’ team went 3-3, while the boys’ team had a 4-2 record in league. Graduating girls include Katie Foug (‘15), Anna Dukovic (‘15) and Julia Asin (‘15), who will contin-ue in college at Amherst. Returning girls include

go, Middlebury College, Pitzer College and Mas-sachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. The team will be carried by Daniel Sing (‘16), Ethan Bundy (‘17), Alex Liang (‘17) and Andrew Cho (‘16).

Bryn Carlson (‘16), Catherine Yu (‘16) and Kelly Branson (‘16). The team will lose Jasper McE-voy (‘15) and Jasper McEvoy (‘15); however, Austin Cox (‘16), Dami Bolarinwa (‘16), Eli Giv-ens (‘16) and Kent Slaney (‘16) are expected to excel next season.

The girls’ swim team had a remarkable season, going undefeated in league meets and eventually winning the SCVAL league title. They went on to compete in CCS playoffs and placed second to Archbishop Mitty High School at the champion-

ship meet. The team has a good shot to back up its impressive season next spring with Grace Zhao (‘17), Zoe Lusk (‘18) and Claire Lin (‘18) returning to the team next year.

Softball had an up-and-down season, eventually finishing 4-8 in leagues and 14-13 overall. The team will suffer losses that include outfielders Ca-sey Glassford (‘15), Mackenzie Glassford (‘17), Kabria Dame (‘15) and Autumn Macareno (‘15)

at the season’s end. Next year look for produc-tion out of Sophie Frick (‘18), Teddie Stewart (‘17) and Maggie Renteria (‘17).


ClassBy Sport:

Baseball Basketball Diving FencingGolf Lacrosse Soccer Synchronized Swim-ming Track and Field VolleyballWrestling

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Santa Clara Univ., Misha Hindery (rowing)

Claremont McKenna College, Tess van Hulsen (water polo)

Pitzer College, Ryan Drover (swimming),Olivia Scola (water polo)

Stanford Univ., Elle Billman (synchronized swimming),Jaisel Sandhu (rowing), Royce Wang (fencing)

UC Berkeley, Zoe Bhargava (rowing)

Univ. of Redlands, Lisa Rogge (lacrosse)

2015of

Water Polo

Swimming

Rowing

MAY 2015

BY HAYLEY POORE and SHEILA SUBRAMANIAN

College Recruiting Map

Harvard Univ., Michelle Xie (golf)

See where athletes of the Class of 2015 will contin-ue their athletic careers next year.

Univ. of Wisconsin- Madison, Marcelo Buxton (rowing),John Carter (rowing)

American Univ., James Giaccia (wrestling)

Bates College., Ellis Obrien (baseball)

Amherst College, Julia Asin (track and field)

Univ. of Chicago, Winston Wang (swimming)

MIT, Christine Langston (rowing), Lucas Novak (water polo), Wesley Woo (soccer)

Ithaca College, Scott Hillen (diving)

Macalester College, Sean Cheng (swimming)

Washington Univ. in St. Louis, Kevin Mullin (basketball)

Middlebury College, William Shin (swimming)

Trinity Univ., Jade Schoenberger (volleyball)

By Division:

D-I38%D-III

63%

2015


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BOTTOM1 0 Sports Moments

2014-2015

The Viking’s

1 0 by BRYN CARLSON and MICHAEL PAPPAS

Distance runner Matison (‘15) who took first place in CCS at Toro Park for cross country in the fall, opted not to participate in track. Matison decided that he would rather focus on trail running than gaining speed as he is most passionate about hitting the trails and working some hills. While the boys’ distance team still possesses talent and depth, losing Matison certainly hurt the team.

The Vikings faced cross town rivals, the Gunn High School Titans, on the courts and were defeated after three sets. This was the first time that Paly has been defeated by Gunn in volleyball in seven years. Perhaps, worse than the loss itself was the ignition of a “twitter war” as students from both Paly and Gunn fired spiteful and offensive comments back and forth meant to insult the opposing school.

Lucas Matison not doing track

Volleyball’s loss to Gunn

Boys’ soccer’s loss in CCS quarter finalsFollowing a 12-4-3 season, the boys’ soccer team defeated Santa Teresa in order to advance to the CCS Quarterfinals where they faced Bellarmine. Though the stakes were high, so was the competition. The Vikings missed the chance to move forward in CCS after suffering a 2-0 defeat in a heartbreaking game.

Boys’ basketball’s loss in first round of CCSWhile the boys’ basketball team had a strong season, with a 17-8 overall record, they did not advance beyond the first round of CCS playoffs after being edged out 69-60 by Santa Teresa High School.

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A recap of Paly athletics’ most disappointing moments of the year.

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MARCH 2012

After taking first place in leagues after a successful season, the boys’ golf team was knocked out of the CCS tour-nament after only the first round and its season ended abruptly and on a low note.

This year’s varsity volleyball head coach, varsity boys’ basketball head coach, and Athletic Director will not be returning next year. Daniele Desiderio, is being let go after only one season with the girls’ volleyball team. In addition, long time basketball coach Adam Sax is retiring. Lastly, Jason Fung is stepping down after serving as the Athletic Director only for the 2014-2015 school year.

Despite the promise that the demolition and reconstruction of the gym would begin during the summer of 2014, the old gyms have remained standing throughout the school year. While the present date to tear down the gyms is scheduled for over the summer, one cannot be sure that this will be the case due to the series of delays in the commencement of the project.

The Vikings suffered many heartbreaking losses on the football field during the fall season, including on the Senior and Homecoming Nights. Finishing out with a record of 3-8, this is the first time since 2004 that Paly football has had a losing season.

Boys’ golf was upset

Girls’ soccer short of winning league

Coach swap

No powderpuff

Gym project not yet begun

Football’s losing season

The Vikings’ dominated the soccer field this winter earning an overall record of 17-1-3, and had the opportunity to seize the league title. Only one victory over Mountain View separated the team from being named SCVAL champions, yet the game resulted in a 2-1 loss for Paly and a second place ranking in league. The Vikings ad-vanced to the CCS championship game where they fell 3-2, again to Mountain View.

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1Due to the belief that powderpuff football is sexist in its mocking of female athletic ability, ASB has decided to cancel the previously annual tradition of girls from each grade level competing in a flag football competition. Many students are unhappy about the halting of this highly anticipated spring-time activity which served as a relief from the often stressful ending of the school year.


6Here’s a look at the greatest moments from Paly’s athletics this season.

TOP1 0 Sports Moments

2014-2015

Viking’s

After a 8-6 season, the Vikings swept Los Gatos in the first round of SCVALs and then continued their winning streak, sweeping Saratoga to win the league championship.

After the boys’ basketball team’s close win against rival team Gunn, the packed stu-dent section stormed the court in an excited flurry to celebrate the win. Over 50 fans raced on to the court to hug the players and commemorate the victory.

Baseball sweeps SCVALs

Storm the court

Volleyball upsets GunnAfter the lady Vikes had a big loss against cross town rival Gunn earlier in the season, they took home the win in an intense 3 game match on senior night. Jade Schoenberger (‘15) was a crucial player, helping them come out victorious.

Girls’ swimming dominates SCVAL and CCSLed by underclassmen Grace Zhao (‘17), Claire Lin (‘18), and Zoe Lusk (‘18), the girls’ swimming team took the SCVAL title. They swam in the final meet against Mountain View and came out as champions. They then went on to CCS and placed second.

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by PAIGE ANDERSON and KATIE FOUG

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Girls’ lacrosse dominated their league this year and went undefeated. They beat Sarato-ga 16-10 in the semifinals and then went on to beat Gunn 12-11 in overtime to win the league title for the second year in a row. The boys went 10-2 in league and beat Los Ga-tos 9-5 in the SCVAL championship after beating Mountain View 9-8 in the semi-final.

The girls’ soccer team had a very successful season this year. The team was able to make it all the way to the CCS final game against Menlo Atherton where they fell short of the title with a score of 3-2.

Boys cross country won first place at league championships and placed second in CCS. Led by senior Lucas Matison, the boys made it to states where Matison was crowned the boys cross country champi-on of CCS and placed 53rd in the state championship meet.

Givens is ranked first in CCS for the 100 meters race with a time of 10.79 seconds and 200 meter race with a time of 21.86 seconds. He is projected to win CCS and move on to states.

The girls’ basketball team went undefeated in their season and took the SCVAL crown. For the first time in Paly Girls’ Basketball history, the team made open division playoffs for CCS, meaning that instead of being placed in a division based on school size, they played against the best teams in the region.

Girls’ and boys’ lacrosse win SCVAL titles

Friedlander saves PK to save season

Girls’ soccer makes CCS final

Eli Givens can run on water

XC boys run their way to states

Girls’ basketball makes open division

Eli Friedlander saved the final penalty kick against rival Homestead, winning them the league. They went on to the semifinals of CCS and lost to Bellarmine.

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2Girls’ swimming dominates SCVAL and CCS

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1MAY 2015

Recognizing the figures that sacrifice themselves for the Vikings, this award goes out to the coach who made a significant contribution to the Palo Alto High School athletics team that he or she is involved in. Coaches are such a vital component in the athletic realm, not only for their teams, but for the Paly community as a whole. It is important to give one Paly coach the proper recognition for his or her hard work: a ‘thank you’ for their dedicatation and focus to better the team and individual players.

The Alok Subbarao Award is given to the player whose greatest impact on his or her team is not necessarily printed in the newspaper or visible at the top of every statistics category. The Viking grants this award to the player who carries his or her team with great leader-ship and acts as the glue that keeps the team working as one cohesive unit. The value of this athlete cannot necessarily be measured by points scored or shots made, but rather by the motivation he or she brings to the team.

Granted to one male and one female athlete who stand out as the leading force behind his or her team’s success, the Athletes of the Year Awards are given to the impact players who demonstrate undeniable skill and who shine on their respective teams. The athletes chosen are those who have proved to be the core of their team and are always reliable in clutch situations.

Paly’s high caliber athletic program holsters some of the most competitive teams in the Bay Area. The Team of the Year Award recognizes one male and one female team for exhibiting their hard work, dedication and outstanding performance throughout their season. These two teams are the teams that have competed at the top level and that have had success doing so, bringing impressive results back to Palo Alto.

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A PALY

COACH OF THE YEAR

TEAMS OF THE YEAR

UNDERCLASSMEN OF THE YEAR

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

ALOK SUBBARAO

Given to one male and one female freshman or sophomore, the Underclassmen of the Year is presented to the players who have demonstrated athletic excellence in their sport(s) de-spite their young age. These athletes exhibit outstanding performances given their short time and lack of experience with Paly athletics, and are projected to dominate throughout the years to come.

thletic wards

MAY 2015

COACHOF THE YEAR

SCOTT PETERS

It’s 9:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night and the girls’ basketball team is furiously practicing in the big gym. Despite the heavy homework load and other outside commitments, the team stays focused and determined during their

practices by giving all their attention to the game. All of these practices are under the supervision and support of head coach Scott Peters.

The Palo Alto High School girls’ basketball team went undefeated in its 2014-2015 season and advanced to the open division playoffs for the first time in Paly basketball history. Peters has been the head coach of the girls’ basketball program since 2007, with his team playing in the highest division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) league. In 2011, Peters coached his team to the Central Coast Section (CCS) division 1 championship.

In the 2014-2015 season, Peters and his team went 12-0 in league and 22-5 overall in their season. Because of the team’s perfor-mance during the season, it qualified for the CCS open division playoffs where the team fell to St. Ignatius and Scotts Valley. The Vi-kings then advanced to the division 1 Califor-nia Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Northern California (NorCal) basketball playoffs.

Peter’s dedication to the game has been shown through his eight years of coaching at Paly and his competitive mindset.

“I’m competition based,” Peters said. “I love competing and all the preparations that go into competing. Its very exciting and motivat-ing to work hard at a sport and see the work pay off.”

Peters owes a lot of his coaching success to be driven from the girls’ basketball teams themselves.

“These girls are the tightest team I think I have ever been around,” Peters said. “They desperately want it and to help each other and the team do well. Myself and the assistant coaches love getting to coach them; they are a great group of girls.”

Starter Courtney Lovely (‘16) tells how she has developed a relationship with Peters on and off the court.

“Scott is like my uncle” Lovely said. “We have times when he’s like my coach and we have a serious relationship, but we also have a really fun joking relationship off the court,

he’s really awesome.”Peters expresses his love for the game and

the team he coaches. “They keeps me coming back every year,”

Peters said. “I love to help them enjoy the game of basketball.”

Lovely reiterates how Peters is their for the team no matter what the outcome of the games are.

“He really believes in us no matter what” Lovely said. “He gives us a ton of confidence even if we lose.”

The Viking takes great honor in awarding Scott Peters with the Coach of the Year award for his determination in pushing his team to be the best and to being their for the players as a coach and a mentor. He brings his past experience in basketball to practice everyday and has the best interest of every player in mind.<<<

by MEREDITH KINNAMAN

STRATEGIZE Coach Scott Peters gives advice to his team during a timeout to help them win the game. The girls’ basketball team went undefeated in its season.

With a young team under his supervision, Coach Scott Peters coached the girls’ basketball team to an unde-feated season.

photo by Jeff Tobin

SQUAD The team prepares for a game against Moun-tain View. They would go on to win, securing their league championship.

The Team:Sophie Frick(‘18)

Carly Leong (‘18)

Julie Chandler (‘17)

Lauren Koyama (‘17)

Skylar Burris (‘17)

Maya Lathi (‘17)

Courtney Lovely (‘16)

Alexis Harris (‘16)

Maddy Atwater (‘16)

After losing two experienced seniors, the girls’ varsity basketball team used its young talent and team chemistry to have a rather successful season. Playing without a single senior on the team, the

team still managed to place first in their league after going undefeated throughout the entire season. Making it to the Central Coast Section (CCS) Open Division Playoffs for the first time in Palo Alto High School basketball history, the team had a great season and will look to continue its domination next year. Due to the exceptional season under its circumstanc-es, The Viking has selected girls basketball as the 2014-2015 Team of the Year.

The young roster consisted of two freshmen, So-phie Frick (‘18) and Carly Leong (‘18), four sopho-mores, Julie Chandler (‘17), Lauren Koyama (‘17), Skylar Burris (‘17), and Maya Lathi (‘17), and three juniors, Courtney Lovely (‘16) , Alexis Harris (‘16) , and Maddy Atwater (‘16). All nine players have been playing on varsity since their freshman year.

The team started off the regular season hot, getting big wins against Los Gatos, Mountain View and Gunn to establish themselves as a top team in the league. They continued to command the league throughout the year. In its last game of the regular season, the Lady Vikes defeated Los Gatos on a buzzer beater layup after coming back from a 14-point deficit to se-cure an undefeated season.

“Our season this year has definitely been our best sea-son since I’ve been at Paly,” Lovely said. “We were unde-feated league champs, which was an awesome feeling!”

Coming off a strong season, the team did not perform as well as it believed in Open Division playoffs. In its first game, it fell to the number four team in California, Saint Ignatius High School. The Lady Vikes then played Scotts Valley High School for another upsetting loss.

“Next year hopefully will be just as strong, if not stronger,” Lathi said. “We need to work on bouncing back from losses.”

Hard work and focus will help the team improve for next year and help them have a chance to go as far in CCS.

“Our goals for next year is definitely win league again and also win CCS and compete for State.” Lovely said.

Obviously the team wants to go farther in the post-season the next change it gets.

“Next year we want to get farther into norcals, to prove that we belong there.” Koyama said.

Now that they had proved themselves in league, they’re next step was to show their talent in Norcals.

“We were very happy to have gone undefeated during league, but were disappointed that we didn’t compete with teams during open division and division one nor-cals,” Koyama said. “It was also our first time playing against that level of competition.”

One reason the team was able to be so successful in its season was due to the great team chemistry they had,

Honorable Mention:

Girls’ Soccer

photo by Jeff Tobin


GIRLS’ TEAMOF THE YEAR

BASKETBALL

on and off the court.“I think we have an amazing chemistry. A lot of people say

this about their team, but I’m not kidding when I say that our team is literally a family. We eat lunch together everyday whether in season or not. We are best friends, sisters, and of course teammates. I’d do anything for any one of those girls on my team and I know they’d all say the same. I feel so bless-ed to get to be apart of a team as close as we are!” Lovely said.

Due to the team’s chemistry, it was able to perform to its highest ability on the court. Team bonding helped them be-come closer teammates and improve their ability to work to-gether.

“My team is very close on and off the court. We are each other’s closest friends, and i think that reflects when we play with each other,” Koyama said. “Since next season will be our last season all together, we want to finish on a high note.”

That team chemistry helped them win games during the season and will continue to be an important aspect of the team.

“I think we were one of the best teams because we’ve all been playing together for awhile so we have a chemistry that helps us play together and win,” Lovely said. “We have chemis-try off the court as well, which definitely shows on the court.”

The Lady Vikes will be a force to be reckoned with next year and hope to become back to back champions in league as well as make Open Division playoffs for the second time in team history. <<<

HUDDLE UP The starting five get together before the start of their game to share encouraging words with each other.

by REUBEN KRAMER

Playing without a senior, the girls’ basketball team defied all expecations and had a break out season, going unde-feated in league and making CCS Open Division Playoffs for the first time in team history.

SQUAD The team prepares for a game against Moun-tain View. They would go on to win, securing their league championship.

photo by Jeff Tobin

The Team:Aaron Chandler (‘15)

Samuel Desré (‘16)

Lucas Matison (‘15)

Spencer Morgan-feld (‘17)

Kai Oda (‘17)

Naveen Pai (‘17)

Kent Slaney (‘17) One fast runner is impressive

on a cross country team, but there is more to be said about a team where every member has such speed that they all can make a state-

ment. This year, the boys’ cross country team made that statement by making it to the Cal-ifornia Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state championship meet in November.

The team made it a goal to reach the CIF state championships, but the season began with a shaky start as lead runners were recov-ering from injuries and illnesses. Kai Oda (‘17) spent the first couple of weeks healing from an ankle injury and Kent Slaney (‘17) broke his toe while playing soccer the day before cross country started. Sam Desré (‘16) was out with a shin injury.

“Early on in the season we did not do well in a lot of our meets and Naveen [Pai (‘17)] was the only person who was consistently improv-ing,” Oda said. Key team member Lucas Matison (‘15) was also absent at the start of the season.

“For me, the season started off kind of weird since I competed in the World Mountain Run-ning Championships in mid-September, and

then got sick afterwards,” Matison said. However, once all runners were healed, the

team was able become a top competitor at meets.

“Towards the end of the season everyone’s injuries healed and we put all of our energy into getting faster,” Oda said.

The team’s goal of reaching the CIF meet came closer to being real. With more training, the team became faster and won more meets. At the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) championship meet, the team fin-ished first in the El Camino league. Matison won the race, a 2.95 mile course at Crystal Springs.

From there, the team’s success didn’t falter: the next week they placed second behind Bel-larmine in the Central Coast Section (CCS) championship meet at Toro Park in Salinas, Calif. Again, Matison placed first in the three-mile course out of 130 runners. Slaney, Pai and Aaron Chandler (’15) contributed to the second place spot by placing ninth, 24 and 32, respectively.

“Our peak of the season was at CCS [cham-pionships],” Matison said. “All of us raced in-credibly that day, and many of our rival teams who were said to do better than us, we ended

Honorable Mention:

Boys’ Soccer

photo by Katie Foug

TAKING FIRST Lucas Matison (‘15) passes a Bellarmine runner in the CCS champ-sionshp meet. Paly took second behind Bellarmine, and both moved onto CIF.


MAY 2015

BOYS’ TEAMOF THE YEAR

CROSS COUNTRY

up beating them.” The first three teams in CCS get to run in the

CIF meet, so the team was ecstatic when they found out they placed second.

“Even though we were trying for so long to get to [CIF], when we actually did we were all kind of surprised,” Oda said. “There were a couple of minutes when we were all screaming and hugging each other.”

The CIF meet was not the best race for any of the Vikings. The course was unlike any they had run before, and proved to be a larger chal-lenge than they anticipated.

“Unfortunately the [CIF] meet did not go that well,” Oda said. “Slaney got food poison-ing and the race itself was a lot bigger than we were used to. We were choking on dust and trying to get around people the entire time.”

Despite the Vikings’ last place finish in Divi-sion 1 at the CIF meet, the season overall was something the team could be proud of.

“I feel like we surprised a lot of people with our success this season,” Pai said. “Our season went by pretty normally at first with everyone just running their races and gradually improv-ing. But when it came time for the playoff rac-es, we all came together.” <<<

ALL SMILES The boys’ cross country team shows off its second place tro-phy at the Central Coast Section Championship meet. Lucas Matison (‘15) holds the trophy and placed first in the race.

by PRISCILLA BELL

After a slow start to its season, the boys’ cross country team trained hard and made it all the way to the Cali-fornia Interscholastic (CIF) championship meet, led by runners Lucas Matison (‘15) and Kent Slaney (‘17).

photo by Malcolm Slaney


UNDERCLASSMAN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

SOPHIE FRICKS. Frick had 2 runs batted in (RBI) and played a beautiful game at first base.

Just midway through the softball season, S. Frick has already had 14 RBI’s on 17 hits and has scored 11 runs. Varsity softball coach Bill Laskey, former Giants Pitcher, comments on her hitting skills.

“Her confidence all comes out [when she’s hitting] and watching her as a hitter progress from where she was till now has been greatly, greatly improved,” Laskey said.

Aside from softball, S. Frick is an excep-tional basketball player. Her strength and skill proved beneficial for the team which had quite a season this year.

“Sophie is like a brick wall,” Courtney Love-ly (‘16) said. “ I love having Soph on the team and it definitely would not have been the same without her this year.”

In her basketball season, S. Frick averaged 1.7 rebounds per game and a 60% free-throw average for being a non-starter. Her brother notes on S. Frick’s athletic ability.

“I think the biggest thing that has made her the athlete she is is the fact that she has always played up with better competition and it forc-es her to play like someone two or three years older than she is,” A. Frick said. “She always played on Madeleine’s teams with older kids, and that has helped her transition into playing varsity as a freshman really well.”

Aside from basketball and softball, S. Frick excelled in water polo as well. She practiced at the varsity level throughout the whole season until she was moved up for playoffs. As a fresh-man, this was a very big accomplishment, and her role on the team did not go unnoticed.

“She always was working hard and making sure everyone else on the team would be too,” teammate Haley Chalmers (‘17) said. “I can tell just from playing water polo with her that she is a naturally born athlete.”

Paly has been blessed with athletic ability throughout the many strong years of the sports program. S. Frick has been able to continue on the Viking legacy of excellency.

“My goals for next years seasons are to keep practicing in my free time so I can keep in shape for next year,” S. Frick said. “Another big thing is focusing on being a team player, because when you work well with your team nothing bad can happen.” <<<

Sophie Frick (‘18) stepped foot on the Palo Alto High School campus with a pre-determined expectation to be a talented athlete. With two older siblings, Andrew Frick (‘14) who played football, lacrosse and

wrestling then went on to play football in col-lege, and Madeline Frick (‘17) who played soft-ball and volleyball her freshman year and now rows, Paly was destined to receive a promising freshman for their athletic teams. Herself, S. Frick has participated in three sports at Paly: water polo, basketball and softball. She prac-ticed at the varsity level for water polo until she was officially moved up for playoffs, and played on the varsity basketball and softball teams.

“I chose to play three sports this year at Paly because I love the sports themselves and the people,” S. Frick said. “I have heard many pos-itive stories about Paly athletics form my sib-lings and I knew I needed to be a part of that. Its an awesome way to meet lots of new people

by MADDY ATWATER

and to be doing what you love.”For the 2014-2015 school year, The Viking

has chosen S. Frick as the Female Underclass-man of the Year for exceptional skill and ded-ication in water polo, softball and basketball. Despite many promising athletes, S. Frick’s athleticism and sheer talent placed her ahead of the rest. Beside her award from The Viking, she has also received two MaxPreps player of the game awards for her varsity softball games against Sacred Heart Cathedral and Mountain View High School.

“I couldn’t pick a favorite sport because they are all so different,” S. Frick said. “I’ll have to go with whichever season it is, the sport I’m playing then is my favorite.”

S. Frick has made an impressive impact on the varsity softball team, especially for being just a freshman. In her game against Sacred Heart Cathedral, S. Frick had the winning hit with two outs and runners on both second and third base. Against Mountain View where she received her second player of the game award,

photo by Jeff Tobin

MAY 2015

UNDERCLASSMAN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

KENT SLANEYDrop the arms Kent!” Boys

cross country and track head coach Kelsey Feeley screams at Kent Slaney (‘17) at the Central Coast Section Top 8 Invitational,

as Slaney competes in his 1600 meter race. She has screamed these words many times before, and will continue to repeat herself many more times during this season and the upcoming ones. Slaney’s form is so out of the ordinary that his teammates have nicknamed him “Baby Di-nosaur” because he holds his arms like a T-rex when he runs. Luckily, for both the Boy’s Track and Cross Country teams, Slaney’s running abil-ities are also out of the ordinary.

After a promising freshman year, in which Slaney ran the 9th fastest freshman time in the nation in the 1600 meters, at 4:24.44, Slaney and his teammates had high hopes for the cross country season. However, those expectations were drastically changed when Slaney broke his big toe just one day before the start of the cross country season. Their ambitions may have been challenged, but they were not lost.

“As a team we wanted to make it to states from the beginning, and I still believed that was pos-sible even with Kent missing a large part of the season,” Varsity runner Naveen Pai (‘17) said. “I just kept training and running my races and I had hope [that] things would come together when they needed to.”

During the early stages of the season the team was hurt by Slaney’s loss, finishing 17th at the Stanford Invitational and 11th at the Lowell invitational. Only three weeks before Central Coast Section (CCS) playoff meet, Slaney re-ceived the doctor’s approval to run again. Few people thought that it was enough time to get into competitive shape.

“I knew he would do well, because he’s Kent,” teammate and CCS division 1 individual cham-pion Lucas Matison (‘15) said. “But I didn’t know he would do that well. It just shows how much potential he has.”

Slaney started relatively slow, with a win at the Frosh-Soph city championship against Gunn. However, he quickly stepped it up, finishing 7th at Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) playoff meet in a time of 16:19 on the dreaded Crystal Springs Course, helping the team win its first SCVAL title since 2007.

photo by Malcolm SlaneyAlthough Slaney’s performance at SCVAL

was impressive, it was not enough to compete with the best times at CCS, as he was predict-ed to finish 21st. However, against all odds, Slaney managed to finish 9th at CCS in a race that saw the Boy’s Cross Country team qualify to the State Division One cross country meet.

Many believe that Slaney was able to recover and get in shape quickly due to his passion and love for running.

“Kent’s greatest strength as a runner is his passion,” Pai said. “He loves running and nev-er fails to give it his all. It’s what allows him to bounce back from injury like he did this cross country season and it’s the reason he is able to push himself to perform at the level he does.”

Slaney is currently running three varsity events in the 2015 track season. Slaney fin-ished 9th at the CCS top 8 Invitational in the mile and has a season personal best of 4:22.64. “I’m hoping to break 4:20 in the mile this sea-son, and place in CCS finals,” Slaney said.

by SAMUEL DESRÉ

During the track season, Slaney had to sacrifice running the 3200 meters in order to run the 800 meters and the 4x400 meter relay.These races help the team during dual meets and require Slaney to develop his speed, which contributes to having a stronger kick at the end of the mile.

“It was hard to sacrifice the two mile for rac-es like the 800 and the [4 by 400 meter relay] because I like the two mile better,” Slaney said. “Even if it was a hard sacrifice it was definitely worth it for the team and my times.”

Paly’s long distance runners will be able to benefit from Kent’s passion and extraordinary abilities for another two years. All of his team-mates, including Matison, believe that Kent has a bright future in front of him

“Kent is incredibly talented. I know that he’ll be able to make it far, especially with his perse-verance … it’s possible that he could represent the USA in the future,” Matison said. <<<

UPPERCLASSMAN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR:

JACEY PEDERSONby MADDIE KINNAMAN

Jacey Pederson (‘16) has been a key part of the the Paly soccer team for three years. Not only is Pederson a standout player, scoring a total of 36 goals in three seasons, but is also a humble and dedicated athlete.


Female Underclassmen Athlete of the Year, CCS Athlete of the Year, and Palo Alto Weekly Athlete of the Week. These are just a few of the many awards Jacey Pederson (‘16) has earned in her three

years of high school. Pederson comes from a talented sports

family, as both her father and older brother have been drafted to the MLB, but she has made her own name on both the soccer field and the track.

Although she runs the 200 meter dash in track, Pederson is best known for her talents on the soccer field. She has been an integral part of the Palo Alto varsity soccer team since her freshman year where she started as

a forward. Pederson has been ranked 73 in the nation and 29 in California by MaxPreps, but has impressed the Paly community even more. In her time with the Lady Vikes, she has scored 36 goals and assisted 14. This past season alone she scored 26 goals for the Vikings.

Pederson’s efforts have payed off so far, as she verbally committed her sophomore year to play soccer for the University of California, Los Angeles.

Along with her dedication to Paly soccer, she has also been an active participant in the prestigious soccer club Peninsula-Silicon Valley Union Football Club (PSV Union FC) since elementary school. Pederson was also a member of the U19 National Team. Despite her dedication to club soccer, she enjoys her chance to play for the Paly team as well.

“I play high school soccer because it’s a good platform to work on things I couldn’t necessarily work on in club,” Pederson said.

She also enjoys the opportunity to play with her peers. She feels that it is a more diverse environment, due to the age range from fresh-men to seniors.

“I really like representing the school and getting to play with my peers, because with my club team I play with people from all over,” Pederson said. “Its nice to play with people from Paly and it’s nice playing with people from every age group, freshmen to seniors.”

Even though she is an elite athlete, Peder-son’s teammates credit her with being humble and helping push her them to be the best athletes that they can be.

“I think that with someone who is obvious-ly the star of the team it’s really easy to be nice to players and push them to be better, or it’s really easy to be mean and make people feel worse than you,” Talia Malchin (‘17) said. “But [Pederson] is really good about being humble and helps the team push itself and she’s a good model of how it should work”.

Malchin also credits Pederson for her tech-nical play and hard work.

“She’s really fast and she’s really technical, but she also just tries really hard and is serious about it,” Malchin said.

Pederson is overcoming a recent setback which she endured at a club soccer tourna-ment. She underwent surgery to fix a fracture to her fifth metatarsal and will have to stay off of it till at least the end of the school year. She plans on using the summer to rehab her injury.

“I’m looking forward to dedicating my entire summer to getting back shape and training to get ready for a couple tournaments at the end of the summer that I am hoping to participate in,” Pederson said.

For now Pederson is just focusing on the future, and always trying to improve her skills. <<<

CONTROL (Left): Pederson maintains good ball control during a Paly game. She scored 26 goals for the Lady Vikes during the 2014-2015 season.

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FINISH (Below): Pederson lands her triple jump at a track meet during the 2014 season. She is currently rehabilitating a fracture to her fifth metatarsal and therefore is not competing this year.

UPPERCLASSMAN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR:

KEVIN MULLIN by ZOE BHARGAVA

Kevin Mullin (‘15) has excelled on the basketball court for Paly over the past four years. A three-year varsity player and a two-year starter, Mul- lin capped off his Paly career by averaging over 20 points per game during his senior year.

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MAY 2015

For most kids, childhood toys re-main in the past as they venture towards adulthood in high school and college, yet for Kevin Mullin (’15) the plastic basketball hoop he played on when he was just

four-years-old symbolizes more than just a childhood toy. Mullin’s hoop is a tribute to the sport he loves, and one that he will continue as he furthers his education at Washington University in St. Louis. Standing at 6’1”, Mullin isn’t particularly tall for a high school basket-ball player; however, with three years of varsity experience, Mullin led the Vikings during his senior season with an average of 20.7 points per game to contribute to the team’s average of

59.4 points per game. Mullin’s major role on the basketball team and his domination on the court have earned him The Viking’s Male Upperclassmen Athlete of the Year award.

Growing up, Mullin played a variety of sports. Current-ly, he plays club and Paly bas-ketball, and also plays soccer for Palo Alto Soccer Club’s ‘97 Blue Team. How-ever, his first priority when it has come to sports is bas-ketball, which

is why he began to focus more on basketball during his sophomore year at Paly.

“I love the sport because it has such a team aspect, like soccer, but also you get a lot of ball time, like tennis, so it’s the perfect bal-ance,” Mullin said. “I also just love the whole atmosphere of the sport. The whole ‘ball is life’ thing, it’s just fun.”

As both a senior and Paly’s highest scorer, Mullin has naturally become a leader on the basketball team. However, his role was much different during his first year on varsity as a sophomore, as he had far less experience and playing time.

“I’ve coached Kevin for three years, and I’ve seen him go from a sophomore who didn’t play much with no leadership to senior year where he really took on that leadership role,” coach Erik Olah said.

As a sophomore, Mullin played in few games, but spent most of his time at practice learning from the older players gaining experi-ence that would come in handy during his up-perclassman seasons. Despite riding the bench for most of the 2012-2013 season, Mullin’s coaches noticed his determination to improve.

“He was determined to be the best he could, so he put in the work to do it,” Olah said. “Kevin puts in a lot of time, honing his craft, he spends a lot of time shooting and working hard and doing extra work out-side of practice.”

Mullin’s unrelent-ing effort and con-viction resulted in a total of 496 points for the Vikings in the 2014-2015 sea-son and 87 successful three-point shots for a three-point success

percentage of 40%.In addition to his contributions to the team

on the court, Mullin also played a large role as a leader.

“He is a lead-by-example kind of guy,” Olah said.

Mullin’s drive and his ability to lead by ex-ample and served as a motivator for the entire team. Mullin often organizes open gyms and extra practices for his teammates even during the off-season.

“As one of the best players one the team, he is a teammate who knows how to motivate the entire team to do better,” Alex Dees (‘15) said.

As Mullin is graduating this year, he will continue to play basketball at the Division III level next year while at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Mullin is excited for his bas-ketball career to continue to the next level and his determination and work ethic will look to allow him to improve under the new challeng-es of collegiate basketball.

“I’m excited about playing at WashU,” Mul-lin said. “They’re a Division III travel team, so I will get to play teams from all over, and it will be a whole new experience. It’ll definitely be hard, but I’m excited about it.” <<<

LOOK (Left) Kevin Mullin (‘15) looks up as he dribbles down the court. Mullin will continue his basketball career next year at Washington University in St. Louis.

HOPS (Right) Mullin attempts a shot in a game against Wilcox. This season, he scored an aver-age 20.7 points per game for the Vikings . ph

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Kevin Mullin (‘15) has excelled on the basketball court for Paly over the past four years. A three-year varsity player and a two-year starter, Mul- lin capped off his Paly career by averaging over 20 points per game during his senior year.

ALOK SUBBARAO:

NICK BEESONby ROWAN McEVOYphoto by Maddie Kinnaman

Nick Beeson (‘15) has a love for baseball unlike most. In his fourth and final year of playing the game at Paly, Beeson has shown exemplary character through his selfless personality, supportive nature, competitive attitude and jovial laugh.


MAY 2015

As families tend to do, the team eats dinner together on a regular basis. Following a short-ened Thursday practice, they head off to one of a number of burger joints or grills. Beeson cites chicken fingers as one of the team’s favor-ite foods on the excursions. High up on the list of team favorites as well is Beeson himself. The players heavily affirm his high social standing in the clubhouse and the energy he brings to it. “[Beeson] is a guy who you want to have on the team without a doubt,” center fielder Phil Lewis (‘15) said. “Without [him], I’d say the energy level drops about half.” Jung-Goldberg echoes the Lewis’ praise. “I think my favorite memory of Nick is when he jokes around with me at practice,” Jung-Goldberg said. “He does it in a way where when I’m down sometimes or having a bad day, he can always bring me up. He does that a lot.” On senior night against Los Altos, Beeson got his last start ever at first base in his high school career. On the first pitch that he saw of the game, he lined a single to left center field. Because he was substituted out a few innings later, the single ended up being his final at bat. Paralleling how he plays, Beeson’s final at bat was not flashy, but effective. As Beeson him-self said, his goal every day is to do whatever he can for his team. One hit in one at bat with four solid innings of defense is a pretty good job in that regard. Having built a skyscraper in the form of the baseball community at Paly, Beeson must find his next project. A man of faith, Beeson plans to embark on a mission trip next. With his in-credible toolbox of personal skills, he should be more than qualified for the task. For now though, Beeson will focus on finishing high school and using his final moments with his teammates to their fullest. “I can’t wait to see what Nick has in store,” Jung-Goldberg said. “He’s a great person and he’s bound for a tremendous future.” Like life, the world of sports is headlined by a select few. Star players own the spotlight based on physical stats, drowning out the intangible contributions of others. While these athletes lead teams to greatness, it is not without the support of others. When a team is successful, as when a skyscraper is built, it is because there are guys like Beeson behind it. <<<

EYES ON THE PRIZE Nick Beeson (‘15) stares out of the dugout after a baseball game in early May. Bee-son is know on the team for hard work, a positive attitude and a passion for helping out.

joking demeanor, presence in the clubhouse and selfless nature stand at second to none. “[Beeson] is a player that works as hard as anybody,” coach Pete Fukuhara said. “He tries to get the most out of the talent he has.” At practice, Beeson can frequently be seen red in the cheeks. Teammates attest the job that he does and how it affects the rest of the squad. “[Beeson] shows up to practice every day and he goes all out every single minute,” third baseman Max Jung-Goldberg (‘18) said. “Ev-ery time I see him, he’s giving it everything he’s got and it rubs off on us. I think he propels us all to work harder.” Game days are more of the same. In the dug-out, Beeson works to get teammates up off the bench to actively cheer when the team is bat-ting. When the team comes in from the field, Beeson is the first one to greet them and after the game, he is one of the last to leave, making sure the dugout and field are clean. Besides setting a good example, Beeson ad-ditionally serves to guide the team. Though he won’t acknowledge the fact himself, he has grown to be a mentor figure for some of the younger players. “[Beeson has] taken me under his wing this year,” Jung-Goldberg said. “Being a freshman, he’s made me feel a lot at home.” At practices and games, Beeson is constant-ly seen voluntarily carrying the team’s gear around despite attempted protests from other players, much as an older brother would help out younger siblings. Though carrying around equipment is often a job delegated to under-classmen, Besson nonetheless fills the role with enthusiasm. “The baseball team is more like a family,” Beeson said. “We’ve been playing together for four years now, so to me it’s a great group of guys.”

What does it take to construct a sky-scraper? First off, one needs a project manager. The man-ager makes sure that

everyone does their job and organizes them well for maximum efficiency. Next the archi-tect and structural engineer, key players per-haps, who fill specific roles for the team related to the physical appeal and sturdiness of the building. Now one comes upon the workers. Often overlooked in the construction process, these members of the squad are integral to the finished product. Though people at higher levels often receive much of the credit for the skyscraper, it is the workers who serve at the backbone of the whole operation. A baseball team works in much the same way. Team managers, like the project manager of the construction project, and star players, like the architects, own the spotlight for their considerable efforts, but there are others who contribute to the squad through intangibles such as team chemistry. These players, like the most diligent construction workers, do not get the praise that they deserve. On the Palo Alto High School baseball team, one of these such individuals is Nick Beeson (‘15). Each year, The Viking chooses one Paly ath-lete to receive the Alok Subbarao award. The recipient must demonstrate the spirit of Sub-barao, a former cross-country and track run-ner who ran four events for a total of almost four miles while setting three personal records in the final track meet of his career. This award goes to an athlete who is not necessarily the best player on his or her team, but shows out-standing character and heart. Beeson is this year’s award recipient based on what he brings to Paly baseball. While he doesn’t play very often, his positive attitude,

AWARDING OUR SENIORS

Paige AndersonBest funny faces

Paige Barabest dance moves

Priscilla BellMOST LIKELY TO GO THROUGH A HACKY-

SACK PHASE IN COLLEGE

Gillian ChrystAlways Makes You Laugh

Zoe Bhargavateam mom

Anna DukovicMost likely to bring you cookies

Clara Harringtonbest playlist

Katie Fougbest laugh

Isaac Kasevichrookie of the Year

This year we had the pleasure of learning The Viking ways from our fabulous seniors. We wish them the best in their next stage of life!

Maddie Kinnamanqueen of the south

Zach Levitanmost likely to distract you

Rowan McEvoyMVP

Alex MurrayIdeal back-up singer

Michael PappasBest australian accent

Hayley Poorebest poker face

Garrett Reynoldsbiggest procrastinator

Olivia Scolanever seen in class

Sheila Subramanianalways gives you sass

Megan ValenciaMOst opinionated

AWARDING OUR SENIORSThis year we had the pleasure of learning The Viking ways from our fabulous seniors. We wish them the best in their next stage of life!


In the NEWSMayweather vs. Pacquiao

by ISAAC KASEVICH and ZACH LEVITAN

On Saturday May 2, 2015, what many called “The Fight of the Century” took place be-tween Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Although Mayweather triumphed over Pacquiao by a unanimous decision, many experts believed the fight did not live up to the hype. While the fight was relatively uneventful, it became the single biggest pay-day for any professional athlete ever.

From its announcement, the fight was shrouded in a frenzy of media coverage. For years there have been rumors that this legendary fight may actually take place, and when it finally did, it quickly became the biggest fight of our generation. The two fighters fought over a prize of 300 million dollars, not including pay-per-view sales and advertising opportunities. All told, the fighters split around 560 million dollars: Mayweather taking home about 336 million and Pacquiao collecting the other 224 million. The fight made Mayweather the highest paid athlete in the world and there are rumors that Pac-quiao may run for President in the Philippines.

After over five years of scheduled, cancelled and rescheduled fights, when Mayweather and Pacquiao finally got into the ring, the controversy followed. Mayweather’s signature defensive fighting style caused Pacquiao to chase him around the ring for much of the fight. Many critics be-lieve that Mayweather’s fighting style slows down a match and his tendency to run away from trouble is somewhat unethical. However, Mayweather landed 34 percent of his punches compared to Pacquiao’s 19 percent. Another topic of controversy was Pacquiao’s health during the fight – a few days after the fight Pacquiao released a statement claiming he must have surgery to repair a “significant tear” in the rotator cuff of his right shoulder. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said Pacquiao suffered the injury almost two weeks prior to the fight. Whether or not these claims are true, Mayweather has squashed any rumors of a possible rematch saying Pacquiao was using “excuses” and calling him a “sore loser” and a “coward”. Although the fight may have been uneventful, the controversy and publicity surrounding the fight made it one of the biggest fights in boxing history. <<<

MLB underwayWhile San Fransico (17-16) has gotten out to a rocky start, the Los Angeles Dodgers (21-10) have lept out to a 5 game NL

West lead. Paly alum Joc Peder-son (‘10) is hitting leadoff with

a .261 average, 9 homeruns, and 20 runs batted in for LA.

Sharks WoesSan Jose failed to make the Na-tional Hockey League playoffs for the first time in the last ten

years. The NHL playoffs are currently in the Conference

semifinal round.

Kathi Bowers named ADAfter the resignation of Athlet-ic Director Jason Fung, a hiring

committee (which included a Paly varsity athlete) named math teacher and long-time Paly sports supporter Kathi

Bowers, who will take over for for Fung this fall.

Tom BradyWhile the 37 year old quar-

terback may have been named Super Bowl MVP in February,

New England’s star was just handed a four game suspension for tampering with the air pres-

sure of game footballs in the scandal dubbed “Deflategate”.

NBA PlayoffsGolden State has had its mo-

ments this spring. The Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 4-2

in their second round series and will now take on the Hous-

ton Rockets in the Western Conference finals.

NFL Draft: Winston, Mariota go 1-2

The annual National Football League amateur draft began April 30th and concluded May 2nd, 2015. As expected, Tampa Bay selected Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston first overall. Winston, who boasts an impressive skillset that draft experts expect to translate to the next level, was the first player taken despite off-the-field concerns – a sexual assault ac-cusation that was dropped and an incident in April 2014 where he shoplifted crab legs from a local grocer.

Despite thoughts that they would trade the pick, Tennessee used its no. 2 selection to draft Oregon quar-terback Marcus Mariota. Jacksonville followed with Florida’s Dante Fowler, put-

ting the Raiders on the clock. Oakland selected a player to meet its greatest need: Amari Cooper, Alabama’s All-American wide receiver, will be able to step right into the O. Co Coliseum and make a positive impact for the silver and black. Cooper racked up 1727 receiving yards for the Crim-son Tide in 2014, good for no. 2 in Division-1 football, and added 16 touchdowns.The 49ers, originally drafting at no. 15 overall, traded back two spots to

no. 17 and selected Oregon defensive end Arik Armstead. The 6’7”, 290 lb pass rusher recorded 46 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 2014. San Francisco proj-

ects to line up Armstead next to Justin Smith and Aldon Smith (no relation) to form a formidable defensive front. <<<

MAY 2015

The Last WordFighting for zeros on a paycheckAll the prize money made in professional boxing raises the question: Do the fighters deserve it? Floyd Mayweather fights two to three fights a year but was the highest paid athlete in 2014, is that fair?

to make over 100 million dollars, but May-weather could possibly receive upwards of 180 million. The fighting today has become all about the money. What happened to fighting for pride, fighting for honor? More and more young boxers these days are focusing on the zeros on the paycheck and not on the joy of beating their opponent. The average per capita salary in the U.S. in 2012 was $42,693. Why is that relevant? Well, if Mayweather wins his fight with Pacquiao, he stands to make 180 million dollars. If you break that down, he will be making $15 mil-lion per round, $5 million per minute and a whopping $83,333 per second. Does any man deserve to make twice the average national sal-ary each second? Floyd Mayweather has a spotless record of 47-0 but when you look more closely at his fights, it’s much less impressive. Floyd has only won 26 of those fights by knockout and the rest by decision. When you compare that to Mike Tyson’s record, 26 knockouts are nothing. Ty-son won his first 19 fights by knockout and out of his 50 wins, he had won 44 by knockout. So

you tell me what is more of a dominant win: knocking out your opponent and seeing them hit the mat unconscious or running around the ring and dodging punches, then leaving the decision to the judges? Floyd is a great boxer there is no question, however he hides behind the rules and isn’t as dominant as his record shows. Though most fighters in the sport of boxing are fighting for honor and not just a payday, sports are represented by their top athletes. Baseball is represented by Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera, football by Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. These top athletes are role models to the youth. As a kid I was inspired by Joe Montana, not because he made a ton of money, but because he worked extremely hard and always came out on top. As a sport, box-ing has become all about the money and less about pride. The only thing that matters these days are the zeros on the paycheck. Though the sport has gotten tremendously popular, the in-tegrity and the fight for pride is all but gone. <<<

by GARRETT REYNOLDS

On October 29, 1960: argu-ably one of the best fighters of all time, Muhammad Ali Jr., set foot in the ring for the first time, defeating Tunney Hunsaker in six rounds. At

the beginning of their career most fighters struggle, however Ali won his first 19 fights with 15 of the decisions coming by (Knock-outs) KOs. Throughout his career Ali never focused on the glamour of prize fighting. He wasn’t in it for the money and he kept his focus on being the best boxer he could be. Ali never gave up and that’s what made him a true figure of inspiration to so many people. “Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Im-possible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing” Ali said. Ali fought in an earlier era of boxing where the prize fights were big money, but nowhere near what it is today. In Ali’s biggest fight he took home a purse of 8 million dollars. In the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweath-er and Manny Pacquiao, both boxers stand

WEALTH Floyd Mayweather Jr. has marked his presence in the boxing world with an astonishing 47-0 record. In 2014, Mayweather made $105 million, the highest of any professional athlete, but does he really deserve it all?

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Volume 8 Issue 6