Spring Sports End Season With High Rankings

Sophomore Simon Rosenbaum prepares to make a throw to first base against Homestead High School.

Badminton

The school’s badminton team tied for first place and won the league championship for the first time in 34 years.

With a 10-2 record, the Eagles beat powerhouse schools such as Palo Alto High School and Cupertino High School.

Going into the second to last game against Palo Alto, the Eagles knew that a win would allow the team to clinch at least a tie for first place. After going back and forth the entire game, it came down to a final match with sophomore Taura Golaufshan as the deciding factor.

“I was really tired but I didn’t want to give up,” Taura said. “Everybody rooting me on kept me going.”

After a scoring dispute, referees decided Taura won the match, giving the Eagles the win.

After beating Santa Clara High School on Tuesday, May 12, and after Palo Alto beat Homestead High School the same day, the Eagles became the co-league champions. Both the Eagles and Palo Alto ended the season with two losses.

Baseball

The varsity baseball team finished fifth in the De Anza Division with a league record of 8-7 and an overall record of 19-12, as of press time.

Despite the fact that usually only four teams from the league make CCS, this year the Eagles advanced to CCS as the tenth seed and faced the seventh seed Sobrato High School on Thursday, May 20.

The baseball team has advanced to the tournament for six straight seasons, losing in the first round last year and winning the entire tournament in 2007.

The Eagles entered CCS on a five-game winning streak, outscoring opponents 54-9 during this stretch. The Eagles hoped to ride this momentum and use it in the playoffs.

“I think we’re real confident for the game [against Sobrato],” captain senior Austin O’Such said. “Offensively we’re on a streak.”

Golf

With a record of 10-1-1, the golf team came in first in league finals and for the first time in 10 years qualified for CCS.

“This season was the most fun I’ve had in all the four years that I’ve been on the golf team,” senior Sean Kawaguchi said. “The car rides and matches were really enjoyable because of all the talking that went on and we were confident we could beat our competitors.”

Sean and sophomore Zach Nicolet earned all-league honors at league finals, bringing pride back to the school.

Swimming

Both the girls and boys varsity swim teams finished the season undefeated in the El Camino Division, with league records of 7-0.

Both teams have also dominated competition at the League Championships, which were held at the school on Friday, May 7.

Three swimmers from the boys team made CCS in individual events, including seniors Scott Stephens and Adlai Katzenberg as well as junior Andrew Nguyen. Seniors Nik Garner and James Christiansen-Salameh, junior Colin Mulcahy and sophomore Matthew Orton swam in CCS for relays.

Thirteen swimmers from the girls team made CCS this year. Seniors Shuya Lou, Kaitlin Sandlin, Alex Santiago, Kelsey Emrick, Haley Bridges and Tara Filsuf, juniors Laura Lee and Nina Venuti, and sophomores Amanda Chron, Olivia Santiago, Alyssa Waln, Cathie Zhang and Carrie Beyer represented the school at CCS.

Track

After the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) meet the track team has its sights on CCS.

Sophomore Catherine Li was a triple winner in the meet, winning the 100m with a personal record of 12.69 seconds. She also won the triple jump and ran for the 4×100 girls relay team with seniors Grace Lo and Sara Wobber and junior Diamara Planell, which won with a group record of 48.79 seconds.

Senior Eric Safai was the top male finisher for the Eagles, placing second in the 1600m. Eric also ran for the boys 4×4 with senior Ever Antonio, junior Joey Giacomini and sophomore Markel Stine, which advanced and set a group record of 3:32.79.

Markel also advanced in the 300 hurdles and 110 hurdles.

Boys Tennis

After dropping to the El Camino Division this year, the boys varsity tennis team made a turnaround, finishing the season as league champions.

“It was a great season,” varsity coach Cuong Duong said. “We set a goal and accomplished it. It’s a good feeling.”

The team finished with a league record of 11-1 and an overall record of 13-3. Its only league loss was against Cupertino High School, where it lost 2-5.

The team qualified for CCS but lost 1-6 in the first round to Monta Vista High School.

Duong said he was still happy with this year’s results.

“I hope that they have [the memories] of winning leagues forever,” Duong said.

Duong said he hopes the team will grow in upcoming seasons.

“We have the remaining players returning, and a group of [incoming] freshmen coming next year,” Duong said. “I’m excited.”

Gymnastics

For the first time since 2003, the gymnastics team competed in CCS with a full team.

The team had nine varsity members and five all-around competitors.

“It is very nice to have a full varsity team,” varsity Head Coach Lina Slack said. “Most are freshmen and will be returning.”

The team finished the season with a 3-1 record.

Slack said the team improved because of an increase in members who train with club teams. Individual gymnasts said tougher training regiments also helped.

“The team has been better by improving little things in our routines,” freshman Miaulian Chang said.

But Slack said the team’s success came from the gymnasts’ “[consistency] with their ability.”

“We entered into SCVALs strong, healthy and with a lot of energy,” Slack said.