Big Red Fall 2010

bigred

Homecoming Special Edition

? k ic

l c s

e d team si l

Homecoming 2010

l In s fa

-Previews of all varsity games -Hall of Fame inductees and special alumni section

W

h

m at

e k a

Brian Shultz ’11 tackles a Fairfax player in a September game.

The Lineup Sections

4 Leadoff -Meet the Head Fanatics -Health & Fitness -Fall sports Roundtable

8 Players -Q&A: Katrina Okano ’11 -Wolverines in the Crowd -Athlete profiles: Adam Wolf ’11 and Corinne Miller ’12

12 Inside Fall Sports Team traditions, including the water polo “Speedo run,” and other features.

Homecoming Game Previews

19

Homecoming 2010 19 Game Previews

What to watch for in varsity football, water polo, field hockey and volleyball

23 Alumni -2010 Hall of Fame class -Q&A: Moose Martin ’07 -Professional athlete alumni -Alums in the sports world

30 Retrospective Athletic Director Terry Barnum looks back on his Homecoming days as a football player.

Inside Fall Sports

12

big red staff Editor-In-Chief: Alex Leichenger Managing Editors: Judd Liebman, Abbie Neufeld Associate Editors: Chelsea Khakshouri, David Gobel, Austin Lee, Julius Pak Staff: Austin Block, Daniel Rothberg, Luke Holthouse, Michael Aronson, David Kolin, Micah Sperling, Chloe Lister Adviser: Kathleen Neumeyer

2 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Alumni Section

23

Big Red is a publication of the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle.

Harvard-Westlake School 3700 Coldwater Canyon North Hollywood, CA 91604 Letters can be sent to chronicle@hw.com

Letters

From the Editor

There is a common question I hear about Big Red. That question is, well, “What is Big Red?” For those who couldn’t tell by the front cover, Big Red is HarvardWestlake’s sports magazine. It isn’t a new publication, but it certainly has a long way to go to match the name nathanson’s/chronicle recognition of The Chronicle.

Alex Leichenger We hope that this Homecoming Special Edition, the first of its kind to be published, will be the first step in helping Big Red become a fixture in its own right on the upper school campus. As the sporting scene continues to

blossom at our school, it is necessary to give the school day that starts at 3 p.m. just as much coverage as the school day that starts at 8 a.m. The eight-page sports section of The Chronicle can only go so far to achieve that goal, and you, the reader and fan, deserve more.

By providing in-depth features that examine the dynamics of Wolverine athletics beyond just the wins and losses, we hope to provide you with a closer look at how teams function, which athletes are shining on the field, in the pool, on the track, or in the gym, and what fascinating themes are developing in an athletic program that has become one of the best in the state of California.

Have a great time at Homecoming, and remember, Go Big Red!

From the Head of Athletics I am the Fanatics’ number one fan. Our student cheering section is rowdy, smart, loud, clever and passionate. High school sports blogs rate our red-shirted swarm among the loudest and most passionate supporters in Southern California. nathanson’s/chronicle We have a true home field advantage because of their energy and Audrius enthusiasm.

Barzdukas Granted, they keep us administrators and adults on our toes with their nuanced innuendo, adroit retorts and sharp-witted cheers. I admit to being unsure about whether some of their more abstract cheers are sportsmanlike. (I’m still unclear whether the legendary “Pinkerton! Pinkerton!” cheer from a few years ago was appropriate.) On the face of it, “We’ve got girls!” seems like a relatively innocuous statement of fact. And what’s wrong with chanting “SAT” in homage to the key that unlocks the pearly gates of college? Aren’t Harvard-Westlake students supposed to be smart, funny and clever?

In the right context, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” Teaching Choices and Challenges is among the highlights of my job because the students are consistently sharp and hilarious, even when we’re talking about serious topics like depression and substance abuse. The recent training room discussion about the socio-cultural relevance of the strategically placed cutouts in Lady Gaga’s outfits was as entertaining as anything I’ve ever seen on “Saturday Night Live.”

I have a more difficult time appreciating humor when it is found at the expense of others, especially when those others are our guests at a sporting event.

I know that no one wants us to win more than do the Fanatics. I know that they spend hours, if not days, analyzing our opponents’ psyches to find the weak spots and insecurities that will inform their cheers. The Fanatics’ Holy Grail? The chant that offends opposing fans cognitively and emotionally, and leaves them dumbfounded, angry and sputtering in search of a rejoinder. Particularly

noxious cheers might even affect opposing players, causing them to miss a free throw or commit a foul in frustration.

But negative cheering draws attention away from the players and game at whom and which it is supposedly being directed.

That’s not why you cheer at a high school game. You’re there to support your team and your school and to share in a collective experience of competition, excitement and fun. Cheering for your team doesn’t mean you must cheer against the other team. There’s something wrong when kids get more excited about yelling clever, and cleverly camouflaged, insults than about the game and players for whom they’re ostensibly cheering.

So this year, faculty and school administrators have been working with the Fanatics in the hopes of helping them channel their energy and creativity into positive cheering. We’ve had several productive meetings with the Fanatic leaders. (Some of the Fanatic leaders definitely have promising careers as litigators if they choose law as a profession.) English teacher Adam Howard ’93 has volunteered to serve as the faculty adviser to the Fanatics; he has plenty of experience as a passionate fan, as can attest anyone who has seen his full-throated, crimson-faced support of Harvard-Westlake sports.

I believe that the Fanatics will rise to the challenge of using their energy and smarts to generate positive support for our teams and players. I know that there will be times when I’ll scratch my head in wonder and confusion at some of the cheers that arise from the collective teenage mind, but I’m ready to accept the offbeat and incoherent in support of our teams.

And I wouldn’t trade the Fanatics for any other fans in the world. They come to games because they care about their school, teams and fellow students. They are the reason Taper Gym, Ted Slavin Field and The Zanuck Swim Stadium are the best home venues in Los Angeles.

So at the next game, when you take a break from your own cheering, look around the stands. The crazies in red are great kids having a great time. I encourage you to join them.

Pinkerton! Pinkerton!

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 3

Leadoff

meet the head fanatics

Daniel Kim/Chronicle

Andrew Hotchkiss ’11 plays varsity soccer and waterpolo.

Hotchkiss has yet to miss a football game this year. He is in charge of communications for the Fanatics.

Noor Fateh ’11 is a wide receiver on the varsity football team and point guard on varsity basketball.

Fateh is known for his loud cheering and ability to get the fans involved.

Brian Shultz ’11 plays varsity football. He is a starting defensive lineman.

Shultz is known for losing his voice because of his extremely loud cheering at sporting events.

Pop Culture Chart

Ethan Neale ’11 is a tight end on the varsity football team.

For the Fanatics, he talks to the administration about how to be respectful and the best way to support the teams.

OVERHEARD

Wolverine Athlete

Favorite pre-game meal

LeBron James is...

Worst movie ever seen

Favorite professional sports team

Will Tobias ’12 Cross Country

Lasagna

Boss

Megashark vs.

Giant Octopus

Los Angeles Lakers

Andrew Hotchkiss ‘11 Water Polo

A Chicken Sandwich

Decaying

Dragon Wars

Los Angeles Lakers

Chase Klein ‘13 Football

Milk

Overrated

The Spirit

Atlanta Falcons

Alanna Klein ’11 Tennis

Lemon Zest Luna Bar

The worst

The Love Guru

Los Angeles Lakers

4 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Brian Hartwitt ’11 played on JV golf last year and believes he will be on varsity this year. Harwitt is the treasurer for the Fanatics. He plays a big role in relations with faculty.

“I’m very happy here and I think this a great place and a great opportunity to just coach and enjoy coaching... I hope to die on a sideline.”

—Vic Eumont Head Football Coach

health and fitness Athletes compete despite asthma attacks 20 million people have asthma, or 7.3% of the U.S. population

By Allison Hamburger Swimmer Helen Dwyer ’13 was in the middle of a race when she started to have difficulty breathing. Her breath became shallow and she felt tightness around her ribcage.

“I just kind of flipped out in my mind but then I just finished and then I got out of the pool water as quickly as I could,” she said. The episode did not come as a complete shock to Dwyer, who was experiencing an asthma attack.

Dwyer has two types of asthma; one is exercise and pollen-induced, and the other is chronic. She uses an inhaler twice per day to subdue the chronic asthma and uses a different inhaler as needed.

Dwyer said she had several asthma attacks in one week that would not go away with just her normal inhaler. Now, with her second inhaler, she has attacks about once a month.

Dwyer compared the feeling of an asthma attack to having pepper in her lungs.

“We call it asthma/reactive airway when they have more of tightness and more shortness of breath and every time they get a cold it goes to the chest, and they just have compromised air exchange,” said pediatrician Dr. Anne Kwun, who practices at Pediatrics Associates Medical Group Inc. Kwun said that asthma can be from allergies or triggered by a virus.

Gabby Trujillo ’12 and Richard Polo ’12 also have exercise-induced asthma.

They both learned of their condition in elementary school years, while Dwyer did not discover it until only a couple years ago. She then

began having Gabby Trujillo chronic asthma ’12 is a varsity this past year. soccer goalie Trujillo, a with asthma. varsity soccer player, remembers a time in fifth grade physical education class before she got her inhaler, during which she started wheezing and had trouble breathing.

“I was sitting in the nurse’s office and it would not stop and my breath just kept getting more shallow,” she said. It was scary.”

Trujillo now uses her inhaler before soccer practice, especially if she expects a significant amount of running. As a goalie, she usually is not as affected during actual games.

Polo said he gets asthma attacks infrequently, but they usually occur when he is both involved in physical activity and has a cold.

“When I feel I am starting to have an attack, I just use my inhaler and I am fine within a few minutes,” he said.

Polo, who swims and plays water polo, said that he is allergic to certain trees and grasses, which sometimes worsens his asthma, but since he is mainly involved in water sports, those allergies do not usually get in his way.

Kwun recommends that athletes with asthma use their inhalers about 45 minutes before exercising, especially when there is a lot of pollen or smog in the air.

Dwyer, Polo and Trujillo are always sure to bring their inhalers with them in case of an asthma attack.

“Thankfully, I have never had to go to the hospital or get serious medical attention for my asthma,” Polo said.

Who is at risk?

Those who had their first asthma symptoms by age 6 were more likely to have the condition chronically at age 22.

Having asthmatic parents increases risk.

Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with asthma between the ages of 16 and 22.

Men who were asthmatic as children are more likely to go into remission.

The Symptoms Persistent wheezing, allergies, low airway function, bronchial hyper-responsiveness.

Source: American Medical Association

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 5

Roundtable Wolverine

Q:

What winter sport are you looking forward to most? Why?

Block:

I’m excited to see how far the boys’ basketball team can go.. This team is one of the tallest in years. If the Wolverines can find a way to replace the dominating inside presence of Eric Swoope ’10, they could recapture the Mission League title and maybe even compete for the state championship.

Harwitt:

Definitely basketball because it’s the sport that has the most fan activity and the sport that the fans have the most impact on. Also the boys’ basketball team looks to have a big year this year, and its always more fun when the team is winning. Although the team has only has one returning starter, the new players on the roster and the younger returning players have a lot of potential to do big things this year.

Neufeld:

I am looking forward to water polo because I play it and hope we make an impressive post season run.

Ashley Grossman ’11 and Camillle Hooks ’11 have led the team for the past few years and we have yet to win a CIF title. I hope this is the year!

Leichenger: Boys’ basketball is going to be something

else this year. There are so many storylines already: Can Damiene Cain ’11 fill Swoope’s shoes? How good will Danilo Dragovic ’11 be? And what about freshman phenom Derrick Newton? How much has Zena Edosomwan ’12 improved?

No one questions this team’s talent, but there are so many intriguing questions left to be answered.

Writers and fans discuss the most prominent themes in Wolverine athletics.

Q:

Which fall team has been the most impressive?

Block:

I have been impressed by the volleyball team, whose strong start has caught the attention of both the Harvard-Westlake community and a panel maxpreps.com writers, who have ranked the Wolverines seventh in the country. Injuries to Danielle Salka ’11 and Milena Popovic ’11 could throw the team off its stride, however. The healthy players have a lot of work to do.

Neufeld:

i would say girls’ cross country. They have continued their run of impressive performances from last year. They won state last year and I think they have a good chance of winning it again this year.

Fateh:

I believe the girls’ volleyball team has been the most impressive so far this fall. They have been doing great, winning the championship at the tournament in Durango, Nevada; which rightfully put them at #1 in the nation on the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings. Before that, they beat Redondo Union High School, which was a highly ranked team. I think our girls are doing big things this year, and I’m more than happy to get as many fans in the stands for them.

Leichenger: MaxPreps is not the end-all, be-all source,

but the fact that any midsized private school is listed on a top 10 list of high school teams nationwide is incredible.

Abbie N eufeld henger t Alex Leic t i Big Red Aus d w e R r ig B a tin M c H a n i a f g t ie in g Editor Chr Block an ana -in-Ch r i o it d r E Ma o B ad F nag nicle He ing h Edi Ju te c tor dd Fa ati r n M Bi Li oo Fa a N ad na g eb e gi Re m H ng d an Ed 6 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010 ito 6 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010 r

Q:

Who is the MVP of the fall season and why?

Liebman:

The most valuable player is undoubtedly Christina Higgins ‘11. The Cal commit has put The Wolverine volleyball team on the road to yet another state championship. Her experience shines through in each point.

Neufeld:

I would have to say Cami Chapus ’12. She has the fourth fastest time in the nation and that is just incredible.

Leichenger:

Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12. It seems like every single time The Chronicle goes to press, Chapus or Weissenbach have already been featured in the LA Daily News or some other publication. We have two of the best distance runners in the nation on the same team, and they are only juniors. It’s just a shame that nobody comes to cross country meets to see them dominate.

Q:

What has been the biggest disappointment of the fall season?

Fateh:

My biggest disappointment so far this year I’ve got to say is when the girls’ volleyball team lost to Loyola Marymount. It was a tough one, and I’m sure it was an eye-opener that they’ve got some good competition coming their way this year. I know this team will go far, so I’m not too worried. We just need to support them in every way we can.

Leichenger:

All the injuries that have plagued fall teams. Field hockey’s Adrianna Crovo ‘11 and volleyball’s Danielle Salka ‘11 are out for the season, and it seems like players on every fall team are fighting the injury bug.

Harwitt:

Football tying Fairfax. Not that they didn’t play well, but to have such a competitive game end up as a tie was pretty anti-climactic.

The roundtable agrees that fan turnout in the fall season has been solid, but could be better (right). Football’s loss to Fairfax (left) was the low point of the fall season to Head Fanatic Brian Harwitt ’11

Daniel Kim/Chronicle

Q:

What do you think of the fan turnout this fall season?

Liebman:

The fan turnout has been pretty good so far.

Of course, Friday football games are more crowded than any other game. There needs to be more of a showing at all Wolverine competitions across the board.

Harwitt:

The seniors and sophomores have done a decent job coming to the games, but the junior turnout has been abysmal. Only football and volleyball have gotten any real fan turnout, so we definitely need to get more fans to the lesser-known sports that are just as good.

Leichenger: It’s been decent. The showing for football’s

first game was a little disappointing. but that is understanding since it was a road game. There was a huge turnout for the first home game against Fairfax. The atmosphere at volleyball games has been electric, and hopefully the trend can continue at Homecoming.

Q:

Daniel Kim/Chronicle

What has been your favorite moment of the fall season?

Liebman: During the girls’ volleyball match against Re-

dondo Union, the umpire made a call that most of the fans thought should have gone the other way. The Wolverines’ spike, the ump claimed, was out; however, most fans saw the ball go clearly in the court. This point would have given the team the game and the match. Instead, the Redondo team fought back and won the game. The Wolverines won the match in four games, and storming the court after the win was sweet ending to the controversy.

Neufeld:

My favorite moment was volleyball winning the Durango tournament. Winning that tournament was a great showcase of their talent and boosted their ranking to #1 in the nation.

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 7

Wolverines in the Crowd Grace Gerber ’15 Volleyball

After leading the seventh grade team to an undefeated season last year, Gerber hopes to accomplish this feat again.

“Going undefeated and winning the league championship last year was so much fun,” Gerber said. “The whole team wants to do the same thing this year.”

She is the eighth grade team’s starting setter.

—Luke Holthouse

Catherina Gores ’15 Soccer

Soccer forward Catherina Gores ’15 helped lead the middle school soccer Black team to an undefeated record and championship this past season.

“It felt amazing to be a part of the undefeated team,” Gores said. “As far as leading, I would not have been able to personally succeed without the strength and the support of my teammates.”

—Micah Sperling

Cole Fletcher ’15 Football

Cole Fletcher ’15 has been playing football for two years and has established himself as one of the dominant forces on the eighth grade Senior football team. After only four games, the Wolverine halfback has accounted for six touchdowns, guiding the team to a 3-1 record.

“I train as hard as I can every day,” he said.

—Michael Aronson

Quinn Frankel ’15 Soccer

Middle school soccer forward Quinn Frankel ’15 also helped lead last year’s undefeated middle school soccer Black team.

“It was a very accomplished feeling,” Frankel said. “It felt good to know that I had done my part in helping the team achieve our goal of an undefeated season.”

—Micah Sperling

8 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Four standout athletes are making their mark at the Middle School.

Making the Jump Corinne Miller ’12 jumps a hurdle. She has been competing in shows since she was 5 years old.

Before coming to Harvard-Westlake in ninth grade, Corinne Miller ’12 was homeschooled and practiced riding every day for four hours.

Now she has to manage school work and her busy riding schedule.

By Tiffany Liao Corinne Miller ’12 tightened her grasp on the reins and looked ahead to the next jump. This was it. If she perfectly executed the jump, she would win first at the competition.

She held her breath as she narrowed her focus on the elevated fence. Slowly and gracefully, her horse leapt over the jump. It was a clean landing, no missteps or fallen poles.

Miller smiled underneath her helmet as the judges called out their scores.

Miller has always had a fascination with horses. Ever since she could walk, she went to the barn to watch her mother ride.

Eventually, her mom’s coach decided to let Miller try it out. She was just 4 at the time. Miller felt no fear as she sat atop a horse maybe five times her size.

“My heart was filled with joy that I was finally going to be able to ride a horse. I remember looking at the castleshaped jump at the end of the ring and being determined that by the end of the day, I would jump it,” she said.

On her fifth birthday, Miller attended her first competition at an arena in Burbank. She competed in the leadline class, where the horse is led by a worker while the competitor is riding it. Although every participant got a first place ribbon, Miller was ecstatic.

“It was really great because I got cake right after, which I thought was because I won, but now I realize it was just because it was my birthday. I felt so accomplished.”

Since then, Miller has attended more shows than she can remember.

“I don’t really know the exact number of shows I’ve attended, but one year, I went to 22 of them,” she said.

She usually places in the top five or higher.

Before Miller began attending Harvard-Westlake in ninth grade, she was homeschooled by her mother and practiced every day for at least four hours.

“Some days it was definitely hard and tiring, but other days it was fun,” she said.

Since attending Harvard-Westlake, she has ridden less but still practices often. Although she still rides at least four times a week, keeping up with schoolwork is tough.

“It definitely limited the time I could devote to riding,” she said. Miller is the co-captain of the school’s varsity equestrian team, along with Eléonore Lund-Simon’ 12.

“She’s an amazing rider. She has great control on her horse, which is really hard to get,” Lund-Simon said.

photos Reprinted with Permission of Corinne Miller

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 9

Christina yang/vox

Hungry like the Wolf

Size disadvantage doesn’t stop Adam Wolf ’11 as a defensive lineman.

By Alex Leichenger Adam Wolf ’11 is a mold-breaker. He was the outsider candidate for Prefect Council last year, admitting himself that victory seemed to be a longshot. He won the election.

But even more noticeably, Wolf is a mold-breaker on the football field. A 5’7,” 165-pound defensive lineman, he regularly matches up against blockers almost twice his weight.

Most shockingly of all, the diminutive Wolf often gets the better of these behemoths. He was named a first-team AllLeague defensive tackle last year after finishing fourth on the Wolverines in tackles (80) and third in sacks (five).

“Being small isn’t necessarily the worst thing,” Wolf said.

“Some guys play too high and it’s easy to get under them.”

He joined the school team in eighth grade and shuffled between positions in his first two years. He played free safety in eighth grade and linebacker for a handful of games as a ninth grader but didn’t find his niche at either spot. At that point, he didn’t seem to have much of a future in football.

Varsity Head Coach Vic Eumont put it more bluntly.

“I remember in our first game of ‘weasel football’ [in PE] when he was in eighth grade, he was a maniac,” Eumont said. “Nobody wanted him on their team—he was just obnoxious. But he gave effort on every play and that’s how he is now. He comes across sometimes as a surly player but he is a go-getter and his kind of effort is what you need on a football team.”

Ironically, Wolf might owe his success as a football player to his failure at other positions besides defensive tackle.

“We were shutting a team out in ninth grade…and I missed a tackle at linebacker and they scored to break up the shutout, and I think the head coach, [who] coached linebackers a lot, was really pissed at me, so he just sort of tossed me on d-line and it ended up working out,” he said.

10 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Remaining a defensive tackle in his sophomore year, Wolf had a solid season for the JV and frosh/soph teams. He was rewarded with a starting job on varsity as a junior. In only his second start, he tied for the team lead in tackles and recorded a sack in a 42-0 win over Rosemead.

Wolf credited his football success to his devotion, as well as to the strength and conditioning program run by Head of Strength and Conditioning Greg Bishop. As football is his sole sport, he practices and lifts for it year-round.

“Before I started playing football, I used to go to a sleepaway camp for one month in the summer, but I gave that up,” Wolf said. “It’s just buying in [to football], going to all the lifts, going to all the practices, just trusting that it will make me better, and it did.”

Wolf said he also picked up the team’s defensive schemes quickly, making him more confident that he knows what to do at any given moment in the game.

And in the years since he was an “obnoxious” eighth grader, Wolf has developed into a leader for the football team. He was recently voted one of three senior captains.

“The way he is [a leader] on the football field is not as a talker; he uses action, and so players see him and want to be like him and want to play like him,” Eumont said.

It has been especially important for Wolf to lead example on an inexperienced defense, which has sometimes started only one other senior due to injuries. Injuries to teammates have also forced Wolf to start at defensive end instead of tackle, though he shifts between the positions at various points in games. Wolf recorded at least ten tackles in each of his first three games after moving to defensive end.

“I’ve never really seen my size as a disadvantage,” Wolf said. “It sort of makes me the player I am.”

Q&A: Katrina Okano ’11 Field Hockey

By Daniel Kim

Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q A

Why did you choose field hockey? When did you start and how long have you played?

In seventh grade, I played field hockey in P.E. for the very first time and I loved it. I quickly learned how to play the game because of its similarities to soccer, a sport that I started playing at a much earlier age. I made the eighth grade team, and then in ninth grade I was one of two players that were brought up to the JV team. So, I’ve been playing since eighth grade and each year has been different but amazing at the same time.

How do you feel about playing Bonita at Homecoming?

Last year, varsity beat Bonita both times that they played them.

Even though we beat Bonita twice last year, that won’t change our focus for the game. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing because we’re always going to come out hard and play at the top of our game. It’s always very special for us to play at Homecoming, particularly when there’s a lot of student support.

How do you feel about this season and where do you think the team will finish at the end of the season?

We’re such a strong team, and we have so much passion for the game, that I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll go really far this season. We’re definitely looking to be league champions this year.

Do you have any plans for attending specific colleges based on your field hockey experience? Have you committed or plan on committing?

I play field hockey simply because I love the sport. On account of my other extracurricular activities, which are also very important to me, I’ve never had time to really improve on my skills by playing field hockey during the offseason at the club level. I’m not trying to get recruited by any college, but depending on which college I attend I may consider trying to be a walk-on.

What do you think is the most important aspect of the game that the team has improved on?

I think the most important aspect of the game that we’ve improved on would be passing and using the whole width of the field to create space.

Your three older brothers played sports in high school. How does it feel to be playing sports just like your brothers?

For many years, I watched my brothers play sports and enjoy the team camaraderie. That certainly had an influence on my decision to also be a student athlete. They’ve also helped me become a better player through their constructive criticism.

Chelsea Khakshouri/chronicle

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 11

Inside Fall sports

12 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Inside Waterpolo

The Speedo Run An annual and thrilling display of school spirit, the Speedo run allows the water polo players to support other teams. ing running one around Homecoming “I feel that we do it to show that A unique tradition that has been handed down by water polo players we have school spirit, and since we for a number of years, the Speedo do it during playoff games I think run allows water polo players to that it shows that we, as a team, care for other teams,” said water show school spirit in their own way.

“During the girls’ first CIF home polo player Andrew Hotchkiss ’11, game we dress up in our Speedos, who is one of the main organizers of jump in the pool and get wet, and the Speedo run.

The Speedo run is an event comthen run around the track for good luck”, said water polo player Brian pletely organized by the players, all Graziano ’12. “It has been a tradition the planning for it is done the team.

Varsity coach for a really long Robert Lynn time.” is not inSince most “I feel that we do it to show that volved in the water polo playin any ers are also we have school spirit, and since event way at all, swimmers, the we do it during playoff games I and it has Speedo run is done almost a tranthink that it shows that we, as a been that way besition from the team, care for other teams.” fore Lynn water polo seabecame head son to the swim ­­— Andrew Hotchkiss ’11 coach. In fact, season. It is a Lynn had no time for water idea that the polo players to event had relinquish once more their treasured Speedos and occurred before, and had very little jump back into the water for the knowledge of what the players were planning this year. spring season.

The Speedo run is as much of a Another reason why water players run laps in their Speedos once rite of passage and transition from a year is to encourage other teams one season to the next as it is a way during their most important games. for water polo players to show the This year, the players are consider- school spirit that they have.

By David Gobel

>>

Daniel Kim/Chronicle

Henry McNamara ‘13 attempts a shot against the Mater Dei Monarchs.

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 13

Inside Cross Country

One step at a time

A first person account of a cross country race

By Judd Liebman Photos by Roger On

T

he nerves set in about an hour before the race. It’s not the before-the-test nerves, it’s the feeling that I know that my body is about to go to Hell and back. No matter how hard I try to put my head in the meet and focus on the task at hand, I am scared. I know what the imminent pain feels like when it overcomes me. I have experienced it countless times. The challenge before any cross country race is to remind yourself that everything will be okay and to put your team and what is at stake before your body.

For the varsity boys’ cross country team, often, a chance at a state championship is at stake. We compete against our top rivals almost every meet and our rank in Division IV in the state depends on how we do against these teams.

Once I overcome the dread of running my heart out for three miles, I join my team for a warm-up. The warmup is always 20 minutes of running at around a seven minute per mile pace.

We jog the course so we can visualize the race. I take each part of the course and dissect it. I try to feel how I will feel during the race, I try to hear my breath, and I get ready to take out all my anger and all my fear on the hill.

After I ready myself for the race and put on my ever-so-skimpy uniform, my teammates and I head to the starting line. From then on, we mean business.

All the joking around in the warm-up is over. It is now time to expel the butterflies from your stomach and focus.

Of course, no matter how hard I try, I can’t rid myself of nerves. But, I am

14 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

lucky, for the nerves are gone right as the starting gun goes off.

Once the starter fires the gun, my thoughts turn from the challenge ahead to each and every step. To some it may seem weird, but for me it is normal that my brain runs the first mile. My legs abdicate responsibility to my brain. My mind carries me through the first mile of the race. Getting out in a comfortable pace that sets me up to get a good time is one of the most important parts of a cross country race. No matter how hard we try to stay conservative on the first mile, we always end up going out a little fast. This misjudgment can be quite harmful in the second, and most important, mile.

The second mile is what we runners call the mile of death. Runners who fall off their goal pace are a dime a dozen.

Keeping with your race plan seems to be hardest from the first mile mark until the second. My main job during this time is to make sure I don’t “die” and to pick off any rival runners. If I see any runner in a Notre Dame, St. Francis, or Crespi uniform, it is my job as the last scorer (only the top five runners from each team out of seven) is to beat the closest one of them. The pain endured in this part of the race is insurmountable. This part of the course either makes or breaks a race. The team goal is more important than my comfort at this point and I must put all of my fears and pains aside and run for the team.

The third mile of the race is the simplest. During the third mile, you go all out. I have nothing left in the tank

at this point but I just keep going. The finish line is near, and this fact is the one of the only things keeping me going. All I want to do is finish the race in the least amount of time from the two mile mark. Yes, it may seem trivial, but I have to run as hard as hard as I can for the last 1600 meters of the race.

After the finish the fun of cross country sets in. The part where we talk about times, talk about how we did and how our rivals did are the most fun.

Team closeness can dictate whether or not we have a shot at a state championship. Right after the race the team bonds and revels in our victories but joins in sorrow in our losses.

The pain experienced during the race is almost completely erased by this time. We love being together which is one of the reasons our team has been so successful.

Judd Liebman ’12 gets in the zone before a race.

Nick Firestone ’11 (far right) looks on at the defensive backs.

Despite being injured, Firestone plays a big role in the leadership of the team.

Football

>>

Inside

Closely knit

The defensive backs’ improvement this year can be attributed to the unit’s closeness

A freshman team, or not?

By Michael Aronson Normally, the Harvard-Westlake high school football program consists of a varsity, JV and freshman team.

This year, that is not the case. Due to a lack of players, there has only been a varsity and JV team. The season opener for the freshman team was forfeited to Alemany on Sept.

30 because of a lack of players.

“Due to a rash of injuries and sickness, we may only play JV games instead of freshman games,” Football Program Head Vic Eumont said. “Each week we will check with our training staff to see how many will be able to play.”

“The JV team consists of sophomores and freshmen who would normally be on the freshman team,” said offensive lineman Jake Feiler ’13. “As long as freshmen are playing on JV there will only be a varsity and JV team.”

Experienced conerback Cameron Komisar ’12 (far right) returns an interception.

First year varisty member Chris Sebastian’13 (right) awaits the start of a play.

By Judd Liebman Being in sync with each other and anticipating each and every move are the bread and butter for the varsity football team’s defensive secondary unit. The defensive secondary, which includes the defensive backs and the safeties, boasts it is the closest on the team, said defensive back Nick Firestone ’11.

“We are definitely the closest unit,” said Firestone, “and our camaraderie has really helped us improve.”

The unit is made up of the conerbacks backs (Firestone, Cameron Komisar ’12, Richard Chung ’12 and Dylen Papazian ’13) and the safeties (Charlie Porter ’12 and Chris Sebastian ’13).

The teammates attribute their closeness to their similarities; each one plays another sport as well and has experienced what it is like playing for a team.

“We are all so similar,” said Firestone.

“We all play multiple sports and we have all just get along well. We aren’t worried about personal achievements or stats, but we are really just all trying to get to the same goal which is helping the team win.”

The unit’s off-the-field friendship helps all of the men on the field, but especially benefits the younger players. The younger backs or safeties were immediately brought into the fraternity.

“As a first year varsity player, it has been nice to play alongside guys with varsity experience, who have had to step up when they were sophomores. Their advice has really helped me transition to the varsity level,” said varsity defensive back Sebastian.

The most important part, said Firestone, is the will to win. Each player wants to get results for his friends and refuse to let their egos get in the way, he said.

Playing for a common goal of a friend, defensive back Komisar said, makes him give more effort.

“Personally, I know that I will play harder when I’m competing with my friends than competing with 10 other guys that go to my school,” Komisar said.

In addition to the selflessness exhibited by these members, the unit’s communication has positively affected their play. Backing each other up has become second nature to them, said Firestone.

Because of their friendship, the members of the unit are not afraid to criticize each other because each player knows that the goal is improvement.

“Because of our friendships, it makes everything we do easier,” Komisar said. “We can criticize each other and no one will take it harsh. We all know that we just want to get better and grow as a team.”

The imp r ove m e n ts that the unit h av e made are very closely related to the friendship, said Komisar.

“We know our strengths and weaknesses which is very important to know going into the season because we can all work together to eliminate our weaknesses,” Komisar said.

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 15

Inside Field Hockey

Hazing

or

team bonding?

By Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn Over Labor Day weekend, while most students were trying to get over the fact that school was back in session, the field hockey team traveled to St Louis to participate in the Gateway Classic Field Hockey Tournament.

The team faced opponents from across the country and won the fourth highest pool with two wins and a tie.

“There is better competition in St Louis, and it’s a great time for our team to gel and start playing together before we hit our games that count,” Coach Erin Creznic said.

During the final week of summer, the team prepared for their upcoming trip to St. Louis.

The team participated in what Chelsea Edwards ’12 called a “hazing” process, where the seniors initiate the underclassmen on the varsity team. The seniors the underclassmen camp out in tents and woke them up, made them do crazy things at Venice Beach and took them to breakfast at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles.

Although the players and Creznic disagree on what the team bonding session was called, they all agree that team

Daniel Kim/Chronicle

bonding is important.

“Team bonding is just as important as practice,” Creznic said. “With a girls sport, if they aren’t getting along off the field they’re generally not getting along on the field.”

In St. Louis, the Wolverines faced field hockey teams from across the nation and won the fourth highest pool with two wins and a tie.

“There is better competition in St Louis, and it’s a great time for our team to gel and start playing together before we hit our games that count,” Creznic said.

Volleyball Yeah, yeah Shabooyah roll call

By Charlton Azuoma

Daniel Kim/Chronicle

16 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

The girls’ volleyball team is stacked with senior talent this year, including Christina Higgins ’11, Anne Cohen ’11, Danielle Salka ’11, and Kellie Barnum ’11, to name a few. But the underlying secret to their success this year would have to be its team chemistry.

In the sport of volleyball, team chemistry is essential — good chemistry equals good passing, which equals good setting and good hitting, which eventually leads to winning. The team gets ready physically for games by practicing hard and giving their all in practice and also prepare mentally by watching game tape on opposing teams like many other teams do.

But what sets this team apart, is a Shabooyah roll call. A shabooyah roll call is when players gather around in a circle before the official pre-game warmup and begin to chant amongst themselves.

“It’s just a fun way to get pumped up before games and have

a good time laughing.” Amanda Hall ’11 said.

Now what exactly they chant is only known by the team, to keep the team close-knit, and togetherthey all take responsiblity for the same secret. The chant gets them hyped for the game and also releases a lot of the nerves they may be feeling beforehand.

“They’re all really funny and its just fun to let loose and get all those pre-game jitters out,” Hall said.

What the team did disclose is that even the coaching staff does the roll call with them, because as all athletes and sports-lovers know, the coaches are just as, if not more responsible for the success of the team as the players are.

“It really gets hyped up for the game and stuff,” Higgins said.

So how does a volleyball team become Durango Fall Classic Champions and the #4 volleyball team in the nation? Three things: hardwork, dedication and Shabooyah.

Gi

all

‘Boombaby,’ ‘Cinderella,’ and ‘Pinkie’ on the course

By Chelsea Khakshouri “BoomBaby”, “Cinderella”, and “Pinkie” have enjoyed a winning record on the girls’ varsity golf team. The girls’ catchy nick names, dubbed by their coach, have helped the team bond over the season.

“Putting a name to each girl is resolved differently. For the most part, the names come to mind after an initial meeting,” said Head Coach Linda Giaciolli who has given nicknames to friends, family, Melanie Borinstein ’11 and colleagues, her entire life.

“Some I share with them on is nicknamed the spot or I wait for the right “Cinderella”. time and spring it on them and watch their reactions,” Giacolli said. “Something about them seems to stand out and then it just happens. The name walks into my head.”

“Up until last week, I called her “Maddy” (Madeline Abrahams ’13) simply because the right nickname hadn’t come to me. However, as of yesterday I had it, ‘BoomBaby’. She’s one of our two youngest players but she’s athletic and strong. Look out is all I can say,” Giaciolli said. Abrahams was named “Boombaby” because of her powerful swing.

Giacolli calls Amanda Aizuss ’13 “AA” because of “her undying passion and energy for golf ”.

“I’m always energetic before, after, and during matches.

It’s my personality; I jump around a lot,” Aizuss said. “I do like the name. It works out well because it’s my initials and Chelsea Khakshouri/chronicle

Girls Golf Inside it means something.”

“Co-captain Emily Firestein ’11, aka “Firefly,” was easy. ‘Firefly’ is used in one of her emails but I think it’s perfect for her.

She’s a formidable presence on the team and she’s a bright light on so Jessica many levels,” Gia- Wibawa ciolli said. ’13 is “What I enjoy known as most about it is “WeeBee.” that for the most Chelsea Khakshouri/chronicle part the names seem to evoke happiness and wonder at the same time,” Giaciolli said.

“Why do you continue to give me Disney character names?” asked Melanie Borinstein ’11, and at that moment she had the biggest smile on her face,” Giaciolli said.

Giaciolli calls Bornstein “Cinderella”.

Giaciolli has nick-named Kallista Kusumanegara ’13 “Pinkie” “because she plays with a pink golf ball. I’m trying to get her to change to pink golf shoes as well. It’s perfectly fitting for Kallista,” Giaciolli said.

“I’m the only person on the team who uses a pink-colored golf ball. Trying to find white on the course is a little frustrating for me,” Kusumanegara said.

Jessica Wibawa ’10, who Giaciolli calls “WeeBee” as a take on her last name, recalls when her coach initially nicknamed her.

“She was just like, ‘I come up with a nickname for everybody. I’m going to call you ‘WeeBee’,” Wibawa said.

Captains Emily Firestein ’11 and Borinstein have led a team which is otherwise made up of just sophomores and freshman.

“The entire team is evolving personally and game-wise, Giaciolli said. “It’s so interesting to watch the growth of each of them.”

Girls Tennis A Taste of Tennis

By David Kolin Most teams warm up by hitting from the baseline, practicing volleys, or serving, but the girls’ tennis team does not follow the standard approach. Instead, they do dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretches are a variety of different stretches that improve coordination and forward movement patterns. They include forward and backward movements, shuffling in the alleys and partner ball toss drills where players must run and catch the ball that their partner throws.

“No one warms up like we warm up,” Alanna Klein ‘11 said.

The team also has a nutritional ritual. They usually have the same snack for each match. Most times, the players have pita bread with a variety of flavors of hummus. They also have al-

mond butter, not peanut butter, with bananas. Citrus and carrots are strictly forbidden by the coaches for nutritional reasons.

“Citrus and raw vegetables can only increase the amount of lactic acid buildup, making you prone to cramping,” Head Coach Chris Simpson said.

The team also holds annual California Pizza Kitchen dinners after the Palos Verdes match each year.

During earlier seasons, players had a variety of hand motions and movements that even the coaches participated in, but this year the team has diverged from simple hand motions. They have a new fascination, a squirrel.

This year, the team happily feeds the “team squirrel” who appears at most home matches. He watches tennis matches while sitting inside players’ tennis bags.

David kolin/chronicle

Boys’ player Roy Murdock ’11 got bitten by a squirrel at the home courts at Studio City Golf and Tennis, but the team realized that the squirrel that bit him was not the actual “team squirrel.”

The team already has a few rituals, but it does not have the exact same rituals every year.

“I’m sure more rituals will develop over the course of the season,” Klein said.

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 17

Fans cheer on the football team in the home opener against Fairfax.

18 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Chloe Lister/chronicle

Homecoming 2010

Football: The varsity team hopes to repeat its Homecoming heroics this year against Cathedral. Last year, the Wolverines beat Alemany 24-20 at Homecoming.

pg.20

Chloe Lister/chronicle

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 19

>>

Preview

>>

Daniel Kim/chronicle

Football seeks to repeat Homecoming upset against Cathedral Phantoms

By David Gobel The Wolverine football team faces a difficult test against the higher-ranked Cathedral Phantoms this homecoming.

Quarterback Max Heltzer ’11 will lead the Wolverines in his final Homecoming game.

“Homecoming is a really special game. It’s the biggest crowd, and the whole team really looks forward to this game,” Heltzer said. “Last year was a very special win, and we look forward to getting another big win in front of our home crowd.”

Homecoming has been a great time for Wolverine football, as some of their most impressive wins have come then.

“We had a great win against Cathedral on homecoming,” Head Coach Vic Eumont said. “We’ve had some good homecoming games as long as we don’t schedule Serra.”

Last year, the Wolverines had a very memorable homecoming win last

20 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

year, upsetting Alemany in a thriller.

“The great thing about last year was that we had to push some fans out of the way to shake hands with the other team,” Eumont said. “That was hard to do because everyone was pilling on top of each other. That’s the closest thing to tearing down the goalpost ever; we’ve had some good wins and fan excitement.”

The Wolverines’ rushing attack has been strong, with Jamias Jones ‘12 averaging 66.6 yards of rushing a game.

Jones also has a kickoff return for a touchdown this year.

Cathedral is led by sophomore quarterback Hayden Rettig, who is currently averaging 235.8 passing yards a game. They are ranked 232nd in the

Jamias Jones ’12 will be a key player for the game against Cathedral.

state, while the Wolverines are ranked 318th in state.

“We just need to stay fundamentally sound like we’ve been in the past against them and not let them get big plays,” said Eumont. “They are a big-play team, and if they get ahead of you they will pour it on.”

The Wolverines have beaten Cathedral three of the last four years, however, that one loss came last year. The game against Cathedral will be the second league game of the yearfor the Wolverines, now that they have moved to the Mission League.

“I hope that this year the [game] will be exactly like last year, where we win at the end of the game and everybody runs on the field cheering,” Eumont said.

“They are a big-play team, and if they get ahead of you they will pour it on.”

—Head Coach Vic Eumont

Water Polo and Field hockey will take on cathedral and bonita at homecoming.

Volleyball tries to keep number one ranking in nation

pg.22

Amanda Hall ’11 jumps to slam the ball in the team’s tense five set win over Redondo Union (top). Outside hitter Christina Higgins ’11, who has committed to play volleyball at UC Berkeley, taps the ball over the net against Bishop Montgomery.

By Charlton Azuoma Ranked number one in the nation by MaxPreps.com as of Oct. 13, the girls’ volleyball team is set to take on the Dos Pueblos Chargers in Taper Gym at 2 p.m.

The Chargers were ranked #43 when Big Red went to press.

The Wolverines will be looking to continue its run this season, after defeating volleyball powerhouses Assumption High School and La Costa Canyon in the Durango Tournament.

Key players to watch in this match would be Wolverines opposite hitter Christina Higgins ’11 and the Chargers opposite hitter Amanda Moriarty ’12, as they will end up matching up against each other.

“I’ve seen Dos Pueblos play a couple of times. They’re a good team with some weapons,” Head Coach Adam Black said. “We’ll see how it goes for homecoming.”

The Chargers are trying to make up for the loss of the strong hitting they had in Carly Wopat and her sister Sam Wopat, who both gradu—Anne Cohen ’11 ated to play for Libero Stanford University in June.

“They lost a lot of their starters from last year but they’re still going to be pretty good this year,” Milena Popovic ’11 said.

“We still have to be on top of our game and prepared for that match… we have a a target on our backs,” defensive libero Anne Cohen ’11 said.

The Wolverines will need other players to step up as they will be without the services of starters Popovic and Danielle Salka ’11 due to shoulder and ACL injuries, respectively.

Lucy Tilton ’12 will be playing at opposite hitter in place of Popovic.

“I think they are doing really well. It’s hard because they need to get used to playing with each other. Passing together with each other is different,” Popovic said.

The team has been coping well without Popovic and Salka, as it has beaten Lakewood and Chaminade already.

“We still have to be on top of our game and prepared for that match ... we have a target on our backs.”

matthew Chupack/VOX

Daniel Kim/chronicle

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 21

>>

A

Game Previews

Field hockey looks to repeat last year’s Homecoming win against Bonita Elana Meer ’13 brings the ball up the field past a Chaminade defender. The Wolverines won the game 3-0.

By Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn

Going in to Homecoming as number one in its league, the varsity field hockey team plays the Bonita High School Bearcats.

This will be the fourth consecutive year a varsity field hockey game will occur at Homecoming. They play the Bearcats at 3 p.m.

Harvard-Westlake won the Homecoming game last year 10-0 against Chaminade.

Head Coach Erin Creznic seemed very enthusiastic about the game after coming back from three blowout games in September and October.

In each game, the team scored nine goals or more on the opposing squad.

The Wolverines will need to keep their offense firing on all cylinders when they face a Bonita team that Creznic said has a very strong goalie.

In two games against Bonita last year, the Wolverines outscored the Bearcats by a combined score of 7-0.

Although the Wolverines will not have Adrianna Crovo ’11 in goal this time around, Sam Gasner ’13 has filled in admirably for the injured star. In a seven-game stretch from Sept. 16 to Oct. 7, Gasner allowed only one goal.

Chelsey Taylor-Vaughn/chronicle

Water polo to face familiar foe Cathedral

By David Gobel Water polo is looking forward to a packed stadium for their Homecoming game against Cathedral.

“I feel that not that many people come to the games, other than the Loyola game,” Andrew Hotchkiss ’11 said. “At Homecoming I feel that it’s a chance for everyone to come see us play, and I love all the hype, and the chants, and all the people cheering for your team when you’re out there playing.”

Certain players in key positions will need to perform to their optimum ability in the game, Hotchkiss said.

“The three kids that always need to play well for us to succeed are Kayj Shannon ’11, Alec Zwaneveld ’12, and Henry MacNamara

’13,” Hotchkiss said. “For us to succeed all three of them need to play great.”

Head Coach Robert Lynn also enjoys the thrill of playing at Homecoming, and the excitement and enthusiasm that people have watching the game.

Although he is in only his second year as varsity water polo coach, he understands the importance of the Homecoming game to the entire Harvard-Westlake community.

“I really love the people and fans that fill into the stadium to the game, I wish we could have that experience every game,” Lynn said.

David Gobel/chronicle

Langdon Froomer ’12 rips a shot past a Mater Dei defender on Sept. 28. The Wolverines won the game 5-0.

Daniel Kim/chronicle

22 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Alumni

2010 Hall of Fame inductees These three Wolverine athletic legends, all from the Class of 2004, will be inducted into the Wolverine Hall of Fame at the halftime ceremony of the 2010 Homecoming football game. They have competed in a wide variety of sports and have all made contributions to teams at Harvard-Westlake and beyond.

Bryce Taylor ’04 The Wolverine basketball star now plays in a German league.

By Michael Aronson

Wearesc.com

Growing up, Bryce Taylor ’04 had a lot to live up to in the game of basketball. His father, Brian Taylor, was a nine-time American Basketball Association all star and the 1973 ABA Rookie of the Year. At Harvard-Westlake, Taylor won CIF three times with the basketball team while setting the all-time school record for points in a game with 54.

“I have nothing but fond memories of my high school basketball career and playing for Coach Hilliard,” Taylor said. “We always had

great support from our families and fellow students which made games in Taper extremely fun and a tough place for opposing teams to come in and defeat us [at].”

Taylor then played for the University of Oregon, where he made the 2005 Pac-10 All Freshman team. Primarily known as a solid shooter from beyond the arc, Taylor was 10 for 10 from three-point range and 11 for 11 from the field in the Ducks’ Pac-10 championship win over the University of Southern California. Taylor now plays small forward for the Telekom Baskets Bonn in Berlin, Germany.

Lindsay Flacks ’04 The runner won two CIF cross country championships and the state 3200 meter championship. She also won three NCAA cross-country titles at Stanford.

By Micah Sperling Lindsay Flacks ’04 was a Foot Locker Cross Country Championship finalist as a junior at Harvard-Westlake and was a two-time CIF cross-country individual champion. She also won the California 3,200-meter championship in her senior year and four consecutive Mission League 3,200-meter titles.

She was named Los Angeles Times Cross-Country Athlete of the Year once and Los Angeles Daily News Ath-

lete of the Year three times.

She ran for Stanford, helping to lead the Cardinal to three consecutive NCAA cross-country titles.

Collegiate Career Bests 1500 Meters 4:45.21 5000 Meters 16:48.08 10,000 meters 35:30.82

dyestatcal.com

Shelley Madick ’04 Madick pitched a no-hitter at Harvard-Westlake during a CIF playoff game. She pitched another no-hitter for Harvard.

By Micah Sperling Shelley Madick ’04 pitched for Harvard-Westlake for three seasons after transferring from Calabasas High School, throwing a no-hitter in the CIF playoffs as a sophomore.

Madick pitched for Harvard University, where she threw a nohitter against Penn in the 2007 Ivy League playoffs. She recorded the

lowest career postseason battingaverage-against ever (.180) for Harvard and ranks third all time for the Crimson in wins and strikeouts. She was Ivy League Player of the Year and a unanimous firstteam All-Ivy League selection.

Madick, who majored in history and minored in government, she worked for Teach for America for two years and now teaches at a New York City public school.

Awards and Honors Named Ivy League pitcher of the week six times.

Named Ivy League rookie of the week twice.

Named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 1 first team in 2007 and second team in 2008.

Vox ’04

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 23

Alumni

Q&A: Jonathan ‘Moose’ Martin ’07 Starting left tackle: Stanford University Jonathan Martin, better known as “Moose,” has entered the national stage as the left tackle for the Stanford Cardinal. An Honorable Mention All Pac-10 selection as a redshirt freshman last year, the 6’6”, 304-pound Martin helped block for Heisman Trophy runner-up

Toby Gerhart, a running back. This year, his main job has been protecting the blindside of another Heisman contender, quarterback Andrew Luck. Big Red’s Alex Leichenger talked to Moose about his football career at Harvard-Westlake and Stanford.

Q: Most important question first: What is the history behind the “Moose” nickname?

A: I went to John Thomas Dye for elementary school and my good friend ... who actually went to Harvard-Westlake with me afterwards, just started calling me Moose one day. I don’t really remember exactly how it started. I was already 5’7” in like fifth grade.

So it started up and our coach back then, a guy named Coach Cody, he called me Moose one day. And that’s when it kind of became official.”

A: Has the nickname stuck now that you are at Stanford?

Yeah, everyone here pretty much calls me that. There’s actually a bunch of people here who don’t know my real name.

Q: Do your coaches call you Moose?

Sometimes. Head Coach [Jim] Harbaugh usually just calls me Jon. Q: How is playing in college different than playing in high school?

A: In high school, you’re working pretty hard in August and in the season, but you’re pretty much off in the winter and the spring.

And I would say in college football that the hardest time of the year is winter and spring ball. So it’s a year-round thing. I probably don’t go home for more than three weeks a year. I’m here pretty much all the time working out.

Photos Reprinted With Permission of David Gonzales

24 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Moose Martin ’07 celebrates with Cardinal teammates after a victory last season, his first as a starter. Martin redshirted as a freshman.

Moose Martin ‘07 prepares to lay a block for Heisman trophy runner-up Toby Gerhart in a game last year.

Martin, who played offensive tackle at Harvard-Westlake, is in his second year starting for Stanford.

Q: How much has your game developed in college?

A: I would have to say pretty significantly. I was pretty raw when I came in. I was a decent athlete when I came in, but I was really small, really skinny.

I’ve picked up on some new techniques that you need to be successful in college football, especially in pass protection.

A: What has been the highlight of your Stanford career so far?

I would say that the back-to-back wins against USC and Oregon last year. Getting Oregon at home first was pretty awesome…then the next game, coming back to home to L.A., playing in front of a bunch of people I know and putting up 55 on the Trojans was pretty awesome.

Q: What type of lessons have you taken from the coaches at HarvardWestlake and applied in college?

A: I would say just the work ethic. You know, Coach Eumont has a unique style—he’s kind of old-school, and that’s prepared me for what I’m currently dealing with in college with Coach Harbaugh because he’s kind of similar in his coaching…It just strengthened me mentally to be coached by Eumont for two years.

Q: Obviously, the education at Stanford is great, but at the time you committed, the football program wasn’t very strong. How big of a surprise has it been and did it come as a surprise to you to have the team emerge lately and have had so much success?

A: When I first came in, the year before, it was Harbaugh’s first year, and they had upset USC, which was widely considered one of the greatest upsets of all time. And just talking to Harbaugh and his staff made me realize that the program was going places…

[But] it’s definitely been a surprise how good we’ve been the past two years.

We knew we were going to have something in Toby [Gerhart]. And coming in with [quarterback] Andrew Luck was huge. I didn’t really realize how good he was until I saw him throw the ball. You know, I played against [former Notre Dame and current Carolina Panthers quarterback] Jimmy Clausen in high school, I’ve seen some pretty good quarterbacks. Played against[current Notre Dame starter] Dayne Crist. But, seeing Andrew throw the ball is just something completely different. He’s just so talented. It’s pretty hard to lose football games when you have Andrew Luck at quarterback and Toby Gerhart at running back.

What has it been like to play with guys like Toby Gerhart and Andrew Luck?

They’re great guys. I’m close to Andrew because he’s in my grade. He lives right down the hall from me; he’s one of my good friends. He’s just the ultimate competitor. And he’s probably also the most humble player on our football team…Toby was quiet, but he was still a major team leader, and he was just such a beast on the field.

You’ve protected Luck’s blindside for the past two seasons as he as blossomed into a star. How big of a role

do you think you have played in your quarterback’s success?

I don’t know personally about that, being an impact on it. I think collectively, as an [offensive] line we’ve done a pretty good job protecting him, especially this year. We’ve only given up one sack so far [as of Oct. 1]. But at the same time, Luck is just so good at avoiding pressure, especially last year, when I was a little sloppy in my technique.

Now that Stanford has established its reputation as very strong in the last couple years, the team probably came into this year with its highest expectations in a long time. How have you and the team responded to this type of pressure?

We try not to think about it too much.

We approach each game as its own body of work. I’d say that in the offseason, there’s no way that anyone worked harder than we worked. Our conditioning was very difficult, our weight training was very long and very difficult. So we came into the season in pretty good shape, and we were confident in what we could do. We knew we were going to be good this year…It’s not a big shock what we’ve been doing so far. And we’re not satisfied. We still have a lot of work to do [to reach] our goal, which is to make the national championship game or the Rose Bowl.

For the full interview with Moose Martin, visit chronicle.hw.com.

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 25

Alumni

Top of the Line

Three former Wolverines have made names for themselves on professional sports teams in soccer and baseball.

Jill Oakes ’02

By Austin Block

Reprinted with Permission Of Jill Oakes

Six years ago, 19 year-old Jill Oakes ’02 sat on the bench of the U.S. national women’s soccer team and watched her teammates play Denmark. Her name was called, and Oakes had to prepare to play her first minutes for the full national team. Legend Shannon Boxx was taken out and Oakes was put in at center midfield.

“My heart’s pounding and I’m excited and I’m nervous and I don’t think I really stretched enough when I went in because I was kind of running on adrenaline,” Oakes said. “I did well ... I felt good about my performance.”

The Denmark game was one of two games she played for the full national team in the 2004 Algarve Cup. Oakes played in college for the University of California Los Angeles Bruins. She also played consistently for the Under-19 and Under-21 national teams.

After graduating from UCLA, Oakes played for a number of semi-pro teams and for a professional team in Sweden. In 2008, FC Gold Pride of the nascent Women’s Professional Soccer league took Oakes with the second pick in the domestic draft, a draft held after members of the national team were selected by the teams. However, knee injuries prevented her from performing well at the team’s training camp, and Oakes was cut from the team. The Chicago Red Stars Jill Oakes ’02 (left) played for picked up Oakes, and she eventhe Chicago Red Stars of the tually worked her way up into Women’s Professional Soccer the starting lineup. She took League in 2009. Ali Riley ’06 the 2010 season off to become a (below) was the WPS Rookie mother. Her daughter Phoenix of the Year this season. is three months old.

Ali Riley ’06

By Austin Block Ali Riley’s ’06 résumé is, at age 22, padded for life. She hasn’t even graduated from college yet, but she has won the Women’s Professional Soccer national championship, participated in the 2007 Women’s World Cup and 2008 Beijing Olympics, won the WPS Rookie of the Year award, and led the Stanford Cardinal to the NCAA title game.

Riley, a forward turned wing defender part way through college, was a pivotal player for the Wolverines. As a senior, she took the team to the CIF Division I final.

In 2006, Riley was named to the freshman All-Pac 10 team for Stanford and made her international debut,

playing in the U-20 World Championships in Russia and the U-20 World Cup qualifying for New Zealand, according to Stanford’s website. As a senior, Riley was named to Soccer America MVPs second team, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America AllAmerican third team, and to the NSCAA’s All-Pacific Region first team, the site said.

Riley played a full season for FC Gold Pride, based in Santa Clara, this year. In the league’s second year, FC Gold Pride defeated the Philadelphia Independence to win the title. Riley was named Rookie of the Year about 10 days before the final.

“To stand up on the platform and hold up the trophy was unreal,” Riley said. “Af-

26 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

Reprinted From the Stanford Daily

ter losing in the championship game for Stanford last year, I really wanted this one.”

Just days after winning the WPS championship on Sept. 26, Riley journeyed to New Zealand to help the AllWhites secure a spot in the 2011 Germany World Cup. On Oct. 8, Riley scored the team’s first goal in an 11-0

rout of Papua New Guinea in the final of the Oceania Football Confederation Women’s Nation Cup Tournament, guaranteeing the team a spot in the next World Cup, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Riley called her experiences in the Olympics and the World Cup “unforgettable.” She said the under-

Brennan Boesch ’03

By Micah Sperling “It’s kind of a pinch-yourself moment,” Brennan Boesch ’03 said.

“Looking across the field and realizing that you’re playing against Derek Jeter, you kind of have to try not to pay attention to it.”

Boesch, a Detroit Tigers outfielder, played at HarvardWestlake for four years, helping to lead the team to a CIF championship game appearance. Boesch said that everyone on the team was friends and that playing with his buddies helped him enjoy the game more.

During Boesch’s senior season at Harvard-Westlake, he hit .490 with seven home runs. After graduating, Boesch headed off to play baseball at the University of California, Berkeley. As a freshman at Cal, he hit .284 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in in 33 games. He was an All-Pac 10 selection in his sophomore year, hitting .355 with seven home runs and 33 RBIs in 57 games. The following season, Boesch hit .313 with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs in 53 games.

The Golden Bears announced this year that their baseball program will be folding due to lack of funding.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Boesch said. “The Cal baseball program was really the foundation for my career. I don’t think I’d be in the pros if I hadn’t played at Cal. The program has produced a lot of great major leaguers and I’m just sorry that doesn’t matter to the university. I’m very disappointed that it was discontinued.” The change may not be permanent— Cal may bring back the program in the future if they receive sufficient funding from the UC system.

“I certainly hope that the program is brought back,”

Brennan Boesch ’03, who hit .256 in 133 games as a rookie for the Detroit Tigers this year, follows in the footsteps of Wes Parker ’58, who played for the Dodgers from 1964-1972.

Boesch said.

Ironically, Boesch was the last person to find out he’d been called up to the major leagues. The day of his call-up, he hadn’t bothered to charge his cell phone, so he didn’t get the call to tell him. He went through the whole day without knowing, until he went to charge his phone that evening. “I had 25 congratulatory messages on my phone,” Boesch said.

“Until I got to the first message, I didn’t really know what people were talking about.” Boesch then had to fly down to meet the team in Texas, where he made his debut in a 5-4 loss on April 23.

Boesch has a piece of advice for Harvard-Westlake athletes: “If you’re serious about your sport and want to pursue it as a career, you have to approach it with the same mentality as anyone who wants to be a professional person. Lots of people want it and most aren’t going to get it. You have to have a certain kind of dedication.”

Boesch said one of the coolest moments of the season was when the Tigers played the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

“It was great to get to come back to L.A. and play in front of all my family and friends. It was one of the cooler moments of my season,” Boesch said.

For him, Detroit is a great place to play baseball. The Tigers have a good combination of youth and experience, including some new players who were called up from the minor leagues at the end of last season. He also appreciates the Tigers’ fans, supposedly some of the best in baseball.

“This next season is going to be the start of a new chapter in Detroit Tigers baseball history,” Boesch said. “We have the perfect combination of youth and experience. We’re going to have a great year.”

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 27

Alumni

In the Business

They may not be star athletes, but these three alumni have serious sway in the world of sports.

High school sports hitmaker Jack Davis ’10 has seen the popularity of his website balloon in a short period of time.

By David Kolin Jack Davis ’10 thought of the idea for his website, calihighsports.com, after speaking with basketball standout Erik Swoope ’10 and numerous other student-athletes.

They explained to Davis how difficult it is for high school athletes to get noticed by colleges, so Davis created a website that would make the recruitment process easier. On his website, student-athletes can announce commitments to colleges and post profiles of themselves.

Colleges can then easily obtain information about top athletes directly from the website.

Before the website was created, athletes could only send videos of themselves playing their sports to various colleges, and it was difficult for them to be recognized, Davis said.

Now a freshman at Duke, Davis still manages to pour in seven hours a day of work on the site. He constantly works to fix errors in the site’s code and check that the stats that athletes are posting are accurate. Davis also writes news stories and features for the website.

“Ninety-eight percent of the work is me,” he said.

He is also negotiating with some big companies he

hopes will invest in his website. If he gets a big investment, Davis would be able to increase his staff from four people to 80. He would also be able to create high school sports websites for every state by Sept. 1, 2013., he said.

When Davis first created the site, he did not have great expectations. He hoped that maybe a few players would post their profiles, but he was surprised at how the website took off once he started it.

People from 86 different countries have viewed the website, and it has attracted over 57,000 visitors.

Calihighsports.com has been visited by people from all 50 states.

In addition to working on Cali High Sports, Davis launched a nationwide website, High Sports Nation, on Sept. 3.

He is also in the process of creating another website, New York High Sports, which has a planned launch date of Jan. 4, 2011.

28 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

All Photos By David Kolin/chronicle

Running the Rams

At the age of 32, alumnus Kevin Demoff was named Executive Vice President of the St. Louis Rams in 2009. He is now responsible for reviving a struggling franchise.

By David Burton

daylife.com

Sports writing for the HarvardWestlake Chronicle and the Dartmouth College newspaper led Kevin Demoff ’95 to a front office executive job in the National Football League.

“My time on the Chronicle provided me with valuable tools such as how to interview people, put a story together, extract information that is important, but most significantly I was able to learn how to interact with people on my staff while having a leadership role,” said Demoff.

After graduating in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in history; he took those skills to a company in Los Angeles called Broadband Sports.

Demoff worked with Broadband Sports to construct NFL team websites and negotiated deals with NFL teams regarding their website.

A year later he left Broadband to become Director of Football Operations for the Arena Football League’s Los Angeles Avengers. In a position to look at football operations from a business perspective, Demoff decided to return to Dartmouth for business school. He had never taken an economics class, but

Demoff earned his MBA and a year later, in 2005, took a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as senior assistant.

In his four years at Tampa Bay, Demoff negotiated contracts, managed the salary cap, and scouted potential college and professional players.

In 2009, Demoff accepted a position with the St. Louis Rams as Executive Vice President of Football Operation and the Chief Operating Officer.

At 32, Demoff is the one of the youngest men in his position. Working a dual role in the Rams organization, Demoff works both on the players’ side and the business side of the team. Demoff signs players, negotiates contracts, works with the head coach on forming a roster and the strategic plans that come with it. Off the field Demoff is in charge of communications, marketing, sponsorships, and public relations.

“I love every bit of working with the Rams. I am able to experience the best of both worlds as a member of the organization on and off the field,” Demoff said.

Blue Crew blogger Jon Weisman ’85 of ESPN Los Angeles is the preeminent Dodger blogger on the Web.

By Alex Leichenger In 2002, Jon Weisman ’85 published the first blog on the Internet solely devoted to Dodger baseball.

Granted, the audience for his Dodger Thoughts website was limited at a time when “90 percent of people didn’t know what a blog was,” he said.

“Basically I wrote things on it and I told my friend that I had written something and he would read it, and that was my whole audience, one person at the

very start,” Weisman said. “At the beginning I had no expectations whatsoever….

I would not have been surprised if literally my audience had maxed out at three people.”

The days of a three-person readership are now long gone, as Weisman, who is also a features editor for Variety Magazine, has become arguably the most respected Dodger blogger on the Internet.

Previously hosted by the Los Angeles Times website, his blog now is a featured page on ESPN Los Angeles, which was launched last year.

Weisman is the author of “100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die,” a 299-page book published in April 2009.

Nathanson ’s/chronicle

laist.com

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 29

Trojans

Retrospective

Son of Troy

Hom

A former football star, Athletic Director Terry Barnum caught a touchdown pass in USC’s 1996 Rose Bowl victory. By David Burton When Upper School Athletic Director Terry Barnum was in high school, Homecoming meant sharp tuxedos and flowing dresses, Homecoming kings and queens, but even more important than the school-wide dance, were the Friday night lights.

Since the age of 3, Barnum dreamed about playing football and lived that dream throughout his high school and college career.

“Football has always been my passion, I love the game, the atmosphere,” said Barnum, a slight smile creeping across his face. “I love everything about it.”

Barnum pursued his passion seriously when he started to attend Alemany High School in Mission Hills. With his love for the game fueling him, Barnum became a standout varsity football player in high school and was awarded an athletic football scholarship to the University of Southern California.

Although a football icon in high school, one of Barnum’s proudest high school moments came on the track. As a freshman, Barnum was a member of the track team’s 4x100 relays who went on to become CIF Champions, and as a senior, he single handedly won the CIF Championship for the 200 meter race. Taking his speed and physicality to the USC Trojans practice field, Barnum worked for the next two years to be awarded the starting position at fullback in a game against Baylor.

“Working alongside my teammates is one of my fondest memories,” said Barnum. “We dedicated ourselves to becoming better and we pushed each other, and it paid off.”

The months of hard work Barnum committed himself to led to impressive results in his first start versus Baylor, a game that USC won 37-27.

“After the game I was very emotional because it was the first game I had ever started, and it was something I worked towards my whole life,” Barnum said.

That same season USC blew out Texas Tech in the 1995 Cotton Bowl 55-14. Barnum caught a 19-yard touch-

30 | BIG RED Homecoming 2010

down to give the Trojans an early lead 13-0. But Barnum’s success did not end there, the next year he was named team captain and led his team to a close victory in the 1996 Rose Bowl game versus Northwestern, 41-32. Barnum again caught a touchdown pass in the early stages of the game to give USC a needed momentum shift that they rode until the end of the game.

“That game was definitely the most outstanding moment in my career,” Barnum said.

Looking back on his time at USC, Barnum misses the camaraderie between he and his fellow teammates as well as the college football atmo-

“Walking down the Coliseum right before the Rose Bowl with thousands of fans screaming...is an out of body experience.”

—Terry Barnum

sphere.

“Walking down the Coliseum Tunnel right before a game with thousands of fans screaming at the top of their lungs, and the Click! Clack! Click!

Clack! of all the cleats is an out of body experience,” said Barnum. “It is really exhilarating.”

Although his days of playing football are in the past, Barnum is still heavily involved in his passion for football as one of four athletic directors at Harvard-Westlake School. Having a major role in the school’s football program, Barnum is in charge of game management on game days.

“I make sure both teams have everything they need to have, that there is someone to sing the national anthem, and that the press box is set up and ready to go,” Barnum said.

Although Homecoming at HarvardWestlake is different from Alemany, Barnum acknowledges the significance of the Harvard-Westlake Homecoming.

“Our Homecoming is something special because it is not exclusive to football like other schools, but instead a lot of the fall sports get to play in front of an excited crowd and experience homecoming,” said Barnum. “The inclusiveness of our Homecoming paired with the carnival-like atmosphere is something special.”

A seeming conflict would be when Alemany and Harvard-Westlake go head to head in football. Which team does Barnum root for?

“I wish Alemany well, but I support Harvard-Westlake in every way possible. This is where I am at and I love it. I wouldn’t root for the opposition even if it is my alma mater,” said Barnum.

Bringing his love for football and enthusiasm for sports to HarvardWestlake, Barnum looks to create new memories.

“I only get to walk this road once,” said Barnum. “Right now I am focused on building memories at Harvard-Westlake and helping the athletic programs here reach their fullest potential.”

Barnum now has a family, and a son who plays football with hopes of being just like his dad.

Homecoming Schedule Oct. 23, 2010

Homecoming Schedule Homecoming Schedule Homecoming Schedule Homecoming Schedule Homecoming Schedule Homecoming Schedule Homecoming Schedul Homecoming Schedule Homecoming Schedule

Football

Location: Ted Slavin Field Varsity: 7:30 p.m.

Freshman: 4:30 p.m.

Waterpolo

Location: Zanuck Swim Stadium Varsity: 5 p.m.

Junior Varsity: 6 p.m.

Field Hockey

Location: Ted Slavin Field Varsity: 3 p.m.

Junior Varsity: 1:30 p.m.

Volleyball

Location: Taper Gymnasium Varsity: 2 p.m.

Junior Varsity: 1 p.m.

Freshman: 12 noon.

BIG RED Homecoming 2010 I 31

CALI HIGH SPORTS IS EXPANDING RAPIDLY. WANT TO BE PART OF THE STAFF OR SIGN UP FOR A FEATURED PROFILE? EMAIL US ...

CALIHIGHSPORTS@gmail.com