Big Red Spring 2012

SPRING 2012

2011-2012

Athletes of the

YEAR

The Playbook Sections 7 Leadoff

—Baseball’s new good luck charm —Pop Culture Grid

10-11 Recruiting —Charlie Porter ’12 will attend a soccer academy in England —Chad Kanoff ’13 is a four-star recruit with an SEC offer

12-15 End of Year Awards —Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12 ran away with the Female Athletes of the Year Award, find out who won our other awards in this section

Inside Spring Sports 21-29

End of Year Awards 12-15

ABBIE NEUFELD/CHRONICLE

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

16-18 H-W Olympians —Wolverine alumni, coaches and current students are trying to reach the 2012 London Olympics

21-29 Inside Sports —A look in-depth at Charlie Benell’s ’12 golf swing —Ben Gaylord ’13 is the Mission League champion pole vaulter —Softball player Maddy Kaplan ’14 had a concussion that caused her to miss a year of school

30-31 Year in Photos

Wolverines in the Olympics

bigred staff Editor in Chief: David Gobel Managing Editors: Michael Aronson, Luke Holthouse, Robbie Loeb, Camille Shooshani Staff: Eli Haims, Daniel Kim, Judd Liebman, David Lim, Grant Nussbaum, Keane Muraoka-Robertson, Julius Pak, Patrick Ryan, Lara Sokoloff, Saj Sri-Kumar, Michael Sugerman, Elana Zeltser Adviser: Kathleen Neumeyer Cover photo by Daniel Kim

2 | BIG RED Spring 2012

16-18

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF DARLENE BIBLE

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

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

BREAK ON THROUGH Brooks Hudgins ’14 advances the ball in the Wolverines’ 8-5 loss at home against Loyola April 17.

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 3

4 | BIG RED Spring 2012

MAKING A SPLASH Blaise Ormond ’12 swims the butterfly in the swim team’s meet against Alemany April 19. The Wolverines won the meet 103-68.

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 5

CHOPS Closer Hans Hansen ’13 unleashes a pitch in the boys’ baseball team’s loss to Loyola May 8.

CAMILLE SHOOSHANI/CHRONICLE

6 | BIG RED Spring 2012

Leadoff

Snake charmer

By Michael Aronson After failing to capture a win in the baseball team’s league opener against Alemany, the boys needed something to get their mojo back.

That mojo came in the form of a rubber snake named Dante, pitcher Alex Rand-Lewis ’12 said.

“Our coach tried to scare us with the snake, but all he did was scare one of our other coaches because we are smarter than he thinks,” RandLewis said. “Once Lucas Giolito ’12 got hold of the snake, it changed our season.”

Giolito, the team’s right-handed ace who lost his senior season to a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, brought the snake to the team’s matchup against Santa Barbara and rubbed it on the team’s bats and helmets for luck.

The Wolverines demolished Santa Barbara 14-1 and have been using it for luck ever since the win.

The boys won eight straight games after clobbering Santa Barbara, and they went 9-1 through their first 10 with Dante in Giolito’s hands.

“Dante has been unbelievable,” Giolito said. “We went on a long winning streak, and Dante was doing work every step of the way.”

The boys brought the snake to North Carolina in a National High School Invitational Tournament where the Wolverines made it to the finals after scoring 16 runs in their first three games of the tournament.

Pop Culture Chart

Closer Hans Hansen ’13 wore the snake in a post game interview after the team’s 1-0 semifinal win over American Heritage High School in the tournament.

“I would definitely say it’s lucky,” Hansen said. “I wore it to show appreciation to the snake. Baseball is very superstitious, and I wore it to appease the snake so it will keep getting us wins.”

After the tournament, the snake’s role was magnified. It found a new home on the bench in the dugout and on helmet racks. The snake became an integral part of the Wolverines’ offense as hitters let it lick bats before stepping up to the plate.

“If the snake wants to lick a bat, it will lick a bat,” catcher Arden Pabst ’13 said. “If the snake wants to scare the other team, it will scare the other team. The snake is the mojo master, and he runs the show in the dugout.”

After Giolito started waving the snake around during at-bats, infielder Andrew Wallach ’13 joined him as one of the snake’s caretakers.

Giolito is unsure of Dante’s role on the team in the future, but he is sure that for now, he is an integral part of the team.

“I have never personally been very superstitious at all, but Dante is something that we collectively as a team believe in,” Giolito said. “He helps us compete and fight hard every game.”

H-W athlete of the year?

Mitt Romney is...

NBA Finals’ champion?

Can’t live without...

Gregg Myerson ’13

Chad Kanoff ’13

a boss

Denver Nuggets

Doritos Blazin’ Buffalo and Ranch chips

what?

my stuffed dog, coffee

Lacrosse

Track & Field

Adam Williams ’12 Tennis

Glenne Carter ’14 Field Hockey, Basketball

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

POWERED BY THE SNAKE: Injured pitcher Lucas Giolito ’12 dangles a rubber snake named Dante for good luck.

“

OVERHEARD

Wolverine Athlete

Laurel Aberle ’13

A rubber snake has helped the baseball team get its mojo back after pitcher Lucas Giolito’s ’12 season-ending injury.

Shea Copeland ’15

not a president

Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach’12

a flip-flopper

Oklahoma City Thunder

Tic-Tacs

Kristen Lee ’12

running for president

Are the Bulls in playoffs?

The Cut the Rope app

nathanson ’s

Who knows what my next great sport could be? I could try soccer, I could be the next Freddy Adu or something. Maybe I’ll be like Pablo Sanchez from Backyard Baseball.”

—Colburn Pittman

Long Jumper

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 7

Roundtable Wolver ine

Q:

What was the play of the year?

Barnum: I wouldn’t say that there is one single play of the year. I was really impressed with our softball team going undefeated in league and being league champs for the first time in 10 years. That was very impressive. That’s not one single play, but the play of all of those kids that I thought was really great.

Azuoma:

The boys’ basketball team was down 66-65 at Crespi when Zena Edosomwan ’12 hit the game winner inside the paint as time expired. The Wolverines were down 46-27 at the half and came all the way back to give themselves an opportunity to win what seemed to be a hopeless game.

Derrick Newton ’14 passed to Michael Sheng ’13 who had the awareness to somehow thread the ball to a smothered Edosomwan who put it up and in. A great play in a great environment made for a great win.

Faculty and Big Red staffers and highlights key moments of the Wolverines’ year in athletics.

Q:

What was the biggest disappointment for Wolverine fans this year?

Loeb: I was most disappointed when after months of an-

ticipation for what was sure to be a successful baseball season, star pitcher Lucas Giolito ’12 went down for the year in just his second start. Although the baseball team is still in great shape, and it is still exciting to watch with southpaw Max Fried ’12, it’s not every day that you get to see two future top-tier major leaguers in the same high school uniform, dominating the mound night in and night out. It’s too bad that we won’t get to witness any more 100 mph fastballs from Giolito this year.

Aronson:

To think that the top right-handed high school pitcher in the nation would take the mound for the Wolverines this spring was mind-boggling. In fact, it was too good to be true when top-MLB-prospect Lucas Giolito ’12 suffered a season-ending injury. Fanatics were hoping to see Giolito take the mound at O’Malley Field and capture his second career no-hitter with the Wolverines, but it didn’t happen. Fortunately, Giolito is still a first-round prospect, and instead of seeing Giolito at O’Malley, Wolverine fans may someday see Giolito on the mound under the lights at Dodger stadium.

Gobel:

I think it was really unfortunate that girls’ soccer lost in penalty kicks in the quarterfinals of CIF. The team had an incredible regular season, going undefeated in league play and losing only one game. I think that a CIF title looked to be on the horizon for the squad, and losing in so close a match was a very tough way to go out.

Barnum:

Not having a pool here to watch our water polo and swim teams compete. It had to be done, and we are going to have a great pool next year that we will be able to enjoy for years and years, but unfortunately that meant that we needed to go for a year without it. I’m sad that those seniors weren’t able to have their last year in the swimming pool on campus.

LUKE HOLTHOUSE/CHRONICLE

WIND UP: Pitcher Chloe Pendergast ’13 winds up to pitch in the girls’ softball team’s 11-6 victory over Alemany. The girls won Mission League for the first time in ten years.

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Michael Aronson Big Red managing editor varsity golfer

onson d ditor lfer

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

ON THE LINE: The Wolverines’ defensive unit lines up in the 41-28 loss to St. Paul Nov. 11. The boys will play their

rival Loyola Cubs this coming fall for the first time since 1932 when Loyola beat the then-Harvard Saracens 27-0.

Q:

Q:

Which team improved the most since last year?

Holthouse:

It’s hard for me to give the most improved team award to a group of guys that didn’t make the playoffs, but the 2011-2012 Wolverine football team was leaps and bounds ahead of the team a year prior. The Wolverines had three more wins overall, one more win in league and delivered to the home crowd on Homecoming with a victory over El Camino Real. With another year under his belt, I think Chad Kanoff ’13 should quarterback the team back to the playoffs.

Aronson: After the football team won its homecoming

game 39-31 against El Camino Real on Oct 1, I didn’t really know what to think because I had never seen the football team win on Homecoming. Chad Kanoff ’s control over his offense was remarkable, and it was the first time I had ever seen Kanoff win a football game at Ted Slavin field. The football team also won its first game in the Mission League since joining the competitive league in 2010. Kanoff proved himself as a true Division I recruit, and I can’t wait to see his hard work ethic pay off this fall.

Which sport are you most looking forward to watching next year?

Loeb:

There are so many reasons why next year’s football team will be the most exciting team to watch. I’m interested in seeing if the team can return to the postseason under first-year Head Coach Scot Ruggles after six seasons under Vic Eumont, as well as how much of a role, if any, Eumont will have with the team. Quarterback Chad Kanoff ‘13, who already has an offer from Vanderbilt and is sure to get more, will hopefully improve on last season’s outstanding campaign in which he threw over 2,600 yards, a leagueleading 28 touchdowns and only five interceptions. But the thing I’m looking forward to most about next football season is undoubtedly the Aug. 24 rivalry game with Loyola at Los Angeles Valley College to kick off the season. The last time the two schools met on the gridiron was in 1932, when Loyola shut out the then-Harvard Saracens 27-0.

Azuoma:

Girls’ soccer will be fun to watch, but for me, this one has to go to football. Even last season, we saw glimpses of the potential the classes of 2013 and 2014 have to dominate in the Mission League. Their offense next year will also be one of the most explosive scoring units the school has seen in recent years. A more experienced Correy King ’13 at running back along with future Division I quarterback in Chad Kanoff ’13 throwing to a talented receiving core in Julian Shabahang ’14, Chris Sebastian ’13 and Clinton Hooks ’13 will make the Wolverines football squad a must-see every game.

Holthouse: David Go bel Big Red Editor in Chief

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I’m very curious to see how the girls’ volleyball team plays next year. With over ten seniors graduating from the 2010-2011 team, this year’s team struggled. For the first time since Adam Black took over the girls’ volleyball program five years ago, the team not only lost a game in Mission League, but they lost several and did not make the playoffs. The team didn’t win the Mission League Championship for the first time since the 2005 season. With three seniors graduating but over ten sophomores and juniors returning, the 2012-2013 team has a chance to reestablish Harvard-Westlake as the premiere Mission League program and even make a deep CIF playoff run.

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 9

Recruiting

Four star talent Quarterback Chad Kanoff ’13 holds a fourstar ranking from ESPN and has recieved an offer from Vanderbilt University.

10 | BIG RED Spring 2012

By Luke Holthouse The Southeastern Conference is widely regarded as the cream of the crop in Div. I A college football. ESPN analyst Lou Holtz called football a “religion” down in the SEC, where opponents “just get beat up week after week in that league.”

Chad Kanoff ’13 might become one of the next quarterbacks to start at an SEC school, joining names like Peyton Manning from Tennessee, Cam Newton of Auburn and Tim Tebow from Florida, if he accepts the offer he received earlier this year from Vanderbilt University.

“Vanderbilt is a really cool school,” Kanoff said. “It’s a good academic school and playing in the SEC would be awesome.”

A member of the SEC has won every single National Championship the last six years. Since the Bowl Championship Series playoff system was established in college football in 1998, only one of the nine SEC teams to participate in a National Championship game fell as runner up. The lone exception is last year’s LSU team, who lost to fellow SEC member Alabama in the championship game. Four of the last seven first overall picks in the NFL Draft reign from the SEC. But Kanoff isn’t intimidated to face some of the strongest linebackers and defensive ends in the country blitzing at him.

“It’d be fun,” he said of playing in the SEC. “I think it’s fun to play against the best. It’d be good to play against some of the better kids in the nation.”

If he did elect to play for the Commodores, he would be the first quarterback in Harvard-Westlake history to play Div. I A college football.

Kanoff is the first Wolverine to be offered a scholarship to a Div. I A school since Jonathan “Moose” Martin ’08 attended Stanford to play for the Cardinal.

Kanoff threw 28 touchdowns in 10 games for the Wolverines with only four interceptions. According

to ESPN.com, Kanoff is a four-star recruit and is the twentieth ranked football prospect in California for the 2013 class. Kanoff led the Wolverines’ offense to an averaged of 32 points a game.

The team went 5-5 overall and 1-4 in league, failing to make playoffs.

Kanoff is also the team’s starting punter and was named the top punter in the Mission League, but he is receiving his scholarship offers as a quarterback.

While Vanderbilt isn’t the top team in the conferenceit’s 2-6 record earned it an eighth place finish in the 12team conference- it currently features over ten alumni in the NFL. Most notably, quarterback Jay Cutler led the Chicago Bears to the NFC Championship game two years ago after starting all 45 games of his career at Vanderbilt.

But Kanoff may pass up the chance to compete against many future NFL stars every week. Head Coach Scot Ruggles said that Kanoff has received offers from every Ivy League school. The Ivy League, which competes in Div. I AA, would not offer him as much exposure to top level players and coaches, but would offer a worldclass education.

Ruggles said that Kanoff’s grades and standardized testing scores put him a position to be a strong candidate at Ivy League schools.

“He’s been told by Harvard, Yale and Princeton that he could go there if he wants,” Ruggles said. “I would say that he’s probably the top recruited quarterback in the Ivy League.”

Ruggles added that scouts from other conferences such as the Big 10, Big 12 and Pac 12 will all send out scouts to watch Kanoff throw during spring practices, which officially start on May 1.

“Everyone is going to come out and watch him from spring ball on,” he said. “As of May 1, when those [scouts] go on the road, I think you’ll see the ‘who’s who’ of college football. I think you’ll see every major college football conference here.”

Recruiting

OFF TO ENGLAND:

Midfielder Charlie Porter ’12 dribbles past a Thousand Oaks defender in the boys’ soccer team’s 2-0 loss in CIF playoffs. Porter will attend an English soccer academy next year.

LUKE HOLTHOUSE/CHRONICLE

Crossing the pond

By Luke Holthouse The first time Charlie Porter ’12 ever suited up his cleats and shin guards for some competitive soccer, he was three years old and playing in the American Youth Soccer Organization. Fifteen years later, Porter is still kicking and will continue to play soccer after he graduates Harvard-Westlake.

Porter isn’t the only member of this year’s senior class to be recruited to play their respective sport in college.

However, he is the only person that’s been recruited to play across the Atlantic Ocean.

Porter will study abroad next year at Richmond, The American International University in London. He will continue his soccer/football career at the Richmond International Academic & Soccer Academy. He will fly to England this summer and will not come home until the winter holidays.

“It’s going to be an awesome experience,” he said. “I actually leave July 29 and I won’t come back until like Dec. 15 so I’m going to be gone for that long without my family, which is way longer

Midfielder Charlie Porter ’12 passed up offers to play soccer at several Division III schools to instead attend the Richmond International Academic & Soccer Academy in England.

than I’m used to.”

The program, which started in 2009, accepts 25 players a year to be trained by some of the best coaches in England as well as receive an American Bachelor’s degree in four years. Players in the program gain exposure both to Div. I college soccer programs in the United States as well as mid-level professional leagues in Europe. He said that about 10 percent of players to come out of the program eventually sign with a European professional team.

Porter says that he is attending the program instead of a traditional Div. III collegiate soccer program in the United States because the program puts him on a path to either play for one of the pro teams or transfer to a Div. I program in a couple of years. He did not have any Div. I offers during his recruiting process but hopes that the experience in England would give him that opportunity.

“I got some Div. III offers, some smaller schools, but nothing that I particularly wanted to go to,” he said. “Maybe after college, I’ll look at professional opportunities. But I do think that having an American degree is a big deal and

that I shouldn’t miss out on that.”

Porter said that he initially learned about the program because a person he had hired to help get him recruited started the program. He added that he was not sure exactly what he would study and that the program he was attending would focus on his training almost as much as his education.

In addition to soccer, Porter played football and volleyball at HarvardWestlake all four years he was a student.

However, he said he didn’t begin to play those sports in organized fashions until about seventh grade. He said he was never tall enough to get looks from colleges to play volleyball and that he did receive some attention from Ivy League schools about playing football, but he began the recruiting process too late to garner any offers.

Porter played right middle defender for the Wolverine soccer team. He lettered with the team three years, was a captain of the team his senior year and helped guide the team to CIF playoffs this season. The team was knocked out in the first round of playoffs by Thousand Oaks.

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 11

male

Athlete Year of the

max FRIED

By Luke Holthouse After leading Montclair Prep in Van Nuys to the quarterfinals of CIF Div. V playoffs in the 2011 season, Max Fried ’12 received a letter from Mark Simpson in July that he never would have expected. Simpson, the former Athletic Director at Montclair, informed all students that because of drastic budget cuts, Montclair was shutting down its athletic program. Intent on playing baseball his senior year of high school, Fried elected to transfer to HarvardWestlake and join a Wolverine baseball program coming off its first Mission League Championship.

Fried would join good friend Lucas Giolito ’12 in the starting rotation, creating one of the most dominant pitching staffs in all of California.

Giolito was ranked

by ESPN.com as the best high school baseball prospect in the country. Fried was ranked fourth.

While Giolito was injured early in the season with a strained elbow ligament in his

pitching arm, Fried took over the title as “Ace” of the Wolverine staff, helping the Wolverines maintain their status as top competitors in the Mission League and National Invitationals.

But Fried has not just been making a difference on the mound.

He has also made a lot of noise in the batters box. When he is not the starting pitcher for the day, he starts in left field and hits third in the lineup. He was the only Wolverine that recorded an RBI in all four games of the National High School Invitational in North Carolina this spring break.

The Wolverines ultimately fell to Mater Dei 3-2 in the championship game, but proved that they were still one of the best teams in the nation with Fried as their number one starter.

When Fried’s high school career ends this summer, he is projected to be the seventh overall pick in the MLB draft according to MLB.com.

He will have to choose between the MLB or playing college baseball at UCLA, ranked by ESPN.com as of press time as the eleventh best Div. I baseball team in the country.

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

12 | BIG RED Spring 2012

female

Athletes Year of the

amy WEISSENBACH & cami CHAPUS

By Julius Pak

JULIUS PAK/CHRONICLE

Their records speak for themselves.

Cross-country and track and field co-captains Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12 have amassed a treasure trove of records and titles over two varsity athletic seasons and have outpaced their opponents across two continents.

The duo began their school year picking up their run of form from the previous season, when Chapus successfully defended her individual state title. This year was hardly different.

The Cami-Amy partnership developed into one of the most lethal one-two punches in the state. In many meets, they secured first and second place long before the third runner finished. This scenario played out in both the league and CIF Southern Section finals. Chapus’ win at league finals marked the first time in school history a girl won the league title every year for all four years of high school. Her bid to win the state championship a week after CIF finals for the third straight faltered due to a bronchial infection. However, both co-captains were still able to post an identical time of 17:57 into second and third place in the last crosscountry race representing Harvard-Westlake.

Two weeks later and still recovering from her illness, Chapus qualified to the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in San Diego.

Their accomplishments have carried over into the track season as well. Even before the end of the track season, Chapus and Weissenbach together hold a combined two national records and eight school records, with three nation-leading times this season. Weissenbach’s all-time national record in the 800-meter event at last year’s CIF Finals led to Gatorade naming her its National Girls’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

However, the duo’s accomplishments are not limited to the scholastic realm, as they have represented the country abroad. This past summer, Chapus and Weissenbach qualified for the World Youth Championships in Athletics in Lille, France, in the 1500-meter and 800-meter events, respectively. Even competing at an international level, Chapus pulled out a fifth place finish in her race, running the fastest time for an American girl that year in her event. Weissenbach took fourth in the 800 but her record as since remained unbroken.

But all of these achievements may just be the beginning for this dynamic duo.

Both will also continue running at Stanford University, Chapus will compete at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona, Spain this summer in the 1500 and Weissenbach will run in the Qualifiers for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 13

Freshmen Year of the

garrett ROBINSON

By David Lim

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

DETERMINATION: Garrett Robinson ’15 sprints to the finish line in the Wolverines’ track meet against Brentwood April 16.

Garrett Robinson ’15 made it clear when he arrived on campus last fall that he intended to make his mark on the track program.

“I joined the team at HarvardWestlake because I felt that I could help lead the team to success, while also establishing my own legacy at this school,” Robinson said. “In the next few years, I aim to establish myself as a leader on our team and help to bring us far. I want to set records and get stronger to prepare for the next level of competition.”

And in his first month running in his red and black uniform, Robinson succeeded in fulfilling his goal with two school records to his name.

With upperclassmen David Olodort ’12, Judd Liebman ’12 and David Manahan ’14, Robinson helped break a 2009 school record for the 1600-meter sprint medley at the Arcadia Invitational on April 6.

The team finished fifth, clocking in at 3:32.40, two seconds faster

than the previous record. Robinson, running in the distance medley event with Aaron de Toledo ’12, Liebman and Manahan, contributed to the second record-setting relay of the day. Placing 11th, the squad finished in 10:18.76. Robinson got his start running competitively when his father asked him if he wanted to try it out because he always had “a passion for running.”

“I felt I had a lot of raw talent and I wanted to refine my skills in order to reach my full potential,” Robinson added.

He joined a local team that he still occasionally trains with. His first year on the track team here is his seventh training to compete.

He credits his success largely to the sprint coaching staff of Olympians Joanna Hayes, Felix Sanchez and Quincy Watts.

“They’ve all helped me greatly to develop as an athlete and a person,” Robinson said. “The best advice they’ve given me is just to go out, never stop working.”

catherina GORES

By Michael Aronson With the loss of former attacker Katie Speidel ’11, the girls’ soccer team needed another scoring machine to carry the team’s offensive unit.

Despite her small size and young age, forward Catherina Gores ’15 filled the void left by Speidel with her quickness and high soccer IQ. Halfway through the girls’ season, Gores led the team in scoring, averaging almost two goals a game with three total hat tricks.

As the season progressed, the team adapted their offensive system to revolve around Gores with a 4-51 formation, leaving her as the lone striker for the Wolverines.

“I didn’t really think about being

14 | BIG RED Spring 2012

one of the youngest players on the team,” Gores said. “I tried to never feel a separation between ages on the field.”

Gores’ goals per game average dropped by the end of the season, but her offensive presence remained prominent as the team rose to ninth in the nation, according to the Powerade FAB 50 high school rankings.

In the quarterfinal matchup of CIF playoffs against San Clemente, Gores was held scoreless by the Lady Tritons, but her assists allowed the Wolverines to force an overtime period and penalty kicks.

“My teammates were such a great support system,” Gores said.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

ROBBIE LOEB/CHRONICLE

BALL AWARENESS: Catherina Gores ’15 dribbles up the field in the girls’ soccer team’s playoff loss to San Clemente Feb. 24.

Coach Year of the

25-9 17-9 brian FLACKS boys’ record girls’ record

By Luke Holthouse First-year Head Coach Brian Flacks ’06 knew something was not working with his girls’ water polo team. In the 2011 season, a full-pool press style defense implemented by former Head Coach Robert Lynn shut down opposing offenses and led the Wolverines to their first CIF Championship in program history. When Lynn resigned and handed the duties of defending the team’s title over to Flacks, Flacks maintained the same defensive scheme.

But Flacks’ defense just was not making stops. The team overwhelmed Mission League foes with its press, but tougher out of league competition was unfazed by the pressure.

Without star players Ashley Grossman ’11 and Camille Hooks ’11, who are now playing Division I water polo at Stanford and Princeton, respectively, the defense was not causing turnovers.

In a highly anticipated rematch of the 2011 CIF Championship game, the Wolverines traveled Rancho Cucamonga to take on Los Osos on Jan. 7. Harvard-Westlake came in as the top-ranked team Div. IV team in the Southern Section. Los Osos was ranked second. But the Grizzlies upset the Wolverines, winning 14-13 and extracting revenge after falling 10-7 in the championship game last year.

Flacks knew that the key

to beating Los Osos in a potential playoff matchup later that year would be changing the style of defense. Instead of an aggressive defense that tried to force turnovers, the Wolverines tread water in front of their goal and try to force outside shots.

The two teams met again in the final on Feb. 25, and the compressed defense worked.

The Wolverines won the 2012 final by a score of 9-2, a 12goal improvement defensively from the regular season matchup. The Grizzlies were frustrated by the conservative Wolverine defense, and goalie Kristen Lee ’12 ate up thirteen of the fifteen shots.

Despite having to practice off campus due to pool construction, transition several young players into starting roles after the loss of Hooks and Grossman, and completely rework the defense, the team was able to continue the success it had the year before.

Flacks also led the boys’ water polo team to playoffs in his first season as its head coach, taking the Wolverines to the quarterfinals of CIF playoffs. But it was his guidance of the girls’ team all the way to final that set him apart from all other coaches this season at Harvard-Westlake.

The win was a piece of personal redemption for Flacks, who participated in three CIF Championship games as a player for the boys’ water polo team at Harvard-Westlake but lost every year. But in his fourth attempt to put up a banner in Taper Gymnasium, and just his first season as a coach, he finally did.

FOR THE WIN: Brian Flacks ’06 raises the championship plaque after securing the girls’ water polo program’s second straight CIF Southern Section Div. IV title.

The first-year head coach led the team to a 9-2 win over Los Osos in the final.

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 15 DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

London Calling

By Keane Muraoka-Robertson

and

Robbie Loeb

With the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, approaching this July, Harvard-Westlake alumni, coaches and students are training for a chance to stand atop the podium and hear their national anthem.

While Peter Hudnut ’99 already has a spot guaranteed for him on the Olympic-bound USA national water polo team, track coaches Joanna Hayes and Felix Sanchez must compete in the USA Track and Field Team Trials in June to qualify for the games. Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy Weissenbach ’12 will run in the IAAF Junior World Championships and the Olympic Trials this summer and say they have slim chances of making the Games.

12-time medalist Dara Torres ’85 will also compete in June at swimming Trials for a chance to attend what could be her sixth Olympics.

Dara Torres ’85

Father Time is not going to stop 45-year-old Dara Torres ’85 from competing in her sixth Olympic Games, not if she has anything to say about it.

In 2008, Torres set the record for being the first U.S. swimmer to attend five Olympic games.

Torres, a 12-time medalist and mother, has competed every four years since winning gold for the 4x100-meter relay at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles during her junior year at Westlake School.

“This will be my last try at the Olympics, no matter what. Going back to 1984, I had always thought that would be my last swim, but I mean it this time,” Torres said in an interview with Fitness Magazine.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Torres set the record for being the oldest swimmer to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Swim team. Torres, competing in the 50-meter freestyle, 4x100-meter medley relay and the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, won a silver medal in each event.

“I don’t feel like I have anything else to prove going into these Olympic games,” Torres said to ESPN. “It’s not about medals. I have enough.”

At the Olympic Trials in June, she will need to place either first or second to qualify for the Olympics.

“If I had to just swim the race once, I don’t think it would even be an issue making the team,” Torres said to ESPN. “But I have to swim it three times, and having my body recover for those three races is my issue.”

About 18 months ago, Torres began training for the Trials.

Torres attributes her success to hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.

“All of my competitions have had some kind of positive and memorable impact on me, but it’s the road leading up to the meets that are most rewarding,” Torres said. “You learn so much about yourself.”

“Dara is a true athlete,” Athletic Director Dar-

16 | BIG RED Spring 2012

Five in L We Dar

lene Bible, who coached Torres in high school, said.

“Not many swimmers, not to mention Olympic caliber swimmers, played collegiate volleyball.

That is why she has been able to stay at a world-class level for so long. She is at an elite level of fitness.”

Peter Hudnut ’99

In the summer of 1988, 8-year old Peter Hudnut ’99 knew what he wanted to do when he grew up. He wanted to be an Olympian.

Hudnut is training for his second Olympics on the USA national water polo team.

“Water polo is one of the most strenuous, physical, even violent team sports on earth,” Hudnut said. “I love testing my limits daily through a sport that is challenging in multiple disciplines. Water polo players must be great swimmers and wrestlers, as well as be able to throw a big ball close to 50 mph with no ground to push off. It is without question the most challenging team sport on earth.”

Leading up to the 2004 Olympics, Hudnut began practicing with the national team full time. While traveling with the team, he fractured his spine, and upon returning to the States, doctors discovered a benign synovial cyst in his spine. Doctors warned him these injuries would end his professional water polo career. Upon beginning rehab, he was out of shape and unable to practice. Yet, every day he attended the practice, determined not to lose sight of his dream.

“The coaches didn’t even look at me,” Hudnut said to ESPN. “My first day back in the pool, I barely swam 500 yards, and I was telling everyone I was going to make the team.”

In July of 2004, Hudnut was contending with three others for a spot to represent the U.S. in Beijing. Hudnut did not make the cut. Hudnut played instead for European teams and after four years, Hudnut was ready for the USA national team.

In 2008, Hudnut achieved his dream of attending the Olympics with the U.S. national team.

After beating out higher ranked teams, the USA national team was fighting for gold against the Hungarians. With a final score of 14-10, Team USA took home silver.

“In a sport like ours, you don’t win a silver medal,” Hudnut said to ESPN. “You lose the goldmedal match. I didn’t come back to be a tourist at the Olympics. I didn’t come back for a silver medal. This is about our team’s final stand together.

This is our last chance.”

Following the Beijing Olympics, Hudnut, unable to balance school and training, was forced to take a hiatus from water polo to finish his MBA at Stanford University. Two years later, Hudnut realized that he was not done playing. For the second time,

Hudnut faced the challenge of getting back into shape to rejoin the team. After graduating, he began training full-time with the national team.

Eleven of the 13 player the 2008 Beijing Olympic turning to compete this s “The team environme critical part in my life,” H reason I never cared muc accolades. The process of for the betterment of a gr thing for me.”

“The Olympic Games any individual athlete,” H of the games is a very hu sent my country and com who let me believe in my teachers, friends, commu achieve it, that is somet can’t do justice. I am ex we measure up against th represent the USA. I am of a very storied and sma

Cami Chapus ’12 Amy Weissenbach

Although in all likeliho pus ’12 and Amy Weissen their dreamed Olympian

e Wolverine athletes, coaches and alumni will reach for the 2012 Summer Olympics London for water polo, swimming and track and field. For Cami Chapus ’12 and Amy eissenbach ’12, it is for the first time while others will go to Trials for a repeat or, for ra Torres’ ’85, a 13th medal.

rs at cs are resummer. ent has always played a Hudnut said. “For some ch for individual sports or suffering as an individual roup is the most fulfilling

are so much bigger than Hudnut said. “To be part umbling honor. To reprempete for all of the people dream – family, coaches, unities – and helped me thing special that words xcited to go and see how he world. I am thrilled to humbled to be a member all club of Olympians.”

and ch ’12 ood track stars Cami Chanbach ’12 will not achieve status this summer, they

have set their sights on the 2016 Olympic Games and will extend their seasons into July and June to gain experience early in their budding careers.

“2016 is much more realistic for the both of us,” Weissenbach said. “I don’t think either of us expect to make the Olympics this year.”

Chapus has set her sights on competing in the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona in mid-July for girls under 20. She will need to qualify for the Worlds Trials, which are two weeks after the June 1 State Meet.

Weissenbach is slated to compete in the Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Ore. with the top 30 female 800-meter runners in the country at the end of June, barring an improbable change in the rankings in which Weissenbach currently ranks 18th. In 2008, the slowest woman in the field made Olympic Trials with a time of 2:04.90, nearly three seconds slower than Weissenbach’s personal record of 2:02.04, which she recorded at last year’s State Meet.

The top nine runners at Trials make it to the finals. The top three finishers in the finals make the team and will compete in London.

“My first goal is to make the Finals,” Weissen bach said. “Then in the Finals, I’m going to just

OLYMPIANS: From left, Felix Sanchez, Peter Hudnut ’99, Joanna Hayes, Dara Torres ’85, Amy Weissenbach ’12 and Cami Chapus ’12.

go crazy and see what happens. It’s a total crapshoot because it comes down to whoever’s feeling good on that day. Everybody’s PR is separated by about 0.6 seconds, so if something weird happens, maybe I could end up in the top three, but I’ll probably just be hanging on for dear life. The chances that I get out of it are very slim considering that I’m going to be running with pro runners who are more experienced.”

The fastest time at the Trials is about three seconds ahead of Weissenbach’s, and the difference between a good day and a bad day could be about four seconds, she said.

“I’m going to give it my best shot,” Weissenbach said. “Because it’s fun, because it’s exciting, because it’s a great experience for the big races in the future.”

Although Weissenbach could potentially compete in both Olympic Trials and Worlds, she said is unlikely to compete in the latter. With only six days separating the Worlds Trials and the Olympic Trials, she does not want to compromise her Olympic Trials performance.

Chapus plans on peaking for Worlds because it’s a more realistic goal, as about 100 girls are vying for 30 spots in the Trials.

“I’d like to represent my country, but a bigger part of it is getting that experience of travelling and competing in a different country,” she said.

Both will be in London this August – as spectators if not competitors.

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 17

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF DARLENE BIBLE

ON THE WAY: Amy Weissenbach ’12 will head to Olympic Trials in June. Peter Hudnut passes a ball during the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Hudnut has a place secured for him in the 2012 London Olympics.

ABBIE NEUFELD/CHRONICLE

Photos on previous page Felix Sanchez: Printed with permission of Carlotti Peralta, Peter Hudnut: Printed with permission of Darlene Bible, Joanna Hayes: Stu Forster/ Getty Images, Dara Torres: Printed with permission of Darlene Bible, Cami Chapus and Amy Weissenbach: Daniel Kim/Chronicle

Felix Sanchez

Felix Sanchez stood atop the threetiered rostrum at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

His native Dominican Republic’s firstever Olympic gold medal was delicately draped around his neck as “Quisqueyanos valientes” played behind him.

Track coach Sanchez is a two-time International Association of Athletics Federation World Champion. Now in his 12th year coaching at HarvardWestlake, he hopes to represent his country again and is currently training to compete in his fourth Olympics this summer.

Sanchez broke the indoor world record in the 400-meter hurdles on Feb. 18 at an international meet in Val De Reuil, France. Sanchez, nicknamed “Super Felix,” clocked in at 48.78 seconds to break his own indoor world record of 49.25, which he had set just two weeks before.

“I wouldn’t be training as hard I am if I didn’t want to win,” Sanchez said.

He usually spends two hours on the track in the morning and heads to the gym after coaching the track team in the afternoon.

Sanchez first came to the track program right out of USC, where he was a PAC-10 Champion and received All-American honors. He won his first IAAF World Championship the same year he joined the coaching staff.

Track and Field Program Head Jonas Koolsbergen asked him that year if he was coming back now that he had his international medal under his belt.

Sanchez does plan on continuing his

18 | BIG RED Spring 2012

tenure at Harvard-Westlake, but eagerly anticipates the thrill of competition.

“It’s just you against six or seven other guys,” Sanchez said. “There’s nothing like entering a stadium, the crowds buzzing. The gun goes off and when you cross the line first and you win, there’s no better feeling.”

Joanna Hayes

Joanna Hayes seemed unstoppable, earning the title of a gold medalist after hurdling 100-meters in a record time of 12.37 seconds at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. “[Winning] the Olympics changed my life,” Hayes said. “I already had a contract with Nike, but it got bigger once I won.”

Following her record setting race at the Olympics, she sustained a series of injuries. In 2005, Hayes suffered from Achilles problems and later pulled both her hamstring and hip flexor. At the World Championships, she stumbled and was unable to finish the race. Later in 2006, Hayes pulled her hamstring in the semifinal race of the USA nationals. Hayes’ injuries did not subside, and in 2007 she sprained her ankle, which later she found out to be a bone contusion and torn ligaments. During finals of the 2008 Olympic Trial, Hayes ran into hurdles 4 and 5, finishing in last place. That same year, Hayes discovered that the source of her pain was a torn patella tendon, which she later underwent surgery for.

“After the best season and overall year of my life at the time – winning

the Olympic Gold medal, setting the Olympic Record, ranked first in the world and winning U.S.A. Track and Field Classic athlete of the year – I went on to have four of the toughest seasons of my life,” Hayes said in her blog.

During her three-year break from competing, Hayes focused her attention towards coaching and her daughter Zoe, who she always has with her on the track. This year is Hayes’ fourth season coaching at Harvard-Westlake.

After a three-year hiatus, Hayes began training for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which will be held in June. Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for two hours each day, she does hurdles and sprints.

Now that Hayes has begun training, one thing that she has changed is her diet. She tries not to eat a lot of sugar, but rather to eat more protein and to drink water. “[The transition to begin training] has been really crazy,” Hayes said.

“Before it was just me, and I just ran track and had a contract. Now I coach at Harvard-Westlake, private training sessions for athletes, personal training and then I also have my daughter. And I train.”

Despite the pressure and many obligations, Hayes plans to enjoy herself.

“I could not leave my career out there like that, painfully limping away from my last race with a last place finish,” Hayes said in her blog. “So here I am, baby in tow, about to compete for fun and enjoyment just like I did when I was a kid.”

Block to the top Standout offensive tackle Jonathan “Moose” Martin ’07 is the first Wolverine ever to be picked in the NFL Draft.

JOEL AUERBACH/GETTY IMAGES

By David Gobel For four months, Wolverine alum Jonathan “Moose” Martin ’07 prepared intensively for a moment that would define his career.

The standout offensive tackle, who played college football at Stanford, had gone through numerous workouts and interviews leading up to the NFL Draft in April, an event where college football athletes are selected by NFL franchises and discover where they’ll begin their pro careers.

When Martin was selected 42nd overall by the Miami Dolphins, he became the first Wolverine ever to be selected in the NFL Draft.

“You’ve put in all this hard work at the combine, pro day, personal workouts, team visits, and now it’s out of your hands,” Martin told NFL.com. “It’s a sense of relief in that there’s nothing you can do now. It’s up to whoever wants to take you at this point.”

After an impressive season protecting number one overall draft pick Andrew Luck at Stanford, Martin immediately began the draft process. Two months before the NFL combine, where

the top athletes work out in front of many NFL scouts, Martin started an intensive regimen to get in peak physical shape for the event. During his training he worked out with many other top prospects, like the fourth overall draft pick USC tackle Matt Kalil.

“To prepare for the combine I [worked] out six days a week,” Martin said. “I would wake up in the morning and have maybe a nine o’clock run, that would last for about an hour, then have about an hour lift. Then after the lift I [would] run position drills with the coach for about 45 minutes, then I have a couple of hours off until 2:30 p.m.

Then I have another lift and run for about 45 minutes each, and that’s six days a week for about eight weeks.”

In addition to working out, Martin also traveled to talk to different NFL coaches.

“Visiting the teams and visiting different cities [was the best part of the draft process],” Martin said. “I visited four different places and got to check out the facilities, met the whole coaching staff, the general manager, and everybody.”

Unfortunately for Martin, he came down with flu-like symp-

GRIDIRON: Jonathan “Moose” Martin ’07 talks to the media after the Miami Dolphins rookie minicamp on May 4.

toms right before the combine and was unable to participate in field and positional drills. He was officially measured at the combine but participated in these other drills at the Stanford pro day. At the pro day Martin ran a 40-yard dash of 5.33 seconds and did 20 bench press reps at 225 pounds.

“I think I did pretty good,” Martin said. “I was hoping that my numbers would have been a little at the higher end of the spread but it is what it is. I’m glad I put up some decent numbers.”

At the beginning of the draft process, Martin was projected by some draft forecasters to be a top 10 overall pick. However, his stock fell slowly due to concerns over his strength and because of this the Miami Dolphins were able to take him in the early second round.

Martin told the Miami SunSentinel recently that he will be able to bulk up more for the NFL season if he needs to. Next year it is expected that Martin will start at right tackle and protect newly drafted quarterback Ryan Tannehill. This is a change for Martin, as he spent his time at Stanford blocking QB Luck on the left side of the line.

Pro Day Measurements 6-5 1/8 Height 312 lbs.

Weight 34 in.

Arm length 9 7/8 in.

Hand size 8-8 Broad jump Rank against OL: 8 30 in.

Vertical leap Rank: 8 20 reps at 225 lbs.

Bench press Rank:24 5.33 (with wind) 5.43 (against wind) 40-Meter dash Rank: 19

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 19

Q&A: Terry Barnum Terry Barnum will take over as Head of Athletics this fall as current head Audrius Barzudkas, assumes the title of Head of Upper School. Barnum has been an Athletic Director at Harvard-Westlake for eight years.

By Camille Shooshani

Q A

Q A Q A

Q A 20 | BIG RED Spring 2012

What are the differences between Head of Athletics and Athletic Director?

The way that the job has evolved, a lot it having to do with the way [Barzdukas] has performed the job, the athletic directors are responsible for the day to day running of the department. So myself, Darlene Bible, Terry Elledge make sure that the department functions. The Head of Athletics is responsible for how the overall department is appropriately positioned within the community at large. The Head of Athletics isn’t as involved in the day-to-day of the school. It is more involved in the overall positioning of the athletic department within the school. So, for me, I will have a much more broad, macro view of the athletic department.

How do you expect the transition to go between you and Barzdukas?

I think the transition is going to be fairly smooth. He and I speak about half a dozen times a day, so we’re talking all the time.

Because he has been a great mentor to me, he has been able to bring me in on conversations and get me up to speed on things that are going on.

Are there any changes you want to make in the Athletic Department?

We haven’t made those kinds of decisions yet. Any kind of change that we do will be done collectively. Elledge and Bible have been outstanding people to work with over the years and I look forward to the opportunity to continue to work with them. I will rely on them for guidance in this whole process so we are going to all going to help lead this thing together. I intend on taking my time and evaluating the overall program and if there’s areas that we need to improve then we are going to do that. If there are things that are going well, then we’re going to continue to do those things. Our challenge is to build on the standard of excellence that Barzdukas set for our department and do our best to leave the department better than how we found it.

What do you think will be Barzdukas’ legacy?

It is not acceptable at Harvard-Westlake for us just to be good at a few sports. We expect to be good at every sport that we endeavor to take on. We are all one school and our programs are all vertically integrated. There is a connection between a seventh grader in a program and a senior in the program. That’s something that Barzdukas has started and that we are going to continue.

Inside: Tennis

VOLLEY: Harrison Kalt ’13, left, and Michael Genender ’15, right, practice hitting at a match against Simi Valley.

Doubling up

Harrison Kalt ‘13 and Michael Genender ‘15 had played separately most of the season. But at League Finals, the two joined forces to win the Mission League doubles title.

By David Lim

“If [Kalt] got a ball at net, we would win a point at the net,“ Bu said. “Genender can back that up with a good serve Next year, they’ll be the top singles players on the boys’ and make [Kalt]’s job much easier.” tennis squad. This year, three-year varsity player Harrison Head Tennis Coach Chris Simpson still is evaluating Kalt ’13 and freshman Michael Genender ’15 won League how the pair works together as they move through CIF and Finals as doubles partners. individual doubles tournaments despite their recent success.

Seeded first as they entered the Genender and Kalt only played two elimination rounds, Genender and Kalt matches earlier in the season and breezed through a quarterfinal against have not practiced enough together, St. Francis. In the next round, they Simpson said.

We get together maybe faced more experienced opponents from “Doubles is a game you’ve got Chaminade that had practiced together to consistently train for together,” once a twice a month, and were much more of a challenge, Simpson said. “When you’re put in to and we practice together.

Genender said. doubles you have to put in a certain “We started off the first set playing strategy. We pride ourselves on having He helps me a lot and I really awfully and we were both kind of aggressive doubles teams so if we give can teach him in terms of down,” Kalt said. the opponents time and space, they’re “Our heads weren’t really there in going to hurt you.” his maturity.” the first set,” Genender agreed on the Genender and Kalt have begun 6-1 loss. “We got nervous and we started —Harrison Kalt ’13 working with each other more in playing a little tight.”

Doubles Player practices as well as out of school as But Genender and Kalt held, on they prepare for the last tournaments winning the second set 6-2 and the of the year. tiebreaker set.

In addition to enjoying the new “We pumped ourselves up and hung on until the third team experience for a mostly individual sport, Genender set,” Kalt said. said he benefited from Kalt’s experience on the court.

In the finals, they beat teammates Jamie West ’12 and “He’s more relaxed on the court,” Genender said.

Adam Williams ’12 in two sets 6-2, 6-2.

“Sometimes I get a little nervous and he makes me calm “We play with them a lot in practice so we know their down a little bit. I’ve really learned off his calmness and we tendencies and what they’re going to do and that obviously play better together.” helped,” Kalt said.

With the loss of key singles players Jackson Frons ’12 and Kalt, a right-handed player, handles the forehand shots Bu, Simpson said Genender and Kalt would probably play while Genender, a lefty, takes care of the other half of the together at individual doubles tournaments. court with his backhand.

“We get together maybe once a twice a month and we Beyond their natural advantage as a pair, Genender’s hit and we practice together,” Kalt said. “He’s such a good consistent serves back up Kalt’s skilled net game, teammate player. He helps me a lot and I can teach him in terms of Jeffrey Bu ’12 said. his maturity.”

“

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 21

Inside: Boys’ Golf

Swing Sequence

By Michael Aronson

1 ADDRESS: Benell keeps the ball towards his left side to allow for an effective weight shift from right to left at impact.

His club head speed is around 100 mph with the driver.

22 | BIG RED Spring 2012

Boys’ varsity golf team captain and Texas A&M commit Charlie Benell ’12 is one of the team’s leading scorers. Benell showcased his golf swing at Mountain Gate Country Club.

2 ROTATION: He makes a significant shoulder turn to generate club head speed on his down swing, which allows for more distance.

Benell averages 290 yards with his Taylormade R11 driver.

Inside: Boys’ Golf

3

4 PHOTOS BY MICHAEL ARONSON

DOWNSWING: Benell’s head stays in the same position throughout his swing which prevents errant tee shots. He keeps his left arm stiff which generates power and accuracy.

FINISH: Benell finishes his swing with his upper body facing his target and the club perpendicular to his spine angle. He keeps his arms close to his chest which also gives him accuracy.

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 23

Inside: Lacrosse

IN WITH THE NEW:

New head lacrosse coach Jay Pfeifer speaks to his team at halftime during a game against Loyola.

DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

Coach’s wisdom

By Patrick Ryan

First-year Head Coach Jay Pfeifer’s championship experience and relaxed attitude helped lead the lacrosse team to another Mission League title.

time in Syracuse history for saves, and he has appeared in three NCAA Final Fours. He briefly played professionally Jack Temko ’14 scooped up a groundball and sprinted in the Major League Lacrosse league before a hand injury down the field on a fastbreak. He dodged a defender and ended his playing career. took a shot. The ball missed wide of the goal and Head VarIn his first year at the helm as head coach, Pfeifer led sity Lacrosse Coach Jay Pfeifer pulled him aside to coach the young and inexperienced team to its second straight him.

Mission League championship. O’Shea said that Pfeifer’s Pfeifer told midfielder Temko he should have passed to relaxed attitude as well as his knowledge of the game from his teammate, drawing away the defendhis playing career helped to bring the er, and he would have most likely gotten team together. an easier shot.

“When you consider where he He went to a good prep Pfeifer is always giving his players played high school lacrosse and where school and played top level tips on shooting and teaching them so he played college lacrosse, it is simithey can improve, Temko said. lacrosse, so we are trying to lar to the position we are in,” O’Shea “He is very involved with the team, said. “He went to a good prep school be like him. He is kind of like and played top level lacrosse. We are and he is a very positive coach,” Temko said. “Jay is more laid-back and relaxed trying to be like him, and he is kind a role model for us.” while he still coaches very well and has of like a role model for us. I definitely —Ross O’Shea ’14 would say that Jay’s coaching style is a very good coaching scheme.”

Pfeifer began coaching the WolverAttackman actually better for us as a team beines this year after Matt Lewis led the cause Jay brings everybody together.” team to an undefeated season and the All season, Pfeifer preached paprogram’s first ever league championship last year before tience and ball control on offense rather than taking overly losing to Agoura in the first round of playoffs. Lewis re- aggressive and low percentage shots early into possessions. signed at the end of the season, and nine of twenty-four Players expressed hope that Pfeifer will return to the members of the team graduated, six of whom were starters. team as expected next year. He is the third head coach in “Jay compared to Matt Lewis, he’s a completely different as many years for the lacrosse team. Lewis, last year’s head coach,” attackman Ross O’Shea ’14 said. “Their styles are coach, led the Wolverines for only the 2011 season. Lewis different, but they both have the same kind of passion for replaced Mark Haddad at the end of the 2010 season. the game.”

“In the past couple of years it seems like we have had Pfeifer is an accomplished lacrosse player in his own a lot of coaches coming in and out, and I think it would right, winning two national championships while playing be nice if Jay would stay for a while,” defenseman Andrew goaltender at Syracuse University. Pfeifer is second all- Park ’15 said.

“

24 | BIG RED Spring 2012

Inside: Swimming

Two of a kind

By both training and competing together, twins John and Henry Copses ’14 have pushed each other to shave time off their personal bests in individual events.

MEGAN WARD/CHRONICLE

RELAY-TED: Identical twins Henry Copses ’14 and John Copses ’14 swim together and both made CIF- qualifying times this year though they swim different races.

By Grant Nussbaum After three hours and uncountable laps, the swimmers’ feet finally tap the concrete edge of the pool one last time. Their coach blows the whistle, and practice is over. After toweling off and changing, the twin meets his counterpart and they head to the car. They have to hurry home to get some sleep, since they have to be back at 5 a.m.

This is just an average day of swimming practice for John and Henry Copses, a routine they have become accustomed to over seven years.

After playing ice hockey for a year, at 9 the twins began swimming competitively under the guidance of their mother and a local swim coach, for Los Angeles Swim Club.

“The coach who taught us said ‘you guys could actually be pretty good,’” John said. “Then we joined LASC, and I loved to race and compete against other people. It’s something I love doing and can’t get enough of.”

They swam with LASC throughout elementary school before arriving at Harvard-Westlake.

Now varsity swimmers for the Wolverines, the twins have attended the Junior Olympics for three straight years.

“This year is going to be a great year for both of them,” head of swimming

and former coach Darlene Bible said.

“They both made CIF qualifying times early in the season, and they continue to drop time in their events.”

Henry swims the 500-meter freestyle, 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle relay, and 200-meter medley relay, while John swims the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter individual medley. John and Henry are on the same relay squad for their club team.

The Copses’ weekly routine consists of 5 a.m. club team practice twice a week, weight lifting twice a week, club practice every day for three hours and school team practice once a week, with approval of Head Coach Cheyne Bloch.

Practice for Henry is mainly made up of swimming laps to maintain endurance as a long distance swimmer, while John works on sprints and his breaststroke.

“Both are very hard-working young men,” Bible said, “They work hard both in the pool and in the weight room. It has definitely paid off.”

While there are inconveniences such as weekday travel meets, they both generally enjoy the time they spend participating in the aquatic sport.

Throughout their seven year swimming careers, the brothers have supported each other through competition.

“John was the first one on our en-

tire club to go to the Junior Olympics, so it was like ‘Now I have to make it,’” Henry said.

The competition between the two drives both to push their limits in order to improve.

“He used to be faster than me in the 200 IM and I didn’t like that, so I wanted to beat him. I worked my butt off to see how fast I could go, and now I’m faster than he is,” John said. “But without him being faster, without that competitiveness between us – and it’s friendly competitiveness – I probably wouldn’t have been able to get there.”

Despite this competitive drive, the Copses brothers support each other and enjoy the competition.

“We compete with each other all the time. We don’t swim the same events that much anymore, but when we do race it’s always fun,” Henry said. Along with supporting their sons, parents Peter and Judy Copses have made their mark on the twins’ careers at HarvardWestlake, donating about half the funds for the new pool under construction on the upper school campus.

Both twins look to continue their swimming careers through college.

John thinks a 12-year career will be long enough. Henry, on the other hand, aspires to swim in the Olympics for Canada, where he is a citizen and where his parents are from.

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 25

Inside: Boys’ Volleyball

Tall task One of the shorter members of the boys’ volleyball team, Jake Schapiro ’12 started most of the season as middle blocker, often played by the tallest player on the team.

By Luke Holthouse

HANDS UP: Jake Schapiro ’12 hits, above, and blocks, below, against Loyola on April 17.

PHOTOS BY DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

26 | BIG RED Spring 2012

On April 19, Jake Schapiro ’12 had a difficult assignment from boys’ volleyball Head Coach Adam Black. With topranked Loyola coming to visit the Wolverines, Schapiro had the responsibility of blocking against opposing middle blockers and outside hitters that were drastically taller than him. Scahpiro said that the average middle blocker for Loyola stands at 6-foot-9.

He stands at 5-11.

Granted, Schapiro isn’t used to playing against guys like Angelo, who committed to play Div. I volleyball at defending National Champion Ohio State. But Schapiro finds himself matching up against middle blockers about half a foot taller than him just about every game, he said.

“It’s killer, the girls’ middles are taller than I am,” he said. “Usually a short middle is like 6-3 or 6-4, and Loyola’s middles are like 6-9. And then you add their wingspan, and it’s rough.”

Schapiro has played the sport since he was in seventh grade. Despite never being the tallest player on any of his school or club teams, he has always played the middle blocker position, usually reserved for the tallest player on the team.

The middle’s primary responsibility is to act as a wall against opposing hitters from the midle and left and right sides.

What he lacks in height, Schapiro nearly makes up in hops. He boasts a 34-inch vertical, giving him nearly three additional feet in height while jumping to block over the 8-foot net. To put it into perspective, the average vertical for an NBA player

is only 28 inches according to ESPN’s program “Sport Science.” “[My height] still makes it hard to play the position,” he said. “But if you can jump, it works out.”

Schapiro said that he is better cut to play his position than a back row position such as the libero or defensive specialist because his experience at middle blocker has helped him develop the skills necessary to play it.

While he said he struggles at passing, a necessary skill to play libero or outside hitter, he said that he has developed good hitting skills from the middle position as well as blocking abilities because of his vertical. He also said that he is better fit for the middle blocker position than the outside hitter position because of his stamina and quick reactions.

“You have to just go all the time,” he said. “Middle is a position where you don’t really think. You just get off the net, get on the net and jump and you get really tired.

I’m pretty bad on the outside because they have to time their sets, but they sort of get a break when the ball’s in the air. We don’t.”

Schapiro briefly lost his spot as the starting middle blocker after he missed the Karch Kiraly Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions to attend the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

However, he recovered the starting spot during for the final four games of league play.

While the Wolverines were ousted in the first round of playoffs by Huntington Beach, Schapiro’s performance at the end of the season helped gurrantte the Wolverines a spot in playoffs.

Inside: Track and Field SUPERFLY: Ben Gaylord ’13 soars through the air after clearing the bar at the Mission League Finals.

ABBIE NEUFELD/CHRONICLE

High Vaultage Ben Gaylord ’13 is the current Mission League champion vaulter. His highest recorded jump is 15-feet-one-inch.

By Michael Sugerman Ben Gaylord ’13 clears his mind and envisions himself flying over the bar ahead of him.

After a deep breath, he sprints down the track, plunging his 15-foot pole into the box at the end of the the runway. He launches into the air, catapulting over the bar just over 15 feet above him and falls with a soft thud on the other side.

After clinching Mission League titles two years in a row, Gaylord ranks fifth among junior pole vaulters in California and 34th among juniors in the nation.

Gaylord has been pole vaulting for six years, but said that he became serious about the sport as a freshman. That season, he cleared 11 feet.

Between the end of his freshman year and the end of his sophomore season, Gaylord conquered an additional three feet and three inches. While competing at the Arcadia Invitational in April, Gaylord improved another eight inches to vault 15 1/4, clinching second place in his competition.

One of the most prestigious in the country, the Arcadia meet “has produced 24 national records, while 125 meet alumni have gone on to represent the United States in Olympic Games competition,” according to the invitational website.

Gaylord attributes his improvement to his developing strength and technique. He explained that vaulters boost their height with a solid workout regimen: the faster and stronger the athlete gets, the longer and thicker the pole he can use, and the higher he can vault.

Once a week, he exercises with UCLA pole vault coach Anthony Curran. He vaults at school twice-a-week, does sprint workouts with the track team and has upper body training at the beach on weekends.

“As a pole vaulter, you don’t want to build up heavy muscle,” Gaylord said. “The objective, at

least for me, is to be as strong as you can while being as light as you can. Gymnastic workouts are actually perfect for this because they build lean muscle. We do a lot of body weight stuff, handstands, pushups, rope climbing and more.”

Gaylord’s father, who was an elite gymnast in high school and college, co-wrote a book about developing upper body strength with his younger brother, an Olympic Gold medal gymnast. “[My dad] goes to every upper body workout that I do,” he said. “I’ve been getting progressively stronger since I was 12, and it’s all due to him.”

It is important to put as much energy as possible into the pole at takeoff, Gaylord said.

The more energy the vaulter puts into the pole during the plant, the more energy he will harness to catapult himself upward. The ideal position to take advantage of this energy is essentially an inverted handstand. It is crucial to contract the abdominal muscles and clutch the pole close throughout the entire process, he said. “[Success] is all about practice, training and doing what you’ve done before,” he said. “When you practice as a pole vaulter, you’re trying to commit technique into muscle memory so you can replicate it in competition.”

Most recently, Gaylord qualified to compete in the CIF Prelims after winning the Mission League title at 15 feet. From here, Gaylord hopes to compete in CIF Masters and eventually in the State Finals. His current goal height is 16 feet.

“I had originally made 16 feet my goal by the end of high school,” he said. “I think it’s cool that it’s a realistic target for me as a junior.” “[Pole vaulting] is just you,” he said. “If you lose, it’s your fault. If you win, it’s also your fault. You’re not relying on anyone, and no one is relying on you. I like that a lot.”

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 27

Inside: Softball

Head in the game Madeline Kaplan ’14 left school in the middle of sophomore year after sustaining a concussion. She returned this year to repeat her sophomore year.

By Rachel Schwartz

T BACK ON THE FIELD: Maddy Kaplan ’14 throws the ball to a teammate in practice.

PHOTOS BY DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

28 | BIG RED Spring 2012

he crack of light coming from under the door seemed to drill deep into her head that Thursday October morning as Madeline Kaplan ’14 awoke with the worst migraine she had ever experienced. It didn’t go away for three months.

“I couldn’t stand it. The only time I found relief was when I was sleeping,” Kaplan said.

The day before in softball practice at school, Kaplan dove into the dirt when catching a pop fly.

“I got back up and kept playing,” she said.

She felt fine and didn’t think anything of it. She had no trouble finishing the rest of practice.

“She’s got a high pain tolerance,” Jean Kaplan, her mother, said. “But when she woke up the next day, something was not right.”

The next Monday, she left school early after experiencing blurred vision and diz-

ziness and went to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a concussion.

The Center for Disease Control defines a concussion as a traumatic brain injury that can alter normal brain function, caused by a blow or jolt to the head. Symptoms usually disappear within two weeks, but for Kaplan this was not the case.

When her symptoms did not go away, Kaplan was diagnosed with post-concussive syndrome, a fairly uncommon condition the Mayo Clinic calls “a complex disorder in which a combination of post-concussion symptoms, such as headaches and dizziness, last for weeks and sometimes months after the injury that caused the concussion.”

“She couldn’t even read and it was hard for her to do really basic things like times tables. There’s no way she could have physically sat through classes,” said Kaplan’s mother.

“I just thought ‘Oh my gosh, I’m missing so much school. I didn’t think this would be

Inside Softball

a year-long injury,” said Kaplan.

As her parents realized the injury was not going away, they decided she would not be going back to school until the next year, when she would repeat 10th grade.

“Imagine being 15, stuck in a dark room with no friends, no school, no sports. It was just horrible,” said Kaplan’s mother.

The CDC says young people heal from concussions more slowly than adults, and athletes who ever had a concussion are more likely to sustain a second.

Post-concussive syndrome is not well-understood and is hard to research because most people who sustain head injuries don’t have a baseline of normal brain activity established through testing that can be compared to activity tested after injury. It is usually diagnosed after life-threatening brain disorders are eliminated as possible sources for symptoms, making it a diagnosis of exclusion.

There is no cure, so symptom management is the goal when trying to treat it. Kaplan saw dozens of doctors and tried multiple medications seeking relief from her symptoms. She saw a pediatric neuro-specialist, an acupuncturist and a neurosurgeon at UCLA, and tried steroid packs, but nothing seemed to work.

She made little progress until she saw Steven Graff-Radford M.D., Director of the Headache and Orofacial Pain program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, more than a month after her injury. He began lidocaine triggerpoint injections into Kaplan’s neck. The local anesthetic helped to relieve pain caused by impaction of muscles in her neck around the brain stem.

“She had more than one kind of headache,” Graff-Radford said. “A migraine and one that involved the muscles in the neck that caused myofascial pain. The injections to the neck eased the pain caused by the muscles, while other medication treated the hyperexcitably brought on by the injury.

“Light or noise or changes in the weather all trigger the brain to cause the headache. The medication can quiet the brain down,” Graff-Radford said.

Improvement with lidocaine and progress from physical therapy led to the conclusion that the main cause of Kaplan’s pain was muscular. She finally got a break from the constant split-

ting headache, but could not return to cause if you play with fear, you have school since she was still sleeping 16 more of a chance of getting hurt again,” hours a day. Her mother decided to use Kaplan said. the break from school as an opportuKaplan says that she would love to nity to travel somewhere educational. play in college and is getting back in They were choosing between Egypt, touch with coaches who recruit. MissAntarctica and South East Asia, but ing the game all year made her more since Kaplan had done a project on excited to play determined to petition India in fifth grade, they decided to go to be allowed an extra year to play on there, despite the many vaccines and the varsity team. malaria medications required.

“I love hitting, making contact and “It was an amazing experience and hitting the ball hard,” she said.

I wouldn’t have been able to go if it In addition to performing as an inwasn’t for the injury,” Kaplan said. “I tegral player this year, making a winthink some good has come out of it.” ning hit against Chaminade that was Being in a third world country featured in The Daily News, Kaplan changed her perspective on her injury, has taken on a new leadership role as she said. captain of the varsity team.

“I thought it was the end of the “It’s an honor to be captain with world, missing Chloe Pendergast a year of school. ’13 and Lauren Li This trip made ’12. But it isn’t just me feel so lucky us who have been I know this is surprising, but to have an underleading the team. standing school I really, really missed school, I think everyone and to have my has taken a role in learning and using my brain,” leading this year parents’ support,” Kaplan said. and we’ve all come said Kaplan.”

By April she together really had significantly —Maddy Kaplan ’14 well,” Kaplan said. improved thanks Though she to lidocaine and faced both her seaphysical therapy. Her cognitive test- son with her traveling team and with ing for brain agility had jumped from school by pushing her past injury out 13 percent just after the injury to 70 of her mind, Kaplan faced another setpercent. back. “[Healing] requires an enormous “I hurt my elbow early in the season,” amount of discipline. She’s enormous- she said. “I’m primarily a pitcher, but I ly resilient. She’s a fighter. She really came back into it too fast. I tweaked wanted to get better, so really pushed a ligament and a doctor told me that her rehabilitation to the best she if I continued pitching I would lose all could,” Graff-Radford said. skills. But I’ll definitely be able to pitch After spring break, Kaplan started next year. I’ve been working more on taking classes at the Middle School the outfield, becoming more versatile where she could be in a familiar envi- with my hitting skills.” ronment with her old teachers.

Looking back on her head injury, “I know this is surprising, but I re- Kaplan has decided to make a video ally, really missed school, learning and during the summer to raise awareness using my brain,” said Kaplan. about concussions, proper care and reShe had a chance to start getting action. to know the Class of 2014 and to stop Though she recognizes her experifeeling like a sick person instead of a ence as a freak accident, Kaplan said teenager. that exposing athletes to discussion of “It was really nice to be around kids these issues is important work that her my own age,” she said. “It was great to struggle could facilitate. be in a school environment with strucKaplan remained optimistic ture.” throughout the entire process.

In the summer, she resumed play“I had to be, or I don’t think I would ing softball, and last September, she have gotten better as quickly,” said Kareturned to the upper school as a 10th plan. “I didn’t have control over what grader. was happening, but I knew that I would “I wasn’t scared of going back be- get better.”

“

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 29

2011-12: the year in photos

1 DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

2 DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

1 Clinton Hooks ’13 scampers over El Camino Real play-

ers on Homecoming. The Wolverines won the closely fought game 39-31 after Cameron Komisar ’12 intercepted a pass in the last minute of the match.

2 Taylor Lee ’13 attempts a shot against Bonita in a first Round CIF playoff match, which the Wolverines won 138. After the first round victory the Wolverines lost 2-0 against Bonita.

3 Hannah Lichtenstein evades a Palisades defender en

route to an 8-0 dominating victory. The Wolverines only lost once the entire regular season, but suffered a devastating loss on penalty kicks in CIF quarterfinals against San Clemente.

3 DANIEL KIM/CHRONICLE

30 | BIG RED Spring 2012

4 Aaron De Toledo ’12 runs at the Mt. SAC College Invi-

tational. De Toledo finished 26th with a time of 26:30. Later at CIF state finals De Toledo finished in sixth place, one of the best boys’ individual results in program history.

5 Jake Feiler ’13 topples a Crespi attacker in a 8-7 over-

time win. The victory against Crespi clinched a Mission League title for the Wolverines. The Wolverines lost in the 1st round of CIF playoffs the following day to Mira Costa.

6: Brian Flacks and the girls’ water polo team celebrate

winning back-to-back CIF championships. The Wolverines dominated their opponent, Los Osos, 9-2. Goalie and cocaptain Kristen Lee ’12 made 13 saves.

4 DAVID GISSER/CHRONICLE

5 DAVID GOBEL/CHRONICLE

6 PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF BECKY MILLER

BIG RED Spring 2012 | 31