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sports Panther Prowler • Oct. 5, 2018
Nico Young sets national record Sarah Lu Photographer
Pulse racing, lungs burning, legs pumping and arms swinging, Nico Young, junior, sprints towards the finish line, desperate to win. The crowd’s cheering fades away as he focuses on breathing. In, out. In, out. Holding their breath, the crowd watches as Young wins the race, running the fastest time in school history. When he first started at age six, Young just wanted to run as fast as he could. Ten years later, Young is still running as fast as he can, now accomplishing achievements he never thought possible. On Sept. 15, 2018, Young raced against 231 high school runners from across the nation in the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic. In the race, the Panther Boys’ placed second overall in the Sweepstakes race (the fastest heat at the invitation) and set a new school record for fastest team in school history. Young ran 14:01.1 for three miles, not only winning the race, but also setting the fastest time across the nation. Young was pleased to see the results of his hard work. “I feel really good because that means colleges are going to notice me. It’s really nice to know that what I’m doing is working,” Young said. Sean Brosnan, head cross country coach, knew Young had a lot of potential when he joined freshman year, but he did not have a lot of experience. Now, Brosnan says Young is doing workouts “I don’t think most college guys could do. He’s running really fast at a really high level, so as a coach I really believe I’m almost having to hold him back right now.” From a Brosnan’s perspective, Young seems to have a confident and cool aura around him, even before races. “He’s confident he’s done the work, he put in the hard workouts, and I believe that he thinks he’s one of the best in the country and he can beat anybody at any given day,” Brosnan said. This mentality is what helped Young win
the Woodbridge race. “You have to go into it knowing that you can do it, and that it’s possible to do what you want to do in that race,” Young said. “At Woodbridge, (Brosnan) said that I could win it, so I just thought ‘I knew I could,’
so then I did. If he never told me I could win I probably would not have won the race.” On average, Young runs more than eight miles per day and puts a lot of time into training. “I think people don’t really realize
Zoom- Nico Young, junior, practices at Peppertree Playfield near NPHS. Peppertree is a common place to see the team putting in work. “We put in a lot of time for training. For example, this morning I had morning practice, and I still went to it even though last night I had a fever,” Young said. Two weeks after running the fastest time for the three mile race in the nation, Young is already back to practicing. Rahul D’Souza/Prowler
Boys’ Water Polo preps for CIF Boys’ Water Polo made the playoffs last year after a long drought. This year, the team has their sights set on another playoff run and even a splash at the championship. Being almost two-thirds of the way through the season, the team is in full swing, currently holding a 14-3 record, but are still at the beginning of their League games. “There’s definitely areas we can improve but our team this year is for sure the best team we’ve had in my 4 years,” Jarrod Norton, senior, said. “Team strengths are definitely our individual talent and our effectiveness on the offensive end. We have a lot of dudes who play club at a high level in our program which is really cool.” Dave Gleisberg, head coach, further believes that team is very
strong, especially with regard to their game sense and understanding. “They all have a very high knowledge of the game in game situations. They’re all students of the game that understand what it takes to get to a higher level. They understand their own strengths and weakness and how to help their teammates. They understand the positions and where they excel at,” Gleisberg said. Despite their strengths, the team is still focused on improvement, trying to get even further in the playoffs after last year’s accomplishments. Gleisberg has been working with the team, helping them improve their skills and patch their weaknesses. “We are working on a little bit of everything. Team defense,
awareness on offense, working on our counterattack into offense, and also speed and strength,” Gleisberg said. “Our weaknesses include playing our best for four quarters. We’re going to make mistakes and we have to minimize that.” These improvements are all aimed towards a strong CIF performance. With this competition in mind, Alexander Sanderson, junior, has high hopes for a long run. “I expect us to make a strong showing in CIF this year, since we have a deep roster with plenty of talent and skill throughout. We most likely will have a rigorous CIF bracket this year but I think that we can make it far and really show how strong of a program Newbury Park is,” Sanderson said.
that we practice seven days a week, and practice goes until five each day, and we have morning practice twice a week,” Young said. While practices can be a struggle, Nicholas Goldstein, sophomore and teammate, can see that Young is determined and hard working. “Nico is always ready when he’s given a workout. He thinks, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be a little rough,’ but he always puts in his best effort,” Goldstein said. While racing, Young’s focus never wavers from the race at hand. The thoughts that run through Young’s head are simple. “It’s either, I do it or I don’t,” Young said. “I don’t really have the energy to think about anything.” Ever since Young won the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, the team sees Young as an inspiration. “(The team has) started realizing he is one of the best in the country, but I also think he’s brought our other teammates up,” Brosnan said. “They start believing that they can get better, and they can get faster, so it’s just kind of a snowball effect.” Young is a key teammate that could allow the team’s goal of making it to nationals become reality. “My specific goal is to win the Division 2 state meet for cross country, so our team can make it to nationals,” Young said. Young also strives to run fast enough to be noticed by colleges around the country, and believes that many coaches look for not just an athlete but also a leader. “He’s a great student, he’s a great athlete, he never complains and he’s just always willing to put the work in,” Brosnan said. “I think that’s contagious. And I think the good thing is having him as being one of our lead runners, it trickles down to the JV guys and all those guys and they see what the effects of the hard work.” Young is proud of his accomplishment. “It just makes me feel really good, because that was my goal. I never knew I would be that good, but it’s really nice to know.”
Rahul D’Souza Front Cover Editor
Goal- Grant Coates, junior, fires the ball at the net. It narrowly misses a defending players grasps, knicks the fingers of the goalie, and swishes into the back of the net. “The goal is always a CIF ring. Last year we broke our playoff drought but ended up losing in the semis, so hopefully we can work as a team and go farther this year,” Jarrod Norton, senior and teammate, said. The team hopes to improve from last year and excel for the rest of the season. Rahul D’Souza/Prowler
