11 minute read
Track
14 Panther Prowler • Feb. 14, 2022 sports
NPHS Track continues to make history
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Nandini Patro News Editor
On Saturday, Jan. 22, the NPHS track team opened their season with a victory. The team traveled to Phoenix, Arizona for the “Sundown Series”, a new meet that Newbury Park’s very own coach Sean Brosnan put together. The second Sundown Series is around the corner, approaching Feb. 19.
Lex Young, junior, got second place with a 4:08 mile, making for an exciting start to the season. “Usually in January you’re not as fast as you are later in the season because you’re still building and you’re still sharpening your speed, so, in January those times are really fast and a good indicator of how this season is going to be,” Young said.
Colin Sahlman, senior, continued to keep his throne as the fastest high schooler in the nation finishing his mile in Arizona at 4:05. “I think it was a good start to the season, you know just getting the speed back in my legs,” Colin Sahlman said. Colin Sahlman believes his drive to be the best and push himself is what ultimately leads him to winning first place.
The team walked away with several victories at their most recent track meets. This builds confidence within the team and opens new goals for them to achieve. Hector Martinez, junior, thinks this season is going to be special. “We’re going to surprise a lot of people this year,” Martinez said.
Martinez turned out to be right, two weeks later, Feb. 5, in the indoor track stadium in New York, The Armory, the team pushed themselves even more. Lex Young and Aaron Sahlman, a junior on the team, competed in a professional level race at The Armory. Aaron Sahlman and Young ran the 3000m with final times of 8:01 and 7:57 respectively. Young’s time is the second fastest time ever right behind his older brother Nico Young, with a time of 7:56. “It was a great day for Newbury Park,” Young said. “I was ecstatic… that’s such a great time and it’s like you can’t complain with 7:57 as a junior.”
Not only did these two juniors shock the audience, Colin Sahlman pushed himself even harder after his last race in Arizona and went on to break 4:00 in the mile in New York, making him the 13th high schooler to do so. “It being my last high school track season, I just want to go out there and set all the best times that I possibly can,” Colin Sahlman said. “I found myself in a position later in the race where I could potentially win, and I just stuck with it and gave it my all.”
The team’s support and excitement continues to allow them to break records. “We’ve got a lot of goals for this season, it’s definitely going to be memorable,” Young said. Needless to say, this team continues to hold the title as the fastest high school cross country and track team in history.
History is made- Colin Sahlman leaves New York victorious as the 13th high schooler to ever run a mile under 4:00. “It was a really crazy feeling,” Colin Sahlman said. “I felt like I wasn’t tired; I was super excited and all that energy was just rushing through me. It was just so much excitement all at once.” Lex Young/With permission
Girls’ soccer kicks their way to victory
Allison Nguyen Features Editor
Score!- Gathering together before their game, the girls on the [team] huddle together to prepare for their next play. For many, like Delaney Anthony, junior, playing on the school team has been a long time dream. “I think that my goal was to be just like the older players. So I think that my inspiration was just being able to live out that dream that I had when I was a little girl and soccer is a really fun sport,” Anthony said. Cassandra Chavarria/Prowler
With the mid-winter season reeling in, many sport teams have been working hard to wrap up their seasons. The NPHS girls’ soccer teams, in particular, have been training all season in hopes for a fun and successful season.
Lauren Cary, freshman, is spending her first year on the girls JV team playing as a left wing. For the past 11 years, she’s been playing on club teams, however this year, she’s especially excited to be able to play with a different group of people. “I’ve always kind of wanted to join the high school team because I’ve loved soccer for a very long time,” Cary said.
Playing for her third year in a row, Delaney Anthony, junior, is a goalkeeper and midfielder for the JV team. Since the season started, all of the teams have been working hard in both training and playing. “We have games Tuesdays and Fridays and practices the other days. On Wednesdays, we have strength and conditioning and training with Coach Brittany and the other days,” Anthony said. The JV team ended their successful season with five wins.
Aside from a few safety measures, the girls are excited to have an almost normal season again. “We’re definitely taking COVID precautions during practices. We do less contact during practices and in games and we wear masks in the buses. Practices have been mostly normal except for that,” Anthony said.
Although tryouts were very competitive going into this season, there were still a good amount of underclassmen that got accepted into the higher teams. Siena Meyer, freshman, plays center back and was one of many lucky players who got accepted onto the varsity team for her first year. “I’m really grateful for being it [making the team]. I wasn’t really expecting it and I guess a lot of freshmen made it, which is really good,” Meyer said. “The seniors and the juniors have been amazing with being super inclusive with us and everything. They’re super sweet and it’s a really cool experience to play with older players.”
Despite how challenging it can feel sometimes, being on the varsity team is still a great new experience for Meyer. “I think I’m handling it [the season] pretty well. It’s definitely hard sometimes in the strength factor, but skill wise and socially, [the upperclassmen] make it really easy during practice to make us feel like we’re keeping up,” Meyer said. The varsity team will be going to CIFs as this current season comes to an end.
For many of the girls, playing the sport and having the team experience is sometimes one of the most rewarding parts about playing alongside your teammates. “I really like being part of a team. I know it’s a very cliché answer, but it’s honestly true. I like feeling a sense of leadership too, because if you are outspoken, then you can channel that energy into soccer,” Cary said.
sports 15
Panther Prowler • Feb. 14, 2022
Dance team leaps into competition season
Sarena Kabir Sports Editor Rithu Velu Staff Writer
For the first time this school year, the NPHS dance team took part in their first two competitions on Jan. 22 and Jan. 29. Both under the West Coast Elite organization, the dance team went to San Diego on Jan. 22 to compete at Torrey Pines High School, and also hosted their own regionals at NPHS on Jan. 29.
For Rowan Patterson, freshman, the San Diego competition was her first as a dance team member. “San Diego is by far the hardest regional competition of the year. The teams that were there were very tough to compete against. Our team ended up doing pretty decent,” Patterson said. “One of the solos ended up getting sixth overall out of all the solos, of which there was 130. Our hip hop dance placed second, [and] our pom routine placed fourth.”
After coaching the dance team for 15 years, Carolan Cameo was finally able to host NPHS’s first dance competition. “Westlake High School has hosted competitions because they have a larger gym. But last year and this year they have not hosted a competition which allowed us the ability to host at Newbury,” Cameo said. “ We were going to do it last year but with COVID everything had to change so it was such a great experience to finally have it on our own campus.”
Within the people who dance in the area, there are three networks that they compete in: United Spirit Association (USA), the California Dance Team Association (CADTA), and the West Coast Elite (WCE), which was hosted at NPHS. “[WCE’s] judges are professional dancers in the industry, and a lot of the harder schools go to that competition. I think one of the draws is if you win grand champs, which is kind of your top four teams scores,” Cameo said.
Hannah Lynn, senior, believes hosting the competition at NPHS made a difference for the team.“Being at home definitely made the team feel more united and excited for the competition, [and] was very exciting since NP has never hosted a competition before,” Lynn said.
Overall, across both competitions, NPHS took home several notable titles. “Our team took first in the large jazz category and the elite contemporary category. We got second in the pom, large hip hop and small jazz categories,” Lynn said.
There were some students who also took home individual awards, such as Mikaella Lopez, freshman. Lopez received first place in freshman solos, as well as receiving sixth place overall dancer of the year at San Diego. Lynn also received first place overall for senior solos, and was the second place overall dancer of the year at the competition hosted at NPHS.
“It [was] definitely nerve wracking at first. The anticipation when you’re about to go on stage
Taking the floor- The NPHS dance team placed first in the elite contemporary dance, taking the spotlight at a home competition. With the strong wins, they look forward to ending the season with nationals. “Well, our nationals aren’t until April. Normally, it’s in March but it’s during spring break. So the last week of spring break will be in Long Beach,” Cameo said. Hannah Lynn/With Permission is crazy, but once the music turns on, something just makes it all work and you completely forget about being nervous and it’s just a great time. Walking off stage after a good performance is the best feeling ever,” Patterson said.
Ariela Behar Staff Writer Cameron Winick Staff Writer
Almost there-The kids of the Orca Youth Rugby Team are pictured having a spirited match against their parents on a beautiful Saturday morning. Head coach, Steve Stone, supervises to make sure every family is having a good time. “If you struggle, we’re gonna try and train you, we’re gonna coach you and we’re gonna make it fun while you’re doing it. We want you, whether it’s a game or practice, to walk off the field and go, ‘that was fun,’ with a smile on [your] face,” Stone said. Ariela Behar/Prowler
Stepping out to the dewy grass on the morning of Jan 22., the local Orca Rugby Youth Team joined together on the field to celebrate their family day event. They are set out with a goal that is less focused on winning a big game, and more on forming stronger bonds and simply having fun. While some are familiar with rugby, not many know how to play it, most likely due to the lack of the sport in the U.S. Hence, seeing a local youth rugby team is not especially common, a defining trait that makes the Orcas stand out.
According to Laurie Hanna, a parent volunteer, the team has demonstrated a strong bond that is unique to the sport. Hanna is a survivor of breast cancer, and the team came together when she needed support. “This company, this group, came together, and not only that, but they raised funds and donated for me to do the Komen Walk[an educational and fundraising event for breast cancer] in the name of our founding Treasury, who died of breast cancer two years ago,” Hanna said.
Coach Steve Stone grew up with rugby and is now the head coach of the sport in the area years later. “If you’ve never seen it before, it’s chaotic, but there’s a lot of structure… It’s a team sport, so if someone’s weak in one area, someone’s stronger in the other area. They just play as a team, they train as a team, and that’s how we get them through. It’s just common sense to us,” Stone said.
Gabby Muler, seventh grade, is a newer teammate on the Orca team. She has only been playing for a few months but has expressed that rugby is a good way to keep her focused and give her motivation to stay active. “It’s a fun sport once you get, like, into the groove of it. It’s really easy, it’s fun, it’s a good way to just make it interactive,” Muler said.
Her brother, Mason Muler, junior, is also on the team and has a very similar view, “I mean, it’s fun. It’s a learning curve. And it’s not going to hurt if you don’t like it. Just something to do, something to try,” Mason Muler said.
Nearly all of the players, coaches and volunteers hope that everyone gets the chance to enjoy the sport. “It’s a different philosophy. But no one’s yelling at the kids that ‘you were dumb’ and that ‘you didn’t do something right.’ It’s praising that you did something right… You eat together, and it builds friendships, and it builds camaraderie…That isn’t football, that isn’t baseball. That isn’t soccer, but that’s rugby,” Hanna said.
