Below are recaps of how the boys’ tennis team, the track and field team and the swim team fared during their respective League Finals.
Two Foothill Technology athletes attended the Individual League Finals for boys’ tennis on Thursday, May 3: Yuvi Narang ‘20 and Ethan Wang ‘20.
Narang finished in first place for singles, winning his sets 6-0 and 6-1. He won “in a very convincing fashion,” according to assistant coach Ryan Rollins, and was finished very quickly “in about 45 minutes.”
Wang was playing for third place in singles and also won both of his sets, though both were close. In his first set, he was initially winning 4-1, but his opponent was able to come back and tie it up at six apiece. However, Wang pulled “a doctor 7-3” in the tiebreak game, according to Rollins, which won him the set with a score of 7-6. In his second set, Wang was down 4-2 at first, but “was able to hold his temper and mount a comeback” and “play very well,” eventually coming back and winning the set, 7-5.
Thursday, May 3, was a bittersweet day for many seniors on the boys’ and girls’ track and field team as the whole team competed in League Finals. The season came to an end for those that did not qualify to compete in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Prelims on Saturday, May 12.
The institution of the athletics program in 2014 was the start of Foothill’s track and field team. This means that athletes in the graduating class of 2018 were freshmen when they competed with the inaugural team. By default, they are the first class to compete in Foothill athletics all four years.
“They have set the tone for the expectations of our student athletes and many hold school records in their individual and relay events,” head coach Jason Dinkler said. “[I am] very proud of the way they have matured into a solid group of leaders on our campus. We will miss them.”
Although some of the senior’s athletics career came to an end, others, such as Nathaniel Russell, qualified for CIF Prelims. During Thursday’s meet, he broke the pole vaulting school record by jumping 14-16.00.
Other individuals and relay teams also broke school records. Thea Wulff ‘21 broke the girls’ pole vaulting record by jumping 10.00.00; the boys’ 4 x 100 relay team broke the school record with a time of 0:45.41.; and the girls’ 4 x 100 team broke the school record with a time of 0:52.60.
According to Dinkler, the team “performed very well” and he was proud of the team for accomplishing their goals of staying undefeated and earning the League Championship in all four divisions.
The Foothill Technology High School swim teams performed well in their league finals meets at Cate High School against Cate, Malibu, La Reina, Nordhoff and Villanova High Schools. The Foothill girls ended up placing first overall, while the boys team placed second on the meets occurring on Tuesday, May 1, and Thursday, May 3.
Giovanna Postma ‘21 said that the “varsity girls did amazing and a lot of them got [personal records].” She also said that their “rival,” Malibu, was their toughest competition at the meet because of their intense training and large team. Despite this, the Dragons “gave it their all” and were able to vanquish the Sharks.
“Everybody did very well […] and placed well which helped the varsity girls win,” Annika Arroyo ‘20 said. In addition to this, the boys second place finish was “a big improvement from what they did last year” because they have been working really hard and getting faster in relays, Arroyo continued.
Isaac Velasquez ‘21 thought that the boys’ team’s strengths came from “practicing harder after each meet was over.” Throughout the season, Velasquez’s favorite part was “going to meets with my friends.”
All members of the team continuously mentioned the “family-like” camaraderie, as said by Postma. Arroyo also said that the Dragons have been “growing closer as a team” which made her season enjoyable.
In league finals, some standout swimmers, in the minds of their teammates, were Tristan Arana ‘21, Arroyo, Ben Clinton ‘19, Andrea Corona ‘21, Alyssa Mendoza ‘19, Liam Murphy ‘19, Caitlin Potter ‘19, Sydney Roman ‘19, and Evan Wallace ‘20. .
The Dragons will finish their season in the California Interscholastic Federation meets on Wednesday, May 9, and Thursday, May 10.
