By Alex Miwa

Volleyball's in CIF!

By Andrew Gen

May 5, 2009, Eagles Boy's volleyball played against North Saxons. This league battle was played at home, but home court advantage did not have any affect on the Eagles. North overpowered the team in the first game 17-25. With an attempt to come back, the Eagles lost the second game 22-25. They thought they were going to win the third game after they where up through most of the game, but unfortunately the Saxons came back and the Eagles lost 19-25. The Eagles then traveled to play against Torrance. The Eagles struggled against the Tartars and lost all three games,  21-25, 20-25, 18-25.
    The volleyball team got into CIF after taking third place in the Pioneer League but received an at-large bid into the playoffs. They gained their first playoff victory when they defeated Santiago High School  25-12, 25-20 and 25-21. The team played fantastically against the Cavaliers. The Eagle's captain junior Hunter Hovland produced four aces and a total of 11 kills closely followed by PJ Tulikihihifo with 10 kills and junior Lydon Tran with two aces.
    Following their CIF playoff victory, the Eagles traveled to play Downy on May 15. (This paper was written before that came could be played.) or we can wait (the Eagles Won/Lost __ ___ ___ ___). Captain junior Lydon Tran said, "I didn't expect us to get this far, but we definitely deserve it. We easily beat Santiago and we're looking forward to going further into CIF." The team has done a great job this year and is going into CIF after only being a sport at El Segundo for three years. Go Eagles!

Boys Tennis Goes to CIF: First time in 6 years

By Andrew Gen

Eagles Tennis was tied for second place in league and tied for the ticket to the CIF playoffs. It came down to the deciding match against the South Spartans on April 30. The game resulted in a 9-9 tie with the help of a sweep from senior number one doubles team of Andrew Gen and Manny Rodriguez 6-4, 6-2, and 6-1. The two teams had to count games and the Eagles barely came out on top and defeated the Spartans 83-78. With their ticket into CIF, the team took it easy against the league champions, the Torrance Tartars, and lost 5-13. The undefeated doubles team of Rodriguez and senior Andy Stier dominated the Tartars 6-2, 6-2, and 6-3.
    On May 5, the tennis team entered five singles players into the individual league finals. Stier defeated Torrance player in the first round 8-0 and continued into the second round and defeated fellow ESHS singles player, freshman Andrew Stern (6-2) (6-1). Stier continued into the semifinals and played number one player from Torrance and lost 6-3, 4-6, 5-10. The following day the Eagles entered five doubles teams into the doubles individual league finals. Top El Segundo teams of Stier-Rodriguez, Gen and senior Kei Takamura, and team of freshman Taylor Stern and junior Mitchell Cattell looked forward to getting at least one team into individual CIF. Gen-Takamura first played number two doubles team from Torrace and won 8-4. They continued into the second round and lost to the number two team from North 3-6, 4-6. Cattell-Stern got to the semifinal round but lost to number one seed from North, leaving it up to the unstoppable Stier-Rodriguez team who had won 8-1 in the first round against Torrance, defeated South 6-2, 6-1 in the second round and beat number two from North 6-2, 6-1. The final game against the one seed and Stier-Rodriguez was a breeze. The Eagles doubles team won 6-2, 6-3 and are going to individuals CIF.
    The tennis team went to their first CIF playoff game in 6 years against Santiago High School. The mendacious Santiago team only allowed one win from doubles team Gen-Rodriguez and one win from singles player Stier which lead to an undeserving win to Santiago; the Eagles lost 7-11. Senior Manny Rodriguez comments on the season, "I'm really proud of the team this year, this is the first time that we have gotten to CIF in six years. The team did well and unfortunately we had to lose to the cheating Santiago, but we had a great season." The team ended with a 9-10 record. Good job Eagles!

Softball Hits it Home!

ByJeff Liu

Well into their spring season, the Lady Eagles Varsity Softball team has triumphed with the opening of April. The Lady Eagles have achieved epic victories at each game, with only a very slight setback at Bishop Montgomery of 4-5 on March 27. Despite the close loss, the team soared to victory in the following week after March 28 ­in the Savanna Tournament. In a dominating performance, they defeated South Pasadena, Rosary, and Centennial, without even allowing the opposing team to score, with scores of 7-0, 2-0, and 10-0, respectively. With the start of April, the Lady Eagles continued their winning streak in the Savanna Tournament, as well as joining the fray in the Whittier Christian Tournament. In the Savanna Tournament during April, the team was up against adversaries including Village Christian High and Sunny Hills High, but emerged victorious with scores of 5-3 and 7-4. These successes gave the title of Savanna Tournament Champions to the Lady Eagles.

The Whittier Christian Tournament pitted El Segundo against familiar foes. Their first game against Whittier Christian resulted in a win for the Lady Eagles 5-0. Up against Cerritos, the Varsity softball team triumphed again with 6-2, and narrowly defeated Torrance 2-1. The Lady Eagles concluded the Whittier Christian Tournament in two games against Costa Mesa and Walnut, each with incredible wins of 11-1 against Costa Mesa and 5-0 against Walnut; the latter game sealed their title as the champions of the Whittier Christian Tournament of 2009.

April 24 was a major game for the Lady Eagles. This event was against North Torrance, who previously defeated El Segundo last year during CIF Finals, and then proceeded to become CIF Champions. The Lady Eagles started out the game rocky, taking some time to warm up to North’s formidable pitcher. However, after a while, the team was able to successfully contend with the opposition. The breakpoint was when Senior Anissa Noland stepped up to the plate and batted in three runs for her team sealing a victory for El Segundo. The Varsity softball team defeated North in a dynamic feat with a final score of 4-0.

The month of May will bring even more challenges for the Varsity Softball team, but with their impressive performance, it can be assured that El Segundo will compete excellently. In the coming days, the Lady Eagles find themselves up against the adversaries including Culver City, North and South Torrance, Centennial and more. Good Luck, Lady Eagles, on the future competitions and CIF!

 

Baseball Hits it to CIF

By Jeff Liu

The month of May has brought very successful games for the Varsity Boys Baseball team. Continuing from April, the Eagles have been up against some familiar foes and faced difficult obstacles along the way. Senior Richard Seigel remarks, “There were struggles in the San Diego Tournament, but by the end of the season, we won some good games and we were back where we started”. The first game on May 1 against Lawndale ended with an overwhelming victory for the Eagles; the final score was 15-1. Junior Brice Savage and Senior Ben Doucette led the team , crossing the plate each twice and the entire team performed exceptionally with almost every member contributing to the effort. The next day, the team triumphed again at Newbury Park, ending the game at 7-2. Savage and Doucette were joined by Sophomore Nigel Nootbaar and Seigel in scoring 1 run and 2 hits each. The Eagles, however, met a small hindrance when they competed against North, in which they were narrowly defeated by 3 points, resulting in a final score of 2-5. But the Eagles quickly retaliated in the next game, dominating North in an epic victory of 12-0. Senior Logan Erickson and Junior Justin McCullough both scored 2 runs, and they were accompanied by Nootbaar and Doucette, who also scored 2 runs for the team.
With this win, the Varsity team proceeded to play against Peninsula, where they encountered challenging opposition. The Eagles fell behind early, however Eagle bats prevailed with six players creating opportunities with 2 hits each. Jake Booterbaugh led the team with 3 hits. The hits parade gave the Eagle the edge to pull forward and achieve victory. Seigel broke the game open for the Eagles with a grand slam in the third inning and ended the night with a masterful 5 RBIs. This awesome play raised the Eagles the win at 7-5, with a 6-4 league record.
The final two games were both against South. The Eagles needed to win both in order to reach CIF. In the first game, the varsity team defeated their adversaries in an overpowering 8-0 slugfest. Doucette, Nootbaar, and Seigel shone again when they each scored 1 run and had 2 hits. The second game against South ended in the Eagle’s victory yet again 11-7; Sophomore Grant Palmer and Junior Jim Quinones scored twice as well as gaining 2 hits each. These wins propelled the Eagles through their season and gave them a final record of 7-3 which qualified them for the playoffs.
All in all, the Varsity Boys Baseball team has played extremely admirably. And now they face the challenge of CIF, Seigel sums it all in one sentence “Hopefully we can win it all, but there are some tough teams, but we'll try our best.”

Track Makes it Through to CIF

By Lena Hedayat

  This past track season went fairly well for each runner on the team. On Monday May 4, the team entered League Prelims at LA Southwest. The team did a great job and proceeded onto League Finals on Wednesday May 6, where the C.I.F. qualifiers would be determined. Sophomore Trevor Thompkins, who normally races with the varsity, came down to run in the frosh/soph division and placed first in 100 M dash (11.45 seconds), 200 M dash (23.25 seconds), Long Jump (19’ 10), and third in the 4x100 M relays. Though these were not his all time best, he still did a great job. Thompkins says of the League finals, “I felt that we did our best and did better than expected.” Qualifying for C.I.F. at League finals was senior Natalia Perez, coming in third for the 300 M hurdles (52.17 seconds), junior Valerie Fernandez, coming in second for the triple jump (32’8), junior Emilija Stojanovic, making third in the triple jump (32’7), and sophomore Ahmed Mahmood, coming in third for the high jump (5’8) and first place in the triple jump (41’.5). Stojanovic comments, “We’ve had a good track season, especially the girls, and we surpassed our potential.” As for how she felt about making C.I.F., “I was excited about it. There was a lot of competition considering everyone has worked just as hard as I have to get this far, but I did the best I could and hoped for the best.” The first round of C.I.F. took place this past Saturday on May 16, and the contestants did a great job. The results are currently unavailable. However, the track season has reached its end for most, and junior Michael Procopio concludes, “I was really proud of the team and we got a lot done at practice and I’m definitely looking forward to next year.” 

Swimming Scores

By Lena Hedayat

              Swim Team this season at went forth into C.I.F. with great success. The Eagles ended league against South Torrance on Thursday April 30; with the Varsity Boys winning and the Varsity Girls coming to a tie. Following this was League prelims on Thursday May 6. It was a great meet and several swimmers qualified for finals. Captain senior Kylie Langlois commented on the meet, “I was kind of disappointed about the boys throwing tennis balls, but we all swam really hard and ended the meet well.” There was an unfortunate occurrence with a few of the boys on El Segundo’s team throwing the “traditional” tennis ball over Beverly Hills pool. Though it is a harmless act, the boys were careless this time and punished for it. Other than their mistake, League Prelims was a success. Three days later on May 8, League Finals took place. This meet determined those who would go on to C.I.F. and continue to compete. There were a total of sixteen swimmers who made C.I.F.: freshman Bradley Rava for his 200 yard freestyle, sophomores Chris Cordobes for the 100 yard backstroke, Ryan Makuta for the 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard freestyle, Jeff Allison for the 100 yard butterfly and 100 yard backstroke, Colette Gulick for the 200 yard individual medley relay and 100 yard breaststroke, and Kelsey Cummings for the 200 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle, juniors Stephen Lasky for his 200 yard individual medley relay, Robert Cordobes for his 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard freestyle, Julianne Allison for her 100 yard butterfly and 100 yard backstroke, and Courtney Rava for her 200 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle. In addition to these individual events were the swimmers who were part of the relay teams that made it to C.I.F. These included: Gulick, Courtney Rava, Cummings, and Allison, who all swam in the 200 medley relay, seniors Alivia Roney and Cathey Broderick, Green and Puma, who took on the 200 free relay, Reynolds, swimming the 200 freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay, Bradley Rava, swimming in the 200 yard freestyle relay, Robert Cordobes, swimming in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay, Makuta, swimming in the 200 yard freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay, Chris Cordobes, swimming in the 400 freestyle relay, and sophomore Tucker Hopkins, swimming in the 200 medley relay. Every swimmer put out their best, placing well. Captain and senior James Meyerhoff concludes, “It was a great experience being captain, I felt that my leadership helped the team stay focused on the road to success. I’m proud of each and every one of my swimmers and I’m going to miss them all dearly. Good luck next year and in any and all athletic ventures you face.”

	Volleyball	Baseball	Softball	Tennis	Track	Swim
Record	3-7	7-3	9-1	9-10	Boys: 1-2 Girls: 3-0	Boys: 4-2 Girls: 4-2
Recent Score	Santiago 3-0 Win	South 11-7 Win	South 17-1Win	Santiago 7-11 Loss	CIF Girls: 3 Boys:1	South Girls: Tie Boys: Win
Next Game	Season Over	TBA CIF Playoffs	May 21 CIF Playoffs	TBA CIF Doubles	TBA CIF Individuals	Season Over

Featured Athletes:

Christyan Osorio

Ben Doucette

Anissa Noland

Manny Rodriguez

Trevor Thomkins

Makenzee Lee

Colette Gulick

Robert Cordobes