Football Dominates

By Garrison Adomian

            The El Segundo Eagles proved themselves once more Friday October 6th.  The team played at St.Bernard against the Vikings.  El Segundo was able to rack up three touchdowns by the end of the first half giving only one up to St. Bernard.  Gage Mortessen, after rushing for nearly one-hundred yards was ejected for reacting to a particularly bad call made by nearly biased referees.  Despite the setback in El Segundo's offensive game, the Eagles managed to push on tacking on 49 points total compared to the 6 points of the Vikings.  The athletic team of the Vikings was shut down by El Segundo defensive schemes including stops by Nick Kessler and Zak Cooper.  After the stubborn El Segundo defense had frustrated the repeated attempts of St. Bernard, their offensive game was effectively shut down.  Jimmy Quinones thwarted the final push of the Vikings offensive struggle with an interception that carried the ball away from the end-zone and towards an Eagle victory.  The defensive line and backs remained strong the entire game and were able to dominate the Viking offense.  On the other side of the ball, Eagle's quarterback Mike Bundy continued his recuperation from an injury that had knocked from the starting lineup. Bundy was ably replaced by Grant Palmer once more.  The Eagles offensive line, including Trevor Doukakis and Matt Manzo, proved a threatening force.  Receivers Kevin Post and Joey Shauffhauser both caught several of the passes Palmer threw for well over a hundred yards.  Kyle Yatabe, Gage Mortessen, Daniel Warren, and Santana Camilleri all ran in touchdowns for the Eagles.  After this stunning victory, the Eagles have begun preparing for the Bishop Montgomery Knights for homecoming.

October 10, Homecoming 2008 proved a glorious day for El Segundo High School.  It was kicked off with dazzling morning performances by the ESHS marching band and Cheerleaders patrolling the halls and inspiring the football team for the game that night. The rally was also particularly good and spirited, even with the Seniors isolated from the rest of the student body.  The Bishop Montgomery Knights challenged the Eagle's football team after the homecoming parade had ended.  The Knights were no pushovers; they came out ready to avenge their defeat from the previous year.  The game began with a Bishop possession that was stopped cold by the Eagle's defensive precision.  As the offense took the field, fortunes only improved.  Mike Bundy, receiving protection from a solid front line including Richard Siegel and Jordan Orechwa, was able to complete a touchdown pass to Kevin Post within a minute of taking the field.  The Eagle's defense retook the field and executed their assignments as near to perfection as possible, driving back any attempts of the Knights to gain an advantage.  On the other side of the ball, Brice Savage lived up to his name and fought through defenders to gain as many yards as possible, very savagely.  At the end of the first half the Eagles had dominated the field with 21 points to 0.  The second half of the game proved more difficult for El Segundo, however, not too difficult.  The Knights came out with determined spirits to reverse the outcome of the first half.  Fortunately the surge of enemy forces was stopped by constant pressure from Eagles' defensive players such as Jason Karp and Stephen Pliaconis, together creating piles of chaos that no offender could run through.  The Knights were able to press for a touch down twice on defensive meltdowns on the Eagle's part that will be fixed easily for the adaptable El Segundo team.  Offensively, the team struggled in the beginning of the third quarter.  Nonetheless they were able to drive on and clash into the end zone two more times.  The game ended with a 35-13 victory for El Segundo.  It was not only a triumph for the team, but the entire school and town of El Segundo.  This was the first time El Segundo has witnessed a homecoming victory in many years.  The members of the Class of 1968, celebrating 40 years as alumni, cheered the victory with vigor. This marked the end of the non-league season for El Segundo with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss.  The league season began Friday October 17 against the Torrance Tartars. 
The game against the Torrance Tartars was one of changing momentums.  The beginning of the game began with a defensive stop against the Tartars for the Eagles.  Next, the Eagles long offensive drive was shut down by an interception. After that, Torrance was able to get one field goal and two touchdowns, 17-7, lending their halftime celebration an extra lift.  The Eagles were able to get one touchdown with Kevin Post just at the end of the first half.  At this point, the entire team was pulled together at halftime speech by Coach Shevelin and all played their hearts out. In the second half, the Eagles defense exhibited extreme skill, and effectively turned the game around. We scored with Post, Brice Savage, and others to close the game with a 35-17 victory. The win was sweet revenge for last year’s lost at our own homecoming to the Tartars.  The Eagles football team is truly forging a great season, and we can only wait to see what great victories they bring us in the future. The Eagles are 3-1, 1-0.

Boys' Water Polo Wins First Four League Games

By Lena Hedayat

    This water polo season for the varsity boys’ is going extremely well. They have not lost a single league game, and are improving with each passing week. On September 30 against Whittier, the Eagles played a rough game. There were several ejections (players getting called out of the game for less than a minute because they committed a severe foul) on both teams. However, the Eagles achieved a win, ending 12-11. Following Whittier was the varsity boys’ first league game against Milken on October 2. The Eagles dominated, finishing 11-6.
The next two days, October 2 and 3, were filled with the annual Henry Stuart Tournament. Water polo teams from many different schools come to the El Segundo Plunge and play one game after another. It was a very long couple of days, but very exciting to be a part of. The Eagles came in 4th overall, losing to Santa Monica, and then Crescenta Valley High in their very last game of the night, but defeating San Marino and Redondo earlier that day.
The Eagles second league game of the season took place on Monday October 6 opposing Beverly Hills. This event was very significant for the Eagles because the importance of their future wins and losses would partially depend on this game. Beverly Hills was very evenly matched with El Segundo and therefore proceeded to be one of the toughest games the Eagles have played so far. The goals began to go back and forth for each team, but unfortunately Beverly came ahead by three points and the Eagles had still not caught up by the third quarter. Using the skill and talent the El Segundo boys observably posses, they rang up three goals within the last five minutes of the last quarter, bringing the game to a tie. The crowds of supporters as well as both teams themselves were on edge with the outcome of the game in doubt. Going into double overtime the Eagles won, 7-6, bringing home a proud victory. On the outcome of the game, junior Beau Blacksten said, “I felt it was a good win. The team has a promising future. All around it’s been a great and fun season so far.”
Claiming their next three games facing Chadwick, Torrance, and Culver City, the boys’ have continued their winning streak. Chadwick proved to be a close win, ending 13-12, but the Eagles proceeded to defeat Torrance 10-5 in their third league game. The El Segundo boys’ most recent, and fourth game in league, took place on October 15 against Culver City. The Eagles took this one down, winning 14-9. Captain Senior Zack Reed commented, “We could’ve played better against Culver, but we finished strong and that’s all that counts. As for the rest of the season, we’ve set ourselves up for success. We’ve got nowhere to go but up.” This proves to be true for the varsity boys, and according to Coach Harris, “What our goal is as a team is for each player to play a role; he must be a 2-Meter man, driver, perimeter shooter, two defensive specialists, counter attackers, or a goalie. The guys that are coming off the bench are role players as well. If everybody fulfills their role or comes within 90% of it, we will have a successful season no matter what the outcome is. This year’s puzzle is coming together.” The season stands 12-6 total and 4-0 for league so far.

Girls Volleyball Succeeds in Winning First League Game

By Andrew Gen and Lena Hedayat

The Lady Eagles Varsity Volleyball team has been struggling through the majority of their games, but they made a victorious comeback at their first league game. On September 30, the varsity girls defeated St. Bernard, winning all three of the first sets, and making the match theirs. Unfortunately the next game on October 2 was a loss against West Torrance, as well as the game on October 6 against Torrance, the girls losing three out of the four sets. On October 7 against Santa Monica, the girls suffered another loss losing three of the four sets. Then, on October 24 the Lady Eagles won their first league game against North Torrance. Captain, senior Missy Schaefer says about their first league win, “We have been practicing really hard and it really came together for this game. Our system really works. It was a good win for us and gave us a lot of momentum.” The ladies are now standing 3-6 overall in their season and 1-0 in league. Captain sophomore Shawna Lum said, “We were proud to win Tuesday’s match against North. It starts our season off with a positive attitude knowing we can win the games that follow.” The Eagles look forward to add more wins to their record in the future against their games against South Torrance and Torrance. Good luck Eagles!

Girls Tennis Fights Hard to Win

By Andrew Gen

Girl’s tennis jumped into the second month with a loss against Chadwick on October 2. Losing 5-13 with no sweeps the Eagles fought their hardest but where unable to pull out too many sets. Their next match was against Bishop Montgomery and was also unfortunate. The Eagles lost 7-11, with only sophomore Hazuki Onaga winning all three sets (sweeping) 6-1, 6-0, 6-1. The Eagles gained more games, but were still unable to overcome the placement of the Bishop team. Overcoming their loosing streak, the team fought off the tough South Torrance Spartans on October 6. Tying in sets 9-9, the Eagles and the Spartans had to count individual games to determine the victor. The Eagles came out victorious winning 76-67 games. With sweeps from Onaga 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, senior Amy Romeo 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, and sophomore Becca Goetz 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, the Eagles were able to garner more games than the Spartans. Two days later the lady Eagles played the Torrance Tartars. Adding to their winning column, the Eagles defeated the Tartars 11-7, with sweeps from Onaga: 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, and the doubles team of senior Suzanne Lipscomb and junior Julia Rappaport: 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. On October 10, the Eagles dominated their next match against Inglewood. Almost sweeping every game, the Eagles won 16-2 with phenomenal sweeps from Romeo: 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, and sophomores Christy Crigler and Annie Nguyen: 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. The following Tuesday, the Eagles had a depressing loss against the North Saxons. Loosing 7-11, the team fought hard with a sweep from Onaga: 6-4, 6-3, 6-0. Two days later, the Eagles again played the South Spartans but were unable to pull out ahead with a disappointing loss of 6-12. With the only wins from Onaga: 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, and doubles team of freshman Lauren Villanueva and Michelle Liu: 7-5, 7-6, 7-5. The Eagles played yesterday against Torrance and tomorrow  against North.  The Eagles look to fight hard and add some more wins into their 6-6 record. Good luck Eagles.

Cross-Country Returns!

By Lena Hedayat

El Segundo High School has not seen a cross country team in almost 20 years. Yet this season one has been formed.
For all who are not acquainted with the sport, winning a cross country meet is not determined win by the accumulation of points, but by the fewest number of points; it’s like golf in this respect. For instance, first place gets one point, second obtains two, third acquires three, and so on all the way up to fifth place. There are seven members to a team, but the sixth and seventh runners on each team are not placed. Thus the point values are determined by each teams’ fastest five runners. For example: if all seven Eagles beat the opposing team’s entire team of seven runners, then the score would be 15-50 Eagles win. Fifteen points is essentially the perfect score.
This year, the cross country team has come to life rather successfully. With current top runners, sophomores Maureen O’Hanlon and Austin Van Biezen, the team is going strong. September 25 was the first league meet and El Segundo ended up in fourth place out of five teams, beating only Centennial. Torrance, North and South Torrance out ran the Eagle’s in their debut meet. Centennial did not have a cross country team so they sent basketball team to run. Bear in mind our cross country runners have only been at practice two days prior to their first meet, officially starting the team on Monday September 22. Every other team has been practicing for a month.
The second contest for the Eagles cross country team took place on October 4 at the Warren Invitational. It occurred at Hollydale Park in South Gate. Every member of the team ran according to their grade. O’Hanlon and senior Jenna Rich both received trophies and junior Allison Reaser was given a medal. In the three mile race for sophomore women, O’Hanlon obtained 14th place out of 135 contestants, with her time resulting as 20 minutes and 27 seconds. On the whole, Rich achieved 13th place out of 50 contestants, and ran the three miles in 20 minutes and 55 seconds.  Reaser made her three mile time in exactly 22 minutes and came in 39th place out of 111 other runners.
The most recent league meet took place last week on October 16 in Palos Verdes. It was a tough run consisting of a very uphill route. Together the team came in 4th place, and O’Hanlon came in 4th out of everyone in the girls varsity race. According to captain sophomore Garett Lopez Dominetta the course, “was really hilly, so as a team we need to learn to run uphill better.” Though the team had a rather excruciating experience with the steepness of the land, they did a reasonable job. Their next contest  is on Friday, October 24 at Mt. San Antonio Community College Invitational. The Eagles are competing against all division three schools. Good Luck! And welcome back!

Athlete of the Month: Junior Beau Blackstein