Category: Sports

  • Football: Not The Lancer’s Knight

    The Jackrabbits football team had a solid performance against the Lakewood Lancers on October 18, coming out on top, 39-0. This game was especially meaningful for the seniors on the team as it was Senior Night. Before the game, each senior ran down the middle of the field to the open arms of their parents and coaches.

    After the pre-game handshakes between the teams, it was time for business.

    Poly scored on their second possession of the game, with a touchdown pass from senior John “JuJu” Smith to senior receiver Christian Pabico, who dove into the end zone.

    The Jackrabbits’ offense was just getting started, as three minutes later, senior quarterback Tai Tiedemann threw a 43-yard pass to senior receiver Richard Mindoro on a quarterback scramble. The Jackrabbits went for a two-point conversion, completing it with a shovel pass from junior quarterback Josh Love to junior running back James Brooks.

    The Jackrabbits scored just 15 seconds later starting with junior defensive back Iman “Biggie” Marshall getting an interception on the very next play. The Poly offense scored in one play, with a touchdown pass from Love to Pabico.

    Wide receivers were the main scorers on the night; Pabico, Smith, and Mindoro were frequent targets for the quarterbacks.

    Poly scored once more early in the second quarter, this time from Tiedemann to Pabico, his third on the night.

    “This is the best night for receiving,” said Pabico.

    The Jackrabbits entered the second half, up 33-0.

    For the last score of the game, Tiedemann threw a short pass to junior tight end Gabe “Big Gabe” Rivera, who had no problem running it in.

    The defense was on point, forcing six sacks on the Lancer quarterbacks. Senior defensive lineman Rodney “Bama” Shorter summed up Poly’s defense: “Fantastic. Terrific. Awesome. Tremendous. Spectacular.”

    Smith also showed off his impressive hurdling skills, completely leaping over Lakewood’s Jarod Stevens. In the end, Poly won 39-0.

    Not only was this game Senior Night, but also this game was part of the Great American Rivalries series. Pabico won the award for Most Valuable Player, for scoring a total of three touchdowns, all in the first half of the game

    After the bye week, Poly will have an away against the Millikan Rams tomorrow.  Lastly, they will play the Wilson Bruins next Friday, November 8th before heading into post-season play.

  • Girls Tennis Does a Double Take

    [pullquote align=”left” speaker=”Shannon Dow”]We wanted to get this win for Poly since Wilson got Moore League Champs and Moore League Singles—it meant a lot for us to get this win.[/pullquote]

    Poly’s girls tennis team played and won against both CAMS and Cabrillo, but lost their chance at Moore League Champions on Thursday after they lost a close match against Wilson. The girls battled in a long five-day week, where they lost the individual Moore League singles first place medal, but were able to win the doubles first place, and move on to CIF.

    On Monday, October 14, the girls went up against CAMS’ newly founded tennis team. CAMS was able to put up a good fight, winning three matches, but they were not able to keep up with the power hitting Lady Jackrabbits who won, 13-5. On Tuesday October 15, the girls played their third game of the season against Cabrillo and just like the previous two, the girls were able to shut out the Jaguars with a 17-1 win.

    On Thursday, October 17, the girls met the Bruins at Wilson in yet another nail-biting match to fight for the Moore League championship title. It was a rough start for the Jackrabbits, trailing 3-7 at the end of the first round, but where able to come up to 9-7 lead. Unfortunately, the Bruins, who held the advantage in games, responded by winning the final two matches, tying the game 9-9. In the end, the Poly lost to Wilson by a slim margin of 5 games, coming out with a 77-65 loss in the game’s tiebreaker and third place in Moore League.

    “Even though Wilson won, I am very proud of every one on our team. I believe that we all played to the best of our abilities, keeping up a good fight and demonstrating our resilience throughout the entire match,” said junior Veronica Tan.

    From October 21st to the 25th, the girls were busy at El Dorado Park, fitting for individual Moore League titles. Monday and Tuesday were Moore League Semi-Finals for singles. Five girls attended, but sophomore Jasmine Roberts and junior Shannon Dow were the two to make it the furthest. Roberts went up against Wilson’s number one singles player and fought for first place, while Dow went up against Wilson’s number two singles player. Roberts lost her match (6-3, 6-4, 6-4) and Dow lost her match with a set score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Consequently, teammates Dow and Roberts faced off for the third place medal last Friday.

    Moore League Semi-Finals for doubles was held on the 23rd and 24th. Again, many teams attended, but two teams exceeded the rest. The doubles teams of Dow and Roberts and seniors Daniella Gochuico and Rylie Borje were the only ones able to move on to finals on Friday. The team of Dow and Roberts faced off against Millikan’s team in a tough three setter and where able to get the win with a score of 6-3, 0-6, 6-3. On Thursday, both Poly teams faced each other in a tough match, but the dynamic duo of Dow and Roberts got the win over the seniors, with a set score of 7-6, 6-3. Both teams were able to advance onto Friday’s Finals, with Roberts and Dow fighting for the first place title, while Gochuico and Borje played for third place.

    After four long days, it all came down to Friday’s Moore League Finals. Teammates Roberts and Dow dashed it out for the singles’ third place medal. It was a close match, but Roberts was able to get the win over Dow, winning in her set 6-3, 6-2, 10-7 in a tiebreaker.

    Right after their singles match, both Roberts and Dow were to face Wilson’s number one doubles team for the Moore League Doubles crown.

    “It’s literally their best players against our best players,” said head coach Ricardo Montecinos.

    The Jackrabbit pair trailed 5-2 in the second set, but were able to come back and win an excruciating two hours match with a final score of 6-4, 7-6 and close off a successful five-day week.

    “We wanted to get this win for Poly since Wilson got Moore League Champs and Moore League Singles—it meant a lot for us to get this win,” said Dow.

    It was a long week for the Lady Jackrabbits, and even though they weren’t able to claim Moore League Champions, their doubles team of Dow and Roberts were able to get the doubles first place title and will go on to represent Moore League in CIF.

  • Cross Country: Woodbridge Invitational

    The girls cross country team made a strong showing at the Woodbridge Invitational at Estancia High School last Saturday. The Lady Jackrabbits finished fifth in the rated race and 19th out of 236 teams.

    Freshman Melissa Tanaka ran 17:39 to finish tenth set a record for the fastest time by a Poly runner at Woodbridge. Freshman Lauren Fillipow ran 17:56 to finish in 20th, and freshman Olivia Gleason ran 18:09 to finish in 33rd. However, the entire team ran fast, setting a team time record of 90:56. Even with the addition of younger runners, Coach Nate Bershtel is confident in the team’s running maturity.

    “All of the girls have around the same years of running experience. Instead of being the number four runner each race, they have the opportunity to be the number one runner at any given time,” said Coach Bershtel.

    The boys cross country team also made a strong showing at the Woodbridge Invitational. The jackrabbits finished 10th in the Sweepstakes race and 14th out of 237 teams. Freshman Colby Penn ran 15:00 to finish in 39th place, senior captain Zach Ponce ran 15:08 to finish in 55th place, and senior Christian “CVaq” Vazquez ran 15:23 to finish in 81st place.

    Coach Mike Fillipow was impressed with the depth the team displayed at Woodbridge. The top eight runners were within 35 seconds of each other at Woodbridge.

    “Last year, we had some problems with the large gap between our number four and number five runners. This year, we have a great pack,” said Coach Fillipow.

    Senior Christian Vazquez was content with the team’s performance, but insists there is still work to be done. “All in all, we made a good showing, and we can do even better. We’re going to stay consistent in our training, to give the fans a good showing,” said Vazquez. The boys will race in Moore League next Wednesday at El Dorado Park.

  • Jackrabbits Hop To Islands

    Poly’s boys water polo team and the girls volleyball team represented Long Beach in Hawaii at tournaments and bonded with their fellow teammates this last August.

    The boys water polo team spent a week on Oahu while competing at the Hawaii Invitational Water Polo Tournament in Oahu August 5 through 11. Overall, the Jackrabbits placed seventh in the tournament of 24 opposing teams with two wins and three losses.

    “There were a lot of good teams from all different places. A lot of our games were decided by one or two goals. We even ended up in a shoot-out to end the game. With a few of our players not being able to travel with us, other players were forced to step up their level of planning to fill the gaps,” said Horton.

    [pullquote align=”right” speaker=”Jessica Alberto”]Being in Hawaii not only helped us learn to become a better all around team, but also helped us to become closer as a family.[/pullquote]

    The team consisted of seniors Andrew Gutierrez, Ryan Rockenbach, Ryan Meyer, Brandon Nguyen, and Grant Horton, juniors Benjamin Nguyen, Ian Kwong, Trevor Parks, Alejandro Nieto, and Justin Jarvis, sophomore Spencer Steffen, and Poly alumnus Tristan Brightenburg.

    “The team bonding and experience was really worth the six hour plane trip there. It was fun. I would definitely do it again,” said Gutierrez.

    When they weren’t competing, the boys spent the day bonding over hikes around the island, surf sessions in Waikiki bay and beach adventures on the North Shore.

    “Spending a whole week in Hawaii with my team was a once in a lifetime experience.  Being surrounded by water was like paradise for us. If we weren’t in the pool then we were at the beach,” said junior Nguyen. “Not only was it fun, but it was also a great team bonding trip.  We are now an even closer family than we were before. Hawaii will always be the place to be.”

    Poly’s varsity girls volleyball team also traveled to Oahu over the summer to compete in the 31st annual Ann Kang Invitational Volleyball Tournament. The team placed sixth of 16 teams, securing its spot in the tournament’s Gold Champion bracket.

    The AKIVB Tournament took place over the weekend of August 15, though the girls stayed from the 14th through the 20th. Of the 16 teams participating, nine were local teams, and seven were from the mainland. Poly won three of their eight total matches, including a long awaited victory over Mira Costa.

    “Being in Hawaii not only helped us learn to become a better all around team, but also helped us to become closer as a family,” said senior captain Jessica Alberto.

    According to Alberto, by spending the week together, the team was able to come together and prepare for what will hopefully be a winning season for the girls.

    “Between the surf and the luau, us coaches really got a chance to bond in a way that was totally unrelated to volleyball, for once,” said head coach Leland McGrath.

    The boys have their first game against Cerritos High School on September 17 at Cerritos and the girls had their first game of the season against Newport Harbor last week but could not be reported on due to press time constraints.

  • Football: Preseason Begins With A Win

    Long Beach Poly football opened their 2013 season on August 30 with a win over the Crenshaw Cougars (28-15) where, for the first time, a girl scored for the varsity football team.

    Last year’s season was one with a questionable 1-3 preseason, as well as Poly’s worst loss in their long history. However, the team went back to basics and returned with yet another Moore League Championship, a CIF Championship, and State runner-ups by the end of the season. Poly started this season ranked 12th in the nation and 6th in the state.

    The opening kickoff by the Jackrabbits was sent high into the air and was recovered by Poly soon after Crenshaw fumbled. The following play by Crenshaw quickly intercepted it. Scoring early in the second quarter, Crenshaw put themselves on the board. Poly would come back to end the first half 8-7, Poly.

    Poly came out blazing hot as they scored in their first drive of the second half and would go up 15-7. This ended late in the third quarter as Crenshaw scored and gained the two-point conversion. Senior John “Juju” Smith was then put into the running back position to wake up the Poly offense. This move seemed to work as Smith allowed Poly to score soon after.

    “We had a slow start and it took us a while to get into rhythm. When the second half came, we began to feel a little more comfortable and started playing Poly football,” said senior quarterback Tai Tiedemann.

    The exclamation point of the night was junior Killian Turley kicking in the point after touchdown. K. Turley, daughter of defensive coordinator Jeff Turley, is the first girl in Poly’s 106-year history to ever score points for a varsity football team at Poly.

    “The best part about being on the team is that is that I am getting an opportunity to prove to everyone that with dedication and determination you can achieve any goal,” said K. Turley.

    Poly is currently ranked 7th in the nation and 3rd in the state and seeks to improve on last week’s game with an even stronger start and performance against the Servite Friars last Friday at 7 p.m. at Cerritos College.

    “We may have done well last year, but not winning State left us unsatisfied,” said Tiedemann. “Losing last year is our fuel to win this year.”

  • Cross Country: Bun Run for Funds

    Cross Country: Bun Run for Funds

    Poly’s boys and girls cross country teams held their 21st annual Bun Run Fundraiser last Saturday at Los Cerritos Park.

    It is the only fundraiser for the boys and girls cross country teams for the entire year and helps to raise money for races, team trips, and banquets.

    The event has evolved into a great social and athletic gathering both Poly families and the community. Roughly 600 people attended the event, 300 of which participated in the community race.

    “The course’s terrain has changed over the years, but I love it because it brings back a lot of memories,” said Principal Joe Carlson. Such memories include when Poly alumnus Ethan Durham took a wrong turn and continued running down the Pacific Coast Highway.

    Principal Carlson was the girls cross country coach during the first Bun Run in 1992 and has seen the event and the teams evolve and expand over the years.

    “It’s encouraging to see the Bun Run grow in support each year and to know that when we leave, it will continue to surpass expectation,” said four-year runner and senior Samantha Singal.

    When the first Bun Run was held at Recreation Park in Long Beach, there were only nine girls on the Poly cross country team and no community race was run.

    The cinnamon buns that were once given out to the runners and from which the event originally got its name have since been replaced by a parent-made pancake breakfast and a raffle that both the runners and the community enjoy after all the races have been run.

    “From a senior’s perspective, I could see that the freshman were a little jittery, but having the whole cross country family plus the community to support them, they were able to enjoy themselves and not worry too much about the times they ran,” said senior captain Kassey Garduque.