Category: Sports

  • Miles Hines

    Senior basketball player Miles Hines has been playing basketball practically his whole life, encouraged by his family, but eventually growing his own love for the sport that continues to this day. “I’ve been playing for about 12 years.” said Hines

    Miles is family encourages his athletic ability and he will likely continue to play after graduation, although he is unsure of where he will be this fall. “I don’t know where I’ll go, but I’ll probably still play.”

    Hines has put a lot of hard work into basketball and loves many aspects of the sport “ I really enjoy playing and working with my teammates. Practice can be tiring. That would be my least favorite.”

    No matter where he ends up in life, Miles can always count on his love of basketball to be there with him, “ I’ve been doing this for most of my life.”

    He thanks his family, who have been his strength throughout his life both on and off the court. “My family really supports me. They put me on this.”

  • The Rivalry Continues: Soccer Edition

    It’s that time of year again, where the Wilson and Poly girls soccer teams play in a rivalry game that has lasted decades. On Tuesday, December 18, the Jackrabbits girls varsity played the Bruins in what was the game that set the stage for the rest of the season.

    Last year, Poly lost to Wilson 0-2. But with a new coach this year and many returning players, it felt like a new energy was given to the team.

    “I didn’t sleep last night,” First year coach Anthony Perez said before the game. “I was so excited.” The Poly girls got out onto the field brimming with confidence, desire for this huge win the first thing in their minds.

    Poly started off strong, scoring in the first 4 minutes off a low cross by sophomore Kelsey Adams to Skylar Herrera who nailed it into the net. However, Poly couldn’t remain in the lead, and Wilson scored twice before half time was up.

    “We need to work as a team, don’t be afraid to play physical, and play with all your heart, ok? We can do this,” Junior Morgan King said in the team huddle at half time, while Poly was still behind.

    They went back out onto the field for the second half with high tension, the teams getting more and more physical as the game progressed. There were five yellow cards given out in the final 20 minutes, but Poly held their own. Despite being behind on the scoreboard, Poly was playing equally, if not better than Wilson.

    But in the final 8 minutes of the game, Poly got a corner kick. It was a perfect ball that arced across the crossbar, right to the head of Junior Aniah Cutler who drove the ball right into the goal. This goal was energizing for the team, as Poly finally had a bigger chance to comeback and beat Wilson once and for all.

    With 40 seconds left in the game, Poly got a free kick. Taken by Senior Ella Hiveley, it rebounded and was found at the feet of Sarah Santos, who was able to aim at the open space in the goal left by the goalie, and shoot. And the ball went it.

    With 25 seconds left to spare, Poly was able to pull off a win in what possibly was the biggest game of the season.

    The entire team, bench, and stands went crazy, enthused that Poly was able to pull off a win with almost no time left. “I knew we were going to win no matter what,” Cutler said after the game.

    With this huge win under their belt, Poly continues to be undefeated in both league and non-league play.

    On Tuesday, January 8 at Poly, the Jackrabbits and  the Millikan Rams girls soccer played against each other. Last year, Millikan beat Poly 3-1, but equipped with a new coach and some very strong returning players, Poly was hoping to pull off a win this year.

    This game started off strong for Millikan, scoring in the first eight minutes off of a cross by Emily Tamayo. Karli Slater headed the ball towards the far post where Samy Sierra headed it into the goal that Poly goalkeeper Kira Ybarra missed.

    Poly was able to rebound with a drving kick straight into the net by Senior Skylar Herrera in the 20th minute. But the Rams responded to the Jackrabbit goal with a cross by Sunha Park led by a shot into the goal by Oliva Tostado, putting Millikan in the lead.

    They also played Cabrillo Thursday December 20, winning 4-0.

  • Hot H2O

    The oldest rivalry in Long Beach came back to life for one more game, as the Long Beach Poly Girls Water Polo team counted down to their last practice before they faced the game that matters the most to them: Wilson.

    The game started at 6:19 pm December 19, with the sprint won by Wilson High School. Poly’s head coach Brandon D’sa used Kate Sarantos, Tara Johnson, Alana Snyder, Maddie Marshall, Paulina Martinez and Josie Hahn as his starting line up. Within the first two minutes of the game Wilson scored 2 goals, ending the first quarter with 3 goals and four attempted goals by Poly.

    After a heated two minutes of yelling and emotional speeches from both teams, the second quarter began with the sprint won by Wilson. Poly had Tara Johnson, Aristiana Modica, Josie Hahn, Kate Sarantos, and Paulina Martinez in this quarter. With 4:35 left on the clock Wilson scored another goal making the score now 4-0. Aristiana Modica got ejected allowing Wilson to be a “man up.” Wilson scored yet another goal, the score now 5-0. After their first timeout a Wilson player got ejected, giving Josie Hahn, Poly’s girl, an opportunity to score. During the third quarter, Wilson high school scored two more goals, which make it 7-1.

    The last quarter arrived and the sprint was won once again by Wilson. Off of the sprint Wilson scored another goal, the score being 8-1. Off of the line, another of Wilson’s players were ejected for grabbing resulting in Poly scoring again, making it 8-2. The goal was made by Josie Hahn from the five meter line. After the goal was made, Poly’s number 12, Tara Johnson was ejected, resulting in another goal, the score now 9-2 at 3:19. After a minute of seeing who has the ball, Maddie Marshall stole the ball passing it to Emily Rockenbach who scored, the score was leveled out to 9-3. Wilson scored another goal the score rising to 10-3. After that goal Poly’s 4-5 side player Kate Sarantos scored another goal with 1:09 left on the clock. However, one more goal was taken by Wilson, the score final score turning out to be 10-4.

    Jennifer Sarantos, Kate Sarantos’ mom said, “We’ll get them next year, and the year after that and so on and so forth, you just gotta keep believing and it will happen.”

  • Girls Jacks Do the Tango with the Lancers

    On Thursday, January 10th, beginning at 3:30 PM in the big gym, our wrestling meet against Lakewood was considered to be an eventful one. As each girl went up to wrestle their opponents, they were determined to finish their matches, and rack up a win. Only three girls were a part of the Lakewood wrestling team, while Poly had 11 girls on ready to get in the ring.

    Sophomore, Mishelli Morales was first up in the matches, weighing in around the 137’s.  Fixed in pushing her way out of a pin. Morales describes how she felt as not “really confident” and would want to have done “a rematch” in order to successfully win her match. Morales felt as if there could have been improvement, as she “panicked” and would have been “more aggressive” if given the chance.

    Freshman, Julissa Lara was quick on her feet and bringing action into her match, weighing in at 135 while the opponent weighed at 150. Lara successfully was able to get out of a pin. As for her thought processes during the match, she was “feeling scared” especially since she was bumped up in weight class.

    Poly lost both matches.There was a third opponent who did not wrestle, due to no one being of her weight class, but Poly won the match due to default as the team had more girls present.

  • Volleyball Goes To The Beach for some Fun in The Sun

    In the spring semester, Poly High School will start its first ever Beach Volleyball Program. This sport will compete within the Sunset League in Huntington Beach. Tryouts are open to the entire school and the top ten girls will compete with the top level of Beach Volleyball for high school.

    Long Beach Unified School District doesn’t have Beach Volleyball as a sport but the athletic and high-performance volleyball players at Poly have been invited to compete in Division 1.

    The club president, Grace Abdoo, has stepped up and organized this new sport to increase its popularity. Currently they are raising money to enter the League and buy new equipment and jerseys. Games and tournaments will be Saturday mornings during the months of February, March, and April.

    Stay turned to hear the first Beach Volleyball results in Long Beach Poly’s history.

  • Poly Jackrabbits Pin Down The Victory

    On January 10, boys varsity wrestling took on Lakewood in the Big Gym at Poly, and it was provided high energy entertainment for those that came to watch.

    Twelve exhilarating matches took place from weight groups 106 pounds to 235 pounds. Poly took the dub winning 8 out of 11 matches played against the fierce Lakewood Lancers. The majority of the matches were won by pins rather than points which just goes to shows how hungry varsity boys wrestling wanted the victory.

    Each match was filled with a fluctuating amount of emotions especially sophomore wrestler Zong Lo’s match. Weighing in at 152 pounds Zong showed some struggle closing in the match, but nonetheless Zong won by pinning his opponent. Zong, just a sophomore, wrestling at varsity states, “I felt nervous,” but since he had his team cheering him on, “I had courage!”

    Zong’s senior brother Chang Lo was another wrestler that night. Chang definitely has a more aggressive style, continually going after the opponent and eventually winning by a pin. The four year wrestling veteran trained so hard that, “it looks like they’re the one under performing.”

    Adrian Villicana also came out with a win that night not by a pin, but by points. You can score points for your match by escaping when your opponent has on the mat (1PT), taking your opponent on to the mat (2PT), when your opponent has you down on the mat and you come from underneath and gain control of your opponent (2PT), or when your opponent commits an illegal action such as stalling or an illegal hold. At the end of 3 rounds and no pin, Villicana had more points, winning the match.

    Closing out the night was David Cortez, a sophomore who competed in the heavyweight class. Using your weight to your advantage in wrestling is a key factor to pinning your opponent because you can easily weigh your opponent down. Cortez won that night by pin and even though he won the match he states he was, “impatient,” and, “nervous.”

    Altogether, Poly varsity boys won the night and hope to do the same in the upcoming matches, meets, and tournaments upcoming this spring semester.

  • Poly V. Westchester

    On Friday, November 30 at Westchester High School.They began their season off with winning 2nd in the Westchester tournament One of the starting five, Malik Salahuddin, does an amazing job in the Westchester tournament. His progress this year has been consistent, managing an average of 15 or more points a game so far. Malik thanks, “the team [and] without this great team…. I wouldn’t be as great as I am today.”  

    This tournament was a gateway for opportunity and success for the seniors, as they continue their basketball careers in college or travel ball. The Westchester tournament, Peyton Watson and Malik Salahuddin had offensive and defensive plays. They dominated their drive-ins and made effective passes in the game.

    The ball movement was sufficient for the win of the games; although they did not win semi-finals, the team did not let that get them down. They struggled, playing against them. The other team had more dominance in offense against the Jackrabbit’s defense. If the defense was more intact, the plays from the other team would have not been as successful.

    As the boys continued the start of their season with their first game against Cabrillo in the Bosco tournament. The game was a blow-out. The Jackrabbits won by 48 points; 108-60. Giordan Williams amazingly, came down with a slam dunk during the second court and crowd was wild. He has played with confidence, and has received 5 offers from Cal State Long Beach, Boston University, UCLA, and etc.

    As a team captain, along with  Justin Rene, he continues to motivate the team and uplift their energy throughout every game. Justin Rene says, “hard work makes better teamwork.” The team will continue the Bosco Tournament onto the semi-finals and championships at Bosco.

     

  • Girls Basketball

    The girls varsity basketball team had a rough start as they ended their Tournament at Troy High School winning 0 games, but they came back into Moore League blowing out the Cabrillo Jaguars with a win of . Their five came into the game with low energy first quarter but, by second quarter the score was 0 to 39.

    The girls dominated their offensive plays hitting continuous threes and jumpers. Coach Buggs says, “The most improved on the team as far as the veterans who have been on the team is Menah Salaveo.” Their “five,” Menah Salaveo, successfully conquered the paint making 10 points on offense along. In the game they were consistent in always having great assists and great communication on offense.

    As far as defense, our girls were able to play man-to-man defense without having the visitors penetrate. Iyanna Lamb, especially, drove into the passing lanes and turned the ball over to the Jackrabbits. Deja Williams explained that this game “proved that no matter how rough the season may begins, we always find a way to get a comeback.”

    There has been a lot of hate for Girls Varsity because they have not had the most successful start, but there is still more to come for this season. Deja WIlliams (senior) has committed to Cal State Northridge on a D1 Scholarship.

    The next game for the girls is versus Compton at Compton High School on December 14th. Then, they will be entering a tournament in Arizona from the 18th through the 22nd in the Nike Tournament of Championships. There they will be facing teams from all around the country, playing 4 four games. During the winter break they will also be playing in the SoCal Holiday Classic right after Christmas.

     

  • “We Made A Mistake But It’s All Good!”

    On Saturday, December 8 both the song and cheer teams qualified for nationals at University high school in Irvine. Which was an amazing and huge thing for both the teams.

    Unfortunately, more than four people on the song team made the mistake of doing illegal skills and each time they did them it costed them a point. The deductions they recieved from those stunts caused them to lose a place in nationals. The illegal stunt that the team did was a second leap and they did them in ripples, which made them win 5th place.

    Although the team was kind of disappointed they were mostly happy that they qualified. Member of both the cheer and song team, Jayden Nem said “At least we qualified for nationals and that’s all that really mattered.”

     

  • Girls Soccer

    This season Long Beach Poly’s girls varsity soccer team has started off the season very well. The girls have won the first four games of Moore League competition, first beating Compton 15-0, then Lakewood 4-2, then Downey 2-1, and lastly Jordan 9-0, almost finishing off the first round of Moore League undefeated. A few players such as sisters: Allanah and Aniah Cutler have returned from not playing last year to helping the team be unstoppable this year. The team’s next game is Tuesday December 18 against Wilson High School, the game is expected to be a very challenging since both team will play with their best skills and team players. Wilson tied their last game to Mayfair High School on December 13. Junior Aniah Cutler mentioned that she is “super pumped to compete against Wilson next week and play some of the most intense soccer this season!” The Lady Jackrabbits varsity girls soccer will face off against the Bruins at 6:30 p.m at Wilson High School, December 18.

  • People’s Champ William Frankenfeld

    CIF-Southern Sectional Championships took place on November 17th. Our very own CIC senior, Will Frankenfeld took first place and third in CIF State Championships on November 24th, just seconds away from first. Will also took another victory at the Foot Locker Cross Country West Regionals, placing second.

    “I’m not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed that I finished third in state and I finished first in the Southern Section, which is the fastest section. So I should’ve got first in state, so of course I’m a little disappointed,” said Frankenfeld on his thoughts about the race.

    “I do feel a certain pressures to do well, since I have done so well in the past,” said Frankenfeld on the expectations he feels from others.

    “I plan to continue running in college, maybe for UCLA or Cal State Fullerton,” said Frankenfeld on his future aspirations on running.

    Will Frankenfeld came 14th overall in the nation, third in State, and California’s top runner.

  • Senior Wrestler Andres De Los Santos

    Andres De Los Santos has been a part of Poly’s wrestling team since his freshman year and has devoted his more and more of his time into the sport each year. Now in the middle of his senior year, De Los Santos has accumulated numerous awards and levels and has a 17-2 record. “I don’t have a real reason why I started wrestling, I just started, it was cool, still is.” he said when asked why he chose the sport.

    De Los Santos feels as if the sport has taught him many important life lessons that he could not have learned elsewhere, “I’ve learned a lot in leadership, confidence, trust, being able to do things that  I didn’t think I was able to do.” he explains his battle with low self esteem and his personal growth into a man of confidence.

    The wrestling team prides itself as being a strong family-like bond. De Los Santos agrees, seeing as the sport calls for their closeness, “It’s a bit of a personal sport as well as a team effort. Although you are fighting for your team, at the end of the day, it’s all you. If you do something wrong in a match, it’s on you, not on your team.” he and his team members feed off each other’s mistakes and encouragement.

    When asked about what he will miss most about high school wrestling, he answer was simple, practice. “I like practice because it’s fun. It’s pretty much the only reason I come to school. And the coaches, I like them a lot. “ said De Los Santos.

    Being a part of a sport comes with a lot of stress, “There are times where you wanna give up and want to quit, but if you keep grinding, it gets easier. You get better, stronger, it pays off in the long road. “

    Through all the hardships, De Los Santos is never shy to express his gratitude for his team, “I’m proud of my team, and those who have been with me all 4 years. It’s been very tough, I don’t know how I haven’t quit, but I’m glad I haven’t. I’ve had some pretty memorable years.”

    Although his future isn’t completely set in stone, there may be a place for wrestling in his post high school life, “I’m going to college for sure, but wrestling in college, I’m not sure. I’m a bit hesitant because it’s a whole different ball game.”

    At times, he questions whether or not all the work is worth it,“It’s pretty normal for every sport, there’s time when I wonder why I’m doing this, I’m a senior, I could be home already, I could be doing stuff! My love for the sport keeps increasing, so that’s why I can’t quit.” De Los Santos continues to work hard and enjoy his senior year.