On Thursday, April 21, the Poly Jackrabbit’s Badminton Team faced off against the Lakewood Lancers in their last Moore League game.
They seemed to reach their goal of ending the last game sharp, as they won big games and decimated the Lakewood Lancers by a wide margin of 20-1.
Two girl’s doubles, Sydney Hernandez and Cassandra Mullen, pulled off great victories against other double pairs that had previously defeated them.
“It was very nice, but they went strong and won in definite fashion. They put a stamp on it, and that to me was the highlight,” head coach Steve Meckna said. With a record of 12-0 in the Moore League and momentum on their side, the Jackrabbits seemed to be in great shape for their championship games.
The Jackrabbits did an amazing job, placing both first and second in girls’ and boys’ singles. Seniors Mary Nguyen and Kristine Nguyen were able to take these places as they had last year. Senior Sambo Kim took first for boys, and junior Eric Lam took second.
As for doubles, junior Eric Shu and senior took first place, while sophomore Jonathan Ly and junior Ryan Keo took third. The girls pair of senior Sydney Fernandez and junior Cassandra Mullen did overwhelmingly well. Although they came in at 4th place, they were able to defeat their opponents in all their games to come out on top at first place.
The Rabbits now have CIF on the road ahead of them, but they are off to a great start. As long as they stay sharp and consistent, the future for them looks very bright.

r the final stretch of the season, with Moore League individuals in the first week of May, and CIF the following week. The Jackrabbits are fresh off a team win against the Lakewood Lancers, and a previous loss against the cross-town rival Wilson Bruins.
On Tuesday, April 26, Poly faced Lakewood High School in a 14-hole tournament. On the par 56 match, the Jackrabbits won 310-344. Jericho Betts shot an even par 56, while junior Andy Peterson and Jacob Betts both shot 61.
On April 22, Poly faced the Wilson Bruins for the second time this season. The first match against the Bruins was much closer, but Poly still put up a fight, losing 405-365. Brothers Jericho and Jacob Betts shot scores of 76 and 77, respectively. Senior Jack Evans was third on the team with 80, followed by Peterson shooting 85 and Auggie Gvildys shooting 87.
“It was a decent score for us. I just wish it would have been a bit better,” said head coach Bill Dodge.
Overall, the team had a small   slump from the first match against Woodrow Wilson. The Bruins won the first match 358-389. Jericho Betts shot six better his first time, and Peterson shot 12 better. Peterson had difficulty coming back from his astounding first match score of 73, and shot 85 the second time.
“Maybe the focus wasn’t there in our players for a few holes,” said Dodge.
Finishing up the last two Moore League matches, the Jackrabbits finished second in the Moore League. The team had a league score of eight wins and two losses. The two losses were both to the powerhouse Bruins.
“We had a great season this year. We came in second place alone for the first time in my four years of golf; we came in tied second years prior. We swept all teams in Moore League except Wilson,” said Jericho Betts.
With Moore League matches over, the best individuals from Poly are getting ready for Moore League Individuals next week. The four-day individual tournament, taking place from Monday to Thursday, starts out with 28 league contestants and gets cut to 16 contestants. The following week is CIF Individuals and CIF team matches. Poly made CIF as a team.

Poly swim has had a busy couple of weeks, dominating not only the Moore League competition but also caused some big splashes down in San Diego.
This past weekend from Friday, April 22 to Sunday, April 24, a select group of swimmers traveled down to San Diego to participate in the annual Dick Draz’s Iron Man relays. This “Iron Man” style relays combine both boys and girls to swim the hardest of events ranging from the 100 meter freestyle to the killer 400 meter Medley.
Being the outside team didn’t phase the Jackrabbits, as they dominated the meet winning first place overall.
In addition to participating in the relays the Jackrabbits also toured San Diego colleges, including UC San Diego where the team met up with the school’s swim coach to connect with prospective student-athletes.
Last week on Thursday April 21, the girls added yet another win as they glided right past the Millikan Rams. Unfortunately the boys team was not as successful going up against the Rams losing by with a close score of 89-81.
It was a fairly easy victory for the Lady Jackrabbits, as they swept most of the events for a (124-46) victory. Typical for the girls, there were a wide range of great swims and even better times, including a 500 meter CIF consideration time of 5:28.70 for junior Isabella Magalong who was named swimmer of the meet.
The Jackrabbits also had their second to last Moore league meet on April 27 against Cabrillo but could not be reported on due to press time restraints.
As the Moore League comes to an end, both teams are preparing for Moore League finals next week. The girls will have their preliminaries and finals on Tuesday, May 3 and Thursday, May 5, respectively. Meanwhile, the boys will have their preliminaries on Wednesday, May 4 and finals on Friday, May 6. Both will be held at the Cabrillo Aquatic Complex.
The girls, who as of now are undefeated in the league, look to completely reclaim the Moore League championship title after having to share the title with the Wilson Bruins for the last year. As for the boys, the young yet dynamic team is seen to be building momentum as they enter the final stretch of the season.

On April 19 and 21, the Poly Softball and Baseball teams played against the Cabrillo Jaguars and the Wilson Bruins. Both teams had massive statements to make as they both had to follow up on their previous match-ups against the Wilson Bruins.
For the baseball team, the game against the Jaguars didn’t seem to be much of a challenge. They had a well-played game, winning by a margin of 13-1. Six of the 13 runs came in the first inning, allowing the Rabbits to gain momentum at the very beginning of the game.
“Our team was very solid that day. We didn’t play down to our opponent and we were able to get an early lead and then were able to cruise on from there,” said junior Gavin Palagonia.
As for the next game against the Bruins, the Jackrabbits were looking to get a victory after taking a loss in their previous match-up. The game was intense, with pitchers on both teams playing great. However, Poly was not able to capitalize on their opportunities, and Wilson was able to score twice in the second inning. As a result, Poly would take another loss against the Bruins with a score of 2-0.
The pattern would end up being the same for the Lady Jackrabbits as well. The first game was predicted to be an easy one, since the Jaguars had lost to weaker opponents in the Moore League and have an overall record of 6-12.Also, because Poly was playing on their home turf, they did not have very much to worry about. Poly ended up beating Cabrillo by a wide margin of 18-2. Although Poly played  fantastic, they were still preoccupied with playing Wilson next.
Every year, Poly and Wilson have had very close games. With the two teams evenly matched each year, they have come to share a rivalry. The Rabbits have always aimed to defeat the Bruins, and were finally able to achieve this goal in the last game on March 22. This was the first time that they had beaten the Wilson Bruins since 2007. However, this following game turned out to have a completely different outcome.
While Poly came to get another big win, the Bruins were seeking vengeance and were able to pull off a victory against Poly. The game turned out to have a big setting, because it was on senior night and the Jackrabbits were playing at home again—Joe Rodgers Stadium.
Wilson pitcher Joette Vega had a dominant game, not allowing the Rabbits to score capping off the game with a score of 5-0. Although the Rabbits were able to hit Vega’s pitches, they were unlucky and the ball continued to roll to the opponent each time.
“We knew we had to win and knew it was going to be a very tough game. They really wanted to beat us after we won the first round,” claimed junior Mikaela Vidovich. “They came out dominant. We could not catch a break.”
Both the softball and baseball teams look to redeem themselves in their following games. Both teams played against the Jordan Panthers on Wednesday, April 27, which could not be reported on due to time constraints. After tough losses from the Bruins, the teams should come out playing hard with lots of energy. Now that the first round of Moore League is out of the way, both teams have learned what they are up against and should play much better.

Poly Boys Volleyball had two intense matches of the Moore League season this previous week.
On Tuesday, April 19, students and fans watched the Poly Jackrabbits go head-to-head with the Wilson Bruins with bated breath. Long rivals, the Jackrabbits and Bruins volleyed it out at Wilson High School to take the Moore League win. Much to the disappointment of Poly, Wilson swept the boys varsity volleyball team in all three sets (25-22, 27-25, 25-20).
“We lost our team chemistry which affected our mind set heading into the game. I told the team that we needed to attack every team with no mercy,” says varsity coach, Justin Oleole.
On Thursday, April 21, the boys varsity volleyball team stole hearts, inspired fans, and dominated the Lancers in the outstanding 5-set match victory (32-30, 10-25, 13-25, 25-17, 15-9). The Poly vs. Lakewood match took place at Lakewood High School. The win put Poly and Lakewood at a tie for the top standing in Moore League this season.
“That was the craziest match ever!” exclaimed varsity middle blocker Sam Leiwis. “There was some volleyball, some Jerry Springer, and some WWE. It’s the LB baby,” Lewis says, referencing an emotional outburst that resulted from Kristain Tafao arguing with a chair official over a yellow card in the middle of the third set. After a misunderstanding with the coach, and then a brief argument between coach and assistant coach, the crowd was pulled intensly into the heat of the match.
The incident did not phase the team but rather inspired them to push harder. “Tafao re-entered the match in the fourth set and played his best volleyball of the season, making inspired, crisp sets and chasing down balls on defense with abandon,” Gazette Sports reported.
Thursday’s match definitely boosted the morale of the team. “Being able to overcome a huge deficit was probably the proudest moment as a coach. The team really came together after a tough 2 and 3 game fall,” says Oleole.
The next match is away on Thursday, April 28 against Cabrillo.