Courtesy of Thalea Charton

First team bonding at Yogurtland.

Head Coach: Michael Allegretti

Last year’s record: 6-5

Recap: The team remains in the El Camino division after finishing in fifth place.

Key Matchups: Fremont, Monta Vista and Santa Clara

Star Players: Seniors Thalea Charton and Isa Qvarfordt-Zhai and junior Riona Coghlan

Key losses to graduation: Leena El-Ashmawi, Tamar Garniek and Ava Sadeghi

Division: El Camino

Prognosis: 

 The Falcons finished with a 6-5 record last season but still came in fifth in the less competitive El Camino division.  

Joining the squad are four freshmen, Michelle Bessonov, Rosie Chen, Isadora Rupert and Maddy Schilling and two sophomores, Olivia Shi and Sara Bannon along with senior Sophia Tsives. 

All seven all have swimming experience, and Chen brings additional water polo experience from playing on a club team for four years. The team now has 16 players, as opposed to 13 last season. There weren’t enough signups to field a girls’ JV team this season.

Returning head coach Michael Allegretti continues to balance coaching not only the girls’ varsity team but also both the varsity and JV boys’ teams. Although his schedule is often full, he says he is dedicated to motivating and teaching the new members. 

“While our numbers are still not high enough to have a JV team, the small increase helps the team run scrimmages and practice games,” Allegretti said. 

Similarly, senior Thalea Charton expressed excitement over the increase in enrollment in her third year on the team. 

“As a senior, I’ve experienced quite a couple different seasons and I’ve seen that a larger team, even with new players, can have a dramatic impact on team morale and team performance,” Charton said. “When we’ve got more players on the team, the energy picks up, the encouragement from the bench gets louder and the plays feel sharper in the water.”

Last season, there were also not enough players to fill both a varsity and JV team. Although the trend continues into this season, the increasing roster size brings hope for upcoming seasons.

Senior Sahana Kumar is playing her fourth season as a goalie, the only goalie the team has. Likely field starters are seniors Isa Qvarfordt-Zhai and Charton, juniors Riona Coghlan, Kara Nikfar and Ramila Pourshafie and freshman Chen.

Although most of the new members have little background knowledge outside of swimming techniques, they are all learning the rules of the sport fast. Chen, for one, has club experience to share with the team.

“Although I’ve played for many years, I’m very excited for this new chapter in high school,” Chen said. “I get the amazing opportunity to meet new people and inspire others to join. I’m really looking forward to the rest of this season.”