Sports

For Class of 2013 graduate Todd Nguyen, who attends the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, biking has become a refuge from the pressure and stress of college.

Senior Karthik Padmanabhan will head to Annapolis, Md., after graduation to play tennis for the United States Naval Academy.

At age 11, Arul Venkatesh sat in front of the television set, his eyes glued to the Formula One competitors speeding around the track in polished go-karts, blurring past the world beyond them and obeying only the drop of the checkered flag.

From that point, Venkatesh was inspired to  become a professional kart racer, and he soon found a place to practice: Sonoma Raceway, 34 miles north of San Francisco.

Senior Uday Singh remembers the first time he went mountain biking. It was 2011, and Singh, then in seventh grade, had gone with his father to try the sport at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve.

Few students who apply for ISPE are approved.

English teacher Erick Rector holds passion for biking.

As the season progresses, the Falcons have already faced some of their toughest league opponents. Even though they’ve been playing well, they have suffered consecutive losses to leave their record at 5-5 as of Oct. 8.

As of Oct. 9, the girls are 1-6 in the upper De Anza league and working on rebuilding their team.

After losing 4 games, football players are hoping they can turn their season around against Los Altos in the game on Oct. 16.

After entering the league with a racing start to the season, the boys’ water polo team is No. 1 in the El Camino League with a 9-0 record.