Sports

Gripping the trapeze bar, sophomore Stacee Mendonca takes a deep breath before she jumps off the high platform and swings through the air. She maneuvers her body into a tuck and grabs backwards towards her partner, waiting for their hands to connect. She then lets go of her trapeze bar, trusting her partner as they fly through the air.

It’s the dream of a lot of athletes to play their sport in college, but for senior Nathan Nguyen, that dream has not only come true, but is becoming a difficult decision.

“It was pretty stressful narrowing down,” said Nguyen. “I had to consider schools for not only wrestling, but if I would be happy there socially and academically as well.”

In October, 154 girls—six seniors, seven juniors, one sophomore, and one freshman—became a single unit: the Lady Falcons. The team quickly formed an unbreakable bond, one forged at Chipotle and Yogurtland then strengthened by karaoke nights and hot tubs.

CCS champ sophomore year, finalist at state the same year.

Early in her high school athletic career, spectators could tell that current senior Kiersten Dolbec was going places. To be exact, she’s going to UCSB in the fall on a full scholarship to both play volleyball and do high jump for the Gauchos track team.

Not many students can brag that they have driven over 100 mph, but senior Nikola Radosavlijevich is no stranger to speed, having driven up to 160 mph on his motorcycle and 140 mph on his four wheel go-kart. Radosavlijevich started racing motorcycles at age 13 when his dad introduced him to the activity.

“My dad bought a motorcycle and I started to watch racing on TV, and that’s when I knew what I wanted to do with my life,” said Radosavlijevich. “The adrenaline and the speed is just awesome.”

Today’s Saratoga badminton team looks nothing like the group that became league champions in 2005. The Falcons have struggled for the last three years to regain their previous dominance, probably because the school has had a new coach each season since its title run. To make matters worse, the number of trained players involved in the program is now at an all-time low, as several strong athletes graduated in 2008.

The Falcons’ season came to a close on March 24 as the team suffered a 47-36 defeat at Del Mar in the first round of CCS. The loss capped a season of streaky play for the Falcons, who went 11-15 overall and 4-7 in league play.

“The CCS loss was a disappointing one for the team,” said coach Trevor Naas. “It is always hard to lose that last game knowing that it puts an end to your season.”

The boys’ varsity soccer team is looking back with regret after enduring a rocky season that ended with a loss to Mountain View on Feb. 6.

The boys lost 6-1 to Mountain View after playing a difficult game with two key players out: junior left center defender Matt Marshall and freshman left forward Jon Jonqua.

After a 1-0 victory over Milpitas on Feb. 6 marked the end of a tumultuous regular season for the girls’ varsity soccer team, the girls began to play a different, albeit less fun, game. They began to play the waiting game, anxiously anticipating the decision of the CCS Board as to whether or not they could qualify for the championships as a wildcard.

The Falcons, who stand 2-5 in league and 9-12 overall, sustained a devastating league loss to Lynbrook at home on Feb. 6 With less than a month left in the regular season, the team has dropped six of its last seven games and fallen to fifth in the El Camino league.