Players to Watch: Fall Season
There are many exciting sports during the fall season, including football, boy’s water polo, girl’s volleyball, girl’s golf, cross country, and girl’s golf. Within each sport, there are standout athletes who are considered by some to be the “ones to watch”.
Cross Country:
“Our team has the potential to go to state if we keep training the way we are. Although our team is small, everybody who shows up to practice has the same goal.” said Ethan Duffy, junior. “Our Varsity team looks really strong this year. We have been training very intensively with Coach Maciel so far in training and I expect great things.”
The boys’ cross country team, coached by Marty Maciel, had its first race of the fall at UCSB. On the boys side of cross country the top runners are Logan Beteta, senior, Ethan Duffy, junior, and Ethan Ronk, freshman. Nathaniel Garner, sophomore, Walter Corthell, junior, Clay Nishi, junior, and Alex Whitney, senior are the next best runners, who are also on varsity, and are definitely ones to watch.
In the cross country system William Bilson, sophomore, Alexander Manos, sophomore, and Luc Payton, freshmen are all up and coming runners who have potential to be varsity next year.
The girl’s cross country team made it to CIF championships last year, with the extraordinary running of seniors Swathi Samuel and Kennedy Wall and junior Nicole Burch.
With the mentorship of coach Jenny Kenyon, the team, many of them seniors, are hoping to go to state after coming just short last year.
Girl’s Volleyball:
Kayla Overbeck, senior, is the leader of the Varsity team and is looking to have another amazing year. With the help of her teammates Emily Coleman, senior, and Emily Hoffman, senior, this year’s Varsity volleyball team looks strong. Some more players to watch on Varsity include seniors Andie Smith, Megan Elyamani, and Madison Douglas.
Nicole Geis, freshman and player on the J.V. team said, “We want to go undefeated this year.” Sam Smith, freshman, agreed, “We want to go undefeated, just like last year’s team and to finish every game knowing that we did our best and everyone on the team worked together.” Teammate Jillian White, freshman, said, “My personal goal is to do good in every game and make 90% of my serves over.” Smith added, “My personal goals are to get a lot of kills and aces. I also want to work well with the setters so we can run different types of hits.”
In consideration of opponents, according to Smith, “Buena High School, who is the first game we play on the road, got 2nd in the Summer Kings tournament.” White also added, “Agoura is looking pretty good as well.”
Girl’s Tennis:
Some of the top returners for this season are junior Zoie Wong, senior Katey Gunter, and senior Cate Saylors. Saylors has played in eight matches already. Some players on the radar are sophomore Heng Wei (Grace) Hsu, sophomore Britney Jennings, and sophomore Rebecca Chua. Finally, some young and talented players are freshman Angelina Powers, freshman Kelsey Mainard, and sophomore Erin Kraemer. Mainard said, “Our goals this year are to improve and to set a good example for Newbury Park High School.” The girl’s tennis team is coached by Harvey Mardyks.
Football:
After making it to the CIF finals last year, the team is looking to make another big run for the championship. The football team has many great returners. Seth Evans is a senior who plays center and defensive end. Shane Sipes, also a senior, is a wide receiver and free safety and plays explosively. Jonas Mello is an amazing senior kicker who can kick further than a fifty yard field goal. Evans, Sipes and Mello are the captains of the Varsity team. Cristian Egurbide, a senior outside linebacker and defensive end is considered by many to be one of the best players on the team. He and other key players will be exciting to watch this season. Standouts include starting quarterback Cameron Rising, who is a sophomore and a starter looking to make a huge impact in the backfield. Another standout player is junior Chris Brooks, who plays running back, wide receiver, and cornerback and rushed for 864 yards last year. Junior Marques Evans plays cornerback and wide receiver and is predicted to have a great season. There is also Andrew Noble, junior, who plays wide receiver and cornerback and has already made a major contribution to the football team’s success. Finally, senior Richard “Reno” Watkins plays offensive guard and defensive tackle and is a big, physical player who will clog the trenches up.
Boy’s Water Polo:
There are some big holes to fill from the senior class last year, but the seniors this year are up to the task. Seniors Sean Ripley, Thomas Ofria, and junior Jordan Jomsky are the top returners from last year’s team. They take over the team and are primed for a postseason run. Sophomore duo Sam Worley and Arthur Sefayan are also players to watch: They add a dangerous edge to the experienced team with their youth. Another player to watch is senior Jacob Estrada, a fan favorite who keeps the team light and fun.
Girl’s Golf:
Having almost all varsity players return from a year ago, junior twins Madison Wood and Skyler Wood, and senior Taylor Dederick all dominated the courses last year and look to forward to another great year. Other players to watch include Jessica Han, senior, and juniors Sonia Patel and Mazarine Penzin. “We are looking forward to the season and continuing to play hard and make the CIF playoffs,” Coach Nori Parvin said.
Overall, this fall sports season looks to be a great time to go support the teams as they all have postseason aspirations.
