Gunn Lacrosse Team Fundraiser!

Sports Families: Order Personalized Gunn Sports Gear - Order online until September 18

Show your colors and make it PERSONAL with sports gear from 31 Gifts. Gear up for a great season with sports gear that will have you and your student cheering! Choose from a cinch sac, bleacher blanket, zip-top tote bag, large utility tote, or browse the 31 Gifts catalog instead 

(http://goo.gl/forms/oHjo3s3IZG)

Show Your Titan Pride!

For all you Gunn sports fans...support your favorite Titan team with a personalized blanket or tote.  The bleacher blanket is water-resistant material on one side, and soft fleece on the other side.  The tote is made of durable, wipeable material with 2 interior pockets and 5 exterior pockets and the bleacher blanket fits inside with room to spare for other spectator essentials!  See the attached order form for details and ordering options.  For questions, please email Susan at giovannottos@me.com.

GUNN ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION DONATION

Please support the Gunn student-athletes by making your donation of $175 to the Gunn Athletic Department.

Parents of Gunn Student Athletes,

The Gunn Athletic Department needs your support.  Budget cuts and state regulations in recent years have eliminated all additional funding for high school sports and the District only pays for Coaches’ stipends. Your donation of $175 per athlete (per sport played) is the sole source of income for the Athletic Department to cover the expenses for our teams to compete.   These expenses include league/tournament fees, referees, bus transportation, medical supplies and some equipment necessary to compete.  The goal this year for the Athletic Department is 100% team participation for the athletic donation for all Gunn sports teams (fall, winter and spring).  We are currently at 60% participation for fall teams combined.

I have attended several team parent meetings for fall sports and here are some of the questions most asked by Gunn parents regarding this donation.

FAQ’S:

I already sent in a team donation that the coach requested, why do I need to donation $175?  

Team donations are separate from the athletic donation.  Your team donation is used for your team only for items your coach wants/needs for your team to compete.  The athletic donation is the income for the athletic department for all the teams at Gunn.  Those funds are used for tournament/competition fees, bus transportation to games, referees and medical supplies.  The only funds that the athletic department receives from the district are the stipend for the coaches so your donation is essential for the department.

Why are checks made out to Gunn Sports Boosters but the funds don’t go into the team accounts?  

In the past, checks for the athletic donation were made out to Gunn High School while team donations were made out to Gunn Sports Boosters.  These accounts have always been separated but this year they have been combined so that families would only have to write one check to pay for all their donations.  Gunn Sports Boosters then issues a check to the Gunn Athletic Department for the $175 donations and team donations go into the individual team accounts.

What accounts are there for the teams?  Is fundraising the same as the athletic donation?  

There are two accounts, Gunn Sports Boosters and Gunn Athletic Department.  Fundraising funds for your team goes into your team account …the athletic department does not have access or use any of those funds.  The athletic donation goes to the athletic department and is used to cover expenses for our teams to compete.

What percentage of the $175 athletic donation does my team receive?   

This donation is the sole income for the athletic department/all the athletic teams. The only funds the department receives from the District are for the coach’s stipend.  Each team does not receive a percentage of this donation but the expenses for all the teams to compete (tournament/competition fees, bus transportation to games, referees and medical supplies) are covered by this donation.

To make a donation, you can either donate by check (payable to Gunn Sports Boosters) and have your student/athlete give it to the Coach or donate online at  www.gunnsportsboosters.com. Please include your athlete's name and sport played when donating.  If the participation donation is a financial burden for your family, please consider giving what you can.  With a goal of 100% participation, every contribution is greatly appreciated.

Any additional questions, feel free to me at spainsdj@comcast.net.    Thank you for your support!

Thank you,

Jill M. Spain

Gunn High School Sports Boosters

Gunn Boy's Lacrosse Fundraiser!

DONATE TO GOODWILL AT GUNN!!!

OCTOBER 18th & 19th

Donate your items to Goodwill & money raised will benefit the Gunn Boys Lacrosse team!

Doing some fall cleaning?….a Goodwill truck will be on the Gunn campus the weekend of October 18th & 19th from 9am. to 4pm.

The truck will be located near Gunn’s main office to provide easy access for you to drop off your items.

For your convenience, if you have items to donate prior to October 18th & 19th, Goodwill barrels will be located in front of the main office.

Thank you for contributing to Goodwill, your community and the Boys Lacrosse Team!!                   If you have any items weighing over 50 lbs., contact Cassandra Gencarella (mginx@sbcglobal.net) and we can arrange a Goodwill truck to come to your home. (Goodwill cannot take individual items weighing 50 lbs. or over at Gunn).

GUNN HIGH SCHOOL BOYS LACROSSE TEAM – STELLA & DOT ONLINE FUNDRAISER

The Holidays are here, it's time to go shopping.
To find that perfect gift, there's no reason to go store hopping!!

The GUNN HIGH SCHOOL BOYS LACROSSE TEAM is holding an online fundraiser with Stella & Dot.  Funds raised will be used to purchase new field equipment and protective gear for players.  Shop online now and the lacrosse team receives 50% of the retail sale of the item!
Here's how to order:

• Go to http://www.stelladot.com/renatesteiner
• Top left bar click on finding a hostess.
• Type in Renate Steiner, select Renate as hostess and continue.
• Click shop online (lower right) and you are ready to  shop!  All purchases made will be credited to the lacrosse team.

Online shopping open now until Christmas.
Happy Holidays and Happy Shopping!!

Any questions, please contact Jill Spain @spainsdj@comcast.net

Running with the Bulls 5k race on Sunday May 12

Submitted by Ruta Puranik

RUNNING WITH THE BULLS: 5K Race on Sunday, May 12th at 9am- Please volunteer.

 

This year's Running of the Bulls 5k Race is on Sunday, May 12th in Palo Alto celebrates its 11th anniversary (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001ZnWsUdg_0ImtmJ4uGHmKVDIm1jvQRa6h0Z8gfYpn2JnfCbAjChmWz8riFoQG_L1bVnSdm7oG_6BUo2Kz56ct1kfXZUIZsZvbE-PL_9xKfQQ=).   Don't miss this special event.  Not a runner?  Please consider being one of the many volunteers needed to make this long treasured event a success.  If you are unfamiliar with our race; costumed cows and bulls chase you through our 5k course. Some of them are Olympic Athletes, others just like dressing up. 100% of event proceeds go to our beneficiary organizations: A Foundation Building Strength, GunnHS and the Bay Area Track Club.

Race Registration begins at 8:10am  on day of the event or mail in your registration. It is a fun family event on mother's day. The starting point is 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA.

Volunteers Needed during the race- Please sign up: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Al7nWjVX1yJHdENsT3JXRkVmWFVjTnFqVEJ2Z3U4Z2c&usp=drive_web#gid=0

Thank you for participating...a portion of the proceeds from the event will be applied to scholarships for students in the Gunn Class of 2013 who would otherwise be unable to attend Grad Night festivities.

 

Gunn Sports Update Feb 2013

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

Paly Dual meet

The scene at Robert Bow Gymnasium had become bizarre. One by one, a Gunn-Palo Alto wrestler came to the scorer’s table, only to be told that Palo Alto would forfeit the bout. After the fourth straight forfeit, sixth overall, the Titans had themselves a surreal 64-18 destruction of its rival, one that will go down as the most anticlimactic in school history.

Gunn (5-1, 3-0 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division) had the match clinched after a forfeit win by James Perng at 120 pounds. Next came Eric Cramer getting a free six points at 126 pounds, his season record now at 18-0. Then it was brother, Ian Cramer, winning a forfeit at 132 pounds. Tavor Haharov’s forfeit victory at 138 pounds concluded what had to be an unsatisfying evening for Gunn coach Chris Horpel, his wrestlers and the 200 or so fans in attendance.

“That’s the first time it has ever happened to me and I’ve been coaching a long time, almost 40 years,” Horpel said. “I saw them warm up. They looked OK in the warm-up. All my kids thought they had matches. They were mentally getting ready, physically getting ready, only to have that happen. It’s a very strange thing.”

“We knew we were going to have some forfeits,” Paly coach Dave Duran said. “If something different happened early, we would have wrestled one other kid. The other kids, we weren’t going to wrestle. We had a couple kids with the flu. We are just thin.”

The match started with a forfeit win by Gunn’s Blaze Lee at 145 pounds. The Titans’ Darrion Yang made quick work of Paly’s Emile Wolfgramm, pinning Wolfgramm in 41 seconds.

Gunn’s Dino Soto and Paly’s Jordan Gans put on an entertaining bout at 160 pounds. Gans had a takedown and a 2-point near-fall to lead 4-0 after one period. Soto pecked away, getting to within 8-7 with a takedown to begin the third period. Gans scored a 2-point reversal before winning by fall at 5:03.

Paly’s Gary Hohbach looked strong in the 160-pound weight class, pinning Gunn’s Takeru Nishi at 1:53. The Titans’ Stephen Martin and Paly’s Erik Anderson went at it, though the score was only 3-2 in favor of Martin after a reversal early in the second period. Anderson fell into a trap and Martin took advantage, pinning Anderson at 2:31.
“I was waiting for a mistake by him,” Martin said. “When it opened, I took it.”

“Stephen Martin weighs about 172, but he likes wrestling up because he says they aren’t as good,” Horpel said. “But, the guy he wrestled was good, ranked fourth in CCS, and was built like a true 182-pounder. Stephen is much stronger than he looks.”

Gunn’s Sean Lydster scored a 12-0 major decision over Paly’s Alex Taussig at 195 pounds. The Vikings’ Andrew Frick and Gunn’s Harsha Mokkarala put on a good match at 220 pounds. Mokkarala led 3-1 after receiving a point for stalling on Frick in the third period. Frick answered with a takedown and a 2-point nearfall. Mokkarala escaped for one point, then got two points for an illegal hold by Frick, whorallied to pin Mokkarala at 5:40. That closed Gunn’s lead to 2218, but it was all Titans after that.

“I was trying to stay in with some hard tie-ups,” Mokkarala said. “I knew he was going to try and shoot. It’s all practice until the league tournament.”

Eric Calderon pinned Paly’s Nick Beeson at 2:47 in the 285-pound bout. Michael Abramovitch was given a forfeit in at 106 pounds, then it was time for Gunn’s Cadence Lee, one of the best female wrestlers in the Central Coast Section, to take the mat.

Lee wrestled James Giaccia at 113 pounds. Right around the time Giaccia took a 2-0 lead on a takedown, Lee screamed out in pain, her right knee injured. Lee took 1 minute, 15 seconds of injury time, but stayed in the match. She scored a reversal, then a 3-point near fall to end the first period. After a 2-point takedown to start the second period, Lee got Giaccia in a cradle, pinning him at 2:44.

“When your adrenaline is going, it’s amazing what you can do,” Horpel said. “I told her that if she winced at all, I was throwing in the towel. She, not only didn’t wince, but she came back and pinned him.”

Girls CCS

Gunn junior Cadence Lee won her third straight title at the Girls' Central Coast Section Wrestling Championships, going 3-0 with three pins during the two-day event that concluded Saturday at Oak Grove High in San Jose.

Lee finished off her impressive performance in the 103-pound division by pinning Kayla Walker of Leland in just 55 seconds in the title match -- a rematch of last year's finale -- while earning another trip to the girls' state championships.

Lee won her semifinal match with a pin in 2:29 and took her quarterfinal with a pin in 1:40. She finished with 28 individual points.

"I'm overall satisfied with how I wrestled, but I'm looking forward to improving some things in both State and the upcoming boy's league (finals)," said Lee. "I think I was just much more prepared and warmed up for my finals match thanks to one of my teammates who drove over to help me. I'll be going into the state tournament with confidence, but I'll make sure it doesn't negatively affect my wrestling."

At 138 pounds, Gunn's Jessica Sun lost in the finals by a pin. She reached the title match with a pair of pins.

Gunn's Grace Robinson finished third at 118 pounds by pinning Natalie Ruiz of Terra Nova in 41 seconds to help the Titans finish fourth in the team race with 76 points. Scotts Valley won with 109 points.

"We only had four athletes on our team, which is small compared to the other top girls' programs," said Gunn coach Chris Horpel. "Even still, all four wrestlers contributed by winning matches and three qualified for the state championships."

Lee will be joined by Sun and Robinson at the state championships at Lemoore High School in two weeks. Teammate Zee Peng (126 pounds) did not place, but scored six points with a second-round pin.

 

Mid-Cals Tournament

More than 90 percent of the 72 wrestling teams at the Mid-Cal tournament hosted by Gilroy finished behind Gunn-Palo Alto. That pleased Titans coach Chris Horpel. But it did not satisfy him.

“We always want to do better than whatever we’ve done — seventh was great, but we want to do even better than that,” Horpel said. “I just told the team we’re on the right path. We’re not there yet, but we’re doing all the right things. And a lot of those matches that we didn’t win in that tournament were within reach. I don’t have any complaints. We just have some work to do.”

The top finisher for Gunn was Stephen Martin at 184 pounds. The junior improved his record to 27-6, but lost a 5-2 decision to the eventual champion out of South San Francisco in the quarterfinals.

Martin bounced back with three wins in the consolation bracket, including a 6-2 decision against Palo Alto senior Erik Anderson, who finished eighth. Anderson also fell in the quarterfinals after recording pins in his first two bouts.

With a 7-5 overtime victory in his next match, Martin reached the third-place match, where he dropped an 84 decision to finish fourth.

“He was JV last year and now he’s really good enough to win the CCS(tournament) if he has a good day,” Horpel said. “He doesn’t know a lot of technique yet, but he’s just tough as nails. And he’s winning these matches just on grit and making the other guy break. … I think he’s a dark horse. Nobody really understands quite how good he is.”

Gunn senior Eric Cramer rebounded from a 12-5 semifinal loss to eventual 128-pound champion Victor Olmos of Gilroy to reach the fifth-place match, where he won a major decision 9-0 to improve his season mark to 41-4.

Younger brother Ian Cramer wasn’t so lucky at 134 pounds despite a 17-0 tech fall, a 14-0 major decision and a pin at 2:31. In the double elimination tournament, the sophomore lost a 2-0 decision to miss the quarterfinals, and a 6-5 decision kept him from cracking the top eight.

Two other Gunn wrestlers reached their respective fifthplace matches. At 197 pounds, Sean Lydster recorded a pin in 34 seconds to make the quarterfinals, but lost a 2-1 decision. Lydster won twice in the consolation bracket before finishing sixth after a 4-3 overtime tiebreaker loss in which his opponent shot at his legs at the end of the minute-long round.

Gunn senior Harsha Mokkarala used two pins in three matches to reach the semifinals before losing an 11-7 decision to the eventual champion.

“I think he surprised himself getting to the semis because he lost the night before,” Horpel said. “And in the semis, I think he just didn’t believe that he was supposed to be in the finals. That’s really what it amounts to. … Those weight classes up there, anybody can win on the right date. It’s about the mental attitude you have in the upper weights.”

Paly finished 32^nd.

Girl’s Basketball -

The Gunn girls' basketball team moved into a virtual tie for second place in the SCVAL De Anza Division following a 60-38 romp over host Saratoga on Wednesday night. Olivia Tapia poured in 22 points and Zoe Zwerling added 14 as the Titans improved to 7-2 (13-5) heading into a big showdown with first-place Lynbrook (10-1) on Friday at Gunn (6:15 p.m.)

SCVAL De Anza Division
Gunn 13 13 18 16 -- 60
Saratoga 8 7 9 14 -- 38Gunn -- Zwerling 5-2-14, Ogawa 1-0-3, Tapia 5-8-22, Steger 1-0-2, Klem 0-2-2, Shevick 1-3-5, Redfield 2-2-6, Mahoney 2-2-6. Totals: 17-19-60.
Saratoga -- Sisco 1-0-2, Ramaswamy 4-6-15, Chou 1-1-4, Johnson 5-7-17. Totals: 11-14-38.
Three-point goals: Tapia 4, Zwerling 2, Ogawa (G); Ramaswamy, Chou (S)
Standings: Lynbrook 10-1 (20-3), Wilcox 7-2 (19-2), Gunn 6-2 (13-5), Palo Alto 4-5 (8-12), Los Gatos 2-7 (6-15), Saratoga 2-8 (13-9), Milpitas 2-8 (8-13)

Gunn is currently ranked 4^th in CCS.

Previous games

Gunn-Palo Alto 62, Lynbrook-San Jose 45: Russell had 16 for the Titans in a SCVAL El Camino Division win. Wade Barry had 13 points, while Patrick Skelly added 11 points. Record: G 4-11, 1-4 SCVAL El Camino

Gunn-Palo Alto 56, Saratoga 45: Trailing 25-24 at halftime, the Titans used a 13-3 third quarter to take control. Point guard Zoe Zwerling led Gunn with 15 points and had 7 rebounds, Claire Klausner hit a pair of 3-pointers to score 13 points to go along with 3 rebounds and 3 steals, while Sarah Klem added 9 points. Record: G 10-3, 3-0 SCVAL De Anza

 

Sports Update2 - January

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

 

Wrestling

With Junior Cadence Lee leading the way, the Gunn wrestling team came up with its best performance this season producing five individual champions and a second-place team finish at the San Ramon Invitational, last Saturday. This marks the fourth meet in a row that the Titans have finished either first or second, making this the best start in Gunn wrestling history.

Lee won the 106-pound title with two pins and a 3-0 record and was named the Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament. In addition to Lee, Daniel Papp at 126 (4-0 with two pins, one tech fall), Eric Cramer at 132 (4-0 with three pins), Ian Cramer at 138 (4-0 with three pins), and Stephen Martin at 182 (3-0 with two pins) also won their weight groups. Blaze Lee (Sr.) was second at 152 (3-1 with two pins) and Sean Lydster was runner-up at 195 (2-1 with one pin). Harsha Mokkarala was third at 220 (4-1 with three pins) and Eric Calderon was third at 285 (3-1 with one pin). 

The Titans will host crosstown rival PALY this Thursday, with the JV starting at 5:30 and the varsity following immediately after. On Friday and Saturday, both squads will compete at the prestigious Mid Cal Invitational at Gilroy High.

 

Basketball - The Titans (3-0, 10-3) hold sole possession of first place in SCVAL following a 56-45 win over visiting Saratoga. Gunn got 15 points from Zoe Zwerling and 13 from Claire Klausner. 

Zwerling also grabbed seven rebounds while Sarah Klem had nine points and four rebounds for the Titans, who trailed by 16-14 after one quarter and still were down at the half, 25-24. Gunn finally pulled ahead in the third quarter after holding the Falcons (1-4, 12-5) to just three points.

 

Boys’ Soccer - Gunn HS beat Los Altos @ Los Altos 1-0. Stefan Jensen took a shot outside the box only to have it ricochet out to teammate Elyas Daadi who took an incredible bending shot to score the only goal for Gunn High School. The team played solid defense and managed to keep Los Altos from capitalizing on their attempts at goal. Boot Bullwinkle had many timely saves in goal which helped to keep the team in the game. Gunn's next game is against Mountain View High School at Gunn on Friday, 1/18 at 3:30pm. Come cheer the boy's on!!

 

Sports Update-January 2013

 Submitted by Miriam Rotman

Sports Update - January 2013

Wrestling 
Wonderful things are happening with the Titan wrestling team.
The wrestling team has won both tournaments it entered starting with the Lynn-Dyche Tournament (before winter break) winning this tournament for the second consecutive year.  The Titans then won their first-ever Bianchini title upsetting Palma and several other schools outside the Central Coast Section.

Gunn produced three champions and nine medalists overall.  Cadence Lee (Jr.) is the first female ever to win gold in this tournament (!) and the Cramer brothers (Ian – Soph. and Eric – Sr.) both won their weight divisions. 
"My team keeps surprising me in a good way," said coach Chris Horpel, now in his 10th season as Gunn's head wrestling coach. "I was especially impressed with Ian Cramer, who pinned all four opponents in the first or second period on his way to the 138-pound title."
The Titans are heading to the prestigious San Ramon Tournament this weekend – Good Luck Titans!

Girls Basketball
Gunn opened its SCVAL De Anza Division season by holding host Los Gatos to just 11 percent shooting from the field on the way to a 44-14 victory. Gunn backed up that game with another  dominating performance against Milpitas beating them 59-21. Junior guard Zoe Zwerling is leading the Gunn scoring backed up by her fellow Lady Titans – Olivia Tapia, Meghan Maroney, Sally Longyear, Emily Redfield, Nora Shevick and point guard Claire Klausner.

Boy’s Soccer – Titan soccer led off their season against Santa Clara HS. Boys played tough and kept Santa Clara at bay with a 0-0 tie. Boot Bullwinkle came up huge against Santa Clara in goal and helped the defense shut down Santa Clara HS for the tie.  Gunn hosted the second league game at home against Homestead. Gunn beat the Homestead Mustangs 1-0 with an great goal scored by Johnny Sun in the first half. The goal was set up by an incredible assist from #13 Justin MacMillan. The Titans defense, led by Paco Covarrubias, worked hard as a team to shut down all Homestead's scoring opportunities.

Gunn boy's soccer will meet up against Los Gatos High School at Los Gatos on Friday, January 11th @ 3:30pm.

Girl’s soccer – playing Los Gatos at home this Friday, January 11 at 7:00 PM.

P4P event

Submitted by Kathryn Latour

Thursday, October 18th we had a great P4P event and a solid biking turnout among our Gunn students
with a total of 624 bikes counted in all the bike racks. We say this is a great biking count since it is well
over 1/3 of the student body, and it exceeds the number of bikers to Paly both by absolute number
and per capita. However, normally these numbers are even higher when there are no special events
like Homecoming that made it more difficult for some students to bike. Congratulations, Titans! Special
thanks also goes to volunteers Lawrence Baker (who flew in just for this event), Steve Hubbell (illustrious
past P4P co-chair), Penny Ellson (PTA Traffic Safety Rep), and Iris Latour (former-Gunn-student-now-
college-graduate) for greeting each biker and thanking them with a Rice Krispy Treat.

On a more sober note, we have two areas of concern. Principal Villalobos related that there are still a
great many bikes left unlocked in the morning as proven by those who discovered their bikes gone at
the end of the day and reclaimed them in the office. If students forget to bring their bike lock to school,
there are extras in the office; securing a bike is the surest way to avoid bike theft. The second concern is
that there seems to be many more students biking without their helmets. The law states that all bikers
under the age of 18 must wear a helmet. This law was enacted for your protection since head injuries
from biking accidents can be severe, even fatal.

For November, look for announcements about the Palo Alto-sponsored bike survey and the November
1st Walk About where students can give input about biking concerns. Thanks, Gunn students, for doing
your part to help the environment, congestion, and traffic safety!

Kathryn Latour
P4P Chair

Gunn Sports Update

Submitted by Miriam Rotman 

Gunn sports update Girls Tennis – Gunn Girl’s tennis team played very well and beat Homestead 4-2 in the El Camino Division SCVAL Playoff for CCS automatic qualifier and the right to move up to the De Anza Division next year. Congratulations to Alice Li, SCVAL Singles Champion. Shout out also to Antoinette Nguyen/Anjali Hereka, SCVAL Doubles 3rd Place winners and Deviany Bhadkamar/Ebba Nord, SVCAL 4th Place winners.   Girls golf – Gunn sophomore Anna Zhou finished in first place at the girls' Central Coast Section Golf Championships held this Tuesday in Carmel Valley. Zhou fired a 4-under-par 68 including a stretch of two birdies and an eagle in her final seven holes. The 68 was Zhou's best 18-hole score. Her previous best was 69. Zhou shot 70 to finish tied for second at the 2011 CCS finals. In the first year of competing, the Titans finished second overall in the team race behind Valley Christian qualifying for next week's NorCal Championships held in Stockton. Gunn junior Jayshree Sarathy shot 74 and freshman teammate Tiffany Yang added a 79. Lianna McFarlane-Connelly shot 89 and Somina Lee carded a season-best 93 to round out the Titans' historic effort. Gunn was the only public school to finish among the top five teams. "Our team score of 403 was good enough to win the CCS team competition in any other year (but this one)," said Gunn coach Chris Redfield." Girls Volleyball - The Gunn girls' volleyball team tuned up for its final regular-season match by downing host Monta Vista, 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-11, in SCVAL De Anza Division action Tuesday night. The Titans (4-9, 16-15) were led by Lena Latour's 15 kills. Gunn hosted rival Palo Alto on Thursday. Cross country – at the SCVAL El Camino championships Gunn boys placed 5th. Leading the charge - Dillon Hu 17:29; 26 Thomas Rasmussen 17:30; 27, Antonio Puglisi 17:30; 36, Ian Malone 17:42 Football - Gunn win against Cupertino sets up SCVAL showdown.

Homecoming is always one of the big highlights at Gunn High School and on Friday evening the Gunn Football team put on a spectacular show as they dominated Los Altos 42-0 in front of a packed home crowd. Led by Sean Lydster’s three touchdown runs and Andre Guzman two touchdown passes to Tyrus Whitehead, the Titans scored early and often (like voting) as they improved to 3-0 in El Camino Division play and 5-2 overall. “We played good football,” said Gunn Head Coach Dan Navarro. “Our offensive line blocked well and we ran very well tonight.” Throughout the night the Titans got strong line play from Aryeh Furman and solid defense from Forrest Larson and Dietrich Sweat. The Gunn Titans followed that great performance with a defining win against Cupertino last Friday. The game was close at half time (14-6) but Sean Lydster rushed for 3 touchdowns and Marcus Moreno-Ramos also scored on a 2-yard rush in the 3rd quarter to break the game wide open. This Friday Gunn will play Monta Vista and the winner will be the frontrunner to represent the El Camino division at the CCS playoffs. Go Gunn!

Homecoming 2012

Submitted by Lisa Hall 

Homecoming 2012 Info:  It’s October, and that means students and staff are gearing up for Homecoming 2012: “California Dreamin’”!  Homecoming is a weeklong spirit week that runs from October 15th to October 20th. Competitions between the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes will be held daily at brunch and lunch.  In addition, students and staff will dress up in different costumes every day.   Check out the Homecoming webpage on the Student Activities Website for detailed information on each day:  https://sites.google.com/site/gunnstudentactivities/EventsandActivities/homecoming-week/

Night Rally:  Thursday, October 18th, is the climax of the week, with float stuffing (2-7:00pm), a PTSA-sponsored BBQ (4-6pm), and the fantastic Night Rally at 8 pm in the gym, with doors opening at 7:30pm.  Tickets for Gunn Students Only are on sale in the SAC starting October 9^th until October 15th. Starting Oct. 16th, students may buy a maximum of two tickets for guests until 4 pm on Oct. 18th, or until sold out. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door to the general public. Cost is $3 for Gunn students and $5 for non-Gunn students and adults.

Questions?  Contact Lisa Hall, Student Activities Director at lhall@pausd.org

Sports Update-Aug/Sept 2012

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

Girls water polo - Gunn 10-3 over host Los Altos.

 

Elizabeth Anderson and her sister, Caroline, provided the Gunn girls' water polo team with a solid one-two punch last season. The result was a SCVAL De Anza Division title, playoff crown and a berth in the Central Coast Section semifinals. The Titans have only half that knockout blow this year, but it may prove to be enough. Caroline Anderson (Jr.) scored half of the Titans' goals in the 10-3 match as the two teams opened the SCVAL De Anza Division girls water polo campaign Tuesday. It was a rematch of last year's De Anza Division title match, also won by the Titans 17-8. Anderson scored three of her goals in the first half. Anderson, who is getting attention from Div. I colleges, impressed Eagles first-year coach Seth Tasman, "Anderson is very good," Tasman said.

"Anderson is very explosive," Hernandez said. "She's creative with the ball with good instincts and good fundamentals."

Next home Game - Thursday, Sept. 20 5:45 Gunn V. Los Gatos

Gunn Football - Gunn 28- 6 over Carlmont

Gunn Football is off to its best start since the 2002 team started the season 6-0. Thanks to big plays by Kevin Sharp and Andre Guzman, the Titans extended their winning streak to four games as in addition to the opening two wins they won the last two of 2011 campaign. The four-game win streak is also the longest win streak since the 2002 season. The game started with a bang as Sharp took the opening kickoff, and went untouched for a 95-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead. In an additional play Gunn with great defense prevented Carlmont from scoring and then Andre Guzman hit Sean Lydster on a screen pass and Lydster went 93 yards for the touchdown -- thanks again to great blocking. Guzman ran the ball in for a two-point conversion.

Guzman finished 13 of 16 for 274 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. His three touchdown passes gives him four for the season with no interceptions. Gunn has not committed a turnover while collecting three opponent turnovers.

Next Game - Please come and cheer as the Titans will host Capuchino at 7:30 PM. Let's make it 3-0 to start the season!!

Gunn Girl’s tennis team Gunn Girl’s tennis team had a good opening week. In its first league match Gunn beat Fremont 6-1 @ Cubberley (Gunn’s current home), following that with a close loss to a good Mountain View team 4-3.

Gunn Girl's Volleyball - Started the season in spectacular fashion winning the blue division at Spikefest 1!.

After some first-match jitters, the Gunn varsity volleyball team settled down and played some intense volleyball to win the Blue Division. Seniors Nitika Johri, Lena Latour, Mika Munch, Dionna Jacobson and Lisa Yan all played key roles throughout the day, along with Juniors Erica Johnston and Miranda Crothers, and Sophomores Tahra Knudsen and Meghan Mahoney.

Next Game - at Palo Alto on Tuesday, September 18 at 6:45. Next home game - Thursday V Lynbrook at 6:45.

Sports Update May

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

A wonderful week for Gunn spring sports in baseball, swimming, wrestling  and track, culminated in a the first ever CCS championship for the girls swimming team and a National Title in wrestling!

With two CCS team titles in swimming and basketball  along with a second place finish by cross country, it’s safe to say that this is the year of the Lady Titan in sports at Gunn High School.

Swimming - Gunn girls, for the first time in CCS history, beat all other squads scoring 266 points to defeat defending champion Mitty (242) and third-place Palo Alto (173). "We knew coming in that our stars were ready to shine," said Hernandez. "We knew our 200 free and 400 free relays were untouchable." The Titans won both those relays and got two individual wins from senior Rachael Acker to achieve a goal that was conceived last year after Gunn finished fourth for the second straight season.

“I can’t say enough about this group of seniors,” said a shivering Mark Hernandez who was thrown in the pool in the traditional championship rite. “Everybody came through and I’m so proud of them.”

While Hernandez was shivering, his heart was full of warmth. “These girls really showed the way and have set an example for future Titans to follow.”  "At CCS last year, we thought we could win it this year," Hernandez said. "We were bringing back just about everybody and we felt really confident.""This senior class is the best class Gunn has ever had," Hernandez said. Acker and fellow seniors Julia Ama, Christine Prior, Casey Lincoln and Maggie McKenna scored 186 of their team's 266 points and did it impressively. Gunn held only a 12-point lead over Mitty prior to the final race but Acker, Ama, Lincoln and Jenna Campbell (Fr.) splashed to a CCS record of 3:23.06 to win. Their winning time just missed the national public school record of 3:22.85 by Hershey (Pa.) last year.

Acker won the 50 free in 22.78 after breaking her school record in the prelims with a 22.64. She also won the 100 in 48.98, another school mark, and led off the winning 200 free relay team that clocked a school-record 1:34.87. Lincoln added a second place in the 500 free (4:53.20) after setting a school record of 4:52.24 in the prelims. Campbell finished third in the 200 free in 1:51.16 after setting a school mark of 1:50.93 in the prelims. McKenna added more Gunn points in the 100 breast with a school record of 1:06.17 for fifth while Ama teamed with Acker to score 68 points in just the 50 and 100 freestyles.

While the veterans led the way, there were key contributions from the next generation of Titan greats. Bethke and fellow sophomore Fiona Hon, along with Campbell teamed with McKenna for a fifth place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. Campbell scored huge points with a third place finish in the 200 Free and joined senior Christine Prior in picking up important points in the 500 Free. Hon picked up points in the 100 Backstroke and Nia Gardner (Fr.) scored in the 100 Backstroke and joined with Bethke to add depth in the 50 Free.

"This is real exciting," Hernandez said of his first CCS title. Pictures on Gunn titans online site.

Cadence Lee - The 2012 U.S. FILA Cadet World Team was determined at the Body Bar FILA Cadet Nationals on Saturday. Champions in the 10 FILA weight classes qualify for the U.S. team at the 2012 FILA Junior World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand, Sept. 4-9. Amongst those claiming the World Team berths at their weights  was Cadence Lee (So). of Dave Schultz WC-Titans at 49 kg/108 lbs. Cadence pinned all 6 opponents on her way to a 1st place finish, earning her a spot on the World Cadet Team!

Baseball - the baseball team had to wait until the final day of the regular season to clinch their title, but it was worth it. To achieve an undisputed El Camino Division Championship, Gunn won a 4-3 nail biter against the visiting Cupertino Pioneers on Senior Day.  The Titans won league with a record of 11-4, and 19-8 overall.  Cupertino fell to 3-11 in league, and 8-15 overall. Undefeated senior right hander Ryan Gorman pitched his fifth complete game win of the season, pushing his record to 8-0 overall.  Despite the extremely warm afternoon, Gorman allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, on 5 Pioneer hits, on a total of 109 pitches. 

Offensively, Junior Kevin Sharp had 2 singles, one RBI, and scored once.  For the third time this season, senior Jake Verhulp led off the game with a triple and scored.  Fellow senior Graham Fisher added an RBI double, stole second, and scored on an error.

Following the game, Gunn Head Coach John Harney said “I am extremely pleased that we won the El Camino Division title outright, especially with this great group of kids.”

Said Gunn coach John Harney: "I am extremely pleased that we won the El Camino Division title outright, especially with this great group of kids."

On Wednesday the team will be playing Pioneer High School in San Jose. Good Luck!!

Track and Field  - At the track and field competitions, held at Santa Clara High, in the triple jump, Asaf Rotman (Sr.) leaped to a season best 43 feet to qualify for CCS in third place and Eric Price (Jr) qualified in 4th place (42-11). Amongst the girls, Gunn's top qualifiers included Stephanie Do in the 300 hurdles (fifth in 48.73) and long jump (fifth at 16-4), Moira Saxena in the high jump (tie for third at 5-0) and Adrianna Noronha in the discus (fourth at 101-11).

Gunn Student Achievements

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

Spectacular Achievements by Gunn Students -

Languages - French - 100 Gunn students scored in the upper 80th percentile of the National French Exam. Several Gunn students achieved honors: Emily Aiken, Vicky Sun, Angela Chen, Angeliki Ionnidis, Emma Marriott, Demetri Nicolaou, Angela Chen, Nabil Hamade, Devyani Bhadkamkar, and Varun Bhadkamkar. In the National German Exam, 15 Gunn students won gold medals, 5 silver medals, and 9 bronze medals. The National Spanish Exam garnered Gunn students 50 gold medals, 70 silver and 47 bronze.

Music Program - Gunn’s Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra both received Unanimous Superior ratings at the California Music Education Association’s Orchestra Festival May 4. All Gunn’s instrumental music ensembles (bands, orchestras and jazz) received the highest honors at CMEA Festivals this year. Gunn remains one of the few California schools to achieve this honor.

National History Day competition - 14 Gunn students placed or won their categories in the Santa Clara countycompetition and advanced to the California State History Finals competition held in Riverside in March - Jessica Sheng, Emily S. Wang, Gavin Baker, Anna Dang, Aaron Miner, Erica Watkins, Olivia Zunino, Annie Hamburgen, Francesca Macrae, Tahra Knudsen, Maya Rotman, Anton Oyung, Jack Jaffe, and Lukas Dorward. Emily S. Wang won the award for “Best in County and advanced to the National Competition.

Oracle - Gunn’s newspaper, The Oracle, earned first place for General Excellence in the Peninsula Press Club’s journalism contest. Winning awards for their reporting were Cooper Aspegren, Jean Wang, Amrita Moitra, Ashley Ngu and Wendy Qiu.

Gunn Robotics - The Gunn Robotics Team got six straight wins at the FIRST Robotics Championship in St. Louis, but narrowly missed the Elimination rounds. Gunn won the National animation award for the second year running. Way to go!!

English - Juniors Roya Huang and Amy Creasey won the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) awards for superior writing. A total of 1,107 juniors were nominated nationwide to participate in the 2012 program, and 274 were chosen as outstanding writers.

Sports Update - May 6

Submitted by Miriam Rotman 

Sarah Robinson – Currently the under 17 Women’s soccer championship is being held in Guatemala City. And why is this being reported you may ask? We can proudly report that Gunn has a representative playing for the US in these championships. Sarah Robinson, was chosen to lead the mid-field on this team even though she is a year younger than the rest of the team. In the first second game the US beat Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 with Sarah scoring a goal and declared the MVP of the game by the commentators. Way to go Sarah!!


Track and Field - Gunn track competed against the top track teams in the SCVAL league championships and the frosh/soph boys were able to pull off a very close victory over Lynbrook High to place first in league. The JV girls finished 2nd in league scoring 121 points. The varsity girls took third and just missed outscoring Paly by 7 points. The varsity boys finished fifth overall. A select group of athletes qualified for CCS and will compete at the SCVAL Qualifier Meet at Santa Clara High School on Friday, May 11th. Junior Ebba Nord will compete in the 100 meters. Sean Lydster(So.) who had 2 personal bests at the SCVAL championships will race in the 4x100, 100, 200, and 4 x 400. Michelle Carson (Fr.) will represent Gunn in the 400 and Senior and team captain Kieran Gallagher will run in the 800 meters and 4 x 400 as well. In the longer events Daniel Krigel (Sr ) will run the mile and Catherine Kim (Fr.)will compete in the 2 mile after qualifying in both the mile and 2 mile. Peter Chen will run the 3200 meter race. In the more technical events, lady titans Liana Vitousek, Anna Jaafe, Stephanie Do, and Elsa Chu will all represent Gunn in the 100 meter high hurdles. In the 300 meter intermediate hurdles Stephanie Do and Liana Vitousek qualified as well. Kirsten Baird and Moira Saxena both cleared 5 feet in the high jump to earn spots in the Qualifier meet and in the long jump Stephanie Do, Erica Johnston and Sarah Klem will try to move on to CCS as well. The lady titans also had success in the triple jump with Stephanie Do and Sarah Klem qualifying. In the shot put the lady titans did well with Adriana Noronha, Fallon Miller both moving on in the Shot put and Noronha also qualified in the discuss as well with her teammate Cat Yu. Noronha stand a good chance of making it to the CCS trials once again as she did as Frosh last year. On the boys side Jim Norton qualified in the shot put. On the boys side Wyatt Eberspacher had a huge personal record and qualified alongside his teammates Alex Barthelemy (who also qualified in the intermediate hurdles), and Joe Suh in the 110 high hurdles . Eric Price and Asaf Rotman both qualified in the long jump and triple jump and will also continue with Shang Yip as well. Eric Price, has had an outstanding season and has a good shot of making it to CCS finals.


Swimming - Given a 54-point ldeficit after the diving finals earlier in the week, the challenge for the Gunn girls swim team heading into the SCVAL De Anza Division Championships on Friday proved to be insurmountable. The girl's managed to beat Paly in the swimming portion of the meet it wasn't enough as Paly scored 508 points and won its 10th straight league title. Gunn closed with 499 in the closest league competition ever between the rivals. Gunn outscored Paly in swimming, 491-446, but couldn't win the title despite Gunn winning two of three relays and going 1-2-3 in the 500 free. Gunn outscored Paly in the final four events, 189-114, and it still wasn't enough. Gunn senior Rachael Acker did all she could to help the Titans finally get that elusive league-meet title. She won the 50 free in 23.40 after going 23.34 in the prelims, took the 100 free in a season-best 50.70, led off the 200 free relay that won in a meet record of 1:36.40 and led off the winning 400 free relay that clocked a season-best 3:29.65. Other Gunn standouts included Julia Ama, Christine Prior, Gabrielle Bethke, Casey Lincoln and freshman Jenna Campbell, who won the 500 free in 4:59.26. Maggie McKenna added a victory in the 100 breast for Gunn, her 1:06.85 time making her No. 2 in school history. "We swam valiantly, and had two great days of swimming," said Gunn coach Mark Hernandez. "Unfortunately, as I feared on Wednesday, we just couldn't climb all the way out of the hole we were in after the diving portion. "Palo Alto swam very well, and did just enough to hold on to their lead. Still, we're proud to be able to say that our swim team scored 45 more points than theirs; in a meet like this, that's no mean feat. We got back to work this morning, and we're going to do everything we can to make it a memorable CCS on Friday and Saturday." Gunn's Tommy Tai was only fifth in the 100 breast, but set a school record with his 1:00.69.


Basketball camp - The Gunn basketball camp will take place on June 11-14 from 1-5pm and be instructed by varsity head coach Michael Ferolino, assistant coaches, and current players. Campers will learn basic fundamental skills such as passing, dribbling, shooting, footwork, guard and post play. Campers will also compete in daily skills competition and 5 on 5 full court games. The camp is limited to 30 campers and is geared for grades 4-9. For more information please contact Coach Ferolino .

Sports Update - March

Basket Ball - Gunn Lady Titans Advance to NorCal Semis beating Lowell high
School 34-24
It wasn't the greatest offensive effort, but it was definitely a defensive
masterpiece as the Gunn Girls' Basketball team defeated Lowell 34-24 at
Kezar Pavilion on Saturday night So strong was Gunn's defense, it marked the
lowest point production for Lowell since they lost to basketball power
Sacred Heart Cathedral 70-24 on November 27, 2004. "We really stepped up
tonight on defense," said Gunn Head Coach Sarah Stapp. "That was one of our
best defensive efforts."

Throughout the game Gunn had issues with turnovers and early on it was very
prevalent. After three minutes Gunn only had two shot attempts and had
already turned the ball over four times as they trailed 4-0 until a Claire
Klausner basket started a 15-2 run that put Gunn in control and the Lady
Titans never trailed again.

Gunn advances to the NorCal semifinals on Tuesday night 7:00 PM at Kennedy
High School in Sacramento. The win on Saturday night improved Coach Stapp's
career record to 3-2 in NorCal Playoffs. This is Gunn's second visit to the
NorCal semis (2009 Divison II) and they're the only public school in the
Central Section in the last eight years to reach the semis twice.

Gunn Track off to a Perfect Start with all 4 divisions (Girls and Boys JV
and Varsity) beating Milpitas

Varsity Girls
The Gunn girls preformed well at the first dual meet of the
year beating the Milpitas girls 91 - 36 points. In the track events Gunn won
all medium and long distances - 800, 1,600 and 2 miles. The girls also
excelled in the short distances winning 100 meters hurdles, 300 hurdles, and
200 and 400 meters.In the field events the girls excelled as well. Team
captain Kirsten Baird won both the high jump and long jump. In the triple
jump sophomore Erica Johnston won the triple jump and Luo returned to place
second close behind her. Sophomore Adriana Noronha led the way by winning
the discus and placing 2nd in the shot put.

Varsity Boys
The Varsity boys were able to hold off the Trojans by scoring 77 points to
Milpitas 49. The boys started off well by winning the 4 x 100 meter relay
and finished the day by running a great 4 x 400 meter relay edging out
Milpitas by only 2 seconds.

Baseball - After losing to Woodside High 7-1, earlier in the week, Gunn boys
faces Milpitas at home hoping for a better outcome. Unfortunately Graham
Fisher (Sr) was injured which took a pitcher and big bat out of the line-up.
In the 5th inning Milpitas went wild scoring 4 runs and though Gunn came
back at the bottom of the 5th and 6th to with 4 runs, Milpitas put the game
out of reach in the top of the 7th with an additional 4 runs.

Milpitas 100 140 3 -- 9 13 2
Gunn 001 013 0 -- 5 9 4
D. Garay, Fuentes (6) and Fuentes, Manera (6), Martinez (7). Rea, Sharp (5)
and Sampson. WP Garay (na). LP Rea (0-1)
3B: Macaulay (M). 2B: Macaulay (M); Verhulp, Rea (G). 4 hits: Smith (M). 3
hits: Mi. Sandor (G). 2 hits: Macaulay, Fuentes, Nelson (M); Verhulp (G). 3
RBI: Fuentes.
Records: Gunn (3-4, 1-1), Milpitas (2-5-1, 1-1)

Tennis - in a SCVAL De Anza Division match on Thursday, Monta Vista beat
Gunn 4-3.

With the score tied at 3 after Gunn had won all it's doubles matches it
was down to the last set in the last singles match between Gunn and Monta
Vista to decide the outcome of this meet. A nail-biter match that ended in
the dark found Gunn at the losing end, falling to Monta Vista 4-3. Gunn
league 1-3 overall 3-5.

Singles - #1 Nathan Law (MV) def. Andy Zhou (G) 4-6, 1-0 retired, #2 Edward
Ang (MV) def. Ameya Rao (G) 6-1, 6-3, #3 Jonathan Li (MV) def. Isaac Wang
(G) 6-3, 6-1, #4 Jeremy Liu (MV) def. Satya Bodduluri (G) 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-5

Doubles - #1D Clifton Wolak & Roy Peleg (G) def. Sudeu Chaivlldi & Jonathan
Tsao (MV) 7-5, 7-6(0), #2D Joe Atlas & Jack Kwan (G) def. Saxton Day &
Leonard Ting (MV) 7-5, 6-4, #3D Kevin Macario & Thomas George (G) def.
Daniel Lim & Mati Cheong (MV) 1-6, 6-2, 6-1

Varsity Girls
The Gunn girls preformed well at the first dual meet of the
year beating the Milpitas girls 91 - 36 points. Beginning with the mile,
freshmen Catherine Kim and sophomore Elly Ribbe took the top two spots
respectively. Kim returned in the 800 meters and took first place once
again. Ribbe returned in the 2 mile and won that race. Moving on to the 100
meter High Hurdles juniors Anna Jaffe and Liana Vitousek placed 1st and 2nd
place. Senior and Team captain Elsa Chu placed 3rd to help the titans sweep
the event. Jaffe and Vitousek returned in the 300 hurdles to take 1st and
2nd again. In the 400 meter race frosh Kastania Dahlen and senior Joni Gore
scored 1st and 3rd place. Dahlen returned in the 200 meter race to grab
third place. In the 100 meters junior Ebba Nord and senior Laura Hayward
snagged 2nd and 3rd place. Nord returned strong in the 200 meter race to
take the win.

Moving on to the field events the girls excelled as well. Team captain
Kirsten Baird won both the high jump and long jump. Sophomore Moira Saxena
jumped the same height as Kirsten in the high jump and placed a close
second. Frosh Jessica Luo placed 2nd in the long jump close behind Baird. In
the triple jump sophomore Erica Johnston won the triple jump and Luo
returned to place second close behind her.

In the throws sophomore Adriana Noronha led the way by winning the discus
and placing 2nd in the shot put. Junior Fallon Miller also threw well to win
the shot put. Team captain Catherine Yu rounded out the throws by snatching
an addition point for the team by placing third in the discus.

Varsity Boys
The Varsity boys were able to hold off the Trojans by scoring 77 points to
Milpitas 49. The boys started off well by winning the 4 x 100 meter relay.
Soon after senior Andrew Prior won the mile and senior Shaun Yee took third
place. Andrew came back shortly in the 800 meters to win that event as well.
Senior Daniel Krigel followed closely in the 800 to take 2nd place. Senior
Alex Barthelemy won both the 110 meter high hurdles and the 300 meter
hurdles. Junior Wyatt Eberspacher helped out by placing 2nd in the high
hurdles with teammate Joe Suh snatching up an additional point in the long
hurdles by placing third.

In the sprints senior Bastian Fromherz won the 400 meter dash. Sophomore
Sean Lydster fresh from wrestling placed 2nd in the 100 meter race and took
third in the 200 meter race to round out the sprinters. In the 2 mile
seniors Peter Chen and Michael Underwood placed 2nd and 3rd place.

Finally the varsity boys ran a great 4 x 400 meter relay and the boys ran a
close race and edged out Milpitas by only 2 seconds.

Gunn Sports Update

Submitted by Miriam Rotman

Wrestling
In a dominant show of strength, Gunn defeated Fremont tonight 50-18 in a De Anza Division match-up. Three Titans pinned their rivals - Ian Cramer (120), Marco Lopez-Mendoza (180) and JJ Strnad (285), and Casey Jackson (170) won by technical fall. In all, Gunn won 10 matches to Fremont's four. Photos

Gunn also honored the eight seniors that have all played a role in making this year's team one of its best. They include (in weight class order), Colton Haro (138), Derek Lai (145), Chris Jin (152), Julian Calderon (160), Casey Jackson (170), Marco Lopez-Sanchez (180), Jaxon Welsh (195) and JJ Strnad (220).

Over the weekend Gunn Sent 2 girls to the CCS wrestling meet Cadence Lee and Jessica Sun (placed 5th). Congratulations Cadence for your second consecutive win at CCS. Cadence will be representing Gunn at the California state meet - Good Luck!

103: Cadence Lee (Gunn) over Kayla Walker (Leigh), Dec 9-2.

Next week Gunn will have the last dual meet at Los Gatos (Gunn is currently in first place in the De Anza Division), followed by SCVAL championships on Saturday at Homestead High School.

Basketball
On Wednesday, Paly sent all their basketball teams to face fired up Gunn athletes, keen to claim basketball supremacy. Both Gunn JV girls and boys beat the cross-town rivals as did the Varsity girls (52-42).

The Lady Titans were fired up to avenge their early season loss against the cross town rival PALY and showed up for the game on Wednesday night with previously unmatched toughness and determination.

The Lady Titans took a 20-16 lead at half time and after Palo Alto's Lindsay Black hit a three pointer to cut the lead to one, Gunn's Zoe Zwerling nailed two three pointers in a row to push the Gunn lead up to seven and swing momentum back in Gunn's favor. Every time it appeared that Paly would make a run, Gunn would convert a key basket to squelch the threat. Gunn was helped tremendously by the all-out play of Julia Maggioncalda, who created havoc for Palo Alto. Leading 33-27 to start the third, Gunn scored two baskets to build a commanding lead. Towards the end, Palo Alto chose to foul hoping that Gunn would miss free throws, but it wasn't to be as Perez, Claire Klausner, Zwerling and Maggioncalda converted seven free throws in a row to ice the game. "I'm happy with all aspects of our game tonight," said Coach Stapp. "We were aggressive, made key free throws and played as a team. This is something we have do from here on out as there are no easy games in the De Anza."

The Lady Titans were led by Zwerling's 14 points, followed by nine from Perez, eight from Klausner, six from Redfield and Maggioncalda, five from Tapia and four from Meghan Mahoney.

The win was the second strong win in five days as they beat previously unbeaten Wilcox 43-37 last Friday night. On Friday night the Lady Titans played a tough Los Gatos squad and showed no let down as they won 44-28. 3 pt field goals - Zwerling, Shevick (3). Gunn out-rebounded Los Gatos 31-16.The lady Titans moved into a tie with Wilcox and Paly for 1st place in
the division.

Boys - In probably their best half of the season the Gunn Titans held Paly to a 3 point lead after leading most of the half. Unfortunately BJ Boyd proved difficult to contain for the whole game and the boys lost the game. Maybe this game proved to the boys that they can beat any team as they followed up with a great win at Los Gatos 58-56.

Soccer
Boys - Also faced Paly this week winning a tough and close game 1-0. The goal was scored in the first half by Cameron McElfresh, assisted by Kevin Macario. The boys played tough throughout the game with great defense. This Wednesday - Milpitas at Gunn 3:30 PM.

Girls - Lost to Paly 3-1. Sarah Robinson scored for Gunn. Friday 2/10 Monta Vista at Gunn 6:00 PM.

Sports Update - January

Submitted by Miriam Rotman


Soccer

The Gunn boys' and girls' soccer teams evened the score with their Palo Alto counterparts on Wednesday as the Titans swept the Vikings. The Gunn boys continued Palo Alto's poor season with a 2-0 triumph on the Vikings' field. The Titans are now 2-0 in the SCVAL De Anza Division (5-2-2 overall) as Andriy Khrustalyoz and Mario Tepia provided the goals while Kevin Macario and David Alcazar contributed the assists. The game was close for the first half, tied at 0-0. Gunn came out strong in the 2nd half
scoring 2 goals while the defense and midfield worked tightly to shut down scoring opportunities for Paly. Boot Bullwinkle, the goalkeeper made key saves to help the strong defense and maintain the shutout. Gunn boys followed the win with a 1-1 tie against a strong Los Altos team. Goal scorer for Gunn was David Koo, assist by Johnny Sun. Cameron McElfresh was strong
on defense preventing many scoring chances. At Gunn, the host Titans pasted a 3-1 defeat on the Paly girls as Ming Ming
Liu scored twice and Sarah Robinson added another goal plus an assist. Gunn improved to 1-1 in league (5-5 overall) while Paly fell to 0-2-1 in league (2-4-3 overall). Gunn's Natalie Perreault and Bella Harbert had their best games of the season on both sides of the ball while teammate Haleli Moalem added an assist on the first goal. The Vikings missed a golden opportunity to score right in front of the cage in the opening minute, with Gunn dominating the rest of the first half with possession and speed while putting pressure on Paly, though at the half the score was tied 1-1. Paly missed another scoring opportunity in the second half before Robinson made a nice individual move through multiple players and scored in the 71st minute in a one-on-one with Chang. Paly coach Kurt Devlin then added another forward (Marina Foley) while pulling a defender. Gunn, however, took advantage with Liu scoring in the 75th minute off Robinson's assist.

Wrestling
In perhaps Gunn's best dual meet of the season, the host Titans pinned down a 52-15 SCVAL De Anza Division dual-match victory over Cupertino on Thursday night. Gunn (2-1) handed the Pioneers (2-1) their first loss of the season. The Titans thoroughly trounced the Pioneers, winning 11 of the 14 matches -- five of them by fall.
SCVAL De Anza Division - Gunn 52, Cupertino 15 (at Gunn)
106 -- C. Lee (G) p. Nagtalon, 3:17, 113 -- Rao (C) p. Ortiz, 0:43; 120 --
Papp (G) p. Hernandez, 3:58; 126 -- Sakkas (C) p. I. Cramer, 1:29; 132 -- E.
Cramer (G) dec. Riives, 5-0; 138 -- Mallari (G) dec. S. Lee, 7-5; 145 -- Lai
(G) p. Forristal, 3:59; 152 -- Jin (G) dec. J. Lee, 4-0; 160 -- Bakhshi (C)
dec. Calderon, 7-6; 170 -- Jackson (G) p. Yoo, 1:55
182 -- Davis (G) p. Valdivia, 1:40; 195 -- Lydster (G) dec. Armin, 17-3; 220
-- Mokkarala (G) dec. Stuart, 13-7
285 -- Strnad (G) won by forfeit

Basketball

The Gunn Girls' Basketball team lost their first two games to Wilcox and Palo Alto. However, on Friday night at Gunn they returned to their winning ways with a 51-39 win over Los Gatos. "This was a much better effort," said Gunn Head Coach Sarah Stapp. "We still have a lot of areas to improve , but I feel much better in how we battled."

The Lady Titans definitely battled in sharp contrast to their 65-49 loss to Palo Alto on Wednesday in a game where they were physically pushed around by their cross town rival. On this night Gunn used its height in Cat Perez and Meghan Mahoney to control the boards and Mahoney led all Gunn scorers with 14 points. Mahoney's points were huge as Perez had a tough night shooting. Gunn got control of the game in the second period when trailing 13-10 they went on a 13-2 run sparked by Zoe Zwerling who scored 11 of her 13 points in the second period.

Unfortunately, the third period blues hit Gunn again as they couldn't a make a field goal in the first five minutes and Los Gatos was able to cut the lead to 35-31. Los Gatos had a chance to cut the lead further but couldn't convert and baskets by Mahoney and Claire Klausner pushed the lead to 39-31 and Los Gatos could never get closer than eight the rest of the night.
Besides Mahoney's and Zwerling's production, the Lady Titans got eight by Claire Klausner, seven from Julia Maggioncalda, five from Oliva Tapia, and two apiece from Karissa Ogawa and Nora Shevick.



Cadence Lee has more decisions to make than most high school athletes, especially when it comes to practice. Does she wear the wrestling headgear today or is it time for the soccer cleats? Decisions. Decisions. That's what happens when you play two sports in the same season. Lee, a sophomore at Gunn High, can be found in the wrestling room one day and the soccer field the next. She is an outstanding wrestler at 106 pounds (ranked 11 in CCS)and a solid soccer reserve for the Gunn girls' team.

Being a two-sport athlete is one thing, but doing it in the same season is another. That makes Lee a rarity in the already busy life of a high school student.


Cory Hatton of Sacred Heart Prep is believed to be the last local high school athlete to play two sports in the same season. He was a placekicker on the Gators' football team in 2005 in addition to playing soccer, which in those days was played in the fall before moving to the winter a few years later.

While soccer and football are similar, wrestling and soccer are not.

"It is rare, but Cadence is rare," said Gunn wrestling coach Chris Horpel. "The only other time I heard of this (combination) was with Jason Welch, now wrestling for Northwestern. He was the goalkeeper on his championship soccer team (at Las Lomas High in Walnut Creek in 2008) and he also won three California state titles (in wrestling). He, too, was very impressive."

Welch was the nation's top high school wrestler in 2008. Lee, of course, is not in that category but she can hold her own on the wrestling mat.

At the Central Coast Section Girls' Wrestling Championships last season, Lee won four matches by pin to win her 16-person division despite being unseeded. She advanced to the inaugural CIF State Championships for girls and finished seventh. During the regular season, she was 5-0 in dual matches (mostly against boys) while helping the Titans win the SCVAL El Camino
Division dual-meet title.

In a dual match against Palo Alto last week, Lee dominated her male opponent and won, 16-1. On Saturday, she finished second in the 106-pound division at the Bianchini Memorial Tournament in Cupertino. On Monday, she scored a goal in the Titans' 3-1 nonleague soccer win over Menlo School.

"The girls' soccer team needed a player and Cadence was game to try both," Horpel said. "Wrestling remains her priority, but she is attempting to do both."

Lee joined the Gunn soccer team shortly before winter break (in December).

"Coach Damian (Cohen) knew I played soccer since I tried out last year," said Lee, a former competitive club soccer player. "And, since the team was lacking players, he offered me the opportunity to participate. I'm extremely glad to be playing both sports."

Cadence sat down with her parents before finally deciding.

"My husband and I discussed the pros and cons with Cadence, but ultimately let her make the decision," said her mother, Emmie. "I don't think there was ever any doubt in her mind, but we wanted her to be aware that taking on two simultaneous varsity sports would not only be physically taxing, and carry with it an increased risk of injury, but would require her to be more
efficient with her time in terms of schoolwork and music -- she plays the oboe in the Gunn wind ensemble."

"The greatest challenge of participating in both wrestling and soccer is making sure I am able to prioritize and juggle all my other activities without becoming overloaded or stressed," said Lee. "Both my coaches and I have agreed that whenever two event conflict, wrestling will always take the top priority."

Cohen said he's fine with that, especially in such an unusual situation.

"I don't think there are that many highly skilled wrestlers that are also excellent soccer players," Cohen said. "The trade-off is that she is first and foremost a wrestler. We are able to have her for a couple of practices and a handful of games, when such works with the wrestling schedule. In other words, she is a part-time soccer player and full-time wrestler.

"As a wrestler, she is scrappy. She hustles and will give everything she has. (In soccer) she has good vision, one-touch play, and isn't afraid to hold the ball, either."

When Lee is playing soccer, she fills in at either the midfield or forward spots. In wrestling, she's the team's No. 1 entrant at 106 pounds.

While wrestling takes place on Thursday (dual matches) and some Saturdays (tournaments) and soccer is Wednesday and Friday in most cases, the two sports do overlap.

"She cannot compete in all of our matches because she needs to meet weight heading into a wrestling meet," Cohen said. "Thus, timing is a factor."

Gunn hosted Palo Alto on Wednesday night in soccer, but Lee di not play because the Titans' wrestling team hosted Cupertino on Thursday night. Friday is free for soccer (at Los Altos) because there is no wrestling tournament on Saturday.

"Yes, unfortunately I will have to miss all the soccer games that occur directly before a wrestling event," Lee said. "The running and conditioning in a soccer game is good for keeping my weight down, but I believe that it definitely tires out my leg muscles more than is preferred."

And, for anyone who has ever wrestled, leg strength is crucial.

Aside from one sport tiring for the other, Lee believes the two sports are very compatible for staying in shape.

"Soccer and wrestling are excellent cross-training for each other," she said. "Soccer requires plenty of running and general fitness while wrestling requires adequate strength and coordination, and I think that each sport prepares me for the other.

"I think it would be wonderful if I could participate in both sports in my next couple of years, if things work out," she said. "But, it all depends on if I am needed on the soccer team."

The Gunn girls' soccer team has 16 players listed on the current roster. Palo Alto and Menlo-Atherton, for example, each have 22. Even Castilleja, the smallest school in the area in terms of enrollment, has 18 players. Once the Titans have enough able bodies, Lee's two-sport status could vanish.

Thus, Lee will continue to juggle her sports and schedules as long as possible -- even though friends can't believe what she's doing.

Said Lee: "Lots of people are amazed and almost everyone asks ' How do you do it?' But, I know that my family is proud of me for attempting to work things out and compete in both my favorite sports."