Sports

ALHS VARSITY FOOTBALL WINS STATE CHAMPS WITH MANY PLAYERS AWARDED

By: James Stone

The football team comes together to celebrate their state championship victory.

  This year ALHS varsity football went undefeated and won the state championship. The powerhouse squad was rewarded for their season-long success with multiple players winning awards and one Mustang receiving a college scholarship.

  During his 17th year on the job, coach Phillip Ferrigno was named Coach of the Year after winning his seventh sectional championship, and leading the Lincoln squad to the teams first ever undefeated record at 12-0.

  Star quarterback Jovan Baker was named SF Chronicle’s Player of the Year, first team offense All-Metro, and to cap it all off, AAA MVP.

  “Wow, MVP, It’s unreal.”  

  Off the field Baker had to manage his academics as well. Amidst all the focus that he was putting on athletics, Baker said that in order to perform equally well in the classroom, “You have to find time to clear your mind.”

  But for someone like defensive player of the year Julian Aguirre, “You just got to learn to manage your time, get yourself on a schedule.”

  “Read your keys. Having good teammates helps too,” says Aguirre on how he makes his plays and is so physical, “Others say I go too hard in practice.”

  Other players may have not made MVP, or DPOY status, but becoming first team All-AAA shows who the hardest working players are, and for senior Albert Moore, “Being better. And doing anything for the team,” is what makes a first team All-AAA player.

  Though all three are seniors, college ball is something to look forward too. As Jovan Baker puts it, “College ball would be fun, maybe I can play for San Jose State.”

  “College ball, surely, but after that who knows.” Is something Albert Moore is looking forward to, however the dream of playing for the NFL is something that may or may not come along.

VOLLEYBALL STAR LANA RADAKOVIC GETS INTO HER DREAM SCHOOL UC DAVIS THROUGH ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP.

By: Congnan Lu

Radakovic is the captain of Lincoln’s volleyball team.

 

 

  “My life is literally 90% volleyball and 10% other things,”said Lana Radakovic, the captain of Lincoln’s volleyball team. As a skilled volleyball player and straight A student, she signed the NLI (National Letter of Intent) to attend UC Davis on November 17, 2018.

  Davis coaching staff had reached out to her when she was playing in a tournament back in 2016, her freshman year. Now, as a senior, a lot of other schools are interested in giving her an offer.

  Certain fate seems to be between Radakovic and UC Davis, according to Radakovic. The coach from UC Davis tried to establish her interest in Davis by asking questions about what Radakovic would look for in a college as well as a collegiate volleyball program. During her freshman year, she paid a unofficial visit to UC Davis and fell in love with the school.

  “I know this was a really good match for me. Davis was in my top five dream schools,”said Radakovic. Couple months ago, she received her first offer. She was ecstatic but still wanted to wait to make the official decision. Finally, she signed the commitment for UC Davis after a moment of indecision.

  Volleyball is the main course of her life. As the captain of Lincoln’s volleyball team, Radakovic have done a perfect job, according to Vince Tang, the volleyball coach at Lincoln.“Driven, dominate, and discipline will be the three words to describe her,” said Tang.

  Radakovic is one of the most driven volleyball players Tang ever coached. “She said that she wanted to play at a high level, and she had aspirations on playing it in college even as a freshmen,” Tang said.

  Radakovic also has good leadership skills, according to Tang. “This year being a captain, she was a big voice for the team. She was able to keep practice in a light mood while being funny, making sure that the energy is up with everybody. At the same time, she also keeps the focus as well,” explained Tang.

  “She’s always been hard working when it comes to volleyball. She would just come in and work hard.” The statement made by Tang matched up with the Radakovic’s evaluation to herself.

  “It was hard to keep up with my grades because club volleyball practices were an hour away, and I would get home really late.” said Radakovic.

  Although volleyball took away most of her attention, Radakovic is still able to keep up with her grades with the help from her teachers.

  “I maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout my high school career. I was grateful to have very nice teachers that helped me because they were really understanding with my situation.” Radakovic explained.

NEW SEASON FOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL TEAM IS OFF TO A GOOD START

By: Jonathan Chan

  A new season for the boys volleyball team is off to a good start with the expected new incoming players. Both returning and new players are excited about the new season. One returning player, Anthony Trieu, was on the team last year and is ready for this year’s season. “I’m really excited and pumped,” says Trieu.

  With the new season starting, the volleyball team has lost some of its players. “We lost four seniors and three people who just didn’t want to play anymore,” said Trieu

  Hopefully, enough players will join to make up for lost players for this year’s season. According to player Kenneth Cheng, there were about twenty-two players last season. The captains of the players were Ryan Fung, Matthew Kong, Owen Creed, and Anthony Trieu.  

  With a new season of sports comes more ways to be better on the team. Even if they hold two championship titles, there can always be improvement for the next one.

  “Everyone on the team can improve their skills overall; our communication and consistency need to be worked on too,” says Trieu.

  Being on a sports team as well doing school work, may not be as challenging for some. “Our coach gives us time to do homework and doesn’t pack our schedules as much. For me, I don’t have a problem juggling sports and homework,” says Trieu. On the contrary, sports could be conflicting with school work. Kenneth Cheung, a junior, may be having some trouble. “I have enough time to work on schoolwork after practice, but it’s studying that might get in the way when the season starts,” says Cheung. This could be that players have practice every day for two hours.

  Looking forward, the players are feeling optimistic about the new season of boys volleyball. “I think this year will be a fun season, we have to work hard to defend our two championship titles and secure the third one,” says Trieu