Features Overview

Cross Country the Team that Builds Speed

By Mariah Andersen-Price

What exactly is cross country? Cross country is a sport where you run against other teams on dirt pathways to try to score as low as possible. “The lower the score, the better,” said member of the boys’ team, Noel Carrasco. The team here at Fresno High trains six days out of every week, which is Monday through Saturday. They train to run a 5K for meets, which are usually Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Our cross-country team typically trains during the afternoons, but because of the heatwave, have had to switch around their schedule to train in the morning. But, according to Noel Carrasco, they went back to training in the afternoon’s as of September 12th.

Rhiannon Walker, a senior on the team, called cross country, “An individual team sport,” which is an oxymoron, but that is exactly what cross country is. You run for a team, but you are running against other people and your own team to try and score low. But, leading up to the meets, they train around the school. They run down Van Ness as a warm-up and do workouts on the track, working up to becoming faster. “It takes two weeks to get used to a certain mileage,” according to Rhiannon Walker. The team is training to go to State Championships this year, but if not, they make it to Valley Championships every year.

According to Evanhy Vasquez, the cross-country team is good at communicating effectively with one another, they are caring and listen to each other. The team here at Fresno High School is hard working and are great team players. Noel Carrasco also believes the team here at FHS is great with communication, but is also great with being consistent, building positive relationships, as well as keeping each other motivated. However, Rhiannon Walker believes that the team could do better with attendance.

The cross-country team perseveres to get each member as low of a score as they can for each of their team members. And if a member isn’t running how they want to or aren’t up to the mileage that they strive to be at, Noel Carrasco motivated his teammates by telling them to “be consistent, to train, and reflect on what they could do better but to focus on what they did good.” By pushing each other to be better, the team becomes the best it can be! The Fresno High team is one of the most resilient teams in the Valley, and are looking forward to the Pig Race, against Roosevelt! They train hard to win their meets, and even if their teammates get higher scores, they work together as a team to make sure every one of them crosses the finish line with their heads held high.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work For the Girls Volleyball Team

By Chia Na Vang

Communication is a main short-term goal for the girls’ volleyball team. Frosh volleyball player, Yoanna Garcia, recalls an occurring incident where players don’t call out “mine” on a ball and either someone goes for the ball, or no one does. Other short-term goals include improving on passing, having better strategies, and ultimately, winning their next games on Tuesday and Thursday.

“One strength this team has is working on what they need to get better at. If an athlete needs more work on her passing, she comes into practice wanting to work on that skill. This shows me that all girls want to get better by the time the season is over,” Frosh Coach Amador noted. Coach Amador adds that sharing a common goal is what makes a successful team. One of the team captains, Maria Andrade, stated that a successful team has communication, leadership, and reliability. “The team contains most of the communication part down, and leadership is developing,” she reflects, “but reliability is being worked on in every practice.” Emilee Garcia, one of the setters for the Varsity team, declared that having fun while playing as a team and being competitive also results in a great team.

In addition to strengths, there are also weaknesses, but the girls’ volleyball team support each other and overcome mistakes together. Maria explains that the team “tends to work on what our mistakes were in the game.” Affirmative words often go around when players are feeling down, such as, “Shake it off,” and, “You’ll get the next ball.” Coach Amador ensures that “the team lets me know as a coach what they believe they need work on. When practice time comes, I as coach, make sure I set time aside to work on that skill.”

Moreover, practice days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3:45 pm to 6:15 pm. Tuesdays and Thursdays are solely for games. Frosh plays at 3:30 pm, and following behind is JV at 4:30 pm. Lastly, Varsity plays at 5:30 pm. “Practice has been very educational and fun for our team and developing ourselves into a real Varsity team,” Maria says, “We also do a lot of skill-work drills and scenarios for the game.” A basic schedule for setting up includes raising the net and getting warmed up. This includes two laps, stretches, footwork, practice blocking, drills that differ depending on their coaches, and scrimmages.

The volleyball team plays against a variety of schools, however when asked, Yoanna is most excited to play against McLane High because they are familiar with how the other team plays. For example, they serve especially deep serves and tend to tip the ball. Captain Maria Andrade is looking forward to playing against Sunnyside because, “A former coach from last year transferred there as the Varsity head volleyball coach.”