Junior Amrit Joshi described the strong bonds the baseball team has formed over the course of the season. “There’s a lot of camaraderie and we enjoy being around each other,” he said. “We have a kind of a brotherhood and bond that I don’t think can be met in any other way other than through a team environment.”

He also described how the team is approaching the rest of the season after a rough start. “Right now, we’re just focused on winning one game at a time,” Joshi said. “We want every game to feel like it’s a must-win game so that we’re pretty much always playing with our backs against the wall because we tend to play better that way.”

Joshi pointed out some areas of improvement for the team. “Something that we should improve on is our will to win because sometimes we tend to be a little lackadaisical when things aren’t going our way,” he said. “We all need to have more of a devotion to winning by any means necessary.”

Boys’ Lacrosse

Lacrosse team captain sophomore Luke Hines explained how the improvements the boys’ lacrosse team made from last year have impacted their success this year. “We’ve gotten off to a great start at 5-2 (wins to losses), which sets us up nicely for a shot at the league title,” he said. “We’re in a lot better shape than last year because our defense has improved a lot and we’ve introduced a lot more plays on offense. The newer players have also been improving a lot since the start of the season because we’ve encouraged them to practice on their own.”

He also described some complications of the season. “Multiple games and practices have been cancelled because of the weather,” Hines said. “Even when we do have practice, people skip and this stunts our progression as a team.”

Hines reflects on his favorite part of the season so far. “It felt great when we beat Woodside,” he said. “They were talking a lot and were expected to beat us, but we ended up beating them 11-6.”

Girls’ Lacrosse

Freshman Lena Duggan detailed her highlights and lowlights of the girls’ lacrosse season so far. “Some highlights of the season have been a couple really tough, hard-fought games against good teams,” she said. “Los Gatos was a really good game where we fought hard. Some lowlights have been losing games where we could have done better and running suicides at practice.”

Duggan also reflected on the team’s goals this season: to make it to Central Coast Section. “For the past couple of years, the seniors have made it to CCS, so we want to get them there again this year and give them a great final season,” she said.

Looking toward the rest of the season, Duggan hopes that the team improves their level of play and chemistry with each other. “I’m looking forward to seeing how our team grows together and improves,” she said. “I’m also looking forward to playing the tough teams that we weren’t able to beat, but maybe the second time around we will.”

Diving

Freshman Roy Lao explained his goals for the diving team and how the divers have improved throughout the season. “We’ve made it a goal to try to have everyone be able to compete because in diving, there are requirements to compete and so far we’ve done that pretty well,” he said. “In the future, we want everybody competing in varsity.”

Lao is confident that the team will be able to reach this goal given the level that the team is performing at. “Our team has definitely improved throughout the season,” he said. “The people that just started learning diving have been doing very well for people that have never done it before.”

Lao reflected on his favorite parts of the season so far. “My favorite part of the season was the first meet just because I got to meet some divers from other high schools,” he said. “I also love getting to see people that haven’t dove before coming in and trying it since I think that’s a really good experience. You can help them out and see them through their learning process.”

Boys’ Golf

Freshman Alexander Thu reflected on the team chemistry of the boys’ golf team. “My favorite part of the season has been having such a great team,” he said. “Everyone’s having fun and being nice to each other. The teamwork has been great and we’ve been having fun.”

Recent tough weather conditions have significantly affected the golf team’s playing capabilities. “We’ve had quite a bit of practices and games rained out,” he said. “(Once) when we went to practice, there were 40 miles per hour winds and tumbleweeds rolling across the green.”

Thu appreciates the growth the team has undergone, however, he hopes the team can still improve before the end of the season. “We’ve been practicing really hard and going at it even in the rain,” he said. “We’ve also been training in some pretty tough courses. We’ve grown a lot throughout the season already, even though it’s only been a month or two. We’ve been putting in the work and I would like to see growth in the short game, chipping and putting around the greens.”

Boys’ Volleyball

The boys’ volleyball team has had a rough start to the season, losing the majority of their games. Despite these losses, the team has been able to maintain their energy each game. Sophomore Arda Turgut highlighted the team’s continued efforts. “Even if we lose a game, we always have team spirit and we meet after every game to talk about what we can improve on,” he said.

Amidst the team’s struggles this season, there have also been triumphant moments. “A highlight for me was our game against Wilcox where we had a great save and the home crowd went wild,” Turgut said. “It’s always nice to have the support of the crowd and it really helped raise our energy.”

Turgut explained that the focus for the rest of the season is to continue improving and enjoying the experience, not the outcome of each game. “It doesn’t really matter if we win or lose, as long as there is improvement,” he said.

Badminton

Despite this year being her first on the badminton team, freshman Xiwen Liang has found the team to be welcoming and comfortable to be in. She highlighted the close community within the team that has led to friendships on and off the courts. “The team is very supportive of each other, both in practice and in games and we’re always cheering each other on,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of friends by being on the team.”

Despite the success that the badminton team has found building team chemistry, there have been setbacks. “Because of the weather, we had to reschedule some of our away games and also, sometimes we don’t have enough players to play in a match, so we have to forfeit some matches,” Liang said.

Because Liang has had a positive experience so far, she is excited to play with the team for the rest of the season. “I’m looking forward to improving my skill over the season, meeting new people and having fun playing,” she said.

Softball

With the departure of last year’s seniors, this year’s softball team is mostly underclassmen. Softball co-captain junior Lauryn Selvaraj highlighted the process of adjusting to the new players and creating a cohesive team. “Because most of us haven’t played that much together in high school, it’s a very new-looking team,” she said. “Last year, we were really good because we had a lot of seniors, so we’re trying to make that happen again.”

Despite a rough start to the season, which included many losses and games canceled due to the harsh weather, Selvaraj is looking forward to the rest of the season and seeing the team’s growth. “I’m excited for the games, especially the Paly game because I have a lot of friends on that team and I want to play them,” she said. “Our goal is finishing up the season a lot better than we started by improving and becoming more of a team.”

Girls’ Swimming

Sophomore Sophia Guibas highlighted the strong community she has found within the girls’ swim team. “During meets, it’s really fun cheering on my friends and also seeing myself improve,” she said. “Last year, (the team spirit) wasn’t that big, but this year it’s improved a lot and we always cheer for each other during races.”

With new coaches this year, the swim team has experienced better organization and attendance during practice sessions. “It’s nice that we have two coaches, one main coach and an assistant coach, because he splits it up between JV and varsity,” Guibas said. “This is really great because it’s a smaller group of people that one coach is looking over so you can get more attention.”

In addition, Guibas explained the team’s hopes for the rest of the season. “I’m looking forward to the weather getting better because swimming in the rain and cold is not fun, and getting faster as a team,” she said.

Boys’ Swimming

The boys’ swim team has had a successful beginning of the season, winning almost all of their meets. Freshman Nathaniel Yoon reflected on the team’s high performance. “We’ve had some hard practices this year with our new coach, and we won all of our meets so far,” he said. “The season has been going great.”

For Yoon, the swim team is filled with many familiar faces, despite this being his first year on the school team. “The team community is good and I know a lot of people because they are also on my other swim team,” he said. “There are some people that I don’t know as well, but we’re still a close team.”

The goal for the team this season is to compete and place highly at CCS, as well as continue winning at meets. “We’re trying to get first or second (in CCS),” Yoon said. “I think we’re doing well, so we might beat Paly this year. Overall, I’m
confident in our ability to compete at CCS.”

Boys’ Tennis

The boys’ tennis team has had a successful start of the season, winning most of their games and attending many tournaments. Sophomore Jerry Guo is excited to spend the rest of the season improving with his teammates. “I’m looking forward to CCS at the end of the season and also bonding more with my teammates to play as a team,” he said.

Despite their success, there have been some unexpected challenges. “There have been some injuries on the team, but there haven’t been any major lineup changes,” Guo said. “Also, many of our matches were canceled and rescheduled because of the rain, so we had four games in one week which was really tiring.”

Despite these setbacks, Guo is looking forward to spending the rest of the season with his teammates. “The team is really accepting and welcoming and there is a big sense of community within the team itself,” he said. “I really enjoy being part of the team, having fun and making memories.”

Track and Field

The track and field season started out slowly, due to many meets being canceled because of the rain and wind. Junior Jacob Hilbert explained the challenges that come with bad weather. “We had to reschedule some games and even had a tri-meet against two other schools,” he said. “It wasn’t the best situation, but it worked out in the end.”

Because the track and field team couldn’t find an official coach for certain events, such as sprints, the sprints team is led by team captains. “A student sprinter just stepped up and leads warmups,” Hilbert said. “There have been captains in previous years, but I think the captain’s work is definitely way more this year.”

Hilbert also highlighted his goal of competing at CCS this year, and how the team is helping him get there. “I hope to qualify for CCS with pole vault, since it’s my first year doing it,” he said. “It’s really nice having the team’s support and spirit encouraging me to improve.”

Girls’ soccer captain senior Whitley Smith described how the team has grown together despite struggles earlier on in the season. “The girls on the team are really great,” Smith said. “We’ve done a good job at getting rid of the cliques from the beginning of the season.”

Smith also reflected on some potential places for improvement. “It’s definitely been a struggle because we’re in a pretty high league for a young team,” she said. “We want to get better at moving the ball around in the back. So far, it’s definitely been pretty chaotic since we don’t have a lot of communication going on, so communication is my biggest thing we need to improve. Intensity is also a big thing for me, because we’re good at getting ahead and then dropping our intensity, which is not something you want to be good at.”

Senior Jack Fallows

Boys’ soccer captain senior Jack Fallows hopes the team will make the Central Coast Section (CCS) tournament and improve their overall play, record and interpersonal relationships. “We want to continue to create that environment and community within the team,” Fallows said.

Throughout the season, Fallows saw the impact player mindsets have on team performance. “In games that we play our best in, we win,” he said. “In the games that we don’t play as well, it gets tough when we start losing games and dropping points.”

Fallows also hopes that the team will continue to work hard and hold high standards. “The team is pretty good at showing up when they’re supposed to” he said. “I just remind them about the little things and try to get them a little fired up before a game.”

Senior Carmel Tong

With many new players on the girls’ basketball team this year, co-captain senior Carmel Tong explained the importance of building chemistry among the old and new members. “We have a lot of underclassmen on the team, so a lot of players haven’t played together,” she said. “It’s really important for us to learn how to work together as a team, get better and be able to help each other on the court.”

During the season, Tong has seen improvement in the team. “We just had a really strong game against a team where we were making our shots and running our plays and working well as a team,” she said.

After dealing with many early-season injuries, Tong was eager to see key players return. “It’s exciting to be able to play with the whole team again,” she said.

Senior Collin Lee

Boys’ basketball captain senior Colin Lee reflected on the strides the team has made since the beginning of the season as well as some areas needing improvement. “We’ve improved our defense a lot, so opposing teams have to really work to get their points, and it really wears out the other team so that when they play defense, they’re tired and that makes it easier for us to score,” he said. “There’s still a lot of little things that we could work on that really will elevate our game and allow us to beat really good teams like rebounding and shooting free throws.”

Lee also explained the importance of being close as a team. “I love being able to build a better connection with my teammates during practice and after practice,” Lee said. “It’s a great group of guys, and we really enjoy each other’s presence, which benefits our team chemistry.”

Senior Beanie Jose

Wrestling captain senior Beanie Jose explained her two goals for the team this season. “Because we’re such a young and new team, the goals I set for this year were for everyone to work hard,” she said. “It’s important that everyone puts in work because when you don’t and you go to wrestle for real, the lack of practice shows. Another goal is to be league champs and we’re already on our way as we’ve been undefeated in league matches.”

Throughout the season, Jose has seen development in players’ skills and techniques. “The team has improved so much,” she said. “The people who are working out and working hard have gotten way better. The room is full of tough people and people who have a high work ethic, and it’s because we have a great coaching staff that pushes us to do our best.”

Like many athletes, Lee’s love for the sport came from her badminton-involved upbringing. Ben Lee, Lee’s father, played men’s doubles in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. “Even though I started training competitively at the age of eight, badminton has been a part of my whole life because my parents met through the sport and my dad is a former Olympian,” she said. Badminton has always played a big role in Lee’s life, but competing in the Olympics was not a main goal of hers until recently. “I’ve always had the Olympics in mind, but it wasn’t until the beginning of high school when I started to take it very seriously,” Lee said. “I had to change my mindset to become more committed and think more globally from a tournament perspective.”

To help her develop into an Olympic-caliber player, Lee plays for the Synergy Badminton Academy, a club founded by her parents. She puts in extensive hours of training while trying to balance high school life with her commitment to the sport. Lee plays both women’s doubles and mixed doubles; however, she is currently more focused on women’s doubles as that is the event she hopes to compete in for the Olympics. During her practices, Lee focuses on skills that will help her become a better doubles player. “As a doubles player, you work on quick movements and specific doubles style shots to gain the offensive advantage in each rally,” she said. “We do at least 30 minutes to an hour of physical training, and when we do physical conditioning we focus on full body workouts because badminton is a sport that requires a bunch of different physical demands.”

Despite putting in a great deal of practice time every week, Lee noted that she still does not practice as much as other players around the world who are also hoping to make the Olympics. “A lot of players from other countries compete on a professional level,” she said. “They dedicate themselves to badminton full-time with training and competing. These players focus solely on badminton without having to worry about pursuing an education at the same time.”

Lee, on the other hand, has to manage her responsibilities as both a competitive athlete and student. “In the beginning, it was definitely a struggle,” Lee said. “I definitely had some issues with balancing the two. But I found that communicating with my teachers, my parents, my coaches and especially my counselor helped a lot. The Gunn administration has been extremely supportive in my goal to compete in the Olympics. I definitely couldn’t have done all this without their support.”

Lee is often forced to miss school to compete in international tournaments all around the world. She has competed in many parts of the world including countries in Asia, Europe Pan America (North America, South America and Central America). One of the most notable tournaments this year for Lee was the 2022 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in which she was one of the youngest from the United States to qualify. Lee appreciates the networking opportunities that international tournaments provide. “I really love meeting people from all over the world,” she said. “I feel like badminton is great in that aspect, and a lot of other sports don’t allow you to do the same thing.”

Though she enjoys the social aspect of the tournaments, Lee’s vision never strays from the ultimate goal of qualifying for the Olympic Games. Every tournament is an opportunity to get one step closer to reaching her goal. “My most recent tournament in Canada gave us a boost in rank,” Lee said. “We moved up about 15 places which gives us a current rank of 55th in the world for women’s doubles.” Lee has eight months to improve her ranking to the top 8 or to one of the best in Pan America, as the race for the 2024 Summer Olympics will officially start in May of 2023 and conclude in May of 2024. As opposed to other sports such as gymnastics or swimming that use Olympic Trials to select representatives, badminton athletes qualify by their world ranking. The Badminton World Federation uses that one-year qualification period to choose who will be representing their respective countries.

As Lee’s time in high school slowly winds down, she has begun to consider her post-high school plans. “I’m applying to all colleges in the Bay Area,” she said. “I might also potentially take a gap year next year depending on how I feel. But I’m going to stay in the Bay Area for training because it’s the best in the country.”

First, driving goes along extremely well with a prep of any period. If a student happens to have a first or fifth prep, they can drive themselves to school while avoiding the massive traffic that builds up on Arastradero in the mornings. Driving with a fourth or
seventh prep also allows students to leave school before the chaos in the parking lot begins. If a student has a mid-day prep, they can leave whenever they want—whether they want to go to Town and Country or Mid- town, both are just a 15 minute or less drive away. Since it’s quite hard to catch a bus at a random time in the day and inconvenient to bike 30 to 45 minutes, driving is always the most reliable.

For drivers concerned about parking, the Student Activities Center (SAC) has been generous enough to make parking permits available to juniors as well, not just seniors. Even if a student can’t or doesn’t want to get a parking permit, parking on Georgia Avenue is certainly a viable alternative. However, if you do decide to park on Georgia, make sure you’re looking for signs, as certain spots are illegal to park in. Even with this restriction, there are still plenty of parking spots, and the walk to school is no longer than seven or eight minutes.

Driving to school also allows students to relax in whatever temperature they prefer,
free from the blazing heat or the freezing cold. It also provides them with some alone time, away from their parents or other students. You have the freedom to jam out and listen to whatever music you like, not the thousand-year-old music that you’re forced to listen to when your parents drive you. Driving affords students this freedom that both biking and taking the bus don’t.

Lastly, driving requires little to no physical effort, which cannot be said about biking or walking. Biking or walking to school with a trumpet or baseball bag can be very inconvenient. Driving allows students to easily bring whatever items they need with them.
Thus, it’s evident that driving to school is unequivocally the best option for students.

Ledgerwood appreciates the support he has received from his coworkers and employers. “The incredible staff and all of the support services that are in place, from our custodial work all the way to our administrators, are just amazing,” he said.

Over the years, Ledgerwood has had the chance to teach all kinds of students. He appreciates most their attitude and mindset. “As Palo Alto has changed over time into the epicenter of the tech world, it has brought with it challenges but also an incredible mindset that I think permeates everything in the area,” he said. “The major component that I love [from my students] is that ‘can-do’ kind of attitude.”

Although Ledgerwood has enjoyed his time teaching at Gunn, he plans to change careers to mobile app development. He intends to start a company and transition into the field of user experience and interaction design. “I’ve got a lot of ideas that I think are going to be helpful to advance not just education, but environmental efforts and other things that are important to me and that I’m passionate about,” he said.

Green Beans

For novice gardeners, green beans are a great starting vegetable. Green beans can be grown indoors or outdoors, though indoor gardening may be more convenient for most people. For indoor growing, the bean seeds should
be planted about an inch deep in some compost-enriched soil. With regular watering, a room temperature of at
least 60 degrees Fahrenheit and six to eight hours of sunlight each day, the beans can be harvested whenever the pods have reached the desired size. In most cases, the beans should take 50 to 65 days to harvest. Green beans can be used in a plethora of dishes, including casseroles, green beans with tomatoes or sautéed green beans.

Strawberries

For a fruit option, gardeners can use strawberries. Like green beans, strawberries can flourish in both an indoor and outdoor setting. To grow strawberries indoors, plant them in a pot with good drainage or with soil that allows the water to leak through at a moderate rate. Strawberries require around eight hours of sun-
light each day, frequent watering and organic fertilizer meant for fruit-bearing plants. For outdoor growing, strawberries should be planted in dry soil that can get a copious amount of sunlight. Strawberries are usually ready for harvesting four to six weeks after they blossom. Strawberries are a versatile food item and can be used in recipes ranging from cakes to smoothies.

Figs

Figs are another great option for those with little gardening experience. Just like green beans and strawberries, figs can be grown both indoors and outdoors. For indoor gardening, place the fig tree in a pot and put the pot in an area with access to six or more hours of bright, direct sunlight. Depending on the humidity of the environment, figs should be watered a couple of times a week. For outdoor gardening, the fig tree should be planted in early spring. Fig trees thrive in well-drained soil that contains organic material and has access to lots of sunlight. For impatient gardeners, fig trees are not recommended since they can take eight to 10 years after planting to bear fruit. However, the wait is
well worth it because figs can be used in a variety of items such as jams, pies and cakes.

Having a long-standing coach is critical to a team’s success since players get accustomed to a certain coaching style. The football team, for instance, has been coached by social studies teacher Jason Miller since 2018. Offensive lineman junior Otis Murray explained how Coach Miller’s attitude positively impacts the team. “Having the same coach for a long period of time allows that coach to instill their values and expectations into the players,” he said. “This translates into us winning on the field.”

Senior Alanna Lee, co-captain of the girls golf team, expressed similar sentiments about her coach, math teacher Chris Redfield. Redfield has been coaching the girls golf team since 2011 and was recently named the 2021 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) Coach of the Year. “He definitely brings a lot of integrity to the team,” she said. “It’s nice to have a coach you can rely on because during competition, you get nervous. Having a coach that you understand is comforting and makes you the best player you can be.”

While the football and girls golf teams have had luck with continuous coaches, due to COVID-19, other teams
have not. The cross country and track teams’ former head coach, for instance, left in 2020 due to the pandemic. With a new head coach, many of the returning athletes have had to adjust to the new practice structure, principles and culture. However, teams are adapting quickly according to senior Gal Rivlin, a runner on the cross country team.“We used to be much looser with the old coach, [but] the new coach has been more strict,” he said. “He wants us to [practice] in groups, so we did have to adjust, especially with how we act. I’m pretty okay with the new coach and how he coaches us, so I’d say that [the new coach] is a positive.”

Another team that has been hindered from the lack of coach continuity is the varsity girls basketball team, which lost two coaches last year. The head coach left in the middle of the 2021 season, and the assistant coach left near the beginning of the 2022 season. Because of this sudden vacancy, the team has received yet another new coach. Center junior Zara Wang explained the uncertainty and variability that the changing of coaches brings to the team. “With every coach, they put emphasis on different parts of the game and they have different plays,” she said. “For example, our current coach focuses a lot more on plays than our previous coaches.”

Despite the lack of consistency, the varsity girls basketball team has done their best to persevere through the hardships. “I think we’ve gotten closer [as a team] as the seasons have gone by,” Wang said. “[Team] cohesiveness has helped us adapt with each coaching change because we’re all going through it together.”

The cheer team has also received a new head coach and secondary coach. The change in coaching has brought changes to the team. Co-captain senior Lucia Acosta explained the change in attitude and environment. “Our [new] coach was a student at Gunn and also did cheer in college, while our old coach didn’t,” she said. “Our new coach takes it a lot more seriously and has different ideas and stunts.”

Acosta reflects on the adjustment period for the team. “You have to get used to it and get close with the coach,” she said. “This year has been pretty nice because [our coach] is young and we all get along nicely.”

Unlike the track and girls basketball teams, the new cheer coach took some extra steps before the season to streamline the shift in coaching and minimize the impact on team performance. “For the last couple of months when our old coach was here, the new coach started coming just to see her method of coaching and her philosophies,” Acosta said. “Overall, it hasn’t changed that much [except for] the difference in ages and experience.”

Girls golf team co-captain senior Athina Chen has high hopes for improvement throughout the golf season. “We have done well in some tournaments, but we’d like to do a little bit better in the second half of the season,” she said. “We’re just trying to shoot our best every time and keep doing well.”

2. Cross country

Cross country team captain junior Paige Yun shares how the team’s season has progressed. “I think that the season’s gone really well,” Yun said. “We have a lot of new members, so we’re just getting them used to the courses we run, since it’s our first time back in over 20 months. It’s been really exciting to go back and race the courses we raced freshman year. We want to keep training, getting faster and making personal records.”

3. Girls water polo

Girls water polo team captain senior Siham Arsalane outlines the rest of the season. “The season is going pretty well,” Arsalane said. “We’re looking to compete in the league championship, and then hopefully we’re going to get into the Central Coast Sectionals (CCS). We’ve reached the halfway mark, and we have gathered together to try and improve on what we didn’t do at the beginning of the season.”

4. Girls volleyball

Girls volleyball team captain senior Micaela Leong expresses her worries and hopes for the rest of the season. “The season hasn’t gone as great as we were hoping, but we’re looking to pick it up,” Leong said. “We’re looking to play our hardest against some of the bigger teams that have more experience than we do.”

5. Football

Football team captain senior Eric Wang reflects on the season so far. “[The season] has gone pretty well,” Wang said. “We lost one game. We’re still 3-1, so I’ll take it. We haven’t really met my expectations, but a lot of people have been stepping up. For myself, I just want to do better. As a team, I want us to go undefeated in the league and make it to playoffs.”

6. Girls tennis

Girls tennis team captain senior Elise Naddell explains the challenges her team has faced through the season. “I think the team is doing really great,” Naddell said. “We had a couple injuries in the beginning of the season for some of our top players, which hindered us for practice matches. Now that we’re really going into the season and playing league matches, we’re doing a lot better. This year, we’re really trying to boost communication and teamwork, especially because tennis is an individual sport and it’s harder to do that. Also, we had a whole year online when not many people were on the team, so we’re trying to bring that teamwork back.”

7. Boys water polo

Boys water polo team senior captain Isaac Zelkha describes his expectations for the team. “So far, I’m pretty impressed,” Zelkha said. “We’re 5-0 in the league, and we’re looking to go undefeated and place highly in CCS. I think that that’s possible, since so far we’ve beaten every team we’ve played.”

8. Dance

Dance team captain senior McKenna Englhardt is excited to be back in person again. “The season’s been really good so far,” Englhardt said. “It’s exciting to be back in-person and to have live performances because last year we could only put together videos on our own. Prepping for Homecoming week is always a lot of work because we do a lot of dances, but it’s been really fun this year. For the rest of the season, we will be doing some competitions.”

Despite its unconventionality, rowing is junior Kaley Yang’s favorite sport. “I got into rowing in eighth grade when my family friend introduced me to the sport,” she said.

Yang explains that while rowing seems simple, competitions feature much more complicated events. “In every competition, there are different events,” Yang said. “Sometimes, they have time trials, where they time you first and you’re basically racing against yourself. Then, you get put into different heats—A, B or C—depending on how fast your time trial was.”

Yang participates in around ten competitions a year. “When I compete, I don’t really feel nervous or anything like that,” she said. “I just feel really focused and locked in before every competition.”

In order for Yang to prepare for these competitions, she goes to long and frequent practices; she practices five days a week for two to three hours a day, often in the morning. “I love the early morning practices and being able to go in the water and watching the sun rise,” she said.

Another important factor of why she loves rowing is the teamwork aspect of the sport. “I also really like the team dynamic,” she said. “Everyone’s really close.”

Although Yang says that rowing has physical and mental challenges, she loves the sport and wishes to continue in college.