Foothill Technology High School

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Foothill girls' water polo conquers all and makes history at CIF championship game

The stands at Irvine High School were filled to capacity Saturday as excited parents, peers, and spectators gathered under a stormy sky to watch the Foothill girls’ water polo team fight for the title of CIF Division VII champions. In their first inaugural year of sports, the Foothill Dragons took home the trophy against the Hillcrest Trojans with a score of 10-7.

In the first quarter, Hillcrest dominated as the first point was made by the Trojans 15 seconds into the game. They continued to prove themselves as a difficult opponent block after block was made by Hillcrest’s goalie. With 1:21 left on the clock, the Trojans made another goal and the first quarter ended 2-0 in their favor.

Captain and senior Ariana Singer saw this is as a time for the team to step up and play harder.

“It was nerve-wracking, obviously," Singer said. "I was just thinking that we really need to step up our game and start playing a lot harder and play the game that we know how to play rather than going down to their level and let the nerves take over.”

In the second quarter, Foothill bounced back as Singer made the first point for the Dragons 15 seconds into the game. Half a minute later, sophomore Meagan McKillican scored a goal and within 50 seconds, the score was tied 2-2. Sophomore Lezly Plahn then shot a penalty goal for Foothill and after an attempt, McKillican made another goal with 4:13 left on the clock. Freshman Josie Thorp scored for Foothill a minute later and Hillcrest finished the quarter with one more point, bringing the score to 5-3 in Foothill’s favor.

Players collide as a Trojan attempts to pass. Credit: Austin Hunt/The Foothill Dragon Press

Within the first two minutes of the third quarter, Foothill scored another point. Senior Annie Sinclair scored with two minutes left followed by a goal from Hillcrest only to be returned by Singer within the last 59 seconds of the game. The quarter ended with the Dragons in the lead 8-5.

The last quarter began with a score from Hillcrest but Sinclair quickly retaliated with a point three minutes in and Singer scored a penalty shot seconds later. With 33 seconds left on the clock, the Trojans made a penalty shot, leaving the final score at 10-7, giving the Dragons the victory and the title of league champions.

Each player was then congratulated and a plaque was bestowed upon the team as the crowd erupted into cheers for the first CIF win in Foothill Technology’s history.

Singer was honored to be part of the team that blazed the path for future Foothill sports.

“It feels pretty amazing making history, setting the tone for the rest of the time ever of having sports. It’s just an amazing experience,” Singer said.

Coach Samantha Ebberson compared the feeling of winning to the likes of a “kid in a candy store” and expressed her gratitude for the dedication of her players.

“[This win] means everything," said Ebberson. "These girls have worked so hard and they put in every single day and moment and practice, they tried hard and they saw the outcome and they saw the title behind them and they just wanted it and they got it and for me, that’s the [biggest] blessing I could have ever asked for.”

Junior Vanessa Villalpando also sees this win as a reward for the hard work the team put in all throughout the season.

“Oh my gosh, it means everything; that every hit, every foul, every ejection that we got is worth it.," she said. "All the hard work, all the swimming we had to do, all the extra stuff paid off.”

The team poses for a picture with the champions plaque. Credit: Austin Hunt/The Foothill Dragon Press

Sinclair credits coach Ebberson for continuously supporting the team and leading them through an undefeated season. 

“Our coach always gives us little talks," she said. "She just told us she believed in us and we can have it, we can do it, they’re beatable.”

Principal Joe Bova understands the high standards already set by the girls but also believes that a team’s bond is just as important as the trophy.

“Well, it’s going to be high expectations for next year; how do you top this, right?" Bova said. "So I think just to continue to work to be excellent and to improve on what they did this year and be back here again next winter.”

“But more than that, the things that are so important about athletics aren’t necessarily winning championships but bonding more as a team and learning the valuable lessons you learn from athletics,” he said.

Indeed, it was the team’s unity that really motivated the team throughout the season, Ebberson believes.

“From the beginning of the season they were all about 14 individuals out there and today they looked like one team," Ebberson. "They didn’t look like an individual, they looked like they were fighting for each other.”

As for Plahn, she’s most excited to come back next year as a team and triumph once more.

“I’m excited to win CIF again. I’m excited to go out there again and kick some butt,” she said.

---Rugile Pekinas

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Foothill physics students make yolks rain down during egg drop project

Foothill Tech’s physics students dropped their eggs this week at Ventura College (VC) for the annual project in physics class.

With the students’ new physics techniques, they built contraptions to protect their eggs when gravity swept their projects 15 meters off of the VC science building.

Following the project, a write-up is due to explain the mechanisms they used and why they decided to do so. The write-up is where most of the points are rewarded.

Junior Andres Coronel elaborated on how he and his partner had to explore the different physics properties.

“We had to discover how the different properties in physics relate to each other and how to prevent the egg from breaking," he said. "So we had to use force and velocity to calculate the stopping force.”

Coronel used an uncommon technique that did not give the result he was hoping for.

“In retrospect, it seems like a bad idea, using a cone. But it was worth trying,” he said.

Senior Kiley Becker appreciates physics, although it challenges her, and used a duct tape mechanism for her project.

“My egg did not break due to the force of the impact, it broke because the bobby pins punctured the egg,” she said. “I was sad, but at least I know why it broke.”

Foothill physics students dropping their contraptions from the top of Ventura College. Credit: Johnathan Carriger/The Foothill Dragon Press

Becker saw this project as a way to portray students’ strengths and wished that she had started earlier.

“If you’re someone to take initiative, I feel like this project was a good opportunity to showcase your creativity and physics knowledge,” she said.

Physics teacher John Weldele has conducted the motion unit with the Egg Drop Project for more than 10 years.

“This gives students an opportunity to use what they have learned and put it into action, see how they can minimize the force on egg dropped from a fairly high distance,” he said. “It’s open ended so students can be as creative as they want, or uncreative as they want.”

Weldele believes that there are some students who really take advantage of the project.

“There are [students] who really put together genius mechanisms to minimize force,” he said.

--Sienna Romero

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Foothill girls’ water polo conquers Fontana High, advances in CIF playoffs

Sophomore Lezly Plahn attempts to block the polo ball. Credit: Josh Ren/The Foothill Dragon Press

The Ventura Aquatics Center was packed full of shouting fans filling the air with excitement and energy as the girls’ water polo team played their first playoff game against Fontana High School on Feb. 19. Foothill defeated Fontana with a final score of 14-2.

Within the first 30 seconds of the first quarter, senior Ariana Singer scored the first goal of the game. In the next play, junior Vanessa Villalpando recovered the ball and scored the second point of the game. Sophomore Lezly Plahn scored Foothill’s third and fourth goals, putting Foothill ahead 4-0.

Sophomore Meagan McKillican scored twice, with less than three minutes left in the seven-minute quarter. Plahn ended the quarter by scoring Foothill’s seventh goal.

During the second quarter of the game, Plahn scored twice more, one with 3:21 left and the other with 46 seconds left on the clock. McKillican scored once more, giving Foothill the lead of 10-0 at the end of the first half.

Fontana began to fight back at the beginning of the third quarter, attempting to level the score. Freshman Josie Thorp responded by scoring Foothill’s eleventh goal of the game. A Fontana player was then ejected from the game, which is when a player is taken out of the game for playing too roughly. Foothill did not score during the 20 second penalty.

Singer scored the twelfth goal with less than two and a half minutes left in the quarter. Fontana scored their first goal during a penalty shot, ending the third quarter with a score of 12-1.

The Footihill girls’ water polo team dominated in their first CIF game. Credit: Josh Ren/The Foothill Dragon Press

In the final quarter of the game, Singer scored the first goal with 4:38 left. As the game came closer to an end, Fontana retaliated by scoring their second goal. Senior Annie Sinclair regained possession of the ball and scored the final goal, ending the game with a final score of 14-2.

Coach Samantha Ebberson attributed the win to the girls’ hard work in practice.

“Everything we worked on at practice, they executed perfectly,” said Ebberson. “[The girls] went out there and they knew from the beginning that they had to start hard and be the first team to score, in order to set the tone of the game. That’s exactly what they did.”

Villalpando said that the girls “worked well as a team” and noted how they are becoming more of a “family.”

“When we started from the bottom, we were not working as a team that much,” said Villalpando. “But right now, I think we are more together and more of a team. [We are] like family.”

To Ebberson, the most exciting part of the game was seeing “players helping other people score, not taking so much of the limelight.”

“It’s when you see them start to be a team and start to see them say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to be the person to score. I’m going to pass it off and let my other teammates score it,’” said Ebberson. “That, to me, is heartwarming and exciting.”

Social Sciences teacher Cherie Eulau attended the game and was thrilled for the team.

“I was just excited about the girls’ first season and [them] making CIF, which is kind of a cool thing,” said Eulau. “I think they surpassed everyone’s expectations.”

Mathematics teacher Rick Villano, who also attended the game, believed that Foothill “dominated.”

“[The girls] controlled the game and every aspect of it,” said Villano. “These girls have already exceeded any expectation we would have of any of our teams.”

Despite the victory, Ebberson believes the team can improve on avoiding “silly ejections.”

The team will be going on to CIF playoffs after their win against Fontana High School. Credit: Josh Ren/The Foothill Dragon Press

“There’s certain times where I don’t need [the girls] holding and getting an ejection, especially when we get to higher level games,” said Ebberson. “And we [need to] know who we are playing against and how to adapt to certain situations.”

Plahn looks forward to next season and sees how everyone can improve.

“We can all work on ball-handling and getting faster,” said Plahn. “There are always things you can work on.”

The girls will compete in their second game of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division VI playoffs on Saturday, Feb. 28, and Ebberson hopes to advance to the championship game.

“Our goal is to keep going out there and keep [the team] going. Especially as it gets harder, you have to push harder and try harder,” said Ebberson. “Going this far is phenomenal and no one ever thought that we’d ever be here. [We] just keep pushing and keep moving forward.”

---Joshua Modglin