Sports are back at Woodside High School this week, including football, girls tennis, swimming, and cross country.
Football
The Wildcats started their season hot last Friday. Both Junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity were able to escape South San Francisco (SSF) with a win. The JV Wildcats won their game by a 34-7 margin. They’ll be playing Carlmont this coming Friday at 4 P.M. PST.
Note: Fans are still not able to attend these games unless they are family members of the players. Only two parents are allowed per child.
The Varsity Wildcats were able to stifle the Warrior’s offense and carved up the defense in their route to a 40-0 victory. Head Coach Justin Andrews revealed the key to success: “Sticking to fundamentals, and the ability to adapt and adjust. We didn’t know what SSF was going to do offensively and defensively, so we had to focus upon what to do and adjust on the fly.”
“We had too many penalties and a few too many missed assignments,” Andrews added when asked what the team could improve on next week. They’ll be playing Carlmont this coming Friday at 7 P.M, PST.
Girls Tennis
Girls varsity tennis returned to Woodside in a big way this week. The varsity girls tennis team was able to win four out of seven games this season, ending on a positive note with a winning 4-3 record.
Meanwhile, the JV girls tennis team are playing their first of two games this year. Both are against Sequoia. In their first meeting, the Wildcats tied. They’ll have a rematch against Sequoia this Friday to end their season.
“[This season] has been really good!” JV girls tennis player Elise Hadidi said. “We have some really good coaches, and they’ve been putting in a lot of effort to make sure that this season was as normal as it could be. I know that all the girls on my team look forward to the practices, and we’re all really close.”
Swimming
Woodside boys and girls swimming was one of the first sports to return to play. This week, both the Wildcat teams had a meet against Woodside’s rival school, Sequoia. The boys and girls teams both beat the Ravens. In total, Woodside won 93, Sequoia 73.
Woodside swimming coach Stephanie Couch said about their season, “It’s been an amazing season. Having two pods of 18 swimmers has allowed me to give more individual stroke instruction to each swimmer. Each swimmer has been offered something to work on to improve their best events.”
Friday will be the Pacific Athletic League’s Ocean Division finals, and both teams will be there. Check back next week to see how the Wildcats fared in their final meet.
Cross Country
In cross country, both boys and girls returned for their two meets this year. In this first meet against Half-Moon Bay, the girls team won, and both the boys’ teams joined them in that victory.
In their second and last meet this year, the Woodside Cross Country teams took on Sequoia. The boys’ teams won, finishing the season undefeated. Unfortunately, the girls were not able to pull off a win, and they finished their season 1-1.
“[The short season] has been interesting,” cross-country runner Quentin Verkler said. “We didn’t have much time to train for the season, which was really rough for the newer guys, but they stepped it up and did well. It was a real blitz.”
That’s all the sports for this week at Woodside High School, but next week even more sports return. Both JV and varsity baseball teams return for their first games next week. The baseball teams will face off against Sequoia High School in a non-league contest. JV will play next Monday at 4 P.M. PST, and Varsity will start their season next Wednesday at 4 P.M. PST. The softball team also returns to play, and they face Notre Dame Belmont next Wednesday at 4 P.M. PST.
