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April 30, 2015

Sports

Tongva Times

Baseball makes impressive pitch at league title

By Jasmine Lam
Staff Writer
Yesterday, the Gabrielino
High School boys varsity baseball team went on the road to
take on their longtime Mission
Valley League rivals, the Arroyo High School Knights, in
what became a heated contest
between two of the top baseball teams in the league. Scores
unavailable at press time.
Last Friday, the varsity baseball team went up against Marshall High School, with the final
score being 9-1.
Key players in this game were
pitcher Armando Ortega, senior,
and offensive star, James Clapp,
junior.
Ortega remained pitcher for
the whole game and allowed
Marshall to have four hits and
one run. Clapp had three for
four runs batted in, meaning that
because of his hit, a player at a
base was able to steal another
base or score.
By the fifth inning, the score
was 8-1.
One of the players who scored

Amanda Tzoc|Tongva Times

THROWING FIRE The Gabrielino varsity baseball team stepped up to the plate this season, showing a
marked overall imporvement, and are now setting their sights on a Mission Valley League title.
was Sean Fassler, senior, who
had a narrow escape with the
catcher. Fassler had been running to home base when he

evaded the opponent by doing a small flip to the side and

touched home base, effectively
scoring for Gabrielino.

On April 10, the Eagles lost

3-5 against Bell Gardens High
School.
On April 15, the Eagles won

11-1 against Mountain View

High School.
Also, on April 22, the Eagles
stepped up to the plate with
Rosemead and brought home a
win. The score was 10-2.
Brandon Lara-Mack, senior,
made the first home run of the
season.
So far, the team has had seven
league games and have won five,
making the league score 5-2.
When asked about how the
season was going, Brian Chen,
sophomore, stated, All of our
players stepped up their games
so this should be a strong season.
The teams coach, Mauricio
Hernandez, otherwise known
as Mo, previously coached
Gabrielinos baseball team from
1995-2003.
Hernandez came back this
season and has been coaching
the varsity baseball team since
January.
Robert Jara, junior, stated,
Hes a good coach. He focuses
on the fundamentals which is
good because thats all we need
to follow to win games.

Track and Field sprints towards a strong finish

By Roxanne Menchaca
Staff Writer
On May 5, Gabrielino High
School Track and Field will
compete at Rosemead High
School to qualify team members
to the Mission Valley League
Finals.
This past Wednesday, the Eagles competed against South El
Monte in hopes of bringing their
record-breaking season to a positive close. Scores unavailable at
press time.
On April 25, the team sent
their top competitors to the San
Gabriel Valley Championship
meet in San Dimas.
Unfortunately, rain prevented the team from finishing
all their events. Despite the
setback, the Eagles still excelled in the available events.
The Eagles did well at the
Rosemead meet on April 23.
Although girls varsity lost by
only a few points, boys varsity
swept the competition and won
first in their division. In the final
event, the 4x4 boys varsity relay, juniors Nathan Wong, Jorge
Bayardo, Trent Hoffman, and

Taylor Thames|Tongva Times

PASSING THE BATON The track team excelled in the 4x4 relay race, as well as many other events, thus
earning a victory against the Rosemead Panthers on April 23.
sophomore Harry Sanin raced to
the finish line , pacing first.
On April 16, the Eagles met at
Arroyo High School and dominated in the track events. Isa-

bella Marchionne, junior, gave

it her all and managed to break
her personal best in the 300m
hurdles.
Theres no feeling like going

on the track and knowing that all

your hard work is about to pay
off, stated Marchionne.
Throughout April, track and
field did consistently well and

even qualified team members to

compete at invitational meets.
On April 11, a select few
were chosen to participate
in the Arcadia Invitational,
which is a national
meet.
Helen Tade, senior, placed 6th
in the 100m hurdles, and Gary
Hawkins, senior, placed 3rd in
the 110m hurdles.
We are a very talented group
of kids. We are hard working,
determined but, at the same time
we know how to joke around
and laugh. We definitely are a
family, stated Hawkins.
At the South Pasadena Invitational meet on April 10, Kiana
Peters, sophomore, placed 2nd
in the 100m race. Eagles who
attended this meet were chosen
based on their achievements in
previous races.
At the home meet on April 9,
the track and field team showed
Marshall the power of Eagle
pride by placing first in all divisions.
I am very proud of our kids.
They work hard and in the end
it really pays off. They are all
competitors at heart, stated Melissa Lopez, hurdle coach.

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sports

Tongva Times

April 30, 2015

Mayweather takes on Pacquiao in match for the ages

By Jessica Duque
Quirks Editor
On May 2nd, approximately
15,000 people will gather at
the MGM Grand Garden Arena
in Las Vegas to watch the welterweight title unification fight
between Floyd Money Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacman Pacquiao; thousands more
will be watching from home.
In preparation for the fight,
both Mayweather and Pacquiao
have been training with partners
that best emulate their opponents style. The Filipino boxer
Pacquaio has been training with
former Mixed Martial Arts fighter Dashon Johnson, while Floyd
Mayweather has been sparring
with boxer Zabdiel Zab Judah.
I can definitely emulate
[Mayweathers] style very well
and not to mention Im the exact same size as Mayweather
as far as reach and height and
size stated Johnson to Sporting
News. Honestly, its a dream
come true. Hes trusted me with
the biggest fight of his life, the
biggest fight in boxing history.
Yet, the fighters sparring partners are nothing compared to the
opponent. With Pacquiaos 57

ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN Two of the greatest fighters of their generation, Floyd Mayweather and Manny
Pacquaio will face off on May 2 in what promises to be a classic.
win and 2 loss record and Mayweathers undefeated 47 win
record, all audiences are in for
quite a battle.
It was Mayweather who first
made the announcement of the
fight, pronouncing it on his so-

cial media website Shots.com.

Fans and observers have pressured both boxers to come together as far back as 2009.
Even so, numerous rumors and
intimidations have been tossed
around over the years between

both fighters and their supporters. In 2010, during a Ustream

video to his fans, Mayweather
accused Pacquiao of using performance enhancing drugs.
When addressing a potential fight with Pacquaio, May-

weather stated, As soon as we

come off vacation, were going
to cook that little yellow chump
[] Once I stomp the midget,
Ill make that [jerk] make me
a sushi roll and cook me some
rice.
Likewise, Pacquiao feels hostility to his opponent as well. In an
April 2015 interview with USA
Today, Pacquiaos trainer, Freddie Roach explained that the
killer instinct is going to come
back a lot faster due to a personal dislike for Mayweathers
history of domestic violence.
In an interview conducted last
September with a Filipino television network, Pacquiao stated,
Im not angry at him. I feel sorry for him because he acts like
an uneducated person. Its pitiful
to me and Im praying for him.
Already built on attention from
heated discussion, the fight on
May 2nd is expected generate
the largest amount of money in
boxing history. According to the
Wall Street Journal, it will cost
$99 to watch the fight on payper view; fights typically cost
$59. Pacquiao is expecting to be
paid over $100 million dollars,
while Mayweather is said to be
receiving $180 million.

First NFL female official makes waves around league

By Sharon Tram
Staff Writer
On April 8, the National
Football League (NFL) made a
groundbreaking announcement,
hiring Sarah Thomas as their
first full-time female official.
Thomas, who has been officiating football for 19 years was one
of the nine first-time NFL referees added to the leagues stable.
I dont feel that its been
harder for me because Im a female, Thomas, who also works
as a pharmaceutical representative, told ABC News in 2013.
I think that we are just out
here working as officials []
I think just on our credentials
just as officials. I think thats
what moves us along, not be-

SCOREBOX
Scores as of 3/24
Boys Volleyball
9-6
Boys Golf
11-1
Softball
5-2
Baseball
11-11
Boys Swim
6-0
Girls Swim
4-2
Track
8-3

cause of our gender or race.

Thomas was first introduced to
the world of football officiating
by her brother.
I got involved in officiating
football because I was intrigued
when these guys took it seriously, she told ABC News. But
then I was more challenged at,
Hey, I really dont know the
game of football, and, being a
competitor, I really wanted to
see, Hey, whats in store with
this?
In 1996, she began her officiating career when she attended
Gulf Coast Football Officials
Association. According to NFL.
com, Thomas was the first female to officiate a Division I-A
high school football game in
Mississippi.

In 2006, Gerry Austin, Conference USAs coordinator of

officials, was impressed by her
skills, and decided to hire her.
The following year, Thomas was
the first woman to officiate at a
major college football game.
Before the game, Austin said
in an ESPN interview, She
came highly recommended by
two NFL scouts. She has a good
presence and demeanor.
After being hired, Thomas
received the opportunity to officiate the conferences championship games in 2008 and 2010.
In 2009, Thomas also became
the first femal to officiate at the
Little Ceasars Pizza Bowl.
Thomas previously officiated NFL preseason games and
worked at team mini camps for

the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and Indianapolis

Colts.
I am a female, but I dont
look at myself as just a female, Thomas said in a San
Francisco Chronicle interview
while working in a Cleveland Browns minicamp. I
look at myself as an official.
In an interview with ESPN, Austin noted that there will be a great
amount of pressure on Thomas.
I think its like any other time
you are the first one, Austin
said. If she does a good job, I
think she will have a very positive effect. If she messes up,
some people might say females
arent ready.
Thomas joins the NFL as a
line judge, first fulltime female

official and second woman to

officiate an NFL regular-season
game.
Most of the time they are
so focused on what they are
doing, they dont notice me,
Thomas told New York Times
in 2009. And that is what every other official strives for.
Our best games are ones that
no one knows were there.
Thomas will officiate her first
game as a part of the 2015-2016
NFL regular season.
I didnt set out to break a
glass ceiling or a gender barrier, Thomas told Bloomberg
in early July. If youre doing
things because you love them,
then things have a tendency to
just kind of fall into place.