Boys Tennis Repeats, Adds to Coach Kling's Winning Record
In May, Pali's Boys' Tennis team clinched its second consecutive CIF-LA chanpionship in the finals held at the Balboa Sports Center in what the Los Angeles Times called "the most one-sided final ever," 28 wins to 1 1/2. In singles competition, Palisades only lost 13 games in 16 sets, with Brett Alchorn, Robbie Bellamy, Max Licona, and Oliver Thornton sweeping their competition. In doubles competition, the No. 1 and No. 2 pairs of Alex Giannini & Kramer Waltke and Kyung Choi & Alex Pekar respectively, also swept their competition from second-seeded Eagle Rock High, while the duo of Myles Rogers-Halliday and Robert Silvers came from behind and beat their opponents in a tiebreaker.
Pali High's Boys' Tennis team has won 28 city titles in its history, 18 of them under Coach Bud Kling, the team's head coach since 1979. Coach Kling's record of 907 victories and 94 losses and his 32 career City Championships make him the "winningest" coach of any sport in L.A. City Schools history.
Girls Track & Field Win First City Track & Field Title in Pali History
Pali's Girls Track team brought home their first ever City Title from the championship meet held at Birmingham High School on May 27th. Senior Erika Martin won first place in the 100-meter hurdles, 4th in long jump, 4th in the 200-meter dash, and 7th in high jump. Senior Mariah Fisher-Kendrick came in 4th in high jump. Seniors Racquel Rochon and Lauren Gustafson, and junior Amber Greer took 5th place in the 4x400-meter relay. The future also looks bright for the team with freshman Kendall Gustafson winning the high jump and 300-meter hurdles, placing second in the long jump, and anchoring the 5th place 4x400 relay team, and freshman Jacklyn Bamberger winning the 3200 meter run. The total team points (1st place wins are 10 points, 2nd place 8 points, 3rd place 6 points, and so on) for Pali's team was 75; Carson High placed a distant second with 50 points. Congratulations to the team and their coach, Ron Brumel!
Varsity Girls Swim win City Section CIF Title
The Pali Girls Varsity Swim team defeated last year's champions from Cleveland High to win the City Championship held on May 21st at the John Argue Swim Stadium. This is an even more remarkable win considering that there are no divers on the Pali team, while diving is a scorable event in the championship. The Varsity Boys team were just two points shy of the City Runner-up spot, their best achievement in four years.
The swim team was led by was led by Coach Blakis and Coach King and team captains Hayley Hacker, Ana Silka, John Cullen and Wyatt Elliott.
Drama Department Sweeps DTASC Festival
Palisades Charter High School Drama Students, under the direction of
Lisa Kraus, won the annual Shakespeare Competition held by the Drama
Teachers Association of Southern California (DTASC) on April 24, 2010
in Sherman Oaks, California. 80 Pali students joined 50 other schools
at the festival. Not only did the Pali Thespians win 1st place in two
divisions of the competition, but they swept four of the large group
categories: Theme Collage, Julius Caesar and the Comedy of Errors.
Large group scenes last up to eight minutes and require 4 to 10 actors. (read more)
Tideline Wins at JEA
The Tideline won prestigious awards at the Portland JEA Convention, an annual journalism competition where students nationwide come to test their talents. Of the hundreds of students that attend, only the top 30 percent win anything at all. The Tideline journalism staff sent 12 students to the convention and more than half came home with awards. Jayant Subrahmanyam won Superior in News Writing (one of the main categories); Phoebe Driscoll received an Excellent in Review Writing; Sam Kelly won Excellent in Broadcast News Writing, Eric Lopez accepted an Honorable Mention in Sports Writing; Ben Levine won Honorable Mention in Commentary, and Annie Shapiro and Alyssa Kincaid received Honorable Mentions for Broadcast Sports Story.
Two Dolphins in Inaugural Class of L.A. High School Sports Hall of Fame
Professional golfer Amy Alcott and former Pali Girls' Volleyball coach Gayle Van Meter were two of just 55 athletes and coaches selected by a committee of sports experts and LAUSD administrators as the first inductees to the Los Angeles High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Amy Alcott earned 29 victories in her LPGA career including 5 major championships, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999. Gayle Van Meter was a longtime coach of the Palisades High Girls Volleyball team, and led her team to the 1979 State Championship, a victory recently commemorated at the first Girls' Volleyball vs. Alumni game last November with Van Meter and some of her team members present.
Latino Student Union Ignites the Spark of Love Toy Drive
Just before Winter Break, the Latino Student Union sponsored Pali's own chapter of the Spark of Love Toy Drive. With the help of firefighters from the Pacific Palisades station, The LSU collected over 500 toys to distribute to the needy this past Christmas.
