Cheered on by supportive parents, friends, and coaches on the sidelines, the varsity girls’ and boys’ water polo teams honored their twelfth-grade players during their annual senior night at Singh Aquatic Center on Thursday, October 20.
Prior to their game against Cupertino High School, the ceremony recognized the varsity boys’ seniors Tariq Jahshan, Jagdeesh Kottapalli, Cole Manaster, Akshay Ramachandran, and Jason Yu with flowers, balloons, and water polo balls.
“I’m going to miss them tremendously,” said coach Ted Ujifusa. “It’s really sort of a tough day for me emotionally, because I thought they really made tremendous progress. When we first started the program four years ago, we really were not very good in the league. Right now we’re a really good team, and it’s really based on having the seniors get better every year and us being able to build off that kind of improvement.”
Led by captains Cole and Akshay, the team proceeded to defeat Cupertino 8-3.
“It’s a culmination of four years,” Cole said. “When I was a freshmen on senior night, it was always kind of hard to imagine that now would be my night, and now it is.”
Following the varsity boys’ game, the girls’ varsity team celebrated their seniors Simrun Bhagat and Kaitlin Halloran. The girls’ team, led by captains Simrun and Kerri Clifford (11), was also victorious against Cupertino, with a final score of 14-4.