By Chloe Van Pelt & Kai Stoltzfus
Season Breakdown
MEN'S SOCCER
The tightly knit boys varsity team kicked off their season on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 with the annual Cats and Hounds Tournament which started their bond that made them closer on and off the field. With a team of 24 players, the team has competed in over 15 games this season. Senior Angel (Danny) Contreras has been on varsity for two years and has seen how this year's team is closer than most. “Our biggest strength is that we have a lot of team bonding that pushes us through our losses and wins,” Contreras said. As of Feb 6, 2025, they are 5th place in Mountain League and 9-10-1 in their overall season.
Women's Soccer
Kicking and sliding into the 2025 season, the girls varsity soccer team has overcome the obstacle of losing over seven seniors from the previous season and rebuilding their team dynamic. This season, five seniors, 12 juniors, and four sophomores are adjusting to their opponents as they move into the highest league, the Mountain League. Senior Alexia Mendoza is setting high hopes on making it to CIF this season. “I am most looking forward to having another chance at CIF as we lost last year in the first round,” Mendoza said. Sophomore Lila Colegrove observes that they have overcome multiple obstacles of players being hurt that have improved their defense. “We’ve been most successful in our defense because we lost a lot of our players due to sickness and injury and a lot of others stepped up,” Colegrove said. As of Feb 6, 2025, they are 5th place in Mountain League and 6-9-3 in their overall season.
Men's Wrestling
The crimson mats and white lights shined down on the men’s varsity wrestling team as they huddled in preparation for the start of their match. Junior Drake Mello has observed that the team improved with small aspects that made them successful this year. “At the start of the year there were a lot of little problems that we were facing and then throughout the season we developed more which made us able to overcome those issues and do better in the matches,” Mello said. This improvement led the team to end the season with a record of 12-3.
Women's Wrestling
Strong. Powerful. Competitive. These girls fight like no other. The PRHS women’s wrestling team has seven athletes competing in weight classes ranging from 100 pounds to 235 pounds. Senior Denisse de La Cruz is currently wrestling up a weight class, in the 235 class. Even though she is facing more competitive opponents, she finds an advantage against them. “Even though I am facing girls bigger than me I am faster than them and they get tired but I am still able to move around them which is what I need to do to win,” De La Cruz said. The team of female wrestlers has grown this year, giving PRHS a more competitive edge. Despite the fact that wrestling is an individual sport, De La Cruz recognizes that their team still pushes each other to get better. “The biggest part is to have a good relationship with your team and do your best to not distract your teammates while you’re at practice so that we can get work done,” De La Cruz said. These athletes next face the highly competitive masters competition that is mentally and physically brutal competition but with the support from team leaders like De La Cruz, this girls wrestling team can support each other.
Men's Basketball
Practicing six days a week isn’t what makes this team special. It is the determined work they do on their one day off. Junior Kingston Lacy said, “It isn’t always exactly about the talent you have going into a game, it's about the work you put into your sport on the off days.” His team strives to take each moment they can to commit themselves to their goal of placing high in league games and sending their seniors off with a great final season. Team Captain and senior, Issac Magana notices the discipline and motivation of his team stand out when they play against teams like Templeton, Atascadero and Pioneer Valley. “We have been most successful in maintaining composure and executing our plays against good teams,” Magana said. Practice pays off for this team as their record stands at 14-9 as of February 6, 2025.
Women's Basketball
The support from this team of ten is how these girls “get their head in the game” but they far exceed the talent of the singing high school musical basketball team. They are full of grit, competition and the determination to win together. They have played a competitive season with close matches against Atascadero and Templeton as well as numerous non-league games against schools from other counties. A strength that has supported this team is their communication skills and support from teammate to teammate. “We can put up a fight against high competition teams because of our communication and the way we have worked together through our friendships,” junior Audrey Prowse said. Prowse is playing in her second year on varsity and this year her team has focused on improving defense. “We’ve been working on defense, getting faster and working cooperatively,” Prowse said. The girls basketball team is currently 10-13 in Sunset League as of Feb. 6 , 2025