Junior Sangat Grewal remembers that freshman year the FUHS golf team didn’t have enough players for even one golf team. Three years later, he’s proud to say that the team has enough players for a full junior varsity and a full varsity team. Even better, the varsity squad has gone from dead last to a possible CIF berth this year.
Senior Jack McMackin has played golf for 10 years and plans to play golf at a club at the University of Utah next year. (Photo courtesy of Laura Rubio)
Grewal says that one of the previous problems was that players didn’t take the team seriously. “[Previous to the 2023 season], a lot of kids joined because they didn’t want to do PE,” Grewal said.
However, the boys golf team experienced a significant shift in both their mentality and respectability.
According to senior Jack McMackin, the team struggled because they didn’t have a full golf course for practices. However, this year school officials installed a new putting green.
“We didn’t have a hitting stall, we didn’t have a green, we didn’t have anything,” McMackin said.
Sophomore Jack Arnold, who’s played golf for only two years, said that he has noticed the team’s improvement. “Our team has gotten lower scores over the past year,” said Arnold, who attributes the positive change to coach Mond Sidhu.
McMackin said the golf program has become a lot more serious. “If you don’t play and you don’t show up, you’re out, which is great,” McMackin said.
Ian Schleicher is one of four freshmen on the golf team. Schleicher has actually been golfing for six years and played on a local club team in junior high.
In order to make it to CIF, the Indians will have to finish in the top two in the Freeway League. The Indians are battling with Troy for second place and are scheduled to face the Warriors for its final match of the season on April 27.
Managing editor Reagan Glidewell contributed to this story.
Track and Field
The boys track team will compete at the Freeway League Prelims this upcoming Wednesday. Senior Dorian Yepez has gone undefeated in both the 110m and 300m hurdles in the Freeway League. Yepez started the 2023 track season with a 16.76 second 110m hurdles at the John Glenn Scrimmage. Yepez finished first at the Freeway League Quad Meet #3 in the 110m hurdles with a personal record of 15.59 and finished fourth at the Orange County Championships (15.72). With a 45.01 second 300m hurdles at the beginning of the track season, Yepez has sliced 4 seconds off of his original personal record, finishing eighth in the 300m hurdles at the Orange County Championship (41.47). (Photo courtesy of Alejandro Hernandez)Freshman Sofia Tabbal has moved up in the FUHS school record books, sitting in fifth place for both the 1600 and 800. The girls track team will compete at the Freeway League Prelims on April 19. Freshman Sofia Tabbal started off the season with a 6:18 in the 1600. At the Orange County Championships on April 15, Tabbal set a personal record of 5:49 in the 1600. Tabbal sits in the top seed for Prelims. (Photo by Reagan Glidewell)
Swim and Dive
The Tribe will travel to Troy on April 24 for Freeway League Prelims. Junior Elizabeth Timmerman, sophomore Lily Guevara, junior Reagan Glidewell (pictured), and freshman Sydney Cruz qualified for Divison 3 CIF Championships in the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Lily Guevara has qualified for both the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke. Freshman Sydney Cruz has qualified for the 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, and 500 freestyle. Sophomore Madilyn Ekstrom qualified in the 500 freestyle. Junior Cole Chang has qualified for the 50, 100, 200 freestyle. Senior Abigail Eskstrom dove at the Mt Sac Diving Invitational where she took first place. Photo courtesy of Ainsley Kudron (Photo Courtesy of Ainsley Kudron)
Baseball
Senior Connor Sunderland (pictured #15) leads the team in home runs with five. Sophomore utility player Miguel Velazquez leads the team in hitting with a .455 batting average. The first-place varsity baseball team will travel to Buena Park on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. Senior Nate Norman (pictured center) said that the team moved from Division 4 up to Division 2 this year. (Photo courtesy of Carlos Rivera)
Softball
Freshman pitcher Malaya Majam-Finch has played softball for 10 years and is related to former Olympic softball player Jennie Finch. According to the Orange County Register, Malaya Finch is ranked No. 12 among freshmen nationwide. She consistently throws a 65-mph fastball. Malaya explains, though, that the softball mound is 43 feet from the plate compared to 60 feet for baseball pitchers. “A pitcher throwing 65 in softball has the same reaction time as a 90 mile an hour baseball pitch,” she said. The varsity girls softball team (18-3) sits second in the Freeway League behind Sunny Hills. The Indians beat Troy 3-2 on April 11 and lost to undefeated Sunny Hills 3-2 on April 13. The Tribe traveled to Sonora (4-2) on April 18. Scores were unavailable at press time. (Photo courtesy of Carlos Rivera)
Boys Volleyball
(Left to Right) Junior Jack Castellanos, sophomore Jorge Vasquez, senior Emmitt Young, and sophomore Dominic Valenzuela. The boys volleyball team (6-3) will travel to Troy on April 19 for its final game of the regular season. They lost to Troy 0-3 on April 3. The Indians are third in the Freeway League and are ranked No. 7 for CIF Division 5. (Photo courtesy of Emmett Young)
STUNT Cheer
The cheer team completed its STUNT season on April 10 with a tough loss against El Modena and Villa Park. The Indians competed in their first home game against La Mirada on March 28. Although La Mirada’s team was a tough competition, the Fullerton STUNT team was able to score a few points against them. The Indians continued to improve throughout their season. (Photo courtesy of Alyssa Rodriguez)
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team will travel to Troy on Wednesday, April 19 for its final Freeway League match. The Indians sit securely in third place in the Freeway League and will compete in next week’s league finals. The top two singles and top two doubles teams will move on to CIF. Senior Fransico Rincon (pictured) plays No. 2 doubles with junior Jack Sprague. The Tribe beat La Habra 18-0 on April 13. The Indians also defeated Buena Park 14-4 on April 17. (Photo courtesy of Carlos Rivera)
