Player Profile: Polytechnic Runner Evan Hayes

This article was originally published in the Pasadena Independent.

Until his freshman year at Polytechnic, Evan Hayes had never been into running. Then he joined the cross country team and discovered a new passion.

“When I started, I was kind of reluctant to run a lot,” Hayes said. “But the past couple summers I got into running every day, running longer distances and having really structured workout plans … Overall, I think I’ve become a lot more invested in running.”

Hayes, who is entering his senior year, never looked back. He finished the season last year as one of Poly’s top runners. Hayes finished fifth in the league and qualified for CIF prelims, then CIF finals. 

“Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the state meet, but hopefully this year I can finish highly at CIF finals and qualify for the state meet,” Hayes said. 

Besides going to state, Hayes said his big goal for this season is for the whole team to qualify for CIF. He believes the team can do this because they have a lot of talented underclassmen.

Hayes also runs for Poly’s track team, participating in the 800-meter, the mile and the two mile races.

Although the season doesn’t start for several weeks, Hayes is already training.

“After track ended, I took a two week rest period before training,” Hayes said. “My coach and I set up a workout plan for the summer with weekly mileage targets. I’ve been running in the high 30s and low 40s (miles per week) over the summer. By the end of summer, I hope to be running in the 50s or maybe even 60s to hit those goals of qualifying for state.”

After this year, Hayes plans to go to a small liberal arts school out of state.

“I kind of just want to get out of California,” Hayes said. “I love California, but I think it would be a good experience to get out for four years because I’ve lived in Southern California for my entire life. I think seeing a different part of the country would definitely be a good experience.”

Hayes doesn’t plan to run in college. He isn’t sure what he’s going to study yet, but he’s leaning towards history or economics because those are his favorite subjects at Poly.

For now though, Hayes is focused on training for this season. His summer will revolve around his running schedule.

“Most people don’t know how time consuming and how much energy you have to put into running long distance. They don’t understand the work I put into it,” Hayes said. “If you miss one workout, one run, that can have a big effect. You really have to watch the way you eat too. It does dominate your life a bit. It’s very taxing on your body. People don’t know how much time it takes to stay in shape for a runner.”

Thomas McConnell Aims to Break More Records for Poly Football

This article was originally published in the Pasadena Independent.

Thomas McConnell has high expectations for Polytechnic High School’s football team this year. A record breaking linebacker, McConnell brings veteran leadership as a senior with 11 years of football under his belt.

McConnell thinks the team will fare much better than last year when they won eight games, but lost in the first round of the CIF-SS playoffs. He projects the team will go deeper because they moved down two divisions, from Division 10 to Division 12, to play schools of comparable size, and because the team won’t face the same initial struggles they did last year.

“We lost a ton of really talented seniors before last season. We only have seven total seniors on the team. We initially dealt with a lot of behavior our coach was not a fan of,” McConnell said. “But we came together a lot toward the end of the year.”

McConnell recalled the highlight of the season, when Poly beat their rival, Rio Hondo Prep.

“That was where our season culminated. We really dominated that game,” McConnell said. “It was a good experience to come together as a team after working for the whole season to achieve our goal of beating our rival. That was a goal we had set for ourselves on the first day of camp. All our work paid off that day.”

Although Poly will start the season off with some harder games, McConnell thinks these will bring beneficial experience when the team goes to the postseason tournament. McConnell said the ultimate team goal is to win CIF; however, he is focusing on some personal goals for the time being.

“I improved a lot from sophomore year to junior year and I want to do the same this year. Last year I broke the school record for tackles in the season with around 112. This year, I want to tie or break my brother’s record for most tackles in a single game (18),” McConnell said.

After high school, McConnell plans to go to a top notch academic school. He currently has a 4.29 weighted GPA. McConnell said he might play football in college, but academics come first and he won’t sacrifice the academic experience for the athletic one.

When McConnell is not playing football, he enjoys hanging out with his friends, wakeboarding and shopping at thrift stores.

Although the season doesn’t start for more than a month, McConnell is already putting in the work to have another record breaking year.

Profile: Poly Golfer Maddy Kwei

This article was originally published in the Pasadena Independent.

Maddy Kwei loves golfing. The Polytechnic junior has golfed for nearly a decade, and she’s only 15 years old.

Kwei began playing golf at seven. Her mom enrolled her in a class and she instantly loved the sport and decided to stick with it. She started competing at 10-years-old.

During the school year, Kwei competes for Poly and in two other tours, the Southern California Professional Golfer’s Association (SCPGA) Junior Tour and the Future Champions Tour. She plays a tournament or two per month for the other tours during the school year, but the competition load ramps up immensely during the summer. Last week alone, she played in five tournaments.

Although it’s very time consuming, Kwei enjoys the tournaments.

“Golf is really great because unlike any other sport, you really get to know these people you play with for five or six hours every single tournament. Since you’re stuck with them the whole day, you kind of have to get to know them, talk to them,” Kwei said. “I know people from all around the world on a more personal level. That’s not something you find in any other sport.”

Most of the tournaments are within an hour’s distance, but some are farther. Kwei recently qualified for a three-day tournament in Palm Springs.

Kwei played in all 10 tournaments with Poly’s team last year, averaging a score of 38 on a nine-hole course. Although she did well, the team struggled at times.

“I definitely improved from last year,” Kwei said. “This year we lost a senior who was a big part of getting our scores, so that was different for our team. We had just enough players to play. But I’m glad the girls on the team are dedicated to high school golf. I think the team did pretty well considering we only had five players, so all of us had to always be there.”

This year, Kwei plans on recruiting a lot of freshman, so the team has more than five players.

Kwei plans on playing collegiate golf, although she doesn’t know where yet.

“California has great weather for golf, so I would love to stay here, but moving to the East Coast or the Northwest would be great too,” she said.

Kwei is interested in many fields, including international relations, communications, science and French. She isn’t sure which one she is going to major in yet, but she aims to minor in French because she loves French culture.

When she’s not golfing or at school, Kwei enjoys spending time with family and friends. She also loves to volunteer. Kwei volunteers at Fuller’s Family Daycare, where she has helped out over the summer since she was in seventh grade. Kwei also serves as the assistant lifestyle editor for Poly’s newspaper, Pawprint.

“People don’t know how hard working I am,” Kwei said. “I have goals and I’ll do anything it takes to reach them.”

Zoey and Ella Mao Look to Continue Polytechnic Volleyball Success

This article was originally published in the Pasadena Independent.

Polytechnic’s girl’s volleyball team is led by a pair of star players who have built their chemistry on the court for more than seven years. Identical twin sisters Ella and Zoey Mao enter their senior year with high expectations for the team and for themselves.

The sisters, originally from Los Angeles, began playing volleyball in fourth grade and never looked back. Zoey said they tried a few other sports before, including soccer and swimming, but they both fell in love with volleyball. They started playing club volleyball one year later with the San Gabriel Valley Elite Volleyball Club, where they still play in Poly’s offseason.

Both sisters are committed to play at the University of Chicago next year. They accepted offers from the school earlier this year, although that wasn’t always the plan.

“I definitely didn’t want to go to the same college at first,” Zoey said. “I wanted to branch out, be more independent, but I’m excited now. I’m sure we’re going to have a great four years together.”

Zoey said the swinging factor was that both of their parents went to the University of Chicago, so they already had strong attachments to the school.

Both Ella and Zoey said they are very excited for the new season to begin. Poly’s team made it to the CIF-SS Division 4 finals last year, where they lost to Garces Memorial.

“We only lost two seniors, so the team is pretty much the same,” Ella said. “But we also moved up a division, so I know it’s going to be tougher. I want to win our division and win the Prep League.”

Although these are high expectations, Ella and Zoey are the two players most equipped to take the team deep into the CIF postseason again. Both have been stars on Poly’s varsity team since their freshman year. Both have played club volleyball for the better part of a decade. 

“We don’t really know anything different,” Ella said. “We’ve played together for so long and we’ll continue this year and for another four years after.”

Sean Zheng Looks To Continue Polytechnic Water Polo Success

This article originally appeared in the Pasadena Independent.

Polytechnic junior Sean Zheng has high expectations for the water polo team this season. Although the team lost several seniors, he thinks they will have a good chance to get back to the CIF-SS Division Five playoffs.

Zheng will be a leader on the squad, after earning team MVP both his freshman and sophomore years. He aims to earn first-team all CIF again, after earning it freshman year, but only getting second-team last year. Zheng thinks this was because he switched positions during the season.

“I’m excited for this season. We did lose a lot of players but we kept a lot of key underclassmen so it will be interesting to see how they step up,” Zheng said. “We also have a new head coach. He’s pretty hard core and professional, so I’m interested to see what changes he’ll make.”

Although this is his third year on the high school team, Zheng has played water polo for nearly six years. He used to swim but grew tired of it.

“It wasn’t really interesting for me. It was just back and forth, back and forth. It didn’t seem like there was any thinking involved in it,” Zheng said. “Water polo incorporated my swimming skills but it’s not as one dimensional as swimming.”

When the high school season ends, Zheng plays club water polo.

“The competition level in high school is a lot different than in club water polo. It’s a lot more competitive in club,” he said. “On my club team, I’m an average player, maybe a little better than average. On my high school team, I’m one of the best players.”

Although he likes playing club more for the competition, Zheng said he loves the camaraderie on Poly’s team.

“There’s a lot of team spirit. It’s really like a family, like a brotherhood,” he said. “One time the whole team performed a Haka dance, which was really fun. It was kind of embarrassing, but the point was that we did it together, so it was embarrassing for all of us.”

After high school, Zheng said he wants to go to a top college. He said he’s on the fence about playing water polo in college.

“I want to focus more on academics,” Zheng said. “I’m not sure where I’m going to go yet. It might be somewhere really close to here or it might be an Ivy League. The location doesn’t matter to me as much as the school itself.”

This goal is very achievable for Zheng, who has a 3.93 weighted GPA. He isn’t sure what he wants to study in college yet. He said he’s in an online neuroscience course right now that he enjoys but he wants to explore other avenues as well.

Outside of water polo and school, Zheng likes to play video games, watch TV, and play with his cat. He also plays piano.

For now, Zheng is focused on improving the teams record from 15-10 last year and going deeper in the playoffs.