Sports

By Brenton Chen 

Lincoln girls varsity volleyball, coached by Vincent Tang, is powering through the current season strong with a record of 27 wins and 8 losses. To kick off the season, the team was invited to a pre-season tournament at the beginning of the school year, the first time ever in the team's history. This event, held in Oahu, Hawaii, and co-hosted by multiple high schools in Hawaii, created opportunities for competition and team bonding. 

Throughout the tournament, Lincoln faced Mililani High School not once but twice and won as the underdog. Mililani is one of the top five high school girls volleyball teams in Hawaii. Coach Tang, “For this season, one of the most exciting wins I think that we had was against Mililani. Right now, they're currently ranked in the top five of the state of Hawaii, and we pulled off a pretty big upset at our first tournament over there. They had a lot of talented players, and I felt like our girls stepped up to the challenge, and that was just a really great match at the start of the season just to kind of like get our confidence up.”

At the end of the Hawaii tournament, the girls pulled off a 6-2 record against out-of-state opponents. 

Although losing matches can spoil the mood, Coach Tang stated, “We have a really good group of girls that try not to get too high too low after wins and losses. I think they understand kind of like the big picture of what our goals are for the season.” 

Reflecting on previous losses, Coach Tang answered, “Recently on September 21st, we lost a five-set match at Lowell. We definitely didn't play our best, but I felt like the girls were obviously disappointed losing that match, but I think coming into practice, those following days, they kind of understood that in the end, it's about them just making adjustments and figuring out what they need to do to be successful.  I felt like that was really good considering that this is a young group that we have this year, so for them to be able to be aware that, you know, that one game doesn't dictate the whole season and that they could come back and get better was really telling what this team can become.” 

Additionally, Ana S Garcia Cruz, junior, captain, and outside hitter, learns from both wins and losses, citing, “I handle the losses by reviewing film and self-reflection; I do the same with wins but focus more on the good things I did.”

Garcia Cruz's growth mindset reflects her commitment to improve as a player and teammate.  Before every game Garcia Cruz prepares by joking with her teammates and listens to music building her confidence up before stepping onto the court.

This year, the varsity team consists of three freshmen, two sophomores, six juniors, and three seniors. Among the three seniors, captain and outside hitter Kylah Kaywood is highly praised by her teammates as well as her coach, who considers her current the team MVP, a view shared by Garcia Cruz. Coach Tang said, “So far, I would have to say Kylah Kaywood.” Garcia Cruz agrees, stating, “I think our MVP is Kylah because she always gets the most kills and is a big momentum starter for our team.” 

Finally, to congratulate the three seniors, Anouk Van Der Sluis, Emily Wu, and Kylah Kaywood, for their time and dedication, Senior Night will be held at the South Gym on October 23, 2026, at 6:00pm. Lincoln will be playing against Summit Shasta High School.

By Patrick Aguilar 

Without official district sponsorship, student-athletes in the San Francisco Unified School District are forced to travel to Oakland simply to play.

In the spring of 2026, lacrosse officially became a Abraham Lincoln High School sport, shifting from its previous label as a club launched by Lincoln alumnus Kevin Collins in the fall of 2024. 

However, because lacrosse was not officially sponsored by the Academic Athletic Association or the California Interscholastic Federation: San Francisco Section by district policy, a letter from the district was sent to the coaches informing them they needed to stop playing on SFUSD property.

To keep playing lacrosse, SFUSD high schools, specifically Lincoln and Lowell, came together to organize a way to allow San Francisco public schools to continue playing lacrosse.

Olga Camacho, the athletic director at Lincoln, explains how the two schools kept lacrosse alive in San Francisco public school,

“They have given us the opportunity to play with the Oakland League, which they did last year.” 

Director of athletics & commissioner for the San Francisco Unified School District Gail Barksdale explains that district sponsorship is only possible with enough interest,

“At this point, there isn’t strong enough student interest across all of our schools for the district to sponsor this sport.” Barksdale said. 

The current state of lacrosse in the San Francisco Unified School District affects the players and community members involved. 

“I mean, most of our games are in Oakland, and that's about like, what, 40 minutes, at least if traffic's good.” answered Tolemy Olsen, long stick defender on the varsity Lincoln lacrosse team,“By the time we get home, it's like 7 or 8 p.m., and we barely have any time to get all of our homework done, and it's really hard to even get your homework done on the commute.”  

This restriction on games affects the school community as well. Spirited Lincoln students, such as Huber Perez, express the difficulty in supporting the school team. “The games are just too far!” Perez said.

Despite all the hardship Lincoln lacrosse has been through, Declan Scott-Smith, face off for the varsity Lincoln lacrosse team, and his passion for the sport gives hope for the future of lacrosse at Lincoln. “I would say I really like lacrosse because it’s a team sport that really balances physicality and complexity.”

By Lola Snopskowsi

Following Lowell baseball's 2-1 city championship win over Lincoln High School on Monday, May 18th, 2026, the entire varsity coaching staff was placed on suspension amidst an investigation into a complaint of unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Lowell varsity team was in attendance at the junior varsity championship game and was heard directing racist and rude remarks towards the Lincoln JV team. 

In baseball, chirping is to be expected; it refers to taunting remarks, trash talk, or heckling toward the opposing team. However, this incident, which may have been meant as chirping, was taken too far, resulting in an incident heavily discussed throughout the city and on multiple local news sources. 

Complaints were filed with San Francisco Unified School District and California Interscholastic Federation (CIF - regulates high school athletics) after the 2026 JV championship game on Friday, May 15th, between the longtime rivals Lincoln and Lowell, yet action wasn't taken until after the Lowell Varsity team won the city championship. 

Despite delayed consequences, two of the varsity players were noticeably absent from the varsity championship game for alleged involvement in the situation, and the assistant principal at Lowell, Issac Alcantar, states, “As soon as we found out about it, we started reaching out to the Lincoln family and we [...] met with our players and the team to explain to them how serious this situation was.”

On Monday, August 31st, SFUSD and CIF concluded their investigation and ruled that the entire Lowell Baseball Varsity coaching staff be permanently removed from their positions. SFUSD officials also stated, “All Lowell baseball athletes and staff will complete training on sportsmanship, implicit bias, and bullying/hazing from the National Federation of State High School Associations before the season begins.” 

They also ruled that the Varsity team would have to forfeit their first three games against city rivals Lincoln, Washington, and Galileo, who placed second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the 2025-26 season.

The consequences implicated on the entire team came from the investigation that brought up some discrepancies. It's reported that a few players took responsibility for the actions, but as the investigations furthered, players' statements weren't adding up, leaving the entire organization to face the ramifications.

All Lowell Varsity players declined to comment on the matter.

A junior on Lincoln's baseball team, Judah Meyerson, who was at the game when the incident happened, finds it odd that such drastic measures were taken against the coaches, yet the players who were allegedly involved faced little consequence. All students involved are still eligible to play sports for Lowell in their senior year. 

Meyerson also states, “I felt like the punishments were [...] more about discouraging future instances of this.” 

He feels that the punishments were more of a warning to coaches across the league, stating that his own coach for Lincoln baseball “was like, if I catch any of you [being racist or bullying] then you guys will be cut from the team.”

Lowell's baseball program has been dominant in the city, winning 20 of the last 30 championship titles, and has built a reputation for itself. 

However, Meyerson states, “Their program’s kinda blacklisted now,” because they currently have no coaches, meaning they won't do preseason conditioning or play any fall ball games, likely coming into the 2026-27 season unprepared, giving Lincoln the opportunity to dominate the league.

Former Varsity captain Xavier Malizia states, “I think that everyone should know that this cannot happen again in that program or across the city.”

By Carrick Zhou

Boom, Boom, Boom! The drumbeat rings in the competitors’ ears. Sweat, humidity, and a drive to win fill the air. It is time for the 15th International Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew World Championships 2026 (CCWC) in Taiwan.

Lincoln fought hard to become back-to-back champions, while the Community Youth Center (CYC) dragon boat fought for its first medal. Teams from around the world, including Japan, Australia, England, and Scotland, gathered in Taiwan during the first two weeks of September to race. 

The Club Crew World Championships is a biennial competition in which dragon boat clubs worldwide compete to become champions in their respective age groups and events. The event typically lasts about a week and requires months of practice and preparation. Clubs fly in two to three days before the competition to race. The competition hosts all ages. 

Lincoln Dragon Boat and CYC Dragon Boat are both club teams based in San Francisco, where they also practice. The Lincoln team is primarily based at Abraham Lincoln High School, but they accept paddlers from all schools. CYC Dragon Boat is based in the Richmond district and is part of the CYC organization. Like the Lincoln team, they also accept students from all over San Francisco. 

Lincoln Dragon Boat placed fourteenth across all age groups, winning four golds, three silvers, and one bronze medal. They also set the under-eighteen (18U) Open Standard 500m competition record with a time of 1:59.61, 30 seconds faster than third place.

The Lincoln team also won the women’s 2000m and the women’s small boat 200m, both in the 18U category. 

Junior on the Lincoln team, Weijiang Yu, said, “I was excited to win, and was also super happy [Lincoln] won four gold medals.” 

CYC Dragon Boat secured a third-place finish in the small boat 200m sprint and multiple fourth-place finishes in five other events in their first year competing in the CCWC. 

CYC captain Jason Ye says, “I am very happy…you know, with [the third place]”. Despite being happy with the results, Ye says, “It's okay though, [CYC] will [be champions] in two years, it's fine”. 

Ye has been paddling with CYC for close to four years, and this was his first year as captain and his first year competing at the world championship. 

He was surprised by the community and the competitors' friendliness. Even though it was a world-level competition, the community was surprisingly friendly. 

Ye says, “Everyone was super friendly, and I even got to trade jerseys with someone…people in [local competitions] be like, side-eyeing me.” 

Yu says, “Going to Taiwan allowed [him] to get closer to his team and helped [develop his relationships].” 

All paddlers who were interviewed expressed appreciation and gratitude for the competition, noting that it improved their team chemistry and allowed them to visit a new country. Those on both dragon boat teams are preparing for the upcoming Team USA tryouts in hopes of once again getting another chance to compete in other countries.