Sports

By Lola Snopkowski

Lincoln girls soccer is always a major competitor in the SFUSD league championship, and this year, they are coming at it stronger than

ever, with new positivity and connectivity. 

Their season started on November 20th, and so far they are 10-4 overall and 8-2 in league, placing third out of thirteen. With one more game left in their season, they’re ready to put in the work to finish strong.

Each game, they create themes—displayed on their team's Instagram, @alhsssoccer—such as superheroes or “Mission Impossible”, and dress up at school accordingly.

Junior Kailah O’Doherty stated, “I feel like it brings our team together [through lighthearted fun].”

This playful tradition fosters team cohesion and boosts morale and trust on and off the field.

Most recently, they did “lifeguards” for their game against Mission, wearing goggles, life vests, and lifeguard branded items. They didn’t need any lifeguard rescues as they dominated with a score of 4-0—senior Katy Alvarez with two goals, and senior Amelia Chan and Sophomore Makena Reeves with one goal.

Head Coach David McPherson(Coach Mac), alongside assistant coach Edmond Sullivan, have worked hard to build a successful team. 

McPherson stated, “Our assistant coach, Mr. Sullivan, and [our] captains have helped enact more team-oriented routines this season on and off the field that foster positivity, camaraderie, and all around good vibes.”

Last year, they had a very successful season, going 10-2 in league and 13-6 overall. They had a strong game against Washington in the semi-finals, winning 2-0, but unfortunately lost to Lowell 3-0 in the Championship. 

Lowell has posed as a rival not only in soccer but throughout Lincoln athletics. Lincoln rarely beats Lowell in girls' soccer, but last year in the regular season, they tied 2-2, scoring two last-second goals.

This season, despite Lincoln putting up a competitive game against Lowell, they ended up losing 3-1 with two last minute goals by Lowell, but are not discouraged and are ready to face them again later in the season, and potentially in the championship. 

McPherson stated, “Since the Lowell loss, we have preached the importance of finishing games, playing until the final whistle in each half; stressing to the girls the importance of not getting too high or too low—an important quality of a champion.”

Despite several crucial seniors graduating last year, they continue to put up successful games with the help of Captains Amelia Chan, Kailah O’Doherty, and Kaley Huynh. 

They also gained new assets with nine new freshmen out of a total roster of 28. 

O’Doherty stated, “Our freshmen have truly come into the roles on the team [and] our captains work very hard.”

On Friday, January 30th, they celebrated their seniors for senior night and beat Balboa 4-0, who they had previously lost to earlier in the season 1-0. But due to an ineligible player, the game was ruled a win by Lincoln. 

This game was the last home game for the seniors, marking growth and development not just from the beginning of the season but throughout all four years.

  O’Doherty stated, “I feel like we’ve improved a lot.”

By Angela Gin

The start of a new year signals the start of a new season of winter sports. The Lincoln boys soccer team has begun their annual cycle of practices and games, but with an all new coach, Jose Menendez.

Menendez was offered the position by Lincoln’s Athletic Director, Olga Camacho after the former coach, Nathaniel Garcia, left the school district. But while Menendez is new to coaching this team in particular, he is not new to soccer or coaching at Lincoln. 

He assisted the former girls soccer coach, Kenyatta Scott, from 2011 to 2014 and  the boys soccer team from 2012 to 2016, retiring officially in 2016, and coming out of retirement to coach boys soccer this season. 

Menendez notes the differences between when he last coached and the present, “There is more organization from the league, and there are more rules of course. But the game is still the same.”

Team captains Cruv Milgrom and Darian Lee-Imhof have noted that Menendez’s coaching style differs from past coaches, stating that the focus was now on the players rather than the coaching style. 

“I feel like last year, our last coach, he was a little more clear about telling us what he wanted. Our other coaches really wanted us to play in a specific way,” Milgrom says.

“I think it’s a little less structured, he just trusts us to be able to know and know what to do and, you know, do it,” adds Lee.

In addition to adjusting to a new coach, the team has also had to deal with many injuries. According to Milgrom and Lee, such injuries include twisted ankles, sprained ankles, and a broken foot, with most injuries among the senior players. 

“It’s made it a little difficult because a lot of us are used to playing with these seniors and players who are usually our starters. It takes a little time to adjust to playing with new people,” Lee says.

The last time Lincoln went to city championships for boys soccer was in 2013, but they lost due to injuries, and the last and only time Lincoln won the boys soccer city championship was ten years earlier in 2003.

Since the start of their season, the team has won three games, lost one, and tied twice, putting the team at third place in the CIF league.

Menendez believes that this year the team will make it to city championships for the first time in a decade, saying, “We have a very extraordinary team, very skillful and talented players, great captains with a great attitude and with a lot of vision. We, Lincoln, we are not participants; we are contenders to the championship.” 

Milgrom says, “Really, at the end of the day, a lot of it comes down to who wants it more. Like, we definitely wanted it more last week, and we need to do it again this week, and the week after. But it definitely feels possible, which is a good feeling.”

By Xavier Malizia

On December 2nd,  the Sava Pool, a public pool nestled in the Outer Sunset between Stern Grove and Carl Larson Park, closed for renovations. The pool has hosted Lincoln swim practices for years. However, this season, the Lincoln swim team was left without a pool, struggling to put in the laps. The team, which often gets less attention than sports like football, basketball, and baseball, is one of the tight-knit communities on campus, yet faces uncertainty for the next few months.

As of now, the Lincoln swim team practices at the City College of San Francisco, which is at least a half hour away from Lincoln. With the only available time slot from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., students with a seventh period often don’t have enough time to get to the pool. 

Despite this, senior Tyler Chan has a positive attitude towards the season.

“We’re getting through it,” says Chan, senior on the swim team.  “A lot of people [are] showing up late, but we still got our hours.”

The CCSF pool is not available for the rest of the season, however. The team is once again going to be forced to relocate practice to the Balboa Pool after February 6th, with practices at 6:30 a.m., before school starts.

With time in the water limited, head coach Michael Zheng worries that “it will make it hard for people to be able to learn and grow as swimmers.”

Senior Dalton Brown admitted that practices this early are intimidating to the swimmers, but he still has a positive outlook.

“I also think it’s a good thing, because it’d be nice to get it all out in the morning,” explained Brown.

He says that even with these challenges, he expects a good season from the swimmers at Lincoln. 

Seconding this, Zheng hopes that a challenge like this will help bring his swimmers together to create a closer environment in the water.

The constant changing of pools, practice times, and long commutes left only the most dedicated swimmers on the team after losing a handful of athletes who quit. Brown is staying optimistic about this, hoping that it will help the team's success. 

Coach Zheng has a goal of overall team growth in mind for the season. 

“[I want to] make sure the swimmers who started with no experience get to swim how they like, [and] make sure the experienced swimmers learn something new to further their strengths in swimming,” he explained.

As for the team itself, the players have very positive things to say.

“The atmosphere of Lincoln swimming is very uplifting,” states Chan

  “Even [those] who are not very good at swimming [… can] join Lincoln Swim [… and] they will teach you how,” says Brown, seconding the communal and supportive atmosphere of the team.

Swimming is similar to sports like track and field, where athletes compete individually, with points given to both personal swimmers and the team as a whole.

“You swim laps, but there's not really much to it. [...] It's just how much you can get your technique refined, and how much you can have that [mentality] to push through and finish your sets,” says Chan. 

Showing up every day to perfect his stroke is the most challenging part for Chan and his teammates in such a repetitive sport.

Unlike other sports, swimming involves lots of transitions, off-campus transit, showers, and changes of clothing, which is, as Brown puts it, awkward for high school students. 

However, the story of the season is not about competition or skills, but about the position Lincoln swim team has been put in due to the closure of the Sava Pool.

By Ella Lal

The 2023 to 2024 championship was the first time the Abraham Lincoln high school wrestling team had ever won a championship in the history of SFUSD high school city wrestling championships. Lincoln’s wrestling team also won the 2024 to 2025 championship and has now gone undefeated for the past two years. 

According to the boys team captain Kai Villegas, they’ve had little to no competition in the city, “I think [our]team dynamic is better than other teams’--stronger. Everyone always underestimates us even though we win every year.”

Villegas explains that the reason for the team's performance is because of their discipline. The wrestling team practices every day after school for two hours. However, many members of the team choose to stay after practice and train on their own time. 

Villegas also explains that their coach, Micheal Frias, teaches them about the mind and body connection of wrestling. Frias places an emphasis on technique and taking advantage of leverage in a fight. Frias wants his team to use their brains, not just the brawns. Villegas points out that a strong mentality and technique are things that many wrestlers don’t learn until much later in their career, which gives them an edge over their opponents. 

Frias states, “What we focus on is becoming a better version of ourselves every day, both on the mat, in the classroom, at home, in the community. And if we focus on becoming a better version of ourselves every day, then everything will fall into place, and opportunities will arise.”

Ramya Reeves, the wrestling girls team captain, expresses that one of the things she really likes about the team is its focus on mental health, 

“I think mental health in sports is really important, because it’s so easy to become demotivated and be hard on yourself when you’re not performing how you expect yourself to perform in the sport, like you're putting so much time into it. Our coach is really big on healthy foods, making sure you’re feeling your body correctly, and making sure you're journaling, taking time to make sure your mental is okay.” 

The team's motto is “Eat, sleep, wrestle.” Frias wants his wrestlers to eat healthy, whether it be a vegetarian, vegan, or omnivore diet.

Reeves says that she also feels very supported by the other girls in wrestling. Claiming it feels very inclusive and that there are never any hard feelings after a match. Reeves also shares that she hopes that more girls join the wrestling team,

 “More girls should join the wrestling team. It teaches you a lot of discipline and all the girls are so supportive in the sport. There is one bad encounter that I’ve had on the mat and off the mat while wrestling a girl. I always end up hugging it out with a girl after the match. It’s really inclusive, everyone is really understanding.”

Frias says that more girls should consider joining the wrestling team and that it can change your life for the better. Wrestling is the fastest growing girls sport and is a great path for girls looking to separate themselves on college applications and earn scholarships. 

“For the girls, I would say, if you want to change your lives, go ahead and join wrestling.”