Downey Boys Lacrosse Opens League

Kailani Fletcher and Rebeca Leon
March 29, 2022

Opening the league season after two years, Downey Boys Lacrosse went head-to-head against El Segundo High School March 16th 2022. The boys were excited to get back into the league, “there’s more pressure on these league games but it’s just another game and we have to go out there and do our thing,” said Captain Chris Trejo, 12.

In the first quarter of the game, Boys Lacrosse experiences a rocky start. The Vikings and the Eagles battled back and forth to gain a lead. Trejo helped lead his team in achieving this goal. Trejo pushed hard on offense in order to gain a sense of security on the field for the Vikings. Senior Captain Victor Arellano contributed as well, building the momentum by making back to back goals.

Not only did offense come through to gain a lead, defense worked hard to keep the Vikings in the game. Senior Richard Santos made multiple saves as goalie that prevented the Eagles from obtaining a lead in the last quarter of the game. The Vikings defeated their opponent 10-9 after an intense battle. Boys Lacrosse took their successes into their second league game, but ran into difficulty against Culver City High School. The boys worked hard to get on the scoreboard, but could not seem to put it together. “You have to go out there and play for the person next to you, it just wasn’t there tonight, “ said Arellano, “it wasn’t a ‘win at all costs’ mindset.”

Despite a loss, the team looks ahead: planning on regrouping and focusing on building up skills for their next game. New player Demetrius Stinson, 11, shares his confidence in his team, “being around a good group of guys, they’re teaching me and the rest of the team a lot of good skills which plays a huge part in us learning everything.” The boys hope to come together for the rest of their season and get more wins for their record.

Downey Boys Lacrosse is determined to move through their season with strength and head to CIF competition. The boys are currently second in the league, and they have until late April to improve their rankings. They rely on reflection and practice to achieve their goals.

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About the Writers

Kailani Fletcher, Writer

Even though Kailani Fletcher is a very well rounded senior, she still takes an extra step to find her interest by starting her first year at ‘The Downey Legend’ as a writer. Fletcher is also the President of the Downey High School Writing Center, a part of the Downey Track and Field, and is a Link Leader which has her filled schedule. She is hardworking and friendly, which can be seen as she welcomes new people to track and field or being involved in tons of school activities. She has huge dreams in journalism and has the experience in writing to take her there. Just by having a conversation with Fletcher you can see the journalist in her, and how intelligent she is. She hopes to keep her straight A streak, and continue at Barnard College. Writing is a huge part of what she does, and who she wants to become.

“I love writing other people’s stories. You get to put on other people’s shoes and see their perspective.” says Fletcher. “I am huge on humanity and always make a point to try and understand my classmates.”

Rebeca Leon, Business

In her last year of high school, Rebeca Leon, 12, is making sure to live her life to the fullest by maintaining her 4.5 GPA whilst being able to be creative. Leon joins The Downey Legend for the business aspect of it in order to prepare herself for future endeavors. She hopes to go into political journalism at Columbia Law, however, she rediscovered her love of writing the year prior and hopes to publish her own writing on The Downey Legend in the near future. Leon has an interest in writing about politics and covering elections so she sees Tthe Downey Legend as a great opportunity to experience interviewing people first hand.

As someone who's highschool career has been academic based, Leon is glad to have found her love for writing again, "I learned that I'm excited about writing when I'm passionate about the thing that I'm covering because being able to put my thoughts onto paper without judgment is fun and useful," Leon stated. "I hope I get to write about things that I'm passionate about so people can feel the passion through the screen."