Walking through the back of school after 3:15 p.m., one will see many PCS students standing around benches, preparing for their daily after school sports. They are joking, hacky-sacking, and laughing, happy to take a break from the stress of school by exercising. This fall, PCS students will be participating in high school cross country and girls volleyball, along with junior high cross country, girls basketball and flag football. High school students will competing in the Mission Trail Athletic League and Coastal Division. Likewise, junior high students will be competing against other local middle schools.

This year, PCS also welcomes a new athletic director, Jamey Harris. Mr. Harris is very passionate about sports, being a track and cross country coach and a NCAA All American runner in track and field. When asked about his goals as athletic director, Mr. Harris responded, “For right now, I just want to learn the job, get everything organized, and get comfortable in my new role. I have some ideas for increasing excitement about both athletic and academic competitions, but for now, I’m just trying to get settled.”

The high school cross country team, led by Coach Peter Fish, hopes to once again return to State Championships in late November. Last season in 2013, was the first time in PCS history when both boys and girls cross country teams went to state. This season, Mr. Fish hopes to “instill a joy of running to [his] team.” “I expect all cross country teams to do their best,” he says, “[It] should make us undefeated in the league.” This year, team captains, Alex Condotti and Luc Bouchard also share the goal of getting their team to state and first place in CCS (Central Coast Section), along with getting faster times. “We’ve been working really hard this season and have a lot of talented new runners. Hopefully all the effort we’ve been putting in will pay off,” says Condotti.

The high school girls volleyball team also shares the desire to win CCS. Co-Captain  Priyanka Desai says, “We want to be remembered as the first PCS girls’ volleyball team to win CCS.” Co-Captain Ada Jones adds, “We also want to play as a team.” So far, the season record for girls volleyball is eight wins and zero losses. Coach Dave Lapitan hopes his team will learn to play as a team, not get hung up on mistakes, win CCS, and beat challenging opponents. Upcoming games for girls volleyball are: Thursday, October 30th, 5:30pm at Marina, Wednesday, November 5th, 5pm at York and Wednesday, November 12th, 7:30 pm CCS 1st Round playoffs TBD.

If you are interested in attended any sporting event, check out the Journalism website
to be transferred to the PCS school calendar, where upcoming school events are posted. There are games weekly, so come to any event to show your support for the PCS Pumas!