Spotlight on IASAS Season 2 Athletes

By Laura Hsu {’22)

IASAS Basketball Girls Feature: Maya Rosenshield
When asked about IASAS this year, Maya Rosenshield (‘21) said, “I honestly love IASAS so much, it’s so unique to any experience you will ever have. The people you meet, the emotions you go through, the heartbreak and happiness, and just the overall vibe is so special.” However, this year ended differently, “The way the last game ended was something out of my nightmares. We were up by 7 with one minute to go but because of extremely lopsided officials the game was stolen from us.” she said. “Of course we made mistakes in terms of playing the actual game, but I have truly never seen such an unfair referee in my life. It was like he was trying to make us lose. The calls he was making were absurd.” Although the girls basketball team did win every single game prior to the last game, Maya still thought it was an unfair ending but loved the overall experience. She said, “I think I can speak for the team when I say even though we didn’t get the title, we are champions not only in the way we played but in our humble pride and ability to work together as a team and overcome any obstacles that come our way.”

IASAS Swimming Boys Feature: Jason Lin
This year at IASAS, swimmer Jason Lin (‘21) broke the 100m breaststroke record. “Breaking a record is kind of like receiving a reward after a lot of hard work and determination. It requires several hours of practice every day, even during holidays and weekends. There is also a lot of discipline required outside of practice, as every small detail such as your diet and your sleeping habits count. So you know, breaking a record feels pretty good, as you know that all of the hard work paid off.” One huge motivation for Jason is his team’s unwavering optimism and energy. “The positive atmosphere that the team created really helped me gain a lot more confidence before the race. During the race, when you hear people cheering for each other, it really is a huge motivation to keep on going.” he said.

IASAS Tennis Girls Feature: Allie Chiang
This year, the Varsity Tennis girls won bronze for IASAS. Allie Chiang (‘20) said, “I think we were able to get bronze this year because we put in so much of our time and effort and it paid off! During the matches, we cheered each other on. Like literally screaming after every point until we lost our voices. The boy’s team was also a big support for us as they cheered us on whenever they could. I am very very proud of what we all accomplished this year and really happy with this year’s results.” Regarding goals for the next school year, she said, “Of course, we will all aim to do better and improve for next year! But I’m super happy with this year’s IASAS results. Shoutout to all the girls!!”

IASAS Football Boys Feature: Senen Fernandes
To Senen Fernandes (‘20), the most satisfying win was the Bronze medal match this year, “we didn’t let SAS score a single try on us even though they beat us in the previous round-robin match.” He said, “during the game we scored 2 tries, one of them coming off of a beautiful line out straight to the hands of our captain Nick Hudson who scored the ball in between the posts. When there were around 2 minutes left in the game I was in sort of a daze because I realized that we had just won Bronze, even with a 1-4 record and all me and my team’s hard work throughout the tourney paid off. It was a beautiful moment when the referee blew the whistle signaling our win and I just took a step and fell to the ground, overwhelmed with joy and relief shortly after joined by my whole team who just laid on top of each other in a giant pile.”