EL SEGUNDO HERALD February 10, 2022 Page 3
Eagles Heading to the
Playoffs as Seniors Honored
By Gregg McMullin
The CIF Southern Section playoffs culminate
the hard work and success that teams have
during their respective seasons. Their reward is
playing for a section title and a possible Region
championship. For the El Segundo girls water
polo and both boys and girls soccer teams, they
should each advance to the CIF-SS playoffs
El Segundo senior water polo players Florence Basile, Alyssa Ryan, Avary Torres, Stephanie Martinez, Kaitlin Hodge and Cheryl Felix
pose before being honored.
that start Friday and Saturday. The pairings for
each team were announced this past Monday
and Tuesday, and the top-ranked girls’ water
polo team was set to host their first-round game
on Tuesday. Both soccer teams figured to get
their invite and play their first-round games
on Friday or Saturday. Unfortunately for both
girls and boys basketball teams, they weren’t
expected to qualify.
Top Ranked Lady Eagles Win
Pioneer League Title
The El Segundo girls’ water polo team has
played a dizzying schedule the last few weeks
of the season. Consider this they played eleven
games in eleven days against two top-ranked
teams and three others against top ten teams.
They finished the season-ending stretch 9-2,
and with their win over Division 1 power Mira
Costa, they’ll enter the CIF playoffs with the
top seed with an overall 21-4 record.
The Eagles dominated the Pioneer League
running the table and winning the program’s
eleventh league title. They defeated Torrance
11-4 and shut out Beverly Hills 22-0. Both
games weren’t as close as the final score
Douglass
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Entertainment
See Eagles, page 8
Emmie Ramirez gets ready to score against Mira Costa.
Film Review
The Novice is a Rowing Drama
That Strives for Perfection
By Morgan Rojas for Cinemacy
Winner of Best U.S. Narrative Feature
Film at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, The
Novice is a college drama that shows the
dark side of striving for perfection. Picture
the adrenaline-inducing anxiety of Whiplash
combined with the relentless nature of
Black Swan and you’ll find The Novice fits
The Novice courtesy of IFC Films.
squarely in the middle of these hyper-intense
character studies.
The Novice follows Alex Dall (Isabelle
Fuhrman – Best Actress winner at Tribeca
Film Festival), a queer female collegiate rower
whose struggle with being a perfectionist goes
from being a positive attribute to a cry for
help. Over the course of a few months, her
dangerously obsessive pursuit to attain straight
A’s and stand out on her school’s crew team
affects her mental health, physical health, and
relationships with peers and love interests
alike. Alex doesn’t care who she offends on
the way up, as long as she moves up.
The film is nontraditional in its editing
style with quick cuts and fast-paced shooting,
seemingly reminiscent of how I’d image
Alex’s mind to be: racing constantly. Its eerie
Check It Out
nature and gloomy aesthetic hums with desire,
doubt, and secrets.
The Novice is Lauren Hadaway’s directorial
debut, but the former competitive rower
didn’t need years of filmmaking experience
to successfully bring the rarely-seen portrayal
of women’s crew to the big screen. What’s
even more impressive are the dual storylines
that are equally fraught with increasing psychosis.
Not only is Alex developing gnarly
open wounds on her palms from the incessant
rowing, she is also stumbling through
a relationship with her Physics teacher’s
assistant, Dani (Dilone).
Set to a rich score by Alex Weston, The
Novice is a cautionary tale about what happens
when we push our human potential too
far. For Alex, “quitting” is the most offensive
word and “relaxing” should be viewed as a
privilege. Sadly, there are people who subscribe
to this way of thinking that, although maybe
not as severely as Alex, could alleviate the
self-appointed pressure to be perfect. Grit is
a great thing when used appropriately, and
as writer/director Lauren Hadaway shows
us in stark detail, there is such a thing as
taking it too far.
Now available to rent on VOD.
Morgan Rojas
I Dream of Popo
by Livia Blackburne
By Kristen Morell, Librarian I
A young girl moves from Taiwan to San
Diego, California and leaves her beloved Popo
(grandmother) behind. Their relationship is
very close, and Popo talks to her about what
her new home will be like in San Diego,
quite far away from Taiwan. Popo cannot
wait to hear about all her granddaughter’s
new adventures in San Diego and they both
look forward to talking often on the phone,
updating each other about life in Taiwan and
San Diego. She thinks of Popo often as she
meets new friends at school and learns a
new language, but she misses some of the
comforts of home in Taiwan, like Popo’s
delicious dumplings. She visits Popo and
many things seem different from what she
remembers, but her love for Popo is still
as strong as ever. As she grows older, so
does Popo and one day she is saddened by
the news that Popo is sick. She wishes she
could reach Pop across the ocean and hold
her up. To find out how this story ends, be
sure to check out I Dream of Popo written
by Livia Blackburne and illustrated by Julia
Kuo from the El Segundo Public Library. •
I Dream of Popo by Livia Blackburne. Kristina Kora-Beckman