The Junior Varsity team had a great season with every player improving their game.  Coach Sanford said “The JV made great improvements to their game and learned what it is like to compete in IHL golf matches.”  For Andrew and Ryan it was their first season at the Varsity level.  With high expectations for this season, the Varsity team fell a little short in completing their goals.  Even with the disappointments, Coach Sanford was very proud saying “they gained some valuable experience”.  He also added “They now know what it takes to compete at this high level”.  Even with many setbacks, they gained much experience that should help them in the future.  With no seniors on the team next year is looking bright for these young athletes.  The three varsity members finished 78, 79, and 80^th out of 103 golfers in the ILH. As for the JV team, they made great strides in their game and have learned what it takes to succeed in the very competitive ILH.

Top-seeded teams like Kansas, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kansas State, and Kentucky, which were all heavy favorites, were all stopped short of moving on to the Final Four in down to the wire games against underrated teams like the University of Northern Iowa and Cornell leaving Duke as the only no. 1 seed to be left in the grueling tournament.  However, despite all of this, the final showdown had to have been the biggest shocker of all. 

In front of a crowd of 70,000 people, the no. 5 seed hailing from the West division went up against the number one seed Duke from the South division at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Butler University (which has an undergraduate enrollment of about 4,500) was the smallest school to reach the championship, let alone the Final Four, in this year’s tournament while Duke made its first Final Four appearance since 2004. 

The stakes were high, and the odds were in favor of Duke, but the game was still uncertain of a winner until literally the last few seconds.  When Duke’s Brian Zoubek made one of two free throws for a 61-59 lead with only 3.7 seconds left, it was only a half-court shot that Butler was left with to depend on for a game-winner.  However, some questioned at first why Zoubek was signaled to purposely miss his second free throw.  If he had made his second free throw then Duke would have had a 62-59 lead, and Butler would have had to advance the ball from out of bounds within the allotted 3.7 seconds to the opposite end of the court and attempt to hit a three-pointer.  This would have all had to have happened though with a flawless breakdown of the Duke full-court defense, which already shut down the Butler offense throughout the game to a 34.5% field goal percentage.  On the other hand, with Zoubek missing the shot on purpose Butler would have had to get the rebound, transition through the full-court press by Duke, and try to set up for a half-court shot on the run which, let’s face it, is a hail-Mary.

That last attempt at a major upset was handed to Gordon Hayward who was the one to let the ball fly within those last seconds, but while some Cinderella stories have fairytale endings the journey towards a national championship for the Butler Bulldogs ended too close without a win for comfort.  After all this, don’t be surprised if Butler comes back charging next year, because they most likely will be going all the way for a win with most of their team returning.  And when it happens, don’t say I didn’t call it.

One witness reported that the deep-ocean dweller “looked as if it was surfing the waves”.  Urine tests have confirmed that the giant creature in the water is indeed a giant male squid.  Scientists hypothesize that since it’s mating season for the giant squid, that many of them will swim to shallow waters to look for a mate.  Surfers are cautioned that more giant squid may be on their way but Quiksilver has decided not to cancel today’s national high school surf competition.

LJA’s surf club, which is currently ranked 1^st in the nation has opted to sit out of today’s competition at the North Shore, which will unfortunately drop them in the national rankings.  “The safety of our students is much more important than any trophy can be,” reports LJA’s surf coach Alex Webb. 

LJA community will continue to support the surf team as they fight through these unfortunate events and gain back another national title opportunity.

Nevertheless there are moments that seem to strike a cord for every person following the event. While some moments had us cheering at the top of our lungs, others brought tears to our eyes. Some of the most memorable events included that of the lovable, flamboyant figure skater, Johnny Weir, who proudly represented the United States and earned 6^th place over all.

Probably one of the most talked about athletes of this year’s winter Olympics was that of American snow border Sean White. The “Flying Tomato”, as White’s fans so endearingly dub him, received a gold medal for incredible performance on the half pipe. The only thing that seemed to surpass the magnitude of his immediate 1^st place was his victory run in which he unleashed his long anticipated new trick, the Double McTwist 1260 which he named the Tomahawk.

Even through all these great victories for the United States, there were several tragedies that occurred within the Olympic circle. One triumph over tragedy in particular that seemed to really touch the hearts of many viewers was the case of Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette. Rochette’s mother passed away two days before the biggest competition of her life. While a tragedy such as this would stymie many athletes ability to compete, Rochette continued with her pursuit to skate in the Winter Olympics, as it was something she worked for her entire life and she knew that her mother would want her to skate.

While watching her stunning performance, it was difficult to believe the loss she had suffered so recently. But as her performance came to an end, so did the illusion that she was emotionally sound. It was a scene that brought almost all of America to tears as they watched Rochette break down at the end of her best performance ever and proved to be an example of strength, endurance and love. In the end, Jaonnie Rochette earned 3^rd place in the competition but 1^st first in many hearts.

The Olympics is not about winning or losing, but exemplifying the concept of world unity through friendly competition where different cultures come together to share an experience that will be attached to the hearts of people around the world.

It all started on December 1^st when the season first got under way. The team went to Kauai to participate in the Kapa’a tournament and when they got back to Oahu they were ready for ILH division play. They started the season off with the Navigators of Island Pacific Academy and won with a final score of 54-50.

After 5 games, the bulldogs were first in the division with a record of 4-1 and accomplished a win against Iolani. After that however, the bulldogs lost three consecutive games all by a combined 12 total points. After the three game losing streak, the team was eager to win, and Maryknoll provided them with that win. The bulldogs kept their momentum rolling bringing the undefeated Punahou Buff n’ Blue to overtime, yet lost in the final moments of the game.

“It was a good effort by the boys. They worked hard and gave it their all” said Headmaster Adrian Allen.

At the end of the season, the Le Jardin community celebrated the seniors by attending senior night which was held after the last game of the season against Lutheran. The bulldogs won the game and afterwards the seniors were celebrated by receiving countless leis and hugs from family and friends.

“It was very memorable night; the crowd made the night for us!” said senior John Whitty who was one of four seniors honored for their basketball careers at Le Jardin. The others celebrated at senior night were seniors Tevin Togami, Kalani Soeda, and Taylor Gray.

After the unforgettable senior night, the bulldogs kept rolling throughout the season and into the ILH Division II playoffs. Their first round match up was against Le Jardin’s rival Christian Academy. The gym was packed for the first round of the playoffs and the game came down to the final minutes. The game certainly didn’t fail to please all of the cheering basketball enthusiasts. Le Jardin came away with the win beating the Patriots 67-58, only after coming back from a 10 point deficit by outscoring Christian Academy by 20 points in the fourth quarter. Christian Academy was knocked out of the single elimination tournament.

For the second round, the Bulldogs faced off against the AOP Dolphins; whom they lost to by four points in the regular season. The game was close at the end of the first quarter, but then the bulldogs fell behind by 26 at half time. After the terrible first half, the bulldog closed a 30 point lead in the second half and was as close as 14 at the beginning of the 4^th quarter, but AOP proved to be too much for the bulldogs and they lost, ending their season and the senior’s basketball careers at Le Jardin Academy.

Even though it was a tough loss especially for the seniors; the season generated many happy memories that will live with the bulldogs forever.

“We now have our own home court this year, so we will have more pride in defending it,” says head coach Jason Popejoy. The 2010 season team consists of returning starting seniors AJ Shiarella, Kalani Soeda, Taylor Gray, and John Whitty. With the team being virtually the same as the team that went to states last year, this year’s team is expecting the same result and maybe a chance to go further into the playoffs.

The boys varsity program is starting now with conditioning, and is hoping to make big strides in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH). Games start in March and the bulldogs have many home games so come and show your support.

The team has recently suffered two disappointing losses to Christian Academy and Hawaii Baptist Academy.  However; in an underdog victory, the team has defeated the heavily favored Iolani team.  During a team huddle, Headmaster Adrian Allen told the team that “[The Christian Academy game] was one of the most exciting LJA games he has ever seen.”  It was unfortunate that LJA lost to a buzzer beating 3-pointer at the end of the double overtime period.

Please come support our varsity bulldog basketball team and encourage them on their hopes for the state tournament.  Schedules of games can be found in front of the gym or on the Sports Center section of our website.

Junior high school students Mike Dowsett and Joey Kiser combined forces and began what could be considered a delightful scheme to prove to the faculty and administration of Le Jardin the demand of paddling through student signatures. “Its important for Le Jardin to have paddling,” notes Kiser, “because there are many talented paddlers at this school and year after year their talent is wasted due to LJA not providing a paddling team.”

Soon after receiving the list, Mr. Reid Ollaso, Sports Director of Le Jardin, gave the O.K. for the first paddling to begin in the winter of 2009. Thus began what would be Le Jardin’s first ever paddling season.

However, after such creation came an important question. Who would coach the paddling team? Only one man seemed to have the proper past experience and passion for the job.  – Mr. Thomas Vinigas (or more commonly known as “Uncle Tommy” to students). He is an experienced paddler with 30 years under his belt and is a certified lifeguard. It has been with his structured practices and his guidance that has lead novice and veteran paddlers alike to improve their skills greatly for regattas.

Since Paddling is a new sport, it is important that the student body show school pride and support for the teams by showing up and cheering for them during the races. As coach Tommy has stated in one of his many inspirational speeches, “by attending a great school such as Le Jardin, it is necessary that we show support for not only our paddling team, but for other LJA sports teams as well. We are one ohana and it is important that we have pride in that fact”. 

For more information on the paddling team and times for their races, check out the paddling website at http://lejardinpaddling.weebly.com/

The main goal is to qualify for the State Championships with the best time.  The three qualifiers for States were Rachel Randall, Erin Anding, and Jacob Blau.  Randall has qualified for the 200 and 500 meter free style events and Blau has qualified for the 50 meter free style.  Also, Erin Anding has qualified for the 200 meter free style, Girls 200 Medley and Free Relays and Boys 200 Medley Relays all made State consideration times. 

One of the qualifying swimmers, Erin Anding said “Everyone has been working really hard.  I’m excited about States because it’s off island but I wish more of our team was able to go.”

The rest of the varsity team includes: Tori Wilcox, Larissa Ing, Brian Kurzeja, Ryan Chun, Murielle Rodrigue, Chris Srague, Libby Cleghorn, Jackson Shimanoff, Sean Millar, and Andrew Carmondy.  As for the JV and Intermediate teams, they have made steady improvement and have earned much experience participating in the recent events.  Many of the swimmers have little experience in competitive swimming and this year should give them a taste of what it will be like.  We can be sure that we will be well prepared for future years to come.

“Winning or losing doesn’t mean everything, but having fun is the important thing,” says Senior Kara Singson who is one of the returning players from last year’s roster. The Bulldogs started the season playing hard competition such as Iolani, Kamehameha, Punahou and Sacred Hearts, all of which are still undefeated teams. The 0-8 record doesn’t reflect the overwhelming talent found on the Bulldog’s roster. Some of the talent is found in Le Jardin’s leading scorer Kelsey Tanouye, Le Jardin’s leading rebounder Hannah Sherrill and Le Jardin’s point guard Brittany Daniels.

The latest game was against Punahou where the overwhelming BuffnBlue defeated the Bulldogs 58-20. Kelsey Tanouye led all scorers with 13 points. The Bulldogs are working hard and need your support! Their next home game is against Christian Academy on January 19 at our home gym so come and show your Bulldog Spirit.