The golf team started its season with a record of 9-0 as of late March, including a victory in an important match against Milpitas that players won by 2 strokes.

If the members of the boys’ soccer team want to make it to CCS again, they will have to win in a tougher league and without last year’s top scorer.

The team’s tryouts began Nov 1 and continued throughout the week. This year, the team had minor changes to their coaching staff, since Adam Clarke will be returning as varsity head coach, but JV will be taken over by Michael Patrick. The team also has recruited a new keeper coach, Jim Hull. Saratoga high alumnus Brandon Chow will be returning to help coach.

After a slow 1-7 start, the boys' basketball team finished the non-league season strong, posting a 3-1 record over the winter break.

This four-game surge came at a good time for the Falcons, who rolled into their first league game versus Cupertino with some positive momentum.

Saratoga's winning ways continued against the Cupertino Pioneers, as senior shooting guard Daniel Chou exploded for a career-high 27 points on six three-pointers while shooting an astounding 71 percent from the field.

After securing a 5-5-2 record and a seventh place finish in the El Camino league last year, the sophomore-heavy team and a new coach are looking to make improvements and maybe even capture a league title.

In order to combat a lack of upperclassmen this year, new coach Adam Clarke resorted to pulling up many of the sophomores who tried out to compete along with the juniors and seniors at the varsity level.

"The sophomores really work well with the rest of the team," said senior goalie Kevin Benzing. "They compete as well as any other team in the league."

Last season, the Saratoga High football program was out to prove that they belonged in the De Anza league, one regarded as the most competitive in the area. Although many fans doubted that the Falcons would be able to contend in this tough division, the squad showed these skeptics otherwise with their 4-6 record.

This season, second-year head coach Tim Lugo wants to advance to the CCS playoffs.

"At the start of every season, we set a new goal for ourselves," said Lugo. "Last year, it was establishing ourselves in the [De Anza] league. This year, it's making CCS."

The girls' volleyball team is trying to be a force in the De Anza League this year. So far they've had mixed results.

They won their first league game against Homestead Sept. 24 (3-0) and then lost to Los Gatos 3-0 Sept. 29 and to Palo Alto 4-1 Oct. 1. After the two losses, the Falcons beat Gunn 3-1 Oct. 6 and later on picked up another victory against Los Altos Oct. 8 (3-0).

"We started off with the two toughest teams in our league and lost," said junior setter and opposite hitter Hannah Nielson. "Besides that, we have been playing very well and have been working as a team."

Although roster size has always been a problem for varsity baseball coach Manny Steffen, the dedication and perseverance of his players never has. Despite having fewer players than most teams, the team managed to clinch the El Camino League’s division title, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by Saratoga since 1994. They sealed the deal with a 5-3 home win over the Fremont Firebirds on May 7.