Even as a district-wide strike neared, Venice’s spring sports were still in full swing.

Athletic director Robin Hunt said that if there was a strike, all sports games would have been able to be rescheduled.

“Depending how long the strike goes, we’ll squeeze them in as best we can,” he said before a tentative agreement was reached by all labor unions April 14. “But in a season, it is a possibility the season gets extended.”

Here’s how the Gondoliers have shown growth and success throughout their seasons.

Baseball

Baseball, 8-9 overall as of Friday,  faced injuries within their pitching staff that affected the start to their season.

 “We lost a starter, Xander Lippman, which did hurt but other players stepped in and have held down the position,” said senior Damian Santos, a captain alongside seniors Alejandro Rodriguez, Dylan Johnson, and junior True List.

Among the injured players this season were key pitchers seniors Miguel Medina and Alejandro Rodriguez, who the team relied on for starting games, said Santos. 

Despite this, players such as sophomore Eric Cummings,and senior Ruben Santos, have stepped up in games, he said. 

However every match varies, “offensively we’ve had a lot of guys shine in different games,” he said. 

The Gondoliers will host the Fairfax Lions this Wednesday the 15th at 3 p.m. Having not played them previously this season, the team has been seeing positive signs despite the recent loss against the Saint Bernard Vikings on the 8th, said Santos.

As of right now the team is focusing on taking it one step at a time, “it’s easy to look further and think about making Dodger stadium but right now our main focus is to win league,” he said.

The Gondoliers would have played the Carson Colts this past Saturday. 

Boys Golf

Boys’ golf has seen success so far this season due to their effort, time, and cooperation, according to sophomore Carson Mylan. 

“We’re all very close friends,” Mylan said, “we all get along well, there’s no hate, and there’s no conflict.”

Another factor in the team’s success is the growth both in number and talent since last season, said coach Kevin Behrendt.

“A lot of kids don’t play golf, so some years you simply won’t have very many,” Behrendt said, “but Venice is currently in a place where we have quite a few boys. And they really put in the time. You can tell because their playing’s gotten a lot better.” 

“All of us are putting in ten times the amount of time we put in last season, especially as a team, with morning practices and after school practices,” Mylan said. 

Now their practice is paying off. “I think we’ll be one of the best in the city, definitely by the end of the year,” said Behrendt.

Boys’ golf is getting ready to take on the Westchester Comets and the LACES Unicorns this Wednesday. 

Softball

Softball, 7–7 Friday, is dominating league play after a slow start. After a few early season losses to highly ranked teams Notre Dame February 25 and Agoura Hills March 10, the Gondos turned it around, and went 4-0 against the other teams in the Western League.

The losses served as a turning point for the Gondos. 

“After those couple of losses we came together and definitely worked harder as a team,” senior Abby Ascensio, a captain, said. “I feel like we’ve put more hours into it.”

For coach Eddie Soto the game plan remains the same as in the past. 

“We have a formula here that’s worked for the last several years, and the formula is fundamentals.” said Soto. “It’s working together, it’s trying to be more vocal from our leaders.” 

The team is to have played a tournament against Poly and Sylmar Saturday. 

“[Both teams] may not always have the greatest talent, but what they lack in talent, they make up in just pure determination,” Soto said. “They’re not going to give you anything, you’re going to have to earn it.”

Now, the Gondos have their eyes set on a title. 

“We still have an opportunity to get where we want to be, which is the Open Division playoffs,” said Soto. To do that, Soto explained that the team has to continue to play cohesively. “We’re just trying to put everything together and keep it consistent.”

Swim

Swim has improved greatly from last season and a big reason for that has been getting back to the basic skills such as breathing control, form, dives, and flip turns, said Amy Okada, a co-coach with Rigo Mora.  

Those skills are “all the small things that will help us progress toward our championship season,” Okada said.

The swimmers have also been pushing their limits by increasing the amount of swimming they do during practice. 

“It’s a lot of volume swimming,” said junior Micah Wong, a captain for the boys team, “It’s a lot of hard yards.”

The team’s next meet is against the San Pedro Pirates on Wednesday. 

“San Pedro is definitely a super competitive swim team. They’re always incredibly fast,” Mora said. 

Even though San Pedro is a tough competitor, the Gondos also want to focus on self-improvement. 

“We’re always just really focused on racing our own race,” Mora said.

For the end of the season, the swimmers are focused on constant improvement and the upcoming playoffs. 

“We’re just focused on achieving, making sure that each kid is improving one percent every day,” said Mora, “and obviously, the big goal is to bring home the first swim championship in a long time to Venice High.”

The team had a meet April 8 against Banning and University, in which the Gondoliers triumphed over the Wildcats and the Pilots, and swept the meet.

Boys Tennis

Boys’ tennis, 5-3, is halfway through the season, looking to continue its solid league run and build momentum in the second half.

Coach Andrew Horen said the team has stayed competitive even against top opponents.

“I think the season’s going really well,” he said. “We lost a couple matches in our league to a very strong Palisades and very strong LACES team coming off their D1 championship, but we hung with both of them. 

“Even though we didn’t get the W’s, I’m happy with where the team’s at.”

Looking ahead to today’s matchup, Horen said Venice is focused on playing its game after a previous win over Fairfax earlier in the season.

“We’ve played everybody in the league so far,” said Horen. “We beat Fairfax, Westchester and Uni, and we’re looking to do the same thing this time.”

He also pointed to the team’s mix of experienced players and freshmen stepping up.

“We’ve got some tough freshmen. Anderson Du is a strong player who can play singles and doubles, Abbott Swartz is a strong doubles player, and Milton Poe and Miles Aronson have also contributed.”

Senior Jackson Hill, a captain, said the team has adjusted well after losing key seniors last year and continues to improve chemistry.

“I think it’s going pretty well. We lost a lot of seniors from last year, but the team is coming along really well and we’re playing well together.”

He added that the younger players have been well integrated into the program.

“We’ve done a good job welcoming the freshmen and helping them fit into our style of play,” he said. 

Today against Fairfax, Hill said the team is feeling confident.

“I think we can beat them. We beat them last time, and we’re just focused on playing our game and trusting our ability.”

Track

This year’s track season has been “pretty successful” so far, according to Ivan Gomez, a co-coach with Alfredo Korzenik. 

“The results have been showing,” he said. “We’ve gotten quite a bit of personal records from our athletes, so it’s been a good season so far.”

The team this year has many strengths that have contributed to their spectacular performance this season. Some include team size and chemistry. 

“Roughly, I think we’re nearing around 80 students,” Gomez said. “I think our athletes are coming together well, they’ve put in a lot of work since the beginning of the season.”

The seniors of this year’s team include Noga Amit ( Mace Castillo, Desyray Chan Anabelle Refnes, Alejandro Escobar, Atticus Kao Ryan Perella, Chris Thompson, Matthew Sund, Luc Olsen, Jeremy Siguenza, Alejandro Escobar, and Lawrence Kensinger. 

“The reason why I love distance track so much is you get the competition and the mentality of a winner, and also the struggles and setbacks,” said junior Avitansh Arora, the boys’ team captain. “But you also learn to communicate, you learn to cheer, to be cheered, to feel appreciated and give appreciation. It’s the experience of being a Venice runner.”

Later this season, the team is looking forward to competing at Fairfax Lions. 

“Venice always dominates Fairfax,” said Arora “there isn’t much competition for the Varsity distance side of the team. We have a strong short-distance team as well.”

Boys Volleyball

Boys’ volleyball, 19-8 overall, is preparing for the fast approaching end of the season and the challenges it brings, including the loss of their seniors.

Instead of focusing on what they’re losing, the team is recognizing their current strengths as a team, said senior Micah Smith, the captain. 

“I think our team has good morale. We all work well together, and we enjoy each other’s presence and company on the court, which is what we need most for the team to work well together,” Smith said.

Now, the Gondos are getting ready to visit LACES, 7–10 overall.