New Band Director Has High Hopes for MTHS

Changes happen every year here at Monterey Trail High School. One of the big contributors to those changes this year is our new band director, Mr. Aaron Smith. Before teaching at Monterey Trail, Mr. Smith taught at Vacaville High School, excelling and focusing on jazz music. Beginning on the percussion at a mere 5 years old, Mr. Smith had an on and off “relationship” with music. After taking a trip to Australia with some of his friends, he began to rethink taking up music as a profession. And thanks to his reconsideration about pursuing music as a career, we now have an amazing band director. As mentioned by Mr. Smith, he has hopes for a growing music program here at Monterey Trail. At the moment, there are only 43 students in the band program, but it’s not enough to make a tremendous and lasting tradition. He assumes that every year, about 60 students from the band organization from Edward Harris Middle School promote onto high school, but as the years pass by, less and less students are becoming active in the band program. Aside from the band program itself, he thinks the rest of the students here are “pretty cool” from afar. I believe that he can see potential everywhere at our school because he knows and supports the quote that “good enough is neither good nor enough”. Even with the small band program here, he’s going to keep trying to help the school grow, but he can’t do it alone. It’s up to us to fill in the empty holes. Because of this monumental instructor, we are all going to grow.

Varsity Men’s Basketball vs. Folsom: Mustangs Will Soon Amaze DRL

Four points away from knocking off a team that was nationally ranked as recent as last February, the Mustangs gave their obligatory handshakes to the Folsom Bulldogs, and begrudgingly trotted back to the locker room. A bittersweet game from start to finish, the Mustangs recovered quickly from a first quarter onslaught of offense, courtesy of Kori Babineaux, the Bulldog superstar, who would finish with a 31 of his team’s 59 points in an ‘04 Kobe-esque performance; or, perhaps an ‘06 Dwyane Wade performance, as Babineaux received a number of phantom calls as he seized the free throw line throughout the second half. Regardless, the game would only show as a loss in the standings, and coming from a former basketball player, there’s no bigger headache than the awkward quiet in the locker room after a hard fought loss that slipped through your fingers.

But somewhere amid the din of muttering voices and slamming lockers, a lingering thought remained that this performance may have been a peek into the future of Monterey Trail basketball, and the potential promise of a team that’s comprised of almost all underclassmen. Brandon Ogle, a junior with a year of varsity experience already under his belt, finished with 15 points. Ogle leads the team with 10.4 points a game, and has hit a blistering 46 threes in the year. Jaylen Brown turned in his best performance of the year, as the shifty guard hit 4 threes on his way to a season high 20 points.

Brown and Ogle are just a part of a young group that has shown flashes of brilliance amidst a mediocre season, as Coach Ken Manfredi has carefully crafted a varsity team to fit his two year plan, that counts on suffering these tough losses this year in order to be better prepared for next year. Brandon Ogle is a testament to Manfredi’s  plan, as a year of varsity experience last year has no doubt resulted in his becoming a more capable player this year. Along with Ogle and Brown, juniors like Cameron Smith and Ashanti Jackson, as well as Ota Okungbowa and sophomore Stedman Saunders, lead a team that’s willed to use this year’s tough losses as fuel to next year’s fire. And who’s to doubt the potency of the young squad, as close losses against notable teams like Valley and Folsom have already proven the veiled strength of the young team.

Although heart wrenching, the secret of getting ahead is getting started, and the Mustangs have gotten an early one with their young team. Not quite elite but nowhere near irrelevant, the Mustangs’ showcase of dormant ability is quite evident, and when the team rises from its silent slumber next year, the entire Delta River League is in for a rude awakening.