Overlake prides itself on its academics and athletics. Through sports, Overlake strives to build a foundation of strong relationships and leadership driven by the support of the Overlake community. The work ethic of the students combined with their passion for athletics fosters an excellent environment where students can try new experiences hands-on, with support from their peers and coaches.
Fall sports for the 2025 season have ended, including girls’ volleyball, girls’ soccer, cross-country, boys’ golf, boys’ ultimate, and boys’ tennis. Overall, this year, our sports teams have gone quite far with some impressive achievements from a variety of sports.
Our girls’ varsity volleyball team battled their way to a spot in the Emerald Sound Conference (ESC) playoffs, making it to the finals. They also received the Team Sportsmanship Award for the ESC 2025 season and senior Katie Mystkowski was selected for ESC.
For the cross-country team, both Julia Kakushev (grade 10), Matilde Vergara Silva (grade 12), Sae Komatsu (grade 12), Mayank Kolimi (grade 10) and George Gounares (grade 11) qualified for state. Sae, a 12th grader at Overlake broke the school record, running an incredible 19:35.6-minute race for the 5000 meter event, breaking the 20-minute record previously held at Overlake. Not only was her accomplishment recognized, but she also earned the title of athlete of the week.
Athlete of the week is a tradition at Overlake that highlights the hard work being done outside of the classroom. Achievements can range anywhere from being recognized for team spirit, leadership, or pushing one’s limits.
As for varsity girls’ soccer, the team successfully made it to playoffs. Zainab Pirzada (grade 12), Isabel Shao (grade 10) and Reya Velamoor (grade 11) qualified for ESC, a prestigious award granted by the votes of the district chairs, recognizing high athletic talent. Boys’ tennis players Ben Ta (grade 12), Henry Zhu (grade 12), Sebastian ter Meulen (grade 12), and Eric Lou (grade 9) also were nominated to take part in the ESC. As for boys’ ultimate frisbee, Elliot Ku (grade 11) and Hank Davidson (grade 12) were selected for the ESC and contributed to a successful all-around season.
All of these accomplishments could not have been met without the support from the Overlake community including coaches, trainers, and staff members. An interview with senior varsity girls’ soccer captain Lakshya Anand answers some questions about sports at Overlake along with leadership skills.
“How would you describe the team culture of Overlake sports this year?”
Lakshya: “I think the team culture has been a lot better than the year before. It seemed like overall, there was a lot more excitement and willingness to apply we as opposed to earlier seasons.”
“How can you be a good leader on the sports team and build connections through your actions?”
Lakshya: “I think a strategy I use is just building actual connections. In earlier years, I feel like there’s usually a disconnect between upper and underclassmen, and in some ways that’s natural because there is an experience and maturity gap. But I remember not appreciating that, so even despite that, I think it’s important to build bridges, so people feel included and not isolated.
“Key leadership values for me are good communication, maintaining focused, and being a well-integrated team. Good communication is something I always try to practice because I like to make sure things are clear (I’m Type-A). Maintaining focus is also a non-negotiable, it’s important to have fun but we also must make sure we’re on task to some degree. And a well-integrated team is what I was talking about earlier, not having clear divides and cliques.”
“How have you noticed a parallel between Overlake’s values and how members of athletics act?”
“I think one value that Overlake really emphasizes is being community and team oriented. I think a lot of people join clubs and sports because they want to have another space where they can access a new community, so I think those values influence the team culture in a way where everyone wants to be there and, in a group environment.”
Sports at Overlake are highly valued and represent the student’s vast talents beyond the classroom environment. It is through dedication, skill, and talent, as well as the wonderful Overlake community, that we as a school are able to achieve so much success. We look forward to the rest of the 2025-2026 sports season including girls’ and boys’ basketball, girls’ ultimate, girls’ tennis, girls’ lacrosse, boys’ soccer, and boys’ lacrosse.
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