By: Dana Hathaway and Nelson Kramer

Public Relations Manager and Local News Editor

Los Gatos freshman Lena Vantress has hit the ground running as she explores the ins and outs of high school. As Vantress starts the year, she claims that Spanish 1 is her favorite class, saying that her teacher, Mr. Calmels, “is really nice.” While Vantress talked about getting her bearings in high school, she mentioned that one of the most significant differences between Fisher Middle School and LGHS is the usage of phones. When asked whether being in high school feels surreal, she said, ”I’ve always wanted to be in high school, and it’s just weird that I actually am.” Most mornings before school Vantress walks down Main Street to meet her friends at Café Dio, then goes to her classes for the day. 

When not in school, you might catch Vantress out on the water at the Lexington Reservoir rowing, a sport she has been doing for over a year. Although Vantress is relatively new to the sport, she has already made an impact. She recalls her humble beginnings, stating, “My friend’s dad made me sign up for Learn to Row, and I hated it. I thought I was going to quit after the first day. But I actually ended up liking it and joined Novice Development.” At the time, Vantress was part of the youngest group of girls on the team — one of a few eighth graders amongst high schoolers. However, she quickly adjusted, noting that “the people are my favorite part about rowing.” 

Last summer, Vantress traveled across the country to compete at Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida. Her boat qualified by getting first place at the Regional Championships in the U15 4x+ — meaning four rowers and a coxswain. She recounted, “It was really, really hot, but I definitely got closer to a lot of the older girls and my coaches.” Her boat placed sixth at Nationals, a huge accomplishment. Like most student-athletes, Vantress loves the days she gets to go home after school and take a day off rowing, as the sport can be tiring and calls for breaks to avoid burning out. 

Recently, Vantress decided to join the Pink Ladies, a club that provides menstrual products to the underprivileged. She expressed that she has not gotten the chance to attend as many club meetings as she wanted with her current workload. In fact, Vantress has been spending a lot of time on her biosphere project, a semester-long research project for all biology students at LGHS. After a bumpy start when trying to cut the two-liter bottles, Vantress expressed that, “It really wasn’t that hard.”

Even with her new high school workload and six intense practices each week, she still has time to go all out for football games and get behind a camera for multimedia journalism. Although Vantress has only been at LGHS for a short time, her humor and infectious smile make her the ideal Wildcat.