SPORTS
MAY 2010
15
Running Around with the Track Team Elston Cunningham Asst. Sports Editor When track season rolls around, you want to end your school year with bragging rights and seniors want to leave winners. The Loy Norrix men’s and women’s track team kicked off the 2010 track season March 27th at Eastern Michigan University, though only select players competed. The first dual meet was held on April 20th at Loy Norrix High School. The knights lost to Portage Central by the score of 93 to 67. They fell to 0 and 1 on the season. People join the track team because it helps them stay physically fit and develop their muscles. Coach Duckett likes this fact because he says it is one of the purest sports, that you can watch your athletes develop and get better at what they do. Whether it is a fall or a winter sport, track can help you gain speed, stay fit, and gain endurance which can help you during the off season of other sports. Senior Dan Swodzinski joined the team because it was something for him to do and he wanted to stay in shape. “I joined the track team to have fun and stay in shape,” said Swodzinski Swodzinski’s favorite memory is when he beat his personal track record from last year. His personal record is in the YOUTUBE from page 3 him to make videos for events such as their children’s birthdays. So far, Travis has made about 40 videos, 22,014 total uploaded views on those videos and 51 subscribers to his channel and hoping to get more. He does not have a goal for how many videos that he wants to produce, but he also wants to be in front of the camera. “I want to be on a video screen [television] someday and star in a movie,” said Travis. Travis has a popular 3 video broadcasting called “Don’t Fall asleep.” In these videos Travis takes a bucket of water and pours it on his friends while they are asleep. The third video takes place in Atlanta where he does the prank to junior Devin Reynolds. This video has up to 312 views. Travis is a person who loves to make videos that have a message. He uses propaganda in a lot of his videos. “Like if someone wanted some new shoes that just came out, I would make a video talking about them [the shoes] to show people how they work out,” said Travis. Travis plans to use his skills in video production to get his start into college. “If it doesn’t work out, I could always change my major or minor as most college students do anyway,” said Travis. Now 16 years old, Travis continues to make videos whenever he can. In the future, he is hoping to turn this very fun hobby into a money making career and become a star.
DEVARIUS HILL/ KNIGHT LIFE DECHELLE JONES/ KNIGHT LIFE
Junior Raykisha Vaughn sprints out of the starting blocks during her 100 meter dash on April 24th during the Don Lukens Invitational.
800 meter dash, and his best time is 2 minutes and 7 seconds. He increased his time by 4 seconds. “I did it last year (track) and had a good experience, so I decided to run again this year,” said Swodzinski who has ran track for two years here at LN. Junior Raykisha Vaughn began running track in the sixth grade and is continuing her career at LN. She enjoys track because it is her sport.
“I got burners, that’s why track is my sport,” said Vaughn Vaughn thinks the coaches can be hard at times but most of the time she enjoys them. “They are hard because they put me in events that I don’t want to run in,” Vaughn said. Junior Ashly Chimner joined the track team to stay in shape. Chimner thinks the coaches are strict at times but she likes them. Although she does miss
Sophomore Davion Phillips hands the baton off to senior Artwaun Steele. The men’s track team competed at the annual Don Lukens Invitational.
Guidance Counselor Alicia Curry as a coach, she thinks the new coach is a good coach also. Chimner has been running track since freshman year and her favorite memory is the bus rides home from the track meets. “The bus rides are my favorite memory because hanging out with everyone is so interesting, and we are all comfortable around each other so we all sing, dance and conversate
with one another,” said Chimner All student-athletes can excel from extra curricular activities and the track team is always looking for newcomers to join. Do not be a one sport athlete, keep yourself in shape and go out and join the track team.
Young Team, Big Heart, Women’s Soccer Team Shoots for Success Calvin Leinenbach Staff Writer
“Our whole team is dedicated and we have more heart than the teams we play,” said junior and three year member of the varsity soccer team Sara Campbell. Heart is something that is not lacking on the varsity women’s soccer team this season. The team has been setting their goals high even before the season started. “We want to be in the top eight of the division,” said junior and goalkeeper Ryan Jaworowski. The team feels strong this season and looks strong as well, boasting wins over both Vicksburg and Byron Center High School. Regardless of their successes, one thing commonly mentioned is the number of freshman on the varsity team this year. The team made it clear that this is something in the very back of everyone’s mind. “I think that if they are good enough, they shouldn’t get punished for being a freshman,” said Jaworowski. There’s a total of five freshman playing on the varsity team this season, a number unheard of for high school varsity teams; it’s a big deal when even one freshman makes a varsity team, let alone five. Something else thought to affect this year’s team is the loss of such a large number of seniors last season. The team lost 5 seniors last season and only has two seniors on the team this season. There are actually more freshman playing on varsity than
DECHELLE JONES/ KNIGHT LIFE
Junior Marissa Wilson, midfielder for the Loy Norrix Lady Knights, sprints towards the goal attempting to score. The Lady Knights defeated Parchment High School in the first of a two game tournament on Super Saturday April 24th, 2010, going on to take home first place.
seniors on the whole team. The team acknowledges that they did in fact lose a large number of seniors; however, that is as far as they go. “It does suck, we lost a lot of good players, but I don’t think it will hurt our team at all,” said
Campbell. The team is not worried about how many freshman are playing, they are not concerned about losing a ton of seniors last season, it does not look they’re really worried about anything.
One word to sum up this year’s soccer team: focused. They have heart, they have talent, and they have the will to win, something they plan on doing a lot this season.