Monet Carroll Hello everyone, meet Xavier, he’s a Sophomore and he runs track for J-Town High School. He has been on the track team for two years, but he ran track for 4 years in middle school. He says,"The track team at J-Town is very fun we have very exciting characters that make track fun and exciting everyday, and they are always pushing you to do your best each practice." Xavier participates in mid distance, which is 400m and 800m. His long term goal is to make it to state and to place in top 8 at most of the meets. Xavier is very encouraging at track, especially to beginners. I'm in track myself and he's always very encouraging to my friend and I. Every time we feel like we’re about to pass out, here comes Xavier with encouraging words. He says,”To all beginners, my advice would be to run your race, don't force yourself into a race that is too straining, you can't excel at running a race if you don’t feel comfortable while you’re running. But most importantly have fun.” The track team is huge this year and will go far. Their first track meet is March 25th at Oldham County High School, come support the chargers!
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Karissa Hunt Here in Kentucky, we do not have any professional basketball teams and that shows in our love for collegiate level basketball. The University of Kentucky and University of Louisville is one of the most passionate rivalries in college basketball. The rivalry became intense when Rick Pitino was hired as Louisville’s head basketball coach in 2001; a position he held at the University of Kentucky from 1898-1997 (now held by Calipari). As of today, Kentucky is the #1 all-time winningest programs in Division I with Louisville ranking #11. Due to their similar skill level each game is intense. In 2012 the teams met up in the final four (their last time meeting up in the final four was in 1984) with Kentucky as the winner. The rivalry can get too intense, but the cool thing is the dedication of the fans. Kentucky fans will travel anywhere to support their team, and the YUM! Center arena is filled with red every home game. The UK/UofL Rivalry is important to the culture of Kentucky and the passionate fans is the reason why these teams are highly ranked at the collegiate level. Kentucky’s strength relies on their team as a whole, and Louisville relies on key players to keep the team a well-oiled team. This season, Kentucky has a 15-4 record, close to Louisville’s 16-3. During the rival game this season Kentucky came out on top -barely- with a score of 75- 73. Impressively, Louisville and Kentucky combined have won 22% of the National Championships; about one every five years. As both teams approach March Madness they are preparing to meet up. The NCAA Tournament will be quite interesting this year; we’ll see if Kentucky can maintain their winnings or if Louisville will snatch it from them. Sydney ParkerIts finally that time of the year! Basketball is in full swing and with that there’s something a little different about our boys basketball team this year. For starters, our boys are under new coaching and Coach Coleman is definitely doing something right with these boys . Though off to a rocky start where the dubs are concerned there is a new attitude and a new sense of family about this 2015-2016 team that has Charger fan expectation extremely high.. After speaking to three of this years Seniors Jimmy Kwizera, DeShawn Walker and Landus B , we got to see where their heads were at where the team and its future is concerned. They boys also gave us some detail of what they are going to do to turn this season around. Maybe even a trophy will be in the Chargers future.
Interviews below: Landus B. Q: What do you think your team is doing doing well this year? Some things you all need to work on? A: Compared to last year I feel that we are more of a team. we have fun. The off the court Chemistry just hasn't clicked on the court yet. We do NOT need to be content with losing. We need to want to win and do whatever it takes. Q:What is goal that you want to see achieved this season? A:Win the district. Q:Do you have any special talents besides basketball? A:I’m a good baseball player. DeShawn Walker Q: What's something you like to do that not everyone knows? A: I spend every weekend at Bdubs. Q: What are you prepared to do as a senior to get this team where they should be? A: I want to bring the team together as a family and push everyone to work hard enough to get better everyday. Q: What’s next for you after this year? A: I'm going to college for sports medicine. Jimmy Kwizera Q: What's it like being a senior on the basketball team this year? A: It’s fun , but its kind of sad at same time because it's my last year. But we just have to make the most out of it. Q: Do you all feel that you all are handling the pressure as well as you all should? A: Not exactly. I just feel that we have a lot to learn, all of this is just a learning process. Q: Name one thing that your coach says a lot. ‘A: Energy and effort when games.” Allie Milliner Being a public school as Jtown is, we don’t often discuss religion in our curriculum or anywhere throughout our school since that would go against our schools guidelines. However there is a place for students to go who would like a place to embrace their faith even when they are at school. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a club that meets every Wednesday before school at 7am, and provides a very supportive and caring environment for every person who is a part of it. They often have people speak at their meetings, those speakers can range from a student to a faculty member and even to a special guest such as a youth minister or even an athlete. FCA has had some growth in recent years and they don’t plan to stop there, Mrs. Mulder expressed her desire to even have FCA get more involved in our J-town community both in and outside our school. One of the great things about FCA as well is that to become a part of their group you don’t have to do anything except show up at a meeting, they are very welcoming there. During their meetings they pray both at the beginning and towards the end, sometimes they have a huddle type thing where they all huddle together and talk, and then they’ll have someone read an excerpt from the Bible. They tend to speak on issues that most teens have to deal with in their lives such as addiction, perfectionism, peer pressure, etc and they help a lot of students get through their personal issues and work through their problems. FCA is a place where anyone can go and they will be welcomed with open arms and a kind embrace. Anyone who is looking for a place to embrace their faith with others like them should contact Mrs. Mulder in room B212. Kylie Hall Ashley Goddard is a member of the girls’ basketball here at J’Town. She has been playing basketball for 10 years. What made Ashley want to play basketball is playing basketball with the kids her neighborhood. This made her gain an interest to carry further into organized sports. She said, “At the beginning of the season, several team member were just starting to learn technique. Now that we are in the middle of the season, those team members have gotten a handle of the proper technique and are able to showcase it in our play.” She said that being a lady charger has been like being part of a family. They have had their ups and downs, but in the end, they have bonded together to be a strong team. Ashley’s immediate goal in basketball is to make the district playoffs, and at the end of the season, she wants to continue on to play basketball in college. After her college career, she would like to provide the younger generation knowledge of the game and coach at the high school level. Sarah Showalter I had the chance to sit down with the captain- and goalie- of the J-Town soccer team, Jonathan Dearing. He said that being the team captain comes with responsibility. “It can be very wearing because there is a lot of freshmen who need to be taught the ropes of soccer. Obviously, I’m one of the people having to teach them.” Jonathan says that all the teammates are like brothers. I’d think that with the way Jonathan described the schedule, it’d be kind of hard not to be like brothers. He told me that the schedule is really busy, with back-to-back games, and practice in between except for Wednesdays, which are free basically every week. The team’s goal for this year is to beat Whitefield Academy. I don’t doubt that the team could beat them with all the practicing and conditioning the players do. Conditioning for the soccer team mainly consists of running and working on the core. The team does not have any before-game rituals; Jonathan confessed, “Right before the game is pretty relaxed because we can’t work ourselves right before we play. We usually just kick the ball around and joke with each other.” He told me the most exciting part of any game is when you score a goal. Jonathan also talked about the most surprising moment in his soccer career. It was when “Hakim nutmegged two other players from the opposing team.” Jonathan said he would like to play soccer in college if given the opportunity. According to Jonathan, soccer is more important than people give credit. “One pet peeve of mine when it comes to soccer is when people say it doesn't take a hard worker to play the sport or that it isn't a well-liked sport because people around the world play it all the time.” Jonathan would know that it’s harder than it looks to play soccer because he has been playing for 7 years. “If I could tell someone one thing about soccer, it’d be that it’s a very active sport.” Eddy Graham Stepping forward as the new head coach of the boys’ basketball team here at Jeffersontown High school is Miquel Coleman. His presence is turning out to be the change the team needed. “The team is looking good in our beginning stages” says Coach Coleman. He previously came from The Academy at Shawnee as the head coach of the boys’ team. He has also has coached as an assistant at Southern High School for one year and at Central High school for nine years prior to that. This will be his twelfth year coaching high school basketball all together. “I believe that our team will be very exciting this coming year, and we will make the community proud to be chargers,” ends Coach Coleman. His hopes are high as well as the rest of ours. Go Chargers! Monet Carroll Hello, everyone meet Ashley Pryor! She’s 17 years old and she’s a junior. She plays the tuba and the clarinet. She’s been in band for 6 years! I asked her how she became involved in band and she said she loves music and that her friends inspired her to be in band. Her favorite type of music to play is all types of music. She said that she loves the fact that some of the music they play is music she has heard before, so it makes it easier and more fun. Outside of school she practices her music for fun and she hangs out with her friends. Her favorite part about band is playing at home football and basketball games. There has been a controversy about whether or not band is a sport. She said, “ Yes, band is a sport because we are a team and just like any other team and we have goals. We also practice which isn’t easy because we have to carry instruments and move around in formations which is very tiring.” She plans to play band after she graduates school and goes to college. Karissa Hunt Taylor Sparks, a senior, is captain of the varsity volleyball team here at J-town.She started playing volleyball, seven years ago, after she quit cheer. She had a friend suggest volleyball and she has loved it ever since. She first played for the YMCA but became more competitive and joined club and J-town volleyball. She is a middle hitter for both club and J-town volleyball. Her favorite game was against Fern Creek. “A lot of people showed up to support us and the crowd was crazy. We also won which made it even better.” Before a game, you can find Taylor eating food, usually bdubs or chinese. To her, the hardest part of being captain is trying to stay positive when the team is down and it is affecting their playing. “A leader picks people up when they are down, communicates well, is competitive, is blunt, gives constructive criticism in a nice way, and learns from mistakes. I think that I have those qualities and it’s why our team works so well together.” She says the weirdest thing to happen during the season is when Jessica pulled a tonsil stone out of her mouth and flicked it onto the bleachers. Her biggest pet peeve is people who are tall for no reason and are uncoordinated. She prefers club because everyone there takes it seriously and it is more competitive since club members have to pay. She does want to play volleyball in college if she received a scholarship and would probably go to Georgetown or Lindsey Wilson. The one thing Taylor wants people to know about volleyball? “That we don’t play volleyball just to wear spandex.” Congratulations to the following:
Cross country - Benjamin Lush Football- Terrance Blair Soccer boys- Abdoul Bance Soccer girls- Lesley Villanueva Band- Racquel Causey Volleyball- Taylor Sparks Cheerleading- Sydney Parker |
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October 2016
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