The KAW TRACKERPerry-Lecompton High School Issue 3 November 21, 2007

qqqqq

q

q

q

q

q

qqqqq

q

q

q

q

q

qqqqq

q

q

q

q

q

qqqqq

q

q

q

q

q

Kayla Foley pg.4

Softball pg.8

Volleyball pg.11

Football pg.8

Cross Country pg.10

Tennis Duo Goes to State

A couple weeks ago, thedoubles team of DaffodilReumund and Lexzi Mapesmade an adventure to Pratt.

The girls were competingin the state competition forTennis.

The tennis team forPerry-Lecompton High Schoolhas enjoyed a breakout seasonwith the entire team havingsuccess.

“It was fun and exciting.There were a lot of girls thereand it was really nerveracking. We rode in a car forhours to the middle ofnowhere, to Pratt, with theScrimsher family,” saidDaffodil with a smile on herface.

The girls competedagainst Gardner, Chapman,and Great Bend.

“We played two bigGerman Twins. We didn’tplay to our greatest potentialthough. But, we got there andthat’s all that matters. I had alot of fun participating in thetournament. I liked hangingwith Daffo and Rene the

Senior, Lexzi Mapes and Junior, Daffodil Reumund get ready for their tennis match. Photo by Staff

Katie DavisStaff Writer

Homecoming is a veryspecial time for USD 343 andthe surrounding area.

There are great memoriesand traditions and manyfriends and alumni come backto catch up and celebratetheir school and theirfriendships.

This year’s edition wasone of the most exciting andfun yet. The week long eventwas capped off by a fantasticparade , pep rally, footballgame and halftime ceremony.

This year’s King andQueen Candidates wereCaleb Denton, AlexHackthorn and Bryce Walker,Madison Horsch, Abby Hurdand Kristin Robbins and thisyear’s King and Queen areAlex and Kristin.

Homecoming King and Queen Crowned

Seniors Kristin Robbins and Alex Hackathorn were honored at Homecoming. Photo by Staff

whole weekend. We had somegreat times,” said Lexzi.

The Girls were well awareof the mistakes they made.

However, since this was Lexzi’slast year Daffodil plans to makeanother debut at State nextseason. PLHS is very proud to

have the pair make it to Stateand hopes for many moreappearances in the future.

Soccer pg.9

The Kaw TrackerEditor-In-Chief

Jamie FullerMadison Horsch

Staff WritersShawny Blankingship

Aliza CaldwellJessica ChristmanTyler Christman

Katie DavisJamie Fuller

Courtney KassonMadison HorschAndrea PhillipsKristin RobbinsErin Sergeant

AdviserJeff Dickson

The Kaw Tracker ispublished 9 times a year.Subscription rate is $10 peryear. The advertising rateis $3 per column inch.

Editorial PolicyEditorials reflect the

opinions of the writer. Staffeditorials will not be signed;they are to be a staff con-sensus.

LettersLetters are limited to 250

words. Letters will be printed withdiscretion. They must be signed.Send all letters through the edi-tors or the adviser.

Suggestions are welcomedby the staff. Please channelmatters through The Kaw Trackereditors or the adviser.

The Kaw Tracker is associ-ated with the Kansas ScholasticPress Association, the NationalScholastic Press Association andthe Quill and Scroll: InternationalHonorary Society for High SchoolJournalists.

Perry-LecomptonHigh School

404 N. Lecompton RdPerry, KS 66073

THE KAW TRACKER 22222News

PLHS Students SucPLHS Students SucPLHS Students SucPLHS Students SucPLHS Students Succcccceed At the Aeed At the Aeed At the Aeed At the Aeed At the ACCCCCTTTTT

When preparing forcollege there are twoimportant tests that separatestudents from being acceptedor being rejected. Instead ofthe SAT, the test around herethat is commonly taken iscalled the ACT, which standsfor American College Testing.

These tests are referredto as Standardized Testing,which make it easier forschools to compare studentsat a glance. Both focus ondifferent subjects thatdetermine each student’sindividual strengths.

Not only does thestudent compete for theirpersonal best score, theymust compare themselves toevery student that is takingthe test at the current time.These are the people theycompete with forscholarships.

The ACT test is made upof four sections: Reading,Mathematics, Science, andEnglish.

It also includes anoptional writing section thatsome colleges requeststudents take to show thestudent’s ability to developtheir own ideas and showtheir understanding of topics.

The test is scored on ascale of 1 to 36 with anational average being 20.8.Many of the colleges in thisarea require a minimum of 21such as Kansas State andKansas University.

Although they have aminimum, the averagestudents usually want toshoot for when applying tothese colleges is higher. Inshort, the higher the score,the more scholarships astudent is qualified for.

Typically students firsttake this test in their junioryear of high school, withmany taking it more thanonce to look for

improvement. It isrecommended that studentstake it at least twice but nomore than three times.Usually an improvement ofthree points occurs butafter the third test the scorerarely changes.

It is recommended thatthe student prepares for thetest beforehand. This caninclude studyingvocabulary, taking a prepcourse, or even just readingmore. Perry-LecomptonHigh School is privileged tohave access to an onlinePrep Course which isadministered through theactual makers of the ACT.This is a big thing becausestudents can get anidentification number andeasily practice what theyneed to work on at home.

Senior Megan Sorrick,who has already taken thistest twice, and preparingfor a third time, was askedhow she felt about theACT,

“I think that it’s goodbecause it shows how well

you compare to the wholecountry. I just think that itonly shows how well you

The Class of ’08The Class of ’08The Class of ’08The Class of ’08The Class of ’08scored very highly onscored very highly onscored very highly onscored very highly onscored very highly on

their ACT:their ACT:their ACT:their ACT:their ACT:

CLASS OF ’08 ACT SCORESACT Score

Number of Students 28 1 27 3 26 4 25 5 24 2 23 5 22 3 21 6

perform on one day so it isn’textremely accurate.”

It is true that there isn’talways a great side to theACT.

Some students find thatthey very well on the testwithout even preparing, whileothers find that they were notready for what the test holdsat all.

Many times it is just hitor miss and that is why it issuggested that a studentexposes themselves morethan once to the test.

The students of Perry-Lecompton High School haveproven to take this testseriously. Recent averagescame out with Perry-Lecompton having a higheraverage score than mostschools in our area, with ascore of 23.8. The schoolsthat were outscored includeLawrence Free State andLawrence High School.

This is not only a greatthing for the individuals whoachieved these scores, but itis a great accomplishment ofthe school as a whole.

This score means thatwhat the students are beingtaught is helping them toimprove on this test and toachieve the scores that willhelp them move forward incollege.

Senior Lance Bohannonwas asked how he felt aboutour school scoring so highly,“It’s pretty cool since a lot ofpeople think that the otherschools give bettereducations. This just provesthat what we are being taughtis preparing us for college.”

While many timesacademics are overlooked, itis undeniable that thestudents of PLHS haveachieved a great feat byimproving their numbers.These numbers show that thePerry-Lecompton educationis not only just as good as,but better than the other areaschools.

Madison HorschEditor-in-chief

I think thatI think thatI think thatI think thatI think thatit’s goodit’s goodit’s goodit’s goodit’s good

because itbecause itbecause itbecause itbecause itshows howshows howshows howshows howshows howwell youwell youwell youwell youwell you

compare tocompare tocompare tocompare tocompare tothe wholethe wholethe wholethe wholethe wholecountry. Icountry. Icountry. Icountry. Icountry. Ijust thinkjust thinkjust thinkjust thinkjust think

that it onlythat it onlythat it onlythat it onlythat it onlyshows howshows howshows howshows howshows howwell youwell youwell youwell youwell you

perform onperform onperform onperform onperform onone day so itone day so itone day so itone day so itone day so it

isn’tisn’tisn’tisn’tisn’textremelyextremelyextremelyextremelyextremelyaccurate-accurate-accurate-accurate-accurate-

Megan SorrickMegan SorrickMegan SorrickMegan SorrickMegan Sorrick

THE KAW TRACKERFeatures

33333

International Club Has Loads of funInternational Club Has Loads of funInternational Club Has Loads of funInternational Club Has Loads of funInternational Club Has Loads of fun

Traveling to a foreigncountry isn’t an opportunitythat most high school studentshave. This summer members ofthe International Club fromPerry Lecompton High Schoolwere given that opportunity.

There were 10 studentsthat made the trip, includingfour sponsors. The trip lasted11 days. The students’expedition began in MexicoCity. There they spent two daysgetting acquainted withMexico custom and enjoyingthe time away from home.

“Mexico was amazing.We walked a lot but it wasworth it, because it was somuch fun. I had cardio workouts every day from climbingso many pyramids toswimming in caves. But theexperience was once in a lifetime,” said Sherri Sutfin.

After the students leftMexico City they adventuredto the city of Puebla. There thestudents were able to see manycathedrals and climb morepyramids.

As soon as the grouparrived in Puebla they decidedto go out to a nice restaurant.This was their first encounterwith Mexico’s strange weather.The group entered therestaurant on a sunnyafternoon, and by the time they

finished their authenticMexican meal a tropicaldownpour had begun. Waitersin the restaurant calmly sweptwater toward the back of theroom, while diners enjoyedtheir empanadas.

“We were in completeculture shock when we landedin Mexico City. There were300 naked protestors outsideour hotel. It was one of thevery first things we saw. Itopened our eyes to Mexicancustoms,” said Andrea Haney,a senior at PLHS. “The foodwas really different. I wasexpecting El Mezcal and endedup eating fruit and bonbonnes/marshmallow poofs everyday.We never had enough time torest from our full schedule ofexpeditions. We always hadsomething going on.Swimming in the cenote wasprobably one of the best parts.I liked it because we wereswimming in a giant hole inthe ground, it was a cave. Ithink that we totally shouldhave been able to swim aboardthe Pirates of the Caribbeanboat at the end of the trip. Itwas really great for us to all betogether, lying on the beachand soaking up the Mexicansun in Cancun.”

There were many otheradventures the students took onwhile they were in Mexico.They were able to interact withyoung Mayan children andlearn their language. While

learning about the Mayancivilization, the group was able toswim in a under ground cave.

The water was extremelycold and very deep. Theswimmers weren’t able to see thebottom, but could only walk on arope. The rope would take youfrom one side of the cave toanother.

One of the most challengingthings the students had to do wasbarter with the merchants. Theyusually seemed to think theycould take advantage of theAmerican teenagers, but theywere greatly mistaken.

“It was really cool just totalk to the people and barter withthe traders. We thought Mrs.Romero was going to get in afight. They were trying to ripAndrea off for this soccer jersey.Then Mrs. Romero started yellingat this guy in Spanish and heyelled back. We thought therewas going to be a beat down,”said Zach Harwood.

Not only did the studentsspend time in Puebla they alsoventured to Merida, Palenque,Compeche, Teotihuacán, andended the trip with a three dayexcursion to Cancun.

For many of the travelersCancun was the best part of thetrip.

“I loved Mexico,” statedTaryn Jacob. “The pyramids werea blast but killer to climb. Thebest part was when Lexzi and Iwere sacrificing ourselves on topof the Sun pyramid, and then

these little kids started copyingus. Our tour guy “Ear” was thebest. I almost cried when wehad to leave him in the airport.The best part of the trip waswhen we spent three days inCancun. My biggest regret isthat I didn’t get to party on thePirates of the Caribbean partyboat.”

While in Mexico, thestudents learned about theAztec heritage, Mexicancustoms, the Mayan people aswell as being able to eat realMexican food. One thingstudents were able to taste wasa Mexican topping called“mole.” Mole is a sauce that isput mainly on meat in Mexico.It’s a combination of chilipowder and chocolate.

A few of the studentsenjoyed it but a few of themdidn’t care for it at all. Thegroup visited native buffets atlunch and were serenaded byMariachis during their meal.Zach Harwood was able to singmost of the Spanish songsalong with the musicians.

Not only was Mexico funand games, the travelers gotquite a work out as well. Theyclimbed quite a few pyramids.Two of the bigger pyramidsthey climbed in Teotihuacánwere as tall as a 20 storybuilding. The ancient Aztecsperformed human sacrifices atthe top of these pyramids.

At the base of theTeotihuacan pyramids were

many small shops and walkingvendors where travelers wereable to bargain for nativehandicrafts. Students also wereable to visit ancient Mayanruins of Chichen Itza,Palenque, and Uxmal. Thesecities are in the Yucatan jungleand are not commonly visited.This was one of the favoritememories of traveler DanielleVolle.

“I most enjoyed the ruinsof Palenque. They wereabsolutely gorgeous and full ofSpanish history. It was alsoreally interesting to interactwith the natives and practicemy Spanish.”

Traveling is a greatadventure. The students ofPLHS were very lucky to haveexplored Mexico. Thememories you bring back froman amazing trip are priceless.As Brady Roberts said, “I’mnot going to sleep until I gohome, I can sleep in Kansas.”

“I thought it was the besttrip ever. It was cool places andfun people,” said Mrs. Johnson

The International Club’snext adventure was theHalloween Dance at Perry-Lecompton High School onOctober 26th. The whole schoolwas invited to put on a costumeand come spend a fun eveningdancing. The dance was one ofmany fundraisers planned tohelp students who are going onthe June 2008 trip to Germany.

Katie DavisStaff Writer

Shawny BlankinshipStaff Writer

“If you can dodge awrench, you can dodge a ball.”

Were you ready for thedodge ball tournamentsponsored by FCCLA,SkillsUSA, and FBLA?November the 10th was the firstdodge ball tournament in twoyears, so students had to gettheir teams together and signedup quick!

The teams needed to haveten players, uniforms, and ateam name. The uniforms andteam names needed to beapproved before the games byMr. Winchester, Mrs. Lesser, orMrs. Dugan.

The money made from thedodge ball tournament went to a

vocational scholarship that anygraduating senior can apply for.

This year, only students atPLHS can participate in thetournament. No teachers,students that attend schooloutside of PLHS, or adults canplay. So sorry teachers, youwont get a chance at hittingyour students with a dodge ball!

If you need a refreshercourse in the rules of dodgeball, here are the PLHS dodgeball rules!

Rule 1: Team must beformed of at least 6 members.

Rule 2: Six players at atime may be on the court.

Rule 3: Each team musthave equal number of boys andequal number of girls.

Rule 4: You can get playersof the opposing team out by

hitting them any where belowthe shoulders. But if the playeryou are aiming for catches yourball, you’re out!

Rule 5: The only way youcan get back in the game is ifthe player who got you out getsout.

The winning team will bedecided by which ever teamgets all of the players of theopposing team out. The winningteam will move on to the nextgame and try to get to thatwinners circle!

“Hopefully we will getmore student participation byhaving the tournament on aSaturday,” said Mr. Winchester.

The cost for fans was $3 atthe gate and no student passeswere accepted. The registrationfee for teams was $30.

“It’s going to be a successand a great time,” said Mrs.Dugan, the FBLA sponsor.

“Riley was our teamcaptain.” said Sarah Haley.

Haley played on the teamDynasty and this was her firstdodge ball tournament.

“I liked the tournament, itwas really fun. It was reallyquick though and I thought itwould’ve lasted longer.” Haleyadded.

Haley’s teammate KatieHirsch also agreed that thetournament was “A lot of fun.”

Other teams in thetournament included TheHelmet Club, Pink Mafia, Ballsof Fury, The Dynasty, That OneTeam, and Senior Citizens.

“It was fun, but I wishthere would’ve been more

teams,” said Wes Boaz “We gotfifth in the tournament, but itwas still really fun.” Boaz wason the Pink Mafia team.

“It was really awesome,but maybe they should have iton a Friday instead of aSaturday so more people mightcome.” said Allison Potter, whowas part of The Helmet Club.

Overall, the dodge balltournament was a success!Everyone had a lot of fun andhopefully everyone will have achance to play again next year!

Dodgeball Dodgeball Dodgeball Dodgeball Dodgeball TTTTTourourourourournament nament nament nament nament A SuccessA SuccessA SuccessA SuccessA Success

THE KAW TRACKER

Students Compete In High School RodeoFeatures

Andrea PhillipsStaff Writer

44444

Yee-Haw, giddy upcowgirls and tighten the reignsbecause High School Rodeo isputtin’ on the boots andsaddling up the horses. That’sright Perry-Lecompton we’vegot a couple of Cowgirlsroaming the halls.

Junior Kayla Foley andFreshmen Kourtney Foley areworking their butts and theirhorse’s butts off to competeevery weekend in barrel racingand poles.

During the barrel race thecompetitor is allowed arunning start. The clock startsas soon as the horse’s nosereaches the staring line andstops when it reaches thefinish line. The contestantmust run a cloverleaf patteraround the barrels starting ateither side. A five second

penalty is allotted for everybarrel knocked over. No twocompetitors can ride the samehorse.

The poles bending patternis to be run around six polespositioned in a straight line.The poles are twenty-one feetapart and the first pole startstwenty-one feet from thestarting line. Starting at eitherthe right or left side the riderruns the course pattern. No twocompetitors can ride the samehorse and there is a five secondfine for each pole knockedover.

The poles are the morechallenging event of the twodue to the multipleopportunities to make amistake. The Barrels are themore popular event andprovide many more chances tocompete.

Kayla declares, “Myfavorite is which ever I am

doing better at, at the time being.”Rodeo is a sport that goes

year round. The Foley familytakes a month off every winter.There are two high schoolseasons, one in the fall, runningfrom mid-August to the first ofNovember, and one in the spring,running from spring break untilthe middle of July.

When High School Rodeo isnot in session the Foley’s travel tomany barrel racing and openrodeo events. They have been asfar east as the Indiana state line,West all the way up to Gallup,New Mexico, North as far asLincoln, Nebraska, and South intoOklahoma. All High SchoolRodeos are held in Kansas whichis where they primarily compete.

High School Rodeo is a sportjust like the ones offered throughthe school; therefore it requirespractice everyday for those whotruly want to compete well.

Kayla was asked if sheenjoyed riding everyday andreplied, “Well…sometimes.When the weather is cold, andmiserable there are times that Iwould rather be inside but thehorses still have to be taken careof. Those are the times that mydad comes in handy! As far asriding goes, the daily riding isenjoyable but the actualcompetition of rodeo is a rush.”

Kayla’s horse is a ten yearold AQHA sorrel gelding. Hisregistered name is HitALick butshe just calls him snuggles.

“He got the name snugglesbecause of his warm sparklingpersonality. NOT! He’s actuallya bit grumpy when you dealwith him and we have had totake extra precautions to makesure that he doesn’t harmanyone when we haul torodeos.” Kayla says about howSnuggles got his name. “I enjoy

riding him because he is verysmart and easy to get alongwith once you are actuallyriding him.”

Just like in all high schoolsports you need a coach. TheFoley sisters’ coach is their dad,Greg Foley.

“I believe the kids have towork hard everyday to have achance to compete. Rodeo is avery unique sport in which therider and the horse have tobecome a team. The level ofcompetition in High SchoolRodeo provides a tremendouslearning environment to dealwith managing stress, fear andhigh pressure situations.” Gregcomments.

Rodeo is obviously afamily thing for the Foleys thatkeeps them plenty busy andteaches the girls that hard workdoes pay off.

PLHS Band Has Brought in the Dough

THE KAW TRACKERNews

Andrea PhillipsStaff Writer

55555

The Perry-Lecompton HighSchool band has brought in thedough…and lots of it. This fall,the band put together afundraiser selling Butter Braidsand Twists. As a whole, the bandearned approximately three-thousand dollars to go towardsthe trip.

“The Butter Braids andTwists were a huge success,”Mr. Maloun said, complimentingthe band on their hard earnedmoney.

“Including the ButterBraids and Twists together I soldninety items”, Belai Mills says,“Of the items I sold, I earnedfour-hundred-twenty dollars,which will basically pay for mytrip.”

“I didn’t sell any of theButter Braids or Twists—notbecause I don’t appreciate theopportunity to earn the money,but because I just forgot.”Garrett Jones stated.

The band also does otherfundraisers throughout the year.Towards the spring, they do acookie dough sale and also yearround they are selling grocerycards from Dillons and Hy-Vee.

The Grocery cards areusually bought by parents,grandparents, aunts, uncles,other relatives, friends andneighbors. All they do is buy a

grocery card for a desiredamount, for example $25. Thecard is then used like a gift cardat whichever store theypurchased it for and the bandreceives five percent of themoney spent on the grocerycard.

Everyone has to buygroceries, right? Wow, what agreat opportunity for the bank toearn money while just takingcare of a family’s basic need toEAT. Great idea!

This year the band hadquite the dilemma and ended upvoting twice on where they weregoing to go. The first time, theband voted to go to San Antonio,Texas to do a band day there.But, later complaints lead Mr..Maloun to believe that thewrong choice had been made,that too many people wereunhappy, and decided to do arevote. On the second vote,Winter Park, Colorado was thefinal decision.

The band takes a trip everyother year. The last band tripwas taken to Florida where theMarching Kaws did their thingaround Disney World. Becausethe last trip was so expensivecosting about six-hundred-fiftydollars, a trip a little closer tohome (and a much shorter busride) was decided on.

The Winter Park trip isgoing to cost about four-hundreddollars and the band plans to

take a bus, not a plane. The bandeven took a bus all the way toFlorida which was a twenty-sixhour ride, the bus ride to WinterPark should be approximatelytwelve to thirteen hours andfilled with snacks, Ipods, DVDplayers, and tons of movies.

The band plans to go toFlorida every other time they goon a trip because it the first tripthere was such a huge success.

“At first, the thought ofWinter Park didn’t appeal to me.I thought it would just be skiing,but there are plenty ofopportunities to do otheractivities,” Mills reasons.

So, the big question is whythe band even bothers to go on atrip.

“We go on a trip everyother year as a reward to all ofthe band students that put in alot of time and effort over acourse of two years,” says Mr.Maloun. “It’s always a goodopportunity to see other bands,also. This year we will mostlysee bands from the Midwest.Schools from the states of Texas,Oklahoma, Nebraska, andKansas are expected to be inWinter Park this year.”

The band will be in WinterPark from April 3rd throughApril 6th and will be performingat a high school either near or inWinter Park. The band is stayingin a lodge. That is differentfrom the hotel in that there are

about twenty-five rooms in onearea surrounding a sort ofcommons area. All of the roomshave a personal bathroom so thatthe students will be able to savetime getting ready for theirperformances and activities.

The band is leaving onWednesday evening and skiingThursday and Friday. Saturdayis the day of the performanceand after they perform they willmake their way to a street dance.The band will get a good night’srest and will wake up Sundaymorning and head back to Perry.

The band will beperforming their two contestpieces that they will beginworking on soon after themarching season is over.

“Even though we haven’tstarted the music yet, I believewe will be ready because we arepretty much phenomenal thisyear.” Mills says elatedly.

Junior Drum Major Jonesalso says,” I think we will beready in time. We have beenvery focused this year.”

While the band is havingan incredibly enjoyable time onthe trip, something Mr. Malounmight be worried about is howwell the band will focus.

Senior Drum Major Millsthinks, “I think we will be wellprepared, but the hard part willbe the focusing when we knowthat we will be having tons offun later or we will be talking

The Perry-Lecompton DramaClub has some very excitingactivities planned for this year.These activities include going onfieldtrips, seeing plays, and fundraising. The Presidents of the clubare Alex Porter and Teri Ross.Vice President is MaggieKuhlman, and the Treasurer isSamantha Clement.

The first club meeting wason September 27th. At themeeting, they let the membersknow what activities the dramaclub is hoping to do this year.They also are trying to get thekids more involved in thefundraising.

The first activity the DramaClub will be participating in is the

KSU workshop. On November14th the kids will take a day outof school to go to Kansas StateUniversity to learn more abouttheatre. During the morning thatthe students are there, they willbe able to pick many workshopsto attend. Each workshop willteach more about differentaspects of theatre. Some of theworkshops that a student maypick from includeimprovisation, acting, directing,makeup, stage combat, dancing,musical theatre, and many more.

During lunch the studentstake a break from the workshopand they get to wonder aroundAggieville, Manhattan. Theywill have a chance to browsethrough music store’, bookstore’, and restaurants. Afterlunch everyone will watch aproduction performed by the

Kansas State drama department.This year’s production justhappens to be the musicalFiddler on the Roof, which isalso the musical that will beperformed at Perry-LecomptonHigh School this fall.

In addition to theworkshop the drama club will beattending other productions.One of the plays the drama clubis planning on attending isRomeo and Juliet. There aresign up sheets posted on Mrs.Ward’s classroom door with thelist of the upcoming plays theDrama Club may attend. Thereare many different types ofplays to choose from. Someexamples are Drama, Comedy,and Tragedy.

The sponsor of the dramaclub is Mrs. Ward. Mrs. Wardhas a huge passion for the

theatre and is always excited tosee other kids’ passion for it too.She works hard for our theatre. Ifthe drama Club ever had theopportunity to go somewhere bigMrs. Ward said, “I would love totake the group to Chicago orNew York for a professionalshow.”

The Drama Club is tryingsomething new this year. Now,anyone can letter in drama if youmeet the requirements. A DramaClub member has to attend 85%of the clubs events plus two otherperformances on his or her own.In addition the drama clubmember needs to attend both thePerry-Lecompton High Schoolfall musical and the spring playto earn a letter.

A Fundraiser that the DramaClub will be doing this year isthe Gong Show. The club is also

trying a new fundraiser calledcharacter baskets. This fundraiserinvolves raffling baskets of itemsrelated to characters in the highschool theatre productions.

Ms. Ward explained, “Forexample, Tevye is a milkman sowe will have a Tevye’s basket thathas milk products. Yente is amatchmaker so her basket wouldbe about dating and romance. Theaudience will buy a chance to winthe basket for one dollar.”

One thing the kids like aboutthe drama club is getting to seeplays perform. Junior, SamanthaClement said, “I like that we getto go see plays and productionsand learning more about theatre.”

about all the fun we have alreadyhad.”

Jones also thinks, “It will behard to focus when you knowhow much fun you will behaving. Lack of sleep fromhanging out with friends all nightand skiing all day could also havean impact. ”

So, is the band more excitedabout the trip or theperformance?

“I am WAY more excitedabout the trip. It’s the fun part. Ican’t wait to party all nightlong.” Jones replies.

Mills commented, “I amway more excited about the tripthan the performance. There isgoing to be rock climbing, trails,and I can go running becausethere is a gym!”

Our talented musicians atPerry-Lecompton have earnedtheir privilege to Winter Park andare looking forward to theexperience. Winter park will befilled with loads of excitementand jocularity and will add to oneof their many high schoolmemories. Some will be theirfirst memories and some will betheir last, but nonetheless it willbe a terrific part of a bandmember’s scrapbook.

Erin sergeantStaff Writer

DrDrDrDrDrama Club is Tama Club is Tama Club is Tama Club is Tama Club is Trrrrrying Someying Someying Someying Someying Somettttthing Nhing Nhing Nhing Nhing Neeeeewwwww

THE KAW TRACKERNews

Tyler ChristmanStaff Writer

66666

It’s that time again for theBiology Club to take its trip tothe Omaha Zoo! The zoo isnamed after Henry Doorly. Thezoo is considered to be one ofthe best in America and is on amission to promoteconservation to all. This year’strip has been difficult to planthis year, but Mr. Haggard haspersevered and has managed toget it scheduled.

This will be the 5th year ofthe Omaha zoo trip and looks tobe just as successful as those inprevious years. What Mr.Haggard looks forward to themost is “having it done witheveryone back safely andhaving had a good time.”

Now it’s not like you canstep out of the school and yourin Omaha you have to get onthe bus and take a long ride toNebraska. The trip is 180 mileslong and takes 3 hours and 13minutes to get there. But it allseems to be worth it whenknowing all the fun andexciting things that wait.

Haggard expects around100 students to attend. This is alot of people. The reason why is

because Mr. Haggard welcomeseveryone and believes everyoneshould have the opportunity tojoin the Biology Club. Hementioned that he doesn’tbelieve in restrictions on who isallowed to join Biology Club.

This trip has a lot to offerfrom visiting the zoo, to goingto the Strategic air and SpaceCommand museum. It givesstudents a chance to do a ton ofthings. One of these, is ofcourse, visiting the zoo. Theywill get a chance to see some ofthe zoo’s 17,000 plus animals.

Students will get to seeanimals they have seen beforeand many they have not. Someof the animals found at the zooinclude the clouded leopard, avariety of monkeys, manyspecies of flowers andpenguins. The zoo is also hometo the Lied jungle which is theworld’s largest indoorrainforest.

Another thing studentshave the option to do is to go tothe IMAX theatre and view amovie. The IMAX is a hugescreen measuring 61ft by 83ft.This is 10 times the size of aregular movie theatre screen. Italso has a massive 12,000surround sound system. The

system includes six speakerseach weighing 500 poundsalong with 16 amplifiers.

It uses the largest film inmotion picture history. It takesabout two miles of this film toshow a typical movie. Itsprojector weighs over 7000pounds. It is equipped with two15,000 watt bulbs. The 3Dsection seats 358 people and the2D section seats 3324 people. Itwas the location for the worldpremier for the movie Lewisand Clark: Great Journey west.

They will have a chance tosee things like Mummies:Secrets of the Pharaohs, whichis about explorers trying touncover the secrets of the pastto better understand Egyptianculture, Dinosaurs Alive 3D,this will sow what a day in thelife of a dinosaur might havebeen like and is computeranimated; and DEEP SEA 3D,which takes you too theBahamas along with otherplaces such as Hawaii and thesea of Cortez and introducesyou to an array of sea life suchas different kind of fish to seaturtles . It is also narrated byJohnny Depp and Kate Winslet

In the 3D movies studentswill wear 3D glasses to help

make the movie come alive.Students will also get the chanceto eat at restaurants such as,Famous Dave’s Barbecue, AsianMongolian Barbeque, Zio’sPizzeria, Spaghetti Works, andGreat Dragon Chinese Take-Out.

All these restaurants arelocated at a place called the OldMarket. The Old Market hasrestaurants, stores,accommodations, and otherthings to see and experienceStudents will also get theopportunity to tour ride in aflight simulator at a museumcalled Strategic Air Command.The museum has been aroundsince 1998. The named waschanged in 2001 it used to beknown as Strategic Aircommand.

When asked what thehighlight of the trip would beHaggard explained that it isdifferent for everyone. Somemay like one thing where assomeone else likes somethingelse more.

His personal favorite is theGiant Japanese CaveSalamander. As said before thisyear’s trip has been particularlydifficult to schedule and Mr.Haggard has had to changearound a few things from his

This is a new year for thePerry Lecompton art clubmembers and it is going to be anexciting one. The president inthe art club is, Teri Ross, thevice president is MarkWeatherford, and the secretariesare Luda Voronin and JacobBeesom.

They have many eventscoming up and one of thoseevents is in November they aretaking a trip to Sun fireceramics in Lawrence. What theart club members will be doingis they will select and decoratedifferent forms of pottery. Theart club members will also visitthe Spencer Museum of art atKU.

During the spring they willtour the Nelsons AtkinsMuseum which is in Kansas

Jessica ChristmanStaff Writer

City. Then they go to theCountry Club Plaza, which isan “exquisite” lunch andunique shopping experiences,said Mrs. Ashlock, who is thesponsor of the art club.

In addition the art clubthe members go on 2 fieldtrips a year and focus on allthe arts. The art members alsohelp with the art fair and makeit a joyful experience.

The art classes providedin the high school are; intro toart, drawing, painting 1,painting 2, 3D art and design,and advanced art. So there area lot of different types of artclasses so get involved andjoin an art class today.

The art club members forthis year are; Jacob Beesom,Maureen Mulvihill, CalebGesner, Isaac Fisher, SallyFranks, Rodger Rooman,Regan Burton, Alex Porter,

Josh Meier, Teri Ross, BaileyHill, Kristin Robbins, TravisWoodard, Lauren Miller,Samantha Clement, Ryan Walker,Savannah Shuck, Lyuda Voronin,Kory Roberts, Lauren McGarity,Mikaela Kelly, Megan Elder,Dusti Johnson, DanielleLawrence, AudreyChamberlin, Allison Potter,Baylee Kilburn, Alex Chapman,Olivia Brietenbach, RhiannonPearson, Ariel Coffelt, NessHubbard, Sandy Robbins, ChelseaWilliams, Elisha Benton, MaggieKulhman, and Tayler Blodgett.

Art is a fun subject it teachesyou basic life skills. Especially ifyou want to go into the artisticfield. If you want to be inanimation, or commercial art,computer graphics,communication, creative writing,fashion design, graphic design,journalism/ newspaperproduction, multimedia, AP music

and technology, regularphotography, digitalphotography, publication 1 and2, radio communication, TV/video production, videodocumentary, web pagedesign, Dynamic web pagedesign, and many more.

Olivia Brietenbach is oneof the members of the art cluband she likes it, because two ofher favorite things are in the artclub, her friends and of courseart! She thinks she will enjoy itbecause she likes to be creativeand hang out with her friends.

Another reason why shethinks she will enjoy it isbecause the club gets to go onfield trips like go to differenttypes of galleries. She isinvolved in intro to art nextsemester and is looking forwardto it, because if she likes the artclubs then she will definitelylike intro to art!

She is jealous that she isn’tin an art class yet because herfriends get to make a lot ofdifferent projects and she feelsthat she is missing out. So shecan’t wait until next semesterwhen she has it.

The Art Club is for anyonethat loves any kind of art. It isfull of good times and it is ablast, you do a lot of funactivities, and go on field trips.

Art is one subject that manykids like, because it is fun andlets you create anything you wantor anything you can imagine.

This year is going to be anexciting year for the 2007/2008Art Club members, because theyare going to go to new places likedifferent museums and stuff likethat. So come sign up for the artclub today, or join an art classthat is provided by the school.

original plans. He has had tochange the date which has beenmoved to Saturday November 17th

and will return on SundayNovember 18th. Another thing hehas had to change is the hotel theywill be staying at. It is now theHilton.

Another thing the schedulechange has affected is theattendance. Some people are nownot able to go because of thechange. The price of the hotel hasalso changed. Despite all thethings that have had to be altered,it looks as if it is going to beanother fun and enjoyable trip forMr. Haggard and the biology club.Mr. Haggard stated that,

“My philosophy of educationis that we are the sum of ourexperience and the product of ourenvironment. The whole point ofBiology Club is to expand theopportunities of experience forPLHS students”, said Mr.Hagggard.

Despite all that has beengoing on with the difficulty ofscheduling so it looks as if thebiology club members going onthe trip along with Mr. Haggardare ready for the trip and are readyto have a good time and learnsomething in the process.

Biology Club Heads to the ZooBiology Club Heads to the ZooBiology Club Heads to the ZooBiology Club Heads to the ZooBiology Club Heads to the Zoo

Artistic Activities Are A Blast For Club MembersArtistic Activities Are A Blast For Club MembersArtistic Activities Are A Blast For Club MembersArtistic Activities Are A Blast For Club MembersArtistic Activities Are A Blast For Club Members

THE KAW TRACKER 1111111111StandardStandardStandardStandardStandardTireTireTireTireTire&&&&&

AAAAAutomotiveutomotiveutomotiveutomotiveutomotiveFor allFor allFor allFor allFor all

of y of y of y of y of your service-repair andour service-repair andour service-repair andour service-repair andour service-repair andtire needstire needstire needstire needstire needs

785-597-5042

203 Front Street - PO Box 165 - Perry,Kansas 66073

standardtire@earthlink.net

Discounts for USD 343 students & facultyDiscounts for USD 343 students & facultyDiscounts for USD 343 students & facultyDiscounts for USD 343 students & facultyDiscounts for USD 343 students & facultywho bring their student I.Dwho bring their student I.Dwho bring their student I.Dwho bring their student I.Dwho bring their student I.D.....

THE KAW TRACKERSports

Katie davisStaff Writer

88888

44444

Playing competitive ball isalways a challenge, especiallygetting used to new playersevery season. Two girls off thePerry-Lecompton Softball teamhave been lucky enough to playtogether for almost nine years.LeeAnne Pringle and CourtneyKasson are currently membersof the Kansas City Aces. Theyhave played competitive softballtogether since they were infourth grade.

“LeeAnne and I haveplayed different positions in thepast years. Our primarypositions now are; I pitch, sheplays second. But I use to playthird and LeeAnne use to catch.LeeAnne’s like a sister to me.We’ve played together for solong now that it’s like we knowwhat one another is going todo,” said Kasson.

Ever since Kindergarten,the girls have been workinghard to achieve their one andonly goal; to play collegiatesoftball. They’ve put in thesweats, hours, tears, and heart tomake sure that nothing stands inthe way of them achieving thisgoal.

“I practice three times aweek with a girl getting ready toplay softball for KU. I takehitting lessons. We practiceweekend mornings at 9:00 inKansas City. Courtney and Ipractice together. I catch for hersometimes when she haspitching lessons,” saidLeeAnne.

The start of the girl’s careerwould be playing for SteveKasson, Courtney’s father, inthe Jefferson Jackson League.Both girls were members of thisteam and that’s where it allbegan. LeeAnne started outplaying short-stop and Courtneywas third base. The girls playedfor Steve until the Perry andLecompton teams werecombined to make the ChiliPeppers. The Chili Peppers werecoached by Brian Williams,Steve Kasson, and BrianHorsch.

“I wanted to coach thesegirls. I wanted to teach themhow to play the game right andwith heart. I knew that this wassomething I was capable of

doing,” Steve Kasson,Courtney’s father said.“They’re both good ballplayers, and I know it meansa lot to both of them. But theywill be ending their highschool careers together andI’m excited to see it allunfold.”

This was the start of thegirls playing competitivesoftball. The team had 12

girls from Perry andLecompton. As the yearscontinued on girls left forother teams and the ChiliPeppers picked up new girlsfrom other schools. Their firstyear in competitive ballwasn’t what they thought itwould be.

They took some prettyhard loses, but had somepretty good wins. The firstyear the Chili Peppers playedleague ball at Dornwood, inTopeka. They didn’t do sowell in the season but endedup taking third in the league.Then, the second year theyplayed in Dornwood, theytook first in league and thenfirst in the league tournament.

“Even though we werelosing, at that point the girlson the team didn’t know whatcompetitive really meant. Wewere just out there to havefun, keep a ball in our hands,and try not to strike out,”chuckled Kasson with a smile

on her face. “Our first yeartogether was one of the bestyears I’ve had playing softball.This was before parents gotinvolved and college ball wascompletely out of the picture. Itwas strictly for love of thegame.”

That year was whenKasson and Pringle started toform a bond. Courtney waspitching and LeeAnne was

catching. If you don’tknow much about softball,those two positions are crucialto one another.

The following year theChili Peppers moved to theS.C.A.G.A. (Shawnee County)League. The competition at theLake was much morecompetitive and exactly whatthe girls needed. They startedout playing 12U.

The girls had a horriblefirst season. They cametogether as a team though, andpulled out some tough wins.They also realized that in thisleague they weren’t the bestand weren’t going to win themall, but were still going to trytheir hardest.

Then LeeAnne andCourtney made a very harddecision to leave the ChiliPeppers. LeeAnne went to theTopeka Kaboom and Courtneywent to the Topeka Pride. Eventhough the girls were playingin the same age division, andthe same league, they never

played each other that year.They were still able to remainclose friends.

After that year, Kassonwas recruited by the WashburnSoftball’s head coaches,father. This was when thepossibility of playing collegesoftball had really sunk in forher. That same year LeeAnnechanged teams again to theKansas City Hurricanes.

LeeAnne had quite a bit ofsuccess with the Hurricanes.

That year they went toFlorida and took 5th in theNation. Courtney alsochanged teams to the Flames,but then decided for personalreasons to play for theLawrence Phenix. Yet againthe girls never faced eachother in action, but knew thetime would come.

It took almost two fullyears before the girls werereunited again on the field.This was when they bothdecided to play for the KansasCity Aces. The Aces are madeup of mostly Kansas Cityplayers. The team consisted of12 girls, 4 not being fromKansas City. They are coachedby Chuck Ennen, Bill Folks,and Jody Pringle. The teampractices every Sunday from 9to 11. They just recently had atournament at Loan Elm BallPark in Kansas City. The KCPeppers were one of the four18gold teams there. The

Peppers happen to be ranked inthe top 5 teams in the state ofKansas.

“We played a tough game,just things wouldn’t fall ourway. But, we kept trying evenwhen we were losing,” saidLeeAnne.

On October 19th throughthe 21st Kasson and Pringle willbe traveling to Iowa for aCollege Exposure Tournament.

“An exposure tournamentis when colleges from all overthe country can come to watchand possibly recruit newplayers from every team,” saidKasson. “I have beencorresponding with the headcoach from GrandviewCollege, which is in DesMoines, Iowa, about possiblyplaying for him.”

Pringle has received lettersfrom Iowa State University,Oklahoma State, Emporia, andis sure there is many more tocome.

Both girls are excited forthe Iowa tournament but areeven more excited for their18gold exposure tournament inMcKinney, Texas. Thistournament takes place inNovember and the girls havedone nothing but prepare for it.This tournament is one of thebiggest fall exposuretournaments.

Fall ball typically doesn’tattract as many collegecoaches, but this tournament isdifferent. This 18goldtournament will have morecollege coaches then anytournament the girls have facedthis season.

“It’s one of the biggestcollege exposure tournaments,where you’ll be able to be seenand looked at by top colleges.I’m really excited to go outthere and show ‘em what I haveto offer,” said Pringle.

Through everything thatKasson and Pringle haveendured these past years, thegirls do have one major thing incommon. No matter what, thegirls would like to end theirhigh school softball careertogether. Whether that is on aclub team or the Perry-Lecompton Softball team,they’ve come this far togetherand they want to end it togetheras well.

Kasson and PKasson and PKasson and PKasson and PKasson and Pringringringringringle Cole Cole Cole Cole Commmmmpetpetpetpetpete In Coe In Coe In Coe In Coe In Commmmmpetitivpetitivpetitivpetitivpetitive Soe Soe Soe Soe Soffffftbaltbaltbaltbaltballllll

Courtney Kasson and LeeAnne Pringle Play With the Aces. Photo by JoEllen Kasson

THE KAW TRACKERSports

Shawny BlankingshipStaff Writer

99999

PLHS Soccer Beats Winning RecordPLHS Soccer Beats Winning RecordPLHS Soccer Beats Winning RecordPLHS Soccer Beats Winning RecordPLHS Soccer Beats Winning Record

PLHS soccer is kicking its’way to state. The team has had agreat season so far and theentire team is ready for thechallenges that the regionalgames will bring them.

“Record wise, it’s the bestteam in the school history.Overall it’s been a fun, butbumpy road.” said JustinMiller, a junior.

Those “bumpy” timesthat Miller is talking aboutare the losses that oursoccer team hasexperienced. The teamplayed the best theypossible could againstMaur Hill, Piper, and MillValley.

The losses weredisappointing, but theymade the team that muchstronger. Those lossesshowed them that theycould become even betterat and made their will towin stronger than before.

“Losing to Maur Hillwas a disappointment,especially with how dirtythey played,” saidsophomore, John Mehl.“They didn’t deserve it.”

There will always bethose memories for ourplayer, like those of theMaur Hill game. But theykept moving forward anddidn’t let anydisappointment, no matterhow great, get in the wayof their dream of going tostate.

The upcomingchallenge of state is a nerveracking one. And for the seniorson PLHS soccer, it will be theirlast time venturing these games.These may very well be some ofthe last games they ever play. Inpast interviews, only a couple ofour seniors wanted to play incollege. These games will havemoments that they willremember for the rest of theirlives.

Recently, one of theseniors, Holly Fornelli, had afull page spread in the TopekaCapital Journal. She was askedwhy she decided to play soccer,

what she loved most about thesport and what was mostchallenging about being one ofthree girls on the varsity soccerteam.

She said that one of thegreatest influences on herdecision to play soccer was hersister Kari, whom graduatedthree years ago from PLHS.

Something else that was broughtto attention was whether or notshe, and the other girls weretreated differently because ofthe fact that they were girls on amostly boys soccer team.

Fornelli told the CapitalJournal reporter that other teamhad girls on them as well, “soit’s not that big of a deal.”

Fornelli also noted thatthere were times when foulswere called, and somementioned that “You’re justcalling it because they’re agirl.”

But that doesn’t seem tobother the girls on the team.They keep playing their heartsout along with the boys andthey seem unstoppable.

“We played our bestagainst Basehor,” said seniorgoalie Bryce Walker. “And wealmost knocked them off.”

Some of the players agreedthat their last several gameshave gone well.

“The last several gameshave gone well,” said juniorCaleb Gessner. “We have had ahard time but have improvedgreatly.” There is no doubtabout that. It’s obvious that thePerry-Lecompton soccer team isworking their tails off to make itpast the first several games inregionals, and possibly state.

“The first game, becausewe will be nervous!’ said Millerabout what games he think will

be most challenging inregionals.

“Basehor and Piper.” saidWalker in his opinion of whatteams will be most challenging.

All of the team isoptimistic about the upcominggames, and is excited to seewhat they will bring. Just like inany other sport the excitement

for regionals is indescribable.Just as in football, or volleyball,or tennis, the feeling of goinginto a game having a gut feelingthat you and your team aregoing to do well, is somethingonly a player of the game canknow.

“I’m sad to know that it’sover, but I’m glad to see that theteam is doing well.” saidFornelli about the feeling ofknowing it’s the last high schoolseason she will play. Walkeragreed in saying the he was sad

as well. But of these and theother seniors on the team, RyanWalker and Kory Roberts, theseason isnt over yet.

“Now that we beat thewinning record, teams to comehave a record to beat.” saidFornelli on the topic of whetheror not she thought that thisyear’s team will have an impact

on future teams. Walker alsoagreed on this as well.

Miller added saying that“This is the best team we willhave for a long time!”Something else Miller addedwas that “The seniors are thebest group of seniors I haveplayed with.” The seniors on thePLHS soccer team should knowthat they had an impact on theirunderclassmen. That they willleave behind a legacy that thisyear’s freshmen, sophomores,and juniors will get to know.

Junior, Megan Elder keeps her opponent away from the ball. Photo by Staff

THE KAW TRACKERSports

Tyler ChristmanStaff Writer

1010101010

The Cross Country seasonhas now come to an end atPLHS. The season was filledwith great finishes andindividual accomplishments. Itwas also filled with both upsand downs but the CrossCountry team persevered andmade it a great team.

The second to last stop onthe teams schedule wasLeague. The meet was held atPerry Lake for the first time inawhile. With the home fieldadvantage, the Kaws put on ashow for the home crowd.Leading the Perry-Lecomptonboy’s varsity was Garrett Joneswho finished in 7th with a timeof 17:30 and Josh Payne whoearned a solid placing of 22nd.With jitters, and all the Kawswere still able to perform wellin front of the home crowdearning 7th as a team.

The Girls did great as wellwith Katie Hirsch earning firstplace. Katie was the secondgirl in PLHS history toaccomplish this feat the onlyother to do it was Sarah Hirshin 1978. Following Katie wasMaggie Kuhlman who earned anice 22nd place finish. Theseamong other solid individualtimes and finishes allowed thegirls varsity team to take homean awesome 5th place finish atLeague.

The last stop on theschedule for the Kaw’s CrossCountry team was Marysvillefor regional competition.

The boys varsity finishedin a strong 7th place withindividual honors includingGarret Jones with a time of18:49. Following Garrett wasJosh Payne finishing 16th andPhilip Hinman in 27th. Thegirl’s team did well atRegionals and had a greatseason.

Some important details inthe Boys Cross Country seasonwere that Philip Hinman andLance Morris-Bohannan werea big part of the success thatthe Cross Country team hadand earned letters all four

years. Garrett Jones earnedfirst team all League Honorswith a time of 17:30.

Josh Payne also earned allleague honorable mention withhis 22nd place finish Accordingto Coach Kasi Packard

“Team captain GarrettJones is set to lead the teaminto the 2008 season.”

The Girls team also hadsome great points that need tobe made about their season.There were two first year letterwinners this season they wereSydney Allen and Kerry Neil.We also had some seniors whoran personal best at league thisyear these were Belai Mills,Tayler Blodgett and ChelseaCooley.

When looking back on the2007 cross country season itwas both a challenging yetexciting season some of theteam highlights included solidfinishes at the Tonganoxiemeet with the girls earning 5th

and the boys earning 9th.The team also had a great

finish at the McLouthinvitational.

The Boy’s Cross Countryteam also had an impressivefinish of seventh out of eleventotal teams Finishes hereincluded the girl’s varsityearning 2nd place out of seventotal teams after a well runmeet.

The girls tallied up animpressive record during the

season with two first placefinishes and 3 second placefinishes.

The team is taking a shortbreak but according to CoachPackard,

“Their thoughts arealready in place for training forthe 2008 season.”

When looking back on theseason Sophomore EthanMerritt had this to say,

“It was a great seasonmuch improvement was madeby all.”

All this improvementwould not have been possibleif it wasn’t for individualeffort.

This effort was shown inthe summer when the team ran

three days a week along withlifting weights. It was shown inpractice with every member ofthe team giving it their all eachand every day, and it was alsoshown in the meets.

It looks like the KawCross Country team waspleased with what theyaccomplished both as a teamand individually in the 2007season.

So congratulations toCoach Packard, CoachHoffman, the team and all whohelped out on a great seasonand what looks like many moreto come.

Hardwork Pays Off For Cross CountryHardwork Pays Off For Cross CountryHardwork Pays Off For Cross CountryHardwork Pays Off For Cross CountryHardwork Pays Off For Cross Country

Girls Cross Country Team Bonds Photo by Staff

THE KAW TRACKERSports

Katie DavisStaff Writer

1111111111

Plhs Volleyball finishes with sub-state Plhs Volleyball finishes with sub-state Plhs Volleyball finishes with sub-state Plhs Volleyball finishes with sub-state Plhs Volleyball finishes with sub-state

With the season slowlycoming to an end the LadyKaws Volleyball team of Perry-Lecompton High School arelooking to get a couple morevictories, before it’s all over.

Tuesday, the 9th of Octoberthe girls had their senior night.They took on Mill Valley andBishop Ward. The first gamethey played was against BishopWard. The girls played morelike a team then they had in awhile.

Senior, Kayla Sneath, said“We were all pretty pleasedwith the way we played duringthe Bishop Ward game. Weplayed really well as a team. Wecommunicated well, playedsmart, and were aggressive.”

Even though the piecesfinally fell together for the girls,they were just two points shy oftaking the Cyclones into a 3rd

game.Following that upsetting

loss the girls were looking forrevenge against Mill Valley.But, that was hard to come by

considering MillValley is one ofthe top teams inthe Kaw ValleyLeague. Thegirls weredefeated 11 to25 both games.

“MillValley is atough schooland it wasdisappointing tolose by thatmuch afterstaying so closewith BishopWard.” saidAndrea Phillips.

Then thisweekend theLady Kawshosted their lasttournamentbefore sub-state.The girls startedout playing CairParavel. The Kawsunderestimated that team, anddid not play to their potentialfalling short of a victory.

After that game they tookon the Silver Lake Eagles.

Silver Lake has been knownover the past couple years tohave a pretty solid volleyballteam. The Kaws knew they hadtheir hands full, and fell short ofa victory again.

Following that game thegirls competed againstImmaculata, finally earningtheir first tournament win. Thegirls took on Atchison next,and weren’t able to pullthrough another victory.

Then, for the 4th time thisseason the girls played BishopWard again. They beat theCyclones their first game, butsadly were defeated the secondtwo.

“This weekend we hadrandom moments of playingvery well, but we just couldn’tpull through and finish. Wefought hard battling BishopWard past the normal winningscore of 25, but we couldn’tpull out a win. We played avery good game againstImmaculata and managed tosteal a win. We tried our bestto compete with Silver Lakebut they are a really good teamwho ended up taking first overall. We played well in a threegame match with Cair Paravelbut couldn’t maintain ourmomentum and fell apartduring the end. Atchison we

stopped talking and gave up onourselves. Senior night was areality check because I thinkthat’s really when it hit all of usthat this was our last year toplay together, and possibly oneof the last times we’d ever playthis game.” said Terra Gauger, aLady Kaws Senior.

Tuesday night, the girlsplayed in their final quad of theseason against, Pleasant Ridgeand Atchison at JacksonHeights. The girls were defeatedin all three matches, but somechanges had been made. Theyused a labairo, for the first timethis season, with ShelbyErickson wearing the newyellow jersey.

The final scores againstPleasant Ridge were 25-21, 25-15, Atchison 25-22, 25-19,Jackson Heights 25-12, and 25-18. Hopefully the girls will beable to pull something togetherbefore the sub-state tournament.

Andrea Phillips said, “Thisvolleyball season has been atough one, with having anothernew coach and rebuilding again.But, there are no excuses. Weneed to pull together and learnhow to win.

With only two practicesbefore sub-state hopefully wecan get the chemistry right andwant to win. We have a lot of

talent on our team and when weplay well we are hard to beat.We just have to play as a teamand work together.”

The next challenge thegirls faced was the sub-statetournament held inTonganoxie. The volleyballteam had to compete withBasehor-Linwood, Tonganoxie,Holton, Jefferson West,Atchison, Piper, and Hiawatha.

“For me this is my firstyear to ever participate in sub-state, so I’m a little nervous.”said Courtney Kasson, “butthrough our season we’ve facedthe number one, two, and threeseeds in 4A.

We’ve hung with them, soit’s just going to be like aregular match for me. Hopefullywe can pull together as a teamand come out on top. Since thiscould potentially be our lasttime together, this is going to bean emotional tournament. Wehave great senior leaders and Iwill miss them all.”

Shelby Erickson Aces Her Serve vs Piper. Photo by Staff

Photo by StaffThe Kaws huddle up and receive instructions in a match vs Piper.

Sports1212121212THE KAW TRACKER

Kristin Robbinsstaff writer

Remembering the last fewgames of the football season bringsus way back to the end of September.Starting the month with a winningstreak behind them, the Kaws beganOctober in style playing KC Piper onOctober 5 th and earning anothervictory, 14-7.

“This was a really importantgame to the entire team and we werefired up for the game,” said seniorDrew Pearce.

With the team being this firedup, it did not take long for the gameto get exciting with junior ShaneGimzo passing the ball off to juniorJoel Gantz in the beginning of thefirst quarter for the first of twotouchdowns for the night. Gimzopassed well with six of eight passesbeing caught, allowing for almosteighty yards gained, and allowing forboth touchdowns to be made.

Offense was effective, but Kawdefense was tremendous as thePirates were unable to score until thefourth quarter, and even then thePirates scored only one touchdown.Junior Aaron Andrew led the Kawswith eight assists and juniors MarkHiggins and Gimzo had seven solotackles.

“Defensively we played reallywell,” said Coach Paramore.“Holding them at the goal line washuge.”

As a team, the Kaws madegreat progress with each individualstriving to make plays.

Each player made individualachievements, two of which includean interception by junior Mark

Higgins and a sack by Gimzo.Paramore also said that the

game “was a great win for Home-coming and all of our guys playedreally well. We went out and madeplays and got things done.”

Next, on October 12 th, theKaws traveled to Tonganoxie to takeon the Chieftains. The Chieftainswere unable to stop the Kaws as theyhad several carries that covered a lotof yardage, led by senior CalebDenton and Shane Gimzo. Dentonhad one touchdown for the nightalong with senior Dillon Harrell, andGantz, and Gimzo had twotouchdowns.

“Tongie wasn’t as strong asthey have been in the past fewyears,” Harrell said about theopponents, “but I think we were wellprepared and finally executed ouroffense.”

As for the defensive part of thegame, the Kaws again played beyondexpectations. Leading in solotackles was Gimzo, and leading inassists was Gantz followed closelyby juniors Josh Durflinger and KyleMorgison. An interception byHarrell and a blocked kick byHiggins really got the crowd roaring,encouraging the team to keep up thegreat work on the field.

Higgins stated that, “ourdefense played pretty good andstopped them (the Chieftains) on thegoal line many times. Our offensestarted to really get things going.”

The Kaws ended the game withanother win under their belts, 34-13.

“We were happy to giveParamore his first win over Tongie asa coach at Perry-Lecompton HighSchool,” Harrell said.

Moving on with a winning

streak behind them the Kaws playedtheir last scheduled home gameagainst their rival, the Jefferson WestTigers, on October 19 th. Hugeoffensive plays were made, in one ofwhich senior Aaron Brooks ran 43yards for an incredible touchdown.Senior Brandon McMullin definitelyheld the most exciting play of thenight by carefully reading oneparticular Jeff West pass, interceptingthe ball, and running 73 yards for thelast touchdown of the night. Withsuch an outstanding performance, theyounger Kaws were given theopportunity to shine with nineminutes left in the game.

Senior Matt Merritt said, “it feltawesome. There are not too manythings better than beating a rivalteam like Jeff West and stompingthem on our senior night.”

Perry-Lecompton defensecompletely dominated over theTigers, allowing them to manageonly 42 yards of total offense on 43plays. Defensive contributions weremade by the entire team which wasessential for the win, 39-0.

“The only thing I would’vechanged is the score, and I would’vehad more points for us,” said Merritt.

Up next on the schedule wasthe Atchison Redmen, the last gamefor the Kaws’ regular season. OnOctober 23rd, the Kaws traveled toAtchison only to upset the Redmen’ssenior night. Regardless of the factthat the Redmen were loaded withtalent the Kaws weren’t worried atall about the game that night. Playslike a 51 yard touchdown by juniorShane Gimzo and a 24 yard fieldgoal by junior Neng Artwichai addedextra excitement for the Kaws’offense.

The Redmen offense struggledto make plays due to anotheramazing performance by Perry-Lecompton’s defense. Atchison wassimply unable to make plays on theground, and when they tried to makeplays by passing they were evenmore disappointed by interceptionsmade by Caleb Denton, KyleMorgison, Joel Gantz, and DillonHarrell. After intercepting the ball,Harrell ran for 22 yards and made thefinal touchdown for the night.

“Our defense was awesome,”said senior Dillon Harrell. “Atchisonhad the D-1 wide receiver and weheld him to almost nothing. JoeCorcoran helped us prepare atpractice to play against him and itworked.”

Summing up the regular seasonthe Kaws defeated the Redmen 31-7,winning their eighth game and thetitle of District Champions.

“No one really thought that wewere going to be able to play like wedid and we played our best game,”said Harrell about having thechampion title. “It was the first timein ten years and it felt really good.”

Following the Redmen’s defeatthe Kaws hosted the first round ofState playoffs held at Perry-Lecompton on October 30 th, whichwas an honor and privilege for thewhole school.

“Playoff time is do or die, andright now nobody on this team willdie without a fight,” said senior AlexHackathorn.

And fight they did, as the Kawsdueled with the Marysville Bulldogsuntil the very end. The Kaws hadthree touchdowns for the night, all ofwhich were scored by Caleb Denton,and the infamous Kaw defense had

three tackles for Marysville’s loss ofyardage, one each by AlexHackathorn, Shane Gimzo, and asack by Joel Gantz. Arguably, andprobably from a biast view, thereshould have been another touchdownscored; but as the time on the clockcounted down all too quickly theKaws sadly ended their season toMarysville, 21-22.

Despite the loss, it is obviousthat each player put his whole heartinto every play, gave everything hecould offer to the game. Words can’teven begin to justify the intensityeach one held that night as theybattled to the very last second of thegame. There is absolutely no reasonfor anyone to be disappointed, forthis is one of the best teams Perry-Lecompton has seen in a long time.Winning the title of both League andDistrict Champions is definitelysomething to be proud of, and thisfootball season was a good run.

Vince Lombardi says it best inthis: “The spirit, the will to win, andthe will to excel are the things thatendure. These qualities are so muchmore important than the events thatoccur.” The Perry-Lecompton Kawfootball team of 2007-2008 held allof these qualities that matter, andeven though they deserved manyother games after the 30th thosegames don’t matter near as much astheir drive and ambition whichpowered their winning season.

To the Perry-Lecompton Kaws:congratulations on making this avery awesome, memorable year. Yourefforts and accomplishments will notbe forgotten.

2007-2008 Kaw Football Team.2007-2008 Kaw Football Team.2007-2008 Kaw Football Team.2007-2008 Kaw Football Team.2007-2008 Kaw Football Team.Kaw Valley League Champions. District Champs.Kaw Valley League Champions. District Champs.Kaw Valley League Champions. District Champs.Kaw Valley League Champions. District Champs.Kaw Valley League Champions. District Champs.

Kaws Capture First District Championship Since 1999, Finish Season 8-2