The Pony Express Center Hill High School, 13250 Kirk Road, Olive Branch MS 38654
February 2020 Volume 3, Issue 4
Class 5A State Champs
Boys soccer wins first state title in school history D
By Sarah Claire Miller Staff Writer
efining a season described by one player as the most beautiful in his life, boys soccer won their first state title in school history Feb. 8. “All happiness exploded after the last whistle,” said center midfielder Kuba Maszkiewicz, a sophomore Maszkiewicz exchange student from Poland who was the
Read a Q&A with head coach Andrew Yeoman at chhsponyexpress.com. first to score for the Mustangs in their 2-1 victory over Long Beach. The Class 5A state championship match was played at Brandon High School. After a scoreless first half, Long Beach made the first goal. Head coach Andrew Yeoman said he knew going in that the Bearcats were a great defensive team – they had only been scored on four times all year – and for the second half his Mustangs had to change their offense to overcome their opponent’s strong defense.
“The message at halftime was to take less touches and pass the ball more,” Yeoman said. “When you dribble more than pass it allows the defense more time to set in and be compact. We also had the ball in dangerous spots in the first half but failed to get a shot off so we wanted to see them test the goalkeeper more.” Long Beach was the first to score with a little more than 16 minutes to go in the second half. Maszkiewicz’s goal about a minute later tied the game 1-1. “That was our team’s answer to their goal,” Maszkiewicz said. “Everyone was getting crazy but we See Soccer, page 3
Photo by Roben Nobles/CHHS Yearbook Members of the boys soccer team celebrate after winning the Class 5A state championship Feb. 8. Diego Valenzuela, second from left, scored the winning goal.
Jimenez, DuVall reign over Winterfest S
By Trinity Waldrip Staff Writer
eniors Breanne Jimenez and David DuVall were crowned Winterfest Queen and King Jan. 24, highlighting a week of festivities that also brought Center Hill’s defeat of Lafayette 107-31. “It’s just a real honor to be selected,” DuVall said. “I was expecting Taylor (Williams) to win or Diego (Valenzuela).” Jimenez said DuVall she’s always wanted to be Winterfest queen. “I was really honored that the
Photo by Jose Esquivel Breanne Jimenez reacts after being crowned Winterfest Queen Jan. 24. She and King David DuVall reigned over Winterfest, a weeklong celebration that included dress-up days, a pep rally and a 107-31 basketball win against Lafayette.
whole school nominated me to be their queen,” she said. Winterfest Sweethearts and Beaus, representing clubs and
organizations, were presented during halftime of the girls basketball game. The Lady Mustangs lost to the Lady
Commodores 81-35. Staff Writer Micheal Feild contributed to this story.
Check out more Winterfest photos at chhsponyexpress.com.
Glasses correct students’ color blindness T Photo by Sarah Claire Miller Wearing special glasses, senior Ethan Ratcliff is able to see the red, green, blue, purple and pink in the art piece held by Whitney Lantrip, who used a $350 grant to buy the glasses.
By Sarah Claire Miller Staff Writer
he world just got more vivid for Josh Polk and Ethan Ratcliff. The seniors, both of whom are color blind, can now see all colors clearly thanks to special glasses their art teacher bought. “That one pair of glasses changed the lives of two students,” said Whitney Lantrip, who purchased the pricey eyewear with a $350
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grant from Northcentral Electric Power Association. “They are now able to wear the glasses to see true colors as they have never before been able to see.” Ratcliff said he was in kindergarten or first grade when he found out he was color blind, but the condition has never been difficult to deal with. “I’ve always loved being color blind just because it’s something that makes me unique,” he said.
“But normal things aside, from if something is solely color based, it doesn’t really affect me that much.” The type of color blindness Ratcliff has is Strong Deutan, which is another name for red-green color blindness. “Essentially what it is, is a lot of colors look exactly the same, like I can’t tell the differences between them,” he said. “Red and green See Glasses, page 2
BE IN THE KNOW AT THE HILL Sunday, March 1 - Band Concert with Memphis Wind Symphony
Tuesday, March 17 - Tennis vs. Senatobia
Thursday, Feb. 27 - FCA Breakfast
Tuesday, March 3 - Tennis vs. Olive Branch
Tuesday, March 17 - Baseball @ Saltillo
Thursday, Feb. 27 - Softball at Lewisburg
Thursday, March 5 - Golf @ Olive Branch Country Club
Tuesday, March 17 - Softball @ Horn Lake
Thursday, Feb. 27 - Tennis at DCHS
Thursday, March 5 - Track @ Charger Invitational
Wednesday, March 18 - Golf @ Northcreek Golf Club (Southaven)
Friday, March 6 - Blood Drive
Thursday, March 19 - Report Cards
Saturday, Feb. 29 - MHSAA Quarterfinals @ ICC, Basketball vs. Cleveland Central
March 9-13 - Spring Break
Saturday, March 21 - Track Bobby Rascoe DeSoto County Championships
Saturday, Feb. 29 - Winter Guard Southaven High Indoor Competition
March 9 - Softball @ Southwind
Thursday, Feb. 27 - Select Women PreConference Concert @ Maples United Methodist Church
Friday, Feb. 28 - Career Tech Field Trip (10th-graders)
Saturday, Feb. 29 - Track Center Hill Jamboree
March 9 - Baseball @ Booneville
March 10-14 - Select Women @ Regional ACDA Conference, Mobile
Photo by Ana Le Faith Johnson, senior, scores her arrows during archery practice Feb. 4. Senior Night for the archery team will be March 16.
Saturday, March 14 - Baseball @ Bartlett
Monday, March 16 - Archery Senior Night
Friday, March 27 - Club Pictures Friday, March 27 - Indoor Winds MIA Championships Saturday, April 4 - ACT
2 and 24: Remembering Kobe and Gianna Bryant K
By Nadia Sumlar Co-editor
obe Bryant was a basketball phenom, a brother, a son, and a loving husband and father. On the court, no one could touch him. Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for his entire 20-season NBA career, which he entered right out of high school. During his career, he won five NBA championships and two Olympic gold medals. Bryant had dreams of his 13-yearold daughter, Gianna, carrying on his legacy. Gianna, affectionately known as “Gigi,” had always hoped to play for UConn and eventually make it into the WNBA. Bryant called her “Mambacita.” Since he was known as “Mamba,” Bryant stated that his daughter was going to be the female version of him. On Jan. 26, Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. He was 41. This left the world in pure shock and silence.
What made matters worse is that among the eight other people who died in the helicopter crash alongside Bryant was Gigi. No one was expecting this. There were people on Twitter who stated Los Angeles had not been that quiet since the 2019 death of hip-hop icon Nipsey Hussle. Hearts and compassion were extended to Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Laine Bryant, for the loss of her husband and daughter. As has been said by many on social media, “legends never die.” Tik Tok was flooded with videos dedicated to Bryant, and the hashtag #Mamba trended on Twitter. In a heart-wrenching Instagram post, Bryant’s friend and brother, LeBron James, stated that he was going to carry on Bryant’s legacy. Bryant will always go down in NBA history. He will continue to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. His daughter will remain “Mambacita” and stand side by side with her father.
Photo by Sarah Claire Miller Wearing special glasses that correct his red-green color blindness, senior Josh Polk looks out a window. Without the glasses, Polk sees many colors as tones of gray.
Continued from Glasses, page 1 is a big one, but it also applies to blue and purple, and some shades of pink I cannot see. It’s more of I can’t distinguish between colors, not I can’t see.” 2 The Pony Express
Like Ratcliff, the kind of color blindness Polk has is Strong Deutan. There are several types of color blindness, and Lantrip determined which kind Polk and Ratcliff have by having them take a color blind test online. According to enchroma.com,
Illustration by Makenna Tyge Kobe Bryant was a basketball phenom, a brother, a son, and a loving husband and father. Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gigi, died in a helicopter crash Jan. 26. Fans continue to mourn their loss.
Fans far and wide are still mourning Bryant’s loss. Here at Center Hill High School, Insane Stangs encouraged students to wear
purple and gold to school on Jan. 27. The Mustangs also honored Bryant and his daughter at the boys basketball game at Lake Cormorant
Jan. 28, with two chairs draped with Bryant’s No. 24 jersey and Gigi’s No. 2 jersey.
where Lantrip bought the glasses, 300 million people worldwide have some form of color vision deficiency. “Sometimes green looks brown, especially dark greens,” said Polk, who was 10 or 11 when he learned he was color blind. “I went to the eye doctor to get glasses for the first time and then they said that I probably had a small color blindness.” He also said that living with color blindness isn’t all that bad. “There’s just certain stuff you obviously can’t see but there’s not much difficulty,” he said. “With art, I’ve gone with a lot of black and white stuff because of it.” Being a color blind artist is not as bad as it sounds. “If I’m trying to make something realistic, it’s hard to get the right colors to use, but most of the stuff that I draw I don’t use traditional colors for,” Ratcliff said. “I like making things weird looking and all random colors.” Critiques in art class are now
easier with the glasses, which Ratcliff and Polk are sharing. “I guess with art and stuff, I can see things better with different colors, color schemes,” Polk said, adding that he is grateful to Lantrip for ordering the glasses. “We can finally see certain stuff on different artworks that we couldn’t see before.”
For Ratcliff, “I like being able to not see colors the way everybody else does, but it’s cool to be able to have the option to use the corrective lenses,” he said. “This has always been something that I wanted to do, but I’ve never really had the money or time to earn the money to do this. I appreciate (Mrs. Lantrip) very much for it.”
UDA Nationals
CHDT places 6th in nation in hip hop T
By Billie Boyd Staff Writer
he Center Hill Dance Team, in Orlando earlier this month to compete in the UDA Nationals, placed 6th in the nation in Large Varsity Hip Hop for the team’s highest finish in school history. CHDT also placed 9th in the nation in the Large Varsity Gameday category. “My goal heading into finals was to beat ourselves from the previous years,” senior dance captain Kennedi Evans said. “We have never placed higher than 8th, so to get 6th in the nation is a really big deal.” The team, coached by Chrissy Rodefer and sponsored by Kerry Matthews, has won 11 state championships in hip hop and pom and been in the Top 10 at Nationals
for the past three years. To prepare for their return trip to Orlando, “We practiced a lot,” Evans said. “We focused on the little things and just made sure we had the dance clean and that we were able to perform it to the best of our abilities.” Evans The Gameday routine was new for CHDT, as was their competition in the Large Varsity division, sophomore Annissa Veyo said. “We didn’t really know what to expect because it was our first year bringing a Gameday routine,” Veyo said. “It was an exciting turn
of events when we made it to finals in both divisions because that’s the first time in CHDT history that we advanced to finals in two divisions.” Veyo said she’s proud of the team’s historic performance at Nationals. “We worked so hard this past season and it all paid off,” she said. “We made so much history just in one season alone, and I can’t wait to see what next year brings us.” For Evans, placing in the Top 10 in two divisions at Nationals was the result of a shared goal. “We all pushed the same amount and made sure we would leave being satisfied with what we did,” she said. “All together it was a great year and it was a great way to end my senior year. I’m proud of the team and I hope they continue to strive and do great things.”
Bowling team shows improvement E
By Landis Henderson Staff Writer
ven though the bowling team did not advance past regionals, coach Gerry Adair is looking at the positives. “The season was great,” Adair said. “We showed lots of improvement over the course of the year.” Adair said there were 16 bowlers on the team. They tried out in October, practiced on Fridays, and had matches against Cleveland Central, DeSoto Central, Lewisburg, Olive Branch and Southaven. “My best game was against Lewisburg,” said sophomore Reginald Moore, whose highest score was 210. Malachi Alexander, a junior whose best score was 153, said his favorite memory of the season was
Photo by Kymoria Mottley Even though the bowling team did not advance past regionals, coach Gerry Adair is encouraged by their progress. “We showed lots of improvement over the course of the year,” he said.
competing at regionals in Cleveland on Jan. 27. Alexander said he liked it “because of everyone’s hard work and how everyone was being very uplifting.”
Moore, who said he likes bowling because it’s not hard, also likes being part of a team. “I enjoyed how everybody supported one another,” he said.
Boys basketball wins District, advances in playoffs he boys basketball team won the District 1-5A championship after defeating Lake Cormorant 62-43. Also at the Feb. 14 district tournament, Decorian Payton was named Region 1-5A Player of the Year and head coach Newton Mealer was named Region 1-5A Coach of the Year. Payton was also chosen MVP for Region 1-5A. Kaeden Laws, Jacquez Hardin and Zandon Haralson were selected for All Region, and Jhamal Ross was named Honorable Mention. At the district tournament, the girls basketball team beat Lake
Cormorant 55-19. Candice Buford and Hope Mealer were selected to the All Region Team and Tieraney Bolton was named Honorable Mention. The Lady Mustangs advanced to the first round of the state playoffs but their season ended with a 75-39 loss to Neshoba Central Feb. 17. Two Mustangs this season have also been recognized for scoring 1,000 career points. Payton, a senior and 6-foot-6inch forward for the Mustangs, was presented with his 1,000 point basketball Jan. 24. He is the third player in school history to achieve this goal. “With the schedule that we have played it really was a huge
accomplishment,” Payton said. “Scoring 1,000 points was a goal of mine going into my senior year.” Laws, a 6-foot-5-inch small forward/shooting guard for the Mustangs, was presented with his 1,000 point basketball Jan. 31. “It feels good to score my 1,000th point, and being the second junior to do that,” he said. “Obviously winning district feels great, but it’s just another checkpoint on our way to state.” In the second round of playoffs Feb. 22, the Mustangs beat Vicksburg 69-60. They advance to the MHSAA quarterfinals and will play Cleveland Central Feb. 29 in Fulton. Trinity Waldrip contributed to this story.
Continued from Soccer, page 1 had to keep playing. The game was not over so we had to focus on our task.” With just over eight minutes left on the clock, Diego Valenzuela’s goal gave the Mustangs a 2-1 lead. “After we scored the first goal, we all knew we could come back,” the left wing and center mid said. “I gave it all I got and put it all out on
the field.” Valenzuela is one of seven seniors on the team whom Yeoman called “an extremely special group full of selfless men who put the team first.” The legacy of this championship team will last long after the seniors graduate in May. “There’s still a lot of talent on the team and hardworking players, so I’m sure there’s still a lot to strive
for,” Valenzuela said. As for Maszkiewicz, he’ll return home in a few months to WBS, the club team he plays for in Warsaw. “They were supporting me all this time and they are waiting for another season with me,” he said. “But no matter what I win in Poland, my season with the Mustangs will always be the most beautiful in my life.”
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By Sarah Claire Miller Staff Writer
The Pony Express The Pony Express student newspaper is a club that is supplemented by members of the Foundations of Journalism class at Center Hill High School. Co-editors Paige Brick and Nadia Sumlar Features Editor Kaitlin Moore Business Manager Nada Herzallah Contributing Staff for Issue 4 Billie Boyd, Jose Esquivel, Ashia Eubanks, Micheal Feild, Landis Henderson, Terran Hill, Ana Le, Sarah Claire Miller, Kymoria Mottley, Makenna Tyge, Trinity Waldrip Online: Max Lankford Advisers Ginny Shikle and Michelle Jones The mission of The Pony Express is to provide quality, thought-provoking student produced publications focused on the events and issues that affect the Center Hill High School community. As student writers, we try to reflect the thoughts of our most important readers – the students of Center Hill. Because of this, we attempt to approach many issues, some more controversial than others. The newspaper staff hopes to inform, to educate, to entertain and to question for the betterment of Center Hill, its students and faculty. Editorial Policy The editorial section of The Pony Express, including editorial cartoons, serves as a forum for well-written, thoughtful, longer forms of expression. Signed editorials represent the opinions of the author. Unsigned editorials reflect the consensus of The Pony Express staff. Views printed herein are meant to be opinionated and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the student body, faculty, administration or school district. Letters to the Editor Policy Readers are encouraged to voice their opinions in the Opinion section for the expression of varying viewpoints on relevant topics. The Pony Express will print as many letters as space allows. Letters must include the author’s name, signature, and class or position relative to the letter. Typed or legible, hand-written letters are acceptable, but should not exceed 200 words. The Pony Express will edit all letters for accuracy, spelling and grammar. We reserve the right to refuse to print any letter. Submit questions, comments or letters to the editor to ponyexpresschhs@gmail.com or 13250 Kirk Road, Olive Branch, MS 38654. Advertising Policy The Pony Express will not accept any advertising that deems to be: factually inaccurate; designed to mislead, deceive or defraud; containing malicious, vindictive or unsubstantiated attacks; offering goods and/or services illegal for teenagers to possess, buy or use; libelous; obscene; creating imminent danger or disruption to school. The Pony Express reserves the right to refuse any advertising, solicited or unsolicited. Advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views or endorsements of The Pony Express staff, student body, faculty, administration or school board. To advertise, contact Ginny Shikle at ginny.shikle@dcsms.org. Member Organizations The Pony Express is a member of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association. Our publication was named Most Improved High School Newspaper by MSPA for 2017-2018, and in 2018-2019 The Pony Express was a finalist for Mississippi’s High School Newspaper of the Year.
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College Signings @ The Hill
Five Mustangs sign to play football at next level By Billie Boyd Staff Writer
F
ive Mustangs signed Feb. 5 to play college football. It was the most athletes to sign at once in school history. “More kids will have the opportunity to play at the next level from this class than any other class in school history,” head football coach Alan Peacock said. “I’m super proud of these young men.” At a morning ceremony in the PAC, center David DuVall and cornerback Javarrius Shipp signed with Northwest
Mississippi Community College, safety Jacquez Hardin signed with Coahoma Community College, and outside linebacker Jared Rayo signed with Millsaps College. At 4:30 that afternoon, left tackle James “Big James” Mitchell also signed with Northwest. At Millsaps, Rayo said he would like to start all four years. DuVall said he intends on going to a four-year college after Northwest. “I’d just like to become the best possible player and person I can be on and off the field,” Shipp said.
Photo by Terran Hill Left tackle James “Big James” Mitchell, second from left, signed Feb. 5 to play football for Northwest Mississippi Community College. He is pictured with his family and head football coach Alan Peacock.
Photo by Landis Henderson On Feb. 5, cornerback Javarrius Shipp, far left, and center David DuVall signed to play football for Northwest Mississippi Community College. Outside linebacker Jared Rayo, second from right, signed with Millsaps College and safety Jacquez Hardin signed with Coahoma Community College. They are shown with, standing from left, Principal Doug Payne and head football coach Alan Peacock.
Photo by Terran Hill Diego Valenzuela, second from right, signed Feb. 13 to continue his soccer career at Itawamba Community College. Valenzuela, a left wing and center mid for the Mustangs, is pictured with his family and, standing from left, Principal Doug Payne and soccer coaches Blake Lashlee and Andrew Yeoman.
Photo by Trinity Waldrip Kennedi Evans, shown with her parents and teammates, signed Feb. 14 to dance with the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the third member of the Center Hill Dance Team to sign with a D1 program.
Photo by Trinity Waldrip Hart Smith, a right winger for the Mustangs, signed Jan. 10 to continue his soccer career at Itawamba Community College. He is pictured with coaches Blake Lashlee, left, and Andrew Yeoman.
Photo by Ashia Eubanks Pictured with her teammates, Maggie Gaines, a midfielder and co-captain for the Lady Mustangs, signed Dec. 13 to play soccer for Hinds Community College.
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