Dribbling in Pink

from Nov. 20, 2020 - Pulling Vaping Out of Teens

From Soccer to XC

SWIMMING FOR SUCCESS

Junior Jack Ferry has participated in the school’s swim team for all three years of his high school career. His swim experience goes back further than high school, however. Ferry started playing sports at a young age. In first grade, Ferry joined the Dolphins, an outdoor swim team associated with the Rec-Plex. He found he had a natural stroke.

“I choose to stick with swim because I thought it was easier on your body,” Ferry said. “I also enjoy the competition.”

Ferry practices in all strokes but he favors the breaststroke. FHN swim practice starts surprisingly late. In some cases, this can be stressful and swim can get in the way of other obligations. Ferry spends a good amount of his time swimming, but when he’s not at the pool, he’s usually studying or doing homework. With his busy schedule, it doesn’t leave much time for himself.

“Swim requires a lot of prioritizing,” Ferry said. “Otherwise I am swimming generally four to five nights a week.”

Ferry swims practically all year round, and he’s even on a summer swim team. All that practice and hard work has paid off. One of Ferry’s best times has been on a 50 free which he swam in 24 seconds at a meet. One length of the pool is 25 meters.

Ferry plans on continuing his swim career into the future, and he plans on swimming all the way through college.

“I think swim’s helped me keep a healthy lifestyle when the workload gets bigger,” Ferry said.

Ferry’s coach Josh Galati has had a major impact on his success by helping him practice for many meets throughout his career.

“He’s a strong swimmer,” Galati said. “He really pushes himself.” (Brief by Emma Fischer)

FHNTODAY.COM | 11.20.19 | SPORTS Junior Liam Levins attacks the goal, looking to pass the ball to his teammate, Louis Primeau. Players on the varsity boys soccer team compete in a nail-biting soccer game against Holt on Oct. 8 at FHN. The team was led by Coach Scheller. (Photo by Phoebe Primeau) KNIGHTS GO PINK

The boys’ varsity soccer team brings awareness to breast cancer by wearing pink jerseys for home games throughout the month of October

During their games in October, the boys varsity soccer team wore pink jerseys in support of breast cancer awareness. The team, who has a 4-19 record, thought it would be a good way to show that they support breast cancer awareness.

“Coach [Larry] Scheller decided it would be a good idea to get them,” said sophomore varsity soccer player Cannon Murray. “In years past we have always had pink-themed jerseys in October.”

The team likes being able to wear the pink-themed jerseys. It brings awareness to something that isn’t talked about as much as it should be. “The whole team enjoys wearing them to show support,” said sophomore player Jackson Houk.

The month of October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, an estimated 268,600 people will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer this year.

“It’s scary to think that so many people will have breast cancer,” sophomore Rebecca Orthwerth said. “You never really know how big of a problem it is until you read about it.”

The team typically wears black jerseys for home games and white jerseys for away games. During October, the pink themed jerseys are worn in place of the black home jerseys. “We choose as a team and we usually wear it [the jersey] every other game,” junior player Dane McManus said.

According to UCSF Health, breast cancer is most common in older individuals. One in eight women who live to the age of 80 will be diagnosed with cancer. Nearly 77 percent of women who are diagnosed with cancer are over the age of 50. Less than 5 percent of women under the age of 40 are diagnosed with breast cancer.

There are many ways to reduce the risk of getting breast cancer. According to City of Hope, exercise can reduce your risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. Reducing the amount of alcohol you drink and not smoking can also reduce your risks tremendously.

Breast cancer does not only affect women. Although rare, men can develop breast cancer. Male breast cancer symptoms are the same as women. One in every 1,000 men will develop this cancer. Men also have a higher mortality rate because it usually isn’t caught as early.

The team is grateful that they had the opportunity to wear the pink jerseys. They are glad they are able to show support in such a big way. The boys hope to continue the tradition of wearing the pink jerseys next October.

“Yes, [we will continue the tradition next year],” Houk said. “I think it’s a cool thing to do to support breast cancer awareness.” by Abby Akers aakers454@g.fhsdschools.org

MORE INFO Read more about breast cancer and help by donating to the cause: bit.ly/2Qg9rgp

FINISH OF A MEMORABLE SEASON

The girls’ cross country team has had a successful season with Chloe Horstman and Allison Vernon moving on to sectionals. They have led a team of 17 girls this year, with 14 runners who have returned from the previous season. Many of the athletes on the team improved throughout the season and developed healthy habits in order to successfully compete against other rival high schools. Alise Simon, an athlete on the team, is no exception. “I maintain good grades throughout the season because I have a much stricter schedule during cross country season,” said Simon.

Before a meet, the team performs several normal routines. They did activities together such as receiving race number bibs, putting on spikes, warm up jog and stretching.

“My favorite thing to do before and after I run is cheering on the other races FHN competes in,” said Simon.

The team spirit is what helps to fuel these girls as they race against competitors. During practices and meets, the athletes all cheer for one another and coast alongside the race to motivate the runners to move faster. “Team spirit makes cross country enjoyable and tolerable, I don’t know what we would do without it,” said Simon.

There are three main workouts every week during practice: distance runs, track workouts and timed runs. Distance runs are focused on form and cardio, slower than race pace, but usually go farther distance coverage. Track workouts tend to be the hardest of the three, and are focused on pushing yourself physically and mentality. Timed runs are the easiest of the three. Those are done a day before a meet and it is a thirty minute jog on your own at FHN.

“The workouts done at practice not only help to prepare the athletes, but also act as a stress reliever from school,” assistant coach Valerie Green said. (Brief by Andrew Tueth) Junior Chloe Horstman runs during a cross country meet for FHN. Horstman has participated in cross country for three years. (Photo by Allie Moore)

JUNIOR HELPS LEAD THE TEAM

This year there was one tennis player who stood out from the bunch: Allie Moore. She is a junior who first started playing her freshman year. She was looking for something to do outside of school.

“I thought it would look good for college and for businesses,” Moore said.

Moore’s teammates think highly of her and enjoy her motivation and her passion for tennis.

“She’s a very motivated person,” junior tennis player Iris Lee said. “I guess if she has an idea she has the drive to make it happen.”

Moore wanted to become a better leader to the other members in tennis, so over the summer she learned how to coach younger kids. With the knowledge she learned from coaching them, she went into the season ready to help people.

“I have started giving people on my team advice and helping them out with little things,” said Moore. “But there is only so much you can do when also trying to better yourself but I try to help out where I can.”

One of the pieces of advice Moore had for the team is to practice more during the off season. “If people practiced more during the off season we could be better than other schools,” Moore said. Moore helped her teammates with

Junior Allie Moore prepares to hit the tennis ball back across the net to her opponent. Moore has been playing for three years and has experienced coaching change. Moore enjoys helping her teammates. (Photo by Avery Witherbee) techniques and forms. She also helped newer players improve. She wanted to work on specific ways to move and hold the racket while doing a front hand or backhand.

“She has definitely helped me in tennis whenever I started out,” said Lee. “She helped teach me the techniques and I definitely improved thanks to her.” Moore is a motivating person, often hosting and setting up group bonding events for the tennis team with Lee.

“Watching her play itself was pretty exciting,” Lee said. “We’d always just watch her play really well and it motivates us to be better.” (Brief by Jon Fitch) Freshman Leah Heischmidt follows though on her swing on Sept. 24 at a match against Troy Buchanan. Heischmidt has become a valuable player during her first year on the golf team. (Photo by Nadia Abusoud)

ACHIEVING HER GOALS

The first year of high school for many students is an opportunity to not only find new things to do and experience, but also a chance to continue and build upon things previously enjoyed. Freshman Leah Heischmidt used her freshman year to continue playing golf, as she had as a child, but went in with the goal of making friends, being able to manage everything and growing in the process.

“I’ve played golf since around fifth grade,” Heischmidt said. “I played CYC [Christian Youth Channel] through my old school, but for high school I was excited to meet all of the girls because they’re all so nice, and all so welcoming.” Since Heischmidt had previously played golf and made the team when she tried out this year, and she found that the biggest struggle was playing against the upperclassmen.

“We have rankings for who we get to play with, and I was number one, so I played against juniors and seniors,” Heischmidt said. “And I’m a freshman so I was just like ‘uhhh.’”

Heischmidt looked forward to meeting the girls, and she formed many friendships throughout the season. Her favorite memories were from bonding with her teammates.

“Leah is valuable as a teammate because she is very good at golf and helps our team scores,” freshman teammate Chloe Perkins said. “As a player she’s calm and easy going, and as a friend Leah is funny, kind and fun to be around.”

Heischmidt hopes to play golf for the rest of high school. With her dad’s encouragement and her desire to continue playing, she thinks it makes the most sense. Going into the next few years she hopes to make it to sectionals and continue to improve her skills.

“My favorite thing about golf is the sportsmanship,” Heischmidt said. “Everyone is usually kind of nice to play with so it’s not there’s any bad environment with anyone. It’s just a good environment to be in.” (Brief by Hannah Davis)

A peek into Winter

As winter sports began in early November, players and coaches have been working hard and training. Take a look into their goals, plans and what’s new for the current season

BACK ON THE MATS

During last season, three boys’ wrestlers qualified for state, one returning to the team this year. This season, many underclassmen are in a position to move into the varsity spots. With many freshmen having gone through the school’s little league wrestling program, some newcomers are already experienced in the sport of school wrestling. Previous state qualifier, sophomore Mason Apple hopes to return to state this season, and is currently preparing for the teams first home duel on Dec. 4th against St. Charles West.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” coach Chris Brown said. “I’m hoping our varsity spots will rise up to the task.”

With this being the second year of a separate girls wrestling team at FHN, the team is continuing to struggle with gathering a sufficient amount of wrestlers within each weight class. During the previous season, not all of the wrestlers were able to make it through the entire season as many suffered injuries. Thankfully, this season has had an increased interest in the team overall and new wrestlers have decided to try out. The team is working hard training to prepare for the Wonder Woman Tournament on Jan. 4th.

“[Last year] was definitely an experiment,” Brown said. “I’m excited for this year and I hope the team rises excitement for wrestling.” (Brief by Karsyn Williams)

Senior Trace Martin takes down an opponent on the home fields. Martin has been on the wrestling team all four years of high school. “I wanted to be in wrestling because I wanted to be in a sport that would push me and make me stronger,” Martin said. (File Photo)

DIVING INTO THE SEASON

Last season, diver and alumni Kamryn Bell had gone to state and many previously inexperienced swimmers got up to speed with learning the swimming strokes needed at meets and improving overall.

Many underclassmen swimmers had also joined swim club last year, giving the returning swimmers, such as junior Olivia Neunaber and sophomore Natalia Salazar the ability to apply their new and improved skills to meets for the current season. The team will also be going to more meets this season to gain some experience, and they are working hard at the pool in order to prepare and hope to make it to state and improve their times.

“We lost some really good swimmers this season because they were seniors,” sophomore Ana Remolina said. “But, this year’s seniors and juniors are amazing and many of the sophomores have improved a lot.” (Brief by Karsyn Williams)

Junior Lexi Triller cheers as her teammate finished a relay during a swim meet. Triller has competed in breast stroke and freestyle swim during the previous season. (File Photo)

Senior Sterling Jones takes the ball down the sideline of the FHN basketball courts. Jones has been on the varsity team since his sophomore year and he plans to play again this year. “I chose to play basketball because it’s my favorite sport,” Jones said, “and I have been playing since I was a little kid.” (File Photo)

SETTING OUT TO SWISH

Last season, the team struggled but found that they had improved as the season went on, and they aim to continue building off that improvement. Seniors Ben Oster and Kyle Foster are returning to the court for their last year on the team and plan to bring their best game. This is the first year with coach Mark Wright being the head coach of the team. He and the other players are looking forward to competing this season as they prepare for their first tournament on Dec. 9 at St. Charles West.

“Our team goal is to be playing our best basketball in February,” Wright said. “We are working hard each day, each practice, each game to get a little bit better each time we step on the court.” (Brief by Karsyn Williams) Senior Jenna Thompson hides the ball away from an opponent from Francis Howell Central at a game on Jan 29. Jenna Thompson played both on the varsity and JV girls basketball teams during her junior year. “I have been interested in the sport all my life.” said Thompson, “My parents both played it in high school and even my mom played a little in college.” (File Photo)

Q&A

WITH JENNA THOMPSON Take a look into how the only senior on the varsity girls basketball player is preparing for the 2019-2020 season

Why did you start playing basketball?

“It was a sport my family has always played and it was really easy to play in the backyard. It was a sport I grew up to love.”

RETURNING TO THE ICE Sophomore Matthew Wells takes a shot on goal against the Holt Indians. Wells glided through the opposing defense to get a one-on-one with the goalie. Wells played varsity since his freshman year. (File Photo)

With new players and many returning players stepping up to varsity this season, the hockey team has been working hard on improving individually and as a group. Returning players, sophomores Max Ising and senior Blaine Longmore, are putting their best effort in during games. Last year, The team had won a playoff game and aims to improve their record this season. On Nov. 22, the team competes against Timberland and is looking forward to getting on the ice to play.

“I feel pretty good about our practices,” sophomore player Matt Wells said. “I think varsity is going to do pretty good this year.” (Brief by Karsyn Williams)

What are you looking forward to this season?

“Getting to know the new coach and getting to move very well with all the new girls that we have.”

What are some of the teams goals this season?

“To somewhat do the same of last year. To grow as a team with the new coach and all the new players and just really have the best season that we can.”

How does the team plan on reaching these goals?

“We’re gonna really work our butts off this year and we’re definitely going to try and hit the weight room as much as we can. We’re going to keep working hard every practice and get better each one.”

How is it being the only senior on the team?

“It is kind of crazy being the only senior. But, it’s also kind of nice because I’m someone the rest of the teammates and the JV team look up to.”

(Content by Karsyn Williams)