MHS Crier 11 8 13

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munster high school

Vol. 48 / Issue 4 / November 8, 2013 / Munster High School 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster IN 46321

INSIDE LOOK Tomorrow 58/33

47/33

Sunday

crier

We won’t stop until the game’s

”

over.

-Dom Lucito, junior

Varsity Football prepares to face off against Mishawaka tonight in final round of Sectionals

Up and coming Varsity Football plays Mishawaka at home tonight at 7 p.m.

Girls’ Varsity Swimming competes in first meet Tuesday 6 p.m. at home Student Government extends annual food drive through end of month

In memoriam With the recent passing of Colleen Lusk, junior, community comes together to show support

Jordan Cockrum Managing Editor

W

ith a current record of 7-3, the Varsity Football team looks to defeat Mishawaka in the final game of Sectionals tonight.

The team’s 21-13 win against Michigan City last week serves as a stepping stone towards the team’s first Sectional title since 1996.

“It’s a big game for us and the town and the coaches,” Dom Lucito, junior, said.

“It’s probably the biggest game I’ve ever played in. I’m really excited.”

page 6-7

Picture perfect Growing interest in photography leads seniors to take senior pictures for other students

page 8

Duty Calls With the recent release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, staff member reviews game

page 9

photo by Alisa Muñoz

EYE ON THE PRIZE Looking towards tonight’s game, Dom Lucito, junior, hopes the excitement for the game does not interfere with the performance of the team. “Our biggest challenge probably will be to not overlook the other team and not to get too excited,” Dom said. “If we just do our jobs on the field we’ll be fine.”

The football team spent the week preparing to face off against Mishawaka tonight. Aside from an improved focus, the team practiced the same as they had during the regular season, according to Seth Gutwein, junior.

“It’s the same as every other week,” Gutwein said. “We’ve been more focused this week, the focus has been more on point this week.”

The recent rain and wind provided the players with sufficient practice in such conditions, which the team excels in, according to Gutwein.

“The biggest advantage is probably the weather,” Gutwein said. “Our offense has been very good in this type of weather.”

The team also hopes to use their strong offensive line to their advantage tonight, according to Amber Kimbrough, senior.

“It’s honestly the fact that we have so much experience on it (our offensive line),” Kimbrough said. “They’re smart and know what to do.”

Although they possesses a strong offensive line, the team needs to work on their ability to play through any problem that arises, according to Coach Leroy Marsh, health teacher. “(The team’s biggest challenge will be) playing through any unexpected adversity,” Coach Marsh said.

The team aspires to win their sixth sectional title. Achieving this goal would add to the ac-

complishments the team made this year, according to Kimbrough.

“It (winning) would mean a lot,” Kimbrough said. “It would mean that all the hard work we put in this season had finally paid off.”

Other team accomplishments this season would include Coach Marsh’s 200th career victory, and almost exactly reversing last years’ 2-7 record. Because of their achievements, the football team feels this season will end in their favor, according to Dillon Pierie, junior.

“Considering everything that happened last year, everything went well,” Pierie said. “It (this season) was probably the biggest turnaround in Munster football history.”

Coach Marsh attributes this season’s turnaround to the work the players put in outside of the regular season.

“They devoted themselves to getting stronger in the off season,” Coach Marsh said.

The player’s devotion led them to work even harder towards their goal of Sectional title holders.

“We’re working hard,” Pierie said.

“We’re working as hard as we ever have the entire year.”

The team works hard to achieve the level of focus they aim for, and if the team can manage to maintain that level of focus, they can go far, according to Pierie.

“We have the opportunity to do great things this year,” Pierie said. “I’m just going to take it one game at a time.”

The players goes into their final sectional game today with a positive attitude.

“This has been one of the best seasons I’ve ever participated in,” Kimbrough said.

“We’ve worked harder than I think we’ve ever worked before.”

Sectional showdown

As Varsity Football competes in sectional championship, review past Sectional, Regional wins

Sectionals

Regionals

Varsity Football won Sectionals a total of five times, in 1985, ‘86, ‘87, ‘93, and ‘96 against Highland, Bishop Noll and Morton

Varsity Football won Regionals only one time in 1986 against Hobart

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source: past Criers

2

NEWS

A STEADY MARCH

Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

Quick Notes

For the second year in a row Marching Band places 8th at their State Competition

Student Government

Student Government hosts annual food drive for good cause

Victoria Avina Associate Editor

Student Government extended their annual food drive, which started on Monday.

Students may donate canned, nonperishable food items to their first hour class.

Student Government will collect the assembled goods every Friday this month.

“It helps those in need in the area that are not as privileged as others,” Ms. Angela Wayne, Student Government sponsor, said.

The first hour classes that collect the most canned goods will receive a prize of Munster Donut donuts or Panera Bagels, according Ms. Wayne.

All donations will go to the Greater Northwest Indiana Food Bank. Donating gives students a chance to do something for the community this holiday season, according to Ms. Wayne.

“It allows students to give back to the community and do something for the greater good for the holidays,” Ms. Wayne

Common Application

Deadlines on Common Application moved to today

Due to complications in the Common Application process, universities extended their Early Decision and Early Action deadline.

Early Action for The University of Chicago and Tufts University ends today. Early Decision also ends today for Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke and Barnard College.

Columbia extends both their Early Decision and Early Action deadline to today and Boston University extends their Early Decision deadline to Nov. 15.

Universities have also switched to the Universal College application which include Princeton Trinity College, Tufts University and Hampshire College.

Problems in the Common Application include the writing section not having paragraph breaks, some students unable to click the “Continue” button, answer fields deleted when applicants try to reorder activities in the “Activity” section and payments not processed.

Corrections

In the last issue, Brian Banach, Brittany Barajas, and Mr. Dusan Vidovic’s names were misspelled. The Crier regrets the errors.

photo by Alex Baker

FINAL COUNTDOWN Practicing his trombone, Erick Alanis, senior, rehearses with the Marching Band at the football field for State, where they had come in 8th place. “It was sad, but we did the best we could and started to enjoy ourselves in the end,” Erick said.

With many rehearsals of “The Girl in the Red Dress” under her belt, Maria Karamichos, senior, walked on to Lucas Oil stadium Saturday with confidence that they could place high.

“I was so excited. I was ready to kick some butt. I wasn’t nervous at all,” Maria said. “It’s really cool because it’s been televised in the past and there’s thousands of people watching you because they came to watch you perform.”

Marching Band and Color Guard hoped to place in the top five, but ended up placing in eighth place, according to Maria.

“Seriously?” Maria said. “How was that run through eighth place worthy. It was definitely top five. Parents from Munster and other bands knew that there was something wrong that we definitely should have got higher than eighth place.”

Six judges critiqued the performance. The scores evened out giving them eight place.

“I’m personally okay with it,” Maria said. “I know that it was my best run through and that it was a lot of people’s best run through. I’m okay with eight place. We did the best we can and that’s all that matters.”

Michael Szewka, sophomore, felt confident going into State due to placing high at Semi-state. Although they did not place to their expectations at State, he feels they did better this year because of the members working harder.

“I feel this season we got more stuff done over all because it seems as though the band was overall membered by people who cared about Marching Band,” Michael said.

George Asya-Broughton, senior, also believes that the band did better this season. He enjoyed practicing the show more this year because of the theme. Unlike other years, they never played a show with a storyline.

“I like how this year’s show actually had a story to it because previously we had different themes for a show, but they weren’t as interesting as this year,” George said.

“There’s more that you are trying to portray to the audience. I feel that having a story gets the audience more involved.”

Switching her moods constantly served as one of the hardest challenges for Emily Whitaker, junior, but, she still enjoyed playing the part of the girl in the red dress.

“It’s difficult to portray the twistedness,” Emily said, “because the minute she’s upset she killed the guy, but the next minute she’s completely fine with it.”

Although they did not receive the score they hoped, Michael believes that the feeling of accomplishment still remains within the band and will no matter what show they play.

“It’s a different show but the feeling remains the same in a sense that you still feel really good from the people applauding to you,” Michael said.

Michael feels that the whole experience of playing in front of an audience serves as rewarding.

“The performance is special” Michael said. “It feels rewarding to hear all those people applauding for you and what you’re doing.”

Filtering out unknown, uncategorized URLs

Due to new filtering system, school computers are blocking many URLs; Tech team gives explanation on how to unblock sites

Max Baker News Editor Students flock to the Media Center, begging for help with their laptops, whether it for help to retrieve a lost document, blank screen, or more recently, a blocked website.

“More and more websites appear to be getting blocked,” Ms. Twila Marsh, Media Specialist, said. “Our technology team is working with the students to remedy the problem as soon as possible.”

According to Mr. Robert Bradford, Head of Technology Department, the new filtering system causes some of the student’s distress. The filtering system place websites into categories such

as Entertainment, Hacking, and Education and makes a best effort to categorize all websites into a one specific category.

“While this is not a foolproof process, many sites can be unintentionally blocked, also known as false positives.

Along with the automatic categorization provided by our filter provider, we as a district can manually override category assignments to either block or allow websites,”Mr. Bradford said.

The Technology Department has changed filters from the previous year to a newer filtering system called Netsweeper according to Mr. Bradford.

“The last filtering system was replaced due to major flaws in the program, but we are constantly review-

ing our software products to ensure quest since it says ‘New URL’.” that we are using the As a default categocorrect product to meet Working together ry, websites not visitthe needs of the student Unblocking sites made easy ed before are placed body,” Mr. Bradford into “New URL” by 1 Click on the Service Desk said. the filtering system.

Technical support Icon Many students, like “It is supposed to 2 Click on Submit a Request Andrew Phifer, junior, be a temporary catefind the schools poli- 3 Select a priority level gory placement while cy on website blocking 4 Type a subject matter they attempt to detera nuisance and very anmine appropriate catnoying in the long run. 5 Write a description of the egory for the page.” issue “I feel like the webMr. Bradford said. sites should be blocked 6 Wait to receive an email with “We have seen some an answer from the Tech Staff because of content and incidents where a catSource: Ms. Twila Marsh, Media Specialist not because of where it’s egory is never deterat.” Andrew said. “It’s mined for a site and annoying to need to write a paper or remains a ‘New URL’ so we must mando research, but have to put in a re- ually unblock the page.”

speakout Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

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BEARD BEAUTY

Raising awareness for prostate cancer, students, teachers do not shave for Nov.; guess who’s who A. Demetri Georgalas, senior B. Tanner Seput, senior C. Brian King, senior D. Mr. Kevin Clyne, English teacher E. Luis Dominguez, senior F. Yiorgo Karnezis, sophomore

1. editorial

BLOCKED OPPORTUNITIES

words that may prove important, do more harm to students than they do good.

When attempting to conduct research, either for an assignment or a paper, a student remains constricted. This poses as a disadvantage to students, especially in the cases when they write research papers of which the subject matter differs from the norm.

Students also struggle with the blocks on important key words. If a student searched “Munster Girls’ Cross Country record,” it shows an error message. Searching the word “girl” does not necessarily show malicious intentions.

The school should lift the ban on “New URLs” and evaluate the current key words blocked; most do not prove particularly vulgar or harmful to the student body.

The school needs to remove the roadblocks it placed in front of many necessary websites in order to provide students with the opportunity to enter websites that prove helpful.

In light of recent tragedies, many people can recall what they did or where they were when the news broke.

Maybe one first heard of the shooting in his second hour, not knowing its severity. Or maybe he did not find out until seeing all of the tweets on Twitter.

However, not many can remember when they heard about the Nevada shooting. They cannot remember the countless shootings occurring in Chicago on a daily basis.

Shootings and homicide of various degrees occur almost on a daily basis,. As of last Friday, Chicago has had 1,883 shooting victims in 2013, accord-

ing to the Chicago Tribune.

The frequency of violence, particularly gun violence, continues to rise, and the increased occurrences strengthen society’s indifference towards them. Unless one holds personal ties to the victim or the violent act involves a lot of victims, people do not pay any attention to it.

Shootings stand less and less recognized by society because society has grown used to them. Studies conducted by the Pew Research Center show that shootings do not possess a large effect on the opinions on gun control in the communities the shootings took place in. Often times, those who supported gun control before shootings still supported gun control after, and

Crier Crier, Munster High School’s official student newspaper, may be reached at 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321, phone 219-836-3200, Ext. 3443; Fax: 219-836-3202. Published by the Honors Newspaper Advanced Writing and Editing classes, and extra-curricular involvement.

•The newspaper serves as a public forum and two-way communication for the school and community.•Crier is a source of information, entertainment, advertising and opinion for the student body, faculty, administration and community •Published material will stress objective reporting except on the editorial page where opinion writing will be featured. All published material will stress accuracy, truthfulness, integrity, honesty, responsibility, objectivity, fairness and independence.

vice versa.

America proves an unusually violent country, statistically, America has almost double the assault rate per 100,000 people than other countries in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the Washington Post.

However, the question still exists: Why does it take a death toll of 27 to make society care? Why can society not take interest in the shootings with death tolls of only one or two? Do individual lives not matter?

Just because only one person died does not make it okay. Many innocent lives are taken day in and day out, therefore society should show sympathy and support for those affected.

Opinions expressed in the newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the School Town of Munster, faculty or administration.

Letters to the Editor are welcomed, but should be limited to 250 words. All letters must be signed and should be given directly to any staff member or delivered to the Pub, N155, one week prior to publication. Letters must not contain personal attacks against an individual. Editors reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and grammatical errors. Crier will accept letters from anyone, provided that the content pertains to school or school issues.

Subscriptions cost $4 per semester or $6.50 per school year. Mailed subscriptions cost $18 per year. Ad rates and policies are available to anyone upon request. Crier is published 13 times a school year.

The Staff Editor-in-Chief Cassie Eberle Managing Editor Jordan Cockrum

3.

4.

5.

Recognizing gun violence victims Jordan Cockrum Managing Editor

2.

6.

For the after photos of No Shave November, check back on Nov. 22 Answers: 1. F. 2. C. 3. D. 4. E. 5. B. 6. A.

Driving along a country road, a girl finds herself closer and closer to her destination.

When she finally advances towards the final destination, she finds a roadblock between it and herself. As much as she tried to bypass the roadblock, it continued to obstruct her path.

Like the roadblock obstructs the girl’s path, some of the restrictions the school places on acOUR TAKE cessible websites obstruct a student’s path in their studThe new filtering ies. The school needs to loossystem blocks too many necessary en its grip on the websites acwebsites that cessible from the laptops. students use Blocking popular social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook prove necessary. Without the block, students would end up distracted and it would deviate from the school’s mission.

However, the “New URL” block, which prohibits access to any website or web page that has not been accessed and blocks on some key

Associate Editor Victoria Avina Lifestyles Editor Meena Kandallu Sports Editor William Hatczel News Editors Vrusha Patel, Max Baker Infocus Editor Nikki Mammano Social Media Director Lauren Rouse Head Photographer Gabrielle Dore Photographers Christopher Anguiano, Alex Baker, Ali Bauer, Natalia Bilek, Cesar Camacho, Chelsea Eickleberry, Casey Gouwens, Gage Knor, Lauren Koultourides, Pam Muangmingsuk, Alisa Muñoz Cartoonist Ryan Myers Adviser Sarah-Anne Lanman

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NEWS Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

DECA hosts Informal Dance

Informal dance hopes to reignite school spirit while supporting Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Greater Illinois Nikki Mammano Infocus Editor

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or the first time in five years, Munster will hold an informal dance sponsored by DECA Nov. 15. Tickets will go on sale Nov. 11-15 for $5 by the cafeteria.

“The stress of a formal dance sometimes makes it less enjoyable by the end,” DECA Vice President Emily Bochnowski, senior, said. “The casualness will be a stress-reliever right before break.”

Due to the possibility the field house already oc- and a DJ appeared, only about 30 students came, accupied on the day of the dance, it will take place in cording to Ms. Twila Marsh, Media Specialist.

“My best guess is students prefer formal dances the commons.

“It’s a very unique place and looks cool,” Emily over casual ones because it seems a little more spesaid. “We wanted to do something completely differ- cial,” Ms. Marsh said. “They seem to enjoy all the excitement that goes on in preparation of actually ent and it seems like it sets a different mood.” going to the dance.”

Although they cannot have a stuJust recently Crown Point changed dent DJ, the officers still plan to make What not to wear their Homecoming to informal; howthe dance as appealing as possible to List of clothing, which ever, low support from the students the students with a black light theme. caused cancellation.

“Since the costs are low and it is a should not be worn to In order to try and obtain a lot of suplaid-back casual night, it will appeal an informal dances port, the club prepares in the most effito a lot of different students that nor Dark colored shirts cient way, according to Emily. mally don’t want to go to the formal Ties “The biggest thing to prepare now is dances,” Emily said.

Formal Dresses to get the word out and post in a lot of As for the policy of the dance, Tuxedo social media,” Emily said. the same rules still apply as formal Ripped Jeans Since DECA has always done a funddances. However, outsiders are not Mini Skirts raising event, usually for Muscular Dysallowed, according to Principal Mr. Source: Emily Bochnowski, Mike Wells.

Vice President of DECA, senior trophy, they have decided to host this informal dance in order to fundraise for “These dances have been approved Cystic Fibrosis. in the past,” Mr. Wells said. “I think if Students who donate $10 or more to the fundraisthey are successful, sponsors may reconsider having more of them, but history has not proven this to be er, will receive a shirt.

“We wanted to do something that would involve so.”

Five years ago after a basketball game, Student the whole school and that is still for a good cause,” Government hosted an informal dance, free of charge Emily said. “It’s great to see the people who weren’t as affected by Cystic Fibrosis to still want to raise to students who went to the basketball game.

Although a good crowd showed up for the game money and be involved.”

CROSS examination Debate travels to Chesterton for tournament which prepares them for future tournaments; team reveals competitive side of debate while enjoying the feeling of fulfilment in the competitions

Debate travels to Chesterton to compete against their debate team. Many tournaments like this put continuous pressures on all its members, according to Charlie Connell, senior.

“This tournament has an elimination round which really clears out the men from the boys,” Charlie said. “It clears out all the mediocre debaters who don’t try and leave the hardcore debaters who want to be there.”

Underneath the calm exterior of debate, there lies a side not seen by the student population, according to Charlie “On the surface we are very polite and organized,” Charlie said. “But underneath that, it’s a bloodsport.”

Debate tournaments are a psychological game that the members participate in according to Charlie.

“You’re not debating for your team or your school, but rather for yourself. It’s you up on that scaffold to be judged by your peers,” Charlie said. “That can take a pretty brutal toll on people, but it’s totally worth it. You become a part of something bigger than yourself.”

The debate team prepares for this by extensively going over all of their pieces and previous feedback, according to Charlie.

“Every debate tournament is unpredictable,” Charlie said. “We have to be prepared for every scenario and predict our opponents move.”

Many tournaments plague, but reward debate members with experience and feedback to help them prepare them for future tournaments, according to Maddie Sharmat, senior.

“They’re really nerve wrecking,” Maddie said.

“But they’re also so much fun and I learn so much about the world and my topic while I’m at a tournament. It doesn’t matter if I win or lose, as long as I

DEBATE IT Undefeated novice Timothy DeRolf, freshman, elaborates on his Lincoln Douglas debate before a tournament.

“Being in debate is really fun,” Timothy said. “It’s when you really

get into the round that competitive feel overcomes you. It can be fun, but when you walk into that room the competitive mode is turned on. We’re there to win.”

Max Baker News Editor

photo by Natalia Bilek

learned something to make me a better speaker than I’m happy I was there” Charlie feels that the losses at debate meets helps more than a winning does.

“Losing makes us feel alive,” Charlie said. “It just proves we’re human and it’s okay to make mistakes.”

Coach Robert Carroll, hopes that the feedback received from past experiences and previous tournaments will help the students improve their future debating careers.

“It gives the students feedback on what they need to change,” Coach Carroll said. “They also give me feedback on which students work the hardest.”

Debate increases public speaking skills, ability to write and present essays and enhance general knowledge of the world according to Vice President Elena Piech, junior.

“Debate has helped me a lot in both my school work and in DECA,” Elena said.

Debate can help students in both their school careers and their future careers no matter what field the student chooses to go into according to Charlie.

“Debate helps students with critical thinking, speaking skills, and the ability to write coherently on a certain topic and have it make sense, ” Charlie said.

“It helps me think a head and solve problems before they come up while thinking of solutions a head of time.”

Charlie believes that participating gives her a sense of elitism, not felt by other clubs in the school.

“Debate has such a legacy of success,” Charlie said. “Presidents, kings and movie stars have all been a part of debate. I feel like everyone wants to be a part of that.”

Debaters go in depth on many important newsworthy topics like nuclear weapons, product testing on animals, national security problems and diplomatic affairs.

“Debate makes me aware of all the problems in the world,” Charlie said. “But it also showed me solutions and teaches me what it really takes to be valuable in this world.”

Educating the students and helping them develop debating skills continues brings a smile to Coach Carroll’s face.

“It’s our goal to show that for every argument, there is a corresponding opposite opinion,” Coach Carroll said. “We want to teach young people how to have a discussion on difficult, but important topics in a civilized manner.”

INFOCUS

WITHOUT

Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

A TRACE

Victoria Avina Associate Editor

His pants hung from one of the pipes in the ceiling, his shirt in another locker and his pens from his backpack went completely missing.

Alex Yao, freshman, became another victim of theft.

“I usually put my backpack in the locker room,” Alex said. “When I came to get my backpack, I noticed a pocket was open, but I didn’t realize that all my pens were gone.”

Although Alex found his clothes, he

5

With recent outbreaks of theft occurring on school grounds, administrators, police department take action by investigating; students voice their opinions on theft

still considers it theft.

“If your going into someone’s else property and taking their stuff that is consider stealing, “Alex Yao said.

Alex does not serve as the only victim of theft. School Resource Officer Joseph Pacheco received five other reports regarding cell phones getting stolen during gym and Weight Training classes and after school during sport practices the past few weeks.

“It’s a shame that people are having their items stolen,” Officer Pacheco said. “If they have any leads on it, let me or one of the administration know about it.”

Due to the recent thefts, Officer Pacheco and the administration instruct that gym teachers lock the door to the locker rooms and keep track of who walks in and out of them. Teachers

also now require students to lock up personal items like phones and laptops in their gym locker.

“I think the biggest thing students can do is secure their items,” Officer Pacheco said. “Every report I have taken, none of the items were secured in a locker.”

Several students had their clothes hidden in another locker, according to Danny Zuccarelli, freshman.

“If there’s lockers with no locks on them and there’s clothes in them,” Danny said, “they go into that locker and take the clothes and hide them.”

Danny also did not secure his possessions in a locker, leading his iPhone to get stolen.

“I was a little mad at the person whole stole my phone,” Danny said.

“I was thinking ‘why are they that desperate to steal a phone?’”

Alex believes that the school needs to do more to prevent thefts.

“It ruins the school reputation,” Alex said. “I do not think the school is handling the stealing well because they

haven’t found who’s doing it.”

However, Danny thinks that the school is handling the investigation to the best of their ability because they started investigating his case when he went to student services.

“When I went to go fill out the report at student services, they asked me of the kids who lockers are around me and they talked to those kids,” Danny said.

He adds that the administration also contacted the police department as a way of handling the situation.

“The police department called my mom,” Danny said. “Her heart sank because she didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.”

Alex hopes the administration will catch the students involved in the thefts and knows that at least one of them resides in his class.

“I think it’s someone that goes to gym first period,” Alex said. “It could be other people too because I know other people got their stuff stolen and they were in different periods.”

photo illustration by Alisa Muñoz

Mustang mischief

28%

28%

17%

8%

4%

Other: 15%

Crier survey show students’ opinion on the possessions most stolen during school hours

source: Crier survey of 731 students, conducted Nov. 1- 5

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INFOCUS

INFOCUS

Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

photo by Gabrielle Dore

photo by Natalia Bilek

NEVER FORGOTTEN After tying bows to her desk, students in English teacher Mr. Kevin Clyne’s third period class chose to leave Colleen’s seat vacant in remembrance of her. “We will keep the desk open as long as we need to,” Mr. Clyne said. “We keep it open in her memory.” Once decorated, the desk remained untouched by all his other classes as a sign of respect of the healing of the affected students.

ALWAYS REMEMBERED Colleen’s classmates decorate her desk in remembrance of her. Sierra Falcon, junior, along with others, tied purple ribbons to Colleen’s desk to memorialize her.

M

photo by Natalia Bilek

HEALING WITH TIME Over fall break, after the death of Colleen, community members tied purple ribbons on trees around town. Meredith Simmons, junior, and her fellow students and alumni memorialized Colleen by writing her name on the sidewalk outside the main doors of the school.

ourning glory

Cassie Eberle Editor-in-chief

A

lthough two weeks have passed since the untimely death of Colleen Lusk, junior, the school and community continue to show support for Colleen, her family and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Greater Illinois.

“I think it is remarkable that she was one single person and she brought together not only the school, but this whole community. She showed them to really just embrace each other and learn to accept one another for the hardships that everyone has to face,” Kathleen Gonzales, junior, said. “I think that she really brought to light the challenges that other people have to overcome. It just really got everyone’s attention about how we should respect what everyone has to go through.”

Colleen was one of 30,000 Americans affected by

this disease. Cystic Fibrosis, commonly referred to as CF, attacks the lungs and digestive system of the patient. A defective gene causes the lungs to produce mucus that clogs the lungs, resulting in life-threatening lung infections, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Colleen, who was diagnosed at birth, belonged to the 70 percent of patients diagnosed by the age of two. Although 45 percent of the CF community is over the age of 18, Colleen lost her battle Oct. 24 at the age of 16.

Colleen participated in many extracurricular activities including the Munster Theatre Company and Speech and Debate. In addition, Colleen was a member of the French Club and Best Buddies.

“When you get a positive, influential person, you see a great output of support,” Mrs. Tammy Daugherty, English teacher, said. “Munster has lost one of their daughters. She was really known amongst the community and school.”

Prior to the death of Colleen, students united to show their support by posting paper hearts on the wall with encouraging messages for her and her family. In addition, on Oct. 22, students across the area wore purple in support of Colleen.

“Not only did Munster High School ignore their differences and come together to honor their great loss,” Katie Gajewski, ‘13, said. “but alumni from years past wore purple too. Whether or not we, meaning the college kids from Munster, all knew Colleen, we realized what an impact she had on our peers and friends, and represented her anyway.”

Following her passing, students, teachers and members of the community gathered Oct. 24 in front of St. Thomas More for a vigil in honor of Colleen.

“It honestly just made everyone feel better to just be with people and to just cry on each other’s shoulders,” Kathleen said. “Because we knew that even though she wasn’t with us, we still had each other and we all had her in our hearts and I think that was

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photo by Gabrielle Dore

SIDE BY SIDE The community gathered at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 at St. Thomas More for a vigil held in Colleen Lusk’s Honor. Carly Peilet, sophomore, and Juniors Priscilla Rivera and Mary Bridget Baeza, in addition to other students, faculty and friends, wrote messages on balloons and released them into the night sky.

After the untimely passing of Colleen Lusk, junior, Oct. 24, students, alumni, faculty, community join together to support the Cystic Fibrosis cause just beautiful.”

To help her students heal, Mrs. Daugherty gave her them the opportunity to write down a memory on purple lined paper for Colleen’s parents. In addition, Mrs. Daugherty also offered a second opportunity to her students. She started a collection for a memorial contribution to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Greater Illinois.

“I didn’t have her as a student,” Mrs. Daugherty said. “But I knew a lot of my students were close to her. I couldn’t help Colleen, but I could help her friends. I wanted to give them outlets to help memorialize their friend.”

Multiple other school organizations will contribute to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Greater Illinois, including DECA, who plan to donate the proceeds from the informal dance Nov. 15.

“Colleen had such a huge impact on the school and community that her memory deserved to be honored

and this seemed like a great way to do so,” Vice President Emily Bochnowski, senior, said.

However, the support for Colleen and Cystic Fibrosis does not stop at the edge of town. Alumni students away at college continue to show their support through their efforts to form a team for the Cystic Fibrosis Great Stride walk May 18 in Chicago.

“I haven’t actually gotten to do the walk in years,” Katie said. “I want to make it a priority this summer because she (Colleen) was such a great human being and this walk meant so much to her. I think that MHS students and alumni could band together in support of Colleen and raise awareness for Cystic Fibrosis while raising a lot of money for the cause to help kids that are in Colleen’s situation.”

Mrs. Suzanne Lusk, Colleen’s mother, recognizes the abundance of support for her daughter.

“We were extremely overwhelmed by the entire student body and community,” Mrs. Lusk said. “The outpouring and love for Colleen is just tremendously beautiful.”

photo by Ali Bauer

SHARING THE LOVE Oct. 16 -18, students joined together, creating “hearts for Colleen.” Maureen Doherty, junior, shows her support by adding her heart to the wall of hearts outside of the Guidance Office. In addition, students participated in “Purple for Colleen” Oct. 22, where they dressed in the Cystic Fibrosis color to show their support.

Giving back

In addition to school activities, there are many other options to help Cystic Fibrosis cause Mrs. Lusk would like Colleen to be remembered as a “sweet, outgoing and loving girl, who would do Supporters can make a monetary donation anything for anybody.” online at www.cff.org Although she is no longer here, Kathleen will always remember Colleen.

“I don’t think I am ever really going to get over her death because I know that she is always going to be a very, very special part of my heart that is gone now,” Kathleen said. “Honestly, the best way to move on is to just get back into the rhythm of things and just always keep her in your heart. Embrace life every single day the way she always did and just always keep her memory alive. She wouldn’t want us to stop what we were doing and grieve for the rest of our lives. She wants us out there and she wants us living. She wants us to embrace each day as a new one.

I think the best way to move on is to just honor that, embrace each day as a new one and live the way that she did.”

Students can participate in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Climb this Sunday. Participants will climb 58 floors in Chicago in honor of those with the disease Take part in the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides walk in Chicago on May 18 at 9:30 a.m. To register online, visit www.fightcf.cff.org. One can register as a team or an individual For additional information and opportunities to show support, visit www. cff.org

Thank you for supporting

Crier

8

LIFESTYLES Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

Students offer services as senior picture photographers in hopes of saving money for college, improving portfolios, while pursuing interest in photography Meena Kandallu Lifestyles Editor A soft “click” resonates through the trees at Heritage Park. This “click” followed by hundreds more, represents a moment in time captured by senior Hannah Fischer’s camera as she takes a classmate’s senior pictures.

“I’ve always been interested in photography,” Hannah said. “But I really got serious about it when I got my professional camera last year.”

Hannah takes senior pictures because of the money she can earn while pursuing her interest in photography.

“The camera was a huge investment,” Hannah said. “I had to find a way to pay it off.”

Hannah plans on saving up the money she earns and using it to pay for her college education.

“College is really expensive and I’m paying for it myself,” Hannah said. “I need to save up a lot of money, but this is a start.”

CAPTURING

MEMORIES

Kevin Yurasovich senior, also offers his services as a senior picture photographer. Unlike Hannah, however, Kevin’s main interest does not lie in saving money for college.

“Of course the money is also helpful,” Kevin said, “But I mainly want to add to my portfolio.”

A strong portfolio will help him gain admission to highly selective colleges with strong photography programs and allow him to further his plan of becoming a professional photographer, according to Kevin.

“I’ve been interested in photography for the past five years,” Kevin said, “but about three years ago is when I knew I wanted to make a living out of it.”

When Kevin takes photos, he looks forward most to the variety of subjects and artistic angles.

“I like getting out in the world and using different people and different models for my photos,” Kevin said.

Although Kevin has not yet taken

any senior pictures, he believes that he has taken many other photos which prove very similar in terms of staging and shooting.

“I haven’t been approached for senior pictures,” Kevin said, “But I would definitely do it if people began seeking me out.”

With an appointment for a photo shoot almost every weekend, Hannah, on the other hand, has already done many senior picture shoots this year.

“The hardest part is deciding the location,” Hannah said. “It’s about finding the right place.”

Beckey Seligman, senior, who chose to have her photos taken by Hannah at Carmelite Shrine, Centennial Park and Heritage Park, agrees that location proved as one of the most important parts of her senior picture experience.

“Senior pictures always seem like such a pivotal part of senior year,” Beckey said. “I wanted my pictures to be around Munster because I grew up here and I had spent a lot of time in these places.”

Beckey elected to have her picture taken by a classmate instead of using a professional photography service after seeing the results of others’ photos but also because of the cost.

“I really liked some of my friends’ pictures that Hannah had done and she was offering a reasonable price,” Beckey said.

Another reason for choosing a student photographer instead of a professional may lie in the level of comfort, according to Kevin.

“Students know us, so they feel more comfortable posing and better pictures result,” Kevin said.

Despite her hours of experience with shooting senior pictures, one aspect of senior pictures which Hannah feels completely clueless about remains.

“I honestly have no clue what I’m going to do for my senior pictures,” Hannah said. “I have been way too busy to even consider my own.”

photos by Gabrielle Dore

Premium packages

Student photographers, professionals compete by offering different services Student Photographers Professionals Cost: Ranges from $55 to $60 Cost: Ranges from $300 to $1,000 Packages: Offer limited package choices

Packages: Many photography businesses primarily offer digital packages while some offer traditional print packages with printed photos

Locations: Photographer and student work together to choose location

Locations: Photographers provide input on location, but decision is ultimately based on student preference

Appointments: Students can schedule appointments at any time based on availability of photographer

Appointments: Students typically schedule appointments before or near the beginning of their senior year

Wait Time: Photographers return photos to students within one week of shoot

Wait Time: Professional photographers usually return edited photos within two to three weeks of shoot sources: Hannah Fischer, senior and Mrs. Rebecca Hoyle, owner of Hoyle Photography

FOCUSING Looking for the perfect angle, Hannah Fischer, senior, takes senior Brenda Flores’s senior pictures at Heritage Park. “My favorite part of taking senior pictures is when I get a really good picture and I get to show the person,” Hannah said. “I love being able to see them get excited about it.”

LIFESTYLES Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

Momentous milestones War games have progressed in type and quality over the years 1962

9

1993

Steven Russell created “Spacewar!” as the first computer video game

“Doom” was one of the earliest first-person shooter games

“Grand Theft Auto 3” becomes known for its lawlessness 2006

2001

With its modern graphics and extreme violence, “Gears of War” is often called one of the best shooter games

2011

REVIEW

GAME OF SKILL players now do not have to do much work to receive squad points and it seems like the points will come in at a continuous amount.

Sitting in a forest, two brothers listen to In order to unlock new guns, their father tell them a story about a group perks, attachments and other of warriors. When they start to head home, pieces of equipment, players they feel tremors in the ground, believed to must gain squad points. Players can be earthquakes. gain squad points after playing sucOnce they reach the top of the hill, they cessfully in online matches. see missiles and explosions all around Squad point can be used to purchase them. This scene portrays just one of many anything as long as players have enough in-game cinematic scenes players will en- points to cover the cost. Squad point recounter in the recentquirements vary ly released “Call of Sizeable statistics depending on Duty: Ghosts”. the category of The video game Call of Duty games attract large amount the loadouts company, Infinity of players, provide hours of entertainment which players Ward created a new are looking to storyline for the 10th buy from. million years installment of the seJust when The total amount of time users have ries. “Call of Duty” players think spent playing Call of Duty games campaign fans will “Ghosts” has Longer than humans have existed enjoy a storyline that reached its full consists of new charpotential, they acters and setting. added one million people The first mission more game type, The number of total Call of Duty players of the game seems to Extinction. Infinity Larger than the populations of be a hint at the word Ward added their Germany, France and Italy “Ghosts,” who are own survival type apparently elite wargame mode. Players riors. The intense, cinematic scenes in the can play solo or cooperatively with others first mission will lure campaign lovers to while they fight off aliens instead of zomwant more after completing it. bies.

When players want to take a break from The objective of this game type is for the campaign, they can go online. The players to plant and defend a drill that will game offers a wide variety of game modes destroy a type of alien plants which has to play so the players can participate in the embedded itself in the ground and ranonline experience. “Ghosts” took out game dom points in the map. Once the drill has modes like Demolition and Search and de- destroyed the plant, players must carry stroy. They also added a few new modes the drill to another area on the map. While like Cranked and Search and Rescue. roaming around, players will find guns lyIn Cranked, players have 30 seconds to ing around that they can purchase. They kill an enemy before they explode. This can also find boxes and containers they can game type proves to be probably the most search for more goodies. intense with 12 different players running After all of the wondering and doubts and scrambling around the map trying to fans had after Infinity Ward announced get a kill before time runs out. that the company went in another direc“Ghosts” also enhanced the “Call of tion leaving the Modern Warfare season Duty” multi-player experience by creating behind, they were able to show if they game types where players can play with could survive without it. The company their squad members as their teammates gave fans of the series a reason to rejoice against another person and their squad. with plenty of game types and mode that There are a few game modes where will keep players busy hours upon hours. players pit their squads against each other.

It is hard to believe that a “Call of Duty“ Squads can also be randomly generated to game would be packed with so much conplay against someone else even if one isn’t tent. Infinity Ward has proven that they there playing with them. can survive without the “Modern Warfare” Squad members will gain squad points series by giving players all of the content that players can use to further customize and enjoyment they will experience for the loadouts. This is a nice feature because next year.

William Hatczel Sports Editor

Players praise “Battlefield 3” for its graphics and multi-player mode sources: commonsensemedia.org, metacritic.com and pbs.org

With the Nov. 5 release of action video game, “Call of Duty: Ghosts,” Crier staff member analyzes storyline, new features, player interaction to determine strengths, weaknesses

2.85

100

photo credited to Activision Publicity CUSTOM CREATIONS Players can customize their soldiers in every aspect. Customizing ranges from guns, perks and soldier appearance. Players choose from a wide variety of attachments to add to their guns. To unlock these features, players must earn squad points by playing in online matches.

10 MORE THAN WATER GIRLS SPORTS

Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

Athletic trainers help the football team by gathering their supplies along with giving them refreshments; tending to their injuries Cathy Lebryk, senior Max Baker News Editor

Cathy Lebryk works with some of the school’s finest athletic teams as an athletic trainer for three years and loving every minute of it.

“It gets very busy, but it’s also very rewarding,” Lebryk said. “You get so close to the trainers and some of the players, we’re like one big happy family.”

Lebryk feels that her drive and ambition towards the best athletic trainer stems from her desire to go into it professionally and her overall love of sports.

“I gain so much knowledge for the career in the future,” Lebryk said. “It’s a lot of hands-on action and you learn so much about taking care of injuries and doing this keeps me closer to sports, even if I’m not playing” Lebryk claims that she has always wanted to go into athletic training and physical therapy.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I was in fifth grade,” Lebryk said.

“I finally got an opportunity to do it sophomore and I just fell in love with it.”

Tori Foster, junior, recalls how carefully Cathy takes care of inphoto by Gabrielle Dore jured volleyball players both on and off the field.

TENDING TO Wrapping up Andrew “She’s always ready to help Jumonville’s broken wrist, Cathy Lebryk, senior, anyone who gets injured,” Fosputs an ACE wrap around his wrist. “It is ter said.

“I always see her wrapimportant to tape the wrist correctly because it ping someone’s knee or making helps stabilize and support it,” Lebryk said. sure they’re hydrated.”

Lebryk feels deeply satisfied when seeing injured players, recover and return to the playing field.

“It’s nice seeing the players back out on the field doing their best thanks to us.” Lebryk said. “It’s so satisfying to know that the players are back on the field thanks to us.”

Foster holds Cathy in the highest regards and has the utmost respect for her, despite the face the pair never have actually spoken to one other.

“You can definitely tell that she has a passion for what she does,” Tori says. “She’s always willing to help every member of the team with their injuries or needs.”

Lebryk works for many of the fall and winter sports including football, wrestling, boys and girls basketball, soccer and occasionally swimming.

“Each sport has their different injuries,” Lebryk said. “You have to know a lot about medicine and how to take care of an injury, even if your still learning about it.”

photo by Alisa Muñoz

COMMUNICATING Talking to Nick Ingolia, senior, Casey Gouwens, senior, adjusts his towel. “We are

Casey Gouwens, senior William Hatczel Sports Editor One day in gym class during her Freshman year, Casey Gouwens, senior, listened to Mr. John Doherty, talk to her class about the possibility of joining the Athletic trainer staff.

Gouwens decided to join because of her passion for football along with wanting to help out.

“I really love football and the guys are great,” Gouwens said. “I wanted to be involved in something that helps people out and helps the school and the team.”

Although the trainers mostly work with just the football team, they have a long list of tasks to work on each week, according to Gouwens.

“The jobs range from addressing a cut up to taping someone’s ankle,” Gouwens said. “We know how to take someone’s helmet or pads off. We also know how to tell if someone has a head injury.”

Friday night stands out as the busiest time for the trainers due to the amount of work they have to do both before and after the game, according to Gouwens.

“We have to go prep about one to two

constantly talking back and forth,” Gouwens said. “If we don’t talk then we can tell by their expressions.”

hours before the game,” Gouwens said.

“We have to make ice bags and make four gallons of Gatorade and Water. We also need to get other supplies like crutches, cleat cleaners, and spare footballs.”

Gouwens also plans to work as a Mat mate during wrestling season where she will have two jobs.

“I am the one stands by the mat and keeps score,” Gouwens said. “I also help if someone gets hurt so that is how I still act as an athletic trainer.”

Many people watching from the stands might not realize the value of the trainers, but Gouwens stresses their importance to the team.

“We do a lot of stuff for them. If Doc did everything by himself , then kids wouldn’t get rehabilitated,” Gouwens said. “Without us a lot of people would be hurt and out for a long time. There would also be more serious injuries.”

While getting ready to graduate at the end of the school year, Gouwens considers making this a career for herself.

“I would like to go to college for it,” Gouwens said. “ It is a lot of school and time, but it is a lot of fun and doesn’t feel like work.”

Brenda Yepez, junior Lauren Rouse Social Media Director Standing on the sidelines at a football game, Brenda Yepez, junior, intently watches the game to see if any players need the assistance of an athletic trainer.

“I joined the Athletic trainers during my freshman year,” Brenda said. “One of my friends decided that it was a good idea and we joined. She quit a couple weeks into it and I continued with it because I enjoyed helping people with their injuries.”

This currently acts as Brenda’s third year as an athletic trainer, and she does not foresee herself quitting by the end of this year.

“I love helping people,” Brenda said. “I want to pursue it as a job choice. My brother is studying athletic training in college and I want to follow in his footsteps because I admire him and the field.”

Athletic trainers’ duties include taping injuries, helping athletes ice sore muscles and wrapping sprains and other injuries with ace bandages, according to Brenda. Dr. John Doherty teaches the athletic trainers how to complete this task “You see a lot of thumb problems with volleyball play-

ers and knee problems with basketball players,” Brenda said. “For football, you get sprained ankles and knee problems, which means you’re really involved. I like training for football the best because you’re more involved and you get to travel with the team.”

Travelling with the team remains beneficial for not only the trainers, but the athletes also. At the beginning of the year in one of his games, John Hulsey, junior suffered a torn meniscus. Brenda helped him ice the injury at the game and in the weeks leading up to his surgery, asked him how it felt and helped him with his crutches and wheelchair.

“She was there to help me when I needed it,” John said.

“Athletic trainers always do the best they can and are always there when you are hurt.”

However, helping athletes does not remain the only plus to athletic training, according to Brenda. She believes that the friendships she has made throughout the years will last her through high school and college.

“You make a ton of memories,” Brenda said. “You make friendships with the athletes and other athletic trainers.

And you get to work with Dr. Doherty, who not only teaches you about medical stuff but also about life. He’s got some wise words.”

photo by Alisa Muñoz

FILLING UP On the sidelines , Brenda Yepez, junior, makes drinks for the players. “We have to make sure it is made with the correct amount of electrolytes so they don’t cramp up,” Yepez said.

SPORTS

Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

MISSING THE FINAL SERVE

Beginner’s end

Players from different sports reflect on their triumphs; defeats this season

Boys’ Cross Country Boys’ Varsity Cross Country ended their season undefeated in Conference meets and placed 13th at State last weekend.

Making it to State this year served as the team’s main goal after failing to qualify last year by one point, according to Brian Banach, junior.

“One of the high points of the season would most definitely be qualifying for State,” Banach said, “It made all the practicing worth it.”

Brian believes that the team had a strong season overall and looks forward to next year.

Girls’ Varsity Volleyball fell in Semi-state after successful run in post-season Victoria Avina Associate Editor Girls’ Varsity Volleyball walked into Semi-state knowing that Elkhart Central’s outside hitter Azariah Stahl, senior, served as their biggest challenge.

“Elkhart Central has a really good outside hitter who’s going to (play for) Purdue,” Setter Morgan Switalla,senior, said. “So, the plan was to shut her down.”

However, the game did not go as planned and Stahl, 6’0”, dominated the court, leading the girls to lose the first game 27-25 and then the second 25-17 Saturday.

“I think during the first game we were all nervous and then the second game we came out and played more like a team,” Switalla said.

After the second game, the girls conversed with each other, telling each other that they were playing for Colleen and like the back of their shirts, fearless.

“It reminded us to be fearless like the back of our t-shirts say,” Switalla said, “and to go out there and leave everything on the court because we had nothing to lose.”

Shannon Farrell, senior, started the third game serving 11 straight kills in a row.

“We started off with a 11-0 lead which helped our momentum and allowed us to stay in system and put the ball away,” Switalla said.

They won the third game 26-24. Switalla believes that the preparation they spent before competing at Semi-State also contributed to their success.

“I thought that compared to sophomore year, we went to Semi-State this year more prepared,” Switalla said. “We had film and scouting reports on the other team and we also had experience because three of the seniors competed in Semi-state sophomore year.”

Watching films of Elkhart Central playing helped the team know where the players left spots on the court open.

The films also gave hitters an advantage by showing them how Elkhart’s defense played during games.

“In the video, I saw that Azariah would hit to the line a lot,” Caldwell said. “I knew I should be there.”Amber Caldwell, senior said.

Caldwell thought that their 26-24 win would put them back on track to victory, but Stahl kept getting kills, strikes to the floor, making it hard for them to respond back. The team ended up losing the fourth game 25-23.

Girls’ Cross Country

photo by Alisa Muñoz

CELEBRATING Smiling after scoring a point, Shannon Farrel, senior, praises Amber Caldwell, senior. “We always try and keep one another up especially since we are really good friends,” Farrell said. “Our team chemistry was really good this year.”

“I feel like Elkhart was mad that we won the third game, so they came back in the fourth game even stronger,” Caldwell said. “I was getting frustrated because everything we tried to change up didn’t work.”

Toni DalleCarbonare, junior, believes the fourth game felt more intense than the other three games because they won the previous one and wanted to make it to five games.

“It was kind of a heart breaker,” DalleCarbonare said. “I felt proud of my team because we fought until the end.”

They tied for seventh place in Semi-State. The experience led her to have more confidence in her ability and changed the players’ view of the volleyball team.

“It was a new experience going to Semi-state,” DalleCarbonare said. “It taught me how much I can do for the team and how to improve my skills in volleyball.”

This season showed DalleCarbonare that the girls can go further than they thought if they put their minds to it. Switalla also thinks the team had a great season with a record of 34 and 4.

“This year was probably my favorite season,” Switalla said, “because we got along together well on the court and when we played our game, we were unstoppable.”

Knocking down strikes; adversity

Students come together to form their own bowling team while trying to achieve goals, receive more recognition Meena Kandallu Lifestyles Editor Tyler Hansen, senior, values bowling more than just a hobby or casual pastime. Bowling serves as a highly competitive sport.

“I started bowling when I was about three years old. Even though I could not put my fingers in the ball, I still rolled it down the lane,” Hansen said.

Hansen believes that while bowling can prove very rewarding, doing poorly can cause huge disappointment.

“My favorite part about bowling is just the thrill because I enjoy it so much,” Hansen said, “But I hate it at the same time because if I don’t bowl well, I have to put more effort into it to be the best I can be.”

Teammate Mike Velesovsky, junior, began bowling at the age of 8.

“My favorite part of bowling is how no matter what your relationship with

11

another person is, even if you hate them, it will bring you closer and it is just a blast no matter what,” Velesovsky said.

Hansen and Velesovsky play for a five-member team which consists entirely of Munster students. They practice on Tuesday and Wednesday at Stardust III in Dyer and have matches on a regular basis.

The team only has five members, the minimum number of required members to form a team, according to Velesovsky.

“Currently, we only have five players on the team,” Velesovsky said.

“They (other teams) can switch out any team member that is not doing the best when we are stuck with what we have.”

Having a team of only five players also poses a different problem for the team, according to Velesovsky.

“My high school bowling is done after this season,” Velesovsky said. “We

will more than likely not be a team anymore next year due to kids graduating.”

Velesovsky considers that this problem could be resolved if the school recognizes bowling as a club or sport.

“Bowling should be a club also to have more kids like me that enjoy the sport or even just think it’s fun to get together,” Velesovsky said.

Velesovsky believes that the team has done very well in the past and will remain strong competition.

“Only having five players on the team shows how much better we are than other schools because we are exceeding the other schools that have 30 kids on a team compared to our five,” Velesovsky said.

State serves as the team’s goal this year, according to Hansen.

“Our bowling team is really strong this year,” Hansen said. “I have a feeling we can get a State title.”

After getting 14th place at Semistate on Saturday, October 26, the Varsity Girls’ Cross Country team’s season came to a close.

“I was really impressed with all the team members’ performances because everyone worked really hard this year,” Brittany Barajas, junior, said. “It was obvious when they received personal records, and even if they didn’t receive a personal record, they still raced really well.”

Boys’ Varsity Soccer The Boys’ Varsity Soccer team finished the season with an overall record of 10-8-1 and setting a record for winning their Sectional game for the 12th time in a row “The team performed well.” Jack Arnold, senior, said. “People looked down and underestimated us during sectionals, but we showed them that they were wrong.”

Girls’ Varsity Soccer The Girls’ Varsity soccer season ended after a loss to Lake Central in the Sectional Championship with a record of 13-3-3.

“Despite losing in the Sectional Championship, I think we had a very good record and season,” Alyssa Wojcik, senior, said. “We were undefeated at home and we tied the number two team in the state during our first game.”

The team beat Crown Point, which Wojcik believes acted as one of the best parts of the season.

Boys’ Tennis

The Boys’ Tennis team achieved many goals while continuing on their traditions.

The team did accomplish some of their major goals during the regular season, according to Coach Steve Lopez, history teacher.

“We maintained our title of The Pride of Region Tennis. We also continued our state Sectional streak and won conference again,” Mr. Lopez said.

Girls’ Golf Girls’ golf season ended with six wins and zero losses at Conference, according to Ishani Sharma, senior.

“One of the biggest accomplishments of the season was we were 10-3 throughout the season and that not only did we have fun while playing, we also bonded as a team,” Sharma said.

12

SPORTS Crier / Nov. 8, 2013

BATTLE FOR THE

MIDWEST

Boys’ Hockey team prepares to play three games this weekend, including rival Lake Central, after winning two of three games last weekend William Hatczel Sports Editor photo by Casey Gouwens

After starting the season off 6-4, the Hockey team looks to play three more games this weekend.

So far, the team’s play does not come close to Coach Rick Rubino’s standards.

“It is not up to my expectations yet,” Coach Rubino said. “It is early in the season though. We have a few seniors, but we have a lot of new guys getting used to the varsity level.”

The team’s defense stands out as one of the main areas where the team needs to improve in, according to Coach Rubino.

“Unfortunately, defense is one of our weaker points,” Coach Rubino said. “They still need to learn because they are young guys.”

Defenseman Matt Ryan, junior, believes the team can play well against Lake central, but needs to slow them down.

“They are a fast team,” Ryan said. “Their ability to control the puck and pass it around makes them a pretty good team.”

Pressuring their opponents along with checking,or hitting them serves as one strategy can use while trying to slow down lake Central’s fast skaters, according to Ryan.

“We want to pressure them on the forecheck,” Ryan said. “When they bring the puck into our zone, we want to check them. We want to make people know that if they get a shot off they will get punished for it.”

Although the team must slow down Lake central, they also need to simplify their own game.

“We have to keep the game simple while playing fast,” Ryan said. “We need to keep the momentum up on our side.”

On the offensive side, Eamon Riley, senior, states

SHOWDOWN Battling for the puck, Eamon Riley, senior, tries to pull the puck away from his opponent.” I try to lift up the other

player’s stick and get the puck on my stick and pass it back to my teammate,” Riley said.

that the team needs hold onto the puck when nearing the opposing team’s goal.

“When we get the puck into the opposing team’s zone, we want to keep good possession of the puck,” Riley said. “When they have the puck we need to pressure them on the fore check.”

Coach Rubino also wants the team to improve their discipline during games due to the fact that they commit too many penalties.

“So far we have been penalty prone,” Coach Rubino said. “We can’t take bad penalties, especially two in a row, which will put us in a five on three situation.”

Coach Rubino feels that when his team has a man advantage on a powerplay, they need to take advantage of it.

“Powerplays are great opportunities to try and capitalize on,” Coach Rubino said. “We really try to score goals during this time.”

When it comes to powerplays, the team uses a special strategy that can help them score a goal when they have an advantage, according to Goalie Nick Kotz, junior.

“We focus on screening the Goalie to try and get many chances,” Kotz said. “We tire the other team out by passing the puck around for 20 seconds and then we do a full attack. We crash the net and shoot like crazy.”

The team’s strategy differs even when both sides have the same amount of players on the ice, according to team captain Tyler Mehay, senior.

“It depends on the situation,” Mehay said. “Usu-

ally we have two guys on the strong side and we hit (pass to) the weak guy on the far side for an easy break away.”

The team also likes to take risks when they have to kill off a penalty. Coach Rubino likes to switch up his lines to surprise the other team.

“I will use a whole line with only one defender out there on penalty kills,” Coach Rubino said. “We try to take opportunities when we can get them. We look to kill off penalties, but if we get an opportunity we will try to capitalize on it.”

Despite all the weaknesses the team has had early on, the work ethic the team puts in on and off the ice has paid off with their play late in games. Nearing the end of the game, the team continues to play hard and does not have any trouble with feeling fatigued, according to Kotz.

“Coach plays each line fairly,” Kotz said. “Everyone is not as tired at the end of the game because we are conditioned. Everyone has been working out on their own which has been a big help.”

Momentum stands out as one of the major keys to success in Hockey and the team that has the most momentum holds a better chance at scoring and winning, according to Coach Rubino.

“A lot of Hockey is building momentum,” Coach Rubino said. “ If you have it, you wanna keep it. It is the key to high school hockey.”

Coach Rubino continues to use risky play and momentum to win games.

“We play aggressive to win games,”Coach Rubino said. “That is what varsity hockey is all about.”

Formation on ice

Hockey players start the game at different spots, but the coach may switch player’s positions throughout the entire game

Left

Depth Chart

Right

nn

s s

s ll Right

w

w

s

Offense

Defense

ll

l Wingers

s Defensemen

Left

Left

Nick Bledsoe Brodie Claesgens Kyle Holdcraft

Dylan Trybula

Reid Miller

Right

Right

Spencer Boerman Eric Kalis

Tyler Mehay Mike Tobin

w Goalie

Left

Nick Kotz Josh Orosz

Blake Gardiner Josh Maliza

Matt Ryan Pat Haugh

n Centers Cayden Colyer Mike Cuvala Nick Gauthier Eamon Riley

Sources: Matt Ryan, junior and Eamon Riley, senior