Track team hosts Jaguar Invitational

The Jaguar Invitational track meet was held at Mill Valley High School on Friday, April 5. The boys team placed third overall with 108 team points, and the girls team placed first overall with 155 team points. Individual results can be found below. Head coach Chris Dunback feels that the meet was important in that it highlighted what areas and events the team still needs to work on.

“BLAH DEE BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH,” Dunback said. “BLAH DEE BLAH BLAH DEE DEE BLAH.”

Using the results from the meet, Dunback says that he will do something or other.

INSERT ANOTHER QUOTE FROM COACH DUNBACK HERE OKAY OKAY I’M DONE GOODBYE.

Sophomore hurdler Cody Deas said something else about the meet.

INSERT QUOTE HERE, Ford said. INSERT QUOTE HERE.

PUT IN ANOTHER LEAD OF SOME SORT FROM senior pole vaulter Emily Brigham.

AND THEN ANOTHER QUOTE. JUST FOR SHITS AND GIGGLES.

The varsity track team will compete at the Ottawa Invitational, which will be held at Ottawa High School on Monday, April 8. The events will begin at 3:30 p.m.

The team and individual results of the meet are as follows:

Boys – Team Standings:

De Soto High School – first place – 122 points

Ottawa High School – second place – 113 points

Mill Valley High School – third place – 108 points

Girls – Team Standings:

Mill Valley High School – first place – 155 points

Winnetonka High School – second place – 123 points

Lansing High School – third place – 97 points

Boys 100 Meter Dash:

Senior Kendall Short – fourth place

Senior Staton Rebeck – seventh place

Senior Logan Zavodny - eighth place

Boys 200 Meter Dash:

Senior Keenan Ford – seventh place

Boys 400 Meter Dash:

Ford – fifth place

Senior John Poorman – seventh place

Boys 800 Meter Run:

Sophomore Drew Nelson – second place

Boys 1600 Meter Run:

Junior CJ Meeks – third place

Freshman Derek Meeks – fourth place

Sophomore Kurt Loevenstein – fifth place

Junior Graham Wilson – sixth place

Boys 3200 Meter Run:

Senior Stephen McEnery – sixth place

Freshman Hunter Brown – eighth place

Boys 110 Meter Hurdles:

Sophomore Cody Deas – first place

Junior Tyler Hinnen – sixth place

Boys 300 Meter Hurdles:

Deas – second place

Freshman Christian Jegen – third place

Boys 4×100 Meter Relay:

Mill Valley – Zavodny, Short, sophomore Kyal Long and Rebeck – third place

Boys 4×400 Meter Relay:

Mill Valley – CJ, sophomore Teddy Gillespie, Loevenstein and Ford – third place

Boys 4×800 Meter Relay:

Mill Valley – Gillespie, Nelson, freshman Zac Korris and Brown – second place

Boys High Jump:

Poorman – eighth place

Boys Pole Vault:

Sophomore Colton Bray – third place

Senior Connor Hays – fourth place

Freshman Cooper Hutteger – eighth place

Boys Long Jump:

Hays – fifth place

Boys Triple Jump:

Junior JC Miller - seventh place

Freshman Michael Estell – eighth place

Boys Shot Put:

Senior Coleman McCann – fifth place

Boys Discus Throw:

McCann – fourth place

Boys Javelin Throw:

Junior Ben Carroll – second place

Junior Grant Reiner – third place

Junior Adam Willoughby – fifth place

Junior Jason Gramke – sixth place

Girls 100 Meter Dash:

Sophomore Dominique Hernandez – fifth place

Girls 200 Meter Dash:

Hernandez – sixth place

Senior McKenzie Schmitt – seventh place

Girls 400 Meter Dash:

Freshman Ellie Wilson – third place

Schmitt – fourth place

Senior Bailey Dollard – sixth place

Girls 800 Meter Run:

Freshman Ally Henderson – seventh place

Girls 1600 Meter Run:

Junior Maria Kalma – sixth place

Girls 3200 Meter Run:

Kalma – sixth place

Girls 100 Meter Hurdles:

Junior Mary Altman – first place

Senior Kathy Nguyen – third place

Sophomore Holly Webb - fourth place

Girls 300 Meter Hurdles:

Nguyen – second place

Sophomore Lauren Mansfield – fifth place

Webb – sixth place

Girls 4×100 Meter Relay:

Mill Valley - sophomore Whitney Hazlett, Webb, Altman and Schmitt – fourth place

Girls 4×400 Meter Relay:

Mill Valley – sophomore Emma Hansen, Schmitt, Dollard and Wilson – third place

Girls 4×800 Meter Relay:

Mill Valley – sophomore Devin Ristau, junior Holly Peterman, senior Josie Hanson and Wilson – first place

Girls High Jump:

Sophomore Ally Shawger – first place

Freshman Katie Burke – sixth place

Girls Pole Vault:

Senior Emily Brigham – first place

Altman – second place

Freshman Taylor Corbitt – fifth place

Mansfield - seventh place

Girls Long Jump:

Brigham – first place

Altman – fourth place

Junior Jordan Townsend – eighth place

Girls Triple Jump:

Estell – first place

Nguyen – third place

Webb – fifth place

Hazlett – seventh place

Girls Shot Put:

Senior Joylyn Kennedy – sixth place

Girls Discus Throw:

Junior Hannah Krull – fourth place

Sophomore Madison Holland – fifth place

Junior Kellyne Weathers - sixth place

Girls Javelin Throw:

Junior Emily Rice – second place

Kennedy – third place

Senior Mallory Baska – fourth place

Junior Mary McDaneld – eighth place

Military family deals with distance

Many teenagers will go through a phase of wanting to spend as much time away from their family as possible. Juniors Jack and Jordan Townsend, however, know not to take time with their family for granted.

John Townsend, Jack and Jordan’s father, retired from 25 years of active military duty five years ago. He now works for the Combined Joint Task Force, a counter-intelligence program in Bagram, Afghanistan. John’s father was in the military as well, but when John decided to volunteer for the Army, eventually becoming a member of the Army Special Operations Forces, he didn’t expect to make it his career.

“At the time I joined the Army, I planned to do three years and then go back to college,” John said. “I just wanted to try something different and see the world. My parents were totally surprised.”

Because his father has served two-year deployments for 25 years, Jack has first-hand experience with many of the difficulties that come with being a part of a military family. Despite this, Jack is intent on following in his father’s footsteps and joining the military, but he wants to wait until after he graduates college.

“I’m getting my pilot’s license and I want to fly helicopters in the Army,” Jack said. “I plan on going to college and getting a bachelor’s degree and then going into [the Army] as an officer. I wanted to do what [my father] did in Special Forces but he gave me the idea of aviation because he has a few friends that fly helicopters who got me interested.”

When Jack first told his father he wanted to become a pilot in the Army, John was not expecting it.

“Jack has been ruminating about the military for years,” John said. “[But] up until the last year I have never considered it a possibility for him. I would hope that he takes his recent desire to fly with him, completes college and enters the military as an Aviation Officer. Regardless, I will support him and be very proud of him.”

Part of the reason Jack wants to join the military is because he is proud of his father’s important role in the Army and thinks that it largely defines the person his father has become.

“I don’t know what my dad would be without it,” Jack said. “He’s so good at the things he does and the counter-intelligence stuff because he thinks ahead. He uses statistics and facts and figures to find out where the Taliban may strike next. He’s stopped many things from happening.”

The opportunities the military affords and the lives John feels he has impacted are what make being a part of the Army worthwhile for John.

“[The Army] was the best decision for me as I love to travel, love adventure, love meeting different people and experiencing other cultures,” John said. “I think I made a positive change for many people on most of my deployments.

I am very proud of my family’s support while being great Americans themselves.”

Because it has been a constant throughout his entire life, Jack has gotten used to missing his father each time he leaves for a new deployment.

“I don’t show that I miss him as much as [my sisters] do,” Jack said. “They make it seem like he’s never coming back. That’s not true; he’s good at what he does. And it’s not like it used to be where we’d have to wait a couple weeks for a phone call and get to talk to him for a few minutes. Now I get to talk to him every day.”

None of the Townsends think that John’s deployments are easy. But after going through so many goodbyes, John has learned how to deal with it.

“Once I was married and had kids, the traveling and deployments became very difficult,” John said. “But then again, [my family] makes coming home that much better. Serving in the military is like being with a family … another family.

Everyone depends on each other just like a biological family. So [leaving is] hard … but then [in some ways it’s not].”
In the future, John hopes to be able to see his family travel to the Middle East, the place he has spent the majority of his last 12 years.

“I would love to see the Middle East be a place where I can travel safely with my family some day and show them the wonders of this part of the world,” John said. “Both Iraq and Afghanistan have so much to offer the world if they can conquer their current … unrest.”

When looking back, Jack sees how his father’s career has impacted the lives of each person in his family.

“Now I’ve kind of been the man of the house, so I’m expected to do more,” Jack said. “But it definitely made us stronger, more independent and more responsible. If I think about it, [Jordan and I] kind of raised each other.”

Although Jordan has had to experience how hard it is to live without her father for years at a time, she knows how important the Army is to her family and wouldn’t change her father’s profession if she could.

“When he comes back I always bawl my eyes out because I’m so happy,” Jordan said. “When he leaves I cry too. But then I realize that I’ll be fine. It’s never easy, honestly, but we don’t really know any different.”

Surprisingly, Jordan realizes that even though she misses her father when he is gone, she would be OK with her future husband also being in the military.

“I’ve always thought my ideal guy would be in the military,” Jordan said. “I think it’s just because I’m used to it. If anything, I’d want my husband to be in the military. That way, my dad and I could both relate to him.”

While Jordan agrees that she and Jack became much stronger because their father was gone so often, she is still emotional about the time they spend apart.

“There were moments … that I wished he was here because [sometimes] we were just on our own,” Jordan said. “We probably miss him now more than ever because we are more mature and aware of [his absence]. I’ve always missed him though. But our lives would be so different if he wasn’t in the military. We’d be different people. And despite him being gone for a lot of our lives, he’s our closest family member. We adore him.”

JV track season comes to end

After the Perry Freshmen-Sophomore meet and the Shawnee Mission North Non-Qualifiers both on Monday, April 30, the junior varsity track season came to an end.

Freshman Caleb Latas said that the conclusion of the season left him with mixed emotions.

“I’m sad that I’m now finished running,” Latas said. “But at the same time, I’m glad that I can go home and just work on homework after school.”

Sophomore Jordan Townsend viewed the track season as stressful.

“It was really difficult to manage the late track meets,” Townsend said. “Doing homework and being sore just don’t mix.”

Seven questions with sophomore Jordan Townsend

Who is your favorite singer?

Carrie Underwood

 How would you describe your style of singing?

Country and Jazzy

 Who do you think has been the most supportive of your singing in your family?

My dad and my mom—my stepmom that is.

 What are some big opportunities that you have had involving singing?

Oh, it probably a tie between “XFactor,” and singing the National Anthem at Kemper Arena. That’s pretty big.

 What is your favorite song to sing?

Probably “Stay,” “ Yeah,” or “Temporary Home.”

 What was the scariest moment for you on stage?

Probably at this rock camp concert, it was important to move and interact with the audience and that was little uncomfortable for me.

 What is your ultimate dream (regarding singing)?

To be as famous as Carrie Underwood and to have her as my mentor.

Choir members head to state

Choir members performed at the state solo/small ensemble festival at Emporia high school on Saturday, April 28. Overall, six singers plus the mixed ensemble got a division one rating, four got a division two rating, and one singer got a division three rating. The singers are as listed:

I rating:

Sophomore Anna Frontaura

Senior Brendan Kendall

Sophomore Olivia Phillips

Senior Malayia Reece

Junior Chloe Stewart

Senior Brayton Young

Mixed Ensemble:

Seniors Alyssa Young, Jake Waters, Jason Tharp, Paige Hillebert, Young, Reece, Kendall and juniors Alec Santaularia, Keenan Ford, Stewart and sophomores Jordan Townsend, Clare Young, Jacob Tharp, and Phillips.

II rating:

Freshman Caitlin Alley

Hillebert

Freshman Allison Eigsti

Freshman Eli Stewart

III rating:

Junior Alex Maupin

Choir Director Sheree Stoppel says that state gives students more of a satisfaction.

“Solo and small ensemble state is the most gratifying due to the fact that there’s a lot of pressure on the student performers,” Stoppel said. “We did very well.”

Kendall thinks that the mixed ensemble did well.

“I felt that the mixed ensemble was extremely prepared, focused and determined to give their best,” Kendall said. “It was truly one of our best performances.”

Choir’s next concert, which is themed That 70’s Thing, is Friday, May 11 in the auxiliary gym from 6-9 p.m.

Sophomore tennis player finds enjoyment in playing tennis

Following in his father’s footsteps, who played tennis in high school, sophomore varsity tennis player Jack Townsend has found enjoyment playing tennis for the school.

“Tennis is always fun to play,” Townsend said. “When playing, you’re always doing something, you can never get bored.”

On the team, Townsend said he has a leadership role and plays his hardest in both practices and games. He sets a good role, playing to his full potential.

“I make sure that I am going 100 percent,” Townsend said. “I try my best and make sure my teammates are not slacking off.”

Out of the season, Townsend has improved his tennis abilities and made new friends.

“When it comes to my teammates and I, we are all friends,” Townsend said. “We are really, really close to one another.”