Boys’ and Girls’ Track & Field First Home Match of the Season
Taking off, Broden Green (10) keeps his place in the lead.
Tip-Off to the Season
With teeming bleachers and a roaring crowd, the full gym on a Friday night was anything but quiet. On Dec. 7, the Chambersburg Area Senior High School hosted the annual Tip-Off Tournament for James Buchanan, Greencastle-Antrim, and Waynesboro High School basketball teams for both the boys’ and girls’ to kick off the season. The games began Friday night and continued into Saturday night.
This is a way to kick off the season and helps the teams out in the long run.
“It gives us a good look at the teams we will be facing this season,” says McKayla Heinbaugh (9).
The tournament started with the Waynesboro and Greencastle girls playing, which then lead to the Lady Rockets facing the Lady Trojans. With everyone sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the buzzer to go off, the Lady Rockets put up a fight, but the game resulted in a victory for Chambersburg. The students that came cheered them on the entire way. The final score was 59-55.
The tensions then rose when it was time for the Trojan boys to face the Rockets. With a feuding crowd and lots of energy, people waited to see the outcome of this game.
“We put a lot of effort as a team out there on the court,” says Colton Hartman (10).
The students had high energy supporting their team. The boys stayed strong and kept their heads high, but Chambersburg got the victory with a final score was 61-16.
“The environment was really good and working together as a team was good too,” said Rylan Good (10).
The tournament then continued into Saturday with the Lady Rockets facing off against the Waynesboro Indians. The girls were high in energy, ending up defeating the Indians with a score of 40-26. The Tournament concluded for the girls’ after the Lady Trojans faced the Lady Indians, which resulted in a win for the Indians.
After the girls’ games were finished, the Rockets took the court to battle rival Greencastle. With a very tight and close game, Greencastle got the win with the final score of 37-34.
The tournament concluded with Chambersburg and Waynesboro boys’ played for the championship which resulted in the Waynesboro Indians winning for the boys. Chambersburg and Greencastle faced off for the ladies and Greencastle came out victorious.
“My favorite part about Tip-Off was being with my team, seeing the crowd, and how much the fans get into the game,” said Colton Hartman (10).
With the first game of the season done and over with, the Rocket Basketball team will continue to work towards bettering their team as a whole, as well as their score.
A Day in the Life of Mr. Strawoet
One thing that is really important within the athletic department is the scheduling of the games. Mr. Larry Strawoet (Faculty) deals with the “behind the scenes” of the sports played at James Buchanan High School.
6:30 a.m – 7:00 a.m. – Strawoet arrives at the office between 6:30 and 7:00. Before Strawoet starts his day, he looks at the schedule to see which sports have games and where. If there are away games for that day, he takes care of the transportation for those teams. Afterwards, he gets the early dismissals ready so that they can be announced in the morning for those specific athletes. He tries to make sure that all of the fields are ready and touches base with the maintenance staff that the fields are getting aligned.
7:30 a.m – 11:30 a.m – During this time, the director’s office is normally empty. Mr. Strawoet is rarely at his desk because he is always on the move, always prioritizing with making sure that everything is moving smoothly.
11:35 a.m – 12:15 p.m. – During this time, Strawoet gets his lunch break when he is scheduled to do lunch duty during period 4/5. Sometimes, he does not have time to get lunch because he is doing something else, which can be rescheduling games or any number of responsibilities.
Strawoet deals with the cancellations of the different sports games. He has four different weather maps on his phone. If there is inclement weather happening at the locations of the games, there will be a discussion with the other school and coaches. If the games are home, then he will have to consult with maintenance.
“It is very hard to judge whether or not to cancel games due to weather,” Strawoet said. “But in the end, it is all about the health and safety of the kids. We want our athletes to be healthy and injury-free and if that means we have to cancel a game, then that is what we will do.”
12:20 a.m – 3:15 p.m – After lunch, he may go back to his office to take care of a couple of things before he leaves his office once again. Sometimes, he will check with the coaches to make sure of the game times so that they both are on the same page. Strawoet has to make sure that there are officials for the events and makes sure that he has paychecks for them.
After school until 8:00 p.m. – Strawoet prepares the menu for the concession stands for the home games. This means the beverages and the snacks in the stands are all prepared. Then he moves on to get the press box ready. He has to make sure that there is help at the home games to take tickets.
8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. – At this time, Strawoet makes sure that the next day’s games are all organized. Then he goes to the fields and makes sure they are all cleaned up and ready to go for the next day before he leaves to go home.
9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. – Finally after sporting events held at the high school are over, Strawoet gets in his car to go home to his family. He gets as much sleep as possible in order to be ready for the next day.
“My day seems pretty hectic at times, but the nice part about my day is that every day is different,” Strawoet said.
Strawoet is the first one to arrive at the fields and the last to leave. His days can be somewhat chaotic when there are quite a number of tasks on his plate, but he likes what he does and he wishes to continue as long as he can. He cherishes his job and everyone he connects with.
I get to deal with exceptional young athletes and I get to have relationships with teachers, administrators, staff, opponents, teams, and many others and that’s the joy of this job. The relationships that I have had over the years I value the most.” — Mr. Strawoet
Sprinting Into Spring
As warm weather approaches and the sun begins to shine, spring sports make their debut for the 2017-2018 school year. Track & Field has just kicked off their season by beginning their routine of after-school practices and workouts.
This years’ Track & Field team is led by Coach Jason Cotton, with help from assistant coaches, Mrs. Breanna Grove (Faculty), Mr. Kyle Grove, Mr. Jerome Staniszewski, and Mrs. Kelly Shindle.
Last year the Boys’ Track team was undefeated and named the Mid Penn Colonial Division champions. Working together both the boys’ and girls’ teams went 6-6 and scored over 8,000 points. However, this is a new year and as the season kicks off, and so does the hard work.
“I feel confident and excited for this season,” said Marlee Barry (11). “Even though we have a smaller amount of people.”
Each individual person on the team is responsible for earning points to win the meet. However, working as a team, no matter how small, is still important to be successful in this sport.
“Team bonding is very important,” said Barry. “When you have a good bond with your team, you know that they will always be there to help you out.”
To prepare for meets, students go down to Rocket Stadium to the track every day to work with coaches and other teammates in order to get ready for the events they participate in during meets. During practice, they do stretches, a warm-up run, and then break up into groups to work on their event.
With the workouts, the team members physically prepare their bodies to get back in shape for the season. They spend time doing vigorous ab and leg workouts to strengthen their bodies, along with spending time in the weight room to build more muscle. They also learn correct techniques to be successful in their event.
“They teach us how to run so that we increase our speed to run faster and start off really fast,” said Alyssa Young (9).
For some, track season is continuous. Many students work during the offseason to stay physically prepared and keep their endurance up.
“It’s really important to stay active,” said Barry “If you continue to work, you can only get better.”
Students do not only want to earn points for their team at meets, they also are trying to improve themselves and their times to carry on their shoulders throughout each season.
“I really want to improve my running times and break my personal records,” said Young.
The track team has their first scrimmage tonight, Monday, March 19 at Rocket Stadium directly after school.
Although it’s just the beginning of the season, preparations and practices have begun for the James Buchanan Track & Field team. Sooner than later, beautiful days will be spent sprinting, jumping, and shot putting all the way to victory.
SEM Keeps the Ball Rolling
Every exciting game and intense match. Every great play, shot, or run. Every impressive student athlete. All of these are important to the supporters of our school’s sports in the local community.
Sport and Entertainment Marketing is advised by Mr. Kevin Gustafson (Faculty). The creation of this class stemmed from Gustafson’s passion for sports, along with his experience of coaching for 27 years. He wants his students to learn how to promote sports, and how to promote entertainment activities.
“I thought that there would be a big interest in the sports side of it, and entertainment as well,” said Gustafson.
There was a pretty good turnout for the class, according to Gustafson, which is why the Sports and Entertainment Marketing class is split into three classes. There are two Sports and Entertainment Marketing 1 classes, and one class of Sports and Entertainment 2.
“My junior year I did recordings for games and wrote articles,” said Clay Sanders (12) but this year I am doing a show with Carlos Rauch.”
Sanders and Rauch are the anchors for Sports and Entertainment Marketing. Other students in the same class help with the show that SEM posts on their Youtube channel. This class is also in charge of all forms of social media.
“We’re more of a whole team, ” says Gustafson. “Clay and Carlos are the anchors, but we all pitch in for the rest.”
The class’ Twitter, @jbhs_sports, frequently Tweets scores, congratulations to individual players, and about plays via live Tweets and after the games. They even tweet before the games, wishing teams the best of luck, and try to get people to attend the games to cheer them on.
The first year class focuses on writing articles in The Mercersburg Journal and they recently started covering home games. Also, the class uses a program that simulates sports marketing in the real world. In the simulation, students do things like get sponsorships, set ticket prices for games, and even hire employees for your imaginary stadium.
“My favorite part about this class is always being involved in sports,” Sanders said. “I’m always learning new stuff.”
SEM is working on getting better equipment and more broadcasts in order to make what they do eye-catching to their audience and draw in more viewers. The class of Sports & Entertainment Marketing has bigger plans and improvements in its near future.
Sanders said, “We’re getting new stuff that way we are kind of taken more serious”.
Last year the students presented to the administration in order to get new equipment. New TV’s, a boom microphone, four cameras, a new projector, and two new desktop computers were all a successful outcome of the students’ presentation.
Gustafson plans to bring back broadcasts that students did last year which include play-by-play of games. These broadcasts are posted on the class’ Youtube channel.
Sanders and Gustafson both agreed that the class is a great preparation for a career for professional sports announcers, reporters, or anything sports-related.
SEM isn’t just about sports. It’s about the group of students that work together to make sure that the community comes together and is involved as much as possible when it comes to all things sports related.
Rockets Block Out for Pink-Out against Big Spring
On Thursday, October 12, the Lady Rocket Volleyball team supported Breast Cancer Awareness through their Pink-Out game against the Big Spring Bulldogs. The whole gym was decorated in pink, and even the team wore new Pink-out uniforms to help support the cause.
“It was much appreciated that everyone came out and supported us,” Senior Mackenzie Runk said. “ we raised a lot of money for a good cause and we all had a really good time,”
Not only did the proceeds to view the game go to raise awareness for breast cancer, the team also sponsored a bake sale for spectators in the lobby.They also included a fun half-time pizza box game for spectators. They could pay a dollar for a chance to try and serve a ball into a pizza box to receive the prize of a free pizza from Mamma’s. All profits made from the game went to cancer research, and the bake sale raised funds for the team.
“ We raised close to 300 dollars from the pizza fundraiser and the bake sale,” Runk said. Other than supporting breast cancer awareness, the team also spent the whole game supporting each other on the court during a close game.
For their second matchup against Big Spring, the Lady Rocket Volleyball team pulled out a close win, taking five sets to win 3-2 over the Bulldogs.
“We started out really strong and I was hoping we could pull a win out in three sets,” Runk said. “We ended up going to five, so it made it a lot more nerve-racking to finish and win, and we were all a lot more passionate about the game,”
The Rockets won their first and fourth set against the Bulldogs and took the tie-breaking fifth set 17-15.
“Yesterday we played our hearts out,” said Runk. “We haven’t had a game like that in a while so it was really uplifting,”” — Mackenzie Runk
So far the Volleyball squad’s current record is 9-7 and they don’t plan on slowing down for the remainder of the season.
“I’m hoping that with such a great win that we had yesterday that we take that win and carry it through the rest of the season to play our hardest, even if we lose,” Runk said.
The Rockets have had a “season full of ups and downs, and have had to work to get where they are now”, said Kirstyn Black (12).
“We had a really good start to the season, then it got kind of rocky the first week or two, but we were able to pull it together and we’ve been doing really good lately,” she explained.
The Volleyball season is coming to a close with the team’s final event, Tuff Puff Volleyball on November 11. Student teams pay to play each other in a volleyball tournament as a fun ending to the season.
