7March 2018Sports/Activities

Final glimpse of the 2018 basketball season

Abbie Zoucha/Yearbook StaffSenior guard Colson Kosch looks to pass the ball through Aquinas’ defense. The boys finished their season with a 8-15 record after their loss in their sub district game on February 21.

Allison Starzic/Media StaffSenior Kendra Wiese holds onto the ball as a Lincoln Christian player attempts to strip it from her. The Shamrocks were able to beat the Crusaders in the dis-trict final game, sending them to the state tournament.

Cheerleaders overcome unexpected changesBy Alaina Wallick

Staff Reporter

Hard work is something that is required no matter what activity one takes part in at Scotus. However, unlike basketball, football, or vol-leyball, the Scotus cheerlead-ers have one day to showcase all the hard work and practice they have put in throughout the year.

The Nebraska State Cheer and Dance Champion-ships took place on February 16 and 17 at the Heartland Events Center in Grand Island. On February 16, the Scotus cheerleaders per-formed their Game Day and Sideline routines.

“Performing is my favor-ite part [about State Cheer] because you finally get to perform the routine you’ve worked so hard on for so long,” sophomore Kate Smith said. “Everyone’s eyes only on you is an insane rush.”

The cheerleaders began working on their routines in January and would have practices before school in the cafeteria and old gym as well as on the weekends.

“We had morning

practices almost every day for about 4-5 weeks. We also sometimes practiced on the weekends and some late nights after all sporting events were finished,” senior Grace Wickham stated.

Some cheerleaders also worked individually in areas in which they needed to improve.

“I practiced the rou-tine on my own time and stretched to maintain my flexibility,” sophomore Brea Lassek said.

The day of State Cheer,

the cheerleaders met at Scotus to get ready and run through their routines. It was not until they arrived at the Heartland Events Center that they realized there was a new rule change that affected the Game Day portion of their performance.

“We had to add a short dance to our Game Day routine an hour before we performed, which was a little stressful,” sophomore Haylee Cielocha admitted, “but it actually ended up looking really good.”

Despite the challeng-es that occurred, all of the team’s hard work paid off because they received third place in Game Day, as well as took home a trophy for second place in Sideline.

“I am so proud of all the girls on the team for putting in so much hard-work and effort,” senior Faith Przy-mus stated. “All of the girls performed to the best of their abilities, and that is some-thing that I am very proud of.”

In addition to the trophy,

Photo Courtesy/Jacquie Smith

The Scotus cheerleaders run out on to the mat to perform their Game Day rou-tine. They received third place for this routine.

S even compete at s tate swimPhoto Courtesy/Jacquie Smith

Scotus cheerleaders hold up junior Kelsy Faust for a stunt during thier routine at state cheer. They had to change thier routine an hour before performing.

the team took home mem-ories of another successful season with all the laughs, tears, and hard work that came with it.

Senior Jenna Salerno said, “State Cheer was a memory that I will always

cherish. The girls on the cheer squad are some of my favorite people, their posi-tivity and hard work were amazing, and I’m so thankful for everything they did.”

By Jenna SalernoStaff Reporter

State swim is always an exciting weekend, but this year’s meet was filled with many emotions, from ecstasy to disappointment. Out of the eighteen swimmers from Columbus High that went to state, seven of them were Scotus students, all of whom swam at least once through-out the meet.

In preparation for the state meet, the state quali-fiers continued to practice, although they stopped having morning practices and had shorter easier practices. This is called ‘tapering’.

“We did a lot less [work-outs] than we normally do in an average practice,” junior Konnor Kudron stated.

Another way that swimmers prepare for the state meet is by buying speed suits. These suits are specially made to help the swimmers swim faster because of their special fabric and tightness.

“Speeds suits are the best thing to help you go faster. They are so tight and take forever to get on, but it’s worth it. The only problem is the prices. It’s about $120-

$500 for one suit, and you can only wear them once or twice,” sophomore Emily Miksch said.

Other tricks the state swimmers have to drop time is both the boys and girls shave their legs and the girls also braid their hair. This has been a tradition for the Columbus swimmers for many years.

Salerno said, “I corn-row my head because it makes me more aero-dynamic and helps me glide through the water. We also shave our legs that have not been shaved all season.”

The state qualifiers and their families met at Brookestone on Wednesday, February 21st, and they had a final good luck dinner. They also received state towels as gifts from all of the parents. “I really enjoyed the meal as usual, but it really just helped me get excited for state,” senior Chase Andresen said.

On that Thursday, the swimmers had to leave school early for state because of incoming bad weather. They made it to the hotel that night and went to bed early so that they would all com-pete at their greatest ability the following day. Some swimmers have special ritu-

als or habits that help them to prepare for the meet.

“My morning ritual this year included eating three sausage patties and two packs of muffins. Without a doubt [they were] the reason for my success,” junior Callan Fuchser said.

For the state meet, the girls and boys are divided into two sections for the preliminaries on Friday. The girls’ half started at 9am, and the Scotus girls competed in three different relays, the 200 medley relay, the 200 free relay, and the 400 free relay. None of the girls’ events made it to finals, but they did all accomplished personal best times in all of their re-lays, including one relay that dropped nine seconds from their previous best time.

“Even though we didn’t make it to the finals or medal this year, it only makes us want it even more next year,” Salerno said.

Following the end of the girls’ preliminaries, the boys’ meet started at 2:30pm. The Scotus boys qualified to swim in three relays, the 200 medley, the 200 free relay, and the 400 free relay, and Andresen qualified to swim two personal events, the 50 free and 100 butterfly. The

boys made it to finals in their first relay, the 200 medley relay. Unfortunately, Andre-sen scratched out of his first personal event, the 50 free, and was unable to compete for the rest of the meet that day. The other relay did not advance to the finals. Senior Trey Dallman unexpectedly had to swim on Friday.

“I wasn’t planning on swimming at all, but due to complications, I ended up swimming the 200 free relay, and I am happy with our per-formance,” Dallman said.

On Saturday, Kudron and Andresen both swam in the finals in the 200 medley re-lay. They placed 12th overall in this relay.

“I really liked coming back to finals with my relay and getting ready for what I knew would be my last race,” Andresen said.

Overall, the Scotus swimmers were successful at state this year with all of them dropping times and getting personal bests in their relays.

Fuchser concluded, “The overall experience was exciting. The atmosphere makes you want to be better and continue to push yourself to new heights.”

Photo Courtsey/Kris Andresen

Scotus state qualifying swimmers, senior Chase Andresen, frehsman Kaira Dallman, junior Konnor Kudron, junior Callan Fuscher, junior Julia Salerno, sophomore Emily Miksch, and senior Trey Dallman, pose at one of their final practices before state. All of the Scotus swimmers were able to compete in at least one event while at state.