March 2006 - Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Madison WI

12 March 3, 2006Alyssa WaldronAthletes of the MonthOne Sport FocusBy Eric GavinskiWhen it comes to highschool athletics, athletesmust choose between sportsdue to lack of time. Thisissue’s athletes of the monthmade that choice and neverlooked back.Alyssa Waldron had tomake a decision on sportsearly in high school. Cominginto freshman year Waldronhad to make a choicebetween volleyball andPoms.“The decision betweendancing and volleyball wasreally hard for me,” she said.Waldron had been on theSennet dance team throughoutmiddle school.Waldron was nervousabout trying out, and didn’texpect to make the team.After a lot of encouragementfrom her middle schoolcoach Waldron decided totry out for the La FollettePom Squad, and was one ofonly four freshmen to makethe team.After making the PomSquad Waldron put off herother sports interest anddecided to put her total commitmentinto Poms.“I felt so lucky to be oneof four freshmen to make it,so I decided to stay with it,”she said.Waldron set severalgoals for herself from thestart. At the top of the listwas to someday make captainand be a good rolemodel.Waldron’s other goalsconsisted of making lots ofnew friends and to just havea lot of fun.Waldron accomplishedErik Gotrikall these goals and more. Shenot only became one of threecaptains this year, she wasalso on a team that made twoconsecutive trips to state andplaced in the top seven eachtime.Dancing is not Waldron’sonly priority. Waldron hasmanaged not only to becomethe captain of her team but tohold a job, and maintain a3.5 GPA.“I’ve never really had aproblem balancing schooland poms, what’s more of achallenge is adding a job tothe mix,” she said.Next year Waldron isplanning to attend UW-Stoutand is considering trying outfor the Stout dance team.“I would really like tocontinue dancing, but I alsoreally want to be just a student.”Erik Gotrik didn’t makehis total commitment to basketballuntil this year, andhas never second guessedgiving up his other sports.Throughout Gotrik’s highschool carrier he has experimentedwith several differentsports.Freshman year Gotrikplayed baseball, and upuntil this year played footballfor La Follette, but forall of Gotrik’s four yearsthe sport he has enjoyed themost and put the most commitmentin is basketball.Gotrik got his start inbasketball in fifth grade.Gotrik was attending HolyCross and all of his friendswere joining the team, soGotrick signed up.Gotrik has many greatmemories from his fouryears of playing basketballCome eatat PelayosStudents get $1.00 off combo mealsMondays and Tuesdays with school I.D.2229 S. Stoughton Road .Just across from Farm & Fleet .for La Follette, many he willnever forget.Gotrik’s favorite memoryfrom basketball was “ChrisBrill dunking nasty overTony Raffel junior year.”Gotrik has always beenvery committed to basketball,and it has always beenhis favorite sport.Through out all the yearsof basketball his biggestconcern has always just beento have fun and be able toplay.Gotrik has also balancedbasketball with work andschool very well. He notonly plays varsity basketballwhile holding down a job atcub foods, he also has managedto maintain a 3.7 GPA.Next year Gotrik is planningto attend UW-Whitewater and has consideredfurthering his basketballcareer, but more likelyhe will just go to be a student.Gotrik explains “I justwant to enjoy freshman life,and maybe ball it up in someintramural ball.”K2Kwww.k2kcustomdetail.cominfo@k2kcustomdetail.comAttention 2Detail 4 UTry our 20” Pizzas5417 Monona Dr.Tel: (608) 222-5700By Kaley HansenHere at La Follette many students arelinked together by sports. It can be said thatsports have a strong effect on the communityhere at LHS.“Playing sports builds communitybecause it is a bonding experience thatallows you to meet people from differentgrades. And the smaller the team, the morebonding that takes place,” said juniorAndrew Voxman.Kara Taylor (11) feels that going to sportingevents brings together parents, students,teachers and alumni.“It’s a big event that everyone can attendand you don’t need an invitation!” she said.Even though everyone can attend sportingevents, the student crowd still feels separated.Michelle Roeth (11) feels that crowdsK2KCustom Detail4914 Pflaum RoadMadison, WIKevin & KristinaHarness, ownersPhone: 608.222.4690You won't recognizeyour automobile!!Free all you can drink with Lunch BuffetWeightroom Bulks Up With PEP GrantMore new equipment on the way soonBy Mike OnsrudOut with the old, in withthe new. La Follete’s weightroom has never been a prettyplace. The dumbbells wererusty, the benches wobbly,and the overwhelming feelingof needing a tetanus shotafter entering the roomstopped alot of peoplefromenjoyingthe benefitsof weighttraining.Now, allthat haschanged.With thehelp ofC h u c kMattison,J o h nNeumann,H e i d iHyland, andothers, theLa Folleteweight roomis now welcoming.Last year, various teachersspent four months writinga grant for money toimprove the gym equipment.The city of Madisonreceived a grant of 1.5 milliondollars to be dividedbetween the schools.“A lot of people workedreally hard in order toimprove our facilities,”Mattison said. “We areextremely fortunate we wereselected for this grant.”Roughly twenty-thousanddollars was spent toPhoto by LanceJerome Genus (11) and a friend get pumped on the newdumbells in the weightroom.upgrade the weight room.The old dumbbells, squatracks, and benches werereplaced with new andimproved equipment. Theold squat racks werereplaced with multi-usesquat racks, which can beused for bench pressing,squatting, and variouspower-lifts. The dumbbellswere replaced with newdumbbells as well.“We hope the new equipmentwill motivate peoplewho normally wouldn’t liftweights to try it out,”Neumannsaid. “Theenvironmentisnicer, andthe equipmentis betterandm u c hsafer.”DylanCrye (12)agrees withNeumann.“The newweights aregreat,”Crye said.“ T h eimprovedweightroom willbenefit students for years tocome.”With the money left overfrom the grant, La Folletewill get a climbing wall,along with aerobic andaquatic equipment.Sports Spark Sense of Communityat events are diverse but everyone on thebleachers are split up into their own groups.These groups for example could be gradelevel, social circles or gender. Communitieslike this, as close knit and fun as they seemmay tend to intimidate others.Athletic victories may influence theatmosphere of the school, as Roeth pointedout.“People get sad when sports are losing,but when they are winning, we’re all excitedto watch,” she said.Students tend to display more pride intheir school when sports are winning.“More people tend to want to go, it’smore fun when we’re winning,” Taylor said.Sports as a whole influence the studentbody and positively contribute to the community.Just remember to show pride in yourschool regardless of the scoreboard and keepin mind to include others at events.