November’s Tiger of the Month

By Katlyn LaPorte

November’s Tiger of the month is senior soccer player Josh Lechman.

Lechman was born on Sept 30, 1998 to his parents Rene and Jeromy Rivas. He has two older siblings, a brother Jessey and sister Hayley, and a little brother Jeromy Rivas Junior. The family has three dogs and a chinchilla.

Lechman has been playing soccer since he can remember starting at around five years old. He has played varsity all four years of high school. He plays left midfield.

“The best parts of soccer are the feeling before the sounds of the whistle on the pitch, and the feeling of scoring goals is pretty good as well.” said Lechman. “The worst part of soccer is trying to get people together to be able to play year round.”

“Soccer is year round for me so I don’t play any other sport competitively,” said Lechman. “My favorite memory from soccer is being this year’s regional champs.”

His biggest supporters when it comes to soccer are his parents for supporting him throughout life, school, sports, and any scenario he is put through.

“I want to give a shout out to Dustin Quint for being a close teammate but a closer friend,” said Lechman.

Regarding this season, Lechman said, “I am proud of all my teammates. It is not what we hoped for but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

He achieved his goal of having three or more headers in his high school career.

“I am considering playing soccer at the collegiate level but it would most likely be for a two year school. I want to go to college at CSU but will first go to NJC to get my prerequisites,” said Lechman.

Lechman is able to maintain a 3.5 GPA along with playing soccer. He excels at math. His favorite thing to do is play sports. His favorite food is any kind of Mexican food. His favorite holiday is Christmas.

His favorite quote is “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid,” by Albert Einstein.

In the future Lechman sees himself training to be a veterinarian at a veterinarian school or clinic.

“My advice to underclassmen is to just make sure you have at least an idea of what your plan is for your future because high school goes faster than you think,” said Lechman.

 

 

 

Ask Abby

By Abby Cross

Being a senior is something that almost every high schooler looks forward to. The thing is though, you get there before you even know it. It feels like just yesterday I was freaking out about it being my first day of freshman year and only a few months ago, I had my last first day of high school.

Whenever I would hear people talk about how fast high school is going to fly by, I didn’t listen. You don’t think about those kinds of things when you’re a freshman or sophomore. You’re more focused on finding out who you are, which is not a bad thing. The main social point of high school is to find out who you are, where you fit in, and who you want to be. The best thing to do is join every club you can and do any sports that even remotely interest you. Go to all the dances, get your homework done, and have the time of your life on the weekend.

Once I hit senior year, I noticed a difference in my stress level. Yes, I’m still stressed over homework, a little bit, but usually I don’t have very much. I’m stressed about scholarships, college, money, and graduation. During the summer before senior year, you think you have SO much time to get all this stuff done, but pretty soon, it’s Christmas and deadlines for college and scholarships are up.

The best part about being a senior is the freedom you receive. You get to leave campus to go to college class, you get waivers, and in my case, I no longer have a curfew. At this point, you start to feel what it is like to be an adult and to have pretty much all of the freedoms of being on your own, but with the cushion of having your parents close by.

I would say the scariest part of being a senior is all of the responsibility you acquire. You’re responsible for applying for college, scholarships, and financial aid. All of this can be super stressful but once you get it done, it feels great!

It’s crazy to think that in just 6 months I’m going to be graduated from high school and preparing for the beginning of my adult life. I am so scared but I can’t wait.

SHS Participates in CSU Math Day

By Kayla Smithgall

On Nov. 7, 13 SHS students travelled to Fort Collins to compete at the Colorado State University (CSU) Math Day.

The 13 students included senior Abigail Davidson, juniors Cherie Bell and Ons Laroussi, sophomores Maggie Alsup, Brooklynn Bohler, Ian Cone, Greyson Dudley, Adam Hernandez, Reid Kaiser, Katie Masters, Mark Sharpe and Jessica Swanson and freshman Sharon Kim.

Christian Robles was a math coach; Kayla Sherman was a co-coach and CSU Liaison (communicator) and Marilyn Fehringer was the head of the Math Department.

The students competed in the Math Day for various reasons.

“I wanted the experience of something new. I also went because of the fact that I would experience a higher level of math thinking and problems,” said Cone.

“I thought it would be interesting to see our skill level compared to other schools out there. Also, to see what kind of people I’m competing against for scholarships,” said Masters.

Kim participated because she loves math.

“It was such a good experience to meet lots of people who also love math,” she said.

According to Fehringer, the day began with the students taking a Problems Requiring Original and Brilliant Effort (PROBE) test in competition for CSU math scholarships.

“The test was about 10 questions long. It challenged what we knew and we had an hour to do it. I think I did pretty well on it. It wasn’t too terribly hard but there were some problems that required more thinking than others,” said Swanson.

“About half of the questions I understood and think I did okay on but the other half were more challenging and I’m not so sure I did too good on those,” said Masters.

After the test, some of the students participated in a head-to-head three-person team tournament at 11 a.m.

SHS had two teams in the tournament. Team A consisted of Dudley, Sharpe and Kim and team B consisted of Bell, Laroussi and Kaiser.

The tournament consisted of a total of eight rounds.

Team A made it to round two.

 

According to Fehringer, team B “killed” round two and round three, which should have put them at the top of eight teams in “small school competition.” Team B made it to round four.

“My favorite part of the day was the team test. It was like a survival competition and it was FUN,” said Kim.

Aside from competing, the students also had a chance to tour the college’s campus with Sherman.

It was Swanson’s favorite part of the day.

“I’m definitely more interested in CSU now then I was before,” she said.

Many of the students had a goal of having fun and enjoying the day.

“My goal was just to have fun. Since it was the first year Sterling competed we had little preparation time, and there were no goals or expectations to meet,” said Cone.

The students enjoyed the day and would do it again, but with more preparation.

“I am extremely proud of these young people for representing SHS very well for our first year at this event,” said Fehringer.

 

 

Teacher of November

By Kirsten Hernandez

Nelson Schroeder, SHS U.S. history and Financial literacy teacher is November’s teacher of the month. Schroeder became a teacher because of his love for kids and the subject.

As a teacher this year Schroeder hopes to get his students excited about learning and help them better themselves. Schroeder started as a geography teacher then became the civics teacher and is now the U.S. history teacher.

Schroeder said, “My favorite part about being a teacher is interacting with my students and sharing my passion with them. I try to make my class interesting and use stories as illustrations.

Schroeder said, “I don’t have a single favorite memory. It’s when I get to see my students being successful a few years down the road, and they say to me that they enjoyed my class.”

Schroeder with exchange student Amela Nevaljalovic holding the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina after a presentation of her country.

Schroeder became a high school teacher because of the age group, he said, “I became a teacher at the high school level because I enjoy this age group, they most often are more mature and learn faster. With high school students you get a chance to look at the subject more in depth.”

Schroeder has always wanted to become a teacher, he said, “My former teachers have really influenced me to become a teacher myself. They modeled to me what it’s like to be a good teacher. They really connected with me not just as a student but as a person. I try to make my classroom a place where everyone can be comfortable and be themselves.”

Schroeder estimates that he has taught 20 teachers within the district including Brad Hessler, Sarah Wernsman and Laura Clark from the high school, he said, “Having taught these now teachers it’s really cool to see them be successful, but at times it weird and makes me feel old. It takes time for them to rid the habit of calling me Mr. Schroeder but eventually they adjust”

Schroeder’s role models are former teachers, he said, “My former choir and social studies teacher were like father figures for me, they made me feel important. As a kid I was always a misfit and they always made me feel important.”

Outside of school Schroeder enjoys spending time with his family, reading, music and playing his guitar. Schroeder enjoys reading nonfiction and biographies, his favorite books are Teaching to Change Lives by Howard Hendricks and Was God on Vacation? by Jack Van Der Geest.

Schroeder graduated for the University of Northern Colorado with his teaching degree. He grew up in Philadelphia until 1982 when he moved to Colorado.

Schroeder’s favorite holiday is Christmas, he said, “On Christmas my whole family get’s together and we eat Christmas dinner, after we eat, we all sit around the table telling stories.”

Schroeder has two pets, a cat named Atticus and a dog named Taz. His cat is named after Atticus Finch from the book To Kill a Mockingbird and his dog is named after the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Toon’s.

Overall as a teacher Schroeder said, “I hope that my students will take away the lesson that your circumstances don’t dictate your outcome and that you can never have too much education.”

Fear and Loathing in a Trumped United States

Photo Credit: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2147684/violence-erupts-across-the-us-as-pro-clinton-fans-riot-after-donald-trumps-shock-election-win/

By: Ethan Robinson

As of Nov. 8, Donald J. Trump is the 45th President-elect. Trump won with 290 electoral votes against Clinton’s 228. For many 18 year old seniors in Sterling High, this was their first time casting their vote for the presidency, and what a unique first time it has turned out to be.

This election will truly go down in history, being the fifth time a candidate has won the electoral college but not the popular vote, alongside the elections of 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000. According to David Leip’s Atlas of U.S. elections, Clinton leads in the popular vote by nearly 3 million. 

What granted Trump the victory was winning several key states by razor-thin margins. These trophy states include usual swing states such as Florida, but also newer battleground states that proved essential in this year’s election, such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. In order to even have a decent chance at victory, Clinton needed to obtain at least one of these states. When the Senator failed to do so, it was pretty close to certain as to who would win. At one point, the election was so close that Trump and Clinton were neck and neck for Pennsylvania by a few thousand. Each one of these three key battleground states was won by Trump by a very narrow margin of 1 to 2 percent.

It is clear to see that the Presidential Election for 2016 was very close and a real anomaly when it comes to politics. Nobody expected Trump to win, even many of his own supporters and Trump himself when he was ready to deem the entire electoral system as rigged. But now, Trump and his supporters are more than willing to embrace the electoral college.

Much of this victory is now being credited, across all media sources, to a “silent majority” of Trump supporters. Many believe that this “silent majority” is the reason why the latest polls did not accurately predict the final election result. But in all honesty and hindsight of the cacophonous election build-up, should we really be surprised by the result? Even the ultra-liberal pundit Michael Moore predicted that Trump would emerge victorious this November.

Many experts would say that this return to a Republican in the oval office is just apart of the 8-year cycle of party dominance. This is greatly true, but times are also changing in the United States. The political and ideological climate is altering in this country, and the 2016 election is proof of that fact, having developed radically differently than in 2000 and 2008.

Trump and Clinton were both unable to inspire large populations of the United States and have their own demographic of hateful opposition. The months that led up to the election reflect the melting pot of political and ideological turmoil that is rampant in the United States. Both left and right and even independents have grown staunch and more adamant in their stances against opposing views. We have three sides of anti-establishment now on the Left, Right and Unaffiliated, and all sides were at each other’s throats. On one end of this election you had the avant-garde collegiates holding up Gary Johnson signs, followed by the shaking fists of Make America Great Again truckers, while on the other side of the street you could see the daily catfight between I’m With Her diehards and belligerent Bernie burnouts. Now protests are everywhere, including in D.C. where anti-Trump high school students abandoned school to take to the streets and clash with opposition.

These stark divisions in United States society and political culture have great significance and foreshadow changing times ahead. Trump has not been the traditional candidate; he built an image and a radically different rhetoric that appealed to a large half of the country. This election is and has not been normal. Tensions are rising and things are coming to a head for the United States. America will change under this Presidency, but time will tell if it will truly change according to Trump’s many broad promises.

It is growing more and more apparent that we Americans live in not one but two countries, divided not by traditional borders but by two opposing ideologies. This time, the conglomerate called America has no more cards left, except Fear and Loathing in a Trumped United States.

Stayed tuned, America, for Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2017.

Fall Sports In Review

By the Bengal Cry staff

Cross Country

Runners for the 2016 cross country season included seniors Kylee Harless and Payton Swedlund, juniors Jacob Schroeder, Mona Aunjai, Rebecca Miller, Amela Nevaljalovic, Rachael Northup, Sydney Wright, Ons Laroussi and Chat Theerakitpaisal, sophomores Sophia Boothby, Cassidy Amen, Adam Hernandez, Humberto Guerrero, Shinyu Park, Joseph Coakley and Ryan Lock, and freshmen Adrian Aguirre, Dylan Cranwell, Justin Kassin, Thomas Rutherford, Ananisia Gallegos, Amber Gibbs, Joslyne Lopez and Esmeralda Guerrero.

The cross country coaches this year were Cheryl Rael and Lacy Flores. Senior Aby Aguirre and sophomores Kahlei Fleckenstein and Jazmin Renteria were the team’s managers.

This was Rael’s twenty-fifth year of coaching, and she has no intention of stopping anytime soon.

“The kids didn’t know that it was my twenty-fifth year, but it’s not about me, it’s about the team,” she said.

The runners were a part of eight regular season runs, as well as regionals.

Their first race was at Horizon High School in Thornton.  The girls’ team placed thirteenth out of 28 teams and the boys placed twenty-sixth out of 29 teams.

The second race was also held in Thornton, this time at Skyview High School. The boys placed thirteenth out of 16 teams and the girls finished third out of five teams. Lock and Park both ran their fastest times there, with both boys finishing in 23 minutes, only 18 seconds apart.

The team hosted their third meet at home. The girls placed third out of five teams while the boys placed fourth out of six teams.

A handful of the runners faced an unexpected challenge this season: sickness.

“I expected our bodies to wear down and I expected we would have a hard time to stay motivated but I didn’t expect to get sick,” said Northup.

“One expected challenge I faced was wanting to quit after I was sick and had to go through physical therapy,” said Gibbs.

The team then travelled to Kersey, for their fourth race at Platte Valley High School.

Runner’s Roost was the team’s fifth meet, which was held at Chatfield State Park in Littleton.

“The Runner’s Roost was a fun run, in the sense that it was a more relaxed run. All of our girls wore tutus while we ran, but we also wore eye black to show that we were still fierce,” said Northup.

Out of 12 teams, the boys placed eleventh at their Andy Meyers race at Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley. The girls’ JV team placed tenth out of 10 teams and varsity placed fifth out of eight teams.

One thing that was unique about the 2016 cross country season was that there were five exchange students on the team, whom Rael described as a “pleasure to have on the team.”

“I didn’t mean to join cross country,” said Aunjai. “In Thailand, we don’t have cross country and I never thought about it before, but I was in Ms. Rael’s line at registration and she asked me, ‘Are you going to play any sports?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I’m going to do track.’ She said she is a track coach and cross country coach. She asked me, ‘Why don’t you do cross country?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know what that is,’ and then she said that if I wanted to join or try I could come to practice and finally I went to practice!”

The team’s Patriot League meet was held at Brush High School. The girls finished eighth out of eight teams and the boys placed ninth out of 11 teams.

Many runners ran their best times in Brush. Aguirre ran 22:27, Hernandez ran 19:43, H. Guerrero ran 17:40, Coakley ran 18:32, Rutherford ran 52:21, Miller ran 23:59, Laroussi ran 31:57, Theerakitpaisal ran 28:39, Swedlund ran 27:43 and Boothby ran 30:43.

Each runner had their own goal for the season.

“My goal was to run first girl all season and I met my goal,” said Gibbs.

“My goal for this year, which I met, was to make it to varsity,” said Aguirre.

“I had three goals for the season. The first was that we would be able to build team unity, the second was to stay in the top three of the girl runners, and the third was to have a PR of below 22:30. All of my goals were met, except for the last one,” said Northup.

The next race was a two-mile run. The boys placed twelfth out of 16 teams and the girls finished sixth out of 12 teams.

One thing that cross country is known for is the close bonds they form with each other.

“The team is a tight knit group. It’s fun to see them grow closer outside of cross country,” said Rael.

“They’re my best friends. I feel like I can go to them for anything,” said Gibbs.

“It felt like a second family; they always helped me. I did not expect that,” said Aguirre.

“One reason I never quit cross country was because the team made my day every day when I went to practice,” said Aunjai. “I want to say thank you to Rachael for your big hug during my second day of practice. I remember when my host mom came to pick me up after practice, she walked up to me and said, ‘I’m glad you joined our team.’ Those words are really good to me.  Also, thank you for running with me during my first time at the park! Thank you for being my partner that day because I didn’t know the courses and I stopped a lot and you still ran with me! Everyone on the team is always nice to me. Thank you all for this amazing season.”

At regionals at Monfort Park in Greeley, the girls placed tenth out of 13 teams while the boys placed twelfth out of 13 teams.

10 team members ran their fastest at regionals. Cranwell ran 21:19, Kassin ran 19:16, Schroeder ran 31:07, Amen ran 24:23, Gallegos ran 23:37, Gibbs ran 22:18, Lopez ran 22:10, Northup ran 23:29, Wright ran 23:51 and E. Guerrero ran 24:10.

Although the team did not make it to make it to state, they still had a great season.

“I want to thank the team for their hard work over the summer and during practice and also for representing SHS positively, both on and off the course,” said Rael.

Cross country awards:  https://bengalcry.wordpress.com/sports/cross-country/

 

Soccer

For the 2016 fall season of SHS soccer, we interviewed Brady Krier and Logan Kiefer to discuss the essentials and highlights of the season. Although they did not completely make it to State, the soccer team still fought their hardest and earned everything they achieved.

Though their goal was to make it to the second round of state playoffs, their greatest highlights of the season were taking Frontier Academy and Liberty Common into double-overtime. The game against Frontier Academy ended with a huge win at home, and the senior night against Liberty Common ended in a draw.

As for broken records this year, Krier made 7 shutouts this season (the most shutouts in a career) and broke the goals against average with a 0.8. Kiefer tied the record for assists in a game for a second year in a row. Kiefer said he’s sure that others were broken because the team had a spectacular season.

Like every year, however, this season had its own obstacles and challenges. Krier reflected that the team faced a couple of injuries throughout the year and so couldn’t play them at full strength. As a consequence, Krier said the team was helped to learn that they could “play in-depth with the bench”.

Kiefer said that, “Our biggest obstacle this season was the RPI ranking system. We were in the top 15 teams for win-loss percentage and second in our league, but because our RPI rank was so low, we were unable to qualify for the state tournament.”

Kiefer concludes, “Because we stumbled upon this obstacle at the end of the season, it really is a learned aspect for the upcoming players next year. They now are aware of how much more crucial it is to win every game and play against tough opponents that will ultimately better them.”

When it comes to what helped the individual players and team this year, Kiefer said what helped him the most was working with former goalie Derek Karg early in the year. He also said that what helped the team the most was that they all got along and played together. Kiefer said, quote, “I think what helped me the most this year was having such a strong core of teammates that believed they could win.” He emphasizes the team’s essential drive to win and the large advantage of returning experienced players.

We also took the time to ask the two seniors what their best memories of the season are. Krier said, “My best memory of the season is probably when Victor got a red card or taking Frontier to double over time and helping a foot save to keep them from scoring.”

Kiefer really held onto this season as his last, saying, “I think I will remember most playing with eight other seniors. In soccer, that is a huge group of classmates to have on a team at one point. I grew up playing with these guys and that team chemistry and bond, that has been built since early middle-school, is one that can’t be beat.

But the rest of the team is not yet graduating and has a great many games ahead of them. Kiefer continues as saying, “I think that next year, the younger guys are hoping to avenge our team’s incapability of making state this year. It’s a tough thing to do, and I can’t wait to support them in their success next year with such a young squad.”

No matter what, the Sterling Tigers are sure to fight for every game they get. Krier ends the interview proud, saying, “I’ve taken away from the soccer experience that we may not be the best, but we would win the fight.”

 

Golf

Golf is a heavily individual sport, with each player’s score adding up to the team’s overall score. Due to this element, members of golf still have great core values of performance, positive teamwork, and aspirations.

Junior Braydon Lambrecht for instance has great aspirations in golf. We interviewed Lambrecht on his experience in SHS golf and his look towards the future. Lambrecht started to play golf at 8 years old, and evidently this early exposure to golf paid off fairly well, Lambrecht ranking 15th in the entire state. Golf is more than just a school sport for Lambrecht however. In the future, he wishes to play the sport prfessionally for Colorado Mesa University.

Lambrecht says that golf is probably more mental than physical, and is a tough game for sure. Although, he recommends golf as a very good pastime, saying it is a lifetime sport and you can play it at any age and any level.

We asked Lambrecht if his team and the high school experience has helped him reach this goal, he answered, “A little, the golf team pushed me a little bit more. I would have liked to win state but I didn’t meet that goal. But that’s alright. I met my goal at least of not shooting the 80’s.”

From all of these difficulties, he learned to try his best at everything. Lambrecht is still going strong into golf and his goal remains unwavering, to go for state.

Volleyball

 

This year the SHS girls volleyball team has made school history. They have won regionals and gone to state for five straight years. No other Sterling Tiger volleyball team has won regionals five years in a row. They are also the first volleyball team to win 20 matches in a season, since 2006. The SHS girls volleyball team has won 21 of their 27 games they have played this season. They are ranked number eight in the Colorado 3A region.

Junior Gracie Bacon said, “I honestly think I’ve improved over this season due to the help of my team and coaches.”

Bacon also commented of her favorite memory from the season, saying, “My favorite memory from this season game against Yuma and not having practice the day after the game. As a team we have improved a lot and have become a lot more powerful and grown to have a stronger bond. They aren’t my teammates, they are my family.”

As a team, Bacon said that their ultimate goal as a team was to make it to state.

She said, “Our ultimate goal as a team is to make it to the top four in state and then win state.”

Senior Jaycie Dillenburg also commented on the season and how she played this season, saying, “Everybody has good games and bad games throughout the season and I definitely did as well. Overall I think it was a great season, and I feel like I improved greatly and I’m so happy I decided to join volleyball again after taking last year off.”

“As a team, when we all came together and played our game, we were unstoppable. At time, we didn’t play our game and we weren’t ourselves, we didn’t play very good, but once we came together, it was a completely different team,” said Dillenburg.

“Building memories with your team is very important,” she said. “My favorite memory was at one of our tournaments over the summer. I saved the ball by kicking it and we got the point.”

Dillenburg said, “Winning regionals was an amazing feeling and it gave us confidence going into the state tournament.  We knew if we played like we did at regionals in state l, we had a chance at winning it all.”

The SHS girls volleyball team has done very well this season, especially by making school history.

Softball

The SHS softball team went out with a bang this 2016 season. The Lady Tigers had a winning overall record of 13-10 and 8-6 in their league. The Tigers are coached by Bob Knudson.

The Sterling Lady Tigers won this year’s Regional Championship over Gunnison and Basalt giving them a ticket to the State tournament. In the first round of state, Sterling beat Cedaredge 14-3 and advanced into the second round of the tournament. The Lady Tigers then moved on to play the Strasburg Indians in the quarterfinals and fell 9-6.

Senior pitcher Taylor Knudson, junior shortstop Brooke Polenz, and freshman second baseman Rylyn Nelson were all three selected for the Colorado All-League Softball first team for the Patriot League.

Taylor Knudson stepped up and was the leader of this year’s team.

“I will miss going to Dairy Queen at the end of every game with my team the most. I am very proud of my team and our accomplishments this season,” exclaimed Knudson.

This season the softball team gained quite a few new players, some of them being junior Kirstyn Fritzler and senior Mackenzie Thompson.

Fritzler was a vital part of this year’s team; she made the decision to join the softball team her junior year after not playing all of high school. She played the positions of third base and first base.

“My first season was definitely a challenge. I hadn’t played softball for about five years so starting varsity at the beginning of the season was a rush. It was great though. I had a ton of fun and I really pushed myself to do something great. My favorite part was definitely winning regionals. It was so much fun with everyone I played with and getting to participate in that victory,” shared Fritzler.

Another new addition to the Lady Tigers was senior Mackenzie Thompson. Although she wasn’t able to play for most of the season, because of her transfer from Holyoke, when she did, she played the position of catcher.

“The team was very welcoming towards me. I couldn’t be more proud of all the hard work, dedication, and progress we made as a team. The hardest part of this season was the feeling of being done as early as we were in the state tournament. We had a really tough bracket and a tough final team but we played as hard as we could and gave it our all,” said Thompson.

This season, the team had some easy games, and then they had some nail-biters. Games against Lyons, Platte Valley, the Classical Academy, Woodland Park, and University were all, as the team would say, “blow outs.” The games against Brush, Valley, Eaton, Palisade, and Strasburg were the nail-biters, always resulting in close scores like 13-12 against Eaton, 10-9 against Brush, and 11-9 against Valley.

Last season the team lost a lot of seniors forcing this year’s upperclassmen to really step up as leaders for the team. Juniors Emory Underwood and Grace Reeves were both leaders for the team this year.

“It was an amazing experience being an upperclassman on the team. I had more opportunities to be a leader. Individually, I improved a lot as a leader. As a team, we improved our teamwork ability and our defense,” said Underwood.

Underwood plays outfield.

“This season was different from our last two seasons because in the past we had more experienced upperclassmen that took on those leadership roles. This season we had a new, not so experienced team, and we had to rebuild and learn to play well with each other. Next year I am excited to pick up where we left off and continue to put in work,” said Reeves.

Reeves plays first base, outfield, and she also pitches.

Overall, this was a great 2016 season for the Sterling Lady Tiger Softball team and for the seniors.

Football

The SHS football team ended their season with a record of 7-4 overall, and 5-0 for the league. The team this year included 14 seniors.

Senior captain, Austin Chavez stated that the best part of football is the team aspect of the sport and being able to play next to the guys who he’s been playing with his whole life.

Sterling started off their winning streak by beating their first league opponent Eaton 14-0. They continued their winning streak beating Brush 38-7, Platte Valley 27-19, Ft. Lupton 49-16, Weld Central 27-13, Valley 41-7, and Manitou Springs 52-22. Manitou Springs was the first playoff game the Tigers hosted this year. They then hosted a second playoff game against Bayfield where the Tigers fell 41-0.

Senior captain, Mike Chavez says that the Weld Central game was the most memorable because it was the league championship game, and the first time since the 90’s that they had won it. It was a big goal of the season.

In order to prepare for each game, the teams warmed up, then headed inside to have a meeting in the coach’s’ office to “talk them up.” Then, right before the game they would break their huddle with “Tiger Pride!”

Senior captain, Austin Burkholder broke a school record this season for the most rushing yards in a game with 291. The previous record was set at 273. Burkholder also tied with the school record for the most touchdowns in a game with 5.

Senior Peyton Kloberdanz’s advice to underclassmen is to stay humble and respect the game. Senior Ty Wilterdink said, “The most important thing football has taught me is nothing will be handed to you. Sometimes, you have to work as hard as you can to prove yourself before you can get to where you want to be.”

The Tigers made it further in this season than any season since the 90’s. They are lead by Head Coach Rob Busmente as well as many other coaches who have had a hand in leading the Tigers this far into the season. The last time the Tigers hosted back-to-back playoff games was in 1991-92 when Coach Busmente was a player for the Tigers.

 

 

November’s Tigress of the Month

By Katlyn LaPorte     

On the course for November’s Tigress of the month is senior and cross country runner, Kylee Harless.

Harless was born on June 30, 1998 to her parents Kelvin and Jodie Harless. She has one older sister, Taylor. The family has two dogs, Maddie and Daisy.

Harless has been running cross country for three years of her high school career. She started her sophomore year.

“The best part of this cross country season was running at regionals,” said Harless. “The worst part of this season was being out for part of it because I got mono.”

“My favorite memory from cross country is getting to be team captain this past season,” said Harless.
Cross country is the only sport Harless participates in so she can put all her effort towards it.

Her favorite quote is, “F.E.A.R has two meanings- Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. The choice is yours.”

Her biggest supporters when it comes to cross country and everything else are her mom and dad, and she wants to give a shout out to the two of them for that.

Harless is also very involved in FFA (Future Farmers of America). Her favorite hobby is showing animals in FFA.

Alongside FFA, she is a member of the high school marching band and has been throughout high school.

Her GPA is 3.4 and her favorite class is band. Her favorite food is pepperoni and her favorite holiday is Easter. She also really enjoys the movie Good Will Hunting.

“My favorite high school memory was getting accepted to Colorado Girls State at UNC,” said Harless.

Harless is going to attend the University of Wyoming. In 10 years she sees herself having a job as a lawyer and having a family.

Her advice to the underclassmen is, “Don’t give up, times will be hard but work through.”

 

https://goo.gl/forms/gH3V8V3dChwi5xGf2

Tiger Scholar of November

By Kirsten Hernandez

Photo Credit: Wagner’s Shutterup Photography

Abigail Davidson, a senior at SHS, has been selected as Tigress of the month due to her academic excellence. Davidson plans to graduate with a 3.933 GPA.

After high school Davidson said, “For college, I plan to go to NJC and get an associates degree in either general studies or accounting. Then I plan to go to a university somewhere in Colorado to major in computer science. This major will give me a large range of job opportunities from computer programming to my dream job of video game programming. I have always loved video games, especially experiencing the different stories and amazing artwork and effort put into each one, which is why I want to go into that field.”

Davidson’s favorite subject is art.

She said, “The class requires a lot of attention to detail, which I love, and I have always loved creating art and seeing different things people can do with it.”

Davidson’s favorite teacher is art teacher Chelsea Scott.

Davidson said, “She encouraged me to share my art that I do at home with other people, and always tries to get her students excited about the artwork they create in her class.”

Davidson has a very unique piece of advice for the underclassman.

She said, “I would say that high school can be hard, but if you always try to look on the bright side of things, and never turn away help from friends and family, you can make it through it. I myself have always found comfort in my friends and family, and that has helped me through my high school years.”

Davidson participated in tennis her first two years of high school.

On her free time Davidson said, “I enjoy playing guitar, reading, video games, TV, drawing and making artwork out of paper.”

Davidson’s favorite high school memory was the first time going to a football game and getting to experience it with her friends.

In  years Davidson plans to work for a small video game company, she said, “I plan to work for a small video game company and maybe even creating a few of my own games for people to buy.”

Davidson’s role model is Emma Watson, she said, “She is a very intelligent actress, and has embraced her intelligence even though she has entered the world of acting, which corrupts most people. She also publicly fights for the things she believes in, such as feminism.”

Davidson’s favorite quote is “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift.” by Oogway, Kung Fu Panda. She said, “This quote helps me remember that everyday is important, and we must make the most of the present, and not worry too much about the past or the future.”

Davidson’s favorite book series is the mortal instruments, her favorite movie is How to Train your Dragon 2 and her favorite food is pizza.

Davidson’s favorite holiday is thanksgiving, she said, “A lot of my family is able to come together on this holiday, which is kinda rare. Plus I love the food.”

Davidson said, “If I could go back in time, I would stop worrying so much about everything that could go wrong if I did something, and just go out and do it, like spending more time with my friends and playing tennis for another year.”