Students Make Strikes
Bowling, though not the most popular winter sport to attend, takes steps towards going to States, one strike at a time.
Bowling can be simple. For some, it’s something you do for fun or an activity to do with friends. For others, like junior Ben Miner, and sophomore Abigail Grubb, the sport is more serious than others.
“It’s very competitive, you do a lot of teamwork, so it’s not as fun as regular bowling, but you get a lot better in that sense, so you end up having fun,” Miner said.
The school has both boys and girls bowling teams.
“We have Varsity and two J.V. [teams], Varsity travels to tournaments, J.V. just goes to the meets at Lucky Jacks,” said Miner.
Aaron Phillips, the head coach for both of the Varsity teams, played collegiately at Ferris State University, and he started coaching at Ferris after he graduated. Phillips left Ferris for personal coaching reasons.
“After I coached at Ferris, I started to coach my own kids when they first started bowling,” Phillips said.
Normally sports at the school practice every day, but bowling meets a couple of days a week due to school not having an alley, causing many to have to practice outside of school.
“We have practices every Tuesday, Thursday, and a game every Saturday. You also have to practice at home,” Grubb said.
Bowling for the school is much different than people expect, there are many different strategies to the game.
“You can get your own ball and shoes which helps a lot, you can get your fingers fit for your own ball. Then you have a common way to throw it, four or five-step approach, and a two-hand throw which is where you spin it to get it in the pocket,” said Miner.
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Both Miner and Grubb started playing more recently than others on the Titan bowling team. Miner started last year for his sophomore year and Grubb began playing this year.
“My friend Will Parker got me into it last year,” said Miner.
While Miner was introduced to the game through a friend, and Grubb was inspired by a family member.
“My Grandma did it and I really like bowling and so I wanted to do it more competitively,“ Grubb said.
The team has a wide variety of goals this season, many of which are acheivable if they work at them.
“A team goal we have is to win States this year,” Miner said. “Some personal goals I have for this season is to get a turkey, which is three strikes in a row.”
Most people don’t do anything before they start the frame, but like any other sports team here, the Titans warm up before starting.
“We stretch and get loose, and just stay focused and make sure we follow our techniques, then just execute them the best we can,” Miner said.
Bowling might be appealing to students because it is typically a non-competitive recreational activity. However, on the team, students can bring a competitive spirit and actually be rewarded for it. The Varsity and J.V. teams are evidence of this, with all teams going undefeated at their first games of the season Dec. 16.
“[Students should join] because it’s fun. You get a chance to compete against other high schoolers, and it doesn’t matter if you’re the most athletic kid or have a disability, this is something that you can learn to do as a team and compete, and take the same skills and compete after high school, which you can’t do in many sports,” Phillips said.
Basketball, Before They Take to the Court
Athletes on the Boys Varsity Basketball team have superstitions and pre-game rituals which they employ in order to help with their chances of winning.
Brandon Konchek/Daniel Rosa
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Basketball players, like many athletes, rely not only on skills learned in practice, but on pre-game rituals to drive an excellent game performance. This even applies in high school sports. Students on the Boys Varsity Basketball team have a variety of mental preparations that they go through as a team as well as individually.
“Ever since eighth grade year I’ve pretty much had the same pre-game ritual,” said sophomore Garret Schuler, who is now playing on Varsity for the first time. “Before my games I flip the Nike sign on my sock upside down and also use bands to stretch myself out so I am not stiff for the game.”
Schuler feels that this routine works.
“When I first did the ritual my first game of the year, I had the best game of the season. I feel that is because of the ritual,” said Schuler.
Many people follow a similar ritual that Schuler follows, but everyone has something that they do that gets themselves ready for the game at hand, like listening to music before games to get the adrenaline pumping. Schuler is one of those on the team who consistently listens to music before each game, even though other rituals he’s practiced have “changed with time.”
Senior guard and captain Andy Soma tends to listen to the same song before each game: Out the Mud by Lil Baby and Future.
“I have been using this song since the beginning of my high school career,” Soma said.
Other than music, some players have religious rituals that they follow before games. Many people, including Varsity player junior Patrick O’Connor, pray with their teammates to get in the right mindset.
“I have been praying before games since I can remember, it gets my mind right and makes me feel the same,” O’Connor said.
In some games, their pre-game- rituals have worked more than others. Schuler describes a game his freshman year when he felt his ritual worked the best.
“They have worked many times because I do the same for football and basketball,” Soma said.
When it comes to pre game rituals not working, both Schuler and Soma have had an experience where they have not worked.
“My pre game ritual sometimes doesn’t work and we will lose the game but it still doesn’t stop me from doing it,” Schuler.
People on the basketball team have pre-game rituals that are different than others but at the end of the day most people have a ritual that they follow in order to get their minds right for the game.
For the players that perform these rituals, their pre-game traditions are likely to be brought into play again on the Dec. 20 home game against Bloomfield Hills High School.
Saving in Skiing: Easier Than it Sounds
Students enjoy the camaraderie and lower expenses available to them in the school’s Ski Club, organized by science teacher Mary Brisbois.
Eric Pugh
pugheri10@tcapsstudent.net
As the snow starts falling, students have a hard time being productive with the freezing weather. If you enjoy skiing or if you are interested in starting skiing, Ski Club is a great way to make the most out of your winter.
Starting on Jan. 9, every Thursday until March 5, students in Ski Club will head out to Crystal Mountain to wrap their day up by either snowboarding or skiing.
Science teacher, Mary Brisbois, organizes the club that holds ninety kids every Thursday.
“I decided to lead the Ski Club because a lot of people at the middle school confronted me about it and my family skis as well,” Brisbois said.
If you pay for your school program pass before the deadline, it costs $79. The cost for a day pass at Crystal, if you are not a part of Ski Club, is also $79. “For the price it costs to go on one Saturday [not being in the Ski Club], it’s the same price to go the whole season being in Ski Club,” Brisbois said.
After the deadline, the price to be apart of Ski Club will bump up to $130.
Crystal mountain holds many different courses for all different skill levels of skiers.
“Whether you are a beginner in skiing or an experienced skier, no matter who you are, you can join,” Brisbois said.
Ski Club provides many riders at school advantages during the season. Ski Club provides food as well and even for the people with little to no experience in skiing, they get the opportunity for free lessons.
“It’s cheaper and you don’t have to worry about a ride any of the time. Also, a lot of my friends are in it which makes it easier to ski with people you know,” sophomore and Ski Club member Taven Medler said.
The Ski Club pass doesn’t only work on Thursdays, it also works on any snow day. Also, any day after March 1 you can ski for free.
“I think people should join Ski Club because it’s a way to make new friends,” said sophomore Medler.
“Crystal’s mission with the school program is to provide opportunities for people to learn to downhill and cross country skiing and snowboarding at a reasonable rate with safe equipment and knowledgeable instructors,” Brisbois said.
As grass starts appearing through the snow, ski season starts to come to an end. For students who care about making the most of the snow, Ski Club might be a good option for saving money and spending time with other students.
Rivals on and off the Field
pretty dominant over Michigan recently.”
Like Bixby, Miner has been invested in collegiate sports for his entire life.
“My dad attended Michigan State the year they actually won the national championship in basketball,” Miner said. “So, I’m kind of just obsessed. I really like to watch them.”
Miner has planned on going to the Nov. 16 game since the beginning of the season and has high hopes for MSU.
“Our expectations were high,” Miner said. “I’ve always wanted to see Michigan State beat Michigan. When [UM] beat us, it pi**es me off.”
Miner, among other West students, isn’t deterred by the expected cold temperatures at the game due to the fact that it hasn’t been played this late in the season since 1928. He attributes the large collegiate football fan base at West to our own school culture.
“We have a very good football team here, so there are lots of fans,” Miner said. “Football is the most popular sport in America overall.”
However, while many students are focused on college athletics this fall, others are focused on applying to colleges.
Senior Grace Caldwell has wanted to attend UM since she was 10 years old, and submitted her application for the Nov. 1 deadline. For Caldwell, Ann Arbor feels like a better fit than East Lansing. “I really like the campus, and the people there seem really nice,” Caldwell said. “Academically it has what I’m looking for and there is a sense of community.” Despite UM’s admirable features, Caldwell attests that the “entitled” stereotype of UM students rings true. “It’s becoming more and more competitive, like a mid-western ivy,” Caldwell said. “There are a lot of kids who work hard and deserve to be there, but there are also a lot of kids that just buy their way into college. It’s starting to become more wealthy and entitled kids.”
Football games and application season are the earmarks of autumn for many students. Tensions rise among fans of certain colleges due to the large number of seniors deciding on the best place to pursue their education and fans of college football closely following their teams. A well-known and always-present rivalry, University of Michigan (UM) versus Michigan State University (MSU), causes strong opinions on either end of the debate to surface. As the annual and highly anticipated UM versus MSU football game approaches, tensions between the opposing fans heighten.
Senior Macie Bixby has wanted to attend MSU for as long as she can remember and has strong feelings toward the school.
“Michigan State is a better environment,” Bixby said. “I think a lot of people who go to Michigan go for the egotistical viewpoint of actually being there.”
Bixby thinks that she’d fit in better at MSU in comparison to UM.
“I think that Michigan State atmosphere is a really fun atmosphere with people who are really school spirited, so I think I’d really fit in there because that’s who I am,” Bixby said.
Both of Bixby’s sisters attend MSU, so she’s had the opportunity to experience the school for herself when she visits them. Her time spent at MSU has made her realize the similarities between school culture here and culture at MSU.
“West is super focused on school spirit and involvement more than other schools that we see. I think that MSU is a lot like that,” Bixby said.
Bixby plans to tailgate before the UM versus MSU game Nov. 16 in Ann Arbor at the Big House.
“The game is on my birthday so it’ll be a fun birthday,” Bixby said. “I like seeing my sisters in the college environment.”
Junior Ben Miner also planned to attend the UM versus MSU game on Nov. 16.
“I’m a huge Michigan State fan, especially when it comes to college sports,” Miner said. “Even though this year we haven’t been the best it’s still fun to watch, especially because we’ve been
JV Klein/Tess Crowley
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“I really like the campus, and the people there seem really nice,” Caldwell said. “Academically it has what I’m looking for and there is a sense of community.” Despite UM’s admirable features, Caldwell attests that the “entitled” stereotype of UM students rings true. “It’s becoming more and more competitive, like a mid-western ivy,” Caldwell said. “There are a lot of kids who work hard and deserve to be there, but there are also a lot of kids that just buy their way into college. It’s starting to become more wealthy and entitled kids.” However, Caldwell believes that MSU is also a challenging school, even compared with UM. “Even though MSU’s acceptance rate isn’t as high, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a good school still,” Caldwell said.
Similar to Caldwell, senior Katie Kaberle has had aspirations of attending a certain college since she was a child.
Her dreams turned to reality when she received her acceptance letter from MSU two weeks ago.
“I was super happy,” Kaberle said. “I started crying and called my parents. I am actually a fourth generation Spartan. I always wanted to go to Michigan State but then I highly considered Michigan for a while. Then I toured them and felt that Michigan State was the place for me. I really liked the atmosphere. I liked the energy that I got there.”
Kaberle’s choice came down to her dislike of UM’s focus on competition between students.
“I was a little bit put off by the emphasis on competition at UM and I didn’t feel that at MSU at all,” she said. “I don’t thrive on competition so that’s not something for me.”
Although the academics of a college are important to Kaberle, she also enjoys game days. Kaberle has attended previous MSU games, including the recent Nov. 9 MSU versus Illinois football game in East Lansing.
“It was cool to see so many people passionate about the same thing [at the games],” Kaberle said.
As November comes to a close, MSU and UM fans continue to closely follow their teams and many seniors finalize college applications regarding their future. While there can be tensions between MSU and UM fans at school, the students’ West-side pride helps bring everyone together.
Fighting for 4
Dominik Glew/David Fischer
fischerdav52@tcapsstudent.net
An All Sports Title is an award a high school in the Big North Conference wins if they get first place in the standings. Winning an All Sports Title doesn’t just happen if one sport in particular does well in its conference. It’s a school effort, every single sport matters and every single sport affects the school’s standings.
Jason Morrow, a football and track coach at our school believes that a major part of our success in the Big North Conference is the athletes understanding that they’re all working towards the title together for the entire school.
“When they started the All Sports Title not many people knew about it,” said Morrow. “So when I came here and started doing the weight room that was one of the biggest mind shifts for all of our athletes. To make sure they understand everybody is in this together. Our athletes having an understanding that they’re all part of a team, not one sport is more important than another sport is the biggest reason for our success.”
This school’s goal is to win a fourth All Sports Title this year. It would be the fourth title in a row and first time in school history that we have made this accomplishment. Morrow believes we could win the fourth title and even more as the years go on. The key to success in the future is to increase the current level of work the athletes
and coaches contribute and remember that every sport and every athlete matters to the school.
“To maintain this kind of dominance in the future we have to continue to make sure we work hard and to be the best athletes we can be. And obviously when you play your conference games they’re really important, you have to win your conference games. But it’s mostly just everybody developing from the time they’re freshman to when they’re seniors,” Morrow Said.
Senior Joe Klein, a tennis player, says that winning the All Sports Title proves that all the hard work is paying off. There’s no winning the title if there’s no effort or work put into a sport.
“Winning the BNC takes a lot of hard work and determination,” Klein said. “Winning the title means all of our hard work really paid off.”
Klein believes that as long as we focus on winning the conference games and working hard, that we can keep the winning streak going for a few more years.
“We definitely have to maintain focus in conference games, even against bad teams,” Klein Said. “We could keep this up for a few more years as long as the athletes put in the work before and during the season.”
Leah Allen, a junior on the varsity volleyball team, believes that faith in the team is necessary to win the BNC. Having confidence and expecting to win can be the difference between a good team, and a great team.
“In order to win the Big North it takes a lot of determination, and confidence in your team. To put a lot of trust your teammates,” Allen said. “We prioritize the conference games a lot, they are very important to us. We always try to go out like we would against any other team and try our best.”
Allen’s advice to the future athletes at West is to make sure they put everything they can into the sport they desire to play. According to her, as long as they put in the work and give everything they have, they will be successful.
“Make sure you work hard and put everything you have into the sport because it’ll be worth it, and you’ll feel so good after it’s over,” Allen said.
Senior Joe Klein plays in the 2019 Boys Tennis BNC Championships at the school Oct. 4. Photo: R. Sack
This year, the football season ended in the middle of a snowstorm on Nov. 2. Despite the loss to Hudsonville 38-7, football had a lot of successes this season. They finished with a record of 7-2 in the regular season, only losing to Midland High School and Traverse City Central High School. Even though they lost to Central, Junior Dominick Howell reflects on the winning games following the loss to Central as a great comeback.
“[Our biggest success was] probably coming back from the Central game and finishing out the rest of the season,” Howell said.
Along with football season during the fall, the girls had a successful volleyball season going 8-2.
“I feel like our team bonding or chemistry has improved a lot over the season which I think helped us win more than last season,” said sophomore Becky Lane, who plays on the Varsity team. “As a team, our favorite goal accomplished this season was beating Central [High School] because we got swept last year.”
As fall sports wrap up, winter sports take off in mid-December with hockey, basketball, wrestling, and bowling.
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Fall Sports Wrap Up
At the annual Pink Game Sept. 28, players go on the field in honor of loved ones who suffered cancer (top). For seniors Aiden Griggs (1), Joshua Tanis (5), and Christian Boivin (10), this is their last Pink Game and last football season of high school (bottom). Photos: T. Crowley
Fighting Cancer on the Field
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For our school, the Pink Game is not only a football game but an opportunity to bring awareness to an illness that affects people of all ages worldwide. According to the National Cancer Institute, “approximately 38.4% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetimes.”
The students and staff aren’t exempt from these statistics, either. Many of the players’ and coaches’ lives have been affected by cancer in one way or another.
Terra Walters is a mom of two alumni and one current student. She has a close connection with cancer as well as the Pink game. She got involved with the events to help her son, Brent, in his first year of varsity football.
“Cancer has touched my life in too many ways, not only losing my beautiful, special aunt to breast cancer at the age of 48 and most recently, my sister in law, our family has had a lot of cancer,” Walters said.
Walters also gets her compassion to help fight the disease from her mother who is an ovarian cancer survivor.
“My mom was very involved with the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, so my kids were relay kids since they were in strollers. My amazing mom was always involved with us at school and she and her cousin did remarkable things with R.F.L in their small community.”
The Pink game is a relatively new event that began as a way to give back to some of the player’s number one supporters. It started in 2014, when three of the football moms were fighting breast cancer. To support the moms, the Titan football family started the tradition of the Pink games. For Sophomore Michael Schermerhorn, the Pink game wasn’t just about winning. It was about honoring the life of a family member who recently lost his battle to cancer. ”My grandpa has been a big part of my life ever since I was young. He’s supported me through all my athletics and school and he just passed away recently and cancer was a factor of that,” Schermerhorn said. “He had prostate cancer and many other complications that led to his death.” For Gregory Vaughan, the head varsity coach, the topic of cancer is all too familiar. “I look at my brother-in-law who lives in Grand Rapids, he is affected by [stage 4] cancer and is able to use the resources that Van Andel has right in his backyard.” The Van Andel Institute is committed to researching cancer and improving the lives of current and future generations through research and science education. “I think what’s cool about the Pink game is that it supports a great cause. Many of us have family members or people that we know who are affected by cancer.
The proceeds from the game go back to Van Andel Institute which is helping try to research new ways to deal with cancer,” Vaughan said. Merging an ordinary football game with a good cause makes it more than just a game. The Pink game stands for so much more than its name. It stands for a cause, a fight, the people behind it, and hopefully one day, a cure. “I think [the Pink game] is a really good event for a good cause and it really shows the community we have at West,” Schermerhorn said. Titan football is committed to the cause. Whether it’s playing hard, playing in pink, or providing a platform to showcase the realities of a deadly disease, the players and coaches are making a difference. “Win or lose, the event itself and bringing awareness is huge,” Vaughan added. In the end, the Titans took a win, not only against Alpena, but also in the fight against cancer.
Sister
Swimmers
Alexis Hepler
Sisters Joci and Alexa Baughman have been competing against each other for as long as they can remember. Whether it is for the highest GPA, or a Tae Kwon Do belt, the two play hard, but also cheer each other on.
Competing on the swim team is no different. With an undefeated season, the two are there to coach and support each other, Jocey swimming the backstroke with some sprints and distance freestyle, while Alexa leads the sprint freestyle on the team.
“We are competitive in pretty much everything,” Alexa said. “We’ve played similar sports our whole lives. I started swimming first and then she followed me. Recently when we moved here she started taking up Tae Kwon Do and then I followed her into that, so we are pretty strong we match each other pretty well.” Joci outranks her older sister with a black belt.
The sisters have been in the pool together since childhood. Both swam for the TC Breakers, a local club swim team. Although they practiced at different times because of their age difference, they were at the meets to cheer each other on. Joci admits she joined the school team so she could swim with her sister who she looked up to.
“She’s very, very good,” Joci said. “Whenever she does good, I feel good for her, but I also recently beat her time in the 100 Backstroke and it was probably one of my proudest moments.” Despite breaking her sister’s record, Joci feels her sister is a better competitor. “She’s just naturally built really strong,” she added.
Competing with a sister and being on the same team can be a challenge, and sometimes sibling rivalry enters into the competitive occasion.
“It’s not really challenging in the fact that we motivate each other, it’s your sibling and you’re competing against your sibling.” Alexa said. “It’s always that sibling rivalry and sibling annoyances where they annoy you or they do something stupid and you get onto them more than you get on your other teammates, but I enjoy it.”
The Triton swim team is made up of students from West, Central High School, and St. Francis. The team just finished “Hell week” where they broke their muscles down by hard, repetitive drills without breaks, and have entered into “tapering” week, where they will relax their muscles in hopes of improving their swim times.
“Every practice we have two or three really hard sets, even the warm ups are two to three times harder than what it was at the beginning of the season. It’s very difficult and coach doesn’t go easy on us.” This unique form of training gave the team an advantage and helped carry them undefeated to the Conference meet on Nov. 2-3.
“During the tapering week the coach slowly diminishes the amounts yardage, and we get more breaks,” Joci said. “Slowly we do less and less and every time we get more breaks. The idea is that when your sprinting and tapering, you are expected to go a lot faster because you have more time between sprints.”
David Fischer
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The Boy's Tennis team is made up of mostly experienced players. This may have been a factor in their team’s success as all 12 players were on the Varsity team the previous year. The team won Regionals with a one point lead ahead of Grand Blanc.
The Varsity football team had a successful season that took them all they way to the Playoffs. Winning 7 games out of 9, the team fought hard with their new coach, Greg Vaughn. On Oct. 26 the team played against the highly ranked Rockford, falling short with a 13-18 loss.
The Tritons swim team is a combined team of three schools. The team has had two winning seasons in a row, and heads off to Conferences on Nov. 2 and 3.The team, which is made up of West, Central, and Saint Francis athletes, are swimming an undefeated season.
Sophomore Gavin Michael is a player on the Varsity Soccer team. Michael said that his favorite moment of the year was beating Central and he hopes to see more success in the future.
Freshman Isaac Stone is a runner for the cross country team. “I hope that we can make it far in the year and come on top during Regionals,” he said. They fell short, but the the Girls Cross Country team advanced to the State Finals after finishing third at Regionals.
The girls golf team has dominated this year. The team won Regionals and placed third in States.The golf team beat TC Central, Petosky, and Alpena to win the BNC title. “I think that winning Regionals gives us a boost of team moral and sets us up to head into states with an optimistic outlook. We also had a lot of fun even though it was really rough conditions and the fact that our team pulled through to win was really awesome” said sophomore golf player Anci Dy. West won with 327 points this year. Anika Dy also just won her third straight individual State Championship, finishing her high school career off strong before she heads to play for the University of Michigan.
The Varsity Volleyball team has had the youngest team they’ve had in years. With three freshman and three sophomores, half of the team is made up of underclassmen, making the season a complete fresh start. “We started off kinda slow but now towards the end of the season we are doing pretty good and I’m really proud of us,” Senior Samantha Schermerhorn said. The team lost in the first round of District play-offs on Oct. 30 against Marquette.
