St. Anne-Pacelli Vikings Wrestlers: Fighting for State
by Katherine Shayne

Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi said, “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” The St. Anne-Pacelli Vikings wrestling team works hard and never gives up, which is what makes it an outstanding athletic team.

The Vikings are coached by Bryan Eason, who also teaches world and American history and AP Economics at St. Anne-Pacelli.  “We are a young, ambitious team with a great amount of potential,” he says. One of the philosophies that Eason imparts to his team is “All we do is wrassel,” a popular phrase coined by Nathan Rustin (1945-2002), who was a beloved football and wrestling coach at St. Anne-Pacelli.

The wrestling team practices every day after school and competes in many matches and tournaments, including the Hardaway Invitational, LaGrange Invitational, and area and city tournaments.  St.Anne-Pacelli hosted the Nathan Rustin Invitational and the Chattahoochee River Wrestling Association tournament.

At the February 5 area tournament, sophomore C.J. Baylosis (119 pounds) placed second, junior Christian Trueax (112 pounds) and freshman Noah Forehand each placed third, and freshman Matt Hogan (103 pounds) placed fourth. The team finished in sixth place.

Trueax, Forehand, Baylosis and Hogan advanced to sectionals February 11-13, where they competed for a spot at the state tournament.  Eason and the Mat Maids – Trisha Hall, Marissa Nunez, Maria Mejia and Mary Rodriguez – were proud of these wrestlers for making it to sectionals.

Because the team has no seniors this year, the Vikings have a chance to grow and develop individually and as a team. “With hard work and dedication, many of these athletes have the potential to place in state by their senior year,” says Eason.

Trueax, the team’s oldest member, will continue to be a leader next year. “It’s great to watch our wrestling program grow and mature into a strong team capable of placing in sectionals and moving on to state,” Trueax says.

Fellow St. Anne-Pacelli coach and teacher Jenni Griffin says, “The wrestling team’s dedication to the individual development of the wrestlers as well as the exponential growth of the team’s unity not only impresses me as a teacher but also as a person.”

The Vikings wresting team is a strong unit – maximizing strengths of individual wrestlers and the vigor of the team as a whole. Because they work hard, it is difficult for them to surrender.

Spring Sports Kick Off at St. Anne-Pacelli
by Jenni Griffin

After a long and blustery winter, the St. Anne-Pacelli Vikings are ready for a bit of warmth and sunshine.  Athletes, longing to get out of the gym and spend their days outdoors, anticipate the first day of spring sports practice.  As winter winds down, basketball, cheerleading and wrestling give way to baseball tennis, soccer and golf.  

Spring sports at St. Anne-Pacelli are popular among fans and the Vikings always look forward to the start of the season. “I love basketball and being in the gym,” says senior Brandon Miller, “but there is something about being in the warm sunshine that gets me hyped for baseball season.”

The St. Anne-Pacelli baseball team is preparing for its upcoming season.  Players have been working on their own in the offseason, throwing and hitting to prepare for their challenges.  The Vikings have had marginal baseball success in the past.  With a state championship in 2008 and bids in the state tournament since then, the Vikings have seen success on the field in recent years.  

Last year’s youthful baseball roster was made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores, but the Vikings have more experience this season.  Led by head coach Ken Miller, the Vikings are hoping to make another run at a state championship.  

Leading the team on the diamond will be senior Wil Wells, the only remaining player from the 2008 team.  Wells will bring his experience to the mound and the infield.  The team will also add Brandon Miller to its lineup.  Miller has a lot to offer in terms of speed and strength at the plate.

Other baseball veterans on the team include Drew Connally, Jack Hughes, Anthony Huff and Justin Gaus.  These four juniors will lend the team the strength it needs to make a run at the title.  The Vikings are looking forward to a successful season.

Tennis is another spring sport enjoyed at St. Anne-Pacelli. The 2011 season will be the first in many years that the Vikings will field both a boys and a girls team.  Led by coaches Jenni Griffin and Howard Heinze, the Vikings are hoping to improve their records from prior years.

The Vikings fielded a boy’s tennis team last year. In the previous two years, the Vikings had only girls tennis teams.  Jose Samayoa, Will Marchetti, Andrew Heinze and Alex Fernandez will provide the leadership for the boys team while Megan Alcaide and Elizabeth Bentley will lead the girls.

Many Vikings head to the golf course in spring.  In past years, the Vikings have had some success in golf, including boys and girls.  Lead by first-year head coach Alan Upton, the golf teams are hoping for a great season.  Sean Drop, who is expected to have a strong region performance, will be the man to watch on the boys team.  Daniel Foor and Charles Durr will also lend a hand.  The girls team will have new faces this year –Gabriella Claridy, Savannah Claridy, Colleen Gottfried and Megan Alcaide – and hopes to do well in the region.

Soccer is a dominating sport at St. Anne-Pacelli.  The boys and girls have fielded strong, competitive teams in the past and are hoping to continue their tradition of soccer excellence in 2011.  The boys will be led by seniors Brian Mansfield and Mike Jacobs as well as a host of juniors and underclassmen.  

The Lady Vikings soccer team will be led by coaches Shelia Spikes and Maureen Gottfried.  Seniors Katherine Shayne, Kat Riale, Taylor Thompson, Katie McDaniel and Molli Harris will help lead the Vikings on the field.  Several other returning players will make an impact, including Colleen Gottfried and Katie Hammonds.  The Lady Vikings are looking forward to a successful season.

With spring around the corner, the Vikings are looking for victory in all their spring sports!

Basketball Season
by Jenni Griffin

There comes a time of year in Columbus when the weather begins to turn colder, football season draws to an end, and the days become shorter.  Activity in the gym begins to increase, and the echo of shoes squeaking, basketballs bouncing, and the clank of a free-throw on the rim fill the air.  To most people, this is called basketball season, but to the players, coaches, and students at St. Anne-Pacelli, it is simply “hoopin’ season.”

As November rolls around, practice begins and the teams prepare to face a region with many basketball powerhouses.  With the new region alignments, the Vikings are prepared to face teams like Dooly County and Macon County in their race for a region championship.

The Lady Vikings have enjoyed several years of basketball success.  This season, they are looking for more of the same.  Losing several impact seniors from last year’s team left the Lady Vikings searching for a leader.  This role has been filled by St. Anne-Pacelli standout Brea Walker, who led the team last season as a junior and broke the St. Anne-Pacelli all-time scoring record.  The team is looking for Walker to do more of the same this year.  Walker is placing high expectations on herself as well as on her team.  “We play a team sport, so my teammates are just as important to our success as any one person.  We are going to have to work hard this year in our region,” says Walker.

Walker is not the only returning impact player.  Juniors Kiara Lewis and Alexys Woods, and sophomores Colleen Gottfried, Lauren Trudell and Pippi Chapman will also be contributing to the Lady Vikings team.  There are also several new players on the team that will help lead the Lady Viking to victory.

Another addition to the team is first-year head coach Monica Sicka.  A former Columbus State University player, Sicka is diving in head first as the Lady Vikings new head coach.  The team welcomed her arrival with open arms.  “Coach Sicka has been great.  She has worked hard all summer long forming a bond with the team, and we are ready to follow her into battle,” says sophomore newcomer Erica Trudell.

The Lady Vikings are hoping Sicka’s freshness is just what they need to make a run for the region championship.  With a roster full of new faces, youth might be the key to their success this season.

The Viking men’s team is also dealing with something new this year: experience.  For the past two seasons, the Vikings have relied on young players with little success, but now those young players are upperclassmen and the Vikings are riding high on experience.  Led by senior Joseph Reese, the Vikings are hoping for a winning season.

“We have had a rough couple of seasons, but we are looking forward to competing in our region this season,” says junior Cy Lesesne.  Lesesne and fellow juniors Hayden Johnson, Harrison Sharitt and Anthony Jenkins hope to contribute to the Vikings’ point totals this season.  Several sophomores are also hoping to play a role on the team, including Tristan Gibbo, Kyle Rice, K.T. Walls and Otis Lewis.  The team has also added several freshmen.

Adding to the Vikings’ wealth of upperclassmen are seniors Richard Spencer, Mike Melvin and Brandon Miller.  Melvin hopes to contribute in the scoring column while Miller wants to make his presence known on defense.

“It is great to have some older guys on the team this season,” says third-year head coach Alan Griffin. “We are really looking forward to gaining some wins in our region.”

The student section at St. Anne-Pacelli is gearing up for the opening game and the gym is ready to go.  The Vikings are ready for hoopin’ season!

Northside Stays Positive On and Off the Field
by Gabby Wilson, NHS Journalism • photography courtesy of Kelly Lovell

On the evening of Friday, September 10, 2010, a car driven by Northside High School senior William Robinson swerved off the road, hitting a tree and ending Robinson’s life.  The following Tuesday, Northside math teacher Phillip Schley lost the battle for his life from post-surgical complications.  As both Robinson and Schley were members of the Northside family, the football team found themselves down on their knees with the rest of the school in heartache and prayer.

Offensive coordinator and Northside High athletic director Morgan Ingram searched for ways the team could honor their fallen Patriots.  After weeks of thought on the matter, Ingram presented the perfect idea: a memorial sticker on the Patriots football helmets.  The stickers would be monograms – “WR” for Will Robinson and “PS” for Phillip Schley.  The team was extremely supportive of this idea.

"Now that we know we have these stickers on our helmets, it feels as if we are actually playing for something instead of just going on the field to try on win or make the coaches proud," says senior offensive guard Casey Jones.  Jones had classes with Robinson and says that he was a cool, down-to-earth, smart and funny guy.  "He was a guy who will be greatly missed and will always be loved," continued Jones.

Northside played Thomas County Central when wearing the stickers for the first time.  The game was different for some of the players, especially since they had changed their mindsets.  Many senior players took the loss the hardest.   Even the players who did not know Robinson or were enrolled in a class with Schley were devastated.  The team was excited to dedicate this season to their memories.

"I think the stickers are a way of showing respect and helping us to always remember them.  We never want to lose our memories of them," says senior strong safety Tim Bennett.  “If Will and Mr. Schley were here to see us play with the stickers on our helmets, I think they would be proud.  They were both caring and loving people who would have enjoyed seeing us do something with joy instead of being sad.”

Ingram was proud of the way the team handled the loss of a fellow student and their teacher.   "Although some were close to Will and Mr. Schley, the guys all worked together to cope," Ingram says.  “They were well liked among our whole team.  Mr. Schley was one of the most supportive teachers of the football team, and I know the team appreciated him.  I think he would be honored to have his initials on our helmets.  He really wouldn’t want us to do it, but he would be honored.”

All of the coaches guarantee that the team is staying strong and positive.  The stickers are a symbol that keeps their memories real and relevant.  “The boys are young.  They live for the day.  But the stickers provide a constant reminder of how fragile life is and helps keep things in perspective," says Ingram.

"Being seniors, we have to stay strong for the rest of the team,” says senior running back Michael Faggett.  “When Coach Ingram told us about the stickers, I was excited because this was a way that we could all stay strong together.  I could still be a leader, and we could show everyone how much we cared as a team.”

Robinson and Schley were also given a tribute at Northside's Homecoming game against Columbus High.  Students, faculty, and any person who wanted to show their support wore bowties in honor of Schley, who was known for wearing them to school every day.  Students wore T-shirts in honor of Will Robinson.  The marching band played "Amazing Grace" as the students released red and blue balloons into the sky.

"Will and Mr. Schley will always be missed.  We will never forget them, even after we graduate," says senior offensive tackle Brandon Baker.

St. Anne-Pacelli Viking Football
by Brandon Miller

Success in the classroom and on the field is important to St. Anne-Pacelli Vikings.  With strict athletic eligibility rules, SAPCS athletes are pushed to be the best they possibly can be in the classroom before they are able to show their skills on the playing fields.  By emphasizing the importance of academics, students earn the right to participate in sports.

After a summer of camps and workouts, the Vikings football team finally kicked off their season on August 27 against Schley County.  The two-a-day practices in the summer heat were beneficial for the Vikings, as they started the game with two field goals.  Though the team couldn’t hold off the Wildcat offense, they showed some bright spots.

The Vikings got off to a slow, 0-2 start this season, but they are hoping to make a push in region play.  The Vikings offense is led by Joseph Reese (236 passing yards and 212 rushing yards), Brandon Thomas (294 rushing yards) and Brandon Miller (148 receiving yards).  Reese and Miller are also making big contributions on the defensive side of the ball with a turnover each.  Reese caught an interception in the Vikings’ loss to Hawkinsville, and Miller took a fumble 93 yards for a touchdown.  In addition to those highlights, Reese was selected for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Dandy Dozen team.

The Vikings defense is led by Sammy Desrosier (23 tackles, 15 solo) and Gerald Williams (16 tackles, 12 solo).  With Drew Spikes and Quinn Odom getting back to full health, the Viking defense should be solid for the remaining eight games.  Mike Melvin has been a welcome addition to the St. Anne-Pacelli team at tight end and defensive end.  There are several new Vikings, including Daniel King and Noah Forehand, playing a role as well.  Returning seniors Daniel Lambert and Brian Mansfield are leading the Vikings offensive line for the last time as they plan to further their playing careers at the collegiate level.  The Vikings also have one of the best kickers in the state – Mikey Jacobs, who was named preseason All-State.

The Vikings have several big games coming up this season.  They will play several new teams in their region, including Hawkinsville, Dooley County and Macon County.  These teams have proven to be powerhouses in previous years and the Vikings are preparing for a challenge.

The Vikings will also face Brookstone in the annual battle for the BroCelli jug.  The Vikings are hoping to break the Cougars’ winning streak and bring the jug home.

With several games under their belts, the young Vikings team is ready to face the rest of their season head-on. “We are really looking forward to this season.  It should be great,” says Reese.