Alek Duncan

YOU JUST GOT PIED.Sophomore Will Watkins throws a pie in Principal Mike Gillotti’s face. The chance to pie the principal in the face was one of the reasons that Watkins donated. “I didn’t think I was going to win,” said Watkins. “But it was pretty great to throw a pie in Mr. Gillotti’s face.”

Alek Duncan

Makenzie Waller

facial for a cureGillotti Gets Pied

Alek Duncan

050 october 051

STILL CHEESING.Principal Mike Gillotti smiles big after getting a pie thrown in his face. Gillotti was the first principal in the school’s history to ever get a pie thrown in their face by a student. “The pie was cold, but it was a good cause,” said Gillotti. “Kids had fun with it, my family had fun with it and I am always willing to be flexible for something that helps raise money.”

FOR THE WIN.Senior Melissa Crew wins a prize to Sam and Louie’s from the serving game. Crew was one of the many people who donated and partook in the activity between the JV and Varsity volleyball games against East. “I paid the volleyball moms $1 to serve one of the balls at a prize,” said Crew. “I ended up hitting a pizza box to Sam and Louie’s and won a $15 gift card.”

It was simple. The Varsity volleyball team would raise money for the American Cancer Association (ACA). But the idea would not have become a reality without the Varsity volleyball coach Mary Schropfer, the volleyball team and the booster parents.

“I was all in favor for the girls to raise money for the ACA,” said Schropfer. “Even though they were trying to raise money, the team was still ready for the game against East.”

Flyers were handed out to teachers and posters were hung up throughout the school to inform students and staff of the volleyball plan for the ACA. The team sold pink bead necklaces and collected loose change from the students and faculty before and after school, and also after lunch. Then at the game, the booster parents held a serving game, where people could donate $1 to attempt to serve a ball and hit a prize.

“We had a jar for the change and we went around at lunch to ask students if they would donate,” said sophomore Joycin Stonacek. “A lot of people came and donated to the cause.”

Principal Mike Gillotti agreed to have a pie thrown in his face by a student if the team raised $500. All the students had to do to get entered into the drawing was to donate to the cause.

“It was a good way to influence people to donate,” said Stonacek. “It was fun too.”

Before the Varsity game against East, the winner of the drawing to throw the pie in the principal’s face was an-nounced. The lucky winner was sophomore Will Watkins.

“Even if there wasn’t an option to throw a pie in the principal’s face, I still would have donated,” said Watkins. “It’s a good cause to donate to.”

At the game, anticipation built up as the crowd awaited the big moment when Gillotti would get pied.

“As I was walking down the crowd was clapping and going crazy because the principal was about to get pied,” said Watkins. “I was nervous to throw the pie because I wanted to throw it hard, but I didn’t want to hurt him. It was super fun though. After I threw the pie, Gillotti joked around with me, and then the next day he came up to me and told me ‘good job’ and that the pie tasted good. It was a great experience.”

The Varsity volleyball team raised a grand total of $1,500. All of the money went to the American Cancer Association.

“After I asked a few questions about what was going to happen, I agreed to let a student throw a pie at me,” said Gillotti. “I am willing to take some hits to look silly for a little bit as long as it is for the right reason.”

Story/Spread by Olivia Rezac

there’s a time and place for

Money for a Cause

STAC (Students Together Against Cancer) sold pink wristbands to raise money for their club and to raise awareness for breast cancer. Each wristband that STAC sold was $1. STAC raised a total of $250 to put to-wards their goal of $2,000 for the year. All of the money that STAC raised went to families who had a member with cancer. “We have received letters from families thanking us for giving them the money because it has helped them to keep their electricity on,” said Jason Thomson. Families filled out an application and then UNL helped pick those to award the money to.“I think it is really important to raise money for people with cancer because we don’t pay for their treatment,” said junior Jonah Payne. “We pay for their utilities, like their lighting, heating and water. It’s a great feeling.” With the $2,000 that STAC raised for the year, they split up the money and gave it to five different families. Each family got $400 to put towards anything they wanted.

STAC Goes Pink

Talon Staff

Talon Staff

remember that time

Out with the Old

In October, the cheer teams got out their pink pom poms to show their support for Breast Cancer Aware-ness month. For the past four years the cheer teams had been using the same pink pom poms when cheering at different sporting events. The cheer teams sold pink “Win The Battle” t-shirts to help purchase new pom poms, and they donated money to the Susan G. Komen foundation, which helped try to find the cure for breast cancer. The cheerlead-ers sold the shirts to students and staff and were able to raise a total of $1, 200. From that total they donated $360 to the Susan G. Ko-men foundation and put $240 of the earnings towards buying the new pom poms. “There weren’t enough of the pink pom poms from last year for everyone on the team and they were gross and sweaty,” said junior Hannah Davis. “It was easy to sell the t-shirts to raise money for the pom poms; it was easier than we all expected.”

Cheer Gets New Pom Poms

pie for a cause

new this time around

People were grabbing at flags, stiff-arming, and swatting at footballs flying through the air, trying to get the touchdown. Pink streamers were hung up on the fences on the Southwest football field, cones were put up to mark the shortened field and five minutes was on the clock to mark the halves of the game. The first Powderpuff Football game was in full swing.

National Honor Society members, seniors Caitlin Carson and Logan Altrichter, worked on their service project to get ready for the game. Their objective was to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

“We began a proposal for administration in the beginning of September and continued to revise it. More girls signed up than we thought would, and we were able to put them all on teams they would enjoy,” said Carson.

The three teams gathered to warm up and then they were taught how to play football by referee Mitch Vernon. It seemed simple until a blitz was explained.

“When he explained that we could blitz no one knew what he was talking about, so we all just kind of looked at each other. Then jounalism teacher Brandi Benson said, ‘I don’t think they know what a blitz means’ and we all said, ‘yeah we have no idea,’” said senior Amanda Krushenisky.

Then came Team Pink against Team Grey. The few passes that were thrown were seldom caught and were mostly incomplete passes.

“It was difficult learning all the rules and trying to follow them in the middle of a play, but it was fun to try something new and actually be like a guy,” said senior Alisha O’Shea.

All the teams fought for a spot in the championship game, but only two of the three teams could made it. Acquiring the spots were Team Black, having a record of 2-0, and Team Pink, having a record of 1-1.Team Grey lost both of their games making their chance at the championship match nonexistant.

“The game was interesting. My team was horrible and most of the time we had no idea what we were doing. I feel like if we knew the game better we would have done a better job. It was still a lot of fun, but it sucked losing,” said senior Bailey Koehlmoos.

The final game was close the whole way through. Team Pink started out strong in the first half running their first possession in for a touchdown. By halftime the score was within five points. Team Black pulled ahead in the second half of the game and won.

“The last game was really close, so we just had to run out the clock. I was nervous and really wanted to win, but I didn’t really feel like we would loose though. The game was really fun,” said sophomore Shelbi Larson.

Tuff Enuff for Powderpuff

CATCH LIKE A GIRL.Sophomore Britny Davis catches the ball thrown to her and runs it in for a touchdown. This was Davis’ first time playing any form of football and her team won all three of their games. “I didn’t think I was going to catch any of the balls thrown to me,” said Davis. “I thought I was going to miss them and have them hit me in the face.”

Talon Staff

FOR THE TOUCHDOWN.Senior Caitlin Carson runs the ball down the field trying to get a touchdown for her team. The team she was on ended up losing both games, ending with a record of 0-2. “It was a lot of fun playing in the powderpuff game and it was super funny,” said Carson. “We would try to catch the ball or pull a flag and would completely miss or slip and fall while running.”

Talon Staff

Makenzie Waller

050-051_October2.indd All Pages 3/1/16 1:53 PM

Alek Duncan

YOU JUST GOT PIED.Sophomore Will Watkins throws a pie in Principal Mike Gillotti’s face. The chance to pie the principal in the face was one of the reasons that Watkins donated. “I didn’t think I was going to win,” said Watkins. “But it was pretty great to throw a pie in Mr. Gillotti’s face.”

Alek Duncan

Makenzie Waller

facial for a cureGillotti Gets Pied

Alek Duncan

050 october 051

STILL CHEESING.Principal Mike Gillotti smiles big after getting a pie thrown in his face. Gillotti was the first principal in the school’s history to ever get a pie thrown in their face by a student. “The pie was cold, but it was a good cause,” said Gillotti. “Kids had fun with it, my family had fun with it and I am always willing to be flexible for something that helps raise money.”

FOR THE WIN.Senior Melissa Crew wins a prize to Sam and Louie’s from the serving game. Crew was one of the many people who donated and partook in the activity between the JV and Varsity volleyball games against East. “I paid the volleyball moms $1 to serve one of the balls at a prize,” said Crew. “I ended up hitting a pizza box to Sam and Louie’s and won a $15 gift card.”

It was simple. The Varsity volleyball team would raise money for the American Cancer Association (ACA). But the idea would not have become a reality without the Varsity volleyball coach Mary Schropfer, the volleyball team and the booster parents.

“I was all in favor for the girls to raise money for the ACA,” said Schropfer. “Even though they were trying to raise money, the team was still ready for the game against East.”

Flyers were handed out to teachers and posters were hung up throughout the school to inform students and staff of the volleyball plan for the ACA. The team sold pink bead necklaces and collected loose change from the students and faculty before and after school, and also after lunch. Then at the game, the booster parents held a serving game, where people could donate $1 to attempt to serve a ball and hit a prize.

“We had a jar for the change and we went around at lunch to ask students if they would donate,” said sophomore Joycin Stonacek. “A lot of people came and donated to the cause.”

Principal Mike Gillotti agreed to have a pie thrown in his face by a student if the team raised $500. All the students had to do to get entered into the drawing was to donate to the cause.

“It was a good way to influence people to donate,” said Stonacek. “It was fun too.”

Before the Varsity game against East, the winner of the drawing to throw the pie in the principal’s face was an-nounced. The lucky winner was sophomore Will Watkins.

“Even if there wasn’t an option to throw a pie in the principal’s face, I still would have donated,” said Watkins. “It’s a good cause to donate to.”

At the game, anticipation built up as the crowd awaited the big moment when Gillotti would get pied.

“As I was walking down the crowd was clapping and going crazy because the principal was about to get pied,” said Watkins. “I was nervous to throw the pie because I wanted to throw it hard, but I didn’t want to hurt him. It was super fun though. After I threw the pie, Gillotti joked around with me, and then the next day he came up to me and told me ‘good job’ and that the pie tasted good. It was a great experience.”

The Varsity volleyball team raised a grand total of $1,500. All of the money went to the American Cancer Association.

“After I asked a few questions about what was going to happen, I agreed to let a student throw a pie at me,” said Gillotti. “I am willing to take some hits to look silly for a little bit as long as it is for the right reason.”

Story/Spread by Olivia Rezac

there’s a time and place for

Money for a Cause

STAC (Students Together Against Cancer) sold pink wristbands to raise money for their club and to raise awareness for breast cancer. Each wristband that STAC sold was $1. STAC raised a total of $250 to put to-wards their goal of $2,000 for the year. All of the money that STAC raised went to families who had a member with cancer. “We have received letters from families thanking us for giving them the money because it has helped them to keep their electricity on,” said Jason Thomson. Families filled out an application and then UNL helped pick those to award the money to.“I think it is really important to raise money for people with cancer because we don’t pay for their treatment,” said junior Jonah Payne. “We pay for their utilities, like their lighting, heating and water. It’s a great feeling.” With the $2,000 that STAC raised for the year, they split up the money and gave it to five different families. Each family got $400 to put towards anything they wanted.

STAC Goes Pink

Talon Staff

Talon Staff

remember that time

Out with the Old

In October, the cheer teams got out their pink pom poms to show their support for Breast Cancer Aware-ness month. For the past four years the cheer teams had been using the same pink pom poms when cheering at different sporting events. The cheer teams sold pink “Win The Battle” t-shirts to help purchase new pom poms, and they donated money to the Susan G. Komen foundation, which helped try to find the cure for breast cancer. The cheerlead-ers sold the shirts to students and staff and were able to raise a total of $1, 200. From that total they donated $360 to the Susan G. Ko-men foundation and put $240 of the earnings towards buying the new pom poms. “There weren’t enough of the pink pom poms from last year for everyone on the team and they were gross and sweaty,” said junior Hannah Davis. “It was easy to sell the t-shirts to raise money for the pom poms; it was easier than we all expected.”

Cheer Gets New Pom Poms

pie for a cause

new this time around

People were grabbing at flags, stiff-arming, and swatting at footballs flying through the air, trying to get the touchdown. Pink streamers were hung up on the fences on the Southwest football field, cones were put up to mark the shortened field and five minutes was on the clock to mark the halves of the game. The first Powderpuff Football game was in full swing.

National Honor Society members, seniors Caitlin Carson and Logan Altrichter, worked on their service project to get ready for the game. Their objective was to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

“We began a proposal for administration in the beginning of September and continued to revise it. More girls signed up than we thought would, and we were able to put them all on teams they would enjoy,” said Carson.

The three teams gathered to warm up and then they were taught how to play football by referee Mitch Vernon. It seemed simple until a blitz was explained.

“When he explained that we could blitz no one knew what he was talking about, so we all just kind of looked at each other. Then jounalism teacher Brandi Benson said, ‘I don’t think they know what a blitz means’ and we all said, ‘yeah we have no idea,’” said senior Amanda Krushenisky.

Then came Team Pink against Team Grey. The few passes that were thrown were seldom caught and were mostly incomplete passes.

“It was difficult learning all the rules and trying to follow them in the middle of a play, but it was fun to try something new and actually be like a guy,” said senior Alisha O’Shea.

All the teams fought for a spot in the championship game, but only two of the three teams could made it. Acquiring the spots were Team Black, having a record of 2-0, and Team Pink, having a record of 1-1.Team Grey lost both of their games making their chance at the championship match nonexistant.

“The game was interesting. My team was horrible and most of the time we had no idea what we were doing. I feel like if we knew the game better we would have done a better job. It was still a lot of fun, but it sucked losing,” said senior Bailey Koehlmoos.

The final game was close the whole way through. Team Pink started out strong in the first half running their first possession in for a touchdown. By halftime the score was within five points. Team Black pulled ahead in the second half of the game and won.

“The last game was really close, so we just had to run out the clock. I was nervous and really wanted to win, but I didn’t really feel like we would loose though. The game was really fun,” said sophomore Shelbi Larson.

Tuff Enuff for Powderpuff

CATCH LIKE A GIRL.Sophomore Britny Davis catches the ball thrown to her and runs it in for a touchdown. This was Davis’ first time playing any form of football and her team won all three of their games. “I didn’t think I was going to catch any of the balls thrown to me,” said Davis. “I thought I was going to miss them and have them hit me in the face.”

Talon Staff

FOR THE TOUCHDOWN.Senior Caitlin Carson runs the ball down the field trying to get a touchdown for her team. The team she was on ended up losing both games, ending with a record of 0-2. “It was a lot of fun playing in the powderpuff game and it was super funny,” said Carson. “We would try to catch the ball or pull a flag and would completely miss or slip and fall while running.”

Talon Staff

Makenzie Waller

050-051_October2.indd All Pages 3/1/16 1:53 PM

comeback on the court

William Gleasonsingles player

4015

1st

total wins

at State

total aces

Ian Cuevas

Ian Cuevas

Ian Cuevas

APPROACHING THE NET.Sophomore Duncan Works comes to the net to prepare to hit the ball. Works and his doubles partner, junior Lucas Dionisopoulos, made it to State and placed second in number one doubles. “The best thing about the tennis season was being with my teammates and getting second at State,” said Works. “The worst thing about the season was running at practices.”

SERVING IT UP. Junior Lucas Dionisopoulos serves the ball to his opponent from East. Dionisopoulos had one of the best serves on the team and kept enhancing it throughout the season. “I enjoy serving because I feel like I have a pretty big serve,” said Dionisopoulos. “It’s fun to bomb them into people or to hit them at the person at the net on the opposite side if they are being annoying.”

118 sports 119boys tennis

BACK ATCHA. Senior Baolong Truong returns the ball cross court. Truong started playing tennis with his sister and parents in second grade and had been playing the sport ever since. “It depends on where you are,” said Truong. “But I will usually hit the ball cross court when I need time to recover and get back to the center of the court.”

Varsiy Boys Tennis Team Beats OddsThe Varsity boys tennis team had all new

members fill the number two singles, one double, and two doubles spots. The team was ranked fifth in the state at the beginning of the season, and the chances of them playing at State were low.

“I don’t think anyone thought that we would finish where we did,” said coach Dennis Hershberger. “In several of the big tournaments we placed third and fourth.”

Working throughout the season, the team kept growing and getting better at practices and in the matches that they played throughout the season. Sophomore William Gleason, number one singles player, worked hard to try to defy the odds put up against him and his team. There was no better place than at State to beat the odds.

“I was playing pretty well up to State,” said Gleason. “I felt like I was going to do well.”

Going into State, Gleason had a 40-2 record for the season. He felt confident for most of matches that he played at State. It wasn’t until the second set of the final match against Creighton Prep that he started to get nervous. Gleason was down in the set and didn’t know if he would be able to come back in enough time to win.

With a change in his mindset, Gleason came back with strong and strategic plays and won the match, and was ultimately able to win the game. Gleason placed first at State and beat all of the odds stacked against him at the beginning of the season.

“When I first heard that I placed first, I was really glad,” said Gleason. “It wasn’t until after, that it was a shocker. It was a new experience for me and I liked it.”

Junior Lucas Dionisopoulos and sophomore Duncan Works were runner ups for number one doubles at State.

“It felt good getting second at State because we did well,” said Dionisopoulos. “But you just always remember you are the first loser.”

Junior Hank Massey, number two singles player and junior Drew Hedstrom, along with sophomore Caleb Bowman, number two doubles players ended up making it to the quarterfinals at State.

“Our season went well,” said Hedstrom. “We were able to support and get our team to second.”

The Varsity team placed second at State with the number of points that they earned throughout the day. Their ranking would not have been possible without all of the hard work and effort put into the practices, and without the undeniable support of their coach.

“To end up second, I think the boys and how they came together helped them to over achieve,” said Hershberger. “They snuck up and it was great.”

Story/Spread by Olivia Rezac

REACHING FOR THE WIN. Sophomore Caleb Bowman tries to get the ball using to his opponent using his backhand during the Varsity triangular against Creighton Prep and Papillion-La Vista South. Bowman worked throughout the season on improving his backhand shot. “I don’t like hitting backhand shots as much as I do forehand shots,” said Bowman. “I am not as powerful and I am not able to hit the ball as hard.”

READY FOR ACTION. Junior Drew Hedstrom waits for the Kearney player to serve. Hedstrom played number two doubles throughout the season and also played number two doubles at State. This was Hedstrom’s third year playing tennis for the school and his first year on Varsity. “I dislike sitting and waiting for the ball,” said Hedstrom. “I would rather be getting into the match and applying what I have learned in practice to what I am doing in the games.”Riley Moody

Sami Warrior

Ian Cuevas

EYES ON THE PRIZE. Junior Hank Massey prepares to hit a serve to his opponent from Kearney during the regular season. Massey played number two doubles and made it to the quarterfinals at State. Unfortunately, Massey ended his season by losing to Southeast in the quarterfinals.

Ian Cuevas

118-119_BoysTennis.indd All Pages 3/1/16 1:54 PM