Inside this issue...

The WarriorNiskayuna High School

a student-run publication since 1974, now weekly

February 10, 2006 Volume 32, Issue 17

Photo courtesy metmuseum.org

BY JULIETTE PRICE

NEWS

Friday, February 3, 2006, the French and Latin clubs took a joint field trip to The Clois-ters in New York City. The Cloisters is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is devoted to the architecture and art of medieval Europe. The 13th century abby, transported brought to Manhattan’s Tryon Park from France was completely re-constructed. The buildings now include parts from five medieval cloisters from the south of France. The fin-ished buildings now included a garden planted in accordance with horticultural information which were derived from poetry, notes, and tapestries which were found in the original buildings. Over five thousands works of art reside in the Cloisters, some dating back as

far back as 800 A.D. The advisers of both the French and Latin

clubs, Jane Ainslie and Meghan Miller, re-spectively, had previously visited The Cloisters and decided that taking students to see the amazing exhibition was a worthy goal.

The focus at The Cloisters is on the Roman-esque and Gothic periods of art. The Cloisters also contain manuscripts, stained glass, ivo-ries and world-renowned tapestries. Several of the galleries are also allowed online.

Among other interesting objects that the students were able to see was a sarcopha-gus of a knight, a gothic chapel and original tapestries. The entire idea of putting these exhibitions in a cloister is to add to the ambi-ance of the experience.

Several world famous tapestries reside in The Cloisters. The series of seven tapes-tries are hanging in the galleries. Very little is know about their origins, but they are thought to be designed in Paris circa 1465.

The tapestries were then woven in Brussels and may have existed with other sets of wo-ven tapestries. They are hailed by critics to be the most beautiful and complex works to have survived the Middle Ages. The series is known as “The Hunt of the Unicorn” and were made from wool, silk and metallic threads. The tapestries are incredibly detailed and contain 101 species of plants, of which 85 have been identified.

“The tapestries were just magnificent. The colors were still beautiful and they have obviously been beautifully preserved,” said Ainslie.

After having a guided tour of the museum, the students were allowed to roam the muse-um freely. After leaving the museum, students ate at the Café 123. The French bistro showed the students the typical French meal.

“I would certainly go back,” Ainslie said when asked if she would return in future years.

Students visit medieval Cloisters

Niskayuna students celebrate the Chinese New Year,page 2

Writer reviews the 2006 State of the Union Address,page 4

The pressures of being an athlete at Niskayuna,page 7

WHO MOVED MY CLOISTER?: (above) Visitors to the Cloisters in New York City walk around the gardens and enjoy the unique architecture and art. The original abbey was located in France, but was relocated to and reconstructed in Manhattan.

2 February 10, 2006 The WarriorNews

Happy Chinese New Year: Year of the DogBY EVAN BALLAN

NEWS

Last Sunday, millions of Americans had one thing on their minds: the biggest football game of the year. At The Egg Theater, how-ever, in the heart of Albany, another kind of gathering took place on Superbowl Sunday. Hundreds gathered from around the Capital Region to partake in the Chinese New Year festivities, a celebration of cultural diversity and international friendship.

From leg kicks to magic tricks, the four-hour variety show contained several different performances and acts, and not only from Chinese culture. Performances also included Polish and Mexican dances, and American magic.

The show included a number of perfor-mances featuring several Niskayuna students. Seniors Jean Qiao and Lynna Gu and juniors Boyang Zhou and Richard Liu were among those who performed. Many Niskayuna students and even a few teachers were in

attendance to support their friends and to enjoy the show.

“Despite not being able to understand Chinese, I thought that the presentations were very entertaining. The proctors and the performers did their best to make the show ap-peal to an audience of many different cultural backgrounds,” commented Niskayuna senior Matt Conlon, one of the audience members at the show.

Organized by the Chinese Community Cen-ter (CCC), an organization founded to promote and celebrate Chinese culture in the Capital Region, the celebration had been held annu-ally for years before, but had been located at Shaker High School. This year’s celebration marked the first time that the show was held in The Egg, and it was overall viewed as a success. Turnout was high and the audience seemed amused and entertained.

The show began at 2:00 in the afternoon, and ended just before 6:00, ensuring everyone got home in time to watch the kick-off.

Band-Aid healing sore notesBY JOANNE QIAO

NEWS

On Friday March 17, Niskayuna High School’s ACTIONS (Association of Christian Teens In Our Niskayuna Schools) will be hosting the annual Band-Aid concert. So far, 12 interested bands have submitted demo tapes. The bands include a variety of student bands and even a teacher band that consists of teachers from all over the school district. These musical and talented teachers include Peter Warren, James Owens, and David Fisk. Four teachers from Birchwood Elementary School are planning on participating as the “Birchettes.” The officers of ACTIONS along with club co-adviser, Linda Borges will meet together over the weekend to make the dif-

ficult decision of choosing the six bands which will perform in the event. To make the decision as fair as possible, the committee will be listening to the bands blinded.

The layout of Band-Aid is very unique and effective. The two stages allow the bands to perform consecutively and without long pauses that would otherwise be needed for set-up and disassembling bands.

The proceeds will go to Anderson Sau, a young teenager ACTIONS sponsors as a club. Anderson is 14 years old and lives in the South American country of Columbia. ACTIONS holds many fund-raising events throughout the year in order to provide Anderson with school supplies, his soccer uniform, etc. Members in the club correspond with him

regularly via writing letters. ACTIONS is still looking for students who

are skilled in electronics and capable of break-ing down bands, setting up the equipment, and assembling wires. Also, any teachers who would be willing to chaperone the event would be appreciated.

“[Band-Aid] is a real friendship thing,” says club-adviser Linda Borges. Dinner is provided for all bands playing, as well as students helping with electronics, and chaperones. In past years, there has been general respect and enthusiasm among the audience. There is a wide variety of music, ranging from rock ‘n roll to modern rock music. “There is something for everyone” commented Borges.

Warrior photo / Juliette Price

HAPPY NEW YEAR: Chinese fortune cookies are often associated with luck. Luck is a major part of celebrating the new year. This year is the year of the Dog.

others that include his original compositions. Tynan’s appearance will be spon-sored by the Niskayuna Friends of Music.

During his two days i n N i s k a y u n a , T y n a n w i l l b e pract ic ing with all of the jazz e n s e m b l e s a n d w i l l hold impro-visation and t e c h n i q u e w o r k s h o p s with the middle school and high school bands. On the evening of Jazz Fest, he will be directing the

3February 10, 2006The Warrior News

Professional musician to play at NHSBY JORDAN CAMPO

NEWS

The N iskayuna High School Jazz Ensemble Stage Band and the Middle School Jazz Ensemble will be per-forming for Jazz Fest 2006 on February 16.

In addition to these three ensembles, the event will feature Paul Tynan, who is a trumpet player, recording artist, and composer. An assis-tant professor of Jazz Studies, Tynan currently teaches at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He instructs students in trumpet playing, music arranging , and improvisa-

tion, and directs the St. Francis Xavier Jazz Ensemble.

Tynan. He is a gradu-ate of the University of North Texas and SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, and is

a member of the Gram-my-nominated group

The One O’clock Lab Band.

In 2000, Tynan won the presti-gious Down Beat

Magazine student music award for the

best jazz instrumental solo. His music can be heard on several record-ings, including two of his own CDs, as well as

BY IAN DAVIS

NEWS

Next spring, the Niskayuna High School drama club will be performing the play Cyrano De Bergerac. For the second year in a row, a play will be performed in the spring

Drama club to feature spring playunder the direction of senior Juliette Price and the advisory of Bruce Allen.

The play was written in 1987 by Edmond Rostand. Rostand was born in Marseilles, France in 1868. He earned a law degree but eventually began writing plays for theaters.

He was very successful early in his career and his first play, Le Gant Rouge, was pro-duced when he was only 20 years old. His next two plays followed shortly and were both big successes. Each new play proved better than the last and Rostand became famous quickly.

Cyrano de Bergerac was Rostand’s best work. Unlike his other pieces of theater which were grim and realistic, Cyrano is a historical romance set in the 1640s. The passionate love story intertwined with comedy, action, and a tragic ending has come together to make the story a truly great one.

After Rostand’s huge success with Cyrano, his career declined and he died in 1918. Many films have been produced around the play.

Rostand’s use and reference of other plays and literary pieces has made the play fun and interesting for all generations.

The Drama Club will begin auditions in March, right after the musical has ended. For anyone interested in helping with the set construction, there will be a week-long construction workshop beginning next week. Anyone is welcome and it will be held in the little theater.

“I’m very excited for this production. It’s definitely going to be the biggest thing NHS Drama has ever seen – a seventeenth cen-tury play, set in France, a 19 member cast, five scene changes, plenty of costumes, and good jokes. I know we have the talent for this production so I’m sure it’ll be great. I hope everyone comes out to see it,” said Price.

groups and will play solos with the High School Jazz

Ensemble. “We’re all really excited to play

with him,” commented Niskayuna High School Jazz Ensemble director David Fisk. The music

groups will also be playing some of Tynan’s composi-tions.

The concert will take place on Thursday, February 16 at 7 p.m. in the Niskayuna High School Auditorium. Admission is free and the

concert is open to the public. “It’s going to be cool— everyone should go,” said freshman Co-lin MacCormack.

EDITORIAL POLICIES

Letters to the editor are welcome from all members of the school community, and can be delivered toWarrior staff or sent via

email to: thewarrioropinion@gmail.com. The Warrior reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, length, and content.

Signed opinion articles express the opinions of their creators. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus of the paper’s edito-rial board, consisting of the Opinion section and the Editors-in-

Chief.

The op-ed pages are a forum for students’ opinions and ideas.

The WarriorNiskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY, 12309

http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/nhs/warriorEditors-in-Chief:Julia NapolitanoJeremy WolosNews:Evan Ballan, EditorIan Davis, EditorJuliette Price, EditorKaterina Gross, Asst.Laura Isabella, Asst.Joanne Qiao, Asst.

Opinion:Leanne Merrill, EditorJosh Xiong, EditorLeo Brown, Asst.Steph Kaylor, Asst.Entertainment:Sarita Upadhyay, EditorTim Vo, EditorAdam Evans, Asst.

Sports:Caitlin Horgan, EditorGavin Labate, EditorJoyce Dadekian, Asst.Josh Kovler, Asst.Magazine:Jean Qiao, EditorAlex Rivadeneira, EditorLyndsi Holmes, Asst.Emily Payton, Asst.Rachel Naparstek, Asst.

Additional Staff:Eric Zhou, Copy EditorSteve Chao, Distribution ManagerChris Nelson, Graphics ManagerErik Donhowe, Business ManagerMichael LaJeunesse, Web ManagerAdvisors:James EdgarRussell McDowell

For a one-year subscription to The Warrior, please send a check for $25.00 to: The Warrior, c/o Niskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309.

4 February 10, 2006 The WarriorOpinion

BY JOSHUA XIONG

OPINION

It seems (and this hypothesis is based on very limited infor-mation) to be acknowledged but unofficial dogma among conservative teens who want to maintain social respectability that liking president Bush is a big no-no. I myself have long tried to suppress any enthusiastic ap-proval for Bush’s policies (Iraq, democracy in the Middle East, tax cuts, Social Security reform) when talking about politics with my peers, often tempering my rhetoric by criticizing some of his social policies. But having viewed the recent State of the Union address, I’ve come to the conclusion it was high-time Bush received some public praise from one member of the teenage population.

This praise is due to the fact that the 2006 State of the Union was among the better and more enjoyable ones I’ve seen. Though flawed in certain areas, it was for the most part uplifting and even entertaining (I would even say I enjoyed it more than the Daily Show’s post-address satire). The following is an address of highlights of his speech.

Foreign Policy: Though over-whelmingly focused on the Middle East, from Iran to Iraq to Palestine, this part of the speech merits an enthusiastic thumbs up. Bush rightly prom-ised to stick to the current policy of troop-draw down based on di-minished Iraqi need and positive military assessment, censured Iran on its destabilizing and

self-alienating nuclear program, and encouraged Hamas to reject its pre-election ideology. I have long argued that to abandon Iraq at such critical moments is to leave many well-intentioned and innocent people to either die or live in misery under the theocratic rule of Islamic fun-damentalists (Al-Qaeda af-filiated or oth-erwise). More importantly, the focus on democracy, car-ried over from his second in-augura l

a d d r e s s , was very much welcomed. He spoke of authoritarian regimes in the world as dominant force in creating terrorism, correctly

declaring that they “shelter ter-rorists, and feed resentment and radicalism, and seek weapons of mass destruction.” No doubt the Saudi symbiotic relationship with Wahaabist fundamentalists, the Egyptian government’s failure

and unwillingness to provide basic facilities to citizens,

and Iran and Saddam-era Iraq’s pursuits for nuclear weapons are respective testaments to those accusations

(all four governments are or were authori-tarian in nature). It’s been long overdue that politicians sat down

and had a candid conversa-

t i o n

with the American p u b -lic on the roots and causes of the kind of terrorism that threatens our security. Hopefully, Bush’s speech will encourage more

elected leaders to do just that.

The Economy: Bush first started off with an overall theme of economic freedom, condemning any short-sighted tendencies for protectionism (the same eco-nomic policy that contributed enormously to the start of the Great Depression), calling for free trade and a willingness to par-ticipate in competitive markets. Some might view his comments as antiquated, for America has been a champion of free trade since the end of World War II. In light of a more economically prosperous but insecure world of globalization, however, and the Democratic Party’s hijacking by leftist ideologues who long for a welfare state that has for the most part caused Europe to have double-digit unemployment figures, Bush was right in driving away any potential for protection-ist tendencies. On the issue of immigration, it was heartening to see Bush endorse immigration re-form through easier methods for illegal immigrants already within the US to achieve legal status through guest-worker programs and better enforcement of the border to prevent a greater influx. Finally, though Social Security privatization failed in 2005, it was very reassuring that Bush has remained rationally determined to save America from a loom-ing pensions and entitlements crisis (a frighteningly real crisis that we teenagers will eventually have to pay for) by proposing a

CONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE, [PRESIDENT]

State of the Union Address

Warrior art / Chris Nelson

5February 10, 2006The Warrior Opinion

BY JULIA SCHNELL

OPINION

As a new semester begins, all of us walking through the hallways share a responsibility to each other: to make the class- to-class journeys throughout the school day easier for all. Now, with the bond passed and plans for new ceiling repairs set for the future, we can have only a positive outlook on our hallway conditions in times to come— the states of our hallways are confident and strong!

Earlier this school year, many of you readers came across my cut-out diagram of proper hallway usage in the edition of The Silver themed “freshmen.” A slight murmur came my way, regarding its truth or fallacy— many, however, agreed with me that improvements could be made. I am proud at this point to report that our ability as a student body to properly nav-igate throughout our school has bettered! Fewer clusters of conversing students block the way of students and staff, particularly in the center of hallways and in front of doorways to cafeterias and classrooms. The concept of walking on the right-hand side has sunken into the part of our minds which guides our routine running from class to class.

Now is the time when I call

The State of the Hallways addressyou to add to our achievements, with more ideas to make daily hall travel easier and more en-joyable for us all.

Our system of using up down time is still in need of improve-ment— in being rejected from Media Center tables and having little space in the Cafeterias, many of us have taken to sit-ting along the edges of the halls, reading, studying, or just lazing about with friends.

Unfortunately, this relates back to our original problem of block-ing available walking space. In

the morning, before the Library even opens, many of us line the hallways, finishing assignments at the last minute. Those who don’t are filling Crossroads, standing in a group packed so tightly that oncoming traffic is prohibited from continuing on to their destinations. Perhaps consider congregating in smaller groups.

Public displays of affection also cause great discomfort to

those walking by them. This is not, as it has been suggested to me, an outcry coming solely

from those romantically unat-tatched, but from those who find such practices disrespect-ful and inappropriate for a school setting. Most commonly found on a day-to-day basis is what has been called by one teacher, “The Goodbye Kiss.” Students taking part in this, it seems, cannot bear the thought of being without their significant others for an entire 80 minutes of class, and so part

as if one or the other of the two are going off to war. School is meant to be a place of learn-ing, not of young romance, and to impose individuals’ sexual practices on others is an unnecessary source of distraction, and should be stopped unconditionally.

Lastly, before I send you off into the hallways with new thoughts in mind, I ask you, as a personal favor, please be mindful of what you say to your peers in the hallways. Even conversations among friends can be overheard by people who may be of-fended by off-color jokes or abusive remarks directed at specific groups of people. These seemingly small of-fenses can mean more than you might realize, so please watch yourselves.

And so we begin an excit-ing new semester. Walk hap-pily (and mindfully) through the halls.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE FOUR, [STATE]

bi-partisan commission to evaluate reform initiatives for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The move was both politi-cally smart and economically farsighted and pragmatic.

The Laundry List: Bush also made many small, yet innovative and practical propos-als to curb government spending, reduce corruption and pork, and help the average citizen in their daily life. The line-item veto that he wants us to pass is greatly appreciated in the face of the Abramoff

President’s agenda is impressive

HALLWAY REFUGEES: Some studious girls contribute to hallway congestion in the morning.

shooting itself in the foot by channeling oil revenues to corrupt dictators in the region, depriving them of any empower-ment in the face of demands for democratic reform and accountability.

So there you have it: an unabashed nod of approval towards a president and his practical agenda for the next two years.

Warrior photo / Julia Schnell

scandal, a testament to the Reagan-esque accusation that bigger government only proliferates problems for Americans and breeds the theft of taxpayer money for stupid pet projects. He has proposed mak-ing health-care mobile so that Americans won’t lose their health coverage when they lose or switch jobs, an idea both parties would agree is sound and smart. Finally, with his declaration of American oil ad-diction, he has promised to better fund fuel alternatives. This last proposal is small but significant: by reducing Ameri-can dependence on oil imported from the Middle East, America will no longer be

A L L O P I N I O N S e x p r e s s e d o n t h e o p - e d p a g e s r e p r e s e n t t h e i n d i v i d u a l v i e w p o i n t s o f t h e i r a u t h o r s . T h e c o n t e n t d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y r e p -r e s e n t t h e v i e w s o f T h e W a r r i o r , t h e h i g h s c h o o l , t h e s c h o o l d i s -t r i c t , o r t h e B o a r d o f E d u c a t i o n .

6 February 10, 2006 The WarriorEntertainment

Superbowl no longer about game

Movie of the WeekAnnapolis : Inside the Naval AcademyBY CAITLIN HORGAN

ENTERTAINMENT

There is no greater honor than to serve for your beloved country. Through the movie An-napolis, moviegoers catch a glimpse of a life at the famous United States Naval Academy. The tag line associated with the film is, “50,000 Apply. 1,200 Are Accepted. The Best Survive.” The film was made without the support of the U.S. Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense.

Director Justin Lin captures the drama and importance of Navy sports. Also, ac-tors James Franco, as Jake Huard, Tyrese Gibson, as Cole, and Donnie Wahlburg, as Lt. Cmdr. Burton, capture the essence of survival of the fittest at this extremely competitive school. Actress Jordana Brewster, as Ali, represents the female minority at the academy.

The young hopeful applicant to the Naval Academy is Jake, who is from the wrong side of the tracks. Before he attends the Academy, he is working at the shipyard with his father and is unhappy. His mother, who passed away, had always hoped her son

would attend this school. Jake never receives the support he needs from his father, until the very end of the film. As a result of the distrust, Jake decides not to quit and work harder than ever to prove he can last at the academy.

Not only did Jake’s father doubt he is good enough to stay at the Naval Academy, but

most of the people around Jake think he is not intellectually and mentally strong enough

to last. Cole, a tough marine, who is an of-ficer at Navy, does not believe Jake is good enough to make it and tells him so. Jake possesses the heart, drive, and motivation to become the best, so he ignores what Cole said. Jake finds comfort with his roommate and friend named Twins (Vicellous Shan-

non). Jake becomes inspired by Twins’ support and his willingness to help Jake with his education. Twins receives his nickname from the officers because he has to carry the weight of two people due to his extremely large size. Ali, an officer and romantic, also helps Jake achieve his goals of fighting against Cole at the Navy boxing tournament. Set against the backdrop of boxing at the Naval Academy, moviegoers see what it’s truly like to fight fierce competition.

This 108-minute flick is rated PG-13, so you won’t need a parent to get in. Yes, it is a decent move, but probably not one I would race to right away. Annapolis would make a good movie rental. However, James Franco

and Tyrese Gibson were effective actors who played their characters very well.

BY TIM VO

ENTERTAINMENT

The Superbowl. It means many things to many people. To some, it is a noble contest between two teams at the height of their craft, each vying for the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy (and bragging rights next season). To others, it is a nuisance, an overhyped and gratuitous show of wealth and bravado, filled with sweaty men patting each other on the poste-rior congratulating each other for “good hustle.” But to most, it is neither. Most people, honestly, don’t really care about football one way or the other. They don’t fol-low it during the regular season, and they couldn’t tell you Troy Polamalu from Shaun Alexander. They watch simply because it has become an American tradition, almost a holiday: a day for good food and funny commercials.

This fact made itself almost painfully evident to me watching

the game last Sunday. I’ve been watching the Steelers all season. I’ve been a Pittsburgh fan my entire life, having lived there for the first 14 years of my life. I’ve been to Steelers games as a kid, and some-where in my house, we have Myron Cope’s original Terrible Towel. If I lived in Pennsyl-vania, I would certainly vote for Lynn Swann for Governor next year. I watched through the pain of 2002 post-season, the pain of the entire 2003 season, the pain of the 2004 post-season, and the pain of the early 2005 season.

At some point this year, the Steelers clicked. Sometime be-tween being having a mediocre 7-5 record and beating the No. 1 seeded team in the American

Football Conference in what might have been the most exciting game I have ever seen, the Steelers be-came an amazingly good team.

I was darn excited. I spent the week leading up to the Superbowl on ESPN.com and SI.com, reading analyses, comparing statistics. I

was actually getting palpa-bly nervous.

Finally Su-perbowl Sun-day came . But, despite the fact that it was a good game and my team did fi-nally win their

first Superbowl in my lifetime, I was disappointed.

Between the Stones playing at halftime and Stevie Wonder’s revolving door of performers, between John Madden’s asinine commentary and the silly but

forgettable commercials, I felt like the game suffered. It was unlike any other game during the regular post-season, and maybe it should have been, seeing as how it is the most important game of the year. But maybe too many of the 125 million viewers that tuned in didn’t know anything about football.

The Superbowl is a football game, and from this humble Steelers fan’s perspective, it should be that first and foremost. I couldn’t really tell you what past Superbowls were like, seeing as how I only really started to un-derstand what on earth was going on a few years ago, but from old footage of past Superbowls and NFL films coverage of the great early Superbowls (Superbowl III comes to mind as an example), I get an unshakable feeling that the grandness of the production maybe has become a little too grand. Let’s focus, people. Let’s return to our roots.

Image courtesy moviesonline.comFOR HONOR AND COUNTRY: Jake Huard (James Franco) endures another intense training session led by Cole (Tyrese Gibson).

Image courtesy sportabroad.co.uk

7February 10, 2006The Warrior Sports

Love-hate relationship with pressureBY JOYCE DADEKIAN

SPORTS OPINION

As athletes we all face it, some of us more then others. There are sixty seconds on the clock and your team is down by one goal in a lacrosse game. You have a foul shot that could either win or cost the game. You are about to compete in the state swimming meet. As you stand on the field or the court or the swimming blocks consciously aware of every muscle in your body, you feel the weight of all you’ve worked for falling in on you.

The questions persist: does pressure help or hinder athletics? Does it elevate performance or squander potential? To get some answers I turned to some of the best of Niskayuna High School’s athletes.

Many times we’re only as good as our opponents. We are forced to try new tech-niques and methods and to push to new limits. After experiencing their first loss of the season in the state final last year to West Genesee, the Niskayuna High School boys lacrosse team will surely practice different techniques with those lessons in store.

Yet it’s also no coincidence that many foul shots are missed. While many pro-basketball players are ca-pable of shooting ball after ball from the same spot in during practice, far fewer are scored during actual games. Pressure, both internal and external, causes the loss of those valuable points.

Athletes identified four sources of pressure: coach-es, parents, teammates, and themselves. Nationally ranked and respected pole-vaulter senior Ashlee Atwell explained, “I think that while pressure does come from all angles, I tend to put the most on myself. I’ve gotten to a certain point where the standards I’ve set for myself require more than just a little work and it’s frustrating when I can’t quite reach them.”

Running superstar junior John Reilly says parental pressure does the most harm to athletic performance. “Parents all think that their kid is the best athlete in the world and put so many unfair expecta-tions on them. They get mad at their kids when they can’t do what they want them to, which makes the kid feel bad about him or herself and in turn worsens their perfor-mance because they no longer have fun in what they do and have no more confidence in themselves.”

Reilly also confesses a desire not to let others down. “Others put a lot of pressure on me because they expect me to perform well each time I go out onto the track which as I’ve proven on more than one occasion is not a task I am fully capable of.”

Junior Brooke Knowlton, a member of the U-17 national soccer team, said, “My parents are big on it with the whole college thing. It’s really nerve-wracking because at regionals there are a lot of college coaches watching every move so there’s even more pressure.”

Pressure has harmed athletic perfor-mance. Focus tends to be lost as desperation to win pushes out focus on performance. Describing Indoor Nationals for Track and Field, Reilly stated, “It was my first time ever going to a national meet. I was on an SMR, or Sprint Medley Relay. All of a sud-den I realized I would be running against the best kids in the country and there was no way I was going to be able to compete with any of them so when I finally got the baton I just wanted to pass the guy right in front of me. I did, but I didn’t run the race terribly intelligently and I went out too

fast and died terribly at the end.” The pres-sure of running with teammates counting on him and expectations of himself that Reilly wanted to live up to caused him to run a race not as smart as that of which he is capable.

In another example, a high level of anxi-ety and pressure also harmed senior Ben Hayashi’s ski performance. “It was my first varsity start and I was maybe putting a little more pressure on myself and I was nervous so not thinking clearly about the course. I crashed and dislocated my shoulder.”

Athletes also recognize, however, that there have been time when pressure led them to perform beyond their expectations.

You don’t feel the same before facing a team as a rival. You don’t kick the ball with the same care at tryouts for Niskayuna’s varsity soccer team as you do at tryouts for the national soccer team. Knowlton attested to the fact that pressure elevates her game. Competing at first at the state, then regional, and finally, national level, each performance holds a lot of weight. “As nerve-wracking as it is it’s so much fun. It’s really fun to meet and play with new people”

In Reilly’s school-record setting perfor-mance as the 400-meter leg of the distance medley relay squad at Outdoor Nationals; “Kyle [O’Connor] gave me the baton in second place. The guy in first place was a considerable distance in front of me but I was thinking to myself how cool it would be if I could pass that guy and get my team into first place at nationals. I ended up running a very smart race and passing the person with a hundred meters to go.” Clearly the thrill and pressure at performing at nation-als contributed to Reilly running one of the most remarkable races of his career.

Atwell described the feeling of intense nervousness, identifying the time before

she vaults as the most trying. “I start thinking too much. I start fretting about how I’m do-ing in comparison to everyone else...how many misses does so-and-so have? Did she clear the last height on her first or last attempt? Has she come in yet? The train of thought is endless. However, as soon as I step onto the runway, the nerves vanish. I know what I have to do and I’m focusing on nothing but my vault.”

Teams also feel the heat when under pressure. Working so hard together, no one wants to let the

team down. From personal experience, I get more nervous before running an 800 leg of the 4x800 relay then just the open 800. We desire to not let ourselves or our team down with our performances. The same is true with all team sports.

To some extent pressure is unavoidable. Some games, matches, or meets are more important than others. We all have expecta-tions that sometimes we fall short and need to rebound from. We can control to some extent the amount of external pressure we face.

The conclusion: the right kind of pres-sure applied in the right amount can yield success, though too much in any form is detrimental to athletes’ performances.

Warrior art / Caitlin Horgan

8 February 10, 2006 The WarriorSports

Nis

ky

Sc

or

eb

oa

rd

Season complete for indoor trackBY RJ KOSINESKI

SPORTS

For the boys and girls track teams, last weekend marked the Niskayuna-hosted En-gineer games at RPI and an end of the season wake-up call for those going to Sectionals and beyond. A small but eager group of track team members got on a bus at 7:30 the morning of Saturday, February 4, and mentally prepared for the tough day ahead (this included, for example, throwing things across the bus, trying to set up an Amped chugging contest, and deciding who is what seed on the Super Smash Brothers Melee tournament, which was to be held after the games).

Class A and B teams were there, yet Class A is the real track competition. This year Niskayuna had been moved out of Class B and into Class A, due to an impressive domination of sectionals in Class B every year; in many regards Niskayuna has been thanked by Class B teams for moving out of the class and giv-ing everyone else a chance. As Zach “Lucky” Malone recalled, as he prepared to run at Yale, a horde of kids were screaming “Class B loves Nisky.”

The Niskayuna team was especially excited this weekend for the boys 4 x 400 relay, which featured seniors Josh Gordon and Brandon Niezgo-da and juniors Kyle O’Connor and John Reilly. They man-aged to win the even by a large margin yet did not, as expected, break our school record. O’Connor in the 1600 meter run, however, won the event and set our new school record at 4:27.6. The boys 4 x 200 relay team was hoping to finish stronger then they did, yet they were placed in a slower heat than they should have been. Sophomore Aaron Staudinger, a member of this relay team, commented, “If we’d been in a heat with faster teams, we would have run faster because you’ve got someone to run against.” The heat they were in was completely dominated by them: they beat the other teams by almost half of the RPI indoor track, yet for the Meet they finished in sixth place and received medals. (A sixth place medal is es-sentially a bronze medal after it’s been set on fire and put out with an old t-shirt, for those wondering.) Overall, the boys team came in second behind Shenendehowa.

As for the girls team, they finished in a

strong seventh place, with some impressive performances. Seniors Ashlee Atwell and Jil-lian Gold each cleared 10’6” in the women’s pole vault, coming in at first and second in that event, to accompany Atwell’s close third place finish in the women’s 50 meter hurdles. Senior Julia Stori came in second in the triple jump with an impressive distance of 32’ 10.” The girls 4 x 200 relay consisted of sophomores Mary Corey, Alicia D’Alessandro, Kelsey Lamb, and freshman Joanna Clark, and came in fourth overall at the meet. Although the girls did have their disappointments, many did not finish as well as they would have hoped, resulting in the seventh place finish of their team. Many will be able to try to improve again at sectionals.

As for the track season as a whole, the coaches are confident that the teams are as fit as possible and that the rest of the season is “all mental.” The move from Class B to Class A has had positive and negative effects on the team’s self-esteem, but overall, the team is happy to be running with better schools.

It is also much more exciting for the myriad of de-voted track fans, who respect the competitiveness of a race without a ball involved.

At Yale, Nisky’s sprint medley re-lay team, which is a race consisting of a 200 meter dash, handing off to a 200 meter dash, to a 400 meter dash to and 800 meter dash,

altogether 1600 meters, ran the third best indoor time in the country at the time. Since then they’ve been bumped off the top 10 but will be sent to Nationals at the Armory track to try to fight (or, more appropriately, run) their way back onto the list. The team at Yale which ran that time consisted of juniors John Reilly, Kyle Moffit, and Kyle O’Connor and senior Matt Smith. It has yet to be determined whether that will be the same team sent to the Armory.

The track season is over for most partici-pants, and only those going to Sectionals or those who qualified for bigger meets are still running, jumping, throwing, or hurdling. The team will miss running in the halls, practic-ing at crossroads, and getting yelled at in the process. Class A Sectionals will be at SUNY Albany on February 11 at 10:30 a.m.

Warrior photo / Tim RyanJOGGING JOHNSTON: Senior Leslie Johnston runs in the middle of the pack at the Suburbans track meet.

Boys Basketballvs. Bethlehem Wvs. Colonie L

Girls Basketballvs. Bethlehem Lvs. Colonie L

Hockeyvs. Shenendehowa 3-1 Lvs. Saratoga 5-4 W

Wrestlingvs. Averill Park Wvs. Saratoga W

Boys Swimmingvs. Schenectady 168-138 W

Boys Indoor TrackEngineer Games: 2 of 21

Girls Indoor TrackEngineer Games: 7-21

Boys Alpine SkiingAheam Memorial Race: 3rd

Girls Alpine SkiingAheam Memorial Race: 6th

Girls Bowlingvs. Bethlehm L vs. Colonie L

Boys Bowling vs. Bethlehem Lvs. Colonie L