The boys on the Junior Varsity basketball team for the 2011-2012 season are Logan Chandler, John Hall, Deonte Banks, Gus Whitt, Eddie Waller, Andrew Morgan, Darius Carter, Bilal Marlowe, Jared Steigerwald, and Bradley Anderson. Usually the JV team is overlooked, but this year the JV squad is proving to everyone how good they really are.

Almost all of the players on the team started playing basketball when they were young.

“I started playing in the womb,” said current member of the team Bilal Marlowe.

Some of the boys picked up the game from seeing older family members playing and some watched college teams and professional teams. When the players see someone that is better than them, they try harder then they’ve ever imagined and it pays off in the end.

During team bonding the players joke around, listen to music, pump each other up, and learn more about each other. This helps them with their energy before the games.

“After the game I feel accomplished, but the job’s not done,” said another player, Andrew Morgan.

Before games, the Junior Varsity eats as a team, jokes as a team, and prepares for the game as a team. On the court they perform as a team.

On Friday, January 13, the team played against Eastern View High School. They were tied at half time and took control of the game after that. They refused to give up and finished the game with a score of 48-40.

The team had a lot of scorers with Bradley Anderson being the top scorer for the night, with 14 points. Darius Carter had the most rebounds for the Friday game. Bilal Marlowe took the crown by being player of the week for his leadership and hard work.

“After the Eastern View game, I thanked the lord,” said player John Hall.

The boys JV team have more games to play, and Spotsylvania High School fans can’t wait to see what they will do for the rest of this season.

This year, he’s doing a sport for every season: cross country, swim, and track.

For swimming, he competes in the 50 meter freestyle, the 500 meter dash, and 200 meter relay. For track, he competes in the 2 mile, the 1 mile, and the 800 meter. For cross country, Mejia received a junior varsity letter and two varsity letters, along with a varsity letter for track.

Mejia joined swim to build his work ethic and stay in shape.

“Every time I’m tired,” Mejia explained, “I think about my future and my dad to strive for the best.”

Mejia explained that his dad keeps him motivated. “I want to make him proud and show him that I want to go somewhere in life before he passes on,” he said.

Fellow track team mate Meridith Tucker had nothing but good things to say about Mejia. “He’s really friendly,” she said, ‘and a great person.”

Mejia enjoys his sports and his teammates thoroughly. For team bonding, they go out to eat and hang out when they’re not in school. During practice for swim, they play water polo, and for track and cross country, they play “Red Light, Green Light.”

Mejia also said that his sports are really different in a lot of ways.

“They’re honestly a lot different. Even cross country and track are a lot different than each other, even though they both have to do with running,” he said.

As far as staying determined, he said that he knows that “pain will always go away and you just have to keep going.”

He wants to prove people wrong and show everyone that he can be the best.

“Every day I set new goals so that I can achieve them, and go above and beyond,” Mejia said.

As far as his future, Mejia wants to go to University of Mary Washington and then be a personal trainer to keep others in shape.

“I want to be known for something and to go somewhere in life,” he said.

Kelly Thorne, a Spotsylvania High School cheerleader, risks her life every time she stunt.

Thorne explained that stunting is extremely dangerous but the excitement of being in the air is all worth it.

 “I think about the danger sometimes, but when you are in the air you have to trust your bases – Heather Mills, Meghan Garret, and Keri Ingalls – and you won’t think about being scared and getting hurt,” Thorne said.

Thorne explained how her bases are strong, and they barely drop her. “My bases don’t have drama much, so I always feel safe,” Thorne said.

Thorne used to be on the competition team until her mom believed it was getting too dangerous. The number one reason her mother made her quit was because her mother believed that when she was stunting, Thorne’s old bases would drop her.

“I was coming home in bruises, and my mom didn’t think it was worth getting hurt,” Thorne said.

Some of the stunts Thorne preformed were half’s, full’s, lib’s, air vest, full down.

Not everyone has the courage to get in the air, and not everyone can get in the air. Thorne explained that she was chosen to be a flyer because she fits the criteria. First, they mostly pick the smallest person who is not scared to be dropped; second, a flyer has to be able to get back up.

Thorne has background experience with gymnastics. She did gymnastics for five years, and she did stunts on beams and bars. Thorne believed the cheer stunt are easier compared to gymnastic stunts. Gymnastics gave her a background for cheer stunting.

Unlike Kelly Thorne, Lauren Gardener has no background knowledge with stunting.

Gardener has always wanted to be a flyer. She explained that she participated in Spotsylvania Parks and Recreation cheer for five years.

She played for the Chargers, and because it was a higher league she did some complicated stunts. Even though she did parks and recreation, she does not believe that prepared her for high school cheer. It did teach her what stunts looked like, however.

Sabrina Judy, a fellow cheerleader, said, “Kelly and Lauren have worked their way there. Even when we drop them, they get back up. I am Lauren’s base, and we barely drop her, but when we do she acts like nothing happen. Also, one time she got hurt, and she just brushed it off.”

Many students today are also athletes. Sometimes, completing work and turning it in on time while balancing athletics can be tough.

Stacy said he is sometimes stressed and very tired. He stays up late at night trying to finish homework that the average student could complete right when getting home. It takes hard work and dedication to balance academics and athletics.

Stacy is a three-sport athlete who plays football, baseball, and wrestling. He takes all advanced classes, which takes more time and effort due to extra work. Great time management skills are necessary to be successful.

Currently, Stacy wrestles for the high school team. He is a dedicated wrestler and tries to go the extra mile.

He said he has to maintain his weight for matches, which isn’t always easy to do. Sometimes, even after practice, he goes home and runs just to be certain he will be able to wrestle.

On top of doing all this, he has to complete all his assignments. He said it is overwhelming at times, but he wouldn’t change it if he had the chance.

 He admitted sometimes he forgets something every now and then, but he still manages to keep high grades. He gets most of his work in on time, even if he has to stay up late or finish it during flex.

Stacy said the pressure does put stress on him. “Sometimes when I want to come home and just sleep, it is frustrating having to do homework, but for the most part I enjoy keeping up with everything,” he said.

Adding in social life to school and sports can be difficult too. Stacy said that keeping up with everything occasionally does get in the way. He finds time for his friends at school during lunch and on the weekends. He spends time with his family on the weekends and after practice.

Student-athletes also get frustrated when people think they get extra treatment just because they are athletes. Stacy said student-athletes are not specially treated and work hard for everything they receive. He also explained that they don’t get to go home and sit around because they feel like it. They have to stay after for practice, work as hard as possible, then go home and do homework.

The boys swim team lost to JMHS but won against CHS.  The girls swim team lost to JMHS and CHS.

According to SHS junior Catherine Conley, the meet went well for the first meet of the year.  She said, “I know we are going to get better throughout the season.”

Other swimmers expressed positive thoughts about the rest of the season. “Yeah, we are going to be totally amazing. We are just getting started,” said Kevin Whelchel, a junior.

Senior Carlos Ramirez said, “Everyone has a hard time at their first meet. We also have a lot of new swimmers that will eventually improve their skills, so will the team.”

“One thing this the team does have is they all work together like a family. When I was swimming my 500 Free, I could hear every one cheering for me, and it made me feel like ten times better. And I think it was because of them I won my event,”  Kevin Whelchel said after he got out of the pool.

During the meet, the SHS swim team was cheering for their swimmers. “I swear I lost my voice tonight,” said Victoria Reynolds after the meet.

Several of the SHS swimmers placed in the top three in their events.  Boys 200 Medley Relay group of Nick Polanosky (sophomore), Jacob Balgoyen (senior), Christopher Cronin (freshmen), and Kevin Whelchel (junior) came in third and won in their heat.  Also the Girls 200 Medley Relay group of Victoria Reynolds (sophomore), Morganne McManus (freshmen), Maggie Suhling (senior) and Fallon Richards (sophomore) came in third place over all in their event and also came in first in their heat.

Top wins in the solo events of the night were Victoria Reynolds in the Girls 200 Free,  Maggie Suhling in the Girls 200 Individual Medley, and Kevin Whelchel in the Boys 500 Free.

Maggie Suhling qualified for states based on the times at the December 2meet. Suhling also won three events and helped her relay group to improve their time by 20 seconds.

Suhling is also very involved with the rest of the swim team. “Maggie is always willing to help anyone at practice,” Catherine Conley said with a laugh.

“First off, cross country is hard even for people that are experienced in cross country. The only thing that is hard in all my two years of cross country is that you run a lot. Other than that, cross country is easy. You just have the endurance and energy,” Kyle explained.

When Kyle prepares for cross country, he makes sure to stretch and runs a mile on weekends after practice. Kyle is a committed athlete, but also takes some time off on the weekends to talk with friends.

Not only does Kyle enjoy the thrill of competing, but he also creates a bond with his coaches and teammates.

“The relationship between me and the coaches is pretty good. If they give me a suggestion, I do it without question. I do get along with the teammates very well and they do get along with the coaches,” Kyle commented.

He explained, “If anyone wants to do cross-country in high school, I hope they are used to running over rough terrain and are used to running a length of a couple of miles. As I said before, cross country is a hard sport because how much you have to run. If you can handle the terrain and the distance we run, I think anyone can do this as long as they keep a positive attitude about it.”

Kyle said he will do cross country during his junior and senior years of high school. In the meantime, he is done with cross country and is getting ready to play soccer in the spring.

The Knight’s quarterback, Ashten Dixon, told The Free Lance-Star that he gave the credit for the win to his teammates. “If it wasn’t for the line and everybody stepping up tonight, we wouldn’t even be in this position right now,” he said.

Dixon and wide receiver Nick Perry connected for a total of 140 yards in touchdown passes. Coach Ben Lawrynas told the Free Lance-Star that he thought Perry was “playing great.”

Referring to a disappointing loss to Caroline High School on Monday night, Lawrynas told the FLS, “I got on them the other night, but they stepped up for us and did what they had to do.”

            The Knights were extremely stoked for their first game, fired up and ready to defeat the Eagles. John Merryman said, “I’m so hyped for the game.”

Clinton Ferguson had the same perspective of how the evening was going to turn out. He stated, “Washington & Lee doesn’t have a chance against us. We’re going to beat them, and I have no doubt about it. Our team needs this win, to prove to all of the people who hate on us wrong.”

During the game on Thursday night, the team started off extremely strong. They worked well together and were looking to have a good start for the season. Spotsylvania Knight Nick Perry carried the team with three touchdowns and Ferguson with one. Defense, also known as “Red Storm,” caused many fumbles, and, all together, the team had eight turnovers. The Knights were catching up to the Eagles in the third half, but unfortunately their hard struggle just wasn’t enough to defeat the team of well-built Eagles.

Ryan Smith said, “The score 41 to 27 didn’t mean anything to me at the end of the game. We played a good game, and gave it our all. That’s all I can really ask of our team, and if we keep working together and believe in ourselves, we will become winners.”

Captain Brannon Burch had some very inspirational words for his team: “The Spotsylvania Knight’s football team is misunderstood by many. We may not win every game, but every time we step out on that field, we give it our all. We work together more than just as a team, but more as a family, and in the end, no matter what the outcome of the game is, I will always be proud of my team.”

As Burch said, the Spotsy Knights are stepping up their game from last year. Every team has losses but the team is sure not to let them stand in their way of achieving greatness. People in the audience agreed that the Knights have showed that it’s not always about winning, it’s about working as a team and accomplishing the obstacles and stress that comes along with the responsibility of being on a sports team.

Spotsy made the first strike against Fluvanna, which helped the Knights retain momentum throughout the entire game.

Around the third quarter, Fluvanna began to fight back and scored their only touchdown. The Knights answered with several more touchdowns. With the crowd roaring, the night finally came to a victorious end for Spotsy.