Ryan Dugan talks about his experience at SME and what he sees in his future.

That new face to lead East’s football program is Dustin Delaney, former head coach of Emporia High School. Before being head coach at Emporia, Delaney was offensive coordinator at Hutchinson High, who won four state championships during his stay, and was the number one ranked offense in the country according to Massey ratings. While head coach at Emporia High school, Delaney’s overall record was 23-10, and turned around a program that had been struggling. With nine wins in 2012, Emporia recorded its most wins in a season since 1980. And during those three years at Emporia, his team recorded three playoff wins. Before this, Emporia had won three playoff games in the last 23 years.

Once Delaney interviewed for the job, the search committee knew that he would be able to step in and be successful in a program following a legendary coach like Chip Sherman. The committee felt that Delaney’s resume showed he had been successful wherever he had gone, and his energetic, commanding presence on the field displayed that Delaney will follow a new era of stardom in high school coaching. The committee also felt that Delaney was a great fit to Shawnee Mission East, and would be able to step in and take the reigns of the program.

Along with a new head football coach brings great change. Although the Lancers have been used to the spread offense for the last five years, Delaney will be implementing what he calls the “flexbone,” and is a variation of the triple option. Now, instead of the pass setting up the occasional run, Delaney’s new offense will feature a more upbeat attack using the run to set up the pass.

On the same day Delaney was hired, he held a meeting for the East players and for the upcoming season, giving the players information on his background, and his plans going into the summer.

The search committee feels that Dustin Delaney is the correct man for the job. One of the members of the search committee, head of Lancer the Gridiron Club, Jeff Spivak, displayed his hope for Delaney by expressing, “this guy has been successful everywhere that he has been and we have no doubt that he is going to be successful here too.”

The summer weights and camps dates are still to be determined and will be released soon.

Delaney, who graduated from Emporia State University, will be teaching weights and lifetime sports at East next year. He will have a meeting at 2:40 tonight to introduce himself to next year’s players.

Listen to an interview with senior Josh Light

The game began with a moment of silence dedicated to the memory of Tyler Rathbun. The girls’ soccer team is dedicating their entire season to Rathbun and are wearing armbands during playoffs. The blue armbands were handmade by the team and have “Ty” ironed onto them.

Within seconds of the start of the game, senior Addison Steiner was substituted out. Steiner missed 12 games her junior year with a MCL injury so her being substituted out so quickly was concerning. However, the team was still easily able to take control of the game. The team had many shots on goals but were often called offsides. Overall, the tempo of the game was much slower than usually played by the Lancers. East previously beat North 6-0 in league play and this was the first time the Lancers did not beat them in a mercy ruling. Around the 21 minute mark, Steiner was substituted back in and didn’t show any signs of injury.

Five minutes after being substituted back in, Steiner scored the first goal for the Lancers. She received a pass from senior Anna Colby at the 40 yard box, quickly dribbled around a SMN defender and easily put it in the back of the net.

Two minutes later, with 14 minutes left in the half, Steiner scored for the second time. This marked her 23 goal of her senior season, surpassing the boys’ soccer record of 22 goals, held by Rathbun. Steiner now holds second place of the East record of all-time active goals scored during a regular season for girls’ soccer. The girls’ record is held by Carrie Fry who scored 36 goals her senior year in 2001.

The team finished the half with a 2-0 lead. The team had many shots on goal throughout the game, including shots from juniors Victoria Sabates, Kelly Pidcoe and Emily Dodd.

The team started off the second half with a close shot that went just over the crossbar. The Lancers took numerous free kicks this half but were not able to capitalize on any of them. Colby, Steiner, Sabates and Pidcoe all had many shots on goal, as well as freshman Georgia Weigel. Weigel noticed that the North goalkeeper was out of position and launched the ball far from behind the 40 yard box. Unfortunately the shot was slightly wide.

With 18 minutes left in the game, senior Anna Sheridan received a pass from Steiner to score the third goal for the Lancers. Steiner dribbled down the field straight to the goalkeeper but at the last second, passed it off to Sheridan who only needed to tap the ball in to score. This put the Lancers up 3-0 with playtime quickly dwindling.

The Lancers were able to maintain possession of the ball for the rest of the game despite the increase of physicality from North. As the game was winding down, junior Victoria Sabates was able to catch the Indian defense off guard to score the Lancers’ last goal of the game. The Lancers increased the lead 4-0 with only 25 seconds left to play.

Despite the slower tempo, the Lancers were able to pull of a win. The team will be playing Blue Valley North in the regionals final on Field #3 at SMSC. Kickoff will start at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 17. Check back for updates on the team’s road to state.

Morgan

Tune in at 6 p.m. for the girls’ soccer regionals game against Shawnee Mission East High School.

Tune in at 6:30 p.m. for the graduation broadcast. Pre-show starts at 6:30 with the ceremony beginning at 6:50.

“It was a little scary,” coach Sue Chipman said. “Our second doubles team had to play a tough match against BVN.”

Play went back and forth in terms of who held the advantage. East would win one set, but then Blue Valley North would win the second.

“It could have gone either way honestly, but it went our way luckily,” Chipman said. “I think that [match] was the difference in the whole state title.”

If East and BVN had tied, the state championship would have been determined by percentage of games won and lost. Chipman believes that if it had gone to that, the team would have received second place overall instead of first.

“Trey Daniels, [BVN] singles player, won [singles] last year and won it this year,” Chipman said. “He doesn’t let many people win…. and we were lucky we won that match.”

This is Chipman’s seventh time coaching a boys team who has won state. She is planning on retiring from teaching this year but not from coaching.

The East boys’ lacrosse team became the Lacrosse Association of Kansas City (LAKC) City Champions on Friday, May 10 after beating the Pembroke Hill Raiders 10-6 at the Stanley H. Durwood Soccer Stadium and Recreational Field of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. This is the third year in a row that the team has won the city championship and the second year in a row beating Pembroke Hill for the championship.

Despite a slow start, sophomore Nic Bailey was able to get the first goal for the Lancers in the first quarter. The Lancers were having a problem executing passes and quickly found themselves down 1-3 as the half was winding down. However, less than a minute before the half would be called, Bailey scored two times within seconds of each other to tie the game up 3-3. The team went into halftime with good morale and high spirits.

Within 30 seconds of the second half, sophomore John Aliber scored to give the Lancers the lead. And from then, they never gave it up. Senior Jackson Stevens quickly scored after Aliber to extend the Lancer lead to 5-3. Senior Connor McGannon, junior Tommy Larson and Bailey all scored in the third quarter to bring the score 8-5 at the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter brought a lot of hard checks. There were many times the Lancer offensive played a man up because a Raider player was serving time in the penalty box. The team managed to score two more times and only allowed in one goal in the fourth quarter to bring the score up 10-6. Goalkeeper junior Kevin Cole made numerous saves throughout the entire game and played a solid game.

As the buzzer sounded the end of the game, hundreds of East students ran onto the field to congratulate their players. Although a bittersweet moment for many of the East seniors, it was a great way to end their high school lacrosse career.

The results are as follows.

Bass

Bryan Balley

Murphy Smith

Jake Weeler

Cello

Meile Estrep

Alex Fontg

Joe Levin

Molly Ross

Rob Simpson

Ari Throckmortor

Elena Wickstrom

Kevin Xu

Viola

Maddie Alexander

Tyler Armer

Molly Gasperi

Sarah Gasperi

Kate Hales

Jessica Mier

Caroline Olson

Truman Peters

Leila Seabaugh

Bethany Snyder

Violin

Sydney Crawford

Jasmine Deng

Janet Fields

Nathan Gendal

Juliana Gorgol

Claudia Hudon

Cicery Krebil

Alex Lang

Amy Meiring

Megan Mohn

Molly Mong

Ty Naros

Audrey Nelson

Mary Quanstrom

Ian Rhodes

Lizzy Roussos

Courtney Sharp

Blie Stewart-Jones

Jackson Wright

Lily Wulfemyer

Elizabeth Young

Love it or hate it, take it or throw it out a window, this movie is undoubtedly and unmistakably Luhrmann’s version of Gatsby through and through — and it is a considerable upgrade from the stuffy 1974 adaptation featuring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. It’s a technicolor dream world where confetti falls like silver rain in a Disney World-reminiscent castle and fireworks are perfectly timed with a lift of Leonardo DiCaprio’s glass.

Here’s what goes down: Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is an aspiring bondsman who makes his way to New York to pursue the ever-present American dream. He moves into a shabby cottage in the neighborhood of the newly rich, West Egg, on Long Island. Coincidentally, he lives next door to the mansion of the enigmatic businessman, Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio).

Across the bay in the neighborhood of East Egg (for the old money folks), Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) and her “polo-playin’”, girlfriend-beatin’ husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) live in the shadow of Gatsby’s castle. Nick finds himself caught up in the secrets of the feud between the new money and the trust-fund babies. In the film, unlike the novel, Nick narrates this story from the confines of a sanitarium.

Though Luhrmann’s dedication to depicting the real Roaring 20s is tangible throughout the film, his soundtrack offers a modern twist on the Jazz Age. With collaboration from Jay-Z, this music time-jump (Beyonce and Andre 3000 for example) is adeptly incorporated into the film with a special purpose in mind.

In the 1920s, the Jazz Age was in full swing. The reaction of those who listened to the African American fad was immediate and instinctive. It got your heart pumping. And, as Luhrmann explained in an interview with The New York Times, “…when you think of African-American street music today that is visceral and exciting and is making a big impression on popular culture, that’s hip-hop.”

But when you take away Luhrmann’s glitz and glam, what’s left? An amazing cast which almost goes to waste on a film where real moments are few, fleeting and far between; moments that should have been completely left out of the melodrama that is Baz Luhrmann. That is the film’s true downfall.

The film you see while sitting in the theatre is like a well-manicured lawn (dyed cotton-candy pink in honor of Luhrmann). Every once in awhile, something kindred to real emotion sprouts through the surface. Including when Gatsby sees his beloved Daisy for the first time and falls in love all over again, his face momentarily takes on a stunned softness. But most of the time, what you see is a well-rehearsed, classic Gatsby.

Joel Edgerton brings a sophistication to the roll of Tom, and Carey Mulligan brings a whole new dimension to Daisy. Tobey Maguire, however, is the most real and believable character throughout the whole film. Most of the characters drift in and out as if not quite knowing what they’re going for.

What’s more, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a writer famous for the sharp delicacy of his writing, a concept that Luhrmann seemed incapable of recreating. All of the symbols from the book appear in the film: the green light, the custom yellow roadster and the ever-watchful eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg, the Queens ocularist. But in the wrong hands, these symbols become cumbersome and obvious.

There is never a dull moment in this visual spectacle. Being both a Gatsby purist and a huge Baz Luhrmann fan, I got to experience the nerve-wracking feeling of not knowing what to expect and knowing exactly what to expect at the same time. But behind the beautiful over-the-top nature of Luhrmann’s recreation of the Egg universe lies a film that is similar to Gatsby reaching toward that green light–so close, yet so far away.

“I just want to show you guys how much I care because overall what we want to create is a players’ program,” Klumpe said. “Everything we do is for you guys.”

Identity: 

“What do we want to be known as?” Klumpe asked his audience at the girls’ basketball informational meeting.

Klumpe wants his team to be known as a strong, defensive team.

“Tough doesn’t mean throwing elbows,” Klumpe said. “Tough means you rotate and take charges.”

As practices begin, Klumpe will look to run defensive drills every day. He’ll focus on boxing out, crashing the boards, taking charges and driving the floor. Although Klumpe doesn’t know how he’ll run his offense yet, the team at least has an idea about their defense.

“I want all of us, to earn it, every minute,” Klumpe said.

Academics:

Coach Klumpe’s number one goal for the girls’ basketball program isn’t to make it to regionals, league or state. It’s to make sure that each player receives a solid education.

“Stressing academics is obviously number one because that will be the foundation for the future,” Klumpe said.

Klumpe hopes that his team will be able to maintain a cumulative 3.5 GPA or higher during the school year.

“On the first day of class, show up early so you can beat other kids out for the front row,” Klumpe told his team during the girls’ basketball informational meeting held on April 22.  “Front row of class. Remember that.”

Values: 

Not only does Klumpe want his players to become better basketball players, he wants them to become better people.

“As teachers and educators, we have to take kids where they can’t take themselves,” Klumpe said. “Meaning that they are relying on us for leadership, they are relying on us as educators, as mentors, as somebody they can turn to.”

Klumpe hopes to teach his players to attack practice and improve everyday. He wants his players to then use the same ideals taught in practice to apply them to every aspect of their life.

“We’ve got to make sure that our kids are becoming the best people that they can be,” Klumpe said. “As a student, as a player, as a person.”

Tune in at 7:30 p.m. for the boys’ lacrosse city championship game against Pembroke Hill High School.

Olathe East is leading the heat by half a body length. She steps onto the block. Sophomore Madeline Peters reaches the cross on the bottom of the pool and Bittiker starts to move her arms. She throws her arms up around her head and then in front of her body as she enters the water. She starts sprinting and catching up to Olathe East. She hits the first wall and is dead even with Olathe East. Twenty-five yards left and she begins to feel the burning sensation in her lungs. She starts gaining a lead on Olathe East. She lunges for the wall and junior Tiernan Shank launches off the block. Shank holds off Olathe East and East wins the event.

Fast forward to the 2013 Sunflower League Finals. While Bittiker is swimming the 50 and 100 free along with the 200 medley relay, Peters and Shank are still swimming on the 200 free relay. But, now they are leading the relay along with freshman Sarah Allegri. The league relay went on to take second place, losing to Lawrence Free State and senior Courtney Caldwell in a fingertip finish. Although the team got second place in the relay, the entire team was able to win a ninth straight Sunflower League championship.

This year’s championship team is different than the past. Of the 26 girls who are on the varsity team, seven are seniors and seven are freshmen. This is something that has changed some of the team dynamics from the previous years.

“This year there are so many seniors and so many freshman I think we have bridged that gap between the older and the younger girls and we have really come together,“ Bittiker said.

The even ratio of seniors to freshmen is something that has changed the role of the seven returning senior lettermen. They have had to take on more of a leadership role with the large number of young swimmers.

The number of freshman varsity swimmers has moved some swimmers that made state in previous years off of the League team. For five of the 17 members of the state team, it will be their first time swimming in the state meet.

“I am swimming the 50 free, 100 free, the 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay,” Allegri said. “I’m also really nervous because the competition in my events is hard. I have been practicing hard and working on my technique, I’ve also been going to morning practices with my club swim team.”

Although this will be many swimmer’s first time at the state meet, some of the young swimmers have experience at other large meets. Freshman Bonnie Longan competed at the Junior Nationals meet in Florida with her club team this past spring. Longan swam the 50 and 100 yard backstroke in Orlando with her club team.

“Swimming at juniors helped [prepare me] a lot,” Longan said. “It got me used to the noise and pressure that will be at state.”

The seniors will be looking to build on their past state experiences to help the underclassmen through their first state meet. Swimmers have been preparing for both these new experiences and for their state meet since the beginning of the year.

“Junior year [my grade] stepped it up a lot more and tried harder,” Bittiker said. “We got more into it, and then senior year we have just really been giving it our all…just trying to be role models for the younger swimmers and just included them and made sure they felt like part of the team.”

The senior leadership is something that has helped many of the freshmen make the transition from their club or summer league team to the high school team. They have transitions from swimming a couple of times a week to practicing six times a week for two to three hours a day.

These freshmen will be looking to help the seniors win their fourth straight State Championship. They will try to help the seniors stay undefeated in their four years at East, trying to leave behind a legacy of not only winning, but also of leadership.

“I think mostly we want to leave a legacy of our attitude and our work ethic,” senior Sarah Freshnock said. “All of the seniors work extremely hard and we all have good attitudes and we all want to lead the team. That is how it has been all four years.”

“My favorite color is purple!”

“How do you spell ‘gorilla?’”

We were all whispering with each other, discussing the most inane topics with only a vague idea of what we were talking about.

“I think it’s almost time for recess.”

“My uncle’s gay!”

Once I said that, Averie tapped me on the shoulder.

“What’s that?”

“I’m not really sure, but I think it just means he loves other boys!”

Like the rest of my peers, I wasn’t really sure what I was talking about. But as I grew older and started learning more about the world, I realized that I was right.

*   *   *

A lot of people have a “Eureka!” moment in their lives when they realize something — It’s an epiphany. Whether it’s 1 + 1 = 2 or that red and blue make purple, each of us will ultimately have a moment where we put the pieces together and make a realization.

One of the typical expectations of being gay is coming out and telling your friends and family that, hey, you’re not into the opposite gender. For a lot of families, their “Eureka!” moment is learning that their son, daughter, sister or brother is gay. Having been born 10 years after my uncle came out, I was a little late for the announcement.

Jason’s always been a great uncle; he’s into fashion and has an almost-obsession with musicals, like me. We have the same sense of humor and he’s always been willing to help me out. He’s not just a great uncle, but a great guy.

Some say that being gay is unnatural, and that gay love is strange. Politicians lobby against gay marriage and deny gay people their rights. The Westboro Baptist Church says God hates them. I don’t believe in a god, but if I did, I know it wouldn’t be true.

As a kid, I would visit Uncle Jason and his partner, my Uncle Brian’s, house. I would spend my time running around in the background and playing with their pet lizard, Gollum. I would watch movies, play video games. I would see them hug, see them kiss. I would see two people who loved each other. It was never unnatural; it was love.

Seeing loving couples constantly denied their rights has always been confusing to me; why shouldn’t they be able to have the same rights as straight couples? They shouldn’t they be treated any differently. If I want to get married some day, my uncle should be able to get married.

When I was in third grade, all of the girls in my class were in love with the same boy. His name was Evan, and he was perfect. White teeth, Bieber-quality hair and the greenest eyes you could imagine.

For me, my “Eureka!” moment wasn’t realizing what clouds were made of. It wasn’t learning that two half notes make a whole note. It was when I realized that the way I loved Evan was the way Jason loved his partner. My nine-year-old love was short-lasting, but Jason’s wasn’t. It was true, the way love should be.

Since I can remember, I’ve known that being gay isn’t a choice. It’s not a sin; it’s the way you were born. If two people love each other, whether it’s gay love or straight love, it’s not weird. It’s not strange. It’s the most natural thing in the world.

*   *   *

And now, Jason and Brian have broken up. They’ve both moved on, Jason has a new partner. They moved to Oklahoma for a few years, but Oklahoma City hasn’t exactly proven to be the most gay-friendly city in America, so now they’re moving back. And I couldn’t be more excited to have the chance to be closer to my uncle.

I don’t know whether we’ll spend our time singing along to the “Avenue Q” soundtrack or watching Sci-Fi movies, or playing with his dog Charlie or going furniture shopping. All I know is that I love my uncle, gay or straight, and that I’m proud of the life he’s made for himself.

According to Officer Shipps, a normal traffic stop takes about 10 minutes. With a new electronic ticketing system, which will be deployed in two vehicles in May, traffic stop durations are expected to reduce to around three minutes per stop. The system is a form of card scanner attached to the laptop in police cars, and replaces the old system for ticket writing in which officers had to manually write down every detail.

Now, when a driver’s license is swiped in the machine, all the officer has to do is choose the type of violation. The equipment will automatically factor the fines, issue the court date and spit out the copy as well as send a copy to the court system. Chief Jordan emphasizes that the main goal of electronic ticketing is not to issue more tickets, but to improve the safety and timeliness of traffic stops.

“One of the things about improving efficiency is the fact that the officer doesn’t have to sit there and write out a ticket, he can simply swipe [the driver’s license] and improve upon the stop time,” Chief Jordan said. “Drivers don’t like to be inconvenienced, and traffic stops are also dangerous. The more we can reduce time spent on traffic stops, the more we can mitigate the possibility of an accident.”

A new license plate reader (LPR) system was deployed in April after undergoing a year of testing. The LPR is a set of three cameras on the police car that are constantly taking pictures of every license plate the car passes. Simultaneously, it is running them through the police database to pull warrants, missing persons, thefts and other offenses. If the LPR reads a plate matched in the database it will set off an alarm.

The sounding of this alarm gives officers probable cause to stop that car and investigate it. From there, arrests can be made. Chief Jordan assures citizens that although license plates are public information, the data taken in from the LPR is not stored in their system permanently.

The first time the LPR was tested a year ago, it was able to identify a stolen vehicle in front of the police car at the McDonald’s drive through on State Line. Throughout the year-long testing period, the PVPD found it to be a cost-effective tool. The money that paid for it came out of drug seizure money, but each time an arrest is made with the LPR, money that can be recovered from arrests goes back into the budget to be used for future purchases.

“It is a return on the investments when we are able to quickly and efficiently locate outstanding warrants, missing persons, stolen property,” Officer Shipps said. “We don’t use it to stop cars and make tickets, we use it to make arrests, and I know many times I will see that an arrest has been made due to an LPR hit. It’s definitely exceeded our expectations.”

This addition to the cars, along with the electronic ticket writer, came from the technology budget for the department. The budget provides for technological advances, funded partially by the jail tax raised when building the jail in Gardner several years ago, as well as funds from drug seizure money. Budgeting and planning what these funds will be used to purchase is an important process for Prairie Village administrations according to Shipps.

“Our administrations are really good about planning ahead—five, six years—and budgeting for it, so when the time comes around the money is available,” Shipps said. “This is very important, so we aren’t stealing from other budgets to purchase equipment.”

In order to get a new purchase approved, members of the PVPD must first go through the PV City Council. A presentation outlining the benefits, expenses, payment plan and all other aspects of the device must be given to council members. Additionally, the device must be justifiable in terms of how and what kinds of benefits it will offer the community before it gets the stamp of approval for purchase.

“Any new big improvement that requires additional funds that haven’t already been budgeted have to come before the city council for approval,” PV City councilwoman Laura Wassmer said. “It all comes back to what we know our residents will be supportive of. One of the top things [residents] say they put as a priority in Prairie Village is the police coverage. They like having police officers and feeling safe with the attention that our police department provides.”

Other advancements in the past few years that have been approved by the department and city council include the purchase of SUVs for the supervising officers, sergeants and corporals, to accommodate all the gear they have to haul around on a daily basis. Four Ford Sedans were purchased because of their all-wheel drive feature, improving safety in the winter and in bad conditions. Finally, electronic fingerprinting was deployed this year in anticipation of the FBI no longer accepting ink-based prints.

According to Shipps, even with these recent advancements, the department continues to look towards the future. Within the next five years, Shipps hopes to replace all outdated laptops and camera systems in the cars, and make general upgrades from outdated equipment, all in the hopes of being able to be more responsive to the community.

“It makes us more available now,” Officer Shipps said. “With computers in the cars, the officers can be out in the field  and more responsive to the citizens without having to come back to the station. That’s the biggest benefit to them; that we are more available to the community through the use of these advances in technology.”

It was the weekend of the KU Relays when Meschke decided. She had gone two straight days without seeing her five-year-old son, Charlie and 10-month-old daughter, Ruby. She was swamped with emails from parents and athletes so driving home from Lawrence Meschke decided that she was done.

“Being a head coach is extremely rewarding but it’s also very stressful,” Meschke said. “When you have young kids, you just have to weigh the good and the bad. And I would say this year there were some parents and just issues that were stressful and I felt like it made more sense for me to spend time with my family than to deal with those issues.”

Sophomore Hannah Arnspiger understands why her coaches are leaving to be with their families, but still finds it hard to say goodbye.

“[The coaches] are so awesome because they take the time to really get to know the person and not just be their coach, but be their friend and their supporter,” Arnspiger said. “I’m so happy I was able to have them as a coach.”

Spending time with her family is what is important to Meschke right now. Her husband knows how important coaching is to her, but is also aware of the extra responsibilities that come with the spring sports season.

“My husband is thrilled that I’m leaving track,” Meschke said. “He’s also worried because he knows how much I love it and that I’m going to miss it and it’s been just an awesome outlet for me. But he has to take on a lot more responsibility during track season. We have to have a lot of babysitters and be super organized and that’s something we’re not going to have to worry about anymore.”

Coach Beaham is in a similar situation. As the assistant distance coach with Michael Chaffee and head cross country coach in the fall, Beaham is deciding to take the spring to spend more time with her family.

Beaham has been coaching track with Meschke and the other assistan

t coaches for 13 years. But when her husband passed away in October of 2011, track became harder to balance with three kids and a home to run.

“Before David passed away, it was something that we played great tag team together and I just don’t want to miss any of my children’s activities,” Beaham said. “My own parents and my in-laws would always step in, but now since they’re getting older they’re not able to provide as much transportation services as they used to, so it’s pretty much me.”

Beaham decided to make this season experimental, to test whether she could handle all the responsibilities of track and family. Fortunately, she says, it hasn’t been too much of a strain to handle both sides. But the time c

ommitment of a six to seven hour track meet two times a week can take its tole.

“I don’t want to neglect my homefront and I feel kind of like I’m not giving a hundred percent of myself on both sides,” Beaham said. “So I decided that I’m going to take one season off my plate so I can at least enjoy those kids in the fall.”

For Beaham, cross country has always been her favorite sport to coach; she likes the fact that it is a unique experience. Everyone starts together and finishes in the same place and it is the race in between that prevails. It is also less of a time commitment, being one Saturday morning compared to multiple track meets a week.

“With cross country there’s such a part of it that’s the fall, the smells, the nostalgia, the kids, the family,” Beaham said. “Everybody has a common goal that they have to go after. They just want to get the best time they can and they know that if they run their best race, the team will do better, so it’s more cohesive.”

Beaham doesn’t see herself resigning from cross country, but both she and Meschke will miss the track team.

“I will miss watching kids succeed and reaching a goal that they’ve had and following through with that goal,” Meschke said. “I think it’s different in the classroom than it is in athletics.”

With four track positions opening up, Athletic Director Sam Brown has already started the process of finding a new head coach. The process, he says, started with posting a head coach position for five days. They are currently interviewing potential candidates and hope to have one chosen before the end of the school year. Once hired, the head coach will interview current assistant coaches to see if they would lik

e to stay on board with the program and then fill the other positions with people who aren’t already affiliated.

“The hard part about it is that it’s difficult to find someone that’s in the building,” Brown said. “Coaches are used to putting in a lot of time and effort and when the coaches aren’t in the building, especially head coaches, we run into problems. We always look in the building first, then the district, and then we look outside the district.”

For now, both Beaham and Meschke aren’t planning on coming back to coach track anytime soon. Although they will both miss track, the kids and their fellow coaches, they know it’s time to move on.

“Your kids, as everybody says, grow up fast and they’re gone before you know it,” Beaham said. “Knowing that life is short and family is the most important and the love you have for them, though you consider the track team and the coaches as part of your extended family, your children come first.”

Muhammad has wanted to travel more to help others since he came back from a humanitarian trip to Uganda with “Change the Truth” a few years ago, but the price was always an issue. When the TOMS campaign presented itself, Muhammad was immediately interested.

“Change the Truth” was a service trip that Muhammad went on a few years ago after he heard about it from a student in Coalition, a club he sponsors. The went to Uganda for eight days on a service trip where Muhammad’s task was to teach the kids karate. Throughout the trip, he was bonding with kids and teaching them new skills, while others on the trip taught them other skills besides karate.

The TOMS company’s motto is “One for One,” something Muhammad made sure he understood before he invested his money in their product and created a profile on their website to campaign for the trip. Any pair of shoes that is purchased from TOMS is another pair that is automatically sent to a person in need of a new pair of shoes in a different part of the world.

“If you’re supporting something with your dollars,” Muhammad said. “That’s a sign of something you believe in and people should know what they are giving their money to.”

Muhammad’s friend Jeneé Osterheldt of the Kansas City Star, who has always given him support and advice, encouraged him to create a profile so he could have the opportunity to go a trip that would hopefully make him come back a better human. To get the word out, Muhammad used Twitter, Facebook and went into other classes to encourage them to vote.

“[Osterheldt] told me ‘People know who Mr.Mu is; brand yourself,’” Muhammad said, “But I didn’t think I was going to get in.”

People from all over the world supported Muhammad. He received support from his family, students at East, people from the karate school he helps teach at, his religious community, friends from college, even a friend from Saudi Arabia and Uganda.

“My wife definitely thinks I’m an idealistic young guy and excited for me to go on the trip,” Muhammad said “But she’s nervous and hopes I won’t be in harm’s way.”

After all of the votes were tallied on the final day, Muhammad had received 1,942 votes and was 35th in the competition. He made it into the top 50 and will be traveling to help the TOMS organization before the end of the year. They will be fitting kids for shoes, giving them new shoes and spending time with them while experiencing the culture of the country. None of this would have been possible without all of the votes Muhammad received from all over the world.

Muhammad is still amazed that he received so many votes and is able to be a part of and help TOMS. Students Muhammad had never seen before were coming up to him in the hall telling him that they voted for him and which he said was a really humbling experience for him.

“I really wanted to help him out because he works a lot with the community and does anything to help out others,” junior Sage Thompson said.

Muhammad does not know where he will be going yet, but trips from previous years have been in Argentina, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Brazil. Muhammad would be happy anywhere he ends up going since all of the expenses will be paid for. He hopes to come back enlightened from his experience of helping those who are less fortunate.

“It will be interesting to see what his views are on the TOMS organization itself and global poverty once he gets back,” senior Helena Buchmann said, “His opinion was definitely changed about Uganda when he got back. The trip just recharges him on his views on global poverty and other issues Coalition is trying to combat.”

During free time on the trip, he hopes to teach some of the kids karate and have a fun time being in a completely new environment. Muhammad hopes to immerse himself in the culture over the trip and will choose from five possible locations once his background check is processed.

“It’s work, it’s not like a vacation, it’s definitely hard work,” Muhammad said. “Beyond just the shoes you’re trying to get a taste for what they go through daily.”

The trip will be scheduled for sometime this summer up until December and he will travel with nine others from the top 50 for the trip to make it easier with a smaller group. Muhammad hopes to go during July or over winter break so he can continue to teach during the school year.

“You can’t be human if you’re not humane, a humanitarian trip will make me more humane which will make me a better human,” Muhammad said. “When you’re not doing any of that you’re actually not a human being, you’re just a body that’s just taking up space and being selfish.”

Muhammad hopes to come back from his trip enlightened, inspired, humbled and maybe even a little tanner.

-Prose Interpretation: Justin Armer

-Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking: Ada Throckmorton

Finalists:
-second, Duo Interpretation: Jack Mitchell / Lily Kaufmann
-fifth, Duo Interpretation: Alex Ritchie / Josh Fowler
-fourth, Prose Interpretation: Hanna Bautz
-sixth, Poetry Interpretation: Nick Kraske
-third, Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking: Ali Dastjerdi
-sixth, Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking: Henry Walter
-third, Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Liam Murphy

Semi finalists:
Dramatic Interpretation: Ty Nanos
Humorous Interpretation: Hanna Bautz
Prose Interpretation: Megan Gertzen

Additional Preliminary Entries contributing to sweepstakes:
Dramatic Interpretation: Annie Sullivan
Humorous Interpretation: Jack Mitchell
Informative Speaking: Brian Philipps
Original Oratory: Ada Throckmorton
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Shrushti Mehta