NATIONAL
The Villanova Wildcats beat the Michigan Wolverines 79 to 62 in the men’s championship game of the NCAA March Madness tournament on April 2.
This year, out of the millions of brackets that were filled out, 37,356 brackets predicted that Villanova and Michigan would play each other in the final game. 54 people had a perfect final four bracket, according to NCAA.com
“Going into the final game, I was like ‘There’s no chance,’” senior and future Michigan student Anna McClelland said. “I didn’t think we would have any fighting shot. But once the game came around, and in the first half, I was pretty amazed that we were able to get an initial lead.”
Villanova was favored to win, according to ESPN, and held the lead throughout most of the game. Michigan held the advantage for the first 15 minutes of the game, but just before half-time, Villanova caught up to them. The half ended with a score of 37 to 28.
Villanova held onto the lead through the second half, ending the game with a score of 74 to 54. This is Villanova’s second NCAA Championship win in three years.
“As the score showed, [Villanova] dominated [Michigan],” senior Jack Schoemann said. “Michigan came out ready to go, but I think once [Villanova] settled into their game they played just fine and showed everyone who the better team was.”
LOCAL
East students have partnered with other Shawnee Mission schools to plan a walkout for gun reform on April 20. The walkout is also meant to show support for the 17 people who died in the Parkland shooting on Feb 14.
East seniors Kirby Motsinger and Ellie Van Gorden are leading the way for the planning, along with Shawnee Mission South and other schools in the district. According Van Gorden, walkout leaders decided to have the walkout on April 20, because it will be the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting.
“Most everyone knows what Columbine is, but not everyone knows about Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, Aurora, and Parkland,” Van Gorden said. “I think it’s important to really point out that this continues to happen, and we have not done much about it, so I think that’s why this date was specifically chosen.”
According to Motsinger, the walkout is a way to remember those who have lost their lives to gun violence and to stop this from happening all together.
“I think it’s just important to realize that we’re really lucky to have our lives, and that they could be taken easily,” Motsinger said.
Students have spoken with Principal John McKinney several times about the walkout, and have held meetings with students from other Shawnee Mission schools. Their next step is to alert their fellow students using group chats and social media and to alert the media about the walkout, Motsinger said.
The plans are still in the works, but the idea is to walk out of school and onto the football field for 20 minutes, have a few minutes of silence, and read the names of the victims of the shooting in Parkland, according to Van Gorden. Motsinger believes 20 minutes will give students plenty of time to leave their classes and get to the football field before the moments of silence and reading of the names begin.
“We’re not about raising awareness anymore, we’re not sending ‘thoughts and prayers’, we’re taking action,” Van Gorden said. “We are showing that we have a voice, and that we are going to continue to do this until things change.”
EAST
The robotics team placed 13th out of 61 Kansas teams who participated in the First Power-Up Robotics Competition which ended March 31.The competition was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 14 students from East participated in the competition as one team. Some teams consisted of 50 or 60 students. Each team has their own robot, and three teams compete at each match.
“I was super happy with [our ranking],” senior Alex Zugazagoitia, a robotics student, said. “We didn’t do so well the past few years. Last year we got about 50th out of 60 places, so this year achieving 13th out of 61 was just fantastic.”
According to Zugazagoitia, East placed in the low 50’s last year out of 60 teams. The teams started their preparation for the competition in October, when they were given the criteria for their robots, including the dimensions for the robots.
The students had to create a robot that is able to do simple tasks that are set out for them. One of the tasks was moving milk carton-sized crates on to a scale to weigh them, according to team member and junior Grant Goode. If the robot was able to move the crate, the team scored points.