As she pulled through the water, freshman Maggie Thomas felt her hands tremble and realized she needed to get out of the water fast. She started shaking and felt dizzy as she climbed out of the Homestead pool during swim practice. The combination of exercising and diabetes left her barely able to walk to the guard shack and turned her skin pale even in the hot summer sun.  "I called my mom and she started to panic," Maggie said. "She told me to ... Read More

Varsity wasn't even a thought. All junior Margaret Peterson wanted to do was make the team, and compete at the JV level. But as soon as she got her score back from the tryout and found out she made varsity drill team, her whole dancing career changed. As a freshman, Peterson didn't think much of trying out for drill team. She loved to dance, but she just wanted to do it for fun. Peterson had been dancing ballet since age four, as well ... Read More

  When sophomore Jackson Brett puts on his ionic necklace, he can immediately feel his body becoming more comfortable. His body feels re-energized, and simply better. As he runs onto the baseball field, he knows he will have an advantage. His necklace will use its ionic balance technology to make his blood flow faster, and in turn, will relieve stress and fatigue. Jackson's father, George Brett, owns a baseball company with his brothers named Brett Bros. His company created their own ionic necklaces, which ... Read More

He's got four rings for five fingers. Silver bands of state championship success grace coach Wiley Wright's knuckles like the boys' swim teams he's coached the last 24 years– always standing out and looking good.  "Nice tan, Mazzoni," he called out to one of his senior swimmers, as he looked at the swim team poster of shirtless swimmers on the Plaza.  "It's my lifeguard tan," the coach got in response. Wright refers to his swimmers as kids, and even though he's all business, ... Read More

  The ball looks simple enough.  It's green and dark blue tie-dye.  Sixteen solid pounds, weighted so that it gently curves when thrown.  The finger holes are drilled to fit the length of his fingers and the width of his hand.  The white rubber finger grips hand-glued inside of the holes, contour to the shape of his fingers.  Bought after last season, it's a fairly new bowling ball with barely any scratches. Still, something's not right.  Senior Curtis Wells walks over to the ball ... Read More

  Three mornings a week, senior Elizabeth Beck and sophomore Kirsten Clark head to their first hour drill team class. They spend a lot of the hour sitting down. They work on more homework than footwork. ™It sucks, especially when the dance looks so cool,∫ Clark said. ™You want to be a part of it.∫ The girls also make trips to the coffee shop and fill out paperwork, such as registration and forms for the Lancer Dancer clinic for their coach, Kristin Anderson. ™It is very ... Read More

Bowling:   Senior Curtis Wells is as determined as ever to do well after a tough performance at Regionals last year kept him from going to the state competition. Averaging a score of around 200, Wells highlights a solid group of bowlers that includes senior Whitney Kraft and sophomore Ali Dees who qualified for state last season. Wells and Dees are in the same bowling league and have put in many hours at the lanes in the off-season. Bowling tryouts start Dec. 6 at ... Read More

Best “Play”: Gordon Green’s header. The soccer team battled hard for over 90 minutes against rivals Shawnee Mission South but were unable to break a 1-1 deadlock...until the dying seconds of overtime. Mitchell Jennings flicked on a corner kick to the far post. Green was in the right place at the right time, and the rest is history, as any fan that stormed South’s field will tell you.   “Stopped” in their tracks: Girls’ Cross Country. After the team’s trip to Colorado, team members ... Read More

[poll id="9"] Tears filled the locker room after East’s final game, an emotional 55-21 loss to SM West. But the tears weren’t just for a heartbreaking game; the players also felt the sorrow of losing a coach. After brief post-game comments, the players found out that the man who had led them their entire high school career was stepping down. Head football coach John Stonner resigned after East’s final game, marking the end of his six-year career. “The excitement and passion for coaching football and ... Read More

It was wrestling legend Dan Gable that said, “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.”  Those words are close to the heart of senior Michael Perez. They’re words he has practically lived by, words that truly apply to his story.  Father is in out of jail through early childhood, making him man of the house at just 13.  Expelled from the high school at which he dreamed of doing something great.  Piecing his future back together in a new environment.  And using his talent on ... Read More