Sportswriting

By Tyler Walton

When you see Allison Fereshetian walking around school, you see an outgoing, intelligent, and fun person to be around.

These attributes are what have propelled her into being a phenomenal track runner and great student. Finishing up her senior year at Leavitt, she has earned her way into the Top Ten in academics and also had a very successful track season to date.

“She is exactly who she is no matter where she is. She is very humble, doesn’t rub her accomplishments in anyone’s face and she takes congratulatory remarks just as she takes constructive criticism,” said Leavitt track coach Kris Wright.

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By Elliott Wiegman

In less than a month the greatest sporting event in all the world will be beginning.  No, it’s not the Superbowl, The World Series, or the NBA Championship.  It’s none other than the World Cup of Soccer.

This international tournament, occurring once every four years (making it all the more exciting), showcases the talents of 32 countries ready to make their nation’s proud.  The World Cup, hosted by South Africa, is surely not going to disappoint its 5.9 billion projected viewers.

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By Shawn Berry

In this year’s NFL draft, the New England Patriots were looking to get younger and faster. With 5 picks in the first three rounds, the Patriots were able to stockpile young, impact rookies.

With their first-round pick, the Patriots chose Rutgers’ cornerback Rutgers Devin McCourty. This pick was unexpected by many people as he was not rated to go into the first round by many scouting experts. I was hoping for a Kyle Wilson of Boise State, who seemed to be a impact corner. We will have to wait two to three years from now to see if the pass on Wilson with the choice of McCourty paid off for the Pats.

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By Jake Posik

There’s always more to that rugby scrum in the middle of the football field that leads to unsportsmanlike penalties against each team, and there’s always something behind that pushing match after the flagrant foul on a fast break. In professional sports, players make a living on trash talking their opponents and causing chaos for referees.

In the NFL, star wide receiver Terrell Owens scores a touchdown, pulls a sharpie out of his sock, signs the football, and throws it up into the stands, as cocky as can be. In the NBA, players like Ron Artest punch players and then attack fans with seconds left in an intense game. And believe it or not, these actions of trash talking and cockiness have trickled down to the high school level.

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By Brandon Maher

It’s the end of April. There’s just over a month of school left. Seniors will be shipping off to college in the fall, and underclassmen will be stepping up. It seems almost as if there is nothing to do but sit back and wait for the end. Not true. The baseball season is just rearing its head, heating up, and the players are finding their groove on the field after a long winter.

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By Destiny Russell and Alana Pulkkinen

One, two, three, four games, and we’re off to the start of the Leavitt girls softball season. Stepping up to the plate this season with a young team, compared to the team last year that consisted mostly of seniors, is an adjustment for everyone. There’s a lot to be learned but the Hornets have a strong team with a good head on its shoulders.

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By Brandon Maher

It’s perfectly normal to look at a car wreck when you pass one on the street. It’s human nature, and by nature we’re a curious species. We wouldn’t have made it this far without being like this. After all, aren’t we just making sure it’s one of our own that’s not in that wreck? I think like that, and I’m sure you think like that too.

However, I must stress the fact it is not acceptable to jolt to a stop, get out of the car and inquire about a fender bender only to cheer louder and louder as something as small as a fender bender turns into a 20 car pileup.

This is known. And it’s perfectly acceptable right? Bordering on logic, right? Not for Tiger Woods.

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By Tyler Walton

With Duke beating Butler last Monday night in Indianapolis in a National Championship game that turned out to be a thrilling 61-59 victory for the Blue Devils, it capped off a tournament which, much like the title game, was filled with close games, overtime endings, and, best of all, upsets.

Although myself, along with many others, had already thrown away our brackets after the round of 32, when Kansas and Villanova went down or the Sweet Sixteen when Syracuse and Ohio State were knocked out, we still tuned in to every game.  For this is the best, and most exciting tournament in all of sports.

So, why is talk erupting about a change in this tournament format? Is bringing another 31 teams to this tournament, as some are proposing, supposed to make it better? I think not.

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By Laura Stone and Katrina Tutlis

So you’ve played sports throughout high school, for some maybe even before then. Graduation comes quickly to those senior athletes, and then what happens? Are they really ready for college sports? Many of the senior athletes here at Leavitt are planning to continue their sports career when they move on to college next year.

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By Shawn Berry

Has the move down to Class B been a good move for the Leavitt Hornets? After reviewing standings from teams that were in Class A last year to the standings after the move to Class B move, the results are in the Hornets’ favor.

The Maine Principal’s Association determines which class each school participates in based on student population. Different sports have different enrollment minimums for each of the four classes in Maine. The largest is Class A.

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By Elliott Wiegman

When was the last time you heard of a sophomore winning a state championship?  Well Leavitt’s own Tom Rabon has done just this, and more.  Rabon won both the freestyle and classical races at the Class A Nordic Skiing State Championship this season.  Such a feat described in one word by Rabon’s coach Dustin Williamson: “Amazing.”

Rabon dominated the freestyle course on the first day of racing, sweeping the field by 12 seconds.  The classical race was a little closer, but Rabon still found a way to pull through, winning the race by 4 seconds.  These two first-place finishes also significantly helped the Leavitt boys win the state championship over rival Mt. Blue.

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By Jake Posik

Unless roughly $13,500 dollars appears in front of the MSAD 52 school board members, three more activities for Leavitt underclassmen will be cut next year.

In past years, Junior Varsity hockey, cheerleading, and golf were cut. Those JV programs will not return for the next school year. Possibly joining these programs will be freshman football, field hockey, and boys basketball.

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By Jake Posik

Get your bracket out, take a second look at it. Can you say upsets?

So many teams in this year’s NCAA tournament have a chance of doing damage to the top seeds because the field is more level than years passed. These Cinderellas-in-the-making also received a lot of help from North Carolina, UCLA, Arizona, and Connecticut, powerhouses that somehow found a way to lose enough games to miss the tournament this year.

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By Buck Bochtler

When you think Leavitt girls basketball, one name has to come to mind: Anderson. Tammy Anderson is the Varsity Girls Basketball coach, and she is the proud mother of two amazing daughters. Courtney, who is junior at Leavitt Area High School, is the older sister of Kristen, a freshman.

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By Isaiah Wright

Girls Leavitt basketball didn’t have a history of consistently producing many quality teams. Not making the playoffs every year and having teams that are lucky to even reach the .500 win percentage mark had been the norm in the past. But before this season started, this year’s squad knew something was different.

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By Jake Posik

It was just four months ago that the Leavitt Hornets finished 12-0 with a 35-21 victory over the Cape Elizabeth Capers to win the Class B State Championship. Now, three players essential to the Hornets’ success are headed to the 2010 Lobster Bowl.

The three chosen from the Hornets’ squad to play on the East team are Eric Theiss, Josh Strickland, and Matt Pellerin. All three athletes had a great deal of success throughout their years as Hornet starters, and they said it’s an honor to represent the Leavitt community in an event such as the Lob

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