Jan 27, 2017
Edward Ducre, ’17
Lillian Khemmanymong lifts at the St. Michael Invitational on January 14, 2017.
Saturday, January the 14th, St. Michael the Archangel High School held their annual powerlifting meet. Although it is a small meet composed of about 100 lifters from different schools, Woodlawn had 14 lifters in the meet.
This meet was mainly used to gain experience for the young Panther powerlifting team. The team only had three returning lifters from last year (Bubba Ducre, Carlynn Montgomery, and Presley White), so the team needed as much experience as possible before Regionals.
The Panthers had a very productive day, as Coach Baronich and Coach Evers, along with the more experienced lifters, taught a lot to the newcomers, including when to warm up, what to wear and especially when and when not to eat. Along with this being a great learning day for the Panthers, their performance was also very impressive. Many of the Panther lifters won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
Coach Baronich seemed very proud of how the lifters did Saturday, yet said the team needed to work on their self- confidence and act like each lifter knows they are going to win a medal every meet.
Jan 20, 2017
The Woodlawn High Track & Field team will see their first action of the season on Saturday, January 21st at LSU’s Carl Maddox field house.
The 2017 Indoor track team is poised to establish Woodlawn as a force in 4A and the pack leader in District 6. This year’s squad has a great mix of veteran leadership, talented underclassmen and a desire by all to set the track on fire on the way to being state qualifiers
Sprinters
Sophmore Bryson Reaser working on sprints at a track practice.
Junior Shaun McCray and sophomore Bryson Reaser will compete in the 60 meter dash. It will be the first time either athlete has competed on an indoor track. The two competitors have been tenacious in their workouts and are excited to put on the purple and white and gain experience as they represent Panther Nation Saturday.
Middle Distance
The strength of this year’s indoor team is the middle distance events. Coming of very strong cross country seasons, seniors Brandon Williams and Khidhr Al-Mustafa are settling for nothing less than qualifying for the state indoor meet on February 18, 2017. Williams will be competing in the 400 meter dash, where he is the defending district 6-4A outdoor champion. He will be accompanied on the track by sophomore Nicholas Bradley who, in his freshman season, showed great progress in the event and helped to add speed and stability to Woodlawn’s 4×400 relay team.
The 800 meter duties will be held by Khidhr Al-Mustafa, who has his sights set on sub 2:00 times this season. During his junior season and cross country season Al-Mustafa focused on building both speed and endurance, essential ingredients for the race that is by some considered a distance event, but by those who know track, is truly a half-mile sprint.
Distance
Junior Saulomon John and sophomore Coby Sanchez will be competing in the 1600m (1 mile) and 3200m (2mile) races on Saturday. Both athletes had a great cross country season where the built up their endurance and helped lead the team to a top 13 finish at the state meet. This will be the first indoor meet for both athletes. Since the end of cross country, both athletes have been focusing on increasing their speed for the shorter track races.
Junior Melissa Grant will be one of two girls competing for Woodlawn on Saturday. She will run the 1600m and 3200m. Grant was a new edition to the cross country team but made an immediate impact with her natural athleticism and strong work ethic.
Alexis Martin, Woodlawn’s record holder in the 3 mile cross country race and defending District 6-4A 3200m champion, will compete in the girls 3200m race. Alexis ran well at the indoor meets during her sophomore year and plans to use that experience to move up the field this season as she presses towards qualifying for the state meet.
Relays
Woodlawn will compete in two relay events on Saturday.
The 4x200m relay is the first track event of the day and will be run by McCray, Williams, Reaser, and sophomore Demetri Harris. Harris has emerged as a team leader both on and off the track and looks to push this group of talented athletes this season. The 4x200m team will set the pace for the panthers Saturday.
Coach Wallace seems excited about their chances as he explained, “This is an excellent group of athletes, gotta give credit to Coach Rogers for the sprint and relay programs that she has created and implemented and to coach Baronich who has really helped to increase the speed and power of all of Woodlawn’s athletes.”
The 4x400m meter relay team returns 3 of last season’s four runners. Harris is the new kid on the block and will use excellent starting ability in the lead off leg to set up 4×400 veterans Bradley, Al-Mustafa and Williams who, along with Woodlawn graduate Jordan Donald, were the 2016 6-4A Outdoor champions.
Throwers
Woodlawn will bring two throwers, senior Aaron White and junior Kenneth Washington to compete in the shot put. Both athletes threw over 40 feet in 2016 and represented Woodlawn at the district and regional levels. Coach Samantha Fetter has been working diligently with the throwers, cleaning up their technique and creating the explosive power needed to set new personal bests en route to qualifying for the State meet. Both athletes are the backbone of a talented group of young throwers that look to make a name for themselves and for the school during Woodlawn’s 2017 campaign.
Events begin at 11AM at LSU’s Carl Maddox Field House.
Jan 20, 2017
Madisyn McAlister ’18, Staff Reporter
On January 7, 2017, Woodlawn High School’s Panthrobotics team gathered at LSU’s Baton Rouge campus for the reveal of the FIRST Robotics Competition new game.
Christopher Duong works during build season.
The school’s robotics team hosted what is called a Kickoff event at Louisiana State University’s Digital Media Center where the team and many other teams throughout the area could watch the world wide release of FIRST’s new FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) game for the 2017 season. The game for this year is titled “STEAMWORKS” and is heavily based on Steampunk. In addition to Steampunk, the game this year pushes the idea of S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) representing FIRST more than the idea of S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). This annual event was hosted by Panthrobotics, the LSU STEP program, Center for Computation and Technology, and Louisiana State University.
Earl Walker at a Panthrobotics meeting.
Once the reveal was over, Panthrobotics members helped pass out the FIRST provided kit of parts to the other teams. When all the teams had left, Panthrobotics went to eat lunch at Newk’s for a short break. After eating members rushed back to the Digital Media Center and started reading. The team separated into small groups and went to reading and analyzing the STEAMWORKS game manual. After reading and discussing in their small groups, the team came back together to compare notes and ideas. Once the team agreed on their top priorities, they left for home, excited for build season to start that upcoming Monday.
Build season is the six weeks given to FIRST Robotics Competition teams to build a robot that will complete the tasks of this year’s “STEAMWORKS” game. Panthrobotics first official day of build was Monday January 9th. The robotics team build site is the school’s ag room. Panthrobotics team members are building after school 4pm-7pm Monday through Thursday, 5pm-9pm Friday, and 10am-7pm Saturdays, the team gets Sundays off.
Dec 12, 2016
by Madisyn McAlister
On December 1st and 2nd, Woodlawn High School’s drama department performed their annual Christmas play. This year the collection of various Woodlawn students performed “A Dickens’ Christmas Carol – A Traveling Travesty in Two Tumultuous Acts”, which is a farce of “A Christmas Carol”.
This interesting play was chosen by Ms. Morton because, “It’s hard to find Christmas plays, so you’re stuck with doing the same play or finding something new.”
This is certainly not the same classic Christmas play many are used to. For this play, anyone could audition. For the auditions, those trying out were given a sheet of paper to put down their information as well as stating what character they would like to be, based off of a short description of each character. Then, Ms. Morton would select three or so students who were auditioning, and give them a script. The students would then have to cold read a scene and based off that, the roles would be assigned. Though anyone in the school could be involved with the play, Theater III and IV students are required to participate for a grade.
Even though there were difficulties preparing for the play, such as some actors needing to drop out of the play, the actors have been very positive.
“Stressful, but so far has been an amazing experience,” commented one of the actors when asked about the process. When asked about how they feel about the play, the actors replied with squeals of excitement. Those involved with the play have been supporting it by discussing it with anyone they can and posting about it on social media.
“Students are surprised about how much they enjoy it,” says Ms. Morton when referring to plays. “I think it’s hopefully something students will learn to support, like they do sports”.
Dec 12, 2016
by Madisyn McAlister, Staff Reporter
Woodlawn High School’s robotics team, Panthrobotics, traveled to Intralox in New Orleans on November 17th to help recruit more mentors for FIRST Robotics.
A small group consisting of Panthrobotics members took a field trip to Intralox located in New Orleans. Intralox is a manufacturer that “offers comprehensive conveyance solutions including conveyor belting, conveyor equipment, and services to help you optimize your plant.” Intralox has been a continuous supporter of FIRST Robotics. Intralox asked Panthrobotics to assist with a presentation for inspiring those who work at Intralox to become a FIRST Robotics mentor.
The small group included: Mr. Eiland (Coach), Mr. Jason Lejeune (Assistant Coach, volunteer mentor), Christian Lejeune (Build Captain), Madisyn McAlsiter (Outreach Coordinator), and Kohl Cleveland (Rookie). This group represented Woodlawn High School and the organization FIRST Robotics at the mentor recruitment presentation. Mr. Eiland, acting as his position of FIRST Senior Mentor of Louisiana, was one of the few speakers for the event and was in charge of describing FIRST Robotics and all of its little details to those attending the presentation. The students assisted with the presentation by demonstrating the team’s robot and talking one on one with those attending the event about FIRST, mentors, and Panthrobotics.
“It should be a really interesting experience.” said Christian Lejeune before attending the actual event, and it seems that his assumptions were correct.
