Sep 19, 2016
A wet race course usually equals a slow race. But don’t tell that to the 2016 Panther Cross Country team.
Saturday, at a very soggy Highland Road Park, the boys and girls competed in the LSU Invitational Cross Country meet. It was a huge day for Woodlawn as Senior Khidhr Al-Mustafa finished 10th overall and improved his three mile best this season to 17:50 on his way to a 5K finish of 18:20. It was an impressive run for Al-Mustafa as he mounted a major assault on the field climbing his way from 18th after the first mile to tenth at the finish.
Khidhr Al-Mustafa on the podium after the LSU Invitational.
Al-Mustafa kept this week’s success in perspective when he said, “I feel good about the result, but my expectation is to be better each week than I was the week before.” If he continues to improve each week, Coach Wallace believes that he will be the school record holder by season’s end.
Brandon Williams was the second Woodlawn runner across the line as he cracked the top 40, finishing 39th, and was the second Panther this season to run three miles under 20 minutes with a time of 19:36.
Senior Darmar Galvan was the third Panther across the line with a three mile time of 20:23.
Darmar commented that, “I feel like I did well this meet, a lot better than last week. We have improved a lot as a team this season and I believe will we see even more improvement in the future.”
Joshua Stephens, a junior, continues to look great and was able to push himself to a Personal best for the second week in a row.
To complete this task on a wet course is typically unheard of, thus proving what Coach Wallace says in practice, “There is no such thing as weather. There is no hot or cold. There is no rain or humidity. There is only hard work.” Joshua and his Panther teammates have stepped up to every challenge in their path so far and show no signs of slowing down now.
The Lady Panthers had some fun of their own as they tore up the turf with two team members finishing in the top 50. Junior Melissa Grant set a new personal record and was the first Panther to cross the line in a time of 25:18, followed three seconds later by training partner and school record holder Alexis Martin.
When asked about her PR run, Grant quickly brought up her junior teammate, saying, “I feel that I accomplished a goal just by keeping up with Alexis. And I know that I, and the team, will do a lot better as we keep getting better with every practice.”
Coach Wallace explained, “It is great to have two runners that can train and race together and it has been a joy to watch Lexie and Melissa encourage and motivate each other every day in practice. With these two out front and the determined youngsters we have chasing them, this is gonna be a fun season to watch.”
The Lady Panthers did not qualify for a team place as only three runners competed, but the girls are extremely excited about the upcoming meet at Port Hudson State Historic site. The girl’s varsity team will feature a full squad thanks to the emergence of sophomore Kelli Oubre, who will make her first varsity appearance, and the return of senior captain Shelby Sanchez, who has been out with an injury.
Sep 15, 2016
The Lady Panthers volleyball team was back in action twice during the week of September 12th. The Lady Panthers were able to achieve a 1-1 record during the week. On Monday, Woodlawn was scheduled to travel to Southern Lab, but due to scheduling conflicts, the game was moved to Woodlawn. The Lady Panthers took full advantage of the move to familiar turf, defeating Southern Lab by the score of three sets to zero.
After two days of practice, Woodlawn traveled to Zachary on Thursday for a match up with the Broncos. The Lady Panthers were not able to come up with the victory, as they fell to host Zachary one set to three.
Senior Kerri Williams led the Lady Panthers to a 1-1 record this week.
Senior Kerri Williams led the Lady Panthers with a great week. Williams recorded 27 kills, 16 assists, 8 digs, and 3 aces in the two matches. Senior Maya Johnson led the team with 25 assists during the week, and junior Kennedi Barnes led Woodlawn with 6 blocks.
The Lady Panthers return to action this weekend in the 2016 Tara Volleyball Classic. Woodlawn has been placed in Pool 4 along with Baker, Madison Prep, and Scotlandville. The Lady Panthers open the tournament Friday at 3:30 pm vs. Madison Prep on Court 2. On Saturday, Woodlawn will face Scotlandville at 8:45 am and Baker at 11:45 am, both on Court 2, before moving to play-offs at 2 pm.
Sep 13, 2016
Last week it was announced that Katie Vining would take over as the Women’s Soccer Coach at Woodlawn High. Members of the school newspaper were able to interview Coach Vining recently about her new position.
Panther Post: What is your soccer background?
Coach Vining: I’ve played soccer since I was five years old, at all areas except collegiate (recreational, school, and select). I was the head coach at Gulfport Central Middle School.
PP: What are your coaching philosophies?
CV: I think great coaching involves taking what you believe in and getting the players to believe in it. Setting the players up for success. I cannot score a goal for them but I can prepare them to make good judgement in all situations. Every experience is an opportunity for learning. Building a team that is a family on and off the field is important to having success.
PP: How long have you been at Woodlawn?
CV: This is my second year at Woodlawn. I began teaching here August 2015.
PP: What drew you to Woodlawn?
CV: I have a gifted certification and a secondary certification, however schools in Mississippi do not have a high school gifted program.
PP: What drew you to the soccer position?
CV: My love for the game.
PP: What are your goals for this season?
CV: Provide opportunities for personal growth and life lessons, involving players in identifying individual, personal goals for themselves. Emphasize the importance of academics, time management, and a balanced life. Create a safe learning environment for my players, both physically and emotionally. But most importantly, teach the girls the importance of enjoying the game.
PP: What are your long term goals?
CV: Let’s make it through the season first and then we will talk long term.
PP: When do you plan on beginning conditioning and practice?
CV: Conditioning will begin Thursday, September 15, and the first practice will be Monday October 24.
Sep 13, 2016
Cross country is a team sport that requires individual excellence. Most meets allow 10-12 runners from each school. The team score is based on the finishing position of the first 5 runners from each school; each runners finishing place becomes their score. Finish first, get 1 point. Finish 200th, get 200 points. The team with the lowest score wins.
Saturday, at Highland Road Park, the Panther cross country team, due to injuries to promising sophomores Marshall Bayles and Coby Sanchez, only entered 5 runners in the varsity race. Each runner’s score would count in the team score. It was a challenge that these young men were happy to accept. Khidhr Al-Mustafa improved his time by 1:40 over last week as he finished in 18:16. Saulomon John improved his time by 40 seconds. Joshua Stephens continues to impress as he crossed the line in a new Personal Record time of 22:49. Brandon Williams and Darmar Galvan finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, for the Panthers.
Missing 3 weeks of practice is always hard on a team, but after two weeks of racing and putting in hard work during the week at practice, Khidhr Al-Mustafa has huge expectations and confidence in this year’s team.
When asked what he thought this squad was capable of, his answer was simple, “Top 10, Top 10, Top 10.”
Comments from Coach Wallace echoed that as he explained, “We’ve got talent, we just need to make sure we show up to practice with the right attitude each day and we will turn a lot of heads at the state meet in November”.
Another bright spot for the Panthers was the performance of senior Marshall Bayles in the open race. Bayles has looked great in practice the past two weeks and continues to improve his times and endurance in practice. Bayles, along with brother Mason Bayles and Coby Sanchez, will begin their Varsity season this Saturday at the LSU invitational.
The Lady Panthers also had a great day and were led by sisters Alexis and Aimee Martin. Older sister Alexis was the first Lady Panther to cross the line as she improved her time from last week by 45 seconds. Martin is just happy to be back in competitive racing after a long summer and trying first few weeks of the school year.
Alexis puts the early season into perspective as she says, “The season may have started rough and I may not have set any PR’s yet, but, as Coach Wallace says, ‘this car has no brakes’. So I’m going to continue to as work as hard as I can to achieve my goal of being the first Lady Panther ever to go under 20 minutes.”.
Younger sister Aimee, in her first ever varsity run, was the second Lady Panther to cross the line. The freshman has looked great in the first two weeks of the season and had a great summer of practice. Coach Wallace believes that she is a great addition to the team and should be prepared to carry her load on the varsity squad this year and for the remainder of her time at Woodlawn.
In the open race, senior Shelby Sanchez and sophomore Kelli Oubre looked very impressive as they work to race their way back into shape in preparation of rejoining the varsity squad next Saturday. Alexis Aucoin and Rayan Kaadan gave standout performances bettering last week’s times by over 2 minutes.
The boys and girls varsity squads will be back in action at the LSU Invitational on Saturday, September 17 at Highland Road Park. Girls varsity will run at 8:40 am, followed by boys, who will run at 9:15 am.
