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.
Sep 9, 2016
Woodlawn’s Robotics Team, Panthrobotics, held its fourth annual Dow Red Stick Rumble on August 27th, 2016. Twenty one teams from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi competed in this year’s FIRST® Robotics Game, Stronghold, in the Woodlawn High Gym. Approximately fifteen hundred people attended this free event and witnessed 120 pound robots vying to capture their opponent’s tower.
After forty intense matches, the second seed alliance; Team 4587, Jersey Voltage from Houston Texas, Team 4107, Team Storm from Gulfport Mississippi, and Team 4978, Tiger Robotics from Baton Rouge, Louisiana advanced through the elimination bracket to clench the victory as champions of the Rumble.
Teams also brought in supplies to be donated to people affected by the 2016 Flood. Over 100 book-sacks filled with school supplies, six 40 gallon totes of toiletries, food-stuffs, toys, and other items were donated to Woodlawn to distribute to those who were in need.
Many thanks go to the Partner Sponsor of the event, Dow Chemical, who is also a major sponsor of the team. Thanks also goes to Indiana’s AndyMark for providing food for all of the volunteers and teams on Friday evening.
