Cheerleaders hope to go far

With 18 anxious girls, and a full schedule ahead of them, head cheerleading coach Melissa Johnson and assistant coach Joy Bowser are happy to announce their plans for the 2010-2011 cheerleading squad.

Although they are excited about getting involved with competitions again, they plan to take everything slowly this year.

“We are not going to hit the ground running,” Johnson said. “We know that we must crawl before we walk with this team. We have every intention of competing this year, but we do not know how far we will go.”

At one point Bartlett went all the way every year and often brought home the gold.

“Not too long ago, Bartlett went to nationals every year,” Bowser said. “We always came home with a trophy, and we always had tons of fun. Hopefully the girls will be able to compete at some level this year and experience this.”

There is no clear reason why the girls stopped competing; however, some feel that funds and talent have a lot to do with it.

“Coaches have been changed quite a few times over the past few years and each of them had different expectations. This as well as many other reasons have played a role in Bartlett not being competitive,” Johnson said. “This year we have enough girls with tumbling experience so hopefully we can get this team back to where it use to be.”

At the team’s parent meeting on April 20, the girls expressed how excited they are to finally begin their season.

“I have been cheering and flipping ever since I was little,” freshman Joycelyn Bennett said. “I used to cheer for Dexter Middle School, and we had so much fun competing. If the Bartlett cheerleading team is able to compete this year, I would be on cloud nine.”

Bennett is not the only one excited about the cheerleading season; in fact, some of the parents are even more pumped about starting the season than the girls.

“I was able to watch the actual try-outs and I think that the coaches picked the right group of girls,” parent Vicki Nelson said. “I also like the fact that the prices are much more reasonable this year than in previous years.”

Although the girls have yet to start practicing, they will receive their uniforms before the end of the school year. Over the summer, they will attend a cheer camp at the University of Tennessee-Martin where they will learn cheers and dances that they will incorporate into their competition routines.

Sure, competition will cost extra money, but the coaches feel that the experiences that the girls will have will be priceless, and they are ready to start the season so that the team can see this for themselves.

Senior swimmer dives into future

“Going to the Olympics would be a big goal,” senior Chris Lott said. “I have a shot for the 2012 Olympics, but definitely 2016.”

Some may say that aspiring to be an Olympic athlete may be too lofty a goal for a mere high school senior. Nevertheless, Lott has an ethic that compels him to give his all both at and away from the pool.

Lott was born and grew up in Memphis with his three brothers Vincent, Kyle, and David. He has been swimming since childhood at the Scenic Hills Recreation Club, where his family are members.

Growing up, Lott swam over the summer, but hockey took over in the winter months.

“I played with River City Hockey over the winter,” Lott said, naming a major youth hockey league in Memphis.

Nevertheless, swimming remained Lott’s true athletic passion. As soon as he became a freshman, Lott joined the Bartlett High swim team, competing not only in County but also in State championships every year, which is rare. This year he even placed in two State events.

“I got fourth place in the 50 [yard] free[style] and sixth in the 100 [yard] free[style],” Lott said.

Lott was also named to the Scholastic All-American Swim Team, the qualifications for which are strict. Students who apply must have a 3.5 grade point average, be a junior or senior, be a USA Swimming member, and make a good time in an event set by the Junior National Bonus Time Standard. However, Lott did not see making this team as his crowning achievement. He set his goals higher, seeking a win at the Southeastern Swimming Championships.

“State just has swimmers from Tennesseee, but Southeastern has swimmers from all the states in the Southeast,” Lott said.

The competition took place in Nashville Feb. 25-28. Lott placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle in his age group overall, and his team, the Memphis Tigers, placed third out of all the competing teams in the region. Lott says that these kinds of achievement do not come without diligence.

“I work really hard,” Lott said. “I get up at four in the morning and swim until 6:30, which gives me only half an hour to get to school from the University of Memphis. We have practice nine times a week, including practices after school from 3:30 to 6:30.”

The next challenge is the USA Swimming 2010 ConocoPhillips National Championships in Laguna Beach, CA. The event will not take place until the first week of August.

“It gives us a long time to train,” Lott said.

Lott even has a job that relates to swimming which he has held for four years.

“I’m a lifeguard at the Scenic Hills Rec Club,” Lott said. “All my friends I was growing up with were becoming lifeguards, and it looked easy.”

Lott’s interests, however, do not lie merely in athletics. Both Florida State University and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have offered him swimming scholarships, which Lott will use to pay for an engineering degree.

“I’ve always liked roller coasters,” Lott said. “I kind of want to work at Disney World and design rides and stuff.”

Lott still remains undecided regarding which college he will attend. However, the two aforementioned schools are his top choices.

“They’re in the top 10 swimming schools in the country,” Lott said. “But if I can, I’d like to go to Florida State. That’s where my brother Vincent goes.”

With the Olympics and an engineering career set as his future goals, Lott looks forward to his graduation from Bartlett. And his go-for-it attitude will remain his inspiration both in his athletic future and his job endeavors.

DECA students deck the competition

They did it again! Forty-two students from the Bartlett High School chapter of DECA, An Association of Marketing Students, will be competing at the state level of the annual DECA competition.

Whether it was writing extensive research papers or participating in role plays, students from both Shelby County Schools and Memphis City Schools competed in an all-day competition Jan. 21 at Hope Presbyterian Church.

According to marketing teacher Cathy Bishop, students in her classes have been practicing  and preparing for this event for the past nine weeks.

Students involved in writing the research papers had to choose a topic, conduct elaborate research, and write a paper. On the other hand, students who competed in the business decision making role play categories chose a topic and had to compete impromptu.

“My category was Travel and Tourism. It was one of the most difficult role plays,” senior Kirby Elliott  said. “We [Elliott and senior Josh Bay] had to convince our judge that they need to change their prices of their point systems because of the decrease in ‘our’ loyal customers.”

Although the role play competition was all based on previous knowledge, students who competed in role plays were allowed time to look over their topics and prepare for their questions.

“We went into a room and reviewed our role play for 30 minutes. In that time, we wrote down notes and prepared to talk to the judge,” Elliott said. “We had 7 minutes to present our ideas, and then the judge asked us 5 questions.”

Though the work seems tedious in addition to normal schoolwork, senior Taylor Morton, who competed alongside senior Matt Mitchell, disagrees.

“It was easy. I mean, you had to put time into it, but it was fun,” Morton said. “It’s not like we were forced to do it. We chose to do it. So, it was easy to be motivated. Mrs. Bishop gave us practice packets to look over so we knew what to expect.”

Competing in the sports and entertainment category, Morton and Mitchell were asked questions involving a situation in which “their” NFL team was caught filming another team illegally. After “fans” lost respect for Morton and Mitchell, they had to create a way to “gain their support back.”

“There was another group in the same room with us, and each group had 30 minutes to get our material together,” Morton said. “Whenever we were ready, we presented, but we couldn’t watch other groups prior to us.”

After a long day including a lunch and an awards ceremony, the results were released, and 42 of the 56 students who competed for Bartlett made it to the state level.

The state competition will be held on March 6-8 in Franklin, TN. After competing against schools from across the state, those who won will have the opportunity to compete on a national level in Louisville, KY.

Bishop is confident that the majority of her students will make it to the national level. Last year, five students made it to nationals, but with this year’s group being the largest in Bartlett’s history, the chances are even greater.