Seniors accomplish excellence

There comes a time in high school that requires seniors to put these last four years behind them. Some will go to Bethel University and play their sport like Alyssa Montague, Jimmy Davis, and John Kraft.

Davis and Kraft are both very talented bowlers. They strive for excellence in every game and have been doing so for the last four years at Bartlett High School.

“So many people do not know there are scholarships available for both men and especially women in the field of bowling,” said Coach Art Thompson.

For the very first time in the history of Bartlett High School, these two students have been awarded partial scholarships for the sport of bowling. They have signed a letter of intent to go to Bethel University with $9000 per year.  This includes room, board, tuition, meals, and books according to their coach, Art Thompson.

Yes, being a panther is fun but the reality is that when one becomes a senior the days of college are right around the corner.

“I’m definitely prepared for college. I know I’m going to miss my friends and all the fun I had these years, but now I’m going to have to focus on the future at college,” said senior Jimmy Davis.

Going on to college and leaving the days of high school behind is tough for one to do.

“I’m ready to leave high school but at the same time I’m not ready to leave everything behind,” said senior John Kraft.

Track star Alyssa Montague will also attend Bethel University. She signed her letter of intent on March 24. She holds the top two school record times in the 800 meters, having broken it twice and is close to breaking the record again. She is also close to breaking the 1600-meter record. With all of these achievements under her belt, she is qualified for the sectional championship in the following races: 200 meter, 400 meter, 800 meter, and 1600 meter according to her coach, Steve Sullivan.

“I’m excited for college because my sister goes there and I think the track team will be fun,” said Alyssa Montague.

Montague has put a tremendous amount of work and effort into the track team.

“She has shown leadership and work ethic by overcoming injuries, sickness, lack of transportation and set two school records and is close to setting two more,” said Coach Steve Sullivan.

Bartlett High School says goodbye to all of those seniors in Spring, Fall, and Winter sports.  They are all going to higher places and nothing but success is wished upon them.

Track moves forward in sectionals

The Bartlett track team has been having a great season. Their five qualified runners participated in their first day of sectionals on May 7, and they have two more days of sectionals on May 18, and 20. The five qualifiers must make it into the top four in their event to qualify for the state competition.

The team has worked hard to improve their speed and to drop their times this season. According to head coach Mitch McDaniel the boys reached their peak at the right time.

Sophomore and first-time runner Chance Keeley has improved since the start of the year and now he clocks a time of 4:43 on the mile run. Also, sophomore Ryan Wilcox beat his personal record of five minutes on the mile run with a time of 4:53.

Also this year was the Harding Relay when seniors Willie Matthews, Jeremy Merriweather, and Gerren Harrison beat the triple jump relay record of 120 by five points, making the new record 125.

Even in track, a sport that revolves around each person individually, the seniors have been able to help the underclassmen improve.

“The seniors we have now have shown leadership through event training and competitions,” McDaniel said. “They have shown the underclassmen what it takes to compete at the highest [level].”

Support comes from all directions as the team moves forward towards the state competition.

Track takes triple jump record

The boys’ track team beat Evangelical Christian School’s (ECS) triple jump relay record of 120 by 5 points, making the new record 125. At the March 27 meet held at Harding Academy, three seniors–Willie Matthews, Jeremy Merriweather, and Gerren Harrison–set the new record. The boys have worked hard to reach this achievement and still push themselves to improve even more.

“The season’s going pretty good,” Matthews said. “We’re not as fast as we want to be, but we’re working hard to get better.”

In the triple jump relay, three contestants make three jumps: For the first jump the contestant lands on the same foot as take off; for the second, the runner lands on the opposite foot; for the final jump, he or she lands on both feet. To calculate the team score, the best attempt out of each contestant’s three jumps is added to the best attempts from the other two contestants.

Because the season began on March 13, the team has only competed in four meets and still has a lot to look forward to.

The sectional meet, on May 17 and 18, will be a major event for the team. Coach Mitch McDaniel hopes as many kids as possible will qualify for the state meet on May 24-28. To win a team state championship would achieve the team’s overall goal.

“Trying to win team state championship is very hard to do,” McDaniel said. “If we don’t, will it be a down season? No, everyone has individual goals.”

The team practices five days a week, usually from 2:30-4:00 p.m. Working around each meet, the team has two or three heavy run days and two light days.

“The team is deep with upperclassmen, we have three returning state qualifiers from last year, and one of the three returning qualifiers was state champ in triple jump,” McDaniel said. ” However, the team is not deep in underclassmen and only has four freshmen out of 25 runners.”

McDaniel and the team look forward to the rest of the season with confidence that at least three runners will compete in state.

Sports-in-Brief: Track takes off with a bang

For most Bartlett students March 13 was a Saturday spent preparing for Spring Break. The track team, however, devoted this day to the West Tennessee Jamboree, which more than 20 schools attended. This meet marked the official start of the track season. Many Bartlett athletes participated, both male and female, including senior Xin Huang, who placed seventh in the shot put and second in the discus throw. Huang and sophomore Ryan Wilcox, who took eighth place in the 1600-meter run and ninth place in the 3200-meter run, placed in the top ten in multiple events.

Also, in another meet on March 23 at Houston High School, the boys’ team placed third overall, and the girls’ team placed fifth overall.