Savannah Athy-Sedbrook | STUDENT JOURNALIST
Sports
Leaving it all on the mat: sophomore wins state championship
When a student or team places or wins at a state tournament, it is always a big deal. Everyone knows what the score was, who participated and when it happened. However, no one knows all of the hard work it took to prepare for that moment. The sophomore who won the state championship for his division was one of Augusta's very own, and the coaches son, no less. The work he put in went beyond the mat, and I was determined to tell people his story.
Sport definition creates debate of colorguard
I joined the high school colorguard my freshman year and immediately noticed the difference in treatment of members of the guard. This was always an issue that infuriated me, so I spoke out in the only way I knew how: I wrote a story. Instead of ranting on and on about the way people treated us, I let other people do the talking. One of the biggest comments was always that it was extremely easy and could not possibly be considered a sport. My article was about the debate. Some of the questions I asked people included their definitions of a sport, why they did or did not think colorguard was a sport, and why colorguard did not meet their definition of a sport. I felt this was the most responsible way to write the story without letting my own personal bias get in the way.
The last game: basketball season cuts off due to COVID-19
The band was cheering on the way home from Salina, riding our high after the basketball team's latest victory at the state championship. Little did we know, what started with the cancelation of our spring break band trip would quickly turn into a nation-wide shutdown. I created this photo gallery to showcase the moments before. Our boys basketball team going to state. The gallery helped me learn to adjust to virtual school, but it felt so foreign. I did not have the ability to gather quotes from the players, turn this into a story or gather other photos that could have made it incredibly impactful. But this gallery freezes in time the last moments of the school year before everything fell apart, and for that, I am grateful.
Six wrestlers place at state tournament
For the first time ever, six wrestlers made it to state in the same year. I wrote this story at the same time I was writing about Marcus Terry being the state champion of his weight class. The challenge with this story was attempting to organize the story in a way that did not feel chaotic. I had to interview all six wrestlers plus their coaches to pile together all the information I needed. I tried to focus less on the 'this person won in this division by this many points' that was so boring and overdone, and talked about the preparation that helped them get to where t
School spirit within students gives a sense of family
In a new approach to a sports story, I talked about how school spirit brought students closer together. While it did not solely focus on school spirit within sports. The story includes sports teams, the O's Zone student section, marching band participants, the colorguard, and the dance team. I always love writing stories about the relationships students have and how they are affected by the school environment, so of course, I absolutely loved this story.