Nov. 5, 2015 Vol. 8

SLPS student spots cougar By Steven Hall

Shark Scene Sports Editor

Cougars have been wiped out of

Michigan for more than 100 years.

However, there have been more

and more sightings of them in re-

cent times. Last month, St. Louis

High School freshman Grant Mills

saw something he wasn’t sure

whether to believe or not. “I was in

Forest Hill just outside of Alma

going out hunting and I happened

to look up and there was a cougar

about 15 yards away from where I

was going to hunt,” said Mills.

The state of Michigan doesn’t

have an established cougar popula-

tion which makes this sighting even

more rare. But as of February of

this year, according to a Detroit

News article titled, “DNR releases

footage of cougar sighting,” by

Candice Williams, there had been

just under 30 confirmed cougar

sighting in the Upper Peninsula

since 2008. Despite that, there have

been zero confirmed sightings in

the Lower Peninsula, furthering the

rarity of an event like this. Wil-

liams added, the animal travels

through the state in order to find a

new place to set up its territory.

Most of them are traveling from

the Dakotas and are predominantly

juvenile male cougars. They are

considered endangered in the state

of Michigan and are protected un-

der state law, meaning that charges

will be placed if anyone happens to

kill one.

“We haven’t told the DNR,”

Mills commented. “And I’ve only

seen it that one time, but let me tell

you, it was awesome.”

Quiz bowl competes at MSU,

loses a close one by three

By Paige young

Shark Scene Staff Writer

The varsity quiz bowl had anoth-

er competition October 27, at

MSU’s Quiz Busters against Nex-

us Academy. According to the

quiz bowl advisor, Ms. Dancy,

“They were ahead the whole game,

but Nexus came from behind in the

last lightning round to take the

lead and win the game.”

The next quiz bowl competition

was Nov. 5, at the Gratiot-Isabella

RESD. Dancy commented, “This

is our first TVC match against area

schools and our first opportunity

for each of our teams to play. I

think it will be a great experience

for students who are new to the

team!” Roughly 40 students trav-

elled to compete Thursday. The

teams competed against Swan Val-

ley at 9:00 a.m., Frankenmuth at

9:45 a.m., Shepherd at 10:30 a.m.,

Ithaca at 12:15 p.m., Ovid-Elsie at

1:00 p.m., and Alma at 1:45 p.m.

The next TVC match is Nov. 30.

Short story strum

St. Louis English teacher Brian Caszatt shows his fresh-

men how to creatively put together a “book talk,” by way

of writing a song (photo by Aleeya Bradley).

(Above left) This is a photo Mills took with his phone on the

way to his treestand. (Right) A close up of what a mature cou-

gar looks like (courtesy photo by Paul Duann).

(From left to right) Lexi

Beeson , Olivia Anderson,

Modestie Hitchcock, and

Ryan Downs practice for

quiz bowl at lunch (photo by

Paige Young).

Sports

Shorts

Sports Pg. 2

Wrestling news

Preseason activities are under

way for the upcoming wrestling

season, and all wrestlers in the

surrounding communities are in-

vited to attend open mat sessions

at Alma High School Sundays

from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

The workouts are open to all

ages regardless of experience and

focus on technique.

Important dates for wrestling

are as follows:

Nov. 16— first day of prac-

tice

Nov. 25— Alpha weigh in

Dec. 9— First home meet

against New Lothrop

Volleyball has busy week

Apple pie

fundraiser

By Aleeya Bradley

Shark Scene Staff Writer

Varsity

Wednesday Oct. 28, the St. Louis

varsity Volleyball team played at

Valley at Lutheran.

They lost to Valley in five sets,

15-25, 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, and 8

-15.

Senior Ashtyn Maniez had

eight kills and 16 digs. Senior

Raquel Smith had nine kills. Jun-

ior Jaelynn Block had 16 kills, 16

assists, eight digs and three aces.

Sophomore Laurel Hrabal had

five kills and six aces. Sopho-

more Paige Young had 22 digs.

Freshman Megan Greenup had

five kills, 20 assists, and 13 digs.

Tournament

Saturday Oct. 31, the St. Louis

varsity volleyball team played at

the TVC crossover tournament at

Alma College.

In pool play, they beat Hem-

lock 27-25, 25-23, then lost to

North Branch 15-25, 16-25. Then

in bracket play, they beat Garber

25-13, 25-20. Then they beat

Valley Lutheran 25-18, 25-21.

Then in the semifinals lost to

Frankenmuth 15-25, 26-28.

Senior Madison Smith had 15

kills, six digs and six blocks.

Senior Ashtyn Maniez had 21

kills and 41 digs. Junior Jaelynn

Block had 23 kills, 34 assists,

and 24 digs. Sophomore Laurel

Hrabal had 11 aces and 20 digs.

Freshman Megan Greenup had

11 kills, 32 assists, seven aces

and 17 digs.

JV

Wednesday Oct. 28, the St.

Louis JV volleyball team went to

Valley Lutheran and lost in two

sets 11-25 and 10-25.

Freshmen

Wednesday Oct. 28, the St.

Louis freshmen volleyball beat

Valley in two sets 25-20 and 25-

16.

Tournament

Saturday Oct. 31, the St. Louis

JV volleyball team played at the

Ithaca invitational in Ithaca.

In pool play, they lost to Heritage

17-21 and 13-21. They beat Free-

land 21-15 and 21-17. Then they

beat Breckenridge 21-10 and 21-

16. In bracket play in semifinals

25-20 and 25-13. Then in the fi-

nals they won in three sets 27-25,

15-25, and 16-14.

The St. Louis JV team won the

Ithaca invitational to finish off

their season.

Jaelynn Block attacks the ball during Saturday at the

TVC tournament hosted by Alma (photo by Ed Courter).

The St. Louis Sports Boosters

have planned this year’s apple

pie day for this Saturday, Nov. 7,

at TSN Middle School. All ath-

letes, in and out of season, have

time slots they need to fill.

8:00- 9:30 am:

JV and Varsity Football

Poms

TSN Cross Country and Track

9:30- 11:00 am:

Cross Country, Track

Wrestling

11:00- 12:30 pm:

JV and Varsity Baseball and

Softball

Boys Golf

Girls Golf

TSN Boys Basketball

12:30- 2:00 pm:

Boys and Girls Bowling

JV and Varsity Girls Basketball

TSN Girls Basketball

2:00- 3:30 pm:

JV and Varsity Boys Basketball

JV and Varsity Volleyball

TSN Volleyball

*Cheerleading will be selling on

location

The JV team won its first tournament of the year Saturday at Ithaca (courtesy photo).

Sports Pg. 3

Cross country: girls are regional champs

Shark winter sports preview By Laurel Hrabal

Shark Scene Staff Writer

The girls JV and Varsity basket-

ball seasons start Nov. 9, for try-

outs. They are coached by varsity

coach, Ty Warczinsky and JV

coach, Troy Anderson. There are

going to be Four-player workouts

starting this week (Nov. 2nd) and

a meeting that was Monday at

lunch as well. The first game for

both teams is on Dec. 8, at home

against Alma High School.

The Varsity Pompon team win-

ter season starts just as soon. On

Nov. 21, they are attending a Pom

Camp to get some new pointers

and to learn a new routine. The

varsity pompon team is coached

by Ms. Jill Rivard. They are going

to start completing a competition

routine as well. They will perform

that routine at the basketball

games for practice.

The boys JV and Varsity basket-

ball teams’ sign up was Nov. 2, at

12 p.m. in the media center. The

first practice is Nov. 16. They

have had open shoots two days a

week since the first day of school.

They are coached by Varsity

coach Dan Nealy and JV coach

Jason Luneack. The JV’s first

game is Monday Dec. 14, at home

against Carrollton High School.

Then the Varsity’s first game is

the day after, Tuesday Dec. 15,

away at Carrollton High School.

Mr. Kuhn coaches the wrestling

team, and their first day of prac-

tice is Nov. 16. They have had

open mats at Alma high school

from 1-2:30 p.m. Sundays. There

was an informational meeting

Wednesday Oct. 21. The team’s

first match is home against last

years state champion team New

Lothrop Dec. 9.

The Competitive Cheer team’s

season starts Nov. 9. Their first

competition is at Mason High

School Dec. 12. They are coached

by Mary Seals.

The girls bowling teams’ season

starts Nov. 16. They are coached

by Brittney Mizer. The boys start

the same day and are coached by

Scott Mizer. Their first match is

Dec. 19, at Crooked Creek Bowl-

ing Center.

Reminder! This Saturday, Nov. 7, is the an-

nual Sports Boosters Apple Pie

Day. All the sports teams have a

time slot to where they are there

volunteering to help in numerous

ways to make the pies. Each year

it is a great success and this year

is expected to be as successful.

By Ambrietta McCann

Shark Scene Staff Writer

Varsity cross country ran their regionals Sat-

urday at Wagener Park, Harbor Beach. The girls

were regional champions. The boys just missed

qualifying by one spot, finishing fourth. Evan

Goodell did qualify for individual state by win-

ning the regional.

The girls have not earned the regional champi-

onship since 2010. For the girls, Brooklyn Fil-

ipiak took first place with a time of 18:56. Beth-

any Gurnee ran a 20:11 and finished fourth.

Taking sixth was Kamrie Filipiak and ran a time

of 20:15. Kylie Visger finished 13th with a time

of 20:43. Running a time of 20:58 was Megan

Brown in 15th place. Erika Uotila ran a time of

21:36 and finishing in 22nd place. Aynslee

Koutz finished in 23rd with a time of 23:49.

The boys took fourth place overall with Evan

Goodell finishing second with a time of 15:43.

Michael Allen ran a time of 17:40 finished 19th.

Running a 18:05 was Jeffrey Blackwell placing

29th. Cologio Alighire finished 32nd with a

time of 18:16. Michael Wert ran a time of 18:51

and placed 46th. Holden LaCross finished 54th

with a time 19:15. Austin Rios ran a time of

20:24 and placed 74th. Both teams did great.

The state Finals will take place Saturday Nov.

7. According to coach Puffpaff, “It was a really

special day for our ladies. They ran an amazing

team race. To put five in the top 15 and six in

the top 25 is a tremendous accomplishment. I

was so impressed with the way they controlled

the moment and took advantage of the oppor-

tunity that was presented to them.”

Goodell takes first for the boys; expects big results at the state tournament

The wrestling team has big goals headed into the season and

looks to start with its fourth consecutive conference title. It

is not to late to sign-up; talk to Coach Kuhn (courtesy photo).

Coach Puffpaff and Coach Halfmann have been instrumental in putting together

teams that consistently compete for regional titles (Photo by John Bradley).

Girls’ bowling looks to build

on last year’s state title!