By Aubrie Odegaard and Krista Jacobsen

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo courtesy of Matshots.com

Snow may not be in the air much this winter season, but there sure is success for the West Central girls basketball team. The Lady Trojans have a 10-2 record so far despite temporarily losing junior starter Hunter Matheiu and junior Brennan Ensz. Luckily, with all the other talent, the girls have been able to keep up with their opponents. Part of the success is coming from star players on the team, but a large portion can also be attributed to the leaders. Seniors Shelby Sieverding and Allie Macdonald take their role as seniors very well.

Sieverding is happy that she is finally a senior on the team. She believes that her role as a senior is to be a leader and keep the team free of drama. Sieverding shares, “I hope we keep improving and work hard every day in practice because we can always get better.” Once she leaves the team, she will miss the people in basketball and making new memories each day. Sieverding, for now, is planning to focus on school rather than let college track distract her.

Macdonald says, “It feels good to finally be the ‘top dogs’ of the team.” She has always felt like a leader but is glad that she’s finally at the top level. Macdonald expresses, “I believe the harder I work, the harder my teammates will work. I try to lead my team in a positive manner at all times. Also, I continue to encourage them even when everything isn’t going exactly right.” Her goal for the team is to make it to state this year. When the season comes to an end, she will miss the relationships she has made with the coaches, opponents and teammates. Once graduated, Macdonald is planning to play soccer at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

As the season comes and goes, the memories and friendships will always be there for these two senior basketball players, and their leadership might just bring the Lady Trojans further than ever expected.

By Sydney Rechtenbaugh

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo by Sydney Rechtenbaugh

With winter break approaching, many students find it hard to focus in school. The December students of the month work hard to stand out from these other students.

Justin Erichsen is the senior student of the month. He is involved in football, track and choir. Erichsen doesn’t feel any added pressure in being chosen student of the month because he feels as if he was born for it. He also believes he is the smartest kid in his class when he tries. He was really surprised he wasn’t chosen sooner.

Junior Maty Skinner is involved in soccer, track, FFA and the musical. She is also the junior class president. When asked if she thinks she deserves student of the month, Skinner replied, “I don’t think I don’t deserve it. I mean, I’m not mean to people, and I’d like to think I’m generally a good person.” She also said she does feel added pressure being student of the month because she feels like she has to be nice to everyone.

Sophomore Jacey Jira is also a hardworking student. She is involved in basketball, volleyball and mentoring. To stand out from her peers, Jira pushes herself to be the best she can be. Because of her student of the month award, Jira feels a stronger need to set a good example for other people.

Last, but not least, Hanna Wahl is the freshman student of the month. Wahl is involved in cross country, track and swimming. She doesn’t feel any added pressure being student of the month, and believes she deserves it because she works hard. When asked what she does to stand out from other students, Wahl said, “I always try to help other students with their work.”

By Alex Davis

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo by Alex Davis

Have you ever dreamed of being published? Have you ever dreamed of seeing your name in a book as an author? Now while some wait to go through years of school learning the ins and outs of the English language, others get their dream early. Those fortunate ones, like West Central senior Tori Kock, get to live their dream while they’re still in high school.

In 2010, Kock wrote a poem, Diamond In The Rough, for a creative writing class and got the chance to send it to a website for a contest. Later on, she received a letter stating that it had been submitted and that they thought it was so good that they wanted to publish it.  This is the first time Kock has sent anything into a contest of this sort and the first time she has ever been published. Kock stated that she’s always wanted to be a published author as a long-term goal, but she might have to start thinking of some new ones. “When I found out about it I cried,” she confessed. “I’m very happy about it, and I feel very accomplished.”

When asked if she had any advice to aspiring authors, she said, “If you have enough ambition and writing is your passion, just keep writing and hopefully it will work out for you.” So, if you have dreams of becoming an author, check out the book for inspiration. The book is going to be titled Acclaimed and it will be a compilation of other students’ poems and other writings. Check out Tori’s poem and let her know what you think!