By Brandon Pennock and Riley Schraeder

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo Courtesy of Emily Miles

The West Central track team has a big challenge ahead of them this year. At last year’s state track tournament, the girls took first and the boys took second. Those are some big shoes to fill, but many members of the track team this year feel confident that they can repeat last year’s success.

The team has participated in two tournaments so far, and the season looks promising. At West Central’s invite, the girls and boys took first handily. Last week at Salem’s invite, Canistota, Garretson, Freeman, Hansen, Mitchell Christian, McCook, and West Central all attended. The girls took first with ease. The boys, however, got a close second (due to one of the members being disqualified) and lost by a mere two points.

Weather has not been kind to the track team this year. On April 12, Lennox was supposed to have an invite, but the meet was cancelled due to rain and other bad weather. West Central was scheduled to have another invite on April 19, but it was also cancelled because of rain. The state track meet is being held in Rapid City this year for the A class. It’s important to have school support for any team, so come out on May 25 and 26 to support your classmates!

By Katie Bunde and Brandon Pennock

Trojan Tribune Staff

As the snow is melting and the sun starts to shine, students are preparing for the next spring sport: track. The team will start practicing Feb. 27, and those who are finishing up winter sports will start March 1.

Runners have been preparing for the season by staying in shape with winter sports and working out. “My preparation for track is trying not to get hurt,” said senior Dustin Ortman. “The thing I love about track is how every athlete on the team competes in their own event and all those individual efforts construct one team effort. I also love the feeling of finishing a leg of the 4X4 relay.” Senior Emily Miles prepared herself by running a half marathon and working out during her fitness class. “My favorite part of track is hanging out with my long distance runners,” said Miles.

This year, since there will be no Howard Wood meet, the team’s biggest challenge will be at the O’Gorman Invitational where they will have to compete against all the AA schools. “Competing against Madison is always a tough meet for us,” shared head girls coach Joan Peters.

Coach Peters’ goals for the season is for each athlete to acquire a personal record in their individual events. Her goal for the team is to compete for the conference and regional titles as well as be in the hunt for another state title. “My goals for my last season are to set the school record and win state in the 110 meter hurdles,” said Ortman.

The runners are looking forward to start practicing for their first meet, which is Dan Lennon, on March 26. Coach Peters has high hopes for this season, and she can’t wait to get things started.

By Brandon Pennock, Libby Goertel and Riley Schraeder

Trojan Tribune Staff

On November 6, 2012, there will be an election to either reinstate our current president, Barrack Obama, or assign a new President of the United States. From the Republican party, there are four remaining candidates.The two candidates in the lead are Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. The other two candidates are Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. The Democratic party has one candidate remaining, the current President of the United States: Barrack Obama.

All kids hear debates about politics in some form at home. It might be from the television, their parents, or on the Internet. Some people get very offended when it comes to politics, but most students don’t pay attention to politics. It’s always wise to be informed of how your government works and who is running it. Ask your friends and see how many even know who the candidates are. More than likely, most of them have no idea. Being involved in and informed of your government is very important when you get older. Would it be a smart decision to go out on Election Day and vote for someone you know nothing about?

There are some students who like to be informed and are ready to be a part of the election process. When a citizen turns 18, under normal circumstances, he/she has the right to vote. Senior Joe Schartz is voting for the candidate that presents the best plan for saving the economy. “The candidate I would choose right now is Mitt Romney because he wants to lower taxes,” Schartz says. “I expect that no one will want Obama to be president again.”

Should the self-ascribed “bipartisan” members of Congress, who have to this point opposed many of the potentially beneficial suggestions of the Democratic Party, ever decide to be truly thoughtful of these suggestions rather than constantly looking for ways to undermine the current administration, this country might actually see some progress.  Until our elected leaders can put aside their petty griping (on both sides, mind you) and power struggling, the backbone workers of this country are going to continue to struggle:  economically, socially, globally.  I long for a day when it doesn’t matter which corporate conglomerate paid my representative the most money for his/her campaign; and instead my representative takes into consideration what is best for the constituency (that’s us, the “Joe Schmoes” of America).  I also long for a day when America is about “red white and blue” rather than red or blue.