Story by Quinn Palmer

Last year, the Alfred-Almond varsity swim team won the Section V Class D sectional championship, the teams first sectional victory since 2011. This year, the team hopes to defend their title and come out on top. This will be no easy task though, there will be some fierce competition from some of the other teams in the class.

It will take a lot of work if the team wants to win, but we’re definitely capable of taking home another trophy. This year, sectionals will be held in Bath where the team was defeated by HAC two years prior. Last season, HAC lost some of their fastest swimmers and the AA team is ready to return the favor and take them down.

This might be the Eagles’ last chance at a sectional championship for a while because the team has seven seniors graduating this year. Many of the swimmers believe that the team has a very real chance of winning sectionals. Coach Gerry Flaitz told the team he knows they are “capable of it as long as everyone puts in the work.”

It is still early in the season and many of the swimmers are close to the times they swam at sectionals last year. Everyone on the team has been working very hard and when it comes time for sectionals, the swim team will be ready.

Story By Tighe Grigg

Every year football season is one of the most anticipated sports seasons for viewers. People tend to enjoy the NFL and watching their favorite professional team attempt to win the super bowl. Another option is college football, many people love to watch the big or small college teams compete for the championship. The college football championship is a thrilling tournament that some say is better than the NFL due to it being harder to predict.

The chances of each team winning in the beginning of the season and compared to who even makes it to the championship are all pretty different. The final four football teams this year are Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama. These four teams are left to compete in the Sugar Bowl, and the Rose Bowl. Then if they win their semifinals they play in the Championship game. Teams like Ohio State and Georgia who make up 20% of the bets to win in the tournament didn’t make it, while Texas and Washington who play each other in the Sugar Bowl only made up 8% of the bets, demonstrating how hard the tournament is to predict.

There was some controversy in the tournament over who made the semifinals. Florida State who went undefeated didn’t get selected for the playoffs and instead Alabama was when they had a loss. The reasoning is confusing but it was mainly due to Florida State QB having a season ending injury that led the NCAA Big 10 committee to leave them out.