Sports
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Spring Sports Overview
By: Carter DeRosa
Spring has come. Temperatures are climbing, flowers are beginning to bloom, and the sun has stopped setting at 5 PM. And with spring comes spring sports. And from baseball to boys tennis, Auburn High School is riled up for the season.
Auburn High has been having a great year for sports. Girls basketball went on a historic run, making it to the sectional finals. Indoor Boys Track and Field won their first ever sectional title, right after coming off their cross country Nationals appearance.
And Auburn High is looking to continue that success. Starting off with the team of the year, Track and Field.
Auburn Track is looking to end off their historic year with another sectional title. When asked about how you want the season to go, star distance runner Chris Howard said, “I want us to win sectionals again and for Oliver to get a toupee.”
This is in reference to the bet Coach Oliver made that he would dye his beard if the team won sectionals, which they did. That beard sure was maroon.
Another team with high expectations is the girls lacrosse team. The team consists of multiple college commits, including D1 players.
When asked what the expectations are for the team, Buffalo State commit Dejah Evans-Murphy states, “The end goal is to win a sectional championship.”
Meanwhile the boys lacrosse team is looking towards rebuilding, but still competing. They’ll be taken as far as their star players, like John Pineau, will take them.
Yet they could face setbacks in their defensive line due to Weston Cottrell’s season ending knee injury. And only one other member of the rotation has ever played a varsity game.
Next up on the chopping block is the baseball team. They had a very successful season last year, going all the way to the sectionals championship.
However, they lost some key pieces from last year to graduation, making the road to sectionals a bit more difficult for the team. Yet, starting catcher Mac Maher states, “I expect us to be competitive and to be one of the stronger teams in the section.”
And then there’s the softball team. The team was moved down a class, giving them an ability to be a bit more competitive than last year. However, softball still remains as one of Auburn’s wildcard sports.
The last sports team, and the most mysterious is the girls golf team. Their team is led by star golfer Finley Hogan. When asked about the team this year, Hogan states, “We have a lot of young people this year so hopefully they can grow and compete.”
Auburn sports have been on the rise this year. But the question remains, will they continue this success into the spring?
The Secrets Inside of The Worlds Irish Dance Competition
By: Dejah Evans-Murphy
The 2024 World Irish Dance Championships will be held in Glasgow, Scotland. This year will be the sixth time the competition is held at this location. The event will be held from March 24th to March 31st. To gain admission to these competitions each wristband for the events are $25 USD per day. This competition is heavily involved in politics and how much wealth a family has.
A 18 year old from Ireland who dances for Doherty Petri in Ireland won the World championships the previous year in 2023. Recent evidence and court cases have surfaced that this dancer's uncle would exchange money and sexual favors for his dancers to place higher in the competition. Six year world qualifier Ava Pinckney says, “It's really discouraging when you can work as hard as possible to get a certain placement because you don't have the money or your teacher doesn't play politics”.
Pinckney has qualified for worlds dedicating her life to dance since she was three years old. She started to compete when she was as young as eight years old. When asked if placing coincides with how long you have been dancing Pinckney says, “No, but you need to have a certain level of confidence. The majority of dancers have been dancing since they were toddlers but you need to know it's political and it doesn't affect who you are as a dancer necessarily”.
Due to the high levels of cheating there has been another judge added to regulate this and watch over the other judges during competitions. There was a high upset and all of the placements were changed causing high placement dancers to go down in ranking. This also caused a lot of dance academies to shut down from being caught cheating on multiple occasions. Ava comments, “A lot of dance schools have found their way around it, by going under different names. It's aggravating because a majority of the schools are still practicing and still participating and cheating”.
When Pinckney was asked if she thought there was a way to reform the system to make it completely fair for all dancers she says, “No it's such a money hungry industry and is influenced by favors and friendships to the point where I do not ever think it will be fair”.
Although how dancers place has more to do with money and politics than raw skill Ava is still excited to compete. She explains, “I am excited to compete, I just have to go out there and do my best and know it is out of my control. I am also excited to see some of my overseas friends”. Ava will be competing on March 28th and 29th. Good luck Ava!