May

wolves place top 5 in track Districts

by CALLIE PETIT

Staff writer

Even in a virtual environment, Justice HS student-athletes are still breaking records and demonstrating their impressive athletic talents. On Feb. 6, the Justice HS Track and Field competed at Districts, where the girls placed 5th overall, beating Wakefield and Lewis HS, and the boys placed 4th overall, beating Wakefield, Lewis, and Thomas Jefferson HS.

The student-athletes from the track team are training and working to improve so that they are prepared for meets. They reflect when their performance wasn’t met by their expectations and they strive to advance with their talent.

“I participate in pole vault because that is the event I love and am good at. I want to put my full focus into pole vault so I can keep getting better. In the district meet, I did not do as well as I wanted to. I only got 10 1/2 feet even though I usually get 12 feet at practice. I think I just got nervous because of all the people watching.” said junior Josh Franco. Overall, Franco is super happy that he won the title of District Champion in pole vault.

“I have wanted to become District Champion for a while. This accomplishment makes me want to work even harder so that I can keep doing well in meets,” said Franco. One big goal he described for himself is to overcome the nervous jitters that hold him back.

“The improvement I've made not just from this season, but from last year makes me feel almost unstoppable. Last year, the boys team came in last with 24 points, me scoring none. This year, I alone scored 24 points. Knowing that fact makes me feel very confident that next year we're going to be stronger than ever.” said junior Teddy Cohen.

Altogether, Cohen is pleased with his team’s effort and performance during the District Meet. Cohen describes how the athletes are breaking barriers and achieving goals that they have been wanting to meet since the start of the season. With them being a very small team who competes with teams that are sometimes three times their size, the team is still very competitive. The boys score more than twice the amount of points than they had scored last year. Despite the girls having some amazing runners graduate last year, they have very excited freshmen who will pick up the torch and keep promises.

“I’m always happy with the performance of the track team because they all worked very hard. Everyone did very well at the meet and I hope everyone is proud of themselves no matter how well they did.” said Franco.

This pandemic makes sports different than they have been in previous years. Franco feels as though he is fortunate to be able to compete, since many others are unable to. He definitely has tried a lot harder to improve this year, since he wants to make the time that is given to him in practice useful. Along with Franco, Cohen agrees and says “competing brings the best out of everyone, so it’s great we can hold meets now even if we have to wear masks while racing.” Cohen also mentions how important allowing meets to continue this year, as he believes it pushes everyone to train harder. He says “without competition, the question of, ‘why are we doing this?’ becomes a difficult one to answer.”

Athletes from the District Meet and placed top three then got to move on to compete in the Occoquan Meet. Congratulations to everyone on the Justice HS Winter Track team and to the following who placed at Districts and moved on to compete in the Occoquan Regional Meet!

Ryan Watson - District Champion 1600m & 3200m

Josh Franco - District Champion Pole Vault

Teddy Cohen - 2nd Place 300m, 3rd Place 55m, 3rd Long Jump, 2nd Triple Jump

Halla Chappell - 2nd Place Pole Vault

Ben Van Zandt - 2nd Place High Jump

SENIOR ATHLETES GOING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

by JAMES O'DONNELL

Staff writer

Although the Coronavirus may have limited students’ ability to play sports this year, the hard work and talent of some of our senior athletes has not gone unnoticed by colleges. Senior Bella Bruzonic is attending the Virginia Military Institute to play soccer. As the country’s first state military college, VMI’s “appreciation for the value of hard work” makes it a top competitor in the D1 Southern Conference of the NCAA (VMI website).

“I chose VMI because I personally have never seen myself at a ‘normal college’. It’s always been about finding a place that felt like home and I would have a family there [with] the soccer team. I felt VMI had all those things and I believe that school will set me up for my future and shape me to become a better person,” said Bruzonic.

Bruzonic may be ready to move on and compete in college, but her time playing at Justice and the friend she made will not be soon forgotten.

“I love seeing all my teammates in school then seeing them after school at training. They always bring good spirit and make it more fun,” said Bruzonic.

But it is not only Justice’s producing excellent athletes. Senior swimmer Eliot Frankovich is committed to swimming at the University of Mary Washington.

“[The University of Mary Washington] is close, has a pretty good swim team and was very nice when I visited,” said Frankovich.

The University of Mary Washington competes in the D3 Coast to Coast Conference of the NCAA. The university’s athletic program prides itself on “collective and diverse success of everyone working together” (UMW website).

Competing in college is sure to be a big change, but Frankovich is ready for the challenge. His coaches and teammates and justice have helped his swimming improve throughout high school.

“Being on the highschool team really helped me with learning to push myself in races. “ Swimming for Justice may have been challenging for Frankovich, but it was rewarding as well. When asked for a favorite memory of swimming at Justice, Frankovich said “Definitely winning regionals in the 200 meter free relay this year”.

Senior baseball player Dean Kampschror has similarly fond memories of competing for Justice. Kampschror is committed to the University of Virginia for baseball, but one of his favorite memories of Justice is winning the Bell Game playing football. Justice’s coaches have helped Kampschror improve his athleticism and all-around competitiveness.

“Playing at Justice, I was able to take personal fitness Sophomore and Junior year. Having time during school to lift and condition helps a ton, especially when you have practice in the afternoon,” said Kampschror. Kamschror’s time at Justice has helped prepare him to compete in college. Kampschror has committed to play baseball at UVA this fall.

“Some of my family members that went there encouraged me to check it out. It’s an in-state school with very good academics and a good baseball program. I really liked the campus and the facilities,” said Kampschror.

While Justice’s athletic program and coaches are excellent, these athletes wouldn’t have got to where they are without the support of the Justice community, so make sure to keep encouraging all of our student athletes who wear our red, white, and blue.

wolves dominate swim regionals

by CALLIE PETIT

Staff writer

In the midst of a global pandemic, there is no doubt that this athletic season is different than previous years. However, it is clear that this pandemic is no match for the Justice HS student-swimmers, who are still performing with confidence and going forward by exercising their skills. On Feb. 3, the Justice HS Swim Team competed at Districts, where the girls placed 6th overall, and the boys placed 3rd overall.

Before major events for most people you set expectations for yourself, especially in sports, but junior Emma Buckhorn mentions how she hates setting those for herself because they make her feel a crazy amount of pressure. Since Districts is such a big meet, she didn’t want to put too much extra internal pressure on herself.

“I decided not to set a goal time for my 500 meter since I felt like the stakes were really high. I even told my coaches that if they had a goal time in mind for me I didn't want to know what it was because I didn't want to feel like I was underperforming. I just kinda used all that anxious adrenaline to just perform the best way that I could instead of setting myself up with a goal to meet as motivation,” said Buckhorn.

Going into their swim meet, senior Andrew Tran and his fellow teammates had set high expectations to give them something to work for. “We never expected to reach all of our goals. Surprisingly, we were able to reach our marks and secure some pretty fast times,” said Tran.

Just like any other sports team, the Justice swim team values teamwork, improvement, effort, and enthusiasm. Freshman Emma Redman said that swimming the relay and breaking those records were really enjoyable because she did it with her friends on the swim team. “I am super happy with my team and our performance!! I think we all really enjoyed ourselves,” said Redman.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, it’s not surprising that this year is different from the rest. Student-athletes everywhere have gotten their seasons canceled, moved, or are struggling to participate in practices and games safely. Buckhorn said that her preseasonal winter swim program had been cancelled, which led her to worry about having a lack of high intensity training before JHS Swim started.

“I think the fear of my season getting cancelled pushed me to practice harder more than anything else,” said Buckhorn. “I was definitely feeling my lack of conditioning the first week of practice, but after that I got into the groove more and started to practice better and harder. We did a few practice 500's and I always tried to push myself during those because I knew if I did, it would improve my times in meets.”

Tran also expresses how the pandemic has impacted practices. “Practicing was definitely a lot harder during this pandemic, given that I didn't have a place to lift weights or get some extra practice in. Nonetheless, I made use of the resources I had and put in every drop of effort in the practices. It definitely helps to have competitive teammates to push you during the practices,” said Tran

Congratulations as well to all the Justice HS swimmers, everyone who participated in Districts and Regionals, and the record breaking champ swimmers!

Emma Redman - Occoquan Region Runner-Up & School Record Breaker - 100m Breaststroke

Liam Redman - Occoquan Region Champion & School Record Breaker - 200m Free Relay, 200m Medley Relay, 400m Freestyle Relay, 100m Freestyle

Andrew Tran - Occoquan Region Champion & School Record Breaker - 200m Free Relay, 200m Medley Relay, 400m Freestyle Relay

Aoun Al-Hiari - Occoquan Region Champion & School Record Breaker - 200m Free Relay, 200m Medley Relay, 400m Freestyle Relay

Eliot Frankovich - Occoquan Region Champion & School Record Breaker - 200m Free Relay, 200m Medley Relay, 400m Freestyle Relay