Innovation and Synergy competed in the 27th annual Urbandale Show Choir Invitational Feb. 13. The competition hosted 20 choirs in the 4-A, 2-A, intermediate, and women’s divisions. The Urbandale Show Choir Invitational is the longest running competition in the state.

Synergy took second in the intermediate division behind Cedar Rapids Kennedy Protege. Innovation placed third in the 4-A division behind Waukee Millennium and Ankeny Visual Adrenaline. They also won the award of Best Band. Senior Marissa Broich won the honor of Best Female Soloist for the second time this season.

“It felt amazing,” Broich said. “All eyes were on me. It has been one of my long-term goals and to have it happen twice this year is a dream.”

Some Synergy members were not happy with their performance. “We felt like we did terrible,” junior Synergy member Blake Davidson said. “When we found out we got second we were really surprised.”

Both Innovation and Synergy also competed at the Rhythm and Music Showcase at Southeast Polk Feb. 27. Innovation won the title of Grand Champion, along with the caption awards Best Vocals, Best Choreography, and Best Band. Senior Molly Schunicht won the award of Best Female Soloist. Synergy was named first runner up in the 4-A division.

Innovation and Synergy also competed at the Emmetsburg Show Choir Invitational Mar. 6. Innovation won first-runner-up in the 4-A division, right behind Urbandale Stuido. Emmetsburg was the last competition of the year for Synergy, who took home third-runner-up in the 4-A division, beating long time rival, Urbandale Vitality.

Innovation will conclude their season with the Show Choir Nationals Mar. 24-28 in Nashville, Tennessee.

By: Spencer Vasey

State tournaments are very important to our teams.  The girls’ soccer team has been preparing again for a soccer season with fewer injuries and is expecting a state tournament berth.

“We usually think of ourselves as good enough to win our district,” varsity assistant coach Alicia Rollison said.  This will not come as easily as last year because of the loss of very talented seniors.

“Tactically we lost our best forward last year, Kate Nielsen,” Nicole Postel said, “But she was hurt a majority of the season.”  Although they lost their key forward other players have stepped up to fill their place.  The team relies on a key player to change the game in their favor.

“Jennifer Ross can be that big impact player,” Rollison said.  Ross will be able to change the game in the forward position where they lost Nielsen.  “Ross is more crafty, smaller, and one of the players that when she is having a good game, she is really good for the team,” Rollison said.

To prepare for the season the team has been practicing in the mornings at 6 a.m. in the gyms.  “The morning practices help get people into soccer shape and see how the under and upper classmen play,” senior Jennifer Ross said.

“We have had about 30-40 girls on Monday and Wednesday, when have our open gym,” Rollison said.  During the open gym the girls scrimmage each other in not set teams.  The coaches are there to watch and see how each player is playing.

Along with the morning practices Postel is trying too to incorporate weight lifting into the preseason practice as well as during the season. 
“I realized that weight lifting can help stop these injuries,” Postel said, “Since freshman year there has been a lot of injuries on the team.  I learned in Lutter’s (track 4) PE the importance of exercising and weight lifting to prevent injuries on the soccer field.”

The lifting and other precautions will hopefully limit the injuries and with all the experience the team has a good record.  Ankeny, Dowling, and Urbandale are the main rivals of the teams.

By: Michael Carlson

This movie is well…. crazy. “The Crazies” which is rated R takes place in a small town in Iowa where a military plane crashes and dumps a biological weapon into the citizens’ water supply. When the town people ingest the chemical, it causes them to lose their minds and then go on a killing rampage throughout the town. As the people in the town that are not sick attempt to make it out of town they are met with military containment teams and their own friends who have lost their minds trying to kill them. There is plenty of more to the story but I don’t want to give away any spoilers.
The movie is a decent hour and 20 minutes so it is not a horror movie that drags on and on. This is good because it is not just one of those lame zombie movies but it has a similar feeling with bloodthirsty citizens running around killing everyone. “The Crazies” has a its own feel for a scary movie because it gives the viewers a creepy vibe because it will go from everything being okay to a man trying to drive a pitchfork through someone’s chest. I would give this movie a 3 and out of 5 stars because it is an intense story with plenty of action mixed in with constant fear.

By: Ethan Meng

With cancer awareness week behind us, there is still one more story to tell of a teacher who battled cancer and came through successful.  That is associate KT Menke.
In 2006, Menke started showing some symptoms that something was not right and she discovered that she had miscarried.  She didn’t even know she was pregnant.  She learned that she had cancer cells in her uterus and the doctors decided to remove her uterus and cervix in a procedure called a hysterectomy.  They chose to leave her ovaries however, because it often times can lead to breast cancer.
“It was hard,” Menke said. “I had to have additional surgeries because of mistakes and I was in the hospital for 10 days.  I almost died three times through all this.”
Menke’s ex-husband was extremely helpful and took care of their two daughters. 
Last year, Menke began having problems with her ovaries.  The doctors decided to remove those as well and Menke had surgery Feb. 8.  She will be out of school for a month while she heals from the surgery.  She is staying with her parents and her daughters at her parents’ house.  She wanted to put the surgery off until June but she needed to have it done quickly and did not want to risk leaving her two girls behind.
“It’s important to listen to your body,” Menke said. “Pay attention and be proactive.  If you don’t get answers go to a different doctor and maintain a positive attitude.

By: Lauren Gehrke