SPIRITED SPORTING

PAGE 7

By: Jennifer Suter

Warming up for Fall Football

By: Monica Gonzalez

     My fellow Falcons, are you ready for the next season of football?  If you are, you are not alone.  Your very own Falcon football team is highly anticipating the season as well.  When it comes to those Friday night games, they will be ready to show off their talents after a summer of hot, long, and intense practices.

     During the summer vacation, most of you will be relaxing and enjoying some ice cream as you cool down from the hot, burning sun. Your Falcon football team, however, will be in training, preparing for their next successful football season.

     Those students who are considering  joining the team for the fall season have begun reporting to the coaches this May.  That way they can join the returning players for the summer practices and activities.

     Some of the returning football players include quarterback Drew Kappes, runningback Trei Sanders, defensive backs Bobby Watkins, David Anthony, and Derryn Bowen, and defensive backs Emmanuel Chirume and Devin Evans. What are the players most looking forward to for next season?

Juniors N. R. and A. H. are looking forward to being on next year’s squad. Photo taken by Ms. Jennifer Berry.

     On March 14, 2008, girls lined up and cheered their hardest at Bishop Dunne’s cheerleader tryouts. But Coach Allison Meyers saw some bright smiling faces she did not expect that day. Juniors Arturo Herrera and Nic Ramos, boys on a mission to amuse their fellow classmates, went to audition for positions on the squad.

     Coach Meyers was amazed by the boys’ talent: “the judges loved them at tryouts,” she says.

     Although Bishop Dunne has had male cheerleaders in the past, they are being reintroduced almost four years since their last sighting. What encouraged Juniors Herrera and Ramos to pick up the forgotten pom-poms of the past?

    Junior Herrera explains, “I made a promise to a really good friend… it first started as a joke, but then I discovered the amount of fun it is.” Besides, what guy wouldn’t want to hang out with a group of beautiful girls on a daily basis?

     How will these boys handle common cheerleading stunt combinations? Hurkies, round-offs, toe-touches, tumbling, and tucks are no easy task. Not to mention the splits… YIKES!

     “I am excited and ready to take on the challenge,” asserted Herrera.

     Ramos is especially looking forward to “the total new experience of just being a cheerleader and spending that time with [his] fellow teammates.” These boys seem pretty fearless and open to the overall experience.

   So how are the female cheerleaders taking the change? Junior Cecilia Hernandez comments, “I’m used to seeing them be manly all day, and to see them doing jumps is funny.” The sport of cheerleading is no laughing matter, though; the intense conditioning and competition is relentless. Then again, cheerleaders do bring “lots of spirit, energy, and fun” to the Bishop Dunne community, as Coach Meyers puts it.

     The male cheerleaders will be most helpful in relation to flyers. Many past routines have lacked the pizzazz and flair of Falcon cheerleaders flying through the air, but with strong young men on the squad, Coach Meyers will be sure to take advantage and include them for next year.

     Coach Meyers is certain that the entire squad will be “louder” next year, thanks to the boys. Chants will definitely echo throughout every gym where the team cheers, spreading Falcon pride as they shout, “Go Falcons, Go!”

     “I love football, I love everything about it.  I’ve been playing for about five years now.  I’m looking forward to practices and training,” states returning player Derryn Bowen.

     For summer practices, the players will have to report to Coach Hawthorne for strength and conditioning.  Accompanying the strength and conditioning is the 7-on-7 passing, which is basically a scrimmage. The football coaches, who will be running the sessions this summer, are Coach Davis, Williams, Sanders, Bell, Wakefield, and both Coach Johnsons.

     You might be wondering where they will be practicing this summer, since our football field is under construction. They will be practicing on the remodeled field because the football field will likely be playable by the end of May.

     If you were wondering if there are any tryouts, the answer is no.  But the fall practices will begin on August 4.  All players should report to the fall practices because that is when they need to work hard so they will be ready to show off their skills to all of the Falcon fans.

     Be sure to support your Falcon football team when the season begins because after this summer, they will be ready for a successful season.

Dunne’s Expressions: BD’s Eighth Grade Poetry Winners

    During first semester, Mrs. Toole’s eighth grade Pre-AP Literature class entered a poetry contest known as The Twelfth Annual Express Yourself Poetry Competition, sponsored by the Dallas Public Library. Five of her students were honored and named finalists in this nail-biting competition.

     “The results were astounding—five of my students [were] named finalists AND all five of them are being published in the anthology being distributed this April 26th. What's more, they won in the eighth AND ninth grade category!!! Four of the five will each have one poem published, while the fifth winner, Alexandria Jones, will have three of her poems published, as all three were chosen as finalists,” Mrs. Toole proudly states.

     That’s something to be proud of, isn’t it? The five finalists, Katie Carlough, Michael Evans, DeWanna Jackson, Alexandria Jones, and Tabitha Nwansi were honored on Saturday, April 26  at a special Award Ceremony and Reception held at the downtown Dallas Public Library. The top winners were announced for the Joe M. Dealey, Sr. Award of Achievement and two junior winners of the Award of Achievement.

     Way to go, Falcons! We’re proud of your hard work and dedication. Keep up with the rhymes every time there’s a contest of this kind.

Winning Poems

“A Heart’s Cry”: DeWanna Jackson

“Grandmother in Black”: Tabitha Nwansi

“Music”: Michael Evans            

“Our Song”: Katie Carlough

“Eternal Peace,” “Flower,” and “White Lies”: Alexandria Jones

By: Leslie Rewis