In the dog days of summer, head coach Carl Hook has his girls’ cross country team warm up through the hallway of the athletic end of the school. After warmups his squad takes off out towards the road and begin they their training for their upcoming meet.
All of this training and many other practices have prepared them for their meet tomorrow at Brown County, a meet that Hook said is important to the girls.
“It is a big meet. There will be several top 25 teams there and semi-state will be there. We have to run well there,” said Hook.
Competing in a meet like the Brown County meet requires some great runners to compete. Hook pointed out one of the best runners on the team, junior Alyssa Moore. Moore has her own expectations for the meet.
Moore said this team is getting better at a fast pace.
“We are running great; we are improving quickly,” she said.
Moore said this year’s squad has a different quality than teams in the past.
“We are a super big team; we are really close and we are all like sisters,” she said.
With the Hoosier Hills Conference fast approaching on Oct.1, the Superchicks have set their mark on winning the tournament. Moore said the loss at HHC last season has fueled this year’s team motivation to win.
“We want to win. We lost by one point last year. It is a goal of ours to win,” she said.
With all the tragedy and madness behind the recent Sugarland concert stage collapse, it is difficult to stomach that it was close to home.
On Aug. 18, a gust of wind caused the stage to be overtaken at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis. Sugarland was set to perform, but was never on stage and were not injured physically.
Although none of the band members were injured, it was another story for a few spectators close to the stage.
With seven people confirmed dead and close to 50 injured, the tragedy’s magnitude continues to grow.
Thousands of on lookers began evacuating right after the stage had fallen. Announcements had been made prior to the stage crumpling, about the evacuation process, but it had taken the viewers by complete surprise.
Senior Sydney Shelton was in the audience at the time and saw the terrifying ordeal. Shelton had gone with friends and family, none of whom were hurt.
Shelton said, “Everyone stopped and stared as it collapsed and ran afterward.”
During the evacuation process the officials were telling people where to go.
“We all went into the Pepsi Coliseum,” said Shelton. “They were housing horses there at the time.”
At first, Shelton was not disturbed out about the stage buckling. News then began to spread about people having been injured and killed by the collapse.
At that time, the reality of the disaster set in and everyone was scared and worried about what had happened to other observers.
“I didn’t think they had any idea it was coming,” said Shelton.
The National Weather Service had issued a thunderstorm warning at 8:45 p.m. This was just minutes before the gust of wind pummeled the stage.
Shelton said they had made announcements about cancelling the concert after they had retrieved food. About two minutes after that, the stage was knocked down.
Although Shelton was not injured by the collapse, it was a horrible experience.
While Shelton was there, senior Bethany Hoskins was also at the concert. “It was really scary, it made you realize things can change so fast,” said Hoskins.
“The evacuation was crazy, people were pushing others down the stairs and jumping over people,” said Hoskins.
After the concert, Hoskins also went into the Pepsi Coliseum.
“We watched a lady next to us have a panic attack because she was in the front row and had lost her friend,” said Hoskins. A state fair manager told the woman of hospitals to try and find her friend.
With similar experiences, it makes this tragedy hit home even harder.
“We went to have a good time and it ended up in tragedy,” said Shelton.
It is not uncommon. Every weekend junior and senior guys arrive at freshmen girls’ houses to take them out on a dinner and movie date while the junior and senior girls opt for a more relaxed night in with their college guys.
I am one of those girls. I have never dated anyone less than two years older than me. It is not a rule I have; that is just the way it has always seemed to work out. I honestly could not tell you why. Part of me thinks maybe it is the maturity level guys gain as they grow older, but then another part of me thinks maybe it is because I have grown up with most of the guys my own age, so that makes it difficult for me to think of them as anything more than friends.
Whatever the reason, clearly I am not the only one that feels this way. Every other day I am being overwhelmed by information of new couples. Some couples have an age difference of barely a year, while other couples may have a five year age gap. Everyone always has something to say about other people’s relationships and about how someone is too old or too young for their significant other, but where exactly is the line drawn that states what age difference is acceptable and what age difference is creepy?
I believe there is no line, no limit, and no rule that couples should be forced to follow in order to be considered socially acceptable. If you are mature enough to drive a car, have a job, and maintain your school work, you are mature enough to decide who you date. Often people will say, “Older guys only want one thing,” and sometimes, they’re right. But often, that is not the case.
In any relationship, whether there is an age difference or not, both people should be aware of what the other’s intentions may be. The outcome of any relationship will always be dictated by communication and maturity. If you are mature enough to deal with an age difference, and if you are well aware of the other person’s past and can accept their flaws and mistakes, then you are mature enough to decide for yourself if you want to get involved with that person or not.
There are some exceptions to my age difference rules, of course. And I turn to my favorite social network, Twitter, to help me fully get my point across. While scrolling through my Twitter trends, I see that #shestooyoungforyoubro is making its way to the top, and I must admit that many of them make valid points. If you take her on a date to a restaurant and the waiter gives her a kid’s menu #shestooyoungforyoubro. If her age can still be found on a clock #shestooyoungforyoubro. And if she does not know what MySpace is then #shesDEFINITELYtooyoungforyoubro.
Other than those few exceptions, most to all relationships with age differences are acceptable. That is not to say they will work out, because let’s be honest, the person we date in high school probably is not going to be the person we will spend the rest of our lives with, whether there is an extreme age difference or not.
All we can do is enjoy our high school experience with the people that make us happy, and try not worry what anyone else thinks.
Senior Tyler Hines is a sweeper for the boys’ varsity soccer team. He talked to the Bagpiper about his career at FC and what he can expect from himself and the team this year. Bagpiper: How has the season been going so far? Tyler Hines: “We are a young team this year, but overall we have been doing well.”
BP: What is the best part about playing for FC? TH: “The best part is getting to know everyone on the team.”
BP: What are some of the team’s goals for this upcoming year? TH: “Our main goals are to win sectionals and beat New Albany.”
BP: How have you improved over the course of your career at FC? TH: “Over the years I have become a starter on the varsity team.”
Check out Hines and his teammates take on Seymour and New Albany on the road on Sept. 13 and Sept. 15. The team’s next home game is Sept. 17 against Columbus East at 10 a.m.
Remaining home games:
Sept. 17- Columbus East 10 a.m.
Sept. 20- Meade County 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 29- Madison Consolidated (senior day) 5:30 p.m.
For the first time in years, we had glorious traffic-free traveling all the way from Greenville, Indiana, to our summer vacation spot, Orlando, Florida. And for the first half of the way home, it was the same story.
Then, we got to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Possibly the worst traffic organization I have ever experienced.
But let me back up for a minute. We left beautiful, sunny, Florida earlier that same afternoon, and made record time thanks to the complete lack of traffic through Northern Florida and Georgia. It looked like we were going to be able to make it home without having to stop for the night, an act that would save us nearly $200.
Unfortunately, almost immediately upon entering Chattanooga at 10:15 p.m., we were met by blue flashing lights everywhere. Looking ahead down Highway 24, four Tennessee police cars stretched across the highway blocking all lanes and all traffic was being directed onto a road that ran parallel to 24.
At this point, everyone was thinking this was no big deal and we would just run parallel to the highway for a bit and be on our way again, maybe 45 minutes behind schedule. Boy, were we wrong.
For what seemed like five miles, we followed this side road until we came to an intersection where everyone was sure we would enter the highway again. Nope; wrong a second time. Instead, we were met by another set of flashing lights and an officer pointing left with a flashlight.
After the vague instructions from the boys in blue, it was decided that the trucks in front of us probably knew where they were going. Wrong a third time. We followed a truck right back to where we started and had to wait, again, for the officer with the flashlight to point left. But this time, we asked him where we should go.
After getting so-so directions, we tried to follow them. By now, the cops were scrambling trying to get traffic under control. We followed a road toward “German Town,” where we were told we would find a tunnel. On our way there my dad pointed out a sign saying the tunnel ahead only had a 12’6” clearance, and he noted that he hoped no trucks tried to go that way since they are at least 13’6” high.
By the tone of this story, you can probably guess what happened next. Yep, a truck tried to go through the tunnel which, of course, destroyed the roof of the tunnel and police had to close it down.
At that point we were in another traffic jam. The only thing we could do was turn around. We found a gas station and stopped to get a map since our GPS kept routing us through the closed roads.
After spending $5 on a map and 20 minutes in a gas station we picked up a lost young couple from Terre Haute in our little two-car convoy.
Once my dad had figured out about where we were supposed to go, we loaded back into our Suburban and our new friends got in their Mitsubishi Galant to follow us.
Finally, we were headed in the right direction, until we found ourselves on the wrong side of town. A large luxury SUV, loaded to the brim with valuable items, with out-of-state plates, clearly lost, is a bad combination when you find yourself in a less-than-desirable area.
At last, after a very quick stop at a gas station for directions, we made it back to the main highway and were on our way to find a hotel for what was left of the night.
All in all, this just shows that Tennessee traffic coordinators and police have no idea what they are doing when they close down several miles of well-traveled highway for no apparent reason. But beyond that, this story shows that everybody should try their best to plan ahead, and not find themselves in a “Tennessee situation” scrambling at the last minute trying to figure out what to do.
Plan ahead, don’t be a Tennessee.
Official news source for Floyd Central High School
