Tag Archives: Sydney Sears

Girls Cross Country

Injury causes hardship to cross country runner

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By Sydney Sears

Cross country member junior Haley Meyer watches her team sprint off in the distance wishing that she too could be a part of this experience, but for now it will have to wait.

Eight months ago Meyer noticed a discomfort in her leg and discovered that she had a stress fracture. Meyer was told by her doctor that she could not run for two months to allow time for her fracture to heal. As a passionate and disciplined runner, this pessimistic news was devastating.

“I am not able to run in practice or at meets, which sucks because I don’t get to be with my team,” said Meyer.

Teammate Junior Reagan Kurk sympathizes with Meyer.

“Injuries affect you in seemingly every way possible. The constant pain drains you and is tiring. Not being able to do what you love is one of the worst things in the world, especially when it seems like there’s nothing you can do to help it,” said Kurk.

Kurk raves that Meyer still puts in as much effort now as she did before her injury. She explains that Meyer shows up to every practice and cheers them, encouraging her team despite her injury.

Meyer’s cross country coach, Carl Hook, has supported her throughout this entire experience.

“I’ve just tried to encourage her to stay strong and make sure she understands that if you fight through a tough situation you emerge mentally tougher,” said Hook.

In the last eight months Meyer has not had one, but three stress fractures. This has caused more time away from running to heal.

“I know her stress fracture is hugely upsetting her, especially when she is one of the most active people I know,” said Kurk.

For this last fracture, which is located in her upper tibia, the recovery time is three weeks minimum. According to Meyer the recovery time depends on where the fracture is and how well it is taken care of.

Meyer has recently taken up alternatives to running such as running in the water, swimming, biking, and the elliptical.

“I also am trying to eat better to make myself more healthy and try to prevent this from happening again,” she said.

Kurk believes that Meyer is taking every precaution she can to get better and to prevent another fracture from occurring.

Not being able to run for months at a time is bound to stunt someone’s progress. Even with alternatives like swimming, the performance level will not be the same. Cross country runs six to seven days a week, so they are constantly working to get better. This has caused Meyer to suffer from her time off for healing.

“It has made me lose some of my endurance and strength in my legs,” said Meyer.

Hook explained that Meyer knows as a varsity runner that it will be tough to get her spot back after so much time off, but believes that she will snatch the spot right back up when she has the chance.

“An injury like any tough situation can either break you or make you. You either decide to give up or get stronger and as a runner that means swimming and cycling. Haley has worked hard at both of those to stay in shape and hasn’t given up,” said Hook.

 

News

School security provides for safe environment

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By Rachel Lamb and Sydney Sears

It is 3:30 p.m. and only a few students remain inside the school doors. They may be at sports practice, participating in a club, running their lines for theatre, or just waiting until their parents pick them up. These students most likely do not think about how safe they really are.

Around this time of season, a lot of sports including wrestling and volleyball meet at FC after school.

“I have never not felt safe being here after school,” said senior wrestler Cory Troutman.

Senior wrestler Christian Overbey agreed.

“I feel very safe after school hours. There are always plenty of coaches and staff that stay after.”

Most sports have long practices after school. Volleyball usually runs till about 6 p.m. or longer on weekdays. If there is a game, then the volleyball players are here later than normal.

“I’m normally here ’til 6-6:30 or 7 on a average night school night,” said freshman Nicole Hartman.

Many students say if or when they are here after school hours they feel safe. Students may feel that way for a number of reasons.

After school all the doors are now being locked, except for the far right entrance into the rotunda. Administration, teachers, and coaches are working to keep the students  here after school hours safe.

“We are just trying to keep them safe, even with the kids that are coming and going,” said FC wrestling coach Brandon Sisson.

Sisson said that it is difficult to maintain security with kids, parents, and staff going in and out so much because it is hard to determine who should be let in the school

With having a police officer at school, it makes everyone feel a little more secure. Having an officer on duty during the day allows for a sense of security that provides for a safe environment throughout FC.

“I think being safe is very important because without security we wouldn’t be able to practice and get better.” said Overbey.

Officer Brad Scott is at FC during the school day and one of his many responsibilities is spot checks around the building.

If there were to be an  emergency after school, Scott said that anyone still in the building would have to listen staff members for instruction, because there is not enough personnel left after school to organize an actual procedure plan.

Scott explained that school security is especially important at sporting events because the large number of people at rival games can get out of control.

One thing students do not have to worry about is feeling safe at school.

Features

Upcoming artist Meadow Ryann shares her story

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By Megan Johnson and Sydney Sears

As we all know, growing up is a challenging struggle. For most high school students, an average day is a hard task to endure. Waking up, going to school, doing homework/chores and sometimes even the additional drama is what teens have come to know as “just another day.”

However, imagine being a nationally known singer/songwriter and having to deal with all of the above. This is the life of 13 year-old singer/songwriter Meadow Ryann.

“[Stardom] didn’t affect my school or social life in a great way. It didn’t make school any easier and didn’t make people easier to deal with. I was always gone,” said Ryann.

Due to Ryann having to travel to other states to perform she could not regularly attend school. The same situation occurred as well when it came to her other extra-curricular activities such as cheerleading and swimming.

“I could never do any of the normal things kids would do. I couldn’t cheer anymore, I couldn’t swim anymore. I couldn’t be in class anymore because I was always gone,” said Ryann.

Ryann also explained that as she began her journey towards stardom, having a social life became even harder. Ryann’s mother/manager Jeannine Drollinger shared her thoughts on how Ryann’s life was affected by stardom.

“People used to say things behind her back, but now they send us private messages on social media,” said Drollinger.

She explained that within these messages, people sometimes questioned her motives as a mother.

“I get really upset when people say, ‘You’re just trying to make her famous.’ My quote is there’s a difference in being famous and being successful. I use that all the time.”

Drollinger also shared that sometimes people tend to underestimate Ryann as well.

“I hear a lot, ‘Oh she’s just a singer.’ But there’s so much more that goes along with it,” said Drollinger.

She explained that as Ryann’s manager, she has to book gigs, shows and has to spend several hours just managing Ryann’s social media accounts. Ryann also has to go to different recording sessions, concerts, shows and photo/video shoots that take a lot of effort and hard work.

“They think she just shows up on stage and there she is, but there’s so much more that goes along with it.”

In spite of all the negativity flowing through her life at that time, Ryann now has a positive light to help her through any dark time. Her light  is her singing and songwriting.

“I feel like writing songs can make anyone happy. I feel like there have been so many times that I’ve just been in a bad mood and I’m just so depressed, and I’ll write something and it’ll just brighten my mood. It’s like a hug from an instrument.”

Ryann feels her music style is very special and unique.

“If you took Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, and Nora Jones, even Ed Sheeran and you mixed them all together, that’d be me,” said Ryann with a smile.

Freshman Kaelyn Gibson met Ryann at her friends party over the summer and has become friends with the upcoming star.

“We just clicked,” said Gibson.

Gibson mentioned that upon meeting the singer, she found out about Ryann’s career. Gibson said that Ryann is different from other singers because she’s shy and sweet and not wrapped up in herself like many other artists. Despite Ryann’s shy and girly persona, she enjoys other artists and bands like Blake Veil Brides, Sleeping with Sirens and NeverShoutNever.

“Ryann’s music is gonna be really popular. I think she has a lot going for her,” said Gibson.

Ryann also shared that she lives by several slogans that help her get through the hard times.

“I have several slogans that I use a lot. It may sound ‘corny’ or ‘cheesy’ but it really, really helps. For example, if someone calls you a chair. Does that really mean you’re a chair? Obviously, no you aren’t. You’re a human being. So if someone calls you an ugly or a nasty name, does that mean that you are that thing? No.”

Drollinger added one last comment regarding to  Ryann’s success.

“Sometimes I’m just like ‘How do you come up with this stuff?’ It’s just pure raw emotion that she brings to me. I’m proud, very obviously, proud.”

If you are interested in learning more about Ryann, her musical abilities and where she will be performing next you can visit her website. She will have a 5 song EP released in mid-September, containing her own original song, “That is Love.” You can connect to her via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Soundcloud, Reverbnation and email through her site. If you wish to contact her through ask.fm or instagram search “Meadow Ryann.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRWWLLpk6Ro]