Track

Newark High School is bringing a track team to the school as of 2016. There was a paper that went around the school to see how many students would be interested in joining the team, and there were a ton of names on the list.

The track team will be practicing at the high school on the soccer field and in the gym, working around the baseball and softball schedule if the weather is bad. The team will be traveling to Cross Lutheran to use certain equipment there like the track for practicing relays. There will only be three to four times a month that Newark will be going to Cross Lutheran.

Mrs. Navarro and Coach Schutt worked hard to order all the equipment, except for pole vault. All field events will be available in practice but pole vault. Assistant coach Mrs. McCoy said, “If an athlete expresses a large interest in pole vault, they should talk to Coach Schutt or myself and we will try our best to make something work.”

There are approximately 30 athletes signed up. We have a good mixture of boys and girls, all ages, freshman to senior. “I personally have never started a track program from scratch before, but I know Coach Schutt has started successful programs in his career. My experience with track is as athlete in high school and junior high coach at Ransom Grade School,” Mrs. McCoy said.

As of now, Maya Wright is the only person who has offered to manage the team and help the coaches out with everything.

By Remington Kempiak

Boys Basketball Review

The boys basketball team finished their season in the Super Sectional held at ISU, losing to the LeRoy Panthers, 58-50. They finished their season with a record of 28-3, creating a historic year for the Norsemen. Winning the regional championship against the Leland-Earlville Panthers 66-47, they advanced to the sectional, which was hosted by Marquette.

They went on to beat the Flanagan Falcons in an exciting overtime finish with a score of 53-46. Junior guard Steve McGrath said, “It was a great season playing basketball with my friends. We wish we could have made it to our ultimate goal, but proud of my teammates for all that we accomplished.”

By Evan Schomer

Baseball Preview: Getting into Full Swing

Newark Baseball is just beginning! The roster consists of six seniors leading the way. There are five returning seniors: Austin Pagel, Mitchel Schmidt, Tyler Mulligan, Kendall Endres, Jake Putty, Ian Cerney, Kevin Klock, and Austin Green.

There is one newcomer that will be stepping out to the field for the first time since he was ten years old: Jack Clausel. All of those athletes have been a huge part of Newark sports the past four years and plan to go out strong. Also joining the Norsemen will be manager Evan Schomer. Evan says, “I am looking forward to helping out the team and being with his friends.”

The Norsemen are out for a winning season. Senior Austin Pagel says, “We are really looking to get a win against Somonauk. Beating them as a senior would make a lot of hard work pay off.” They have picked up some tough nonconference competition.

They will be going down to Jacksonville, Illinois, over spring break for a tournament. The boys will take on regionals in May. Senior Mitch Schmidt says, “Winning a regional this year is definitely possible. We’ll have to work hard, but we have a lot of talent this year.”

Besides the strong groups of senior veterans the Norsemen are also seeing the talent of some young athletes. Some key junior returnees are Conner Christian, Steve McGrath, and Cameron Myre. Freshmen Billy Gebhart, Corey Jacobson, and Jacob Slivka will be playing with the varsity this year also.

Come out and see the action live on opening day! The Norsemen will play March 16 at home against Marquette!
The Newark Norsemen baseball team takes the field for the first day of practice.

By Maddie Friestad

Newark Softball

Spring is right around the corner, which means softball is as well. This year Coach Krackel and Coach Akre are working the girls hard to accomplish big things this year. Last year, the girls went 15-7 and ended the season after winning regional semi finals.

The seniors will be Sara Hipsman, Kelsea Zitt, Shelby Hoddy, Delaney Drew, Megan DiClementi, five of those being returning veterans. Senior Megan DiClementi says some team goals are, “Going undefeated in conference, getting first in conference, and making it to sectionals.”

Sophomore Nikki Kala was asked what is the best part of softball and she said, “The team. The team is worth every long practice, hard games, black eye and bruise. We are a family and we win for each other.”

The first games this season will be March 21 at Aurora Christian, March 24 against West Minister Christian at home and March 30 against Ottawa Marquette at home. Come out and support your Lady Norsemen!

By Marissa Friestad

SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS!

Congratulations to the Newark Norsemen basketball team for your 53-46 (OT) Sectional Championship Victory against Flanagan-Cornell! The Norsemen will now advance to the Super-Sectional game to be held on Tuesday, March 8th, 7:00 p.m. at Normal (ISU) vs. LeRoy.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Newark Norsemen basketball team for your 56-49 Sectional Semifinal Victory against Ottawa Marquette! The Norsemen will now advance to the Sectional Championship game to be held on Friday, March 4th, 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa-Marquette (Game played at 201 Chicago St., Marseilles) vs. Flanagan (F.-Cornell). Tickets sales on Thursday from 9-3 for the public. All Tickets $5.00. T-Shirts $10. Go Norsemen!

Softball

Softball season is right around the corner! Are you ready for sunflower seeds, uniform tan lines, and warm Saturday games? The softball team sure is!

During the month of February, the team has been having open gyms every Wednesday night and plans to do so up until the first practice. The practice schedule begins on March 1.

The first game for the Newark softball team is on March 21 and is away at IMSA starting at 4:30. The next, and last game for the month of March is the 22nd. The game is home against Aurora Central Catholic and will also be starting at 4:30.

This year, the softball team consists of six seniors, one junior, seven sophomores, and three freshmen. Senior Kelsea Zitt is most excited for Saturday double headers with a cookout in between games. Senior Delaney Drew stated that the team can’t wait to begin practice to work together as a team and to have a great overall season.

By Shelby Hoddy

The Final Chapter

The boys basketball team has now entered the end of their regular season, coming off a conference tournament championship for the second consecutive year. They defeated Indian Creek 63-50 in the championship game.

The Norsemen now will finish their season playing three more games before entering regionals in Serena. Depending how regionals go, the Norsemen would then play in the sectional taking place at Marseilles Grade School. The season extends into early March where the state tournament would be held at Carver Arena in Peoria.

“We are all real excited and looking forward to what we can be capable of doing,” said senior forward Jack Clausel. Newark has recently been given an AP ranking of 6 in the state and hope for a big run to come with the post season approaching. Go Norsemen!

By Evan Schomer

Bows & Throws: NCHS Cheer 2016

This year the Newark Cheerleading team was not just a team. Sophomore Nikki Kala says, “It feels more like family.”

The bond of thirteen girls has grown over the past few months. Senior Savanna Flowers says, “We have a team full of girls who can learn quick and nail a dance.”

They have been working together since November and come a long way. At the beginning of the season the girls hosted a camp for younger girls and cheered at the boys games.

Toward the end of the season the girls have began working on multiple dances. The squad performed their dance at senior night on February 19.

Marissa Friestad said, “We bring a lot of energy and encouragement to the game. The basketball and cheerleading team feed off one another.”

The cheerleaders have had a fun season full of exciting wins, and memories to last a lifetime.

By Maddie Friestad