Cheer, Cheer for Old Newark High!

Boy's basketball has begun and that means that the cheerleaders are getting ready to lead the crowd with great chants! Miranda Linco is the coach of these cheerleaders, and she does a wonderful job with the cheers and choreography for the thirteen girls on the team. Coach Linco graduated from NIU and was on the dance team for two years. Sarah Greg will be the assistant coach this year. She cheered at Yorkville High School for all four years. Seniors Hopi Horvat and Lindsey Tollefson are the captains this year.

The girls are looking forward to this season. Junior Savanna Flowers said, “I’m looking forward to doing jazz dances at half time. It’s something we added this year and we all are looking forward to performing.” This will be Savanna’s second year of cheering here at Newark. When asked what her favorite part of cheerleading is, she responded, “I love having a unified team. We are one big family and I love being with all the girls on the team.”

Newark’s first home basketball game is on December 9, at 5:30 against Dwight High School. They will also be participating in the Plano Christmas Classic on December 22-30. Come out and help these girls cheer on our boy’s basketball team!

By Rachael Lape and Missy Friestad

Dribbling into a Great Season

The girl’s basketball season is off and dribbling. The girls had a great season last year, and they are looking to carry that over into this year. Coach Dale Skelton returns out of retirement to coach the girl’s basketball team after last year’s coach Brian Holman decided to take his teaching and coaching talents elsewhere. Meghan Petges will return as the varsity assistant coach and head coach of the JV squad. The team has Fikri Rachman, the school’s foreign exchange student from Indonesia, as their manager.

The team is down in numbers with only an 8-woman roster this year. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in will to win. The team started off their season in Somonauk for the early bird tournament where they went 3 and 1, beating Seneca, Sandwich, and Plano. Their one loss came by way of Wheaton Academy. As of press time, their record is 4 wins and 1 loss.

By Caleb Dierzen

Turkey Basketball

Basketball season has finally begun. The Newark Norsemen boy’s basketball team participated in the Leland G. Strombom Thanksgiving Tournament held in Sycamore to start off their season. They played some tough competitors over the weekend. They played Burlington Central on Tuesday, losing that game 76- 42. The Norsemen played Jefferson next, losing to them 58-43 in a game they had a chance at, but Jefferson pulled away at the last couple minutes. The Norsemen then lost another nail biter to Dundee Crown in the closing minutes 52- 41.

Then finally, in the fourth game, the Norsemen won their first game of the year against Noble Hansbury College Prep High School in a 85- 47 blow out. Evan Schomer said, “ We really came together as a team that final game to play our hardest and to have a fun time!” The Norsemen really focused on moving the basketball that game. Will Clausel ended up having quite a few assists. He stated, “It seemed like every pass was going for me.” Everyone was scoring points left and right. Good luck Norsemen in the upcoming games.

By Karter Kunkel and Ian Cerney

Cheerleading: A Front Row Seat to the Action.

Grab your pom-poms, blue and white ribbon, and your school spirit. You guessed it, the cheerleaders are getting ready. As the 2014-15 basketball season is approaching, the basketball players are not the only ones getting ready, so are the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders play a big role in the basketball season. They get the team and crowd pumped up. No matter what score, they always have an encouraging cheer.

The cheerleading team has a 13-woman roster, consisting of seniors co-captain Lindsey Tollefson, co-captain Hopi Horvat, Makaila Butuso, Bailey Fletcher, juniors Sara Hipsman, Sarah Moutray, Mackenzie Fletcher, Savanna Flowers, sophomores Autumn Bolte, Taryn Shankle, Kylie Eike, and Freshmen Maggie Komes and Bailey O’Toole.

This will be coach Miranda Linco’s second year coaching at Newark High School, and when she was asked what her favorite part of coaching cheer is, she said, “The opportunity to watch the girls improve upon themselves with pride.”

By Caleb Dierzen

Shooting for the Stars

Basketball is up and running once again. Both the girl’s and boy’s basketball teams have a lot of potential coming into season. The girls will be starting their season off in the Somonauk breakout tournament November 17- 23. The boys will kick off their season at the Sycamore Thanksgiving Tournament November 24- 28.

The girls will be coached by Meghan Petges (JV) and Dale Skelton (Varsity.) The girls will be participating in the Lisle Christmas Tournament.

The boys will be coached by Rob Scott (JV) and Rick Tollefson (Varsity.) The boys will be participating in the Plano Christmas Classic in late December, as well.

Come out and support your Norsemen this year! Good luck to both teams this season! GO NORSEMEN!

By Rachael Lape and Missy Friestad

Lady Norsemen Advance to Sectional Championship

Congratulations to the Newark Lady Norsemen Volleyball Team for your IHSA Class 1A Sectional Semifinal victory Tuesday night against Winnetka (North Shore Country Day). The Lady Norsemen have now advanced to the Sectional Championship game vs. Elgin (Harvest Christian Academy) to be held at at Elgin (Westminster Christian) on Thursday at 6PM. Come Cheer Your Lady Norsemen Team!!!

Regional Champions!

Congratulations to the Newark Lady Norsemen volleyball team for your 25-17, 27-25 regional victory against Indian Creek! The Lady Norsemen have now advanced to the Sectional Semifinal to be held on Tuesday, November 4th at 6:30 p.m. vs Winnetka (North Shore Country Day) at Elgin (Westminster Christian).

The Norsemen Look to Bounce Back

One of the most exciting times of the year is almost upon us. Basketball is about to start. This year both the girls and the boys’ teams will enter the association with high expectations. After coming off two disappointing exits in the regional finals last year, the teams this year will look to bounce back with a chip on their shoulders.

The Lady Norsemen will get started first this year, with practice beginning on November 3. After two weeks of practice, the varsity will be off to the Somonauk Break Out starting, on November 18, while the JV will compete at the Putnam County Invite, starting November 17. The first home game of the year for the Lady Norsemen will be against Fieldcrest on November 25.

Meghan Petges, a social studies and a RTI teacher at Newark, will again coach the Lady Norsemen JV. The Lady Norsemen will have a different head coach this year, however, but not a new one. Coming out of retirement, Dale Skelton, a former P.E. teacher at Newark, will once again lead the varsity girls after last year’s head coach, Brian Holman, left for a teaching and coaching position at Spring Valley Hall.

The Norsemen will get underway with practice on November 10. Rick Tollefson and Rob Scott return to coach the varsity and JV respectively. For the third year now, the varsity boys will return to the Sycamore Invite to open their season on November 24. The Norsemen then will travel to Somonauk to open conference play on December 5 and then on December 9 the first home game will be against Dwight.

When sophomore Steve McGrath was asked what he was looking forward to most this year, he replied, “I’m definitely most excited for the [Plano] Christmas Classic. I’ve always gone there every Christmas since I was little, so being able to play in it now is pretty sweet.” The Plano Christmas Classic for the Norsemen will take place in late December.

By Matt Eike