The Castle Knights’ boys soccer team continued their spectacular season with their regional win this past weekend (October 17). The first contest came at noon in a 2-1 win over Central Grove where, junior, Jackson Mitchell led the Knights with one goal and an assist giving him three total points while senior, Jacob Moehlenkamp and freshman, Ryker Kotmel had one and two points respectively. The Knights then punched their ticket to semi state just seven hours after their first game started with another 2-1 victory over Terre Haute South Vigo. Mitchell once again led the way with three points while, freshman, Kotmel again contributed a goal of his own.
Mitchell claims he had “high expectations going into the weekend.” He continues, “I knew we had a great shot at winning if we all came ready to play.” Mitchell led the class of 2022 in points for Indiana this season and has been a staple for the success of the Knights. With a point differential of just two points, the team played formidable opponents; nonetheless, they were able to come out on top. Senior, Sam Piering credits the wins to composure, saying, “we stuck together as a team when things weren’t going our way and followed our coach’s game plan.” The Knights now look ahead to October 24 where they will play Franklin Central in the Semi State game. While their 12-8-1 record is not comparable to the impressive 16-2-1 record of our Knights, they are not a team to sneeze at. Senior, Sean Kelly says the team is “preparing as if they’re the best team we have faced all season, and we are going to play like it’s our last game.”
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On the PSAT/SAT at Castle High School, instead of having 15 minute classes the students got a field day. Field day consisted of several activities like a wheelbarrow race, sack race, dance contest, and egg toss. Many homerooms participated in all the events.
The first event was the wheelbarrow race. So many students participated in the race that it was done twice. Lainey Browning, a junior, participated in the wheelbarrow race. Her and Maye Bourgeois were partners. Browning overall enjoyed the race. After the two races were finished the two winning groups raced each other. The dance contest was very fun to watch. Many students participated in that event. Students used the time to show their best dance moves and just have fun. It became more tense as less and less students remained. The final two dancers did an amazing job dancing and both deserve their winning spots. The egg toss was another major event. The participants were given hard boiled eggs to throw to each other. If the students dropped or broke their egg, they were eliminated. As the toss went on the participants backed up making it harder. Kaleb Turnbloom, a senior, was partnered with Hayden Elliott in the egg toss. Turnbloom thought the event was fun. After the egg toss some students decided to crush the unused eggs on their biceps. Overall everyone enjoyed the egg toss very much. Field day was a success for students. Everyone seemed to have a great time. It was a fantastic alternative to 15 minute classes. “It was better than expected. I thought only a few people would go but we had a good turnout” said Browning. Field day was loved by the students and they are thankful to the administration for putting it on. Castle Girls Golf had not been to State as a team since 2012. But all that changed during the 2020 season. With countless hours of practice and dedication they made their dream come true. Hailey Kirkland is a sophomore and was one of the five girls to play at state on October 2nd and 3rd. Kirkland played a round of golf the day before the tournament with her team. They took notes of the course and decided what shots they would take. Later they had a meeting with the coaches, Casey and Luke Richinson, about the big day. When asked how she prepared herself for this big day she said, “I prepared for the first day of state by practicing for this day months before we even knew we were going.” “I put in a lot of time and work into my swing and mental approach for tournament play,” said Kirkland. With State being a two day tournament, Kirkland was more nervous the first day than second due to the simple fact that she didn’t know what to expect because it was her first time going to State. Kirkland did have some rough holes along the way but she pushed through. On hole 4 she had her first hole in one. “I hit a 6 iron 144 yards and the ball hit the green and just rolled straight into the hole,” said Kirkland. With the season being over, Kirkland wishes she could have become stronger and more consistent with her shots. Another golfer who made it to State was senior Ashlynn Weir. Weir was one of the girls Kirkland played with the day before the tournament. Being the only senior to make it to state, Weir was extremely nervous. But she was also excited because she had been working to make it to state all year. Weir also had some bad holes. On her last hole for day one she went into the water twice (this adds two penalty strokes and makes the score for that hole higher). With the hole being a Par 4, Weir ended up getting a 9. Though Weir had a couple bad holes she moved on and worked even harder for the next day. By being able to push past those holes, Weir was able to get her first and only birdie (birdie meaning one stroke under Par). When asked what it meant for Weir to make it to State her senior year she said, “I was so excited that I was able to finish my senior golf season at state because I looked forward to state for 4 years.” Both Kirkland and Weir believe they did and did not improve over the season. They improved their shot distance but would have liked to work more on their mental game. Many people have grown up watching Star Wars and playing as Star Wars characters at recess. Immersion into the universe has always been held in high regards for the brand for the video game side of the franchise.
Star Wars Squadrons was released on October 2nd and it’s a first person dog fighting game. The game is VR and HOTAS compatible for the entire game. I haven’t played with VR or HOTAS but other online reviews say both work very well for the game. I’ve been playing with an Xbox controller and it works well but some buttons double up on abilities. The multiplayer is extremely fun. The two main game modes are Dogfight and Fleet Battles. Dogfight is just a simple 5v5 team deathmatch. The big gamemode is Fleet Battles, it’s a 5v5 with AI ships involved as well. The goal is to destroy the enemy team’s capital ship by destroying the ship’s systems and hull. It’s a competitive mode where it ranks you, however, there is an unranked version where you and other players fight against AI only. Fleet Battles are so fun. The games take a while to complete but you hardly notice because of the great time you’re having. The campaign is fairly good. You switch between the roles of an Imperial TIE pilot and a New Republic/Rebel Alliance pilot. Without getting too much into plot spoilers, the Imperial side of the campaign is much more enjoyable. The squadmates on that side are much better characters, especially Shen. Shen is a TIE pilot who’s part cyborg that has a strong hate for the rebels since they’ve caused him to be a cyborg and because he’s a patriot for the Galactic Empire. The game has gained some notoriety for being inclusive. Varko Gray on the Imperial side is gay and Keo, on the New Republic side, is non-binary. The New Republic part of the campaign is still fun and has one of the most intense missions in the game but the story and characters are overall not as cool as the Imperials. The commanders for each faction, Lindon Javes and Terisa Kerril, are both excellent characters with amazing backstories and motives. The game is very solid, especially for $40. It’s a complete game with zero microtransactions which deserves praise in the modern gaming industry. The game play and story are both solid as well. The amount of customization is awesome and once again all earnable just by playing the game. This is a game all Star Wars fans need to get. I give the game 10/10. 2020 has been full of unexpected surprises, but the complications of the West Side Nut Club’s Fall Festival hit residents of southern Indiana harder than ever before.
The West Side Nut Club, a civic welfare organization, hosts the annual Fall Festival in downtown Evansville. The street festival usually consists of over 130 food booths, carnival games and rides, and other fair style activities. However, due to COVID-19, this year was a little bit different. Annual Fall Festival attendees and members of the West Side Nut Club came together and resolved a solution to satisfy the community. Emma Greene, a freshman at Castle High School, says, “It’s a tradition, I won’t be surprised if they find a way.” Luckily, she was right. They created a design that would allow locals to buy tickets, enjoy food, and enter their half pot drawing all while meeting the CDC health regulations. The West Side Nut Club set up four different booths throughout downtown Evansville. Here the community could buy tickets to enter the Fall Festival and purchase half pot tickets as well. Simple ideas like this allowed the half pot to reach over 1.3 million dollars. One of the main attractions of the Fall Festival is the food booths. People travel from all around Indiana to buy treats such as fried oreos, donut burgers, and deep fried macaroni and cheese. All of the booths are run by local non-profit organizations, allowing them to raise money for the year. Sadly, cancelling the festival meant losing their income. During an interview with Tristate News over the Fall Festival food booths, Outboard Boating President, Scott Schenk said, “If people need money, we are going to find a way to raise money.” The community of southern Indiana did just that. Local businesses and churches gladly opened their doors to the non-profit organizations. Together they hosted the booths and allowed the community to purchase the food they can only get during the regularly scheduled Fall Festival. Macey Montgomery, a junior at Castle High School, “traveled all the way to downtown Evansville just to buy a donut burger.” Although the booths were spread out, they still maintained or surpassed the amount of customers usually received at the Fall Festival. Despite the long list of challenges 2020 has brought, the community continues to find a way to be there for one another. Hopefully, the West Side Nut Club’s Fall Festival will be back on schedule for next year. See you then. Typically, Homecoming is filled to the brim with proud students who erupt with applause during the Homecoming court ceremony and the football game. However, this year was a bit more contained. It may not have looked like it from the streets, but there was a crowning ceremony going on at the Castle last Friday night before the Knights took a 14 to 10 victory against Jasper.
Despite COVID wreaking havoc on many school events such as Santa Switch and pep assemblies, Castle found a safe way to carry out the annual homecoming ceremony and the football game. The school took many precautions with the audience, including limited tickets, restricted seating, mask requirements, and more. The Homecoming Court also had a new rulebook to go by this year. There were no homecoming couples for the sake of social distancing and members had to stand distanced on the field. “Not being able to have couples this year was a bit of a bummer but I completely understand why it needed to be done,” said Senior Ellie McAtee. “The safety of others should come first.” Due to the lack of couples and social distance policies, the princes and princesses were driven in separate cars. All the boys were driven in jeeps. The girls were also driven in jeeps, except for the senior girls, who were driven in the traditional convertibles. Despite the restrictions, everyone on the court smiled and waved like any other year, seemingly unphased by the differences. Besides, single kings and queens are in these days! “I had a lot of fun riding on top of the convertible around the track,” said Senior Olivia Anderson. “It was actually my first time riding in a convertible and I loved seeing my teachers, family, and friends in the stands!” However, Anderson and many other court members were missing something very important in the stands this year: the Castle Marching Band. The band hasn't been able to perform at any of the games this year and the lack of them at the halftime show and the ceremony disheartened many people. However, every member of the band and the court agrees that safety comes first. Even with the limitations of the year, court members were still very excited about the process, especially the new king and queen of the Castle. The crowning ceremony invited the reigning king and queen from last year, Zane Phelps and Lola Phillips, to the field in order to hand off their titles. There, a new king and queen were crowned: Ellie McAtee and Gabe Van Wormer. Both students were overwhelmed with happiness. “Being voted Homecoming queen this year was very surreal for me; I was overwhelmed with the amount of love and support that I was shown every step of the way from friends and family members,” said McAtee. Her partner in crime, Senior Gabe Van Wormer, was taken aback by his crowning. “I did not expect to win at first and was very pleasantly surprised,” said Van Wormer. “It was an exhilarating feeling to be crowned king.” However, being crowned king wasn’t Van Wormer’s only success that Friday. He is also a football player for the Knights. The Knights won 14 to 10 against Jasper in the Homecoming Football game. Although the Knights started slow in the beginning, they put in a lot of effort and won the war! “Most friday nights one win is enough to make my day, but going home with two wins is twice as exciting,” said Van Wormer, excited about his crowning and his team’s victory. Overall, despite the obstacles, Homecoming went on without a hitch, with both players and court members leaving the field happy. According to the new queen of the Castle, some dreams even came true that night. “Looking into the stands and seeing all of the people I love smiling and waving at me was a very special feeling,” said McAtee. “This was the feeling that I had dreamed of ever since I was a little girl.” On Monday, September 28, “Dancing With the Stars” had its third episode of the season. Sadly, my personal favorite celebrity Carole Baskin was voted off the show.
So far, Baskin has been a very controversial cast member on the show. While her dancing has been subpar at best, her constant cat gimmick and craziness has been super fun to watch. Her week-two dance to the song “What’s New Pussycat” was my personal favorite moment. Going into week three of the season, it was announced that the theme for the new episode was Disney, which made viewers excited to see what the celebrities would do. As expected, Carole Baskin danced to a song from the Disney film “The Lion King.” However, she ended up taking it a step further than I expected. Baskin and her dance partner came out wearing lion costumes, dancing to “The Circle of Life.” Like her previous performances, this one was not very good, and Baskin was still in last place. After all of the performances, the safe dancers were announced, and Baskin was one of the two up for elimination. Sadly, all three judges voted to eliminate her, ending her odd run on “Dancing With the Stars.” While it makes sense for Baskin to be eliminated due to her poor dancing abilities, it still hurts to watch her leave the show. She was by far the most enjoyable celebrity, and constantly made me intrigued as to what she would do each dance. Castle High School takes much pride in their sports teams. The Castle cross country team has recently taken many wins during their fall season.
Cross country consists of two teams, boys and girls, who compete in 5Ks throughout their regularly scheduled season. Many participants train all year long in hopes to better lead their team to victory. Training is important, and Castle is sure to maintain a steady routine. Besides Saturdays and Sundays, Castle High School’s Cross Country team practices every day of the week. They put numerous hours into running and cross training, while also maintaining good eating habits. Usually, after training long and hard all week, the team attends a meet on Saturday. Here they are able to truly test their skills and race fast competition. One of the most important aspects of sports is the relationships and memories made throughout the season. Castle’s cross country team makes the most out of every practice, race, and even bus ride. Angela Costeur, a sophomore at Castle High School, says her favorite memory during their season so far is “the meals after meets...and hanging out.” Elle Dewees, member of the girls varsity team says she has a blast training with her friends. Before and after races on the weekend, the girls team enjoys sharing videos on social media, and hanging out at each other's houses. Memories such as “almost being late for the bus while making a TikTok,” makes the training all worth it. Running cross country for more than 5 years, Cade Stephens, senior at Castle High has become familiar with the sport. Not only is he a successful runner, but a leader on the team. Stephens is always looking for ways to put in the extra work such as “going on early morning runs on weekends.” With his busy schedule, it is easy to get into a dull routine, but Stephens finds ways to keep it exciting. He surrounds himself with great friends who share the same drive not only in cross country, but other life long goals. Many members of cross country set large goals, and meet them. Some including winning the Pike Central Invitational, SIAC, and both regionals and sectionals. Meeting these goals would be no surprise for the outstanding Castle team. The past few weekends, the boys varsity team has placed first 3 times and second once out of the 5 meets.These results are clear examples of the hard work this team puts in. Although their season is not over, the members of Castle Cross Country have made numerous marks in their history books already. Their dedication is leading them towards a successful end of the season. The Castle family is looking forward to seeing many more wins and memories made throughout the team. |