Castle High School’s girls and boys soccer teams both finished out their season this past month. After a year of training, they were able to achieve unpredictable wins against undefeated teams. Before heading into 2021’s championship season, both teams trained constantly. Jordan Coon, a senior varsity player for the Lady Knights, highlighted their focus on not only physical training, but “watching film and knowing how to play against certain opponents.” Together, the girls team put in one hundred percent effort every single practice. Coach Reiter, the boys soccer head coach, made sure they “were prepared mentally as well as physically,” according to Xavier Scott, a senior on the varsity team. Not only were they testing their limits to prepare for time on the field, they were learning how to work together as a family. The Castle Boys soccer team is known for their saying, “TEAM>ME.” To many of them, it is the constant reminder to rely on their teammates as if they are family, and work together to achieve the goals they set at the beginning of the season. Colin Nugent, Castle’s varsity goalie, makes sure to “leave everything on the field to represent the team and Castle as a whole.” The sportsmanship shown has led them to be more and more successful. Going into the championship season, both teams were on a winning streak. After beating Memorial High School for the first time in 5 years, the boys team was looking up. Preparing for Sectionals took a lot of grit and determination. However, their hard work paid off. The boys soccer team defeated Memorials second time on their home turf 4-3. The Knights broke Memorial’s seventeen year sectional title streak. On the same day, the Lady Knights competed for their sectional title against Evansville North High School. Aleyna Quinn, a sophomore varsity player, led the team to victory after scoring three individual goals. Senior Jordan Coon, felt “happy and as though they accomplished so much as a team” after their victory against North. The girls advanced to regionals with their 4-1 win. Both the boys and girls soccer teams battled their opponents at the regional championships, and came out victorious. Against Bloomington South, another successful soccer team, the Lady Knights fell after putting up a tough fight. The boys successfully defeated Bloomington South and advanced to the Semi-State Finals where they fell to Carmel High School. The 2021 Castle High School soccer season has been outstanding. Not only did the seniors achieve an outstanding last season, but the underclassmen are more prepared than ever. Good luck to those competing on travel teams postseason. Once a Knight, always a Knight. Lauren Matuscak
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The year the pandemic began, there were over 1.3 million attempts at suicide in the United States alone. Of those attempts, 47,511 lives were lost. 47,511 families were stripped from their loved ones. 47,511 people never got to see another day. Rather than sit in this solemn fact, Graden Herrell decided to do his part in advocating for mental health with his clothing brand “areUokay." "I know how hard it can be to ask for help," said Herrell. His initial idea for a clothing brand began in the middle of July. Herrell selected to do a brand centered around clothing, because it is something people would be able to wear. By wearing clothing with the message "areUokay" on it, he hoped that the message would make at least one person's day. Within a month of coming up with the brand idea, Herrell had successfully completed his first drop (July 30th, 2021). Herrell commented on how great the first drop was, and how much he learned from it. He knew that he wanted his brand to contribute to helping other organizations, and channeled the next drop into helping an organization called The JED Foundation. This foundation is a wonderful source for helping people in most any situation. Herrell selected this foundation because of its focus in helping young adults struggling with suicidal thoughts and emotional trauma. In the second drop (September 30th, 2021), Herrell dedicated $5 of every purchase to The JED Foundation, and as of less than a week since the release, $295 has been raised. "I want are U okay to have amazing quality as well as an amazing movement," said Herrell. To support Graden Herrell and his brand, visit the areUokay website. Layla Leigh WandelIn anticipation of the upcoming James Bond film “No Time to Die” (2021) starring Daniel Craig and Rami Malek, I will be compiling a list of what I consider to be the five best films in the long-running James Bond franchise. This is entirely based on my own preferences and not to be seen as an objective ranking. Also, I will be discussing spoilers below, so proceed at your own risk. With that being said, let’s begin. Coming in fifth place is “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969) starring George Lazenby as Bond. This is the only Bond film that Lazenby starred in which I consider to be a shame. While he is not my favorite actor to portray the famous spy, he still gives a great performance in a great movie. “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is one of the most emotional Bond movies and turns truly depressing by the end. Seeing Bond’s wife be killed immediately after marrying him is shockingly horrific and allows for Bond to show feelings of sadness and fear, something that rarely happens in this franchise. This film shows the audience so many great things about Bond as a person and I think it deserves to be recognized as a superb addition to the franchise. In fourth place is “Goldfinger” (1964). The third Bond film to star Sean Connery, “Goldfinger” is the prototypical Bond movie. It practically invented all of the common tropes found in this franchise. Things such as opening action sequences and oddball villains were first introduced in this movie and have continued to be featured in nearly every Bond film to follow. Besides the influence that “Goldfinger” had on the franchise, I also find it to be a wildly entertaining movie to watch. The main villain is so bombastically strange and over the top that I can’t help but laugh at everything he does. “Goldfinger” continues to be a James Bond picture that I come back to all the time. My pick for the third best entry in the James Bond franchise is the Sean Connery led “You Only Live Twice” (1967). When I say that this is one of the silliest Bond movies, I mean that strictly as a compliment. This movie is so ridiculously out of the ordinary with its villain and so many other aspects as well. The villain, Blofeld, is almost a caricature of the other villains in this series. Seeing a grown man sulk around petting a cat while also describing his evil intentions is laugh out loud funny to me. The character of Dr. Evil from the “Austin Powers” franchise of spy spoofs is directly based off of Blofeld here. And the fact that horror icon Donald Pleasance plays him makes it that much more enjoyable. And I could never review this movie without mentioning the fact that the main villain’s lair is practically a volcano. I don’t know who wrote this, but I thank them every time I watch it. There is no chance this list would ever exclude such a phenomenal movie. In second place is the third Roger Moore film “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977). This film is a turn from the previous entry on my list as I actually enjoy this movie for being good and not just a joke. Granted, there is quite a bit of humor here, but it doesn’t take away from the suave and interesting story. Roger Moore is fine as Bond, but the true star here is Richard Kiel with his role as the brute Jaws. I’ve never seen a more intimidating villain in this franchise than a freakishly tall and strong man with metal teeth as featured here. Every scene he is in is made instantly better by his appearance, and I find myself rooting for him most of the time. Outside of just this character, the plot is not overly complicated or weird as some Bond films tend to be, but is actually very easy to understand and get behind. The Bond Girl Anya Amasova is an interesting match for Bond, as she is basically just his female counterpart. I genuinely think that this is a top tier James Bond movie, with almost everything here working to perfection. Topping the list for me is the 1995 Pierce Brosnan debuting “Goldeneye”. Yes, I know this is not the best made or most realistic film in this franchise. Yes, I know that it sadly gave way to Pierce Brosnan being able to make more Bond movies (most of which were awful). Yes, I know that this should not even compare to the glory days of Sean Connery or Daniel Craig. With all of that being said, I could not care less. “Goldeneye” is such a fun and exciting movie to watch and Brosnan’s performance here is spectacular. He so easily embodies the slightly arrogant and suave mentality of James Bond and you can truly buy him as both a womanizer and an action hero. I think the villain Alec Trevelyan is possibly my favorite in this franchise. He is so effortlessly cool and fun to watch on screen. And the fact that he is played by the great Sean Bean makes it that much more enjoyable. Outside of this, even the supporting characters are great. The two Bond Girls here are both outrageously odd and over the top that I love seeing them on screen with Brosnan. And how could I forget the computer nerd Boris, an absolute icon of cinema. If it has not become obvious yet, I am extremely partial to the more cartoonish or far out Bond films compared to the later Daniel Craig movies that are more serious and gritty. “Goldeneye” is the perfect amount of these outlandish plotlines alongside a cast of cool and charming characters that I believe creates the best film in this series. Gavin Wood |