Mrs. Manwaring long jumping at the district track meet.

Kayla Price
SJHS Staff Writer

Mrs. Manwaring is the ninth grade science teacher at Springville Junior high but not for long. She is leaving at the end of this school year.  Her husband will be attending medical school next year, and she just had a baby girl on Friday, May 15th.  Julia Manwaring was born at 4:58 a.m., and everything went well.

Mrs. Manwaring does not expect to get right back into teaching because she wants to stay home for a little while to spend time with her daughter.

Mrs. Manwaring is going to miss some the activities that she does with the students after school. “I will really miss coaching basketball and track, to,” she said. She is going to miss all of her students and the dances that she and her husband get to chaperone. “My favorite memories here at the school are because of the great students.”

Mrs. Caras said that Mrs. Manwaring is “an excellent teacher.” One of her students, Breekel Orton, said, “I’m going to miss Mrs. Manwaring.”  All of the students at SJHS are going to miss Mrs. Manwaring and there is no replacement for her outstanding personality.

Mindy Stapel of SJHS received a first place medal for the 100 meter hurdles at the district junior high track meet.

Kara Dunn
SJHS Staff Writer

With the school year wrapping up, so is Springville Junior High’s track team. On Friday May 8th, the track team had the opportunity to run in the district track meet at Springville High School. For some events the top six runners from each school participate, while participants in the jumping and throwing events had to acheive a certain distance.

Springville did well this year. We placed third overall in boys with a grand total of 71 points. Girls also came in third with a total of 64 points. Congratulations Springville! Everyone worked hard to achieve their goals and a few went above and beyond on their previous goals.

Five district track records were broken by Springville Junior High students. Jackson Dozier broke the discus record for seventh grade boys with a throw of 8’ 11”. Justina Carter broke the seventh grade girls’ 100 meter dash with a time of 13.62 seconds. Danica Nusink broke the girls’ seventh grade discus record with a throw of 68’ ½”. Mindy Stapel broke the girls’ eighth grade record for 100 meter dash at 16.59 seconds. Aimee Wheeler broke the girls’ ninth grade long jump record with a jump of 16’ 3”.

“The district track meet was a lot of fun,” Mindy Stapel, an eighth grade track runner said. “It was a really good experience, and we all tried our best.”

Mr. Blakey, a counselor at Springville Junior High, as well as one of the track coaches, said, “It was fun for everyone to come out and support us.”

The track team will be sad to be saying goodbye to running, jumping, and throwing, but they all had a good experience and will have memories to remember for a lifetime.

Trevor Allen long jumps at the Springville/Mapleton track meet.

Jantzen Dalley
SJHS Staff Writer

On Tuesday, April 28th, The Springville Junior High Knights competed against the Mapleton Junior High Mustangs in a meet for Track and Field at Springville High School, Springville’s third meet so far this season.

Keegan Taylor, a member of the track team commented on how he thought Springville did in the meet against Mapleton. “We got our butts kicked! Even though almost everyone had a personal record at the meet, Mapleton still beat us by a lot.”

Sam Larson, another member of the track team commented on how he thought Springville did. “We got worked! The runners who won their events did well, but there is still lots of room for improvement.”

“I think the track team will do very well throughout the rest of the season, and in District.” Keegan said. I think they will have a winning season, just watch out for Mapleton, and we will do well in District.”

“I think the event that Springville does best on is the 1600 M,” Keegan went on to say. “We have got a lot of good runners and they have been doing a very good job in the track meets so far.  I think the biggest contender for the season is Mapleton, and I think they are the only school that can beat us.”

“In the words of AC/DC,” Keegan said, “for those about to run, I salute you.”

KresLynn Knouse
SJHS Staff Writer

For the past few weeks, the Springville Junior High track team has been training rigorously all for this one day. SJHS competed in their first track meet on Friday, April 10th against Mount Nebo and Diamond Fork Junior Highs. SJHS took first place, the girls earned 98 points, and the boys earned 111 points.

The 2009 track team is larger than any track team SJHS has ever had. Last year the track team consisted of about 100 students, but this year 170 students signed up. To put it into perspective, about 20 percent of the entire school is currently participating in track.  “We, as coaches, are thrilled about the number of students that signed up. We hope that the number continues to grow throughout the years,” said Track Coach Shaun Blakey.

Many events took place, including shot-put, discus, hurdles, high jump, long distance, and several different lengths of races.

Mckell Metcalf, a ninth grade student at SJHS, has participated in track once before, and placed third in discus last year. “I did pretty good last year, but I plan on taking first this year. I love both throwing events, but discus is really my thing,” she replied.

We hope the SJHS Track team will get the same phenomenal score for the next track meet!

Kaydie Kerby
SJHS Staff Writer

Every student here at Springville Junior High School either has a favorite teacher or counselor. Many students think that one of the coolest faculty members here is Mr. Shaun Blakey, the ninth grade counselor and one of the track coaches. Susan Watson, a ninth grader at SJHS, explained her feelings about Mr. Blakey, “He is very nice and helpful for every student here at this school.”

Mr. Blakey went to the University of Phoenix and got a Masters in counseling.  Mr. Blakey grew up in Springville and graduated at Springville High School in 1996.

Mr. Blakey became a track coach last year, and he said, “I’m glad that I did it because it gives me an opportunity to work with student’s one on one and to get to know the students better. I enjoy doing it.”

Mr. Blakey is a great counselor here at SJHS.  Susan also said, “I’m very happy that he is a counselor because he’s kind, helping, wonderful, willing to listen, and he is all around fun.”

Madie Dockstader
SJHS Staff Writer

Yes, it’s that time once again. Track season has started at Springville Junior High School. Students will be improving their running and will be getting into shape. Students practice everyday after school.

The first track meet is April third, against Mapleton Junior High. SJHS will have five meets and one district final this season. The schools SJHS will be facing are Mapleton, Spanish Fork, Diamond Fork, Payson, and Mt. Nebo Junior High Schools.

The track team competes in the high jump, long jump, shotput, discus, long distance, sprint, hurdles, and the relay races. Mr. Jethro Gillespie, one of the track coaches, said “We want to have fun, get in shape, and be tough competition.”

Mr. Gillespie also said, “Our goal is to take first, of course! We want anyone and everyone who is interested to come and try out, practice and compete.”

Mrs. Kelli Manwaring, another coach for track, said, “As coaches, we hope the athletes have fun and that each person can improve over the course of the season. Last year our girls and boys took second at districts, and we hope our team does well at districts again this year.”

Kaydie Kerby
SJHS Staff Writer

At Springville Junior High School our track team season starts on March 16, 2009. Students need to attend a meeting about a week before that so they can sign up and get ready to go. In order to participate, students need to bring red or blue shorts and running shoes. Students need to get a physical in order to do track meets and participate in the events.

Track is not just about running; that’s why it is called track and field. The junior high track team participates in the shot put, discus, high jump, and long jump out. Students will pracice for both running and field events on the PE field at the junior high right after school.

Mrs. Kelli Manwaring, one of the coaches, said “It is really important that all participants have running shoes. These are different than skateboarding, basketball, Converse, or street shoes. Kids who don’t have running shoes often have problems like shin-splints and other pains.”

According to Manwaring, “The type of shoes may not seem like a big deal, but they make a big difference! Running causes a lot of pressure on your joints. Running shoes are made to absorb the pressure and spread it out. Running in street shoes, skateboarding shoes and any other types of shoes often causes people to have a lot of pain in their legs.”

If students decide to sprint then it may help to have a pair of shoes that have spikes. These shoes help the runner get a better start and help them run faster but they are not required to have.

In order to participate at track meets, students need to come to four out of five practices during the week. This helps the teammates practice together during the week. If students need to miss a practice because they’re practicing in a different sport, they need to talk to the coaches and they will work something out.