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Freshmen Lord: Josh Ehambe

Sophomore Dutchess: Megan Breese

Sophomore Duke: Shaheed Johnson’

Junior Princess: Gentrie Nolen

Junior Prince: Jimmy Miller

Senior Queen Nominees: Eli Torres

Bianca Tosca

Zipporah Ehambe

Camille Cherry 

Adrienne Scull

Senior King Nominees: Lewis Washington

Joseph Rios

Wesley Davis 

Alex Nguyen

Justin Martinez

CONGRATULATIONS from the Summit Newspaper Staff!

The Jaguars are coming off of a close 33-31 win over Fossil Ridge in their home opener. Quarterback Xavier Williams led the offense with 111 yards passing and two touchdowns and 126 yards rushing and one touchdown. Head Coach Travis Pride said that it will be more of the same this week.

“We’ve got to control the tempo, keep our offense on the field and keep their offense off the field,” Pride said.

Running back Lewis Washington, who had 113 yards rushing and two touchdowns on his birthday, agrees with his coach.

“We’re going to go hard every play and catch them out of shape,” Washington said.

On the defensive side of the ball, however, things were a bit different. With a 17 point lead going into the fourth quarter, the defense gave up two consecutive touchdowns and allowed Fossil Ridge to get within two points before Washington recovered the onside kick to ice the game.

“In the third and fourth quarter we got dominated and let ourselves get down,” linebacker Micah Awe said.

For Legacy, though, Awe says they’re just going to fight through this one.

“We’re going to dominate every play, do our job and tackle,” Awe said. “We want to tell Legacy we won the first game.”

Legacy is coming off of a tough 30-20 loss to L.D. Bell last week. Quarterback Quentin Hasten had 205 yards passing with two touchdowns, but their defense gave up 346 total yards.

Awe says that they just want to get out there and shut up their trash talking.

“I have an hour and 45 min. between my class, which is pretty cool. I like to utilize my time for academic purposes. I’ve been to the cube, but it’s not really my thing. Too many people in there,” Senior Tasha Stephens said.

The new schedule changed because Frontier High School is now on an accelerated block, just as Summit was four years ago. Being on an accelerated block means that you have the same classes everyday for a whole semester.

“The new schedule was meant to cut down on travel time, and to keep students from bouncing around from campus to campus as much,” Assistant Principal Hansard said.

The schedules were assembled by a computer program called Infinite Campus. Around 300 students wished for a schedule change within the first week of school this year, but they are no longer being allowed to make any requests.

“Students selected the classes that they are in back in spring and had until April 15th to make changes,” Assistant Principal Taylor said.

If you are a student who wants a schedule change for your second semester, you must wait until the end of the first semester. Hopefully the second semester will start out smoothly, and students will be satisfied with their classes.

Where: Newsom Stadium 

Score: 33-31, Summit

Summit High School vs. Fossil Ridge Panters

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Amy Moody, Taylor Hooker, Rhiannon Rodriguez, Alexis Mourning, Eli Torres and Ashley Eli are now graduated or have left Summit for various reasons. It has undeniably left the remaining players looking for replacements. Being able to find outside hitters and a skilled setter is proving to be a challenge but Captain Camille Cherry chooses to be positive about the current problem.

“I think it’s going to make us rise to the occasion and in the end make us a better team because all teams have setbacks,” Cherry said. “It has made out younger players have to step up and our defense pick up the slack.”

With six sophomores on the team, senior Jacque Allen has had to step up and fill the positions left by Rhiannon Rodriguez, who was forced to leave due to a medical problem, and Alexis Mourning, who now plays for Martin. Setter Eli Torres’ decision to spend her senior year playing only softball has pushed Cherry to overtake the setting spot.

Despite the many losses, the team remains hopeful. Through its raw and undeveloped talent, they still have what it takes to make it deep into the playoffs as long as they continue to improve. 

“We’re a lot younger and we have more sophomores. We have talent but it’s young talent that needs to develop. We need to get to know each other more. Sometimes, I feel separated and that shows so we ned to click and overcome that difference,” junior Lauren Davis said.

Team rituals is one of the many things that can help to overcame separation and make a new team bond with each other. Before games, the Jags often pray, dance, and cheer to get each other riled up and get the emotions flowing. Even during the pre-game stretching and running, the girls can be seen motivating and encouraging their teammates. The girls are willing to do anything to help improve a close the gap between the players, since they are all united by common goals. 

“We want to win district and go deep into the playoffs and win the state tournament in San Marcos in November,” Head Coach Linda Alfaro said.

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Eric Tran, a returning varsity player, is willing to push through any setbacks that are holding back his team. His dedication to the sport has earned him a spot at captain, where he plans to successfully lead the team from warm-up stretches to Regionals. The squad’s main goal going into this season: Aim high in practice, so your performance makes a difference when it’s game time.

“We need to input everything that we achieve in practice, into what we do in the match,” Tran said. “Practice how you play, ya know.”

Practice is definitely a change in the game plan this season. Tran and senior Stephanie Bello both agree that fitness is a weakness on the court. It is also certain that Coach McDonald, their “nutritionist and conditioning” coach, has the answer for it. Even Bello, the girls’ Varsity #2 player, believes that overcoming lack of fitness and working harder in practice will produce lots of W’s on the charts.

Before a match, Tran prepares by pumping up to a “game music” playlist on his iPod. Bello, clears her mind of everything but tennis until she is relaxed. But the team’s preparation relies mostly on Summit’s tennis coaches and their outstanding knowledge of the game. Props go to head Coach TJ Planas for developing his team for a potentially successful upcoming season. Stephanie Bello has already seen improvements in her game because of her coaches and trusts that listening to them, along with perfecting her strong backhand will keep her on top this year.

“Coach Planas has always told me to focus on being consistent in order to get better,” Bello said. 

Winning, however, is not all up to the coaches. The team needs to discipline themselves first, in order to gain the mindset to “pull out” matches. Another goal for this season: Be mentally strong; don’t let up. Bello believes that petty things like a player’s mind being in disarray could possibly hold them back.

“Just do exactly what you did in practice,” Bello said, “don’t get frustrated when its time to play. Just be confident.”

There is no need to wish them good luck. The team is willing to perfect their skills and attitude toward the game to win. The excitement of this season revolves around one challenge: to win district.

So be ready for a new and improved Summit tennis team to tear up the court and respectfully earn what’s ours.

“I knew it would be crazy, but I really didn’t think the hallways and just everything would be so insanely crowded and loud today!” sophomore Dana Jennings said.

The first day of school marks, for some students, the only day that they are actually interested in all year. Either way, students had to find a way to make it through the day alive.

“I know it’s my senior year, but I really just want it all to be over,” senior Jarris Akins said. “It’s not that I hate school, I just want to get out of here and graduate, so I guess today has been pretty cool with all the people I get to see again.” 

For some, this year marks an important personal year in their high school goals. Whether or not students are going to college it doesn’t change the fact that passing is the only thing that will move you closer to moving on in life.

“This is my junior year and all I can think about is that this is the beginning of the hardest year in high school,” junior Valeria Soltero said. “This is the year that my grades have to be perfect and I have to be really serious. My senior year will be a breeze if I just focus this year.”

Of course, with a new school year comes new students; freshmen to be exact. Summit is a completely new place for many, and for some making their way around was a big challenge.

“My first day of high school has been amazing!” freshman Kailey Corpman said. “I knew I would get lost, so when I couldn’t find my first period I wasn’t really suprised. All I know is that I don’t want to be absent or tardy, I’m kind of scared of what would happen if I was.”

Along with the new freshmen, Summit also gained a brand new principal. Even on the first day he made a point to let Summit know that he meant business this year. He came to us from T.A. Howard Middle School, and is formally known as Principal Neal.

“Today is running very smoothly which is amazing,” Mr. Neal said. “I didn’t really know what to expect today, but things are going according to plan and I am so excited for the rest of this school year.”

As the first week came to a close, the realization of the remaining days of school seem to set in. With new tardy policies and a crackdown on I.D’s, this year is already turning out to be different. Only the rest of the school year will tell. So whether a student is just waiting for their Labor Day holiday, or they generally want to be here, this year is bound to be a different experience for everyone.