The Prospector

Tom Laythe Invitationals

The amazing McClatchy Lions took off this Saturday at the Tom Laythe Invitationals

The race was held at Willow Hills in Folsom, a very brutal course that consisted of many big calf-wrenching hills. The freshmen/sophomore boys raced strong and were so close to placing first but they got passed by five racers at the finish line.

The freshmen/sophomore girls also had an incredible run, placing 5th in the race! I spoke with the team’s coach, Coach Watkins, who had many pleasant things to say about the team’s performance.

“So Coach Watkins, how do you feel your runners did?”

“I think they did amazing. We started off today with Suja and Aiden going 1-2 in the freshmen and sophomore boys race and the team took second overall. That was fantastic, along with the freshmen and sophomore girls placing 5th overall and were looking really good. I was very excited, it was a really nice day to run!”

“I see you have coached them well, good job! Do you think they could have improved on anything?”

“Oh always, we can always improve and this only midseason we’re still looking at these races as training at this point and figuring out what we can do better. Just always looking for ways to improve!”

“Well, we look forward to seeing that improvement! Thank you for your time and keep being such a good coach!”

Suja Amarkhil, a sophomore at McClatchy ran a phenomenal race finishing first out of many other teams. This is only his second year running but he is already so incredibly fast!

“First off congrats on your race, you ran so effortlessly! I know the course was pretty tough, with all the hills and just having to compete against so many other runners. How did you feel as you ran?”

“I felt really good, the hills were really challenging. But I pushed through it and caught up to many people.”

“That’s so good. What was going through your mind as you approached the finish, about to win the race?”

“That was my first time winning a cross-country race and I couldn’t believe it! I thought there were more people right next to me, but they were a few seconds behind me. Which really motivated me and I finished strong”

‘“Thank you so much for your time and once again, you did so well!”

Well, folks it just proves that when a team has a great coach the team will be great as well. Every runner ran so amazingly and made us all so proud. The Lions have a Metro League meet this Wednesday in Elk Grove and I’m positive we will see many more astonishing achievements from the team. Go lions!

Opinion

Bathroom Crisis

Without paper towels, tampons/pads, toilet paper, locks on stalls, or working sinks, all of the student bathrooms are in a crisis. If you’ve used any of the bathrooms on campus, you have most likely found that something was missing, despite it being one of the most necessary of students’ daily needs.

Whether it’s a missing toilet paper box, a lack of sanitary products, or even (god forbid) there is no soap, there always seems to be something wrong with every bathroom students may use.

With only so many bathrooms under-supplied, the few working stalls/sinks left have lines that could take all of the passing period to wait for. Those with long treks to class often have to sacrifice bathroom breaks to avoid a tardy.

This is especially an issue when it comes to the (one and only) gender-neutral bathroom, which is constantly in use, leaving a line running down the hallway that could sometimes take even a whole class period to wait for. With the school year just beginning, many expected these issues to have been resolved over the summer, however, it seems they have only become bigger problems for students who are just trying to get through the day.

“The air is so unbelievably thick,” said senior Stephanie Morrish, who is fed up with the state of student bathrooms, particularly the stench they emanate. There have been complaints of both pee and weed smells in the bathroom, and only one of those belongs in the restroom. Another senior, Edith Blanke, complained, “The worst part of my day is the time I spend in the C. K. McClatchy student bathrooms, hands down.”

Students have protested the lack of soap, paper towels, and toilet seat covers in the bathroom, which makes the necessary restrooms challenging to use at times.

Yard duty used to regularly pop into the bathroom and make sure it was fully stocked, but it seems those trips haven’t been made in a few weeks. Bathrooms are also neglected by students alike, who misuse supplies and leave the toilets clogged and stalls vandalized…

Whatever the reason may be for the undersupply of sanitary products, the bathrooms are campus necessities. Yet, they are also one of the most neglected aspects of our entire school. Why have we given up on clean restrooms?

Bathrooms have never had the most sanitary reputation, but lately, CKM bathrooms have become borderline unusable.

Puzzles

Fall Word Search

News Sports

McClatchy Vs. River City

Last Friday The McClatchy football team played River City at Hughes Stadium.

McClatchy’s latest game against River City was a close match ending with an unfortunate loss for the Lions. The Lions started the game off strong with #11, Kiko Brambila running the first touchdown to set McClatchy up 6-0 on River City. During this half, I had the opportunity to speak with Coach Fisher and ask him a question.

“How do you think McClatchy will do against River City in this game?”

“River City is a beatable team. Every year in the metro league River City is a tough team, But a beatable one at that.”

In quarter 2, the Lions played hard and fought harder to keep the lead in their favor. Unfortunately, near the end of the quarter River City made a play and got a touchdown in. RC also scored the field goal which led to the Lions being down 6-7 going into the second half.

At halftime, I could interview Coach Davis about how he felt the team would fare going into the second half.

“How do you think the team will do going into the second half?”

“Good, good. We need to stay focused and motivated going into the second half to win this one.”

McClatchy kicked off to River City in the 2nd half. There were lots of trading yards back and forth between the teams until River City scored yet another touchdown and field goal leading the Lions by 8 points. After more back and forth between the teams, the 3rd quarter ends.

In the 4th quarter, River City scored 2 more touchdowns, one at the start of the quarter and one at the end. These touchdowns locked out the game leading to an unfortunate loss for McClatchy. The final score was 6-27 with River City winning.

Post game I was able to interview student athlete, #24 Malachi Goethe about the loss.

“How do you feel about the loss against River City today?”

“The loss tonight was a strong loss, it hit home for sure. We started off strong in the start but as the game went on we kind of just let it go. We let them get the upper hand and we let them keep it”

In the end McClatchy lost but still the team is excited, motivated, and hopeful for their next games.

News Sports

Sac State @ Stanford

Sac State secured the win against Stanford. But only by a thread. The star of the game was Kaiden Bennett. The great quarterback threw the winning touchdown while dodging a sack, with 1:32 seconds left. Putting them at the top with a score of 30-23.

This was an important win for Sac State. For one, it ruined the debut of Stanford’s coach, Troy Taylor. It also might have been the greatest win in Sac States history since 1970.

It was a great game besides the ending score. Both teams played great offense and defense. It was a head-to-head game. Even though Stanford was up by half by 3 it didn’t stop Sac State. They kept their heads up and came back to score a field goal and of course the winning touchdown.

Sac State’s 2 big players to look at after the game were, K. Bennett and D. Gandy. But for Stanford, they had 3. J. Lamson, E.J. Smith, and E. Ayomanor. K. Bennett with an amazing passing yard number of 279, while Stanfords J. Lamson only had 138.

For the fans, the stands looked packed. Everybody in the West, East, North, and South parts of the stadium. The capacity of Stanford Stadium is 50,424. But the number that was attended was 23,848, almost 30,000 people. Yes, only 47% of the stadium was attended even though it looks like it’s packed.

Back to the teams though. Both teams greatly had over 300 total yards. 2 turnovers, and one team with 23 1st downs and the other with 18. Even though both teams had stats over the other, it didn’t stop it from being a head-to-head game.

Now for the amazing coach. Troy Taylor is Sac State’s former coach. He coached for 4 seasons and led to them beating Colorado 30-28 in 2012. He also led them to a 30-8 record and their first win in the FCS playoffs. Before he got replaced by Andy Thompson, who was the defensive coordinator for Sac State.

Unfortunately, Lamson got injured, but not before getting 121 yards for his college debut. Also ran for 36 yards and 16 carries.

Sac State and Stanford also have a good rivalry. But this time Sac State got the upper hand and beat Stanford by a very thin thread.

Features

BIG STEEL

A variety of musicians walk the halls of CKM and a band in particular dominates them!

The massive, heavy, gut-wrenching masculine maniacs. Big Steel creates the most masculine music of all time!

The band consists of Logan, the buff, tough, rough man made of steel. Arlo (who also works for the prospector), the finger shredder. Bryce, the rock-beating drummer. And myself, the thunder-creating bass player!

With all of our muscles combined and Arnold Schwarzenegger worship, we’ve created the heaviest, biggest music ever made.

As of recently, we’ve blessed the masses’ ears with our demo/EP “Bigger Is Better”. Now streaming on Spotify and YouTube! If you haven’t listened yet you must listen, NOW! It will benefit you greatly! Your muscles will instantly grow upon listening, with the help of your new best friend, THE GYM!

“Bigger Is Better” consists of seven amazing, beautiful songs that will be added to your playlist immediately after listening to it! My personal favorites are the self-titled “Big Steel and Unforgiven 4”! All of these songs have a good blend of our influences such as Black Sabbath and S.O.D.!

We take great inspiration from a lot of the early metal/rock of the 70s/80s/90s! We all listened to and played music from this era and wanted to make music that reflected our interest in it! We are bringing the true strength back to rock and metal with the strongest metal, steel!

We also love the gym. Nothing is better than building strength in a world like this for ourselves! Also to achieve true beauty like the muscles of Arnold Schwarzenegger!

There is no other option except to become the unforgiven soy. So go listen now and check out our Instagram @bigsteel916. There you will be given updates on everything we do. Remember, nothing is stronger than Big Steel.

We plan on expanding our empire to even more platforms in the future. But for now, as far as social media goes, we are most active on Instagram. We also plan on being on more streaming platforms.

This band has appeared from the spirit of the Iron Lion of CKM and will conquer anyone who stands in its way. Choose the right side in this battle of strength and fight for the good of the battle. It shall pay off in the end.

The lion always watches over you and your judgment shall be made soon enough so choose wisely. There will be even more music coming soon for all of your ears and even live shows to see the glory of us playing the best music of all time, a true divine sight to witness!

We embody everything great about the school, and followers of the music who embrace strength will spread the good word for new listeners to learn the truth. So go lift some steel, NOW!

Features Sports

Ready? Set! Bang!

The McClatchy Lions XC team set off on Thursday all the way to Irvine to race at the big Woodbridge Classic!

The runners went in with their heads held high, tightly laced running shoes, and a passion to win. And they did just that! Nineteen of the twenty-two racers from McClatchy set new personal records, along with several of the racers receiving medals for placing in the top 50 to finish the race. I had an opportunity to speak with two of the many amazing racers who ran at the meet.

Colette Combrink is a senior at McClatchy and has been running cross country for all four years! I asked Colette several questions during our interview but here are the most notable ones!

“How did you feel leading up to the race?

“I was really nervous because it’s a really big meet, a ton of teams were there, and they’re really fast. But I was also super excited because I’ve run this meet before and I remember it being really fast and really fun.”

“That sounds really fun but quite challenging. Did you face any challenges during the race?”

“Yeah, I have been injured leading up to the race and hadn’t been practicing as much as I would have preferred to. So I was a little worried that my injury was going to start hurting really bad during the race and I also just got out running really fast and struggled to keep that pace up, but I pushed through and made it to the finish!”

“Agh being injured sucks and I applaud your strength to keep running. Thank you so much for your time and stay hydrated!”

“Of course!”

Sam Rounds is a junior at McClatchy and has been running cross country since freshman year. He’s on the Ultraviolets, which is the second-fastest a person can run. He also placed in the top 50 at the race.

“So Sam, how did you feel leading up to the race?”

“I was a little bit nervous the day before, but on the drive there as we got closer the more nervous I became.

“So what did you do to calm your nerves?”

“I tried to sleep to keep my energy levels low so I didn’t over-exhaust myself.”

“I bet the anticipation leading up to the actual race was thrilling!”

“Yeah, when we started to warm up before the race I got more excited!”

“How did you feel after you received your medal?”

“It felt great, but I know I could have worked harder for it. I was happy to receive it though.”

“Well, that’s still so good. Thank you for your time Sam and keep working hard!”

The Lions ran their hearts out and gave it their all. Many of them felt they could have done so much better than they already did and we should look forward to seeing how great they do at the next meet! Stay Lion strong!

Features News

Club Rush 2023 Highlights

Post author By Paige Coleman
Post date September 28, 2023
No Comments on Club Rush 2023 Highlights

With a new year at McClatchy, comes another club rush. Plus, it seemed as busy as ever!

McClatchy’s student population has grown significantly. Hundreds of students rushed into the lunch quad wanting to get a look at every booth. There was absolutely no shortage of clubs with over forty available to join.

Finding a club that interests you is a great way to become a part of a community of like-minded people. Clubs are places to make friends and pursue your interests outside of school. With so many clubs, finding a club that’ll suit you is almost guaranteed.

The number of clubs to choose from was vast, so how did club organizers influence people to join their clubs? Well, many decided to draw people in with music, and beautiful decorations, while others gave out snacks and candy to people who stopped by.

With forty-five great clubs to go over, here are some highlights from some of them.

The New Romantics Club, a new book club this year focusing exclusively on romance novels, held a book raffle for those who signed up. They also gave out homemade heart-shaped sugar cookies. And by the look of it, people were lining up to sign up.

A new club, Asian Plus Club, is all about sharing various Asian cultures with everyone. To draw people to their table, they gave out various Asian candies and drew intricate pictures of anime characters and other mascots.

Life Skills Club is focused on teaching its members basic, necessary skills. They plan on going over many things, like allocating funds, to help their members achieve financial success and stability. So, if you want to be even more prepared for your life after high school, Life Skills is the club for you.

Another club, The Freedom Club, is focused on raising awareness of the growing problem of human trafficking. They plan on holding fundraisers to support their cause, possibly donating what they make to charity.

The Satirical Conspiracy Theory Club is about wearing your tinfoil hat and sharing your lighthearted (not offensive) conspiracy theories with others.

Overall, this club rush was very successful, drawing in hundreds of students eager to join clubs. If you missed it, you can always join a club at a later time by attending a club meeting.

Book Reviews Features Opinion

Review of Divergent SPOILER FREE

Post author By Jaime Fuentes
Post date September 28, 2023
No Comments on Review of Divergent *SPOILER FREE*

Divergent is a fantastic novel that takes place in a dystopian society where people are placed in different factions based on their personalities.

I rate this book a 10 out of 10 because I personally like dystopian novels such as The Hunger Games. And I for one think that movies and books are incredible, but I highly recommend reading the book before watching the movie. Divergent is based on science fiction, young adult fiction, and dystopian fiction. So if you read The Hunger Games and like it then you will love Divergent.

I will be reviewing the characters and how and why the book is incredible. I will also try my best to give you the information that is necessary to convince you to read the book and find out for yourself how interesting Divergent is.

Veronica Roth is the author of the Divergent series, she is 35 years old and was born on August 19, 1988. Veronica Roth wrote the book over winter break during her senior year at Northwestern. Divergent was released on March 21, 2014.

As I said the book Divergent takes place in a dystopian society in Chicago, the last known location on Earth with a population. Beatrice Prior (our main character) lives in a version of Chicago that is split into 5 different factions, all of which are based on the personality of the person. Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the kind), Erudite (the intelligent), Abnegation (the selfless), and Candor (the honest).

Newborns are raised in the faction that their parents are in and as they get older they will develop the personality of their faction. But when they turn teenagers they must take a test to reveal their actual personality. The test is facing a few obstacles and the way they face these challenges will reveal what their personality is. Beatrice takes the test only to find out she has more than one personality, making her “Divergent”.

A day later they must go to a ceremony in which they choose the faction in which they truly belong in front of their families and friends, as well as the 5 faction leaders. Beatrice must choose a faction that feels closest to her personality. After she does she is sent to the faction in which she will learn the ways and make a few friends and enemies along the way. But she begins to realize that the society she lives in is wrong.

What I liked about this book is that it has romance and it really shows that the world that Beatrice lives in can be a reality. I like the characters of the book and the development that they have later on in the book. There wasn’t much I disliked about Divergent.

Divergent could be interesting for readers who don’t like reading all that much. I rate Divergent 10 out of 10 because it really is just an interesting book with lots of plot twists and romance. I recommend this book to all who love The Hunger Games and want to read more about dystopian novels.

Features Photo Series

CKM Digital Art Gallery

Here are some of our favorite pieces from Mr. Miller’s talented students.