Month: October 2023

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.