School: Lincoln Pius X High School

Student: Abbey Hugo

Last year the Pius girls won the Nebraska School Activities Association U.S. Cellular Cup. This award is given to all the girls participating in sports or other organizations for the 2013-2014 school year.

This award will be received at halftime of the Class B state football championship on November 25 at Memorial Stadium. Tim Aylward, the athletic director of Pius, and a student athlete will receive the award on behalf of the teams. Each year the NSAA gives this award to the school who accu-mulated the most points. The points are based on how the team does at state. The top eight places in state receive points ranging from fifty for first to fifteen for eighth.

The girls scored 312.5 points in total last year which was the highest in the Class B division.

The organizations included are basketball, softball, volleyball, tennis, play production, music, speech and journalism among oth-ers. All of these teams contributed to the points earned and helped win

the championship for the girls. Over the years, the NSAA has presented

this award to the Pius girls four times. They won this award in 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014. All of these were in Class B except 2013, which was in Class A. In 2013, the boys and girls also won the combined championship. “I think we won because we all work real-ly hard and we have great coaches who motivate us and push us hard,” sophomore tri-sport athlete Ellie Jilek said.

SportsNovember 14, 2014 7

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Erin DolphStaff Writer

Kaitlin VanLoonEdito-In-Chief

Pius X rewarded by NSAA for excellence in activities

NSAA U.S. Cellular Cup trophies from 2007, 2009 and 2013.

The girls basketball team begins there season on November 17 this fall. There are a few returning starters from last season’s breakout year and team, but there is usually one person who comes out of nowhere to have their name known. Senior Alex Hewitt is gearing up for the season to try to get on the varsity team and help them win a title this year. “I am going to try to push my teammates and work hard this season,” Hewitt said. There are a few people who have a different perspective as to what her commitment to the sport is. “She leads the team by example and she encourages her teammates,” Assistant coach Stephanie Novotny said. Hewitt also has a lot of strengths on the team and what really propels her forward throughout the season. “[She is] always there

for the teammates and is very encouraging to other members of the team,” teammate Maddie Simon said. Others think it is just another sport, but to Hewitt it is one of the most important things in her life. “I have played the sport since the third grade. I am part of the team and I encourage my teammates to make the right choices on and off the court,” Hewitt said. Hewitt may be just another player on the basketball court, but there is something special about her that defines the character and integrity she has. “[Alex has the] ability to be a leader and she contributes the ball very well on the court,” Simon said. This season the girls basketball team is looking for a title for the school, but in order to do that they will have to look beyond the starters and discover another basketball player on the roster that could be a difference-maker on the team.

College of it pays to visit.

Pius X Students:Visit Doane during your senior year of high school and receive a $1,000 grant renewable for four years.

doane.edu/visit

Alex Hewitt preps for basketball season

Axel MalmstromStaff Writer

Hard work throughout fall season yields successful results

Almost all fall sports, except volleyball, have come to a close. Boys and Girls cross country finished very well at both Districts and State. Girls, who ended up as runner-up at Districts, pulled out a State cham-pionship. “We worked really hard the week after Districts and got in the mindset that we wanted to win State,” junior cross country runner Ellie Beierman said. “I’m proud of my teammates, everyone stepped up and all the juniors stepped up when we took on the leadership role.”

The boys won the District tournament and also fin-ished well at State with a runners-up trophy. “During our workouts our main goal was to stay together and beat Scottsbluff,” senior cross country runner Clay Simpson said. “We lost to them by only seven points and last time we lost to them by 28, so this was a huge accomplishment.”

According to junior Jared Yost the boys cross country team took to heart something Coach O’Boyle told them countless times over the season: it’s a team effort. “Taking what Coach O’Boyle has told us, next year I think we should focus on running as a pack,” Yost said. Although girl’s golf didn’t finish how they had hoped, after the first day of the State tourna-ment both junior Audrey Kuehn and Senior Chelsea Wilkinson were in the top 15. “It was a little difficult to prepare for State because our coach wasn’t able to be with us, but we knew we had to focus on having positive attitudes and doing our best,” Kuehn said. Golf finished eight out of twelve teams at the State tourna-ment, with Wilkinson finishing 28th and Kuehn 27th out of 80 golf-ers. Girls softball had an amazing first day at Districts beating Auburn and number one ranked Beatrice. "We went to the UNL challenge course to bond as a team and get ready for Distrcits," senior

softball player Becky Brokaw said. On the second day they lost to Norris and then Beatrcie in with an extra innings by one point. "We learned this year to always have eachother's back and that applies in life too," senior softball player Jess Ramaekers said. Volleyball finished with a runners-up title at Districts after beating Beatrice in three sets and losing to Norris in four. Entering Sub-state at ninth they beat eighth Gross Catholic in three sets in order to enter the State tournament. After a hard fought playoff game versus Gretna, Pius football lost 34-49. The boys of fall have finished another football sea-son and this year they met their goal. “Coach Aldrich kept saying ten or more throughout the whole season,” senior football player Thomas Hoefner said. “We wanted to make it to playoffs and we did that.” Boys tennis completed the State tournament as runners-up. Number one singles finished

at third place and number two singles, as well as, number one and two doubles finished second in their divisions. “We had a great overall season,” senior tennis player Adam Olson said. “We had to prepare ourselves mentally and with prac-

ticing a lot I think that's what made us successful.” Pius fall sports are improving each year. The coach-ing style of the Pius coaches and leadership of the student-athletes are what is making state runners-up and championships happen.