Home Blog Page 80

Outcalt, Wiegandt lead top-ranked soccer team

by Carter Spearry ‘16

Ranked #3 in the nation in a preseason poll, the Wildcat soccer team is ready for a State Championship run. With eight returning starters and thirteen seniors, experience and leadership is the forte of this team.

This year, the Wildcats feature a very strong defensive unit lead by third-year starting goalkeeper Mikal Outcalt ‘15, who is a University of Pittsburgh commit. Outside backs Jack Wiegandt ‘15 and Dean Miller ‘15 are threats both defending and counterattacking. The back three is rounded out by the athletic center back in Hunter Gordon ‘16. The back line looks to keep a tight shape, and has done an excellent job thus far in only conceding four goals in nine games at this point in the season.

The midfield showcases great depth and talent as the core of the Wildcat team. The main man of the midfielder is Stephen Milhoan ‘17 who is the leading scorer playing out of the center attacking mid spot. On either side of him are the lethal seniors Matt Nigro and JoeMack Leonardo, who can beat defenders with both pace and pass and are always a threat to score. The holding midfield pair includes the third year varsity member Hayden Parente ‘16 and the experienced Jack Michals ‘15.

Rounding out the starting eleven is the striking combination of the physically dominating Lawrence Karpeh ‘16 and the very talented Bobby Barsic ‘15.

With great players on the field, and one of the best coaches in the state on the sidelines, it’s State Championship or bust for the Wildcats this season.

Football team showing resilience

by Carter Spearry ‘16

Coach Chuck Kyle’s Wildcats are more than ready for the challenges that they face this year. Led by junior quarterback Dennis Grosel, the Wildcat offense has plenty of talent, including a terrific receiving core lead by David Shibley ‘15, Jack Cook ‘16, and Cal Grbac ‘16. The offensive line has plenty of depth and features junior Liam Eichenberg, ranked #39 in the nation by ESPN for the class of 2016.

On the other side of the ball, the defense will be carried on the shoulders of the exceptional defensive line. With defensive ends such as Ohio State commit Dre’Mont Jones ‘15, as well as standout Ray Brown ‘15, the Wildcats have a lethal combination on the outside edges.

Ranked with the #10 toughest schedule in the nation by Maxpreps.com, the ‘Cats have split against nationally ranked opponents, beating St. Joe’s Prep (Philadelphia), at home and falling just short in a tough 2OT road loss to Paramus Catholic (New Jersey).

With challenges like St. Edward ahead of them, the Wildcats continue to show grit on the gridiron. Oozing talent on both sides of the ball, the Wildcats have a real chance to make a run deep into the playoffs this year.

Talented team poised to make a run for the cross country state title

by Connor Reilly ‘16

The Saint Ignatius cross country team has started the year strong and is on the path to win the state meet. The team has won three of their meets so far, including an exciting tie- breaker win over the #1 ranked St. Xavier to win at the Tiffin Cross Country Carnival. The varsity team is young, and is led by a strong core of juniors and sophomores. Junior Luke Wagner leads the team with a PR time of 15:28 for a 5k race. He is followed closely by junior Tom Sullivan and sophomore CJ Ambrosio. The varsity team is rounded out by juniors Tim Trentel and Jimmy Rogers and sopho- mores Andrew Szendr y and Patrick Nolan. Practices are led by the brilliant senior cap- tains Mike Kraft, Sean Sovacool, and Bren- nan Leitch. Doctor Michael “Doc” Gallagher, the head coach of the team, believes the Cats have a serious chance of winning states this year. The team is looking better every week and is sure to make a strong showing this No- vember 1st at the state meet in Columbus.

Trumpter Allen Moric ‘17 puts talent on display with Cleveland Youth Orchestra

by Brad Horton ’15

One of only a handful to play trumpet for the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Allen Moric’s musical talent is certainly impressive.

To reach this level of accomplishment in music, Allen had to work many hard years. Allen began playing piano is second grade and then switched over trumpet in fifth grade. “It (piano) was a good stepping stone.”

Once he arrived at St. Ignatius, he immediately decided to join the band. Allen said that our school embraces the musical arts well and offers many different activities for the musically talented to get involved with.

It was the culmination of years of musical dedication that gained him a position in the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. He said “everything is a solo” when playing for the orchestra.

Each note must be perfect. Practices are four hours each Saturday and three shows are played each year at Servence Hall. The Orchestra even plans to tour in China this year. “It’s really nice to work with a group of kids that embrace music as much as I do,” Allen said.

Allen’s accomplishments are not limited to a membership in the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. He received 2 Superior ratings at Ohio Music Education Association’s Solon Ensemble Competition and composed his first original piece (a piano trio) last summer at Baldwin Wallace University’s Conservatory Summer Intensive (CSI). “It (CSI) was a lot of fun” Allen said.

The keys to his success have been to “practice and practice more”. Allen also wanted to thank all those who helped him such as Mr. Hamlin, Mr. Falkofsky, and especially Professor Joss.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Bar Cento

by Brad Horton ’15

Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street
www.barcento.com

Price: $-$$$$ ($5-$28 dollars)
4 out of 5 paws

Bar Cento is a hybrid of a modern bar and Italian restaurant.

The interior in very dark and in tune with the popular style of old artistic materials remade in a new style. There is a lot of space inside the establishment due to the fact that it is attached to the Bier Markt on the inside. Located on West 25th, this restaurant is among many other eateries in an up-and-coming neighborhood.

The service was very good, with the waiter attending to my needs before I even made a request.

The menu focuses on adding unusual ingredients to classic dishes. My appetizer, for instance, was a smoked pear salad. The name may sound a little off putting, but this salad was amazing. The smoky and sweet combination of the pears was a perfect addition to the arugula lettuce, red onion, walnut, and percorino.

To top this masterful salad was a tangy oregano vinaigrette. The main course was a reknowned Bar Cento pizza: Sunnyside. This pizza is formed on thin crispy crust with house made pancetta, provolone cheese, and Blue Loon Farm eggs. Finally it is sprinkled with black pepper. Again, it may seem odd to combine breakfast foods and pizza, but it turned out delicious. The breakfast foods perfectly combined with the pizza to make a great dish.

The atmosphere of the establishment also excentuates the hybrid theme. The bar eventually forms into a open kitchen that can be easily seen from the back of the restaurant.

Bar Cento may be a little unusual, but it certainly is a great restaurant.

Secret places evade the eyes of many students

by Owen Miklos ‘16

In older buildings, there always exist those places, those passageways that aren’t uncovered until some curious passerby looks at a doorway and ponders “I wonder where this leads…”, that can slip right under the eyes of the majority. Saint Ignatius is no exception to this fact, and there are more than a few such places that, in the minds of its student body, may as well not even exist.

Last spring, Mrs. Hruby left a note for Mr. McCafferty, instructing him to take her Honors English II class to the Science Mac Lab as a result of her absence. Excited murmurs arose among the intrigued sophomores when they learned of this change of plans for, despite daily passing the sign tacked to the Clavius Center’s second floor bulletin board demarcating the lab’s location in stark, bold letters, not one of these eager students had even been to this fabled classroom. And they were the lucky ones who had the opportunity. The unanimous opinion upon exiting the room was that it was the nicest lab in the school.

The golf simulator under the stage is hidden from view for most of the school community.
The golf simulator under the stage is hidden from view for most of the school community.

Other places aren’t quite as accessible. Take, for example, the golf simulator, located underneath the Rade stage. Admission means you have the game to play on the Ignatius golf team and the guts to talk Mr. Hess into providing you with the only key. Take heart, though, come Class Competition day, you could put all that time you spend in the weight room to good use and rip a 300-yard bomb during the long drive competition, which is held here.

Take also the Robotics Room, located on the fourth floor of the science building. Its only accessible via a doorway — typically locked during school hours — down the long hallway off of the third floor. Club members are evidently very protective of their secret room, so you’ll have to ask them what’s up there. They don’t allow access.

Countless Ignatius students have come and gone from the library, but few have noticed the room off in the back right corner. The door is extremely skinny, but those who are ever in a bind can ask Mrs. Streen to unlock the door for you. It remains locked for most of the time. Those who are juniors and seniors can remember the days where this room was open for use. Apparently, this is no longer the case.

Regardless if you know these locations like the back of your hand (and those people are out there), it’s not hard to realize that there’s more to Ignatius that meets the eye, and more locations that have hitherto slipped under the public’s notice.

Not-so-random numbers are legacy of brilliant math mind

by Kevin Malloy ‘15

Mr. Vince Benander was no ordinary math teacher. During his forty year tenure at Saint Ignatius High School from 1968-2008, he came up with several clever ways to get his students excited about going to math class. In the 1987-1988 school year, Mr. Benander had the idea to map out his entire classroom, room 212, on a three-dimensional coordinate plane.

The project began by students plotting points within room 212, using yards as the unit of measure. As time went on, some students began carefully measuring and plotting points in other areas of the math wing. When other teachers found out about the project, they started requesting to have points made in their rooms. Years later, these coordinate points could be found scattered around not only the main building, but the entire campus. “There is even used to be a point on the roof of the power building,” added Mr. Johnson, one of the few people remaining at Ignatius who know the full story.

While it is unclear exactly how many points still exist around school grounds, each one contains a unique story. Mr. Hennessey, for example, specifically requested to have a point made in his office when he was the Dean of Students. Mr. Ward’s physics room had its point made by Mr. Ward’s son when he was a senior in 2005.

Mr. Benander’s math room acquired the nickname of “The Math Factory” because of projects like his three dimensional coordinate plane. “He was also known for having hundreds of digits of pi stretching across the walls of his room. In addition, he created, along with his brother, the board game Zenn,” commented Mr. Johnson. The Zenn board, still sold nationally today, allows for 101 different strategy games. Mr. Benander, sticking to his math roots, named the game after the German number for ten, “zehn.”

Mr. Benander may no longer be at Saint Ignatius, but his legacy remains. From a Zenn board on Class Competition Day to a series of three numbers hanging from a wall, Mr. Benander has had a permanent impact on St. Ignatius.

Model UN Team achieves national ranking

by Brendan O’Donnell ‘16

The St. Ignatius Model United Nations team has been honored with a ranking from bestdelegate.com, the world’s most important MUN-related website. This is the first time that the team has made the list. Their new ranking came after winning outstanding delegation at Michigan State University MUN and best delegation at Lake Erie International MUN last year.

The rankings presented on bestdelegate. com are currently grouped in 6 regional categories. St. Ignatius is ranked in the Midwest category, along with schools from Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and other Midwestern states. There are three other ranked schools from Ohio: Shaker Heights High School, St. Francis DeSales High School, and Upper Arlington high school. The schools are not ranked numerically but rather alphabetically within their given regions.

The MUN team is very proud of their accomplishment and grateful for the recognition. According to Kellen Dugan ‘15, the student leader of JCWA last year, their high ranking means a lot to the team. “It’s definitely an honor, especially since we put in a lot of hours to improve the program,” he said. Dugan also mentioned how the ranking will positively affect the club’s image.

The rankings were achieved as a result of significant changes that were implemented last year. “We emphasized practicing public speaking, and becoming comfortable speaking on topics that we may not be familiar with,” Dugan said. “We shifted to this style, and away from the normal focus of position papers and on procedure.”

The team expects to be ranked again this year. “We have to win, what Mr. Arko calls, ‘paper awards’ which make us win conferences,” says one of the leaders of this year’s team, Charley Heintel ‘16. “I’m confident because of our great leadership, lots of new freshmen, and strong returning veterans. We’re strong all around.” The team starts their first conference this year at the University of Virginia from November 6th through the 9th.

Drug-testing not such a hair-raising experience

by Kevin Deegan ‘16

“Random drug testing.”

These three words have been hanging over all Saint Ignatius students’ heads since Principal Bradesca announced last year that the school would be instating a new Wellness Program centered around drug tests. And that time is finally here.

As most students probably know, the process of picking students to be tested is random, and one cannot volunteer. The scissors come out twice per month in search of 100 to 120 strands of hair, an amount unnoticeable at a passing glance. Often, it is taken from the scalp, but if the hair on the head is not long enough, one tester is prepared to take hair from either the leg or the armpit. According to a representative from Psychemedics, the test detects any use of cocaine, opiates, phencyclidine (PCP), amphetamines, or marijuana during the ninety days prior to the test.

Upon arriving at your appointment in Carroll Gym, a counselor will hand you an identification sheet with a unique number. After waiting your turn with the few other students, you go behind a large black curtain and take a seat. The test begins, and the tester takes your hair and places it in a bag with a number corresponding to the one on the identification sheet.

Although the process is usually quick, that’s not always the case. “I was scheduled to have my test from 2:28 until 2:38. I waited until 2:50 for a seat to open and finally left at 2:57,” said Jack Seeley ‘16. “I missed the rest of my class.” With over 1400 students to test and only two people taking hair samples twice a month, it seems that most of the student body will have to wait a while to be tested.

Goodbye government, hello Chipotle bar

by Chris Rini ‘15

Once again, the Wildcat Cafe is on the cutting edge of school lunches with the introduction brand-new options catering to students’ tastes and nutritional needs, all of which have been made available by this year’s decision to forgo involvement in the National School Lunch Program.

In a typical school cafeteria, the norm is to meet all governmental requirements and restrictions while still providing some decent food. However, Campus Dining, led by Mr. Pietravoia, has decided to go above and beyond that standard. In fact, this year, for the first time, Saint Ignatius has gone off of the federally funded National School Lunch Program, which means that campus dining is able to serve what they wish in our cafeteria without having to purchase frozen and processed products. In other words, campus dining is spending more time and money to give students better-tasting, higher quality, and healthier eats.

While serving the student body, campus dining is also doing a benefit to the Cleveland community and the Ohio community. Every time you get a Riche burger, you’re biting into an antibiotic- and hormone-free hamburger produced in Lorain. When you risk the taunts of your friends by going through the salad line, you’re filling your box with pesticide-free produce from Ohio farms. Furthermore, just about every container is recyclable or compostable.

Believing that our student body’s should take responsibility for their diet, Mr. Pietravoia proclaims, “I believe the customer has a right to make a choice.” With their choices of meals and snacks, the cafeteria’s staff has to strike a balance between food that’s healthy and nutritious and that actually sells. Case in point: the burrito bar (which also serves subs every Wednesday). So if you’re that kid that goes to Chipotle at Crocker Park every day of the week and parks your obnoxious, desert camo, black-rimmed Jeep a foot away from the curb and then devours a burrito, you can now replicate that experience in the senior lounge, with a healthy burrito made with all natural and local ingredients. Students can now wash their wraps down with a caffeine-free, vitamin-enriched, calorie-free Monster.

Along with healthy additions like these, dropping out of the National School Lunch Program campus dining has also allowed some favorites to stay the way they are, such as keeping pizza the same size, and on traditional white crust. Mr. Pietravoia asserts that, “We’re keeping our standards very high for local sustainability; pesticide-, hormone-, antibiotic-free products, healthy choices, and good food.” So no matter what food it is you choose to indulge in from the cafeteria, it is ensured that time, care, and thought have gone into it.