Tuesday, April 13, 2010 : Salem Hills High Skyhawks Varsity Soccer Team was victorious against the Payson High Lions 5-0. They were well in the lead with the halftime score at 4-0. Goals were made by Tannon Bradley, Jordan Daniels, Payden Pemberton, Mason McCallister, and Sam Metz. Assists were by Payden Pemberton and McKay Eccles. Goalie Brandon Williams had a shutout game for the Skyhawks.   The Skyhawks Junior Varsity team also came home with a win against the Lions 4-1. Janson Brockbank, Matt Strong, Michael “Chin” Christensen, Justin Kilmer scored with an assist by Ryan Christensen.

April 13th and 15th Salem Hills baseball beat Maple Mountain Eagles. Though Maple Mountain fought a good fight, they were no match to the coaching abilities of Coach Haney and his Soaring Skyhawks.                 On Tuesday Buddy (Gerald) Adams pitched all seven innings with 9 stike outs. Tanner Raulston hit a glorious home, when all was said and done Skyhawks won 7:1.                 “Our team is really good this year, we’re 10 and 2, hoping for not only the region but also state championships, we’re playing super hard and really want to win,” says Buddy Adams.                 Thursday’s game’s first four innings were pitched by the ingenious Taylor Peterson, the last inning was pitched by the young yet devilishly handsome Colton Hill. The Salem pitchers pitched a no- hitter, with Taylor Peterson pitching 6 strike outs and all of Colton’s outs were by way of Strike outs. Another honorable mention: Tyler Rollins hit a home run.

This week Salem Hills had its second annual art show. Held in the library, it ran from April 12th to April 16th. It had a lot of great entries and showed some real talent from the student body.                  The Best of Show award went to Rebecca Jones for her painting of a grapefruit. She says her inspiration for the piece was “inspired by nature” and she loves the lighting of it.                 “Have faith in yourself and you can be great like me,” Becca says sarcastically.                 Overall 1st place went to Alicia Money for her Stylized Phoenix painting. She likes painting birds and liked the colors and how beautiful it turned out.                  “You can express yourself in art, it can help cope with things, it doesn’t matter what kind of art, you can make it beautiful,” says Alicia.                  Trevor Nelson took 2nd and won the faculty favorite for drawing 69 year old cowboy, and Rikee Wing got 3rd for her painting of a girl crying. Trevor says it his was challenging because of the lighting and it was hard with only blacks and whites, but he stepped up to the challenge well. Rikee says different looks good, and we can see why.                 Some say this year’s art show was better than last year’s, like Alicia Money who said this year was much better, especially because of the larger amount of entries. Let’s hope next year’s artists can step up to the tradition of great art for the show.

Salem Hills’ adaptation of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown will be showing the 14th - 20th of April at 7pm in the Salem Hills High School auditorium. This play is about Charlie brown and his friends and their troubles through their childhood. Charlie struggles with the label he’s been given as a “good man;” he wonders if he really is. His friends struggles with grades, puppy love, and what will become of their futures. The stars: Craig Applegate, Seth Mason, Zach Heywood, Ben Cowley, Lexi Brown, DeGrey Christianson, Colton Simons, Rachel Paulson, Lorianne Paulson, Aubrey Palfryman, Jenny Stone, Katelyn Unsworth, and Jason Colver. When I asked choreographer Kandalyn Russell how the show was going to turn out she said “The show is going to be amazing, it’ll be so much fun to watch after all our rehearsals.” So come see the show and have a great time.

Salem Hills Track is off to a great start, they have had four meets thus far.  With their first on, March 9th, at home.   It was between Payson, Salem, Uintah, and Maple Mountain. The Skyhawks did excellent for their first meet.  The boys scored 84 and the girls 81, placing 2nd behind Maple Mountains boys(124) and girls(112). On March 20th, the Skyhawks traveled to the UHSTCA Invitational at Timpanogos High School, where they saw many great results from many of their athletes. On March 16th, Salem Hills Track competed against Springville, and Spanish Fork at SFHS. They performed very well, the boys pulled out a well fought victory and took first over Springville by just two points. The girls took second behind Springville. On March 25th-26th, Salem Hills attended the Mt Timpanogos Invitational. After two days of somewhat crummy weather, the Skyhawks came away with some great performances. Despite missing most of their seniors, the boys’ team finished 4th (out of thirteen teams) and the girls finished 2nd. In the coming week, the Skyhawks have two four way meets. One at Maple Mountain, and another at the Alpha Invitational at Timpanogos High School. For a complete list of statistics, and more info visit www.salemhillstrack.blogspot.com 

This year marks the second annual knowledge bowl held by our own Spanish teacher Mr. Macdonald. The bowl was a large success due to the fact that so many teams cooperated and the level of knowledge each team had.                 “I think it was very successful, judge by two yard sticks, due to the fact 32 teams signed up in under a day and we had to turn down 7 teams,” says Mr. Macdonald. “The caliber of knowledge each team had, and the championship teams were really good.”                  “We lost, but we had a fun time.” Says well fought competitor Mikalyn Orten, an avid bicycle and unicycle rider, “and I think it was especially fun because of Mr. Macdonald.”                 Even though one of the victors, Natalie Chaney, won’t be back next year, she would like to leave behind some wise words worthy of wishers wanting to win. “Pay attention to things learned in class, don’t forget the things you’ve learned right after the test, and always give as many high fives as possible,” she says,  eyes swimming in tears as she remembers the ghost of her past.                 Though this year was great, Mr. Macdonald said next year will be even better, so those wanting to prove their vast knowledge, be sure to sign up. 

Thursday March 25, 2010 Salem Hills showed their team work mixed with a lot of hard work and determination by beating Uintah after going into extra innings with the final score being 4-3. Pulling away with a win is a great accomplishment for Salem players. Salem Hills was beat out last year at state by Uintah, who took 2nd in state, so it really shows Salem Hills’ strength and improvement as a team. “Our players knew as a team they would have to be quick and work together because they have seen how strong Uintah really is. They are great competitors with very honest and respectful coaches. It really showed at the game!” Said Taelyr Stevenson.             Courtney Moody has another win under her belt for Salem. She had seven strike-outs in the game. Hailey Ingram was a great player herself going 2/4 with an RBI. Kayla Palmer going 2/4 with the game-winning RBI. Brooke Ford scored the winning run off Kayla Palmers hit in the 8th inning.  “WOW this game was so intense and close it’s almost scary,” parents and supporters in the stands were saying. “It feels good to sweep Uintah at home. They are a good team and it required a solid team effort to pull this win off!” says Coach Clarke with a big grin.

Adam Cardoza: (sophomore) was nominated by Mr. Haskell; he enjoys snowboarding and playing the saxophone. His favorite class is Jazz Band or Math. What makes him unique? He doesn’t follow the crowd! Molly Cannon: (sophomore) was nominated by Mrs. Lyman for being a hardworking, kind and respectful student. She enjoys reading and doing gymnastics. Her favorite class is Math. What makes her unique? She can put her feet behind her head! Heather Bolz: (junior) was nominated by Mr. Gillie; she enjoys rock climbing, swimming, singing, and playing the guitar. Her favorite class is psychology. What makes her unique? She can be herself without feeling like she has to impress anyone! McKay Robison: (junior) was nominated by Mr. Shuler for being a hard worker, enthusiastic, optimistic and getting along well with other students. He enjoys playing the guitar, playing basketball, volleyball and swimming. His favorite class is Seminary. What makes him unique? He’s happy and smiles a lot! Morgan Hales: (senior) was nominated by Mr. Graham for her outstanding dedication to academics and athletics and working hard and well with others. She is involved in basketball, volleyball, and softball. She’s a very kind person, happy and always has a good attitude. Josh Wilkins: (senior) was nominated by the student council. He enjoys reading, playing soccer, reading and hanging out with his buddies. His favorite class is English. What makes him unique? He’s a triplet! 

Tuesday March 9, 2010 Salem Hills played their first game against Orem and kicked some serious butt. Their varsity team won 9-1 and their JV team won 2-1. Both teams played their hearts out and showed great sportsmanship, hard work, and determination. They all played amazingly.             Varsity pitcher Courtney Moody threw some wicked balls with 12 strike outs, a home run (in the park), and a double going 2/3 for the evening. Bridget Bradford went 2/4 with a double. Trisha Christensen did an awesome job catching and went 1/2 with a double. Hailey went 3/4 and scored twice. Kiley Williams had an unbelievable hit over the fence; home run! “I’m very pleased with our team’s first outing. We battled some bad weather and got our first home run!” Coach Clarke stated.             Taelyr Stevenson, the JV pitcher, also had a great first game, having only one hit off her powerful left handed pitch. They called the game at 2-1 with Salem taking another win for the night. All of the players played great with one catch that got everyone off the cold wet benches. It was out way past the line and Amanda Tuttle got to it with no problem and snatched it just in time! “I’m pumped about our JV team. We have a lot of depth and will be a force to be reckoned with,” Coach Clarke stated. “If you haven’t been out to one of our games before, oh man! This is the year to come out. We have a killer team,” says Clarke.