By Ashton Walker

Lady gales volleyball team will be looking to finish their season strong, finishing OCC play. Which is never an easy task.

Last week the Gales rolled over Groveport Madison winning three sets to none and winning by an average of 16 points each set.

The Gales’ next game is against the Reynoldsburg Raiders who have an overall record of 3-11. The Gales should handle them with ease.

Last time these two teams played the Gales had no trouble, winning in 3 sets. In the closest set the Raiders came within 9 points. The other two sets Reynoldsburg never broke double digits.

The gales of course should have a lot of confidence going into the game but should not be overlooking any teams in the near future.

The game following up the Reynoldsburg game will be a much harder test against the Grove City Greyhounds. Last year the Greyhounds won an OCC championship and this year gave the Gales one of their two losses.

So far it has been a great season for the Gales but finishing the season by winning out would be the icing on the cake.

By Jacob Williams

For the majority of their short time as a franchise, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been the laughingstock of the National Hockey League. But with their recent performance, they’ve showed fans that they can win more than one game in a row.

Perhaps an even stranger fact is that the Jackets were named the NHL’s hottest team with a five game win streak and a new franchise record of an 8 game point streak. Anything past a one game win streak was a miracle in the past but things are looking up for this mostly young team.

Coaching, last year’s disgrace of a season was widely contributed to the poor coaching skills and bad attitude of the Jacket’s past head coach, Scott Armiel.

But with Todd Richards their new head coach, the whole team is getting along and actually playing like a team and winning games despite the laundry list of injuries that is plaguing the team.

The most outstanding part of their team right now is the recently acquired goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky. Last years’ Jeff Carter trade to the Flyers proved to be a wise decision in an attempt to have goalie that can stop more than 10 shots a game.

Before their overtime loss to Vancouver on Tuesday, Bobrovsky lead the jackets to a five game win streak including a pair of weekend victories against Detroit and on Saturday’s affair, Bob solidified his first career shutout in a 3-0 victory over the Red Wings.

“I am absolutely astounded by the Jackets recent performance, they’re starting to actually look like a real professional hockey team,” said Nick Williams.

By Mac Starkey

Ray Lewis has been a one man wrecking crew for the Ravens squad since his debut in 1996. The Baltimore Ravens selected him 26^th overall in the first round.

The star linebacker from the University of Miami has made his mark on the league. He has 13 plus years in the Pro Bowl and many other awards for being defensive player of the year and in his conference.

In his 17 year NFL career he has racked up over 2,050 tackles, 41 sacks, and 31 interceptions. Ray Lewis is arguably the best linebacker to ever step on the gridiron.

Sports reporters have compared him to line backers Lawrence Taylor and Mike Singletary. The last couple years he has been pushing for a Super Bowl.

The reason is because he wants to end his career with another ring. Coming back to this year Ray Lewis and the Ravens squad are looking to claim the title once again.

“We have come too far to lose, the Super Bowl is ours,” said Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. But the Ravens will have to play there best game of the season squaring off against the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers are a great matchup for the Ravens because their game styles on both sides of the ball are exactly alike. Whatever the outcome may be, one thing is for sure: this game will be remembered for years to come.

By Daisha Decker

This year the Lancaster High School cheerleaders were up for the challenge to make up a competition cheerleading team to compete with teams across Ohio on their same skill level.

The competition team consists of a select group of girls from the football and basketball cheerleading squad. But making the team isn’t as easy as it seems. In order to make the competition team you have to know how to tumble, be dedicated, and willing to work hard.

“Competition cheerleading is where you train for several months, perfecting a routine that you will compare with another team from either across the street or across the nation,” says Varsity Cheerleader Raquel Wingard.

Cheerleading for the school and competition cheering are nowhere near the same thing. Wingard comments that,

“Practice for a school cheerleading team is just learning cheers and games where you’re rooting on an athletic team. But competition practices are taken 100 times more seriously. All you can think about is judgment day, along with a mix of conditioning, repetition and perfection.”

The Lancaster High School cheerleaders also have their football games and basketball games to cheer for. Then there is the select group that has both competition and sport cheerleaders.

“For competition cheer we have about five competitions that we attend and then we also do some of our routines during the half time at basketball games,” says Wingard.

“Competition cheerleading consists of dance, cheer, tumbling, and sometimes stunting is included depending on the school,” Wingard states.

Perfection is the key in competition cheerleading, and the Lancaster cheerleaders have done a great job at juggling the school and competition cheerleading.

By Makinsey Campbell

All the hard work and training paid off for the Lancaster Gale’s Swim Team after they walked away with victory a from the annual OCC meet on Saturday, January 26^th.

The girls’ team earned a final score of 129 points, which placed 5^th overall. Then again with only nine swimmers, the boys’ team scored an amazing 197 points; placing 2^nd overall.

The OCC meet was held at Upper Arlington High School, with a total of seven attending teams.

“Even though I did not get the times I was aiming for, I think that the team did well as a whole” swimmer, Marikate Evans, said.

Evans competed in the 100 Breaststroke, the 50 Freestyle, and the 400 Freestyle Relay, and the 200 Meadly Relay.

“We walked into OCC’s with confidence and we walked out with fifth place” said sophomore Emily Richards, who was pleased with the final scores.

The Gales compete again this Friday, February 1^st at the local YMCA against Pickerington North. The meet will begin at 7:30.

By Jerry King

The Lancaster Golden Gales Baseball season is approaching quickly. The program just named Corey Conn the new Head Coach.

Jason Vest, previous head coach, resigned late in the fall which led to a need for a quick hire. This situation mad multiple coaches from around Lancaster put in for the job. Pam Bosser, Athletic Director at LHS, named Corey Conn head coach recently.

“Having Coach Conn as a freshman coach and now a head coach is very exciting,” said sophomore Andrew Murray.

Conn is a teacher at General Sherman. In the Baseball program he was assistant varsity coach in 2010 and was the freshman head coach in 2011. He is also currently the head coach of the freshman boys’ basketball team here at Lancaster High School.

Without wasting any time, the team started conditioning in October. They also have had throwing in the mornings and open hitting at night. Mandatory practice date for players is February 25^th.

The Golden Gales are coming off a better season than the previous years. The team ended last season with a record of 12-13. In 2010 the team went 4-20.

“I’m very excited for this season and I think Coach Conn  is an excellent coach,” said senior outfielder Ian Hines.

Mac Starkey

There is a coach who has accomplished so much in college football. Achieving multiple conference titles and NCAA national titles in over 40 years, Nick Saban is more than a coach, but the heart and soul of Alabama.

He is debatably the best coach in college football history. Having coached for multiple teams including Toledo, Michigan State, Louisiana State, and the team he is currently with, The Alabama Crimson Tide.

In total, Saban has racked up a record of 155 wins with 55 losses, but at Alabama his record is a staggering 68 wins with 13 losses.

The university has even put up a statue of him to show how great of a coach he is and all of the things he has done for the university. But, there is word he might leave Alabama to go pro.

The Cleveland Browns are the team hoping to get Saban if he decides to go pro. If coach Saban were to leave Alabama for the Browns he would be coaching his former Heisman candidate, Trent Richardson, again. Saban has already done this once but the result was not so good.

“I enjoy being a coach at Alabama, why would I leave,” Saban stated. There’s no doubt that he is comfortable being a successful coach in Tuscaloosa. He has won four titles in his six year career at Alabama.

The conversation has not stopped about the coaches possible change to go pro with the Browns but the football world will get there answer soon enough. His decision should be revealed next fall right before the football season starts but until then no one knows what choice the legendary coach will make.

By Josh Cook

Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens will take on Frank Gore and the San Francisco 49ers on February 3^rd, in Super Bowl XLVII.

The San Francisco 49ers came back from a 17 point deficit to top the Atlanta Falcons. San Francisco went on to win the game 34-28, shutting down the Falcons offense in the final moments.

The Baltimore Ravens moved on to Super Bowl XLVII after defeating the Patriots 28-13. Ray Lewis was determined that Sunday’s game would not be his last, as he led the Raven’s defense. Baltimore only gave up one touchdown against the Patriots, causing them to rely on Stephen Gostkowski, the New England kicker.

Ray Lewis will play his last game in the NFL on February 3^rd and is determined to inspire more young athletes to join the league. He is hoping to go out with a boom.

Colin Kaepernick, starting quarterback for San Francisco, and his 49ers are projected to win Super Bowl XLVII, but could be challenged by the underdog Baltimore Ravens, who were projected to be defeated in the first round.

Super Bowl XLVII is located inside the prestigious New Orleans Super Dome. Alicia Keys will be performing the National Anthem and Beyoncé will be performing the halftime show. An event as prestigious as the Super Bowl will cause commercials to be as much as 4,000,000 dollars per slot.

Ray Lewis fired up after a sack.

By Austin Miller

On January 20^th the Baltimore Ravens played the New England Patriots in Gillette Stadium.

Last Sunday the Patriots and Ravens faced off in the AFC championship. The Ravens came out with the win 28-13.

The weekend before the New England Patriots took on the Houston Texans and won 41-28 and the Baltimore Ravens played the Denver Broncos and won 38-35.

Joe Flacco led the Ravens to the win over the Patriots with three touchdown passes. The great defensive leader, Ray Lewis, led the Ravens defense to an outstanding second half, shutting down the Patriots.

“The Ravens just came out with more intensity and toughness and were the first to beat the Patriots on their own turf in the AFC Championship,” said by, Marin Velasquez, a sophomore at Lancaster High School.

This will be the Ravens first Super Bowl appearance in 12 years. They played the New York Giants on January 28, 2001 and won.

Now up for John Harbaugh and the Ravens is the San Francisco 49ers. It’s a family reunion at the Super Bowl as everyone is calling it.

The coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Jim Harbaugh is the brother of the coach for John Harbaugh. The Super Bowl will be played on February 3^rd in New Orleans, Louisiana.

By Austin Crist

This year’s Lancaster High School Track and Field team is coming up to an extremely exciting point; the indoor season.

2013’s indoor season starts off early this year for Lancaster’s Track team. Their first meet is at Tiffin University on Saturday, January 12^th.

They will kick off the season with many new and fresh runners like Noah Ball, Jarod DiDomenico, Isaak Kaiser, and Mason Kieffer. This crew of young freshman all run long distance and are expected to add to the team’s potential, massively.

The Lancaster Track team also has many returning runners that will lead the path for the Gales. The returning runners that are expected to rack up points are Adam Wise, Stephan Sparks, John Urbine, Luke Sanderell, Patrick Wagner, and many others.

The throwers for the 2013 indoor season have been preparing since early November and are eager to get competing. Christian Herold is bound and determined to throw great distances in shot put to contribute to the track team. The weight throwers for this season have a great group pulled together also.

Even though the indoor season for the track team is short, they have many opportunities to compete and strive to be a better athlete.

By Austin Wilson

After four long months of negotiation between NHL players and the team owners an agreement has been made and the lockout is over.

The league commissioner declared a lockout after a deal couldn’t be made on the Collective Bargaining Commitment before the start of the season. The lockout began on September 15^th, 2012 and ended on January 6^th, 2013.

Over two thirds of the NHL season was cancelled with 510 games not played due to the lockout. Currently the league is debating whether to have 48 or 50 games scheduled for the remainder of the season.

The salary cap for the 2013-2014 season has been shortened to 64.3 million but for the shortened season it will be 70.2 million. The salary floor will be 44 million. The contracts for free agents will be cut to seven years. Also the percentage of the NHL’s revenue shared with players was shortened from 57%-50%.

Players will be voting electronically on Friday and Saturday to finalize the deal. During the week the league will be making the schedule and won’t release it until the players have voted.

Many fans are angered about the lockout that occurred. For many this is the time of year that they stay indoors and enjoy watching their hockey.

“Most importantly to our fans, who love and have missed NHL hockey, I am sorry,” said league commissioner Gary Bettman.

Owners of bars and restaurants around hockey arenas are especially happy about the deal. Such businesses have lost thousands of dollars due to NHL games being cancelled.

The OU-L 2012-2013 Mens Basketball Team Poses for Their Team Picture.
(Picture Courtesy of Ohio University Lancaster)

By Emily Matheney

The OU-L Cougars played and won against their rival OU-Zanesville Tracers at home on Tuesday, January 22.

During the first half the Cougars moved the ball well and were rewarded with great shot opportunities. They led at the end of the first half 54-22.

“We hustled, ran a lot more with the ball, and scored a lot more during the game,” George Collins, a first year player for OU-L, said.

When the Cougars came out for the second half they were determined to win. The Cougars hustled down the court and came up with plenty of steals. By the end of the game the score was 106-67.

“I love playing for OU-L. We work well as a team and we have gotten better as the season goes on,” Collins added.

OU-L was led by Zach Bobo with 21 points, Pat Blevins with 20 points and Zoe Addison with 19 points. Cody Sarensen pulled down 8 rebounds.

Their record now stands at 8-13 and 5-6 in the league. Their next game is away at Miami Middletown on Saturday January 26.

HE’S A BEAST: LeBron reaches yet another career milestone.

By Chris Crockett

On Wednesday January 16, LeBron James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 points.

The Miami Heat were facing the Golden State Warriors as LeBron James attempted to reach two milestones in his already historic career. LeBron had his mind set on winning the game instead of breaking the record.

Not only did LeBron score 20,000 career points that night against the Warriors, he also earned 5,000 career assists.

LeBron is the youngest player in league history to win Rookie of the Year, the youngest player to record a triple-double, and the youngest player to score 1,000 points. He also was the youngest to score 10,000 points and win MVP at an All-Star Game.

Other than LeBron, only Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, and Michael Jordan have set those records before turning thirty years old. This shows that LeBron James is one of the most dominant players to ever play in the NBA.

In the record setting game, LeBron scored twenty five points, but only needed eighteen to set the record. History was made.

By Jacob Williams

After over three months of negotiating and arguing, they finally did it. The players union and the NHL finally reached an agreement to end the dreaded lockout.

Early Sunday morning marked the end of the 113 day lockout that canceled more than half of the regular season games in the NHL. With the remaining months in the season, the league was able to squeeze 48 games into the regular season schedule.

A large number of players and fans alike thought that the idea of an agreement being reached to end the lockout was something more of a dream. But if you were napping it’s time to wake up, it’s time for body checks and shootouts.

Even with the shortened season, the players and fans alike are grateful that the league could salvage 48 games from the already short hockey season.

The players weren’t the only people who were affected by the lockout, think about the fans, the people who dump their precious time and money into the sport they love. But if you’re a Jackets fan, don’t get your hopes up because we all know how bad they really are.

“I like hockey, I’m excited for the season to start back up and I’m stoked to see how the jackets play this season,” said Chris Longnecker.

The hockey season is back, the players and all of the hard hitting filled excitement is back, so who’s going to take the cup home this year?

By Austin Ricketts

College basketball has already had an exciting season with many upsets and tense games involving the top 25 teams.

Ohio State came into the season within the top 5, but their recent losses to current number 1 ranked Duke, number 6 ranked Kansas, and number 11 ranked Illinois, have set them back to the 15^th best team in the nation.

The Ohio State Buckeyes’ current record as of January 7, 2013 is 11-3. This is only the beginning of the season and they are projected to make a good run in the National College Athletic Association basketball tournament.

Deshaun Thomas, the Buckeyes’ starting forward, is their leading scorer. He is averaging 20.2 points per game. He also is the team leader in rebounding with 6.8 per game.

Currently in the Big Ten Conference, the Buckeyes are in 7^th place behind the top 10 teams that include number 2 ranked Michigan and number 5 ranked Indiana.

The next two games on Ohio States’ schedule are unranked Purdue on Tuesday the 8th and the 2^nd best team in the nation, Michigan, on the 13^th of January. Each game as a Big Ten Conference match up.

Thad Matta, the Ohio State Buckeyes’ head coach, is optimistic about the rest of the season and is focused on the big picture, referring to the NCAA tournament.

By Jerry King

The Texas A&M Aggies’ freshman quarterback, Johnny Manziel won the 2012 Heisman award.

Johnny Manziel went from “Johnny Football”, to “Johnny Heisman.” Manziel goes down as the first freshman ever to win this award. He was also the second youngest player to receive it.

“Johnny Football is good and showed on the field he deserved the award,” said LHS Junior Clay Hoey.

He won with 474 first place votes and brought in 2,029 panel points. Runner up Manti Teo had 321 votes and 1,106 points. Following behind Teo was Collin Klien with 60 first place votes and 894 points.

Breaking 2010 Heisman winner quarterback Cam Newton’s record of total yards in the Southeastern Conference, Manziel had 4,600 total yards on the year. He threw for 3,419 yards with 24 touchdowns. He ran for 1,181 yards and had 19 touchdowns.

The freshman quarterback led the Aggies to a 10-2 season. Their only losses were from Florida and Louisiana State University, whom both were ranked in the top ten in the nation. But that didn’t stop the Aggies from beating the Alabama Crimson Tide who was ranked number one in the nation.

“When they beat Alabama it was awesome because they win way too much,” said Clay Hoey.

By Clayton Hutton

After a loss to Newark the Lady Gales Basketball team came back with a win against Dublin Scioto on Wednesday at Dublin Scioto High School.

The Girls lost to Newark at Newark High School with a score of 60-48. The Gales hung in there until half time and then they were overcome by the size of Newark.

The leading scorer for the gales was Katie Miller with 18 points and she also had six assists. Audrie McRitchie had 12 points and McKenzie McCray had eight points with 6 rebounds. Katie Miller also had 3 big threes.

Wednesday, the Gales beat Dublin Scioto with a score of 45-36. The Gales were led by Katie Miller with 18 points. Other scorers were Marin Valasquez who had 9 points and Peyton Mott had 8 points.

The team will face Ohio Capital Conference opponent, and rival, Pickerington Central at home on Friday. Then the Gales will be away for 2 games facing one conference opponent.

“I feel very confident about our upcoming schedule and our ability to finish those games on a positive note,” said Coach Chevalier.

The Gales have begun their season with 2-1 record and hope to continue wining. Be sure to come out and see the Gales face their conference rival Friday.

By Alex Dexter

Last weekend the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide fought to the end for the SEC championship.

Freshmen Ellie Farlow said, “It was an intense game, it was a hard fought game and Georgia almost upset Alabama,”

The final score of this big game was the Crimson Tide 32 and the Bulldogs 28. This was a big game because the winner is the one who will play Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship.

This game pulled in a 9.8 Neilson rating. This means that an estimated 9.8 percent of U.S. households with a television watched the game.

Freshmen, Owen Howard said, “It was a very good game that had me on the edge of my seat until the very end”.

Alabama’s running back, Eddie Lacy had 2 touchdowns and 181 yards rushing. He was also awarded the MVP of the game.

The Alabama Crimson Tide will fight The No.1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the BCS National Championship on January 7th at 8:00 pm.

By Austin Miller

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller won Big Ten MVP (Most Valuable Player) this year.

Braxton Miller graduated high school from Wayne High School, in Huber Heights, Ohio.

Miller was going to be redshirted his freshman year but took over at Quarterback in the fourth game of the 2011 season.

His freshman year he threw for 1,159 yards and had 13 touchdowns and also led the team in rushing with 715 yards and also seven rushing touchdowns.

Also he was named Archie Griffin outstanding offensive player, and also the team’s outstanding first-year offensive player award as well. These awards are just from the Ohio State team.

He also won Big Ten Conference’s Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year award and also, his fourth major honor his freshman year was being named 2011 National Freshman Performer of the Year.

Now his sophomore season has ended, and it turned out fabulous. He finished highly ranked in many national statistical categories as he led the Buckeyes to an impressive 12-0 record.

Braxton Miller won the Big Ten Player of the Week against California.

Also after his season he won Big Ten Player of the Year. Miller threw for 15 touchdowns and also ran for 13 more while throwing just six interceptions. He completed 58 percent of his passes.

From his freshman to sophomore year Miller tremendously improved and broke Bobby Hoying’s school record for total offense, with 3,310 yards.

He also beat the rushing record for a quarterback with 1,271 yards in his first season with new head coach Urban Meyer, and first-year offensive coordinator Tom Herman.

“Braxton did great and I think he surprised a lot of people with his performance this year,” said freshman, Kyrie Maynard.

By Austin Miller

Ohio State played against Northern Kentucky Norse (NKU) over the weekend, December 1^st.

After losing a tough game against Duke, the Ohio State University overcame the loss and beat Northern Kentucky over the weekend.

Saturday also marked the first time Northern Kentucky had played a team from the Big Ten in a regular-season game.

Ohio State is also the first nationally ranked Division 1 team that Northern Kentucky has ever played in a regular season.

The Buckeyes won the rebounding game with a 43-41 count and also forced Northern Kentucky into 20 turnovers which led to 22 points of Ohio State.

LaQuinton Ross, a sophomore guard for Ohio State, scored his career-high of 22 points and shot 8 for 12 from the field.

“Ohio State started off slow in the first half, but in the second they started hitting shots and it showed” says Kyrie Maynard, a freshman at Lancaster High School.

Ohio State Buckeyes came away with the victory 70-43 in front of an ambitious crowd of 16,548 at Value City Arena.

By Beau Stewart

Lancaster High School’s Lady Gales started their season of strong Tuesday night with an overtime victory over Teays Valley.

Senior Audrie McRitchie scored the go-ahead layup with 48 seconds left to give the Gales a two point edge. Then with seven seconds left Katie Miller sealed the deal in the Gales season opener with two clutch free throws.

Committed to Tiffin for basketball, Miller led her team to a 52-50 victory with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. McRitchie and Marin Velasquez also scored big points with 11 and 10 points each.

The Gales forced 22 turnovers, which was a major key to victory with Teays Valley Freshman Shayna Harmon scoring 60% of her team’s points with 30.

“I just had confidence I was going to knock it in,” Miller said. “I was just like, ‘I’m ending it here’.”

Not just Miller showed their confidence though, the whole lady Gale’s team played like a seasoned veteran squad pulling off the victory while only shooting 18-51 from the field.

By Josh Cook

The Lancaster girls swimming team kicked off their season with the Alumni Meet last Wednesday at the local YMCA.

Teachers such as Mr. Staten and former students such as Chris DePietro swam in Wednesdays Alumni Meet. This was the first meet for the Lady Gales swim team this year and showed they expect to have a good swim season.

Last night the Lady Gales swim team swam against the Bloom Carrol Bulldogs and the Amanda Clearcreek Aces in a meet against county schools. Lancaster crushed the competition and is hoping to continue the success.

“After Tuesday’s meet I am very confident in our team’s ability to win, and I am excited to swim in our next meet,” said Sophomore, Lillia Sammler.

Lancaster’s Next meet will be on December 4^th at 7:30 p.m. The meet will be at the local YMCA against OCC rival, Newark. Lancaster expects to collect another win.

Saturday, December 8^th the Gales will attend the Ned Reed Invitational. The meet takes place at the OSU Natatorium at 8:30 pm.

By Clayton Hutton

A new season is about to start for the 2012-2013 Lady Gales Basketball Team.

The Girls will begin their season on November 27^th at Lancaster High School against Teays Valley High School at 7:30.

The Lady Gales went 7-13 last season and hope to have an improved season. The team is led by seniors Katie Miller, Cassie Hennessy, Audrie McRritchie, McKenzie McCray, and Katie Harris.

“I believe the season will go well, we work hard in the off season and I think that will pay off during the season,” said sophomore basketball player Peyton Mott.

The Gales competed in three very successful scrimmages. They improved every time they took the court.

The Girls will play 14 Ohio Capital Conference Opponents and 7 of those games will be home and the first one is December 7^th.

The Gales will begin their conference play against Newark High school at Newark High school on December 1^st.

By Alex Shaw

Lancaster High School’s soccer team took a moment to recognize the seniors on Monday, October 15, 2012.

Lancaster’s soccer boys have been playing well together this year. There are many different grades of players on this year’s soccer team.

The seniors were recognized for their hard work that they have put into each and every season in the four years that they have played soccer as Gales.

The students wrote something about themselves and it was stated, such as where they plan to attend college or what they want to do after high school.

“It was very exciting to see the seniors get recognized for the hard work,” says Siara Patrick, senior at Lancaster High School.

“I really enjoyed watching all the seniors get recognized, my old school did not always do anything like that,” says Mattie Joiner, senior at Lancaster High School.

Seniors should all be proud no matter what sport of the accomplishments they have made in each season with their teammates or within themselves.