On Friday, Oct. 22, Lakewood High School celebrated its football team’s seniors on their special night. But the celebration didn’t stop there. Seniors from the cheerleading team, marching band, girls’ and boys’ cross-country teams and the golf team all walked the football field at the final home game of the season.
“I think it doesn’t matter what you get involved with. I tell those kids all the time, just get involved … So those kids are putting in time. They’re busting their bones, too. So they need to be recognized for all the efforts that they put in,” said Lakewood High School’s athletic director, Rob Slone.
Slone, as the athletic director, plays a crucial role in planning senior nights for all sports. “I’m just the organizer for everything … We provide a photographer so that every senior gets a picture that is usually given to them at the banquet, and then we organize everybody on what time to get there, how they walk across the field, and how the announcers read off their bios,” said Slone.
Beyond that, Slone also makes an effort to shine light on the athletes who don’t have their own home fields to have a senior night at, such as cross country and golf. “For me, it’s a no-brainer, because I feel bad those are the sports that don’t have a home course here or home field. So they don’t have the opportunity to get celebrated at one of their own events, because they don’t have any of their own events, they’re always traveling to a different location. So this gives us an opportunity to bring them back home and let them be in front of our crowd for change,” Slone said.
The marching band and the cheerleading team also take time to recognize their seniors for all the hard work they’ve put in over the years. “The community aspect, for sure, just being around people that you like, who are all passionate about the same thing, and then also like making up a small part of a big whole,” said senior marching band member Cole Hammer.
Hammer has been a part of the marching band throughout his high school career and plans to continue his participation in music past high school. “Yes, I would like to go to college for music production and composition. So I’m going to carry what I learned and move forward with that,” Hammer said.
Cora Barcelona, a four-year member and two-year captain of the Rangerettes, a part of the marching band, also plans on participating in similar activities past high school. “A lot of schools with marching bands will have some sort of dance team … but I’d like to keep dancing, especially in an environment like the Rangerettes has,” said Barcelona. “I’m really gonna miss the team environment. Every single year, the Rangerettes have always done a great job of bonding together.”
Combined, the marching band, cheerleading team, and football team foster a strong school spirit that extends to the entire student body. The seniors on the football team include Christian Brownlee, Braedan Greenfield, Jax Burger, Nick Hart, Sam Hoy, Alex Masulis, Richard Matlock, Fidel Ngaro, Declan Pauly, Markel Ray, Jacob Stoll, Kavontah Swain, SaVone Terry, Quincy Vales and Devyn Whitlock.
On the cheerleading team are Molly Franciscus, Anna Keane, Claire Noelker, Piper Polen, Janiah Rose, Rebecca Sever and Addison Ward-Przybylski.
In the marching band are Cora Barcelona, Isabella Brown, Kenny Cung, Olivia Gainous, Julius Janke, Abigail Kovach, Nathan Lardi, Simone Larsen, Camelia Reali, Lucia Robbins, Logan Hruby, Margie Seamen, Evan Seiler, Tallulah Taylor, Mia Thomas and Rita Yost.
On the Girls’ Cross Country team are Lydia Koons, Margo Nefedova and Hazel Redmon.
On the Boys’ Cross Country team are James Bass, Zach Carnovale, Connor Coleman, Billy Cummings, Miles Evans, Nate Lardi, Ethan Moore, Alex Mossburg, Jack Phillips, Evan Seiler, Marcos Severino and Jameson Walker.
Finally, on the golf team is Matthew Schlatzer.
As the lights dimmed on the football field for the last home game of the season, the pride of Lakewood’s athletes, students and families alike lit it up for the last time. The collective honoring of the fall sports athletes gave them a chance to say their goodbyes to the sports that shaped their lives for the past four years.
