Elissa Stanley
As spring is being looked upon by many of the high school’s athletes, runners, sprinters and throwers take part in indoor track to prepare for the outdoor season. Regular track season (beginning the first week of March) is being looked forward to as girls indoor track has a good amount of athletes preparing.
Track coach Aaron Morris says the team has about 20 sprinters, 15 distance runners and five throwers [shot put and weight throw, not discus due to limited space] training this winter. Events taking place this winter are 60m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m, 60H, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put and weight throw.
As said, Morris explains that throwers can not participate in some of their real season events. “Some indoor events are a little different during indoor because of the space restrictions” says Morris.
The indoor team competes at Kent State twice, Youngstown State twice, Spire Institute in Geneva, Baldwin Wallace and Mount Union. According to Morris, the season has been going smoothly so far despite the weather. “The season started out really well for us in the first two meets. The third meet was snowed out” says Morris.
Indoor track applies to the outdoor season by “giving us [the team] a chance to do a lot of things in preparation for outdoor track”. “It allows the athletes to prepare their bodies for the rigors of outdoor track. We use the conditioning and weight lifting as a way to limit the danger of injury when the intensity of training picks up in
March” Morris adds.
The indoor season is said to allow coaches to teach athletes how to do events that they may have been interested
in trying, but never done before. The team will work on technique with those that have done specialty events like high jump and hurdles and get a head start on the outdoor season. Also, giving athletes a chance to practice competing, both physically and mentally.
“By the end of May, athletes need to be mentally prepared to compete in big meets, on their own, in a strange environment, surrounded by tons of people in close proximity” says Morris.
Morris says the team holds a few athletes that have been performing particularly well this winter. Junior Aimee Grimm is currently ranked 11th in the state for the 60H as freshman Kirstin Spangler is tied for 23rd in the state for high jump. Senior Katie Hall broke the school record for indoor shot put at only the first indoor meet. The record was initially held by current track coach, Lainie Glasgow.
Grimm believes that training hard in the off season is “extremely beneficial by the time outdoor comes around”. Grimm has competed in indoor track for three years now. This year, Grimm is focusing on the 60m hurdles and the
400m. Grimm’s fastest 60H time is 9.78 seconds, as she hopes to break former hurdler Kayla Thompson’s 60H record of 9.16.
“The indoor season allows us athletes to compete in different events than outdoor allows, some of the races are
shortened and it allows you to work on the starts of the races, which are very important” says Grimm,
All posts by Stohion Staff
The Major Struggle With Concussions
Francesca Missella
Concussions are the most common type of injury among athletes competing in contact sports as well as the most common type of traumatic brain injuries overall.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a concussion is defined as a mild traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, jolt, or blow to the head. This movement causes the brain to be shaken around or to become twisted inside the skull.
“I’ve had two concussions, and I do still struggle with long term effects. I still have vision problems and struggle with vestibular, otherwise known as balance issues,” senior Sydney Allendorf said.
These actions lead to the stretching and damaging of brain cells which cause chemical changes in the brain making it more difficult for cells to function and communicate.
A concussion is a “functional” brain injury, which means injury affects how the brain works, but the damage is only temporary and they can resolve on their own within one to six weeks without medical attention.
The Center of Disease and Control estimates as many as 3.8 million concussions occur in the U.S. annually through sports, but only 5-10% are recognized and diagnosed by coaches, parents and athletic trainers. Physical symptoms of a concussion can consist of headaches, blurry vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness balance problems and sensitivity to noise or light.
Symptoms of concussions can be dangerous, such as seizures, not recognizing people or places, and unusual behavior. According to the Cleveland Clinic, adolescents are at a higher risk of seizures because of their developing brains. Most concussions can happen while on the playground, bike riding, or when playing sports such as football, basketball, or soccer. Before an athlete can return to play, he or she must be totally symptom-free and return to their pre-concussion scores.
“After my first concussion I had vestibular therapy for 6 months, visits with sports medicine for over a year and regular visits with a neurologist. My second one, I went to eye therapy as well as vestibular therapy for six months. My first concussion took me over a year to recover to 90% and be able to return to soccer. My second concussion took me four months to recover but I had to give up the game,” Allendorf said.
According to The Center of Disease and Control, once the athlete has returned, he or she begins a five-day program in which they increases activities while any symptoms are monitored. Once a person has a concussion, they are at a three to five times greater risk for a later concussions. One in five high school athletes will sustain a sports concussion during the season with 33% of all sports concussions occurring at practice, according to headcasecompany.com.
There are several long term effects of multiple concussions and not allowing a person’s brain to fully heal. Post-Concussion Syndrome is when patients who suffer a concussion take longer than usual to recover, which is found in between 10% – 30% of concussion patients. Second Impact Syndrome is when a second concussion occurs during, recovery which causes the brain to undergo swelling. Approximately half of all Second Impact Syndrome patients die from their injuries, and the survivors often suffer from lifelong irreversible disability.
The most well known long term effect of multiple concussions is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a progressive disease that has symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s. CTE was first discovered by neuropathologist Dr Bennet Omalu in the brain of Mike Webster, a former NFL player. When Omalu looked at Webster’s brain tissue under the microscope he observed concentrations of tau which is a protein.
“Having a concussion was a difficult experience for me because for two weeks I had to sit in the dark. I was not allowed to play on my phone, do homework for long periods of time or even watch TV. My head felt like it was gonna explode and I could feel my brain move when I took the blow. I felt like the whole world was spinning and all sounds immediately got extremely loud,” Allendorf said.
The 2015 movie “Concussion,” starring Will Smith, is the story of Dr.Omalu who challenges the NFL on the repeated hits to the brain from playing football can cause brain damage. As neurons die, large areas of brain tissue become affected, causing symptoms to appear including: memory loss, confusion, Parkinson’s-like tremors, walking problems, impaired judgement, depression and personality changes.
Repeated head trauma does not always lead to CTE and the only way to diagnose CTE is post-mortem by an autopsy. CTE has been found in the brains of 76 out of 79 former NFL players who have donated their brains to research. According to the Concussion Foundation, repeated concussion have been linked to increased risk of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as CTE.
“My advice is to genuinely listen to what your body is telling you. If you don’t feel like your ready to go back to everyday life yet that is okay. At the end of the day you will feel a lot better if you don’t rush the natural healing process,” Allendorf said.
Route 8 Rivalry Game
Shea Sullivan and Amanda Ostrowski
Indians Logo Controversy
Francesca Missella
After having Chief Wahoo as their primary logo for 102 years, the Cleveland Indians will no longer be using it due to Major League Baseball pressure. Starting with the 2019 MLB season, the Indians will no longer feature cartoon character, Chief Wahoo, on their uniforms.
The Cleveland Indians were initially called the Cleveland Spiders until 1899 which they then changed to the Cleveland Naps, after their star player Nap Lajoie. According to NBC Sports, after Lajoie departed in 1914 owner Charles Somers asked local baseball writers to come up with a new name.
The name Indians and the logo came about because then star player Louis Sockalexis is believed to be the first Native American in the MLB. Originally the logo was used to honor Native Americans and the rich history of them in Northeast Ohio not with the purpose of disrespecting.
“I do not believe that the Indians should be changed because it’s been around for so long and I feel people are reading into why the logo was made and not the true reason,” senior Michaela Light said.
Many have criticized the logo as a sign of racism because the cartoon character features what some call a ‘Stereotypical American’ Indian face. According to USA Today, every year since the 1990’s playoff runs, groups of Native Americans have protested outside the stadium before the home opener in hopes getting Chief Wahoo permanently removed.
In 2014 the Tribe have began using a block “C” as their logo more often by shifting it as the primary cap logo and displaying it around the ballpark. In Aug. 2016, Indians managment released that they had no plans to change the logo and found it not disrespectful to Native Americans.
“ I do feel the logo should be changed because so many people feel offended and have protested for years over the logo. I still was and will be an Indians fan regardless of the logo,” Sophomore Hannah Williams said.
Major League Baseball then publicly stated they would not force the Indians to change their name since it has been in use for 100 years. National criticism did not occur until Oct.2016, when the Indians had a showdown with the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League Championship Series and the World Series.
During the American League championship, the city of Toronto tried to file an appeal for the Indians to remove the team name and logo patches from their jerseys to not be shown on Canadian TV. Two days after the devastating World Series game 7 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Major League Baseball released that they would look into the logo and hold a meeting to discuss if changes needed to be made.
Ultimately, pressure on management from the MLB heightened when Cleveland was named the host city for the 2019 All-Star Game. Many believe if Cleveland had never won the bid for the All-Star game the logo would never have changed. The MLB feared if the logo still represented the team they would lose people from attending the most popular game of the year and cause the loss of millions of dollars.
While many believe this is the end of the road for Chief Wahoo, they are completely wrong. MLB is not all for the change after allowing the ball to continue selling merchandise featuring the mascot in Northeast Ohio. This is in order for the MLB and the Indians to keep ownership of the trademark. In many ways Chief Wahoo will never disappear and will forever be a part of Cleveland history.
