An Unpredictable Season Continues for Girls Basketball

By Taylor Parish

The Roadrunners played Southeast Warren at home on Friday, December 2, 2011. The Roadrunners started off slow offensively, but picked up the pace in the second half. It was a close game, but Interstate never let off. The Roadrunners took the win 49 – 37.
The Central Decatur Cardinals made their way to Truro on Tuesday, December 6, 2011. It was a rough game for the Roadrunners. The Cardinals were a tough team to beat, they came ready to play. The Roadrunners look forward to a rematch at the end of January. The Cardinals came out on top 33 – 74.

The Roadrunners had a better game Friday the 9th against Wayne. “We showed strength, being able to come back from a fifteen point deficit and that is hard to do in the fourth quarter. We didn’t give up,” said senior, Olivia Sulentic. The Roadrunners won 56 – 51 over the Falcons, bringing their record to 4 -2.

The Roadrunners play this week, Tuesday at Pleasantville and Friday at home against Mount Ayr.

Varsity Boys Now 3-2

By Staci Morris
The Roadrunners easily took control over their first opponent of the week, the Central Decatur Cardinals from tip-off. In the fast paced game, Central Decatur found themselves turning the ball over against the Roadrunners quick defense. However, the Cardinals kept it close, leaving for half time with a score of 28 to 20, Roadrunners ahead. With a few steals, open three’s, and free throws, the Roadrunners surged ahead, ending the third quarter 41 to 28. Even with a strong comeback from Central Decatur, the boys took the win with a final score of 57 to 48, ending the night with a 3-1 record.

Unfortunately, the Wayne Falcons would ruin the Roadrunners Friday night and add another loss to their record. I-35, seemingly the underdogs in this match up, didn’t allow the Falcons to get ahead during the first quarter. After getting fouled on a last second 3 pointer, Senior Brody Brownlee sunk three free throws to tie it up 13 to 13. With a tall Wayne defense, the Roadrunners eventually trailed 24 to 30 at half. Throughout the second half, the boys kept trying to play keep-up with the Falcons, but found themselves still trailing 43 to 50 with 4:19 left in the 4th quarter. Even with a valiant effort by Brownlee’s drives and outside shots, and his fellow teammates steals and scoring, they Roadrunners just couldn’t handle the Wayne Falcons and end the game 43 to 61.

Junior High
The seventh grade boys took a win against Mt. Ayr, 30 to 13 on December 6th. Scoring was pretty equal throughout the team with Brock Bush leading with 12 points and 5 rebounds. The eighth grade games proved victorious was well with a score of 48 to 36. Jaylan White led the team with 24 points and 5 rebounds with Travis Schultz and Trevor Hubbard both adding 5 rebounds as well. Both teams improved to 5-0 on the season.

Boys' Varsity Improves to 2-1

By Staci Morris

The high school boys’ basketball team finished 2-1 on the week. Their only loss to Chariton, they beat Earlham on Thursday and continued for another big win the next day against Southeast Warren.

The boys took control over the Earlham Cardinals early and ended the first quarter 11 to 8. The Roadrunner’s kept the lead throughout the second quarter as well, and left for halftime ahead 26 to 21. With 5:25 left in the fourth quarter, Earlham was forced to take a time out after a run left the Roadrunners ahead 41 to 34. After some forced turnovers from Earlham, they sealed their outcome and the Roadrunners took the win with a final score of 53 – 37.

The next night at home here at Interstate 35, the Roadrunners faced the Warhawks of Southeast Warren High School.

The first few minutes from tip off showed that it was certainly going to be an intense game and that proved with a score of 18 to 15 at the end of the first quarter, with a Roadrunner lead.

A back and forth game led to a halftime score of 29 to 23.However, the Roadrunners would not allow Southeast Warren any kind of lead throughout the game.

With freshman Zach Goering leading the team in points, the Roadrunner’s led by ten with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter. With some fouls by I-35, Southeast Warren was led to the free throw line. Even so, the Roadrunners didn’t allow a comeback and took the win 63 to 55.

Rocky Start for High School Boys' Basketball

The Interstate 35 varsity boys’ basketball team encountered their first opponent for the 2011-2012 season. This last Tuesday night here at Interstate 35 the boys faced the Chariton Chargers. With one returning starter, the remaining seniors stepped up to fill the spots. Starting for the night were seniors Brody Brownlee, Luke Simmerman, David Kennedy, Kurt Adams, and Josh Klipping.

It started off rocky for the first game of the year. The boys’ defense just couldn’t keep up with the speed and strength of Chariton. The Roadrunners trailed from tip-off. The score was 35 to 21 at the start of the second half and the boys looked to get an offensive edge with a drive from Brody Brownlee and sneak assist to freshman, Zach Goering. However, the Chargers wouldn’t allow a comeback and with three minutes left the Roadrunner’s were down 42 to 33. Brownlee came back with a huge three at the end of the 3rd quarter with Chariton answering with a buzzer beating jump shot to make the game 53 to 42 at the start of the 4th.

The fourth quarter looked the same with the boys making shots, but Chariton answering right away each time. The Roadrunner’s just couldn’t get ahead and eventually would accept the loss with a final score of 76 to 53.

A Good Start to the Girls High School Basketball Season

By: Taylor Parish

It’s been a good start to the season for the Interstate 35 girl’s high school basketball team. They are beginning the season with a 2-1 record. They won their first game against Melcher-Dallas on November 21, 45-41. It was an intense game. It looked like the Roadrunners were taking control, but the Saints made a comeback in the second half. Interstate kept it together and played strong to come out on top.

On Tuesday November 22, the Roadrunners traveled to Earlham. It was a tough start with one starter receiving three fouls in the first quarter and eventually she fouled out along with another starter fouling out late in the game. The Cardinals never stopped and the Roadrunners could not catch up. They eventually lost 50 – 73.

The Chariton Chargers made their way to Interstate 35 on Tuesday November 29, for the Roadrunners first game at home. The Roadrunners took a commanding 14-3 lead in the first quarter. The Chargers never gave up and fought back within single digits of the Roadrunners. Interstate took the lead and never gave it back, winning 54 – 49.

What’s Up?

By Taylor Parish
What’s up with the library being so cold?
– Ellen Lupkes
What’s up with a certain someone coming into our classes and distracting us?
– Student Body
What’s up with the library conference room windows being covered with paper one day during lunch?
– Curious Bystander
What’s up with no food at lunch?
– Hungry
What’s up non basketball players crowding the varsity locker room in the morning?
– Irritated Baller
What’s up with the varsity locker turning into a basketball only locker room?
– Anonymous
What’s up with seeing the same high schooler wherever I go?
– Aimless wanderer
What’s up with strength and conditioning hogging the weight room?
– Need to lift
What’s up with me not finding $20?
– Empty Pockets
What’s up with Mehrhoff hating all of us?
– Confused Novels Student

Jordan Yawn

By Rachael Wiggins

We all know about the successful runners in the high school, but what about the middle school? Eighth grader Jordan Yawn has found great success in middle school cross country. Yawn placed in the top five in every single meet this season, including the middle school state meet where she placed second. Among her many achievements are two first-place finishes, one at the conference meet and the other at the Greenfield meet.
“If she keeps working hard, Jordan will make a great addition to the varsity team next year,” commented Yawn’s cross country coach Carl Spoerl.
Finding equal success in high school cross-country will not come without its challenges. High school courses are a half-mile longer than are middle school courses and there is much more experienced competition. Yawn will have to work harder than ever to find as much success in high school as she has in middle school. Keep up the good work, Jordan!

Two Roadrunners Run in Fort Dodge

By Olivia Sulentic
On October 20, the boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Atlantic for the district meet. To qualify for state, the runners have to place in the top ten. Interstate 35 had two runners that were able to meet this requirement.
Senior, Maddie Beeler just nabbed the qualifying spot placing tenth. This is Beeler’s first year qualifying for the state meet.
Sophomore, Holly McKinney was also fortunate enough to qualify to run in Fort Dodge. She placed seventh in Atlantic. McKinney qualified as a freshman and hopes to make it all four years.
In Fort Dodge, on October 29, the two roadrunners ran at the state meet.
McKinney placed 27th out of 125 runners with a time of 15:51. She tied her own school record, running the exact same time as last year at the state meet.
“I was excited to make it back to state. It was especially great to be able to run with my best friend,” stated McKinney.
Beeler placed 83rd with a time of 16:36. This was her best time in her career.
“I was really glad that I got to go my senior year. I’ve worked really hard all season and making it to state was exciting for me,” said Beeler.
“It was my focus this year to get Maddie to state. She was so close last year and would have made it if she hadn’t gotten hurt. I knew Holly would make it, so I really wanted Maddie to get there her senior year,” state Coach LeMaster.

Strength and Conditioning

By Rachael Wiggins

If you were to drive by the school at 6:45 in the morning, you would probably be surprised at the number of cars in the parking lot. More and more students are getting out of bed early to go work out at the school. The strength and conditioning group was started by Jason Smith, a football coach, and Jamie Smith, the girls’ basketball coach. The group began their workouts over the summer, and is currently back at it after a short break over football and volleyball season.
“I’m one to believe that the harder you work at something, the harder it makes it to quit. So if these kids dedicate themselves to become better athletes, it will spread through the school to develop a sense of athleticism, teamwork, and school spirit,” commented Jason Smith.
The group does agility workouts as well as lifts weights, but each person’s workout is tailored specifically to the sports he or she is training for. Workouts are every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 6:45 to 7:40. Any and all students are welcome!

Women in Science and Engineering Convention

By Alyssa Bissell
On October 13, a lucky selection of thirteen ladies from the high school got the opportunity for a fun-filled, yet informative field trip to Iowa State University in Ames. Iowa State’s whole purpose for this field trip was to invite young women from all across Iowa and other surrounding states, such as Minnesota, to a convention for their pure interest in science and engineering.
As the girls arrived early that morning, they were greeted with breakfast and soon sent off to their first “session.” Five sessions were given throughout the day, and each student was fortunate enough to attend the top five sessions of their choice. Each session was set up like a classroom. An instructor was there to explain and describe all of the possible fields that women who are interested in science and engineering could venture. These fields range from medicine to biology or even psychology.
Towards the end of the day, more fun activities were offered to the girls to introduce how entertaining careers in science and engineering could be.
“The glass blowing was awesome,” said sophomore Brooke Brommel. “ We even got to create and program our own robots.”
Students who attended gained much more knowledge of certain branches of science and engineering that they may have never even heard before, and they received much advice on how to start the career they are interested. The convention boosted much confidence and encouragement for more women to get involved into the science and engineering field.

New Fitness Equipment

By Ryan Deuel
The Interstate 35 Community School District has recently acquired some new fitness equipment that has been constructed outside of the high school gym. The new fitness equipment was obtained through a very generous grant of $2500 from the Greater Madison County Community Foundation.
The equipment will be put to very good use by the students and faculty members. Some of the Physical Education classes will be doing various exercises with it when the weather gets nicer and it begins to warm up outside.
“This new fitness equipment that we have gotten will allow more people in the community to become active and will give them an easy place to exercise,” commented high school senior, Colton Hurst.
The new equipment wouldn’t have been able to be used without the work of Lori Jones and the rest of the custodians that work in the school who were a very big part in the assembly of the equipment.

National Honor Society

By Olivia Sulentic and Alyssa Bissell
Wednesday, November 16, ten new members were inducted into the Interstate 35 National Honor Society. NHS is an organization that encourages leadership, service, scholarship, and character.
Each year students with a GPA of 3.5 are invited to apply for membership into NHS. Thirty five applicants apply each year. They are required to fill out a packet that includes their leadership positions, extra-curricular activities, including sports teams, and clubs, community service activities, their work experience, awards, and recognitions.
This year the ten new members are sophomores: Valerie Bedwell, Forrest Beeler, Shandara Beener, Holly McKinney, and Jenna Sandquist. Juniors are Bailey Dixon, Caitlin Weeks, Jessica Deuel, and the seniors consist of Rachel Brownlee and Taylor Parish.
These new members will contribute to the current National Honor Society members’ activities such as helping the community with their annual blood drive and sales.

All-State Choir

By Alyssa Bissell
Some of you may know sophomore Jenna Sandquist for her outstanding achievements in sports, 4H, and most importantly, her academics. Not only has she accomplished many honors and recognition in all of these categories in her two, short years of high school, but she has also taken on a new major accomplishment by letting out her incredible singing voice to the judges for All-State Choir.
Within the first month of school, Jenna already began preparing for All-State Choir by practicing nine different songs that were definitely not considered “easy” songs to learn. Some of them were even in a foreign language. After much preparation, she drove to Harlan on a Saturday morning and practiced six different cuts with fellow participant, senior Mariah Lewis. Mariah and Jenna first auditioned together in front of a single judge and waited an almost unending three hours to find out if they had made the second round.
“The scariest part was waiting to find out whether I made it or not. I was seeing girls around me very happy and some were crying, and I still had to wait at least an hour before I found out the results,” stated Jenna.
After much anticipation, they were called back for a second audition. As Jenna was the first up, she had only fifteen minutes to prepare three different cuts for the judges. Fortunately, it must have been enough for her because she successfully made it to All-State Choir as a Soprano 2 singer. For all of her fans who wish to come support her, Jenna will be performing at the concert held at Iowa State University on November 18th and 19th.

Bah Humbug!

By Ellen Lupkes

“When I walk outside, it had better be snowing,” said Jessica Deuel, an Interstate 35 junior at the conclusion of Bah Humbug! on Friday, November 4. While the production was in the Interstate 35 Performing Arts Center (the high school gym) for only two nights, the play did an absolutely wonderful job of putting Scrooge and the audience in the holiday spirit.
Justin Pontier did very well and was very dedicated in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. With white hair and the face of an eighty year old man, Pontier left people wondering who is going to fill his role next year following his graduation in May.
Another outstanding performance is to be credited to Marie Bosworth, who played the role of Beth Cratchet. With the shyness and sweetness of a lamb, Marie pulled off the secretary vibe with glasses and sincerity.
Tanner Daniels led a cast of elementary students. Playing Tiny Tim, Daniels was very convincing from his costume all the way to his limp.
“For being so young I thought did a really good job,” said Staci Morris, a play goer.
In addition to these three, despite a lack of functioning microphones, the whole cast did a phenomenal job acting, singing, dancing, and speaking in old English accents.
“The hardest part was to be a ghost and English so for my part it was like a double accent, which made it more difficult. Another thing was to sing and dance while focusing on the double accent,” said Mariah Lewis, the ghost of Josie Marley.

I-35 Celebrates Our Textbook Athletes

By Mariah Lewis

Tension mounts as nerves are pushed considerably near the breaking point. It has come down to this; the final few moments of the contest. It is do or die, win or lose. The competition is one of great stamina and concentration. Does this scene sound like a championship basketball game, or perhaps a football or volleyball thriller? Maybe, but this scenario actually describes, in tremendous detail, the mood of a Knowledge Bowl match.
On November 2, the Interstate 35 Knowledge Bowl team participated in the preliminary Pride of Iowa Conference Championship competition (the final round will be held sometime in January) at Southwestern Community College. This competition consisted of twelve teams. The Roadrunners made their presence known by coming in second place, undefeated save only to the preliminary champion, Nodaway Valley. However, this competition did not determine the “official” conference champs but only the seeding for the final competition.
Interstate 35 certainly had its work cut out for it with only two veteran members returning to this year’s team, seniors Kaley Chicoine and Mariah Lewis. The rest of the team consisted of Knowledge Bowl newcomers, senior Alex Bertrand, junior Rachael Wiggins, junior Jake Peters, sophomore Paul Queck, and freshman Josh Hughes. The novices caught on in record time and all participants contributed greatly to the Roadrunners’ second place success.
Even though they may not run laps or do pushups, the Knowledge Bowl Roadrunners have the competitive edge of the best and brightest athletic team on the court or the field. The Interstate community proudly supports and applauds these conference crushers as one of our many talented teams.

Football Season Comes to a Close

By Ryan Deuel
This past Friday the Roadrunner football team took on the Colfax-Mingo Tigerhawks for the last game of the 2011 season. With any chance of the playoffs out of the picture, both teams came into the game with nothing to lose. The Roadrunners entered the night with a four and four record and two and four in district play, while the Tigerhawks were two and six record and a one and five record in district play.
The first half was an old fashioned shootout with the score at halftime being 41-20 in favor of the Tigerhawks. The opposing team opened the game up with a quick score on a 68 yard touchdown pass on the very first play from scrimmage. With their backs against the wall, the Roadrunners didn’t back down. After the Tiger hawks took a 14 to nothing lead Roadrunner return man Andrew Morris took the ensuing kick-off 85 yards for the first score of the game for the Roadrunners.
The first half was an air raid for both teams. Roadrunner quarterback Tommy Bregar threw for a season high 363 yards with 21 completions on 33 passing attempts. He also threw for a season high four touchdown passes with only one interception. The ball was spread around fairly evenly on the night with Ryan Deuel having 133 receiving yards and three touchdowns on nine receptions for the night. Briar Vogel had seven catches for 130 yards and one touchdown on the night. The other big target for Bregar was senior tight end Tanner Bean who received four catches for 81 yards.
The Roadrunner rushing attack wasn’t to be denied although they didn't score any touchdowns on the night. They racked up a total of 146 yards with senior back Andrew Morris leading the charge with 65 yards of his own and an outstanding 8.1 yards per carry as he picked apart the Tiger hawk defensive front.
The second half was a defensive struggle for both teams when a total of only 19 points were scored as opposed to the 61 points in the first half. Briar Vogel led the defense with 16 total tackles on the night. Andrew Morris and Joe Bedwell both recorded nine tackles for the defense.
The team looks to come back next year in hopes to make it to the playoffs and improve their record. The team has a big hole to fill next year with most of the offensive line needing to be replaced. The team’s starting quarterback is returning next year with one of his favorite targets returning as well.

Cross Country Runners on to State!

By Rachael Wiggins

The Interstate 35 Cross Country team ran a great race last Thursday at the district meet in Atlantic, qualifying tworunners to state. To qualify, runners must finish in the top ten. Maddie Beeler, a senior, and Holly McKinney, a sophomore, bothmade the cut. Beeler finished tenth and will make her first state appearance this Saturday, October 26, while McKinney finishedfourth and will be running at state for the second year in a row.

“There comes a point during a race when you have to reach deep inside and think, “How bad do I want this?” You haveto be tougher than the rest of the competition, both mentally and physically,” commented McKinney.

“I’ve worked hard all season for this, but I know that without Holly’s support, it wouldn’t have been possible. Icouldn’t ask for a better teammate and friend,” added Beeler with a smile.Both also shared that their personal motto for the season is ‘Run and Done!’ Good luck at state, girls!

Roadrunners Net First Postseason Victory

By Ellen Lupkes

The Roadrunner volleyball team entered a full gym at home on Tuesday night to begin the post season facing the Nodaway Valley Wolverines. A week previous, I-35 had battled with the Wolverines for a victory and the third place crown in the conference tournament.
“The feeling was intense knowing we had to take them to four [games] in conference play. We knewwhat they had and came in ready to win, confident, and focused,” said senior setter Staci Morris.
Determination was on the faces of every member of the team as the whistle for the game to beginsounded. The first game was a victory for Interstate allowing Nodaway to score 19 points. The second game followed with another Roadrunner victory and two less points for the Wolverines. One of theNodaway players came out slightly winded after Olivia Sulentic smashed a ball into her chest/throat area.
Ethan Jones said of the hit, “I think that girl needed a breather after that. It was awesome.”
The final game totaled 20-25 in yet another I-35 victory, closing the gap for a 20 win season
“We served well. The whole night we only missed five serves and hit the 91% mark. The team had focusand played consistently. This is the first time we have had a 20 win season in a while,” stated Coach TimMcKinney.

Strong First Half Not Enough to Hold Back the Bluejays

On a night that featured a state record tying 99 yard touchdown pass from the Roadrunners and a very strong first half start ended in disappointment as the varsity football squad dropped their third straight game. Interstate took the early momentum on two different defensive stands to hold the Bluejays to two field goals and took a 14-22 lead into halftime after a close call in the endzone. Unfortunately, the Roadrunners wouldn't score again and the Bluejays would tack on 27 unanswered points to make the final score 41-22. There was no answer for feature Bluejay runningback Colton Halder added over 200 yards to his total on the night in the second half alone.

Even though the Roadrunners could move the ball in the second half, they were unsuccessful at putting the ball deep into the opponent's territory. Mistakes and unfortunate calls that were going in Interstate's favor in the first half seemed to take a 180 degree turn. The change in momentum may have taken down the Roadrunners, but they were still able to put up some big numbers offensively. The night was highlighted by a 201 yard passing effort by Tommy Bregar who went 9 for 13 and a 99 yard touchdown, but also added two interceptions to his season total. Bregar was also the lead rusher for the night with 87 yards and two touchdowns with many of those yards called back because of yellow laundry on the field. Senior Andrew Morris was the second rusher on the night with 77 yards on only 12 carries.

The historic 99 yard touchdown pass was to Tanner Bean who took the ball on a quick slant with his back in the endzone. Bean then used some impressive downfield blocking and the lack of a safety in the middle of the field to scamper across the field to the other endzone.

Homecoming King and Queen

Maddie Beeler and Ben Merrick pictured above. 

The entire homecoming court pictured above.

Pictures from Homecoming Coronation

Homecoming Court

Spikers Hammer Home Third Place in POI

The Roadrunners came home to a chance at redemption on Monday night after a close Thursday night match in Afton against the 2010 state qualifying East Union Eagles. The Southeast Warren Warhawks and the Lenox Tigers traveled to Interstate for the first round of Pride of Iowa Conference playoffs. The night was a success for the Roadrunners who, after beginning the night with a victory against Lenox and ending the night with a victory against Southeast Warren, qualified for the second round of conference playoffs. This is the first time I-35 has qualified since the introduction of the new playoff setup. Tuesday proved to be a tough day for the Roadrunners who took conference champions Bedford Bulldogs to five games with the last game coming down to a close 12-15. Olivia Sulentic led the team with 19 kills, Staci Morris had 30 assists, and both served 100 percent.
In the consolation match to follow, the Roadrunners fought off the Nodaway Valley Wolverines for third place. Interstate pulled the feat off in four games with Morris and Kate Bobst serving 100 percent featuring three aces apiece. Sulentic led the Roadrunner attack with 12 kills. Morris had 25 assists. In total, I-35 went 3-1 in the conference tournament and is approaching a 20-win season, also a first in almost five years for the Roadrunners.

Roadrunners Run Down Memory Lane

By Mariah Lewis

On October 3, the Interstate 35 Cross Country team loaded up the buses, gathered all the necessary items like water bottles and running shoes, and headed out to Nodaway Valley for the sixth meet of the season. This trip, though very ordinary and stereotypical for a cross country meet, was one of special meaning for the upper classmen team members.
The Greenfield course holds a lot of memories for the Roadrunners. Two years ago, it was the site of districts. It was also on this course last year that our women’s team rallied together to pull out a first place ranking at the Pride of Iowa Conference meet. The weather was awful. It was freezing cold and pouring a monsoon. The managers had to camp out underneath the tent of another team simply to keep the time sheets dry enough to be considered legible. Despite these obstacles the Interstate 35 women’s team pulled through. They raced with heart and gave everything they had. The mood of that day was incredible. The entire team was exhausted but thrilled beyond measure. The moral was soaring off the charts as the Roadrunners cantered back to the bus singing and cheering all the way.
The recent Nodaway Valley Invitational was a trip down memory lane for our Roadrunners. They pulled through yet again with senior Maddie Beeler charging in eighth place. For the Cross Country Roadrunners, this meet was a great success as well as a sweet taste of nostalgia.

Bad Field Position Leads to Second Loss for Interstate

The Clarinda Cardinals scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to complete a 35 to 6 victory over the visiting Roadrunners. The scoring barrage was set up early in the second half by the Cardinals returning the opening kick off of the half to the Roadrunners four yard line. With the Roadrunner defense quickly on their heals, the Cardinals made short work of the drive and took a 13-6 lead. Interstate tried to gain momentum after a blocked extra point. The Roadrunner offense couldn't get on track in the second half and the defense played much of the two remaining quarters in their own territory. To make matters worse, Interstate had no answer for the strong running of the Clarinda quarterback who was held to under 100 yards but put the ball in the endzone twice. Interstate did put on a strong fourth quarter performance only allowing one touchdown, but it was not enough to pull the game back in their favor.

Falling behind so quickly in the second half meant the Roadrunners had to go primarily to the air to get those points back. With the Cardinals back in pass coverage quarterback Tommy Bregar still went 7 for 13 passing with one touchdown, but the Cardinals found the ball in their hands two times accounting for the two interceptions in the stat book.

The receiver of the one touchdown pass was Ryan Deuel who nabbed the tight end screen on a critical fourth down play in the first quarter. Deuel took the pass and with some nifty moves and a few excellent down field blocks he was able to scamper 36 yards for what would be the only Roadrunner score of the night. The Roadrunner ground game was also held back on the night with 120 total yards. A bright point was the running of sophomore Joe Bedwell whose number was called only six times on the night but tied for leading rusher at 51 yards giving him an average of 8.5 yards per carry.

The Roadrunners look to get back on the winning track as they head to Bondurant-Farrar to take last year's district champion. The Blue jays have struggled this season going 2-4 including a loss to Clarinda two weeks ago, but they are coming off a 42-6 win over Shenandoah this past week.

Roadrunners Charge at Clarke

By Mariah Lewis

The Cross Country Roadrunners braved the race terrain yet again at Osceola on September 27. The already small team was even smaller at this meet due to the fact that one of its star runners, sophomore Holly McKinney, did not run because of wrist injuries.
However, the Roadrunners still raced to win. Senior Maddie Beeler charged in ninth place. The presence of both our men’s and women’s teams was strongly felt.

Maddie Beeler adds a more personal perspective as a runner.

October Roadrunner Report

This link will take you to the latest paper edition of the Roadrunner Report!
http://www.i-35.k12.ia.us/pdfs/RR%20Oct%202011.pdf


You can also go to http://www.i-35.k12.ia.us/ to find the link for the pdf file of the paper

What's up?

What's Up?

Bad Start Equals the End of Roadrunner Winning Streak

The huge advantage in the special teams in the contest between the Pella Christian Eagles and Interstate 35 Roadrunners became apparent in the opening seconds. Pella's kickoff specialist was able to pin the hometown Roadrunners in the hole by booting the ball to the return team's one yard line where it was fumbled a few times before gaining three yards. After failing to move the ball for the first down, an error in special teams on a snap gave the Eagles a two point safety. The two points opened a flood gate of momentum that the Roadrunners were never able to overcome and homecoming ended in defeat 43-0.
Blitzing linebackers were a constant problem for Interstate's line and a speedy Eagle defense was able to hold Roadrunner running backs to only ten yards rushing. With the running game held down, the Roadrunners went to the air 20 times for 13 completions and 104 yards. Sophomore Briar Vogel was the main target taking in five receptions for 30 yards.
By the end of the first quarter the visiting Eagles had already reached a 23-0 lead. The Roadrunners answered back by stiffening on the goal line twice and only allowing one more touchdown in the half. The defense attempted to switch momentum on a wicked hit on the Eagles leading rusher by Colton Hurst who put all of his 6'3'' 280+ frame into the unlucky ball carrier. Another 13 points were allowed in the second half. With the odds of a comeback not in their favor, Interstate kept fighting back.
A positive note for the night came from senior Ryan Deuel, who averaged almost 40 yards per punt. This was an incredible feat after one punt was almost blocked in the second quarter.
The Roadrunners will need to improve tackling and ball possession as they travel to Clarinda who is coming off of a huge win against Bondurant-Farrar last Friday.

$100 Earned for Charity

Pie pictures courtesy of Ms. Haines

The End to a Spirited Spirit Week

Thursday, the walls of the high school held in a totally rad flashback. With leg warmers, cut-off sweatshirts, big hair, and short shorts, ’80s day was a success. By now, even the freshman catch on to the idea that students in this high school go big or go home when it comes to school spirit. With no argument, this place was practically a real live time machine. The high school students even topped off their ‘80s fads with the traditional homecoming games taken place on the baseball field. Relay races and pie eating contests are even better while looking like a big wave of retro hit them.

As always, Friday was held as “Spirit Day”. Red, white, and blue was on the clothes of the entire school, for nobody has better school spirit than Interstate 35. To conclude our enthusiasm and spirit, all grades attended the pep-rally at the end of the day. Cheering along with the cheerleaders and even catching a glimpse of the principals receiving pies in the face all contributed to our goal of winning tonight’s football game. Homecoming week for the year 2011has been, yet, another wild and exciting one.

Combating Inclines and Bringing in Reserves

By Mariah Lewis

What’s the toughest terrain cross country runners combat? The logical answer to this question would be large hills, twisting turns, or an abrasive landscape. This is not so according to the cross country Roadrunners. Supposedly the most challenging topographic aspect of a course is gradual inclines.
“Those gradual slopes are brutal!” said sophomore Holly McKinney who placed fifth at the Adel meet on September 19. The Roadrunners felt the intensity of their workout that day, with gradual slopes generously sprinkled throughout the Adel course.
Despite the presence of difficult obstacles at that meet the Roadrunners remained strong and even started multiplying!
The I-35 women’s cross country team increased in number with the addition of two participants. Junior Rachael Wiggins and Caylin Brommel ran their first race of the season at Adel. These ladies are both members of the I-35 volleyball team and had thus been unable to participate in meets before this one. Both contributed to their respective races and were beneficial to
the team.
It is safe to say that the Interstate 35 Cross Country team is having an excellent season when it gains members in the face of the meet with the most difficult course and the roughest terrain. When confronted with a challenge, the Roadrunners face it head on, and bring in the reserves!

Photo courtesy of Katie Jacobson

Angry Birds

By Ellen Lupkes
Homecoming is the week to bring home the bacon. Victory is essential to boost morale and show how good your school can be. This Tuesday, the Interstate 35 Roadrunners faced the Wayne Lady Falcons. The first game was won with ease to a tune of 25 points for the Roadrunners and 12 for the Falcons. After a hiccup in the second game, the Roadrunners came back with good digs and attacks and won by six points. Senior Taylor Parish saved the day in the third game with an amazing save followed shortly by an epic attack. The Roadrunners took the lead and ran home to an 25-11 victory.

Would You Still Be My Friend If I Wore This?

By Alyssa Bissell
Whoa, buddy! What the heck was going on in the high school this Wednesday? Given that it was “Would you be my friend if I wore this?" day, the high school was looking a bit out of whack. The point of this particular day was to dress in any way of your choice that would make people stop and wonder “Should I really still be your friend? This is humiliating.” With such creative thinkers, one can only imagine what stunts were pulled. For instance, there were some people who decided to dress in Martensdale/St. Mary's clothes to point out how they’re our main rivals in almost all sports. Some other great examples were the students dressed in regular clothes of their opposite gender and the random penguin suits, infamous celebrities, and, of course, the Hawkeye/Cyclone fans pretending to support each other’s teams. It’s easy to see the Interstate 35 High School will never see a day like this come by again. Until next year, possibly.

Extra Points Are Key to Success

Sometimes it is the little things in life that are so important. In the case of the I-35 JV football squad, extra points meant the difference between sending the visiting Mt. Ayr Raiders home happy or dejected. Winning by the score of 16 to 13, the JV Roadrunners were able to set a winning tone for a homecoming week featuring four home football games and a home volleyball match along with coronation and a parade.
With less than two minutes left in the contest, the Roadrunners were up by three points but were forced to punt from their half of the field. Freshman punter Wyatt Davenport was able to punt the ball away to a very speedy Raider return man. The returner jabbed to his left, then went right to find a seam. He did and cruised passed numerous Roadrunner tacklers for the score that would put the Raiders up for good. Two or three blue jerseyed Roadrunnners laid dejected on the field while Mt. Ayr celebrated a come from behind win. However, one of the Roadrunners on the field was put there by a block in the back which brought the play back and dashed the hopes of Mt. Ayr. The visiting Raiders put the ball in the air numerous times, but were thwarted in their attempt to pull out a thrilling come from behind victory.
The Interstate offense clicked when it needed to behind the powerful running of fullbacks Jonathan "Rollie" Young and Hunter Wearmouth and the slick escape ability of tailbacks Joe Bedwell and Travis Yossett. Besides the powerful running game, the Roadrunners went to the air a few times with Kenneth Thompson and freshman Wade Hood. Hood took the reigns for the second half and was able to pass for the second and much needed two-point conversion on Interstate's second touchdown when he connected on a streak pass with Chase Ferris.
The Mt. Ayr offense spent much of the night trying to use their speed to get to the outside and capitalized on a few Interstate miscues on containment. The Raiders were eventually penned in by the help of down lineman Bobby Heilman and Lonnie Harper who recorded numerous stops for loss in the backfield. At the end of the contest, the secondary came up big knocking down numerous passes.
The win gave the JV team their third of the season as their record stands at 3-1.

"Greek Day"

By Alyssa Bissell

Historically speaking, the second day of the high school’s homecoming dress up day took place Tuesday as “Greek Day”. The halls were flooded with togas and laurels as the students all gave us a look on how the Ancient Greeks presented themselves. Although a majority of the togas were hand-made from curtains or bed sheets, the high school students successfully pulled off an Ancient Greek look. Occasionally, you might have even found a real live gladiator, (freshman Holly McKinney). With such a success of “Greek Day”, seniors of the high school even voted on decorating their own hallway with Ancient Greece characteristics.

Hobo Vs. Zombie Day

By Alyssa Bissell

The first day of the high school’s homecoming week is not exactly the best day for students to represent their school to the outside world. Imagine being a visitor and the only thing you see is students dressed in filthy, overly sized clothes or shredded wardrobes with “open wounds” all over their bodies. Monday was successfully played off as “Hobo vs. Zombie Day.” To start off their homecoming week, seniors through freshman classes all participated in the festivity. With the exception of a few students, most of the seniors went with the homeless hobo look. However, all classes still brought their dirty smiling

faces to contribute to the festive week. On the other hand, our school’s zombie members brought many looks that this school has never before seen. Ripped and torn tops and bottoms

clashing with distorted skin and bloody wounds gave the high school a taste of a zombie apocalypse. Thanks to junior, Wyatt Oliver, many zombies were given very realistic “injury” looks.

Roadrunners Fight Goliath

By Mariah Lewis

Underdogs usually appear in sports like football or basketball. In these situations one team is smaller than its opponent (sometimes in size, number, or both). This team must then fight harder, move quicker and be more focused than the other to achieve a victory. The I-35 cross country team experienced this at the Ballard Invitational meet on September 12. This was the largest meet of the entire season with the exception of the state meet (which will take place October 29 at Fort Dodge). The Ballard meet was so massive, teams had to be classified as A, B, C, or D based on their class (1A, 2A, 3A, or 4A). This is not necessary at most meets. Another unusual concept at this meet was the removal of numbers (runners usually wear numbers safety-pinned to their jerseys during races) and the addition of place cards given to each runner at the conclusion of their race as they cross the finish line.
Neither the changes nor the enormity of the race fazed our runners. The Roadrunners finished strong with sophomore Holly McKinney coming in fourth, senior Maddie Beeler in twelfth, junior Megan Ellis in 39th, freshman Tia Snyder in 53rd, and junior Shelby Spoerl in 55th for the women’s class C division. The men’s class C division felt the presence of the I-35 Roadrunners as well with junior Ryan Hart in 35th, senior Ben Merrick in 44th, freshman Randy Ray Walker in 48th, and freshman Sam Cook in 50th. The results of this mammoth meet prove that the cross country roadrunners are a small team with a huge amount of determination.

Roadrunners Spike Devils in Four Sets

The smell of a rivalry is the air. The Interstate 35 volleyball team traveled to Martensdale on Tuesday for a battle royale with the Blue Devils. After a close JV game and a little controversy in the stands, the crowd was pumped and ready for intense volleyball action.
The first game the Roadrunners came out strong and ended the same with a score of 25-17. M-St. M came back early in the second game and with the score 7-2 it wasn’t looking good for Interstate. A turn of the tide came in the form of a missed serve from the Devils. From there, the teams scrapped back and forth with the Roadrunners pulling ahead with some big saves late in the game. With a final score of 26-24, Interstate had momentum and was ready to sweep Martensdale. However, the Blue Devils would have none of this and ended the game five points ahead of the Roadrunners. The fourth game started much the same as the second but improved serving late in the game helped bring Interstate final victory.
Olivia Sulentic led the team with thirteen kills and seventeen digs. Staci Morris had twenty assists and the team had a total of eight service aces.

By Ellen Lupkes

Fourth Quarter Spurs Route of Pesky Indians

At the half of the Interstate 35 game against the neighboring Clarke County Indians the score was 14-0 with all of the points scored in the first quarter. After the a calamitous third quarter the score was 20-13 with the Indians gaining momentum. The slight momentum shift allowed for a slight possibility of a barn-burner ending. The ending never came. The Roadrunners began a balanced attack through the air and on the ground to score 21 unanswered points to cruise to a 41-13 victory. Though the game had a few head scratching moments and a few questions to be answered on both sides of the ball, the biggest questions for the Indians at the end of the night were 1) Where did this passing game come from? Tommy Bregar hit three different receivers for 11 completions on 17 tosses, and 2) How do we stop Alex Middleton?
Unfortunately for Clarke, they had no answer to either question with Middleton toting the ball 12 times for 124 yards allowing just over 10 yards per carry and adding a touchdown on the night.
Receivers on the night were held scoreless but did manage to pile up 141 yards with those 11 receptions. Ryan Deuel and Briar Vogel led the way with four catches and Zach Goering added three.
The Roadrunners didn't only end the night strong offensively, the began it that way as well. Led by a strong ground game Interstate marched down the field and Bregar put the first points on the board on a bootleg scramble. Dylan Webb then added the point to take the early lead. On the ensuing kickoff Bregar found a hole in the Clarke return team and the Roadrunners capitalized by recovering the ball and quickly added another touchdown to finish the scoring for the first half. Although Bregar and Middleton put up strong yards for the visiting team, Sam Bedwell and Andrew Morris added their fair share of yards, 143 combined, and two scores a piece.

While the first quarter offense was clicking, the first quarter defense was stifling holding the surprised Indians to only a few plays of positive yards. The third quarter was a different story. Clarke fought back on their way to two scores and a chance to get back in the game. Even an incredible blocked extra point attempt by Ryan Deuel was not enough to keep the Indians off the board. While yellow flags helped the Roadrunner cause on numerous occasions in the first half, the men in stripes kept their flags in their pockets the second half while Interstate faithful watched Clarke take advantage of the very aggressive defense. Ethan Jones again led the way in tackling while the defense allowed only one 100+ yard rusher and forced three fumbles.

The Interstate offense will again need to be running on all cylinders when Pella Christian comes to town for a homecoming match up. The varsity will again follow the freshman team who are now 1-0 on the season after taking out Clarke in the first game Friday.

Photos Courtesy of Craig Bregar

Strong Second Half Boosts JV Roadrunners to Second Victory

Down 6-8 at the halftime of their Monday game in Leon, the junior Varsity Roadrunners dug a little deeper to tack on 26 second half points to take the victory 32-20 over Central Decatur. Interstate took the lead early in the first half by taking their first offensive possession down the field to make it a 6-0 score. However, they were stymied in the second half and allowed a touchdown and a quick two point conversion to put them in the hole at the break.

With a strong break out performance by sophomore fullback Jonathan "Rollie" Young, the offense was able to get back in gear the second half. Young made road kill of the hapless Cardinals as they tried to make the tackle. He was even given the nod on many 3rd and long plays from his fullback position to bust a simple trap play into a quick, hard-nosed ten yards.

Not to be outdone in the second half was Travis Yossett who accounted for a couple of scores himself including a kick-off return after the momentum looked to have changed in Central Decatur's favor. Up two scores, the Roadrunner kickoff team allowed a deep kickoff to be run back for a touchdown. After denying the two point conversion, a long kick over the head of Yossett looked like it was going to be trouble. Yossett then scooped up the ball on his own 20, ran to the Interstate wall, made one cut to head for daylight and hit paydirt in the end zone a couple of seconds later. The score would be the remedy needed to break the Cardinal momentum and the victory was earned late in the fourth quarter when freshman Austin Wagner weaved his way through the porous Cardinal defense ending Interstate's scoring at 32.

While the Cardinal defense struggled to adjust to a unbalanced Interstate offense, the defense was able to keep the fast paced Central Decatur bottled up in the second half. A rejuvenated Roadrunner defense held the Cardinals to one score that came as time expired in the game. Hard hits and forced fumbles were the hallmarks of the defense after halftime spurring the Roadrunners on to victory.

The Roadrunners take their 2-1 record back home on Monday of homecoming week to take on the Raiders of Mt. Ayr.

Introducing Novelty and Math Equations

By Mariah Lewis

You’re lost. You’re walking down a hallway trying to find the room you’re supposed to be in and the bell between classes is about to ring. When you finally do get to the classroom, you don’t know anybody and all the faces look unfamiliar. The names you catch here and there don’t stick and you basically feel completely out of your element. This sounds like the typical scene for students when they first begin attending classes at a different school; it’s almost clichéd…but what if you’re the teacher? The Interstate 35 Math Department has acquired a new teacher this year, and although his first day was probably considerably less dramatic than the scene previously described his originality in the classroom and fresh approach to math are innovative additions to our school community. The students in Mr. Messer’s class experience the elements of surprise on almost a daily basis.
“[The students] are not going to know what’s going to happen next” stated Messer. He keeps them guessing in the classroom with the introduction of math games including math Jeopardy and logic games.
“I’m going to contribute something new and exciting to the math program here” The novelty of Messer’s position is not entirely one sided. He is new to us but our district is also very new to him. Messer stated that he grew up in suburban Iowa and attended high school at Norwalk and college at Central College. He finished undergraduate school in December and has been substitute teaching for the past six months around the Carlisle/Norwalk area. He could be considered a bit of a novelty himself with interests in sports such as basketball (Messer is going to be coaching Middle School girls basketball this year), and snowboarding (he was once a snowboarding instructor at Sleepy Hallow sports park). He was attracted to the position here at I-35 because of our ideal size and location.
“I think 2A is perfect. I guess I really liked the location and I’ve heard nothing but good things about Interstate”. Messer said when he arrived, he felt nothing but welcome here at Interstate 35.
“Everybody here is family. It’s so nice and no school or teaching position has ever made me feel this welcome. I’d like to say thanks. Just thanks for making me feel so welcome” said Messer.

Mrs. Myers Takes on a New Role

By Alyssa Bissell


If you have noticed students on their very best behavior this year, it’s all due to our very own Mrs. Myers. She is officially our first dean of students in the history of Interstate 35. Under the position of dean of students, Mrs. Myers now has the primary role of handling discipline, communicating our school’s policies and making sure that students meet expectations. Although the role of being Dean sounds a bit intimidating to most, she also handles “lighter” responsibilities. For instance, we now have a “Student of the Month” award that will be given away to one student per month who has displayed the best character.
Mrs. Myers, one of the high school’s science teachers, has prior experience in discipline and feels that she has always been consistent when enforcing rules, and she is much excited to be able to take on something new. Although she gets a brand new position at our school, she still gets the best of both worlds by teaching her Physics class.
When asked about the hardest part of her new position, Mrs. Myers replied, “Not being in the classroom with kids.”
So far, our Dean of Students already likes the fact that she can be more one on one with the students and get to know them better outside of the classroom. Compared to our discipline system from previous years, she feels that this system will allow issues to be handled more immediately, and also allow the principal to have more time doing his own primary roles.

Die Hard Athlete

By Olivia Sulentic
How do you feel about being in two sports in one season? For one athlete at I-35 she found that it was more difficult than she anticipated, but there is always a good to every bad.
Missing one practice to go to the other, going to two practices in one day, and being sore from both practices, are just some of the difficulties from being in two sports in one season.
“Finding time to practice for each sport and deciding which event I should go to is a difficult decision, but the hard work and dedication will be a reward at the end of the season,” said junior Rachael Wiggins.
Rachael is participating in both volleyball and cross country this fall. She goes to volleyball every day after school, so each night she has to find time to run for cross country.
“Volleyball is always going to come first, but being in cross country I feel that I will be in better shape for the upcoming track season, which is why I am running this fall,” stated Wiggins.
“I am very proud of Rachael. Taking on two varsity sports isn’t easy. I’m proud that she is already getting better for the upcoming track season,” said cross country coach Mark LeMaster.

Tweet All About It

By Ryan Deuel
Every year in the high school there is always something that sweeps through and takes the students by storm. This year that something is the social network known as Twitter. Many of the high school students this year have created a Twitter account to post or tweet random things that go through their minds. Twitter is where you can go online and tweet or post about what is going on during the day. People can also go online and tag their friends in their tweets to communicate with one another.
Tanner Bean, a senior this year commented “Twitter is so pointless, yet somehow is addicting and fun.” He believes it is pointless because no one can gain anything from having a Twitter and not everyone wants to know what you are thinking 24/7. “I only tweet about things that I think are awesome, like seeing a Maserati in the morning,” stated Tanner.
Kyle Johnson, also a senior says “Twitter equals #awesome,” a common phrase people put in their tweets. The pound symbol in front of the “awesome” is known as a hash tag to twitter users. Hash tags are put in front of phrases that are used to describe something that the user has tweeted about.
Twitter is one of a few social networks used by the students at Interstate 35 this year and there will be many more to come in the near future as long as there is Internet available.

Getting Lost

By Mariah Lewis
If I had a quarter for every time I’ve been lost at a cross country meet, I could probably go out to dinner at a five-star restaurant tonight on the money I might have earned. The golf courses cross country meets are usually held at tend to be a bit maze-like. I have been managing the I-35 cross country team for two years now (this is my third) and there has not been one meet I have attended that I have not gotten lost. The usually hand-drawn maps given to the runners and managing staff sometimes help, but typically I can’t read the map either, it winds up doing more harm than good to my almost non-existent sense of direction and I get lost again anyway. Thank goodness the runners generally don’t get lost! They blaze the trails of the course with athletic certainty and purpose. The Winterset meet on September 6th was another success for the Roadrunners with sophomore Holly McKinney coming in 4th place in the freshman/sophomore division and senior Maddie Beeler receiving 5th in the junior/senior division. In addition to the honor of having two teammates place, the I-35 Roadrunners can proudly claim that during the course of the race, not one runner got lost!

Sophomore Retreat

By Ryan Deuel
Every year the sophomores at Interstate 35 go on the sophomore retreat to Camp Dodge in Johnston. The sophomore retreat is where all the sophomores split up into groups of eight to twelve students per team and go to one of the twelve stations. The courses teach the team members how to work together as a team and it is a test on their physical strength and mental strength.
Briar Vogel, one sophomore that went on the trip said “Some of the courses were challenging because they tested your abilities to work together as a team and will to accomplish the course.” The students get to do half of the courses during the morning and then go to lunch. After lunch they all return to the obstacle course for the other half of the day. Camp Dodge also features a new obstacle course that the sophomores get to run at the end of the day.

Roadrunners Remain Undefeated with Strong Shutout Performance

The locally famous "Rally Rake" wasn't needed for the Roadrunners Friday night, but the proverbial white flag could have been used for the visiting Shenandoah Mustangs as the home team went to the air for two scores on 147 yards. By the time Briar Vogel danced over three or four (depending on your vantage point) would-be tacklers for the final score of 42-0, slinger Tommy Bregar had already hit his favorite target on the night, senior Ryan Deuel for 106 yards on four receptions and added a score.

Not to be outdone by the new "Pistol" look and air attack, the ground game didn't disappoint with 326 yards and four touchdowns. Most of those yards came from senior back Andrew "Mo" Morris with 125 and junior Sam Bedwell with 101. Bedwell also added two touchdowns while Morris and Briar Vogel tacked on one a piece.

A gang-tackling defense added three turnovers off Mustang miscues. On the second offensive play for the visiting team, the Mustangs were able to rush the ball into the Roadrunner red zone. They were never able to finish the job, however; because on the ensuing snap the ball was plucked away by a Roadrunner defender and recovered by lead tackler on the night Ethan Jones. Jones had 17 tackles on the night followed by Luke Simmerman who added 14 of his own. Only three of the tackles by these defenders were solo tackles leaving this harassing four-four defense unscored upon in the contest. Sophomore Joe Jackson added the icing to this defensive jeweled cake by nabbing an almost perfectly thrown ball late in the game. The shutout sealed an impressive victory and kept the defenses scored upon average below a touchdown as the Roadrunners have only allowed 14 points in three games.

Interstate will send their sparkling undefeated record into Osceola next Friday to take on the Indians who are 0-3 on the season after opening up their district play with a loss to Clarinda. The varsity game will take place right after the Freshman Roadrunners open up their season against Clarke earlier in the night.

Photos courtesy of Craig Bregar