Junior goalie Jack Miller, however, was able to stop the shot. T referees blew their whistles with 3.8 seconds left, but this was no Patriot miracle. The referees signaled that JC had two defensive penalties, handing the ball back to the Sabres. In a matter of a few seconds, the Patriots’ championship dream faded faster than anyone could’ve imagined.

The Patriots lost to the Sabres 11-10 in the semi-finals on May 15.

The first quarter started off with a JC lead, 1-0. Senior Dominic Mezzanotte scored the first goal of the game with 9:29 left to go in the quarter.  After Mezzanotte’s goal, SPP won the face-off, a pattern that would prove to be a problem for JC, gained possession, and quickly lost it to the Patriots.

For the next few minutes of the quarter, the Patriots and Sabres switched back and forth between possessions. With 4:53 left to go in the quarter, Mezzanotte scored again after an assist from junior Sully Gerety.

The quarter ended with a goal for the Sabres, bringing the score to 2-1, Patriots.

JC’s defense started out strong in the beginning of the second quarter, with a steal by senior Jack Hinder and a turnover caused by junior Ethan McMillan. Junior Eric Riley added to the JC score with a bounce shot within the first two minutes of the quarter, making the score 3-1, Patriots.  SPP, however, followed up with a goal of their own, returning the game to a one-point difference.

Senior Kevin Gambrell quickly added another point to the score board for JC with five minutes left in the quarter. Within the next minute SPP scored again, making the score 4-3. The quarter ended again with a last-second goal by the Sabres, tying the game at 4-4.

Riley began the third quarter with a goal for JC within the first three minutes. The Sabres struck back, scoring five unanswered goals within the span of five minutes. Desperate for a goal, Hinder scored, making the crowd go wild. Riley kept the momentum going and scored another point for the Patriots after sneaking around the goal. The quarter ended with a score of 9-7, SPP.

The Sabres made the first goal of the fourth quarter, creating a three point lead. Gerety shortened the gap for the Patriots with a bounce shot, making the score 10-8. Gerety shortly followed with another goal, causing the Patriots to trail by only one.

As the time in the game went down, both teams fought hard for possession of the ball. JC got the ball on offense and after a failed attempt, Gambrell scored for the Patriots, tying the game.

The Sabres got possession of the next face off and called a strategic time-out, scoring their eleventh goal 20 seconds after the time-out. The score was then brought to 11-10 with 2:41 left in the game. Despite a save by Miller, the Patriots were unable to tie the game, resulting in an 11-10 win by the Sabres.

“After the game I told the team that it was an honor and a privilege to coach them and that I was proud of them for how they fought back and tied in game.  Unfortunately, we came up short in the end, but that doesn’t take away from the heart they showed throughout the season,” assistant coach Matthew Blair said.

“We have a very young team. It’s the first time in years freshmen have made the team and played. We had a great season and we will miss the seniors, but we have great young players who will step for years to come,” McMillan said.

Emily Clarke is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com

The men’s team placed fifth overall, and the women’s team placed sixth.  The championship meet included both A and B conference teams, with the men’s team beating every other B conference team and placing them ahead of many A conference teams.

Overall, the women’s team set three new school records, two of which were set by junior Kiana Wright, in long jump and triple jump.  The third was a 4-by-400 relay, which Wright was a part of as well. The other members of the record-breaking team included senior Holly Cook and juniors Rebecca Driver and Annie Morris.

“It was pretty exciting being able to break the school record for the 4-by-400 again because I think it shows how we have improved as a team since my freshman year,” Morris said.

The men’s team faired equally well, setting four new school records and tying two other school records. The new records were set by junior Austin Markley in triple jump, senior Denzel Varner in discus and shot put, and seniors Andrew Ellis and Ben Pickett and juniors Derek Alban and David Knaide in the 4-by-800 relay. Markley tied the school records in the 100 and 200 open.

“The key moment for me, at championships, was right before my 100-meter race. I was dead because it was so hot outside and I already had participated in triple jump. I had to do the best I could to stretch properly and get enough fluids in me to run the fastest I could,” Markley said.

Junior Rebecca Driver also made a mark, getting fourth in high jump, 300 hurdles, and the record-breaking 4-by-400 relay. Driver was the women’s team top scorer this season, earning a total on 165.92 points. Driver was followed closely in points this season by Wright who earned 157.75 points.

Markley and Alban were at the top of the men’s team’s point sheet this season, earning 273 points and 132.25 points, respectively.

Emily Clarke is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com

“Someone from Youth Journalism International called during class and, it was strange, she told me that I should change my business card, as if my business card says ‘guy who didn’t win award.’  Anyway, she said I should consider changing my business card, and then she told me that I won,” Ionescu said.

According to the YJI website, the purpose of the Journalism Educator of the Year award is “to honor a teacher who inspires students and brings out the very best in them.”  Ionescu has been a finalist for the past two years, but this is the first time that he was won the award.

To enter an educator in this contest, students are asked to submit letters explaining why their moderator deserves the award.  Online Chief senior Grace Kim orchestrated the effort, sending email after email encouraging Patriot staff members to write letters and compiling them all together to send away.

“Grace Kim was apparently quite the ring leader,” Ionescu said.

In case the emails didn’t resonate enough, Kim also lured Ionescu out of the classroom earlier in the year, in order to verbally remind the staff to write something to submit.  “I had Mrs. Strawbridge and the people down in the main office call him down and distract him while I told the class about the contest and the details.  I asked everyone to write a letter if they could, and nine people other than myself did,” she said.

Ionescu is especially thrilled with the award because of the fact that he was nominated by his students.  “I’m really pleased to have won it this year, I feel great about it, mostly because it’s an award that you get nominated for by students as opposed to entering yourself.  I feel like that means a lot to me, and I’m really happy that people thought of me that way, but my main goal is just to make sure that everybody each year has fun and learns a lot,” Ionescu said.

On May 2, Kim informed the entire Patriot staff that YJI told her that Ionescu had won and that they were going to call him during class to share the news. “It was exciting and very much unexpected.  I certainly was not expecting to either win the award or receive a phone call about it,” Ionescu said.

Ionescu said that his class reacted “creepily, there was a lot of staring” while he was on the phone.  “After the phone call, everyone was fantastic.  There were cupcakes and brownies and just a lot of very nice people saying nice things,” he said.

After the call, “we then celebrated with gratuitous eating and celebratory dancing,” Kim said.

“The whole staff knows that he deserved to win it, and I’m glad that we could show our appreciation for him through our successful nominations,” Kim said.

“It was very meaningful to me to be nominated by the students that I work with every day, and to be a part of that is a great thing, and I feel really moved by that and happy that I work with such wonderful people,” Ionescu said.

Brianna Glase is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

Cymphonix has a unique advantage over SonicWall, according to Russell.  It allows him to prioritize websites, making the internet connection to high priority website and slowing the connection to those with low priority.

“You can prioritize the traffic so that school-related things can have higher priority than non-school-related things… We’re running this in an evaluation mode, so at this point we’re not really prioritizing anything.  We’re just using it to see how things are working and then probably sometime during the evaluation I’ll try doing a little prioritizing,” Russell said.

According to Russell, examples of high priority websites include SharePoint, Edmodo, and student mail.

Students do not necessarily agree with Russell’s outlook on Cymphonix.  “I think they should just keep it the same.  Changing everything is making it complicated,” freshman Brady Fritz said.

However, sophomore Karly Horn has high hopes for the new program.  “I have heard that the administration is trying to speed up internet or get a better handle on our internet usage. I just know some sites have been blocked and my internet hasn’t gotten any faster, but also that they are still trying to work out any problems, so I guess we’ll just wait and see,” Horn said

Russell will also be testing the filtering ability of Cymphonix.  “Like any sort of filter, it allows you to block things… we’ve had some of these capabilities all along, so we’ll see if this device does a better job [than SonicWall].  I have essentially the same categories on this that I had on the firewall…If it’s doing a better job, then it would be blocking more of what we’ve been attempting to block in the past,” Russell said.

According to Russell, Cymphonix “does monitor [students’ laptops], but we’ve had that capability in the past.  We’ll be looking to see if it does a better job of actually reporting things like traffic and general internet use.”

Russell has not yet made the decision to keep Cymphonix, and it will be sent back if it “doesn’t do a better job.”  Russell is also planning on looking at “one or two similar devices,” but they may not be tested before school is out.

“If we do decide to proceed, students won’t have to log in anymore.  There will be something we can utilize to auto-login,” Russell said.  This will be a program installed onto students’ laptops, but will not extend to other devices.  He says that students will only have to log in for “one or two weeks,” and that he realizes that “it’s a hassle.”

Martha Schick is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

B.O.B.’s album had an interesting mix of artists, starting off with the greatest narrator that’s ever walked the planet, Morgan Freeman, on the song “Bombs Away,”The beat of the chorus isn’t necessarily ear catching, but the beat that plays during the verses is pretty catchy. This kind of song will get a football player pumped before their game.

The music gives off a Tyler the Creator’s Odd Future type of feel with a kind of a dark side to the music. Don’t worry, the album doesn’t just have this hardcore rap, dark side to it. There is also a soft side to B.O.B, the kind that we heard in his other hit song “Nothin’ on You” featuring Bruno Mars.  On this album, “So Hard to Breathe” shows the versatility that Mr. Bobby Ray has. He can go from street life to love life in an instant.

Country music sweetheart Taylor Swift also makes an appearance on the album with the song “Both of Us.” The sound of guitar strings mixed with rap lyrics brings two genres together and is sure to be a hit. This will bring together listeners from different sides of the track which is always a good thing.

“Strange Clouds” featuring president of Young Money, Lil Wayne, and “So Good” have already made their way to the radios.  “Strange Clouds” leans more on the side of hardcore rap and “So Good” is more pop. One listen and you’ll catch yourself singing along and want more.

The heartthrob of the R&B world, Chris Brown, and the Southern king of rap, T.I., are featured on “Arena”, a song that sounds like it would be featured on a sports commercial. If you listen to the lyrics, there’s some sort of inspiration, and at the same time it tells a personal story of B.O.B. growing up.

Anything that has Nicki Minaj on it is sure to grab listeners’ attention. B.O.B. brought the current queen of the charts to the song “Out of My Mind” which is perfect for Ms. Minaj since she has her crazy personalities and antics. This song gives off an “I’m on my way to a party” type of feel. The beat is great hands down, and it’s kind of unusual, just like Nicki.

B.O.B. doesn’t forget about those artists who are not that big in the headlines either. An artist by the name of Lauriana Marie featured on “Chandelier” certainly does “shine like a chandelier.” Her vocals on the chorus and in the background sound angelic and the beat goes along perfect with her voice.

Other artists featured on the album to be on the lookout for are Trey Songz on “Castles”, Playboy Tre on “Just a Sign” and Ryan Tedder on “Never Let You Go.”

The bringing of different artists from various genres and areas of Hollywood goes to show that there is still some creativity in the music world out there. “Strange Clouds” is everything but strange. It’s genius.

Imani Love is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.org

Jansing-Kaestner will be moving to Nashville because her husband was offered a job there as an airport designer for airports in the Nashville area, after working on BWI for the past few years.

Jansing-Kaestner, originally from Kentucky, is also moving to be closer to her family. “I will be able to take care of my mother-in-law and father-in-law, who aren’t doing too well. I will also get to see my family more often since we will be close by,” Jansing-Kaestner said.

Jansing-Kaestner will also continue to teach. “The school where I will be working at is a lot different from JC. They have a different schedule and different policies,” Jansing-Kaestner said. She will be teaching at Pope John Paul II School, a private, Catholic high school.

Though she is excited for the move, Jansing-Kaestner is also going to miss JC. “I think I’ll miss my workmates and students the most. I will certainly miss Chuck Wilson coming into my classroom and joking, ‘Are you just doing chemistry, or something important?’” Jansing-Kaestner said.

Junior Ashley Hlavac believes that Jansing-Kaestner was an important addition to JC.  “The school will be missing someone important.  She was a great teacher and important to the Science Department.  It will be hard to replace her,” Hlavac said.

According to Vice Principal for Academics Gary Scholl, the new Science Department Chair has not been announced, but the decision will be made before the end of the school year.

Jansing-Kaestner may be moving to Tennessee and a new school, but she says she will always love JC. “Over the years, I have enjoyed the company of many.  Lasting friendships have been born from my experience here,” Jansing-Kaestner said.

Jansing-Kaestner has also had a lasting impression on her students.  “I’m sad that she’s leaving. She’s taught me a lot and made me like science more,” junior Rebecca Kotula said.

Students will also have to say “adios” to Medrano, who is moving to Xalapa, Mexico with her family.  Medrano has been a teacher for eleven years at JC. 

“I am sad because I was looking forward to having her for AP Spanish,” junior Jimmy Knell said. 

Medrano, like Jansing-Kaestner, is moving because of job opportunities.  “My husband got a job in Xalapa. He wasn’t actively seeking, it just happened and it was a really great opportunity,” Medrano said.  

Medrano’s husband is from the Mexican state Veracruz, where Xalapa is the capital.  

“I’ll miss the people, like the faculty and students. I’ll also miss my family, especially my grandparents because they can’t travel,” Medrano said.

Ashley Beyer is a Lifestyles Editor and Maggie Cassidy is the Print Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

While seniors have their regular exam week and some AP exams, which are stressful enough, underclassmen have to balance exam week with AP exams as well as their regular classes.  They have to keep up with work from their classes while simultaneously studying.  While my teachers understood the circumstances, it adds undue stress to the already existing stress of exams.

This would be made better if there was a way for underclassmen to be exempt from exams.  Seniors get the opportunity to be exempt if they have an A in the class.  All grade levels do the same amount of work for the same amount of time, so there is no reason that some students should get the chance to not take the exam while others don’t.  This motivation for seniors to do well would extend to the others in the class if there was the same payoff.

Giving underclassmen enough time to make up missed work would also help immensely with exam week stress.  When seniors are exempt from one of their exams, they don’t have to complete the day.  However, underclassmen have to go back to their classes after their exams are done.  Taking an hour and a half exam is mentally exhausting, especially when you know that you just missed class and have to make up assignments.  If underclassmen were also allowed to leave after their exams or come in late for them, they could use that time to catch up with their classes or to study.

Underclassmen in senior classes should be rewarded for the intelligence it takes to earn the same grades as people at least a year older than.  Instead, senior exam week becomes even more stressful for them.  By treating them the way seniors are treated, much of their stress could be eliminated, making for a better week for everybody.

Martha Schick is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

For his senior project, Henninger invited a group of disabled adults from the Gallagher Services to come to events given by JC throughout the year.

Henninger wanted to take the events outside of the JC community by taking the group to the Baltimore Zoo.  These trips can be costly, so the group is having a fundraiser at Box Hill Pizzeria Monday May 14.

“As we were beginning to raise money for our field trip to the Maryland Zoo on May 19, it became clear that a dining-out night would be necessary for us to pay for the trip,” Henninger said.

As a fundraiser for the club, students and faculty are encouraged to come to eat and have a good time with friends. All students have to do is say that they are from JC and 10 percent of the profits made will go to Friend-to-Friend.

The group was able to get enough money from donations to fund the trip to the zoo. “Thanks to Mr. Larry Dukes and the Athletic Department, the school bus was paid for and the price of the trip came down substantially. Many other generous donors also helped us out tremendously, so much so that the trip is now completely paid for,” Henninger said.

Even though the trip to the zoo is funded, Henninger plans to go on with the dine-out night at Box Hill Pizzeria. “Despite the financial success, we have decided to go ahead with this dining-out night, and are happy to say that all of the funds raised on Monday will go directly towards future Friend-to-Friend events and field trips,” Henninger said.

Henninger hopes many students will attend the event at Box Hill on May 14 to support the group. “Come support us at Box Hill Pizzeria this Monday.  By supporting us, you enable this program to have a sustainable future, where we can hold many more events, parties, and field trips in the years to come, without having to worry about the money. We hope to become a strong force for good in the John Carroll community,” Henninger said.

 Ashley Beyer is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

22-year-old Kimmie Meissner, who competed in the Olympics and won the World Championship at age 16, took the time to talk to the Leadership Group about her life, her goals, and what every athlete should do to reach their dreams.

Meissner started skating when she was six years old and it was mainly because of her brothers. Her brothers played ice hockey and, although she didn’t quite enjoy going to their games, watching them sparked her interest in the ice. Meissner also played soccer, lacrosse, and dance, but eventually chose skating as her forte.

“Skating is like therapy for me. The ice can release so much tension,” Meissner said.

Continuing her passion throughout high school, Meissner was forced to leave school early to keep up with her schedule of skating three to four hours a day and working out for two hours after. Meissner was able to keep her grades up nonetheless because the drive to the ice rink in Delaware allowed her to have the time to do homework.

Meissner said that she often had to make sacrifices for skating, such as hanging out with friends or going to dances.   “I feel like I definitely [missed] out on some things, but what I [gained was] worth it,” Meissner said.

Meissner said her favorite moment was during one of her short programs. She was in fourth place and a reporter told her to just go home because it was pointless for her to stay.

“The next day, I went out there and won the whole thing. His comment spurred me on,” Meissner said. Positive reinforcement allowed her to shake off her previous skate and continue on to succeed, according to Meissner.

“You have to set a goal to achieve the goal, and have the confidence to get there…In sports and a lot of things, your attitude and mental toughness can get you through it,” Meisser said.

Senior Emily Soller who was at the Student-Athlete Leadership Group meeting that morning, was surprised at how much actually went into figure skating.

“It was shocking when Kimmie told us about when [the judges] told her to dye her hair a different color, or when she got points taken off because [something was wrong with] her skating dress. It’s definitely very different from any other sport and takes a lot of confidence to do well,” Soller said.

Now that her skating competition career has ended, Meissner continues to skate professionally in shows. She also works at Agape, the physical therapy center at The Arena Club in Bel Air. Meissner also has endorsements with Visa, Subway, and Under Armour.

“[Under Armour] sent me a box of clothes…that was my dream,” Meissner said.

As far as Meissner’s career in competitive figure skating, Meissner attributes her success to the work that she put into it.

“[Getting to the Olympics] wasn’t unexpected for me. I was training and doing everything possible to make it there,” Meissner said.

“It was a great experience getting to know more about [Meissner]. I learned that figure skating isn’t as easy as it looks,” Soller said.

Miranda Ripken is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com

Drums and melodic echoes are ever present throughout the album. Songs such as “Desperate Youth” and “Go!” are both enhanced by not only the singer’s unique voice but also by the dance and techno undertones.  These kinds of songs are great material for school dances.

“This Isn’t Our Parade” and “The Riot’s Game” both follow more of a slower fluid melody with electric beats thrown in each song rather than upbeat dance tunes. These two songs also allow Santigold to become more powerful over the instruments and electric beats.

“Pirate in the Water” and “Big Mouth” are unique to the album with their combinations of techno and reggae. Reggae is especially present in “Pirate in the Water,” while electronic beats and drums are present in “Big Mouth.”

Santigold has a much different sound than pop singers such as Katy Perry or Britney Spears.  Santigold has always been ahead of the music industry and her latest album makes that fact even more clear.

It’s summer time, so dance music is crucial for long drives down to Ocean City and the Outer Banks. Make sure to remember the new Santigold album when making road trip playlists on your iPod.

Eva Bialobrzeski is an A&E editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com