As the final month of the school year wraps for the Red Devils, it has been an overall success. Lowell High School has done an amazing job during these hard times to look out for students’ safety, as well as trying to give them the best year possible. Lowell, along with many other schools in the area, was able to provide ample amounts of opportunities for students to participate in sports. With spring sports going into the postseason, it is officially the end of a fortunate school year.
Sports
The month of May is prime time for softball, baseball, and track & field. Each sport participates in multiple games a week, which makes their schedule rigorous.
Wrapping up and going into the postseason is the running Red Devils. Track & field athletes competed in as many as eight-track meets during the regular season. These past two weeks, impressive performances by both the girls and boys track & field team allowed each team to earn spots in the sectional and regional track meet.
The girls track team competed in their regional Tuesday, May 25 at Portage High School. The 4x800 and 4x100 team qualified along with Karina James in the 1600 and 3200 and Kayanna Seely in shot and discus.
James continued her undefeated season. She took first in the 1600 by breaking her own school record with a time of 4:53.47. James also took first in the 3200, ensuring her continuation in the state meet.
Seely competed in both the discus and shot put at regionals. She finished 12th in shot, and an impressive 4th in discus, just missing the opportunity to advance to state.
The 4x800 relay team of Reilly Boyer, Olivia Decker, Megan Brandon, and Megan Kaczur finished 11th with a time of 10:45. Juanita Rodriguez, Alexa Henke, Jasmine Anderson, and Tiffani Martin were the relay team for the 4x100. They ran a time of 50.73, which broke the school record by a half of a second. This team finished 8th, the highest finish in Lowell’s history for the 4x100.
As for the boys track team, their regional is Thursday, May 27 at Crown Point High School. Competitors include Jackson Bakker in the 3200, Titan Shuler in high jump, Ryan Farmer in the individual 200 and 400, the 4x100 team of Joe Heuer, Sean Lamping, Kyler Newcom, and Michael Eriks, and the 4x400 team of Kyler Newcom, Titan Schuler, Ryan Farmer, and Sean Lamping. All of these boys are looking to move onto state.
Softball competed in their first round of sectionals against Michigan City. Lowell came away with a huge 9-0 win, which advanced them into round two of sectionals. In the second round, they are facing Hobart, and hoping to come away with another win.
Leadership Club
One of the bigger events hosted in the month of May was put on by Lowell's Leadership Club. Due to COVID-19, the life skills class has not been able to participate in unified basketball games or track meets. In order to make up for the games missed, the Leadership Club decided to put on a unified field day.
Efforts by the Leadership Club and Lowell’s Mentor Program made this day possible. The field day consisted of a 100-meter dash, volleyball, shot put, long jump, and a 4x100 meter relay. Each life skill student was given the opportunity to participate in 100-meter dash, volleyball, shot put and long jump. These kids were overjoyed at the chance to get some exercise with their friends!
Things also got a little competitive when it came to the 4x100. The life skills class was split up into four teams for this event and raced to see the ultimate champion of the event. All of the runners were extremely competitive, but also showed an immense amount of sportsmanship.
The life skills class wants to make this field day a Lowell High School tradition. Each student loved the interaction between their peers. The Leadership Club cannot wait to put this event on next year.
Seniors
Lowell’s senior class wrapped up their last in-person day Monday. As the senior class was shorted out of many traditions, the administration decided to allow the seniors to have an amazing last day. The seniors, dressed in their gowns, went to the three elementary schools and one middle school that and walked through the halls to be congratulated. Seniors were able to interact and inspire the kids they met with.
The seniors wrapped up the day in the high school parking lot by eating lunch with the food trucks provided by the school. They also did their senior prank that day, which was putting 500 flamingos on the front lawn of the school. All of the seniors are looking forward to their graduation date and moving onto the next part of their lives.
Student Spotlight: Megan Kaczur
Megan Kaczur is a senior that participated in track & field, cross country, National Honor Society (NHS), and Leadership Club. In the fall she plans on attending Indiana University Bloomington, majoring in Molecular Life Sciences for a future career as a Pediatric Dental Hygienist. At senior awards this year she earned Summa Cum laude Cord, NHS Cord & Tassel, Provost Scholarship from Indiana University Bloomington, and Indiana Bass Association Scholarship.
This month, Kaczur advanced into the sectional and regionals for track & field. This is not her first time advancing. Her sophomore year, she advanced to state in the 4x800 with an overall finish of 4th in state. She also helped part of the committee that planned the field day for the life skills class.
Like many others in Kaczur’s class, senior year has been a real eye-opener. With switching from online to in-person, it was a struggle for some, but Kaczur believes that this has made her a better student.
“The challenges this year has thrown at me have shaped me into both a better student and problem solver preparing me for life inside and outside of college,” said Kaczur.
Even with all the setbacks of her senior year, Kaczur still recognizes the work the staff put in to ensure they had the best senior year possible.
“I want to take a moment to thank every staff member at Lowell High School for giving us seniors the best and most ‘normal’ school experience we possibly could’ve had this year,” said Kaczur. “My senior year may not have been the most practical or customary but the class of 2021 will surely go down in history for the most memorable senior year.”