What’s Happened?
Spring is nearly in full gear, now that April has come to a close. There are few better ways to appreciate a great day outside than to support all the spring athletes on their way to sectionals. So far, Whiting Baseball has a record of 2-10 and 0-7 for conference. There is much work the team has been putting in, however sharing the field with Calumet College and the Whiting Oilmen creates scheduling strains for field usage. This won’t halt the team for long, the boys will get momentum soon enough and sectionals is bound to be a home run.
So far in their season, the Lady Oilers Softball team has a 4-8 record with that being 2-6 in conference. Many of the games had been postponed at the beginning of the season due to weather but have since been rescheduled.
Whiting’s other lady athletes have been busy, as Tennis has been killing it on the courts this season with a 7-1 record. Their only loss being to the powerhouse that is Lake Central High School. Throughout the season, there have been many star players named and have featured the likes of twins Hope and Faith Huss, Julianna Scivinsky, Nicole Jovceski, sisters Alena and Marissa Baez, Kat Zavala, Jocelyn Alvarez, McKenna Hetzel, Haylee Thomas, and Leslie Lara - basically enough to be an entire team themselves. Their success is no doubt due to their hours of hard work no matter the weather, but likely also due to the high morale in their very loving family environment, as evident in their gift exchanges and pride in each other’s successes.
Out in the green each day of the week, the Golf team has been working on their techniques for their season. They have not had much success thus far in the season, but are still hopeful going forward. On April 15, the new class was inducted to the National Honor Society and the seniors had a tearful farewell with the sponsor, Mrs. Klochan.
On April 28th, Prom for Whiting finally came around. The theme of the night was “Enchanted Forest.” The dance was put on by the Junior class and organized by sponsor and social studies teacher, Mr. Reece. Reece had organized many things related to dance such as DJ D. Jones, a green screen photo booth, an array of foods including the Whiting favorites of pizza and wings, and had organized the Grand March at pre-prom, broadcast live on YouTube, where it can still be watched by anyone for years to come. Prom Queen this year was Hope Huss and the Prom King was Joel Vega, but more on that later.
What’s Next?
As to be expected, each of the spring sports will continue on in their seasons. Baseball has their next game upcoming on April 30th against Calumet Christian. The Lady Oilers Softball team is also slated on April 30th to play against Calumet High School. Also recently, the drawings for sectional opponents has taken place and Whiting is expected to face Lake Station in game two of sectionals. With many practices and games to go, the girls will definitely be ready to kill it come time for Sectionals. There is still much more to come for Golf as well. Tennis completes the trio and has its next meet on April 30th as well. The girls have been hard at work so there will be a great chance they will grab another win against their opponent, Hobart High School.
Of course there will be other games and the sectional championships following suit, but the real hype of May is the near approaching graduation. As of now, Whiting’s graduation is set to be on May 27th. The event has been a long time in the making and many of the Seniors are happy to see it coming, but there is much bittersweet to this month. Before the end, our seniors will have a celebration on May 19th for one final trip together as a class. Before even that comes along, many will go through the ever-dreaded AP exams for classes like Calculus, History, Biology, Chemistry, Literature and more. A smaller selection of students have even more to be excited for as they go to see the official production of Hamilton on May 2nd and those who were named “Star Oilers” will also be rewarded with a trip to Navy Pier. There’s a lot to look forward to with just one more page of the calendar to go!
The King Takes a Swing
Our star student of the month by far is Senior Joel Vincent Vega, as he created one of the most memorable campaigns for prom in recent history. Joel has been a student at Whiting all the way back to 7th grade and has been a unique student from the start. Vega is a relatively quiet kid, but when he does speak, he makes it count- it’s very rare to have an interaction that won’t leave you laughing. He is infamous for his style, often sporting a homemade scarf in the winter months and his array of fedoras for other school events and dances. Since his arrival at Whiting, Joel has been with the band and played saxophone. Even in the most stressful of rehearsals, Vega manages to crack smiles on the faces of his classmates and instructor.
Vega has also been an avid golfer since his freshman year, leaving him a key face on such a small team. This year, he decided to pursue wrestling as well, and saw some success despite a knee injury during the season. After high school, Vega wants to “get a job that involves traveling the world and focusing on being in a relationship,” and we are sure he will find just that.
There have been plenty of memorable moments with Joel, and I’m sure anyone who knows him has their personal favorite, but one of his biggest moments ever came during Whiting’s prom on Saturday, April 28. To many people’s surprise, as if out of nowhere, Joel decided to run for Prom King and decided to campaign the week of Prom itself.
Vega said, “I decided to run on Tuesday before prom because on the previous week my great grandpa died and it left me in a state of unbalanced emotion and lack of energy. It took several of my friends to convince me to run again. And I’m really grateful they did.”
Each of his supporters are grateful he did, too. In just one week, he managed to sway the majority to his side and win the vote. It’s up for debate if there has ever been such a union in support in recent years. The movement for Joel as king even had Xavier Nunez step down in the running and ask his supporters to support Vega instead. It was no small sacrifice either, as prom happened to be Nunez’s 18th birthday and it had been his wish to be king originally. The generosity was taken well and the movement skyrocketed and we all know how the story ends, with Joel as the people’s choice for king.
Vega said, “It felt good to win. I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say besides thank you.” Vega also added that being voted prom king would be his top accomplishment now for high school, but I am sure many would agree his greatest accomplishment is bringing smiles to faces each day as he does. Thank you for being you, Joel!