Columns

By Tory Duncan

Thursday, May 11, marked a day in high school athletics that I’ll not soon forget. The C-4 District meet, hosted by Thayer Central High School in Hebron, left a great deal of thought in my mind as I drove home at around 9 p.m. that night.

Nope, my thoughts weren’t around winners, champions or the many “almosts” that took place. What stood out to me the very most wasn’t the color of medal that hung around the necks of our student athletes in Sutton, Harvard and at Sandy Creek....It was all about the drive, the mental toughness, and the drive to succeed. That will to excel and put it all out there.

I think of the 3,200-meter relay, in which the Sutton boys, despite getting second, gutted out one amazing battle with state leader Thayer Central.

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By Ashley Swanson

Graduation. It’s a time of smiles, laughs, tears, flowers and joy. Okay, so mostly tears and smiles, but the rest find their way in there somehow.

As of Sunday, officially all of the seniors in Clay County have graduated. Harvard seniors took their last steps into the gym as students on May 6, while Sutton and Sandy Creek did the same thing this past Saturday and Sunday.

Saying goodbye can be difficult, but there can be no new beginnings without some goodbyes. These seniors reached the first big step into the “adult” world.

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By Ashley Swanson

For the longest time, my grandparents lived out on a farm just north of Chester. It’s where a lot of my childhood memories were made.

Their house wasn’t too far into the country—a mile west of HWY 81—but with nothing but cornfields, cattle and trees surrounding you, it felt like you were in your own little world.

Their house was a two-story white frame, that came with the consistent smells of cookies, pies and coffee, and the occasional tune from an old vinyl record.

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By Tory Duncan

Sunday morning, before the sun rose, with the stars glowing, I awoke to a new adventure, one that I had always been curious about and to see, but just had never taken the time to attend.

I headed out my front door at around 5:15 in the morning... destination...Lincoln, to take in for the first time the Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon. First and foremost, to support a few friends that took on the challenge within themselves to hit the streets of Lincoln during the half marathon and marathon.

I witnessed many locals, including the always amazing Nate Jarosik, who I watched blow past me like a spring windstorm, en route to his amazing finish in the marathon, placing 28th out of 1,051 total runners and third in his age group, the 40-year-old group. His time was a blistering two hours, 57.26 minutes! WOW!

By Ashley Swanson

This past weekend, as I’m sure you read last week in Tory’s column, we traveled to Lincoln for the 143rd Nebraska Press Association Convention. During this two-day convention, there are several sessions based around anything you could think of when it comes to a newspaper. There’s also banquets where people are recognized; there are speakers and awards are given out for various things.

The sessions are one of my favorite parts about the convention because of what you are able to learn. This year was no different. I learned a ton of information that I’m planning on spreading around the office and making sure we continue to move forward in being the best news source for our faithful readers

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