If you’re finding yourself down as a result of the seemingly endless negativity that surrounds us these days, look no further! Simply read up on the Olympia High School cross country teams. They have been creating great news since their first meet in August and it just keeps getting better. Yesterday the Spartans hosted the IHSA Regional meet, where our girls’ team placed third (86 pts) behind #9 ranked U-High (45 pts) and #3 ranked Eureka (35 pts). Leading the way for the Lady Spartans was senior Savanah Beavers who placed 3rd individually with a time of 18:23. The remainder of the pack included Abby Litwiller (9th at 19:29), Maddie Litwiller (season best 20:58), Crystal Cornwell (20:58), Cam Lawson (all-time best 21:04), Rachel Andris (21:20), and Emily Litwiller (22:33).
In the guy’s race, our #1 ranked Spartans secured the Regional Championship for the third year in a row. Leading the charge was senior Charlie Kistner, who officially lowered his own school record for a second time with an astonishing time of 14:55.30! Charlie was also the individual Regional Champ. Other individual medalists for Oly were Logan Wheeler (2nd with a season best 15:52) and Owen Dare (5th with an all-time best 16:06). Rounding out the crew was Lucas Lawless (11th with a season best 16:30), Carter Phillips (12th at 16:34), Anthony Ragland (14th at 16:36), and Alec Pfeffer (17:23).
The top 5 teams from each regional advance to the sectional meet next Saturday, so both of our teams will race next Saturday at Elmwood. Congratulations to all of the runners for another job done well! Stay tuned for more good XC news next weekend!
Nine Lady Spartans represented Olympia at today’s Sectional Swim Meet. Even with a shortened and unusual season, all swimmers ended the day with seasonal best times! Most with all time personal best times in their individual events! Way to go Lady Spartans!
Congratulations to OHS Career and College Counselor, Lisa Steve. She was recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education for Those Who Excel Award of Excellence. Congratulations Mrs. Steve and thanks for all you do for the students of Olympia High School!
Do you multitask in front of your kids? Check out that and other solutions to help your child reduce multitasking during homework time:
https://d1pmarobgdhgjx.cloudfront.net/parenttip/PT_6WaysToStopMultitasking-new.mp4
OHS seniors are getting into college mode as they participate in the College Writing Workshop series in the OHS Writing Center! Based on the work of Ethan Sawyer, the college writing guru, this workshop series covers tips and strategies for composing successful college application and scholarship essays. The OHS Writing Center plans to host another College Writing Workshop series in January as well as a final series in April. In the meantime, Mrs. Huff is available daily during advisory to work with students in the writing center on college essays or written class assignments.
This Wednesday, October 21st, the Olympia High School FCA is sponsoring the annual See You at the Pole gathering at 8:15 am at the OHS flag pole. (OHS auditorium in case of rain) See You at the Pole is a global day of student prayer, that began in 1990 with ten students praying at their school.
See You at the Pole is simply a prayer rally where students meet at the school flagpole before school to lift up their friends, families, teachers, school, and nation to God. See You at the Pole is a student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led event.
There will be a time of singing, prayer, a student-led message, and donuts and juice. This event is open to all OHS students.
Help keep media/tech use in check by following a few simple practices:
1. Create screen-free times and zones
2. Explore built-in digital well-being tools
3. Model the behavior you want to see
4. Help kids identify healthy behaviors
...
Read more: bit.ly/OlyMBTipsS
October 15th Activities
Girls Swim is home vs. Central Catholic @ 4:30
October 13th Activities
HS Cross Country is @ Heyworth @ 4:30
Girls Swim is @ Peru @ 5:00 (no fans)
MS Cross Country Sectional @ home @ 4:00
The #1 ranked Olympia High School boys cross country team successfully defended their conference title yesterday in the 10-team Illini Prairie Conference meet held at St. Joseph Ogden. It was a “tight race” between Olympia and #6 ranked Monticello, with only 5 points separating the two teams. Olympia’s top 3 runners earned All-Conference status: senior Charlie Kistner was individual Conference Champ with a time of 15:19, senior Logan Wheeler was 5th at 16:08, and junior Owen Dare was 7th at 16:20. Joining them were junior Carter Phillips with a season best 16:33, junior Anthony Ragland at 16:47, freshman Logan Demling at 16:59, and senior Alec Pfeffer at 18:15. The guys will run their IHSA Regional meet in two weeks at Olympia on Saturday, Oct. 24th. Come out and watch this team compete! It’s hard to say which guys' team is the best in Olympia’s history, this year’s team or last year’s team….but there is no doubt that they are the best two guys’ teams that Olympia has been able to assemble. So don’t miss the opportunity to watch this exciting team race as they strive to be the best in the state and in Olympia history!
The Olympia High School cross country teams competed in the Illini Prairie Conference meet yesterday at St. Joseph-Ogden. On the girl’s side, this conference is arguably the most competitive small-school conference in the state, with the #1 and #2-ranked teams in the state (Monticello and Tolono Unity) along with #13 (Oly), #15 (St. Thomas More), #19 (St. Joseph-Ogden), and #24 (Central Catholic). Realistically, it was looking to be a battle for the 3rd place team finish. However, things were not looking very promising when it was determined the day before the meet that Anna Bieber (Oly’s top-3 runner) would sit out of the meet due to a muscle strain. This obstacle did not distract the rest of the team from their goal. In true Spartan fashion, the other 6 ladies modeled a perfect illustration of perseverance. They stayed focused on the game plan and executed it flawlessly, with each runner obtaining a season personal best time. This outstanding performance allowed the girls to secure the 3rd place team finish with 90 points, which was 32 points in front of the 4th place team. Individually, senior Savanah Beavers and sophomore Abby Litwiller achieved All-Conference status at 18:13(3rd place) and 19:17(10th place) respectively. Joining them were freshman Rachel Andris at 20:08(19th), sophomore Chrystal Cornwell at 20:49(28th), sophomore Cam Lawson at 21:07(33rd) and senior Emily Litwiller at 22:22(46th). The XC team will host the IHSA regional meet in two weeks (Oct. 24th), so come out and cheer them on. Congrats gals! Amazing job!
Screen time; the reality is that there really is no magic number that's "just right." What's more important is the quality of kids' media, how it fits into your family's lifestyle, and how you engage your kids with it. Read more: http://bit.ly/OlyScreenTime
Students in the OHS Degree NOW program had a virtual meeting today with their mentors from State Farm! Students broke up into small groups with mentors to get to know each other more! These mentor connections will continue as the students work towards their Associate’s Degree in Computer Science.
October 8th Activities
Girls Swim is home vs. Pontiac @ 4:30
OHMS teachers planned creative and engaging sessions for remote learning time today with their students. We are fortunate to have such awesome and dedicated teachers!
It's easy to get distracted from homework (and life) when the phone never stops pinging and the next episode plays automatically. Let's some common sense guidelines by signing this Family Media Agreement within your family: bit.ly/OlyAgree
October 6th Activities
Boys Golf Regional @ Lincoln Elks @ 9:00
JV Cross Country @ St. Joseph @ 4:00
Girls Swim @ Macomb @ 4:30
The common themes for the 2020 Olympia Boys XC team are “1st place team finish” and “Charlie Kistner breaks the school record.....again!” Both of those happened again yesterday at the 7-team meet held at Olympia. The Spartans scored 31 points, followed closely by 6th ranked Monticello with 39 points. The top 5 runners for Olympia were senior Charlie Kistner (1st place with a school record time of 14:57.7), senior Logan Wheeler (5th at 15:54), junior Owen Dare (7th at 16:21), junior Anthony Ragland (10th at 16:34), and junior Carter Phillips (12th at 16:39). The guys racked up 7 personal records yesterday. Congratulations to Charlie and all of the guys! Next Saturday at St. Joseph-Ogden, the guys will attempt to defend their 2019 Conference Title. Good luck guys!
Olympia High School hosted a 7-team XC race yesterday and the girls placed 3rd with 75 points, behind #1 ranked Monticello and #3 ranked Tolono Unity. The top five Spartan runners were senior Savanah Beavers (2nd place at 18:26), sophomore Abby Litwiller (10th at 19:30), sophomore Anna Bieber (17th at 20:21), freshman Rachel Andris (22nd at 20:51), and sophomore Chrystal Cornwell (29th at 21:12). The Oly gals tallied 4 season personal records. Congratulations ladies! Good luck next Saturday at the Varsity Conference meet at St. Joseph-Ogden.
Do the benefits of being ever-connected also come with risks to our mental health? It's an important question to ask - especially for our kids. In Oct. we will be exploring Media Balance & Well Being. Read more: bit.ly/OlyMediaBalance
