Akyus Richardson: State Champ
The dream of every elite high school athlete is to be a state champion at the end of their career, and here at Shawnee we recently had a student accomplish this goal. Akyus Richardson, a current senior and future collegiate athlete at Walsh University, recently won two state titles in Division II shot put and weight throw during the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches’ championship. Wanting to gain some insight on his opinion post-state, I reached out to Akyus and inquired about his victory and other aspects in his career.
Q. How does it feel to be a state champion, and what does it mean to you?
A. It feels amazing! This has been a long time coming and it means a lot to me.
Q. How long have you done shot put for, and when was it that you realized you had seriously good potential?
A. I started throwing the spring of 8th grade, but I realized I was good my sophomore year.
Q. What has been your favorite high school track moment?
A. Definitely making podium at my first state meet my sophomore year.
Q. You’re going to Walsh University, at least for your first year of college. What influenced your choice to go D2 instead of D1 when you had the opportunity to.
A. There were a few reasons: I wanted to stay close-ish to home for at least my first year. I also have family who live in the area of the school, and I’m really excited for the coaching and group we’re building there. Divisions also don’t really matter in track, it’s more performance than anything.
Q. Who has been the biggest influence in your athletic journey?
A. I would have to say my uncle and coach, the late Russ Holly
Q. Finally, if you could meet any athlete, past or present, who would it be?
A. Either Ryan Crouser (world shot put champion), or obviously LeBron Raymone James.
Thank you to Akyus for agreeing to be interviewed, and we wish you nothing but the best at Walsh University!
Benny Rutter
The End of the Season: Boys Basketball
This year was a good year for the Indians boy's basketball team. The Indians finished 24-3, with their season ending with a loss to Sandusky in the Regional Finals 62-57. The Indians may have come up short, but they had many accomplishments this year. Beckett Bertke got his 1,000 points, Coach Triplett got his 200th win, the Indians won the WBL for the first time since the 20-21 season, and got back to the Regional Finals. Also, this is the third time the Indians have finished with 24 wins. This year in 27 games the Indians scored 1738 points which is an average of 64.3 points a game. While only allowing 1238 points in 27 games which is an average of 45.8 points a game. This year was the 7th time the Indians have been to the regional finals. The record in those 7 regional finals games is 3-4. Some more achievements were Trevick Bertke finishing 12th in the state in free throw %, Trevick and Beckete Bertke finishing in the top 20 in the state in 2 points FG%, as a team the Indians finished first in the state in 2 point FG%, and the team finished 13th in the state in FT %. Even though the Indians didn’t get the results they wanted in the end it was a great season. Congratulations on a great season boys!
Pauly Caris
Softball Photography
Taken by Alyssa Washam
With the season just beginning, we need you to go support our Lady Indians! Here are our home Varsity games. Go Tribe!
March 11, Home vs Ada
March 14, Home vs Columbus Grove at 5
March 27, Home vs St. Henry at 5:30
March 28, Home vs Bryan at 5
March 31, Home vs Botkins at 5
April 5, DH at Home vs Ft. Recovery at 11
April 15, Home vs Elida at 5:30
April 22, Home vs Celina at 5:30
April 23, Home vs Delphos Jefferson at 5:30
April 29, Home vs Wapak at 5:30
May 6, Home vs Van Wert at 5:30
May 7, Home vs LCC at 5
Angie Karapondo
Prepping for Easter: Traditions
Easter is a time to enjoy the fresh start of spring, spend time with loved ones, and indulge in a little fun. One of the best parts is the Easter egg hunt! Kids (and sometimes playful adults) race to find colorful eggs filled with candy and surprises. Then there’s the Easter Bunny, who magically delivers baskets of treats, making the day even sweeter.
Many families love decorating eggs and getting creative with bright colors and patterns. And of course, there’s the food that brings everyone together. Parades, picnics, and outdoor celebrations make the most of the sunny weather.
In the end, Easter is all about celebrating the season, enjoying good company, and making happy memories.
Caden Heitmeyer
Ice Cream, Anyone?
With the official start of Spring, what better way to commemorate than for all ice cream shops opening up around Lima? Pete's and Sharon Dairy King both opened up after our cold winter so that we can now cool off (barring the current cool weather) after sporting events and enjoying the beautiful sights of Spring. Though Dairy Queen now remains open throughout the year, on March 20th they offered free small cones for the first day of the season, celebrating the start of "Ice Cream Season". Petes's hard dip is always a great taste, but you can never go wrong with a Tornado from Dairy King. With all of the locations now opened once again, we can get our sweet treats until their closure in the later Fall. If you get some ice cream, enjoy!
Cade Hefner
St. Patrick's Day Traditions
The sun begins to rise on a March morning, and as it does people begin stepping out of their houses to conduct their daily lives. But by night, the streets across the world, especially in Dublin, begin to come alive with seas of green and Irish music. Glasses clink and laughter radiates as the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day roars throughout the world. But this day wasn’t always a day of partaking in the spirits and celebrations of Ireland. The day traces its origins back to around the tenth century, where the Catholic Church would celebrate the late St. Patrick with a religious feast. St. Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland in the fifth century, and, despite a rough childhood that included him being enslaved, he spread the religion of Christianity among the Irish people. He is credited with converting the majority of the Irish people to Christianity. Going back to the feasts, these were held by attending church and observing Patrick’s missionary work, and were followed with a delicious meal. However, St. Patricks day has undergone drastic changes over the years (you could even say it defeats its original purpose with the nature of the celebrations performed), and is now recognized worldwide with people from all over the world partaking in the merriment.
St. Patrick’s day has many symbolic meanings. The most prevalent of these are shamrocks (specifically three-leaf clovers), the color green, leprechauns, harps, the Celtic knot, and the ‘kiss me, I’m Irish’ phrase. But where did all of these come from? Let’s start with the clovers; the leaves were actually used by St. Patrick himself to describe the holy trinity of Christianity, making it a symbol of faith and good fortune. Green symbolizes Ireland’s pride of their beautiful and vast countryside, and also hope/perseverance through tough times. Leprechauns are a common part of Irish folklore, and with their small size and love of gold they quickly became a perfect symbolization of Irish culture. Harps are said to embody the spirit of the Irish people, bringing fortune to those who carry them. A Celtic knot displays the interconnectedness of all things, and is a nod to the rich history of the Irish. Finally, the ‘kiss me, I’m Irish’ phrase comes from something known as the Blarney stone, which, legend has it, when kissed grants the gift of eloquence. But not everybody has one of these sitting in their backyard, so it is implied that a similar effect will be enacted after kissing an Irish person.
Overall, St. Patrick’s day is a very important and intriguing holiday, and brings about the celebration of the great country of Ireland and its history. No matter how you celebrate it, saint or sinner, it is a day of joy and celebration for a flag that bears green, orange, and white.
Benny Rutter
Shawnee Boys Baseball
This year the Indians are looking to improve their record from last, as well as win the WBL for the first time since 1991. With 7 returning lettermen, there is a lot of experience on the field. Good luck this year gentleman!
Here are the first 5 games:
3/29: Home vs Parkway 11 AM
3/31: Home vs St.Henery 5:30 PM
4/3: at Coldwater 5:30 PM
4/4: Home vs Russia 5 PM
4/7: At DSJ 5 PM
Pauly Caris
Selection Sunday: Who Got In, Snubbed, or Stole a Bid?
Note: this article was written on 3/18/25
The most wonderful time of the year has arrived, and no, it's not Christmas. March Madness, the greatest sporting event in the history of the United States, has finally blessed us with its appearance. Brackets are being scribbled out, upsets are being projected, and champions are about to be made. But before all of that can even happen, we need to know all of the teams that will be appearing in this year’s tournament. I’m not going to list every team and matchup that we’ll be seeing, but I will list the most impressive teams, bubble teams, and bid-stealers, and also my personal opinion on upsets and the elite eight and onward. Without further ado, let’s jump right in.
First and foremost, let’s talk about the last four in. WHAT IS THE COMMITTEE THINKING? North Carolina, a team who has done the bare minimum of what they could’ve done this season by going 1-12 against quad 1 teams and also losing a quad 3 game to Stanford in their home gym, made the tournament over teams such as West Virginia, Ohio State, Boise State, and Indiana who each have significantly better quad 1 records. My personal theory is that the committee was bribed. Second off, give it up for my Xavier musketeers. After a loss at Villanova back in early February the season looked over for the muskies, but they proceeded to win seven straight games and claim a spot in the tournament. The other two of the last four in were San Diego State and Texas. Texas had a solid resume, going 7-10 against quad 1 teams, but struggled heavily against the quad 2 with a 3-5 record. We’ll have to see if they can take down Xavier in a first four matchup. As for SDSU, I’m not entirely sure how they got in either. Sure, they beat Houston, but aside from that they finished fifth in the Mountain West (a mid conference), and were picked over Boise State who beat them head to head in their latest matchup. Other notable bubble teams that made it were Baylor as a 9 seed, New Mexico as a 10 seed, Vanderbilt as a 10 seed, Oklahoma as a 9 seed, and Arkansas as a 10 seed.
Moving onto the most impressive seasons: the one seeds were Auburn, Duke, Houston, and Florida, and for good reason. Each one of these teams have incredible seasons and have a realistic shot of winning the tournament. A shocking seed was Louisville, who is 10th in the AP Poll but slots in at an 8 seed. Regardless, they also had a great season. Tennessee made it to the SEC championship but fell short to Florida, and as a result were a two seed. Other heavyweight conference champions were St. Johns and Michigan, from the Big East and Big Ten, respectively.
Now, for the part I’ve been waiting for: my personal upsets and my elite 8 and forward. In the South, I believe that UCSD will beat Michigan but lose in the second round to the Yale Bulldogs, who will pull off an upset over the Texas A&M Aggies. The only other upset I have on this side is Marquette beating Michigan State in round 2. In the East, I have Liberty and Akron matching up in round two after beating Oregon and Arizona, respectively, with Akron moving on to lose to Duke in the Sweet 16. In the Midwest, I have the winner of Xavier/Texas moving past Illinois and Kentucky en route to a sweet 16 berth, and I also have High Point taking out Purdue in round 1. And in the West, I have UConn steamrolling their way to a spot in the Elite 8, as well as Colorado State winning against Memphis. Onto the elite 8: I have Auburn vs Iowa State in the South, Duke vs Wisconsin in the East, Tennessee vs Clemson in the Midwest, and UConn vs Texas Tech in the West. My final four is Iowa State vs Texas Tech and Duke vs Tennessee, with the championship game being Duke vs Texas Tech and Duke winning it all by a score of 85-69.
Benny Rutter
Editor's Note
Though we are reaching the end of the school year, we would still love to have (and encourage) new writers to join and write for The Chief. Any help we get is help much needed! Thank you to all members of our staff, and we'll see you next month.
Monthly Credits
Senior Editor
Cade Hefner
Staff
Benny Rutter
Pauly Caris
Angie Karapondo
Alyssa Washam
Caden Heitmeyer