Sports

= = By Jordan Just a few weeks ago the Merrill girl’s soccer team boarded the bus to go to Randolph. It was super hot and the girls were short players. As they finally got to Randolph, the soccer team intimidated them for they had many more players than Merrill and they looked good. The girls put aside their fear and used their confidence to get them going. As the game started parents started filling in the sidelines. The other team started with the ball but it was quickly taken away. The girls moved up to set up for a goal. The game went on as there was shoving, pushing, and bad words. Both teams played hard but the Merrill team was fierce and beat Randolph 5 to 0. The team was very happy for it was their first win. They lined up to shake hands with the other team but the girls were rude and missed their hands on purpose. However the other teams bad spirit did not bring them down and they continued celebrating.
 * =DOMINATION =

= =
 * Baseball's Last Stand **

The team was 3 and 3 when they went up against a team that was 0 and 6. They thought they had a chance but since they had 8 players they were beaten. The team was devastated.

“They could have done better.” One of the team’s players said. “But it was worth it because if we made it to the postseason we would have embarrassed ourselves.” Much of the team will not be playing on the team next year.

The player that we interviewed predicted that the team next year would win only 1 game. Let us hope that this doesn’t happen. The team will hopefully have more players next year.

More players should have been at the last game. At 3 and 4, they admitted that if the team had all been there and the players better prepared they would have won. || **Sixth Grade Basketball** By Colin  This season was a lot of fun although we did not win as mush as the team had expected. Overall the record was 2-3. There were about ten people on the team and we all tried our hardest.  We won our first and last games. The other 3 we failed at. The whole season lasted for about 7 weeks but a long seven weeks. We won our last game by only one point but we won our first game by more than one point.  This was a great season, which was a lot of fun, and I know that we will be much better basketball players next season.

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 * =Baseball's Last Stand! = ||

By Theo


====The baseball team had a great year. The baseball team had a great season because we won three games and we were not even expected to win one game. This was not the greatest but we still persevered and we won three games. ==== ====The players on are team agree that we had a great season. Jonny, the teams pitcher, said,” The season was ok but we could have done better.” Owen said we had a great season and he said he improved a lot.” ====

Next year we are going to join the team and next year our team goal is to get into the playoffs and maybe win.
= = == = TENNIS =

==== Tennis is an after school sport. Tennis is coached by Diego Romero. They practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Saturdays there are tennis matches with other schools. They are done at Place Bridge Academy. They have only missed 2 games so far. ==== = =

= = = KICKBALL =

By GEORGE
As some people may know, there is a kickball club by Denver Parks and Rec at Merrill. It did cost and still costs $50.00 to get in. It has been going since the beginning of February. It is every Wednesday from 2:30 to 4:00. The people that have joined are Tom, Willy, Alice, Hannah, Joey, Conner and George. On Wednesday 4/21/10 instead of going to Hill or staying at Merrill, they will go to Cole Middle School. Then on Wednesday 4/28/10 they will have teachers and/or students who are not in kickball club come and play kickball. The next Wednesday they will play normal (go to Hill or stay at Merrill). On the last day of kickball club they will have a party for the end of the year and the end of kickball club.

__ The coed basketball team wins first game __ __ By. Shayla B __ The 6th grade basketball team starts out the spring season with a win. The team played Place Middle School on Thursday March 18th and won by just one point! The score was 28 to 29; the teams should have gone into over time, but at the last seconds one of Merrill’s players fouled Place’s best player. The student from Place made the first free throw but missed the second leading Merrill into the victory for the first game. The starters of the team are Colin S, Jackson H, Chris P, and Shayla B. The final starter has not been chosen. There are around 13 players on the team; due to this not all players from Merrill got to play. When asked “Do you think there are to many players on the basketball team?” Jackson H replied, “ No, I do not think there are too many players on the team.” Colin S was also asked this question and he replied” Yes, I think there are to many players on the team, that’s why not every one played.” At practices the team works on lay ups, passing, defense, and dribbling drills. They also start with a stretch and end with leg burning defense of stands. I asked the question” Do you think practices are hard?” Colin S answered “Yes, you can say that the foot work we do is hard.” Chris P answered, “ No, no, no they are not hard”.

= = = **__ 2 wins may be a good thing __** =

By Jonny
The Merrill baseball team already has 2 wins but that may be all they get. So far the team’s coach, Jordan, has identified many different strengths and weaknesses. Most of the students playing are 6th graders and a couple, have never played before. When asked about this, Ryan (the teams middle infielder) responded, “A couple is a good number because we have enough amazing players to make a decent team, and teach the others.” Though only two or three kids have never played, not many know a lot about the game. “Overall, lots of things make us a bad team, but I don’t think we will lose too much,” said Theo, the teams star outfielder, “It’s mostly 6th graders, what do you expect.” There are mixed emotions about the team, but most think they are not very good. So far they have had 2 canceled practices, which may have set them back a bit, and only 1 hard competitor. All of the players say that the hardest is still to come versus Hamilton, but are trying to win the games they can. When Ryan was asked about why he decided to help, he answered, “So we did not look like complete losers” The skill level of Merrill’s baseball team might not be great, but they try their best. The team is very unique, and has high hopes for most the rest of the season.

= = = = = THE SLAUGHTER =

By Jordan


It was a little bit of a drive to Slavens. Merrill girls took their place at the bleachers with confidence. They were all excited for their first game. Our coach worked us hard by making us do many drills. Some people on the team think the coach is really good and effective and he has lots of experience. They were finally warmed up and ready for the game to start. The forwards were Madison, Maddie, and Jordan. Many people on the team had all played soccer before and had many skills: MADDIE: Maddie is fast and good at weaving around people. When she has the ball she has a good chance of getting a shot at the goal. MADISON: Madison is aggressive and always has her head in the game. She is a powerful kicker and has many good skills. JORDAN: Jordan is fast; good at throw ins, and good at weaving around people. Although they played hard Slavens slaughtered them. They did not have a lot of practice time so their team wasn’t fully put together. Slavens had a good team with many subs. Merrill’s team sadly only had two subs. They need more players for their team, for one of their players- Maddie has left and they would like more people. Their team has gotten better and they hope they will win the next game.

__The Merrill Girls basketball Team By Faith__

The Merrill girl’s basketball team hasn’t done so good this season. They are 0-7. Their coach, Ryan, has them do several drills. They mostly do lay-ups; they sometimes practice their plays and picks. They work on defense, they play knock out, but the one thing they never do, is scrimmage! Many people on the girl’s basketball team think that they need to scrimmage. Many teachers, parents, and other students that come to watch the game think that they need a better coach. Coach Ryan has been playing basketball ever since he was a little kid. He was number 31 in college; Faith’s number is also 31. Abby, number 24. She is one of the better players. Our staring five consists of Faith, Abby, Maddy, Sarah, and Brianna. Sam, Jen, Maria, Howa, Seeta, and Batoula are also on the basketball team. When Abby and Faith are put together, they are un-stoppable! The girls have three more game to play until the season is over. Their last game is played against Hamilton. Hamilton is our biggest rival. It’s going to be the biggest game of the season! Everyone with be there! We really want to win! We are going to work really hard to try to win that game! Come help and cheer on the girl’s team!

by Jesus
Merrill's boys basketball team is having an astonishing season this year. They have won 6 games and only have lost one game. The team's most talented players are Lorenzo, Atir and Nick. Merrill's coach is Jason Anders. He thinks his team is having this much success because of Lorenzo's leadership at the point guard.

B oys Basketball

 * by Elaine**

====The boys basketball team are doing very good. They are 4/1 so far. They won against Kepner, Grant, Place, Waller, and lost to Hill. Their highest winning score was 56.====

====The #1 star player is Lorenzo, has an average in 20 points! He is a star student and player! He gets good grades in school. Also, he was one of The Mile High Scholars in 2008. He practices basketball every single day. What a player!====

====Why are they so good? Coach Anders coaching? The Ultimate Star Player Lorenzo? Or, Merrill girls cheering? Well whatever it is they are doing fantastic! Keep it up Jaguars! RAWR!====

by Batoul
 * Girls Basketball Team**

The girls’ basketball team are on a losing streak. Faith is on the basketball team and she thinks that Abby is the star player. Faith and the rest of her group are mostly doing lay ups and suicides. These drills aren’t their favorite but they really help them when they are playing a game. The girls’ basket ball team coach [Ryan] is very happy to teach on the girls basket ball team. All of the girls are very excited to be playing on the basket ball team. Most of the girls played on the team last year and they are ready to come back with a strong entry.

Loosing Against Hill
By Courtney

On Friday October 23rd 2009 Merrill had their fourth Flag Football game. The game was a close call. But unfortunately Merrill lost and Hill won. Hill was a very hard team to play against but Merrill held in and never gave up. The final score was 24 to 6. And although Merrill tried their hardest to win it, unfortunately it just did not come easy to the players.

Just before the game the final and official players were chosen for the season. There are about 20 students who are going to participate in playing this sport. There were many people who wanted to be on the football team but not all students made the team.

by Jasmin = = Thursday October 15th 2009, Merrill played their 2nd game and won. The score was 20 to 00. The team played against Henry Middle School. Our team put all their effort into working hard and blocking the other team. Henry came really close to making touchdowns but they didn’t expect Merrill to be really good at blocking. There was only 1 girl in each team who put all their effort into winning. And all the boys put all their effort into winning but only one team won and that was the Merrill Jaguars. Abasse and Nick were the guys that made most of the touchdowns for our team. Courtney blocked most of the touchdowns and did a great job. The referee was not well liked in the game. He was very strict and would stop the game if anyone moved. There were also very few parents at the game. But the other team had way more support from their parents. I think that they underestimated our team that’s why they lost. Mr. Walter also said that his team is like their couch they play their best and win.
 * FLAG FOOTBALL TEAM**

By Troy
Yesterday night the citywide cross-country meet occurred yesterday October 13th 2009. We, the Merrill faculty and students are proud to say 2 of our students/classmates placed 2nd and 4th at the meet. Ethan placed 4th while Nick placed 2nd out of 850 middle school students. Of course all of the middle school students didn’t run at one time. They had a race for boys and a race for girls. Nick had a time of 10 minutes. This is a very impressive time. They ran 1.5 miles. Those are the details on the cross-country meet. Go Merrill.

By: Courtney
As most people should already know, Merrill Middle School has a Fall Flag Football team. The team is co-ed., which means boys and girls are allowed to play on the same team. Over 20 boys tried out for the team but not all of them will be able to make it. But unfortunately only 2 girls tried out for the team. The team has already had their first game, which was against Martin Luther King Middle School (MLK). The game took place on October 12 2009. And for Merrill the game was a huge success the final score was 28 to nothing. The next game for these great Merrill Middle School Players will be on the 15th of October. The game will take place at Merrill Middle School. Merrill will be playing Henry. Hopefully Merrill will win this game too.

by Billy
The Merrill soccer team this year has done an amazing year with Roberto Rodriguez as a great coach. This is the first time in a long time that the soccer team has gone to the playoffs. They have only lost one game and that was to Bruce Randolph. Other that and the fact that they tied two games, they have won every game. They are starting the playoffs tomorrow and hopefully can win it all. For the past couple of years the soccer team hasn’t been the best. It has been three years since the soccer team has been to the playoffs. They have only been to playoffs three times. A couple years ago the soccer team did an amazing job and unfortunately lost the championship game. That means that the soccer team never won the championship game and has only came in second. So hopefully this year the soccer team can win it all. Now the soccer team beat Rishel 5 to 3 and is still in it. Lets hope they win it!

By Haley
On October 2, 2009 Merrill’s softball team played their last game of the season against Grant Middle School. Although it was their last game of the season it was also their first win for the season. It was the first inning and Grant was up to bat. The first batter went up to hit she hit it far into the out field, the out fielders rushed to the ball, play was now at 2nd base. The ball was caught just in time but not enough time to tag the player. There was no out. The 4th inning came fast and although we felt we were winning, the score was 4-7 leaving Merrill down 3 points. All we needed was 3 more points to tie and go into a 5th inning. We were up to bat and we were determined to win. Soon balls were being hit far into the out field and players were running their bases. There was homerun after homerun after homerun and soon the game was over and Merrill had won 7-11.

By Rosolen
On September 24 Merrill’s soccer team had a practice game against Hamilton Middle School. A practice game does not count as a real game it’s sort of a rematch against the competitors. We did better last time. We scored 4 to 1 but for the practice game the score was 1 to 0. We still beat them and if we keep up our team spirit we will have a chance to make it to finals!. To start the game of one of the players named Sweeho scored the 1st goal and that was the only goal they had. But each team member put their all into it. Maybe in their next game against Grant Middle School WILL not be their last. All they need to do is win that one and have a chance to reach quarter final then Semi-finals and hopefully make it to the Finals, win and represent Merrill once again.

by Devin
The Merrill Jaguars played the Hamilton Huskies in softball. Unfortunately the Jaguars lost to the Huskies. This could have been because the Merrill team only had six players instead of the regular 9; also the Hamilton team had 11 or twelve. The Merrill team has only won a single game, which was won because the other team didn’t show up.

by Joseph
On Monday the boy’s soccer team had a game against Place Academy Middle School. When Merrill’s players arrived at Place, their students were still in classes. Merrill’s student waited for 30 minutes for the Place players. When the game started, it did not take long for Place to score. In the first 10 minutes of the game Place scored 1 goal. It didn’t take to long for Merrill to score back. In the first half, Place was winning 3-2.When the second half began, a player from Merrill made a foul on a Place player in the penalty square but the referee called an indirect kick. They did not score. However when Merrill got the ball, they scored. Merrill scored one goal and Place score one goal too. When match was over the score was 4-4.

by Haley
On September 14,2009 Merrill’s softball team had a game against Hill Middle School. One of the team members Ebony Demouchet says, “Although some people on the team had not played softball before or even been on the team I still think we could have tried a lot harder.” I am also part of the softball team, I think that everyone might not have tried their best and if we all try a lot harder we could still get a lot better and begin to win more of our games. Towards the end of the game the team started to try a little harder and started to get the other team out a lot faster due to their team work. In the end the score was 6 to 9 leaving the other team in victory. But hopefully next time with a lot of team work we can win.

by Yafet
On Monday the soccer team had a game. It was against Hill Middle School. The game was very hard and it was a draw, and the score was 1 to 1. The game started and after 15 minutes later they scored their first goal. But Merrill didn’t give up and at the last minute with a great assist by Yafet and Abasse we scored the goal. We were supposed to go to overtime and later if we didn’t score we would go to penalty but the referee just left so we are going to play Hill Middle School again.

By Nick
On September 9, 2009 the Merrill cross-country team competed in the Washington Park Invitational cross-country meet. The meet consisted of 600 students from a variety of DPS School’s and was two miles long. In the fist heat of boys there was a lot of talent. A Slavens team member posted the winning time of 12:36. Followed closely by Nick of Merrill with 12:40. Also Ethan did very well in his first country meet of his young career finishing fourth. Congratulations also to Colin, Jordan, Jackson, Jeffrey, Chris, Brendan, Daniel, Gavin and Mr. Quintana for a great first meet and a good season to come.

Jaguars Always Persevere

by Rosolen
On Friday September 4th the Merrill softball and soccer teams had their first game of the season against the Henry eagles. The softball team lost 10 to 5 but we have many more games ahead of us and we may not win all but we sure will try our best and give it our all.

On our way to the game we all made sure we had out team spirit on and made sure everyone’s confidence level was way up high. In the 1st inning everything was going pretty well we had scored 2 points, our batting was ok our pitching was all right and our teamwork was great as always.

Within our second inning we started to catch up a bit we scored a least 2 points. Both teams were feeling the pressure. With our 3rd inning just around the corner we all knew that it was time to start getting feisty. ====

At the end of our 3rd inning we lost by 5 but it doesn’t matter if we win or lose as long as we keep our heads up high no matter what and always keep trying. We will improve. Our 1st game is not our last. There’s more to come cause Jaguars always persevere.

Boy’s soccer team

by Yafet
Merrill Boy’s soccer team is doing ok. The soccer team won one game and lost one game to. They lost the first game 7 to 4 and win the second game 3 to 1. In the first game we started playing well and beat them 4 to 2 on the first half but we were tired, so the second half they scored 5 goals and they won.

The second game was against very hard team but we won3 to 1. When the first half was almost over we scored our 1st goal. Then the second half stared. Later they fouled Anis in the box and got a penalty, and Hassan scored the second goal. Later we scored the third goal. Right after they started the ball and they scored their first goal. Later they got a penalty but they missed. That is how our second game went.

The coach said that if we win Tuesday night’s game was in good position but we are playing Hamilton and they are a hard team to win. Our third game went great and we bit Hamilton 4 to 1. We scored 3 before the half and they scored 1 and we scored 1 after the half. Abasse scored 3 and Darien scored 1 goal.

Our next game in on Thursday night here in Merrill meddle school at 4:45 against slaves meddle school.

New Fall Sports Schedule by Dehrain

During pre-season, many schools changed their sports schedule because they all decided that kids could should get more play time. One reason they changed it was, take football and soccer for an example: if you were playing soccer, before you couldn’t play football but now soccer starts earlier and football later, so you can play both.

The schools changed to have soccer, cross country, and softball starting August 31, and ending around October 11, 2009. Football and Volleyball begin October 11,2009 and they end in November.

The new schedule is a good idea because they give students more time to play more than one sport in a season. They should include more sports because some kids play different other sports like lacross, or maybe keep a sport all year round. Teachers and DPS schools have made a good sports seasons schedule, because they want more play time for students, which is awesome. none **Save**PreviewText Editor || || ||
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