Westlake High School - El Paisano Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Offered by boosters, parents, even players, money to increase an athlete's chances didn't cause even the authorities to ask... HAT S IT GOING TO 5 Hundreds of Q thou- sands of dollars, coupled with time and energy to determine how to most wisely allocate money, went to fund secondary athletes' favorite extra-curriculars. Despite the school's efforts, individuals also contributed to per- sonal and team success by investing time and money in athletic pursuits. I spend about S100 a month on sports. That includes club fees, transportation and equipment, senior club soccer player lon Guhl said. Because of the enormous expense, athletes relied on Mom and Dad to help foot the bill. About 6096 of parents funded their children's athletics. My father sees a future for me in volleyball, so he supports my involvement in it, senior volleyball player Brandi Clark said. Hopefully, volleyball will help me get into a good college so my father and I will be paid back for the expenses. Parents also helped out their children by sup- porting the Chap Club, an organization that also gave financial support to school teams. About five percent of my budget comes from the Chap Club. They usually pay for last minute emergencies l wasn't able to put in the school budget, cross country and track coach Iulie Lewis said. However, most equipment and supplies came from the school provided for by the school budget. The school allocated S623,392 to pay for high school and middle school sports. Sports can be really expensive. lt helps to go to a school that spends so much on athletics, junior Chris Pevateaux said. Reflecting a dissenting opinion, about 30'Zn of the students surveyed said that the school should not spend so much on athletics. I think it's incredibly biased on which teams they give the money to. Football gets everything and all the other sports get pushed aside, yell leader Russ Phillips said The school's commitment to athletics, combined with a dedication by the students and parents led to quality teams determined to play ball . Bemhy Over Backwards fasyhxsfff At the LBJ gymnastics meet, fresh- men Kathy Blackbird completes a floor routine waiting for the audience to Hnish applauding. iPhoto by staftj KNOW THE SCORE Perfoming the splits on the balance beam, sophomore Caren Harsh- barger balances in hopes lor a high score at the LBJ meet tPhoto by stafll

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X-W -fa. - 3,-.mar jf-. K., A W .r 'lr 1 iff ffirflskd 5Il8f!H8l la Orr Relaxing after a race, senior Trent Staats leans up against the side ofthe pool. The boy's swim team tinished eighth at the State Meet iPhoto by staffj Looking upat the score board imme- diateiy after his finish, senior Garet Kipe sees that he missed winning by a few hundreths of a second.tPhoto by Derek Kipej Teams didn't always arrive to the game on large, luxurious greyhounds, often they were told GN Bas Soggy fries, watered down cokes and greasy double meat cheeseburg- ers became a ritual of late night road trips. Team members faced with playing away games in such far off places as Killeen and Waco, came up with effective ways to combat fast food and boredom during long road trips. Usually we just slept or listened to our walk- mans, but once we got there we really had to start concentrating on the game. With our new district, we will be able to concentrate on games much more with the shorter ride, sophomore varsity baseball player Ty Embrey said. While some players zoned out before games others tried to do what coaches preferred--concen- trate on the game once the player stepped on the bus. On the way to games we sat around, talked and just listened to music which got us excited about the upcoming game, sophomore junior varsity volley- ball player Iennifer Wallace said. The bus ride to the game energized players to compete and win while the ride home told the story of whether the game was won or lost. When we won, the team was usually in a good mood but when we lost the feeling was a little down, but often the bus ride became a fun part of being on the team, junior IV basketball player Scott Heare said. Competing, the main goal of the team, could become overshadowed by the bus ride to and from a game. The ride often reflected the feelings of players and the team but while some slept, others used the time foramore scholastic purpose--studying the next day' s homework. SWIMMING Edited By: Erin Craig

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gil Th e S c o r e Gymnastics District Meet Qualified for Regionals Regionals Individuals Qualified for State State Kathy Blackbird Missy Davis 131 ' 4th 7th h Leaping through the air, freshman Kathy Blackbird performs her balance beam routine. Kathy finished seventh at the state championships. iPhoto by staffi Gymnasts Get Fresh Start A new tradition began as Westlake's first competing gymnastics team tumbled into its first season of official SA competition. 'We did awesome for our first year. We're hoping for new mats and better equipment for next year though. Right now we have to go from one gym tc the other, just to get in a full practice on all of the equipment,' freshmen Tyler Cone said. Until this past year, there wasn't a team because ct the unavailability of gymnastics coaches, and the proper funding. Once the gymnastics team received the funding, they were presented with the problem of where to place all the equb- ment, thus stringing it out between the two gyms. Crenshaws Gymnastics Club became a good alternative for the gymnastics team to practice during the summer. 'Some of the others and l are planning on going to Crenshaw's Gymnastics Club this summer to get in some extra practice, so that we have a better chance at placing at the meets, freshmen Freddy Herrera said. Placing second at distnct, and then fourth at regionals, the girls towered over the boys at tourna- ments. Due to injuries, and an ineligibillty, the boy's team didn't number enough to compete in either of the competitions. 'Kathy Blackbird placed seventh at state, and Missy Davis placed eighth, but that's because they went to Crenshaw's. I placed every time I competed, but l'm going to go there this summer so that the boy's team will be even stronger next year,' freshmen Tree Leonard said. A ,sg er. I r 1 it Q T , - ,. ,wg 5 1 9 N 2 as? Z i at Gvumsvics Front Row: MissyDavis. Kathy Blackbird, Amy Pollard, Second Row: Jolie Dickey.Vanessa Bamey.Jordana Johnson, Tyler Cone, Lorl Aune, Jennifer Allen, Kristin Northlngton, Back Haw: Coach Bob Fcrd.Mlchelle Llndsey,Trae Leonard, Caron Harehbarger, Christi Corblt. Greg Lawrence, Suzan Utzman. GYIVINASTICS Edited By:Meg Murray