Fort is looking forward to the Sectional meet on October 19, to see when their season will end or they will move on to state.

“Were hoping to place top two at Sectionals and make it to state,” Senior Quinn Mckenzie said, “It will be challenging, but it’s definitely in reach.”

Yesterday the Conference meet was hosted by Fort at the Koshkonong Mounds Golf Course. Fort held optimistic thoughts going into the race.

“Conference will probably be the most competitive race in the SLC in a long time. Milton and Whitewater are stiff competition and are just as motivated as we are,” Mckenzie said, “We have a good chance to win, but it will be tough.”

On September 29, the Blackhawks took part in the Stoughton Invite. The boys finished seventh out of 13 teams, and the girls finished sixth out of 11 teams. Senior Jake Burow placed seventh overall at 16:28. Next was Junior Spencer Agnew at 16:46. Mckenzie, Sophomore Sam Fitzgerald, and Junior Jacob Enslin were the 3,4,5 runners for fort with times of 17:26, 18:17, and 18:39. The boys finished 28 points ahead of eighth place Milton with a total score of 186.

On the girls side Junior Micaela Magsamen placed seventh overall with a 15:46. Juniors Brittany Patterman, Megan Gang, Carley Hayes, and Senior Brenna Gasper rounded out Fort’s top five on varsity with times of 16:51, 16:53, 17:00, and 17:19. Freshman Victoria Smithyman won the junior varsity race with a time of 16:48.

The Conference Relays Race is different than any other meet in the way that it is scored. Usually the top five runner’s places are added up, and the lowest score wins, but for Relays the top five times are added up, and the lowest overall time wins.

On September 13, the Fort boys’ took home their eighth consecutive conference relays title.

Leading the way individually was Agnew, with a time of 16:42 and was followed by Burow, who clocked in a time of 16:56.

With their top runner missing, the ladies finished a close second to Milton. Sophomore Courtney Lanza was the third overall finisher, registering the time of 17:10.

Now, only time will tell whether or not the Blackhawks have State circled on there calendar.

“This has been a very successful season and our team has really bonded well,” Mckenzie said, “It would be awesome to close out the season with a conference win and a trip to State.”

As the boys won the conference relays they look to continue their success and make a clean sweep of the conference by taking the overall conference title.

The girls on the other hand look to avenge their loss to Milton at the relays, in which they narrowly finished seconds, but now they have their top runner back in the lineup for the conference meet.

After performing in state last year, Burrow, Agnew and Magsamen bring experience to a youthful for a late push to state, not individually, but hopefully as a team.



Same name, different game :Sport Definition

What is a sport? Is major league gaming a sport? Sports are all about a physical challenge.

by Marc Erickson

Signal Reporter

There are varying definitions of what a sport really is. The official Webster’s Online Dictionary definition is, an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition.

So many new “sports” are being created every year.

There are the traditional sports like football, baseball, and basketball. Even hockey has been around for a long time. The traditional sports are not the only true sports.

There are extreme sports like skateboarding, BMX, and wake boarding. There cross-country, track, swimming, and biking, proving that there doesn’t have to be a ball involved.

Recently there has been a new phenomenon with gaming, poker, and activities of that nature. These are nothing more than lazy hobbies, using no type of physical endurance.

With the highly technology-dependent age that the world is in today, major league gaming has become more and more popular everyday. Large sums of money are made in gaming tournaments.

There is nothing wrong with gaming and poker, but they are not a sport. Gaming takes no athletic ability or physical exertion at all. Just because people gamble on games does not make it a sport.

Like in anything practice makes perfect, but all someone is practicing is moving their thumbs. No one was born with the ability to play Halo. It doesn’t take effort to play a video game, or poker.

Another facet of a sport is the mental aspect. An athlete must be focused on the goal and always thinking.

The greatest athletes are more than just raw talent; they have a certain mental toughness. Sports are about pushing limits and seeing how far one can push themselves to their maximum abilities. Gaming isn’t even real. There is no pain or physical dedication needed to become better.

A person can half-heartedly attempt a sport, but they will only hurt themselves or their team in their strive for excellence. In gaming there is no gauge of how hard one is working, because it involves no work.