Every team has its battles: the practices, the injuries and the daily juggle to balance school with sports. But unlike other sports teams, the indoor track team must overcome challenges unique to the season.

As one of the handful of winter sports available at Marshall, indoor track is handicapped by winter break early in the season. While it is possible for the team to plan around the break, the real issue is much more sporadic. Indoor track is the only winter sport to practice outside and is at the full mercy of the weather.

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This season’s boys varsity basketball team has made a substantial improvement from last year already having beaten last year’s final record with five wins and eight losses.

At this time last year, varsity’s record was three wins and ten losses and it finished the season with three wins and 20 losses.

Varsity basketball has not done this well since the 2009-2010 season finishing with a final record of 12 wins and ten losses.

This year’s team has more returning players than last year’s with five seniors compared to last year’s younger team of three seniors.

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The cyber security team is one of the two Fairfax County high school teams left in the Cyberpatriot tournament.

The team has won two out of four rounds in the Airforce Association sponsored tournament, which consists of four rounds of tests for cyber security teams in high schools nationwide.

“There were a thousand high schools in this competition, now they’re down to the top 25,” academy administrator Jeff McFarland said.

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I’d like to thank you for highlighting the efforts of the GSA to spread tolerance in your last issue. Discrimination by sexuality or gender is still a very real thing in American society and seeing the youth band together to fight discrimination is a very inspiring thing to witness. TheContinue Reading

Athletes win awards by showing extreme dedication in the sport they play, but head athletic trainer John Reynolds has won an award off of the field.

Reynolds received the second annual Vito Perriello Athletic Trainer of the Year for Secondary Schools Award from the Virginia Athletic Trainer Association on Jan. 14.

According to the VATA, the award is named after the late Vito Periello, a Virginia doctor who showed commitment and dedication toward his patients and is now in the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame.

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A melange of sweetened milk and super-dark coffee, Thai coffee is a tasty afternoon pick-me-up. Thai Pilin offers a great version just down the road from Starbucks, near DSW. The drink is smooth and refreshing. The sweetness of the drink makes it a treat on its own. It is reminiscent of Starbucks bottled frappuchinos, although with a more clear and pure taste. For those who are less fond of the coffee flavor, Thai tea is also available. Don’t be intimidated by the sit-down tables; the to-go counter will make a coffee in only a minute or two.

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Twenty minutes to go. A bass-heavy beat pounds through the air, shaking the doors of beat up lockers. Some joke around and chat with each other while others sit in seclusion, eyes focused on a single tile on the dirty floor, ears full of aggressive lyrics blasting through their own headphones. The room reeks of focus and adrenaline, anticipation and anxiety.

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Renovations and a rising student population turned Lunch & Learn into an outdated system. Though Lunch & Learn became impractical due to the current conditions of the school, the administration still wanted to encourage students to take time during the school day to get additional help or ahead on school work, resulting in the creation of the Learn period. Learn is a concept that all Statesmen had to adjust to, and as the year progresses, its benefits and flaws are manifesting themselves.

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From the self-immolation and death of Tunisian street merchant Mohammed Bouazizi, which catapulted the Arab world and greater Middle East, to the forefront of revolution and even civil war, to the European debt crisis, which plagued European Union nations like Greece with a social discord equal to that of some Middle Eastern countries, 2011 was far from quiet. Greater solidifying 2011 as a crucial year for world affairs was the near-complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and the death of Osama bin Laden, Moammar Gaddafi and Kim Jong-Il.

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