28 | February | 2022

By: Julia Swee

Image taken from: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/13/arts/music/super-bowl-halftime-show-review.html?searchResultPosition=5

The Super Bowl is notably one of the most famous events in America. Families from all over the country come together to watch the football game, and a lot of the time people will host parties to view the game with their friends. A huge part of the Super Bowl is the guests they have for the halftime show. The halftime show is a pretty big deal, and even if people don’t necessarily like to watch football, most will still watch the halftime performance.

For this year’s Super Bowl, the special guests performing were famous rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, as well as featured guests Kendrick Lamar and Eminem. This year’s show was the third straight show to be co-produced by Roc Nation, an entertainment and sports company founded by the famous rapper Jay-Z.

Dre, 56, took the stage first as he opened with his 2000 hit single “The Next Episode”, featuring Snoop Dogg. Dre had become famous with his rap group N.W.A, as they set the template for ‘West Coast gangster rap’ with their 1988 album ‘Straight Outta Compton’. Dre had gone on to become an in-demand producer and businessman, as his last personal album was released in 2015.

After the opening performance by Dre, fellow rapper Eminem took to the stage to perform his number one hit “Lose Yourself”. The performance featured rapper Anderson.Paak on the drums and as the song ended, Eminem knelt on his knees while Dre moved to the piano to play the chords to his most famous song “Still D.R.E.”

As they were finishing up, artists from New York took to the stage to perform. 50 Cent arrived to perform his version of the 2003 hit “In Da Club”, followed by Mary J. Blige performing her two most beloved anthems; “Family Affair” and “No More Drama”.

After Blige, Kendrick Lamar took the stage, the youngest performer in the show at the age of 34. According to The New York Times, in 2018 Lamar received a Pulitzer Prize for his music, specifically his fourth album ‘DAMN.’, which Kendrick performed songs from. This album was famous for tackling issues of race, faith, and the burdens of commercial success. Overall, the performance touched many people’s hearts as they came together to view the country’s most famous social event.

By: Abby Altman

Image taken from: https://sites.google.com/view/highland-park-nordic-ski/home

Winning is not a new thing for the Highland Park nordic ski teams. Earlier this season, the girls team won their 8th consecutive conference title, while the boys won their 6th. Both teams then won their respective section races, qualifying once again, for the state meet in Biwabik, MN.

The girls team has had an incredible history at the state meet. In the 3 seasons prior to 2022, Highland’s girls took 2nd place, 1st place, and then 2nd place again. With recent year’s results in the back of their minds, the Highland girls were excited and ready to race. “The team energy was very high,” said junior skier Chloe Koch.

The state meet is split over 2 days, with the classic pursuit race on day 1, and the relays, followed by the skate pursuit, on day 2.

After day 1, with the classic races behind them, both teams were looking ahead to day 2. The boys team was sitting in 6th place, led by junior Davis Isom. Isom had a great race and was sitting in 5th place for individual results.

The girls team was in 1st place, just 3 points ahead of Duluth East, perhaps the team’s biggest competition. “A few of us had less desirable races,” said Koch. She stated that, “The mood dimmed a little,” after day 1. The girl’s top racer, senior Molly Moening, finished her race in 3rd place. Moening had won the individual state championship 2 years in a row, in 2020 and 2021.

The morning of day 2 started with the boys relay sprint. The boys relay team was made up of senior Alex Pfankuch and junior Max “Shaggy” Reemstma. The relay team took 6th overall, adding 147 points to the boys team’s total score.

The girls relay consisted of 2 seniors, Rayna Axelson and Silja Earl Tornianian. The girls raced hard for a 4th place finish, behind both major competitors, Duluth East and Forest Lake.

After the relays, the girls team was in 2nd, 6 points behind Duluth East. The boys were in 6th.

“Everyone was more nervous going into the second race because we knew that we were a few points behind,” said Koch.

The skate race was pursuit style, meaning the entire race is a game of catch-up. Moening, starting 3rd, was unable to pass the top 2 finishers, finishing with a 3rd place finish in her senior year state championship.

For scoring, the top 3 finishers point total is added to the team’s score. Moening finished 1st for the team, 3rd overall, followed by Hanna Koch in 12th and Chloe Koch in 20th. Duluth East’s top 3 scorers finished in 14th, 18th, and 23rd overall.

The end of the state meet came down to the wire for the Highland Park girls. “Everyone was cold and I think most people didn’t think we won,” Koch said of the team’s spirit immediately following the final race. “We went into the tent to warm up and that’s where Coach Moening told us we won.” Brad Moening is the Highland Park Nordic and Cross Country coach.

When it came down to it, Highland Park edged out Duluth East by a slim 3 points, claiming their 2nd state championship in 3 years. “We all started to cry and hug each other,” said freshman racer Alex Pundsack. “It was happiness, relief, tiredness, and plain joy.”

The boys team finished in 5th place, meeting their goal of a top 5 finish.

3 skiers on the girls state team will be graduating this spring, but Highland houses a strong, young varsity lineup, ready to fill those spots and try to bring home another state trophy next year. The boys team is losing just 1 senior to graduation, and hope to come back even stronger next season.

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