After a delayed start, the track season is finally underway. Hayden's first twomeets, Holton and Washburn Rural, were both canceled due to weather. The Haydentracksters finally got a chance to perform when they went to the Baker Relays onApril 6. Baker Relays does not follow the typical format for a track meet. Instead of earning individual points, all events are scored on a relay basis. Distances and times of all relay members are added to determine the placing ofthe team. No individual places or medals are awarded, only relay scores counttoward event placing. Hayden had several relays that earned medals. SarahGiessel, Molly Humphries, Jamie Brown, and Amber Scheckel ran to a first placefinish in the 4x400 m relay. The shot put team of Becky Wywadis,Karen Kaberline,and Ashley Ingenthron won their event. The girls' 4x200 m relay of Scheckel, Brown,Giessel, and Humphries won their race. The 4x100 m team sprinted to second, withStephanie Seawall, Brown, Malini DeSilva, and Humphries doing the honors. Thejavelin relay, which consisted of Sarah Schmidt, Kaberline, and Taneisha Wishomfinished fourth. Both the girls and boys 4x1600 m relays medaled, with MaryLawhon, Stephanie Gigous, Natalie Beck, and Geneva Jacobs finished third for thegirls, and Marty Boos, Michael Lawhon, Aubrey Freeman, and Jared Dittmer earning fourth for the boys' squad. The boys' fared well in other events too. Tyler Darnall, Dan Davis, Justin Padilla, and Cassidy McCrite ran to second place in both the 4x100 m and 4x200 m relays. The sprint medley of Darnall, Davis, Padilla, and Jason Wassinger earned third. The long jump relay of Darnall, Brett Zeller, and Jared Giessel finished third. The boys' discus relay of Brian Appel, Casey Wright, and Matt Letandresse ended up with a fourth place medal.

Hayden competed at the Miege Invitational the following Saturday. This meet ran under the conventional rules, with individual performance determining place. First place finishers include; Boos in the 3200 m run, the 4x800 m relay team of Joe Purcell, Ryan Engel, Boos, and Ryan Murphy, the boys 4x100 m relay of Davis, Darnall, Padilla, and Rory O'Donovan, Wywadis in shot put, Scheckel in triple jump and the 400 m dash, and Brown in long jump. Other medalists were the girls' 4x800 m relay of Humphries, Jennifer Meier, Stacy Marshall, and Malini DeSilva. The girls' 4x100 m relay of Scheckel, Humphries, Brown, and Seawall medaled, as did the 4x400 m relay of Giessel, Humphries, Brown, and Scheckel. The boys' 4x400 m relay of Joe Hennes, Joe Purcell, Ryan Engel, and John Hoytal earned a medal as well.

With those meets behind them, the track team turned its focus to the upcoming Sunflower Classic at Olathe East High School. This meet will be held Friday, April 17 in place of the Kansas Relays, which will not take place this year due to renovations at Memorial Stadium. The Sunflower Classic will include top runners from all classes around the state. In order to qualify, athletes had to submit their best performances and the top 24 applicants earned the right to participate in the meet. Several Hayden tracksters made the cut and will compete at the meet. The girls' 4x800 m and 4x400 m relays of Scheckel, Humphries, DeSilva, Brown and Giessel will run. The boys' 4x800 m relay will compete as well, with Purcell, Engel, Boos, and Murphy representing Hayden. Darnall qualified in both the long jump and the 100 m dash in addition to his relays. Boos qualified in the 3200 m run. Wywadis will toss the shot put. Scheckel qualified in triple jump as well as the two relay events. Schmidt earned a bid in javelin, but will be unable to compete due to injury. The boys 4x100 m relay did qualify, but due to the baseball game that same day, two of the runners were unable to participate and the relay team will not compete at the meet.

As a child many young girls dream about the day when they will attend their high school prom. Perhaps for the guys it is a time to get together with friends and have a good time. It is basically the same for the ladies, but they become more concerned with finding the perfect dress and looking, "like a princess." For a lot of us it is one of the most memorable times experienced in high school. Obviously this sacred event is intended for juniors and seniors. It has become tradition that prom be funded and organized by the junior class. This has been done for many years and is one of the many privileges that seniors receive. Hayden prom of 1998 is undoubtedly going to be a great success. In years before, the PACE Auction has been not too far before prom, so their decorations were just left up and used. However, this was not the case this year. The Auction was nearly two months prior to the dance. This has forced the junior class to get some of their own decorations as well as save some of them from the PACE Auction. All decorations will be put back up the week before prom. This adds a lot of stress to those involved with PROM this year. So what is the theme for the dance? Magic Moments was selected by those on the prom committee. On May 9, 1998, the Hayden gym will be filled with colors ranging from silver and black to blue and purple. The Junior parents are responsible for planning after prom. This will again be at Gage Bowl. Many different events are planned such as the obvious, bowling, gambling games, and other such casino events. It will be filled with memories and laughter for all of those who attend. Despite all of the stress that accompanies this event, don't forget why you are actually going. Remember that having a good time with friends and/or your significant other should be foremost in all minds. Prom of 1998 is sure to be a spectacular evening.

The Hayden baseball team is coming off back-to-back state championships with the hopes of repeating one more time. There is a strong possibility of the team doing just that, as they only lost three seniors and are returning twelve lettermen. Four of those lettermen namely Kent Becker, John Tetuan, Ben Grace, and Shawn Menke earned the honors of all league and all city. The team had a turnout of around sixty kids for the team those of which got cut down to thirty-eight kids that will be placed on three teams. The varsity team took a good first step in their quest for a third straight state championship as they swept the Emporia Spartans. John Tetuan pitched a one hitter in the first game and Cassidy McCrite hit a home run to lift the Wildcats to a 15-3 victory. In the second half of the double dip David Nimz got the victory and John Tetuan knocked one out of the park to lift them to 16-10 win.

This years musical, the famous operetta, "Pirates of Penzance", by composers Gilbert and Sullivan, was a fantastic success. The positive response from students and parents alike was overwhelming. The majority of those that attended one of the three showings were very impressed by the talents of their peers. The cast and crew consisted of over 60 students, and was one of the larger casts Hayden has had for a long time. There was a lot of hard work and long hours put into the musical by director, Miss. Tess Dozier, but when the final curtain had dropped she was proud. "I thought they did a splendid job, but now I need a nap." This is Dozier's final musical at Hayden so most people were glad it was a success. Many of the cast members had thoughts on how they thought the musical proceeded.

Senior Stephen Shaughnessy, the modern Major General, said, "It was a great success and people seemed to respond well to it." Senior James McParland, the Pirate King, said, "It was fun, but now that it's over I am going to miss seeing all of my friends." Junior Emily Cotrell was proud of how well they did. Many of the audience members found themselves enjoying the humor of the Major General (Shaughnessy) and the Police Sergeant, played by senior Marty Boos. The general consensus of the audience was one of amusement and enjoyment. Many students found it to be a fun and entertaining musical. Congratulations to the cast and crew of Pirates of Penzance.

Well it is getting to be that time of year again, the sun is coming out finally, the rain is coming down every other day (thanks to El Niño), and the spring sports are starting to practice. One of those being the fitting lady Cats softball team. This year the girls return more players from last year, including a strong core of 6 seniors. Angie Dinkel, Jennifer Hoytal, Angie Ridgeway, Rebecca Wywadis, Trendi Emerson and Stephanie Francis make up the solid core of seniors. According to Coach Schmidt, "Things are looking great." With this being Schmidt's second season here at Hayden, he is really excited. "It is a drastic improvement over last year. The big reason for that being the fact the girls are used to me now and they don't have to all the little things over again," Schmidt said of his team. He also added, "With the return o the quality players, we are really hoping or the best. Are team unity is are strength, and with us all striving for one goal we are looking to do good things." Another thing that is different this year is the field. This will be the first year the girls get to play on there home field. In addition to all the work done on the field, Coke donated a brand new score board, and it is up ready to count up all the runs the cats put on it. The girls open play on the road April 7 against Shawnee Heights, then they get to us there new field, for the first time on April 9 against Jeff West. The players are all so looking forward to this year. Senior short stop Angie Ridgeway, "The seniors have alot more leadership, then last years team. They are more willing to help out the under class men, and teach them particular style of play. The unity is also a lot better." After hearing from the coach and the players things are looking good. So if you get a chance go see the cats playing on their new field. Good luck girls.

P.A.C.E., or the Parents and Alumni for Catholic Education, has been a strong force in Hayden's funding for the past several years. Each year the P.A.C.E. association holds several fund-raisers that help to reach their budgeted amount of $225,000. This money is made by the P.A.C.E. Sweepstakes Calendars, the bingo held here at Hayden, the Concessions sold at the athletic events, and the annual P.A.C.E. auction. The money that is raised from these various events goes to the general funding of the school. This pays the teacher's salaries and the general up keep of Hayden High. The 21st annual P.A.C.E auction was held this year on March 20-21. The planning and physical labor started long before that, though.

The theme, Incredibly Ozzum, was invented in September by Linda Brungardt. Later, in January, the actual work started to make the auction happen. There were 100's of hour's of work put in by P.A.C.E. workers, parent volunteers, and students. The seniors were asked again this year to be escorts and H'or Deurves girls. A few of the student workers played the part of the Wizard Of Oz characters. The costumes were donated by the Wichita Children's Theater. The parents and Alumni put in a lot of hard work to make this Auction as magical as ever. The auctioneer came once again from Chicago to run the verbal part of the auction. Linda Brungardt would like to thank all of those who helped with the Auction. "They just did an incredible job!!"