If you want to keep up with Hilary Jones, you need to hit the ground running... literally. A senior at Garden Spot High School, Hilary is an outgoing and talkative young lady who also happens to be a very talented runner. Running Cross Country and Track, Hilary has learned much about herself and about life in general. “I am a really passionate person, and I feel that running has become my passion," says Hilary. “I am also easily distracted, but running has taught me to be able to focus on one thing.” She also admits, "I am extremely competitive and running magnifies that in me. Running has also made me more realistic, I used to be a big dreamer, but now I realize that if you want to get anything you have to work really hard for it.” And work hard she has. Even though she began running when a friend dragged her to track practice in 8th grade, Hilary has grown throughout the years into a seasoned and decorated runner who averages about 35 to 40 miles a week. When she is not running, Hilary works at Shady Maple and spends time with her family and friends.

    Nearing the end of her senior year at Garden Spot, Hilary has many plans for her future – most including running in some way. In the fall she will attend Slippery Rock University where she will continue her running career, participating in both Cross Country and Track at “The Rock.” In addition, she will major in Physical Therapy.  Her goals include earning her degree in Physical Therapy, working for a professional sports team as a Physical Therapist, and competing to the best of her abilities in both Cross Country and Track. “I want to be well-known as a runner in Cross Country and Track," says Hilary. “Of course, it would be nice to run in the Olympics or be featured in Runner’s World.” Although both of these goals are lofty, Hilary certainly has the mindset and drive to accomplish them. “Running is the one thing that I excel at. It teaches me a lot about myself and who I am as a person.  It shows me how strong I am. Running is a team sport, but it is individual because you are competing against yourself. If you do poorly, you have no one to blame but yourself," explains Hilary. “Running teaches you a lot about accountability.” No doubt the lessons she has learned from running will help Hilary be successful in all that she pursues in the future.

    Kyle Good, a senior at Garden Spot High School, has had quite a year. Beyond the normal stresses of being a high school senior struggling with major decisions about his future, Kyle has had the additional stress of changing schools not once, but twice during his final year. Kyle began his senior year at Garden Spot, but moved to McCaskey early in the year. After spending a few months at McCaskey, Kyle returned to Garden Spot in February and was immediately under the gun to fulfill a number of different graduation requirements that he had missed during his move. “I came back and it was so stressful. At McCaskey, I did not have to do a graduation project. Then I came back to Garden Spot, and I had to do all this stuff in order to graduate. But I got it done,” says Kyle with a shy smile. “My best accomplishment is that I am graduating. . . soon!”

    Even though he is graduating soon, that does not keep Kyle from enjoying the time he has left at school. Kyle enjoys coming to school to hang out with his friends, and he especially enjoys the classes he has this semester, including World Religions, Guitar Lab, and Creative Writing. A creative and introspective young man, Kyle says “I have really gotten into reading and writing lately; it is probably from taking Creative Writing.” In addition to reading and writing on his own, Kyle also uses his free time to play guitar, skateboard, and hang out with his girlfriend. “I really admire my girlfriend,” says Kyle, “she always helps and encourages me. We’ve both had difficult pasts and she understands and supports me. We get along good.” Kyle is, self-admittedly, a loving, hopeless romantic.  This is easy to see when he talks about his relationship with his girlfriend. Creative is another adjective that Kyle uses to describe himself, and it is something that he sees potentially carrying over into a future career. Although Kyle is not sure exactly what his future holds, he definitely sees himself working in some creative field. As for the near future, Kyle says that he plans to “work and get my own place before going to school.” Whatever the future does hold for Kyle, there is no doubt that he will approach it with his own sense of individuality and purpose.

    At 6’ 5”, Garden Spot High School senior Tyrell James Mentzer, a.k.a. T.J., is a volleyball enthusiast. Starting at the young age of twelve, T.J. began playing pick up games at his local church. Mentzer claims he started out bad, but the people at the church gave him a chance even though he made the level of play drop. Encouraged to keep trying to improve, T.J. put in hours of hard practice and determination to become better. Finally, the older players from his church told T.J. he could stay in the game because he was good enough to compete. This early experience helped to form T.J. as a person, and greatly inspired him to make volleyball his passion.

    T.J. has been playing volleyball for six years, four of which have been in his high school career. In this time T.J.’s greatest accomplishment includes becoming the captain of the Garden Spot Varsity Boys’ Volleyball Team. Mentzer is proud of this accomplishment and hopes to unite the team for a victorious year this spring season. As captain, Mentzer’s goal for the team is to bring everyone together in a close family relationship so that they can be in tune with one another’s emotions and feed off of one another’s victories. In the past years, the team has gone as far as the state title game. Even though they didn’t win a state championship in the past, they came very close; this year T.J. plans to lead his team to a win rather than be runner up. T.J. takes his goal very seriously as is evidenced by the increased and newly designed 15-week workout program which he is currently following.

    Although T.J. enjoys volleyball, he is also passionate about other pursuits in his life. T.J. is a talented writer and was recognized for his poetry talent when he recently won an honorable mention for his poetry submission in the Scholastic Writing Competition. After graduation, T.J. plans to pursue a college education, possibly in the pharmaceutical field, while continuing to  play volleyball at the college or university he chooses to attend.

    Although he may appear to just be a star athlete on the surface, Jesse Mancuso is so much more than that.  Jesse is a family man who cherishes his time at home.  While he enjoys the time he has with his family, Jesse takes what his parents and siblings teach him to heart.  “I admire my family because they have taught me about the good and bad in life, and what I can do to lead to a happier future,” Jesse says.  Mancuso says it is his dream to raise good sons and daughters so they can spread happiness throughout the world.  He also plans on following his family tradition of joining the military.  Jesse looks forward to serving in the military, to protect and fight for his country, after graduating from high school.

    During his high school years, Jesse has been an extremely successful varsity athlete.  He has been a letterman in cross-country, wrestling, and track since his freshmen year.  Jesse credits cross country with allowing him some of the best accomplishments in his lifetime.   These highlights include being the first and youngest runner from Garden Spot to place at Districts in twenty years. He holds three records on three different courses, and he earned trips to States three years in a row.

    Other activities Mancuso participates in are in Class of 2010, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Varsity Club, Chorus, Vocal Ensemble, and Yearbook. As one can imagine, having all these activities and balancing school is a real challenge. When asked how he deals with these challenges, Jesse says “encouragement from friends and family helps me a lot.”

    Mary Martin is your average 17 year-old senior at Garden Spot High School, except she has a plan for life after graduation that most people her age would never dream of. To state it bluntly, Martin does not particularly like high school, which is why she is graduating early, finishing her senior year in January. Planning to get her diploma and run to the beautiful mountains of Missoula, Montana, Mary believes that when she is finally done with high school she will have the best years of her life.

    Having gone there on vacation, Mary fell in love with Missoula, and ever since has wanted to attend the University of Montana. The large campus is perfect for Martin, set in an urban environment, yet backdropped by the massive Rocky Mountains. It is a new start in a completely different place with a new group of people.  In Mary’s opinion all of these changes will be refreshing compared to the monotony of high school. Once in Montana, Mary’s plans are a little less resolved.  She is not completely sure what she will study at UM, but is leaning towards something in business. She loves to work and feels this would be a major that would fit her well.

    When asked how she feels about leaving, Martin admitted it would be difficult to leave behind her family and friends, saying, “It’s hard, knowing they will all be here, together while I’m off trying to make something of myself.” However, Mary will not let this totally persuade her decision; she believes in her plans and dreams and will stop at nothing to achieve them.

    When you look into the mirror, what do you see? Well, I can tell you that Bradley Slaughter sees a hard working runner always striving to do his best.  Slaughter is a senior at Garden Spot High School. Starring on the track is where Bradley excels. A participant in Cross Country, Winter Track, and Spring Track, Bradley is a long-distance runner whose passion is as deep as the endurance in his lungs. Slaughter is constantly on the move, so keeping up with this running maniac is nearly impossible, but he did have enough time to reveal  to me that his greatest accomplishment is winning the Shoofly Race at the age of 5. While Bradley’s love is running, he also enjoys spending time with his friends, and attending church at the New Holland Church of the Nazarene.

    In school, Bradley is always clowning around but clamps down when necessary. As an honors student, Slaughter works hard but truly enjoys gym class because it is a great time to release energy. Recently, Garden Spot High School changed its schedule from eight classes a day to four classes a day. Bradley believes this has helped him because now with only four classes, he can focus more on each and handle his studies with more ease.

    As an athlete, it is only proper that Bradley idolizes the great Tiger Woods. "He is clutch and knows how to win," states Bradley. An educated person, Bradley has his views on the world as well, "I believe the world would be better off if the amount of technology was limited and if we limited the use of computers." Now this may be seen as radical, but Slaughter has a good point. Technology is making us lazy and takes away from what Brad sees as valuable exercise time that very well could be used for running. After high school, Bradley plans to attend a four-year college and participate on their long-distance track team.