Ainslee Gerardot - Socials Editor
Speed and skill built on strong bonds: OH girls’ track and field kicks off new season
For OH girls’ track and field kicked off the season with a win on Feb. 19 after an off-season of frequent runs and strength training. Several athletes on the OH girls' track and field team have been with this team for their whole high school career so far, training and building rapport that strengthens their bonds on and off the field. OH junior Kristin Soderlind said, “I’ve grown a lot with the girls, and we have really close relationships.” While competition is important, there is more to the sport than just winning. OH track and field assistant coach Alicia Rafferty said, “We want to make the girls who come into our program from wherever they came from. We want them to gain courage in racing, but ultimately, we also want it to be a family.”
From practice to performance: OPC’s journey to State
For the fourth time in school history, Oswego varsity cheer punched their ticket to state with the season ending sooner than they hoped, not continuing to day two. Co-Head Cheer Coach Emily Gaw said, “We started off so strong with multiple hits and many trophies… but the best part has honestly just been being together.” The team competed at the Grossinger Arena in Bloomington on Sat. 7, placing 14 out of 25, scoring a 89.49 out of 100. OH senior backspot and co-ed base Nick Waldron said that the biggest accomplishment for the season has been “placing first at our home comp then making it to State.”
Boys co-op swim dives into Sectionals after becoming Conference champs at home
On Sat. February 7 2026, Oswego boys co-op swim and dive hosted the conference at OE. After a series of very fortunate events, the boys secured an amazing conference win. “It's like a confidence booster for everybody because we knew we were going to win, but the way we did helped the sectional team moving forward,” said senior Ethan Schrader As a team sport, everyone has individual roles and goals for themselves; however, a positive team atmosphere and culture make a huge difference in the mental and physical performance of athletes. “It really set the tone for sectionals, it was a varsity sweep,” said junior Jaxon Rapper
Don’t be dumb: A$AP Rocky makes a comeback after an eight-year album break
After he released his last album, “Testing" in 2018, A$AP Rocky had not released any new music other than singles such as “Sundress” and “Highjack.” But on Jan 8, A$AP Rocky released “Don’t Be Dumb,” and currently the album has surpassed one billion streams on Spotify alone. But was the new album worth the wait? Fans have many mixed reactions. OE alum Kim Sanchez said, “I thought it was really good. There's a lot of diversity on the album.” I agree. There are many different genres incorporated into the album, and there are also lots of different features, such as colabs with Brent Faiyaz, Gorillaz, Dochi, and Tyler the Creator.
IHSA Policy 17: The impacts coming ’26-27 for Oswego’s co-op sports community
On Dec. 16, 2025, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) introduced Policy 17 which limits large co-op high school teams from dominating at state. Policy 17, which will be implemented for the 2026-2027 school year, is aimed at leveling the playing field for schools competing in the same division. When this policy goes into effect next fall, it will impact several of the current athletic teams in-district, meaning that these co-op teams will no longer be able to compete at the sectional or state level. OH Athletic Director Dan Artnzen said, “The bylaw states that schools can no longer have a cooperative team, commonly referred to as a co-op, if their combined enrollment is over 3,500 kids.” For OH specifically, the teams impacted include the gymnastics team and swimming team as both are co-op teams and combined with OE.