The 2015 homecoming king and queen titles were presented to Crusader representative Grant Glaze and International Student Organization representative Thayna Silva. Leading up to homecoming night on Saturday, SCCC also put on several events to get students into the spirit.
The beginning of the week started with students being able to make wax hands of themselves and with friends. On Tuesday, free donuts and coffee were provided by the Saints Bookstore.
Thursday night the Showcase Theater on campus was filled with laughter as hypnotist Dan James entertained an auditorium of students while he hypnotized other fellow students on stage. ­
The annual Texas Hold ’em tournament was on Friday in the student union. The top four finalists in the poker game were Jakob Hernandez, Trent Mulherin and Joe Dinh, along with Silva, the queen-to-be who was in the top finishers in the tournament, too. ­­
Saturday night festivities began with the Lady Saints game against the Dodge City Lady Conquistadors. Seward swept the game 71-48 and 35 points of the final score were provided by freshman Brooklyn Artis and Axelle Bernard.­­
It came as no surprise that Artis took the initiative and made the first shot and three of the game. Within the first seven minutes of the game, Artis shot nine points on her own.
The Lady Saints quickly pushed their lead to double digits and soon the score was 27-9, and at half-time Seward was still up 36-17. The Lady Saints shot from the field at 13 percent higher than the Lady Conquistadors, and shot 83 percent of 12 chances at the free throw line. The highest lead of the night for Seward was at 30 points when the score landed at 67-37.­­
Bernard played big as well with 16 points scored, 12 rebounds and a new career high of six blocked shots against Dodge City. Saturday night was also significant to the Lady Saints’ record as the beat the Conquistadors in the Green House for the 24th time in a row.
As soon as the Lady Saints walked off the court with their victory, the red carpets were rolled out for the homecoming candidates that were soon to be introduced and recognized. ­
The first candidates to walk out were HALO representatives Ricardo Nava and Rachael Cano, followed by Glaze, and Phi Theta Kappa president, Jackie Arnold. After Glaze and Arnold came Tony Dorado and Silva, both representing the International Student Organization, and right behind them were Alex Burciaga and Marcala Pewthers, representing Enactus and SGA. The last couple to finish off the 10 candidates on the red carpet were Kate Mulligan and Sal Valdez, representatives for the Student Nurse Association and Pathways.
Glaze and Silva could not hide the smiles on their faces as they were crowned king and queen for homecoming 2015.­
Before the homecoming court was narrowed down to 10, the following clubs nominated two representatives each to run for king and queen: Pathways, Alley Bowen, Sal Valdez; Concert Band, Anysia Limon, Luis Sanluis; Crusader, Xochitl Gonzalez and Glaze; HALO, Rachel Cano, Ricardo Nava; Enactus, Roselyn Feregrino, Alex Burciaga; SGA, Marcala Pewthers, Seth Plummer; Kylix, Roselyn Rodriguez, Dalibor Cohadarevic; SPEC, Casie Yowell; SNA, Kate Mulligan, Kirk Walls; ISO, Silva and Tony Dorado; PTK, Jackie Arnold, Dalton Robinson; Dance, Laura Ruiz; and Sigma Chi Chi, Karol Gutierrez and Robert Hoskinson.
As the red carpet was rolled back up and the court was cleared up, it was time for the Saints to warm up for their Jayhawk West Conference home game.
The Saints did not start off with the same luck as the Lady Saints. Falling behind the Conquistadors briefly into the game at 8-2, it wasn’t until Dodge was just peaking over the 20s that Seward started making a comeback. Threes from Mitchell Packard and Kevin Sims kept the Saints close to the Conquistadors, and at half-time they were trailing 37-32. ­
In the second half, Sims and Packard once again contributed to Seward’s biggest lead of the night 56-50, but it was soon lost when the Conquistadors took the lead for one last time at 57-56. In the last minute of the game, Darius Polley scored a three to put the Saints up 68-65 with less than 25 seconds on the clock, but Dodge City’s Brett O’Neil tied the game at 68 with 10 seconds to go.
After driving the ball all the way back down the court, Tyreke Sharp was fouled and shot two free throws to give the ­Saints the last lead they needed to win the game 70-68.