Fall Sports Rundown
By: Amanda Caldwell and Manuel Martin
Fall sports have been an eventful time here at MHS.  The football, golf, volleyball, cross country, and swimming teams have shown much general improvement and have also met many goals made at the beginning of their seasons.  Hurricane Wilma has unfortunately changed the end of season schedules for some sports, but MHS athletics have pulled through regardless.
The football team has had a season of rebuilding and improvement.  Head coach Lance Martin said the team has done “the best we can.”  Winning two games and losing four, the remainder of the season still waits for the completion of rescheduling due to Hurricane Wilma cutting into the end of the season.  A game against Keys rival, Coral Shores has been postponed, with chances of it being cancelled, due to other games CSHS must play for district status.  The MHS football team has not made it to playoffs this year, simply because they did not win enough games.  Defensive players worthy of recognition include Andrew Hunt, Adam Ross, Justin Bruland, Ryan Irwin, Will Dorleus, Bubba Murphy, Mason Ellis, Fernando Taylor, and Tyrell Williams.  Among these players, Hunt, Bruland, Irwin, and Ellis shone, recording more than 40 combined tackles, assists, and sacks for the season.
Golf, once again coached by Chris Rieman and Clint Clement, was also a season of progression and learning.  Jay Hegland’s performance contributed greatly to the season, as a sophomore, he will no doubt improve his game each year.  Our Dolphins in the water, the MHS swim team having the “minimum to even compete legally”, have had a straightforward season.  According to the coach, Miss Russell, the team could not qualify for even a placing, as that would require thirty kids, about a dozen short of what they have.  Melanie Boyd proved a strong swimmer and could secure a District Title for Marathon in the 100 Freestyle or in the Breaststroke events.
Although football and golf have not had their best seasons, it seems other teams did their best in years.  The Lady Fins volleyball team has remained undefeated in the Keys.  Outside of the island chain, the team showed dominance over many Miami teams, Westminster Christian among them.  The girls ended the season with a 14-9 standing and a 2-5 rank in District play.  The team was aided in many of its wins by the abilities of their leaders on the court, seniors Melissa Sanchez and Hope Miller.  Alexis Culver, Jasmine Davis, Lulu Smith, Abi Meyer and Jessica Brier also proved to be essential players at various hard times throughout the season.
On October 18, the MHS Cross-country team competed in a 5K run as part of the Monroe County Cross-Country Championship.  The boys placed second and the girls placed third overall.  Cody Tipler placed third, with a time of nineteen minutes and thirty-five seconds. Jimmy Jensen also did well, placing fifth with a time of nineteen minutes and fifty-two seconds.  For the girls, Mackenzie Keller earned third place with a time of twenty-five minutes and nineteen seconds.  Marquieta White took home fourth place with a time of twenty-five minutes and forty-four seconds.  Cross-country regional districts will be held November 5, and with leaders like Keller and Tipler, the team’s hopes of improving their individual times seems within reach. 
This winter MHS can be looking forward to a shift in sports to soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, and tennis.  Conditioning and regular practices have begun for soccer, softball, and baseball.  The outlook for the remaining sport teams is a bright one, as these teams have at least the benefits of better weather.

“Halloween Night”
By: Gabe Sanchez
It seemed to be another ordinary Halloween night; Aviation was packed with hundreds of young trick-or-treater while Shark drive and Harbor were over run with teenagers covered in shaving cream and eggs.  The bright full moon hovered overhead watching over its night children, but tonight a solid black line encircled the glowing sphere.  The air was thick and wet, as it always was in the Keys, but tonight it was accompanied by a strong wind from the ocean.  The gusting wind from howled throughout the cold, steel portables and swayed the tall brush.  From behind the stairs of P1 two shadows emerged and quickly darted around the corner.  The sounds of giggling and laughter echoed quietly and broke the midnight silence.
“Cody, stop messing around, you’re starting to scare me!” whined Emmy.  But her words were met with silence and as if by magic Cody was nowhere to be found.  Her smile quickly turned to concern and she tip-toed out of the shadows and into the warm moonlight.
The cool breeze sent shivers up Emmy’s spine as she wondered the high school.  A soft moan could be heard in the distance – she disregarded it.  The demonic screams and moans grew louder as Emmy continued.  Emmy reached a dead end after taking a left in the main walkway, turned around, and suddenly found herself paralyzed.  Directly in front of her, but off in the distance, was a tall, softly swaying shadow.  Her eyes examined the figure for a few seconds before she let out a timid whisper.
“…Cody… is that you?” silence filled the air.  The figure began to move slowly toward her.  Emmy’s heart began to thump louder and deeper.  A small plume of warm air managed to escape her partially opened lips and could be seen in the cold, dark sky.  Subconsciously she knew that something wasn’t right, that the person walking toward her wasn’t Cody.  The silhouette slowly hobbled ahead, arms at its side, eyes fixed dead ahead.  The angle of the moonlight didn’t allow for Emmy to clearly see the person, but she could make out its two red glowing eyes.  Her heart now pounded in her chest and sweat accumulated on her brow.  The figure was now close and she was trapped in the corridor.  With desperate haste, Emmy turned and climbed up on the wooden handrail.  Her only chance to escape was to jump from the handrail to the chain link fence five feet away.  The silhouette sent out a loud scream and lunged for her ankles.  Its grasp met air though as Emmy leaped to the fence, narrowly escaping and barely hanging on.  Her dress snagged and ripped on the fence a bit, and her bare feet ached climbing down.  She quickly ran across the parking lot and was finally safe.  She leaned forward panting, arms on her legs, and coughed hard.  The cold air stung her lungs and it became hard to breathe.  She slowly began to tilt back but was caught in Cody’s arms.  When she finally regained consciousness her eyes were met with familiar surroundings – her room.  She gasped and quickly shot up.
“Whoa, whoa, slow down.  You need to rest,” said Cody.  He sat down at the edge of the bed and fidgeted quietly.
“What the heck happened Cody, where did you go tonight? Someone tried to attack me and you …”
The lights flickered.  Then darkness engulfed her room.  Emmy found herself stunned, paralyzed with fear, for all she could make our in the blackness were two glowing red eyes at the edge of her bed.

Homecoming: The Tradition
By: Yessenia Crespo
HOMECOMING … it’s the time of the year that students of MHS look forward to.  It’s a full week of fun and excitement, as kids show their school spirit.  This year the spirit week went as follows – Matching Monday, Turn-back Tuesday, Western Wednesday, That’s-My-Team Thursday, and finally, Friday was dripping in blue and gold for Spirit Day.  It was wonderful and refreshing to see how the students and staff dressed up for each day.  Many students will agree that spirit week is not always fun and games; there is a stiff float competition.  The floats represent each grade and are a big part of the Homecoming experience.  Each class chooses a theme and has a few weeks to build their float from scratch.  It’s a lot of work, but the end result is one that shows how creative each class is and how well they work together.  The floats are then lined up and displayed for the first time to the public and other students in the Homecoming Parade, which was held October 6, 2005.  The float winner is announced at half-time during the Homecoming football game, along with the crowning of the MHS Homecoming King and Queen.  This year the seniors won the float building contest with the juniors coming in second.  With much anticipation, the phrase “and your Homecoming King and Queen are…” was filled in with Michael Davis and Emmy Glinert.  Even with all that excitement, there was still another half of Dolphin football to finish.  MHS played Florida Christian and, unfortunately, lost but put up a good fight.  Despite the horrible condition of the field due to all the rain that morning, they went out there and played with their hearts.  All in all it was a wonderful and memorable Homecoming that concluded with a “Walk on the Wild Side” themed dance that Saturday night.

Student of the month
By Emmy Glinert
Nick D’Ascanio was born December 7^th 1987, and has been living in Marathon his whole life.
The little things in life he enjoys doing are playing soccer,diving, shell collecting, fishing, and just spending time with his friends.
Nick has been playing soccer since he was young. He has played for A.Y.S.O and the Varsity team for Marathon High since 7^th grade.
Like many other seniors he is looking into colleges, such as the University of Florida.
Nick was chosen as this months, student of the month from the math department.
He is taking AP American Government, Interns for Mrs. Meinke, AP Calculus, Team Sports, Physics Honors, and AP English. His tips to his fellow students are, “ Don’t procrastinate, do all the work, study hard for tests, and pray to God.”