By Tristan Jackson

Four sectional titles, four regional titles, and two trips to the state finals.

The recent success of the boys tennis team in the last four years is hard to miss, and there has been one constant: senior leader Bradley Cross.

One can’t talk about the tennis program without mentioning Cross, especially after the perseverance he showed this season. He managed to hold down the No. 1 singles spot all season despite suffering a sprained MCL late in the season.

“Knowing that there are always kids that are better than me, and that I will have to improve to beat, is what pushes me to be better,” Cross said.

The poise and leadership Cross showed this season can’t be understated. He will have a lasting impact on the tennis program, paving the way for the next generation of stars here at Jeff.

“He’s helped the whole team get better by pushing us everyday,” said freshman tennis player Gavin Lone “that makes it fun to play for Jeff.”

Cross doesn’t just get it done on the courts, but in the classroom too. He earned Academic All-State both his junior and senior years. Even after all the success playing, according to Cross  Academic All-State is still one of the accomplishments he is most proud of.

Unfortunately, Cross’ career at Jeff came to an end after a 4-1 loss to Reitz Memorial High School in the first round of semi-state this year. However, this came after his team’s two amazing comeback wins during Regionals, pulling out wins against rivals Floyd Central and New Albany.

In the Regional semifinal, though, is where Cross did his best orchestration.

Cross, still noticeably hobbled by a knee injury suffered earlier in the year, had a deciding third set against Floyd Central’s No. 1 player, Chris Boone.

With the overall match knotted at 2-2, Cross and Boone were the last two players on the court. Cross had to win for his team to advance in the state tournament.

After a hard fought match on both sides, Cross came out on top and won the match for his team, beating Boone 6-4 in the deciding third set. This win is a perfect example of the mental toughness he showed throughout his career at Jeff.

“He brings to the table what all coaches want to have, he knows there is no ‘I’ in team,” former JHS tennis coach Mark Reilly said.

Cross is determined to be the best tennis player he can be, and he will continue to prove it next year. He will be making the transition from high school to college tennis this coming summer, where his talents have landed him a spot on the tennis team at Indiana University Southeast.

While Cross is looking ahead, his time playing at JHS will always be remembered. However he, along with many others, look back at a tough loss against North Central in the semifinal round of the state finals in 2015 as a moment he wishes he could relive.

Bradley Cross has been a staple of the tennis program at Jeff High over the last four years. His talent and work ethic are matched by few, and his presence will be irreplaceable. 

Story by Tristan Jackson

The 2016 presidential election process is winding down, and some people are basing their decision on who they think is the least awful out of the two candidates at the top, rather than what they find positive about them.

My question is, why are we not seriously considering a third-party candidate? More specifically, why not a Green Party candidate like Jill Stein?

Stein, a Harvard graduate, finished medical school in 1979. She also earned a Bachelor’s in Psychology in 1973, earning Magna Cum Laude honors the same year.

Stein got her start in politics when she ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002. Her experience came from her time working as a doctor, where she saw how broken the health care system had become.

She got into politics because she feared for the future of her children, and other children, because of preventable epidemics, such as diabetes and cancer. On top of that, she feared for the irreversible damage being done to the environment.

Being a Green Party candidate, one of Stein’s main focuses is the environment. She plans on moving towards clean renewable energy, such as wind and solar, to conserve the earth we live on, and hopefully reverse damage already done from the overuse of fossil fuels and coal.

The plan she has laid out would create millions of jobs in the United States, and if all goes according to plan, Americans would be 100-percent transitioned to renewable energy by 2030.

She wants to cut defense spending by 50-percent, where the United States spent a whopping $598.5 billion in 2015 alone. To put that number into perspective, defense spending accounted for 54-percent of all federal spending, while education received just under $70 billion, or just 6-percent.

Stein also has big plans socially, as she wants to strengthen women’s rights, protect the LGBT community, and make sure corruption within our police system is stopped.

This may leave one wondering: why is Jill Stein not on top of the polls? She’s never been labeled a racist. She’s never put our national security at risk. She’s never said anything demeaning about someone because of their gender, or any other physical quality.

There has to be some reason why people are gambling on two potentially awful candidates while Jill Stein, probably the most put-together candidate in the race, is virtually out of the running.

Voters can blame many things, but if Jill Stein was in the news more, she’d probably stand a better chance. There’s not a lack of news produced by Stein herself — the problem is she hasn’t been in the news enough for most people to even know what she stands for.

Jill Stein, a candidate for president, was forced to leave the site of the first debate for holding an interview. That doesn’t sound like a lack of media coverage to me, but rather media corruption.

Thanks to the media in our country, Jill Stein will lose. It’s really a shame that a women who’s main focus is making sure our world is livable in the future, can’t even get her foot in the door of the race or a debate.

We should be looking at our first female president in the United States come next January, and it shouldn’t be Hillary Clinton. If change and sustainable growth are what you’re looking for, Jill Stein is the way to go.