Governor's Scholar Recipient // Claudio Maciel

On Sunday, April 28, Claudio Maciel (pictured in blue) was honored for his academic performance at the Governor's Scholar Recognition Ceremony held in Des Moines. This is the 11th annual ceremony that is put on by the Governor's Office, the Iowa High School Athletic Association, and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.

Claudio was selected for the award based on his high academic achieving as a member of the class of 2014. Additionally, he participates in a variety of school activities and is a leader on this year's track team. Beyond those things, he is also a member of Woodward Academy's student government, being an Executive Knight on campus. After receiving the award, Claudio posed for a picture with Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds and celebrated with his fellow Phase 5 roommates and key educational staff that have supported him at the reception.

Drake Relays

Woodward Academy athletes competed in the high school portion of the Drake Relays this past weekend, for the first time since 2007. The annual event held at Drake Stadium brings elite collegiate and professional talent to central Iowa in one of the preeminent track events in the country. This year, Darius Scott-Crayton competed in both the 110 hurdles along with the 4x100 relay. Darius is a returner and state qualifier from last year and is leading the charge this year as well for the Knights. Darius was joined by Kaelin King, Rashaun McGee, and Victor Fuller in the 4x100 relay. Together, they ran their fastest time of the year at 44.77.

Woodward Academy had more invested in the Drake Relays than just these two events. Four former students also qualified for the relays as well, now at their home schools. Josh Sparks ran the 110 hurdles, Warren Krieg in the 4x100 relay, Yarrell Fisher in the shuttle hurdle relay, and Anfernee Frazier in the 4x100 relay. Later this year, all of the athletes hope to compete again at Drake Stadium as it is home to the Iowa high school state meet, this year held May 22-24.

College Course Update

In March, we wrote a story about 3 Knights who started taking an online college Intro to Business course from Iowa Central Community College. You can read the story here. The courses were paid for from the Knights Scholarship Fund and served as a great way for the students to earn college credit as well as get a pulse of the workload the college classes require. We are happy to have an update on that story with all three students completing the course early. They each earned a B and all have voiced an interest to continue their collegiate education after Woodward Academy.

Knightly Knews Volume 29 is now online!

The latest edition of the Knightly Knews is now online and you can access it by clicking here. As a .pdf document, you can view or download the quarterly publication to your computer, iPad, or smartphone for easy reading. Some highlights in this edition include:

- WA Alum competes in the USATF National Championships
- Preview of the Knights Scholarship Golf Outing
- Powerlifting Nationals
- Guide to Clinical Services
- Knights Basketball
- Staff Profile
- Knowledge Bowl

We hope you have a chance to check it out and enjoy the read.

USAPL Nationals // Video

USAPL Nationals // Celebration at Cowboys Stadium

On Saturday after the competition, the team traveled north to Dallas and spent the day touring AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL Cowboys. At a cost of $1.3 billon dollars, owner Jerry Jones spared no expense to create the most impressive stadium in the world. One of the many attractions is the largest video screen in the world, which is 60 yards long and 7 stories high. You can read more on the stadium here and here. Since opening in 2009, the stadium has hosted some of the largest events in the United States including the NBA All-Star game, Super Bowl, and mega concerts by U2 and George Straight, all in addition to being host to the Dallas Cowboys. When the Knights toured, the stadium was being renovated to host the NCAA men's basketball Final Four.

During the tour, the team got to see press row, a luxury box, and even the Dallas Cowboys locker room where they took the team photo pictured. The tour guide was very knowledgable and recited amazing stats throughout the tour. If you've never been to the stadium, it truly is unlike any other in the world and was very cool to see.

USAPL Nationals // Competition

The 2014 USA Powerlifting High School National Championships were held in Killeen, Texas, March 28-30. The Woodward Academy Knights walked into the meet as 8-time defending team National Champions and over the past 9 years have crowned 20 individual champions. Killeen was the host of WA’s first trip to Nationals in 2004 and was also the home of their 5^th team title in 2009.

The powerlifting season began in November and followed the same road to the Nationals as previous years. There were two meets in Nebraska and WA’s home qualifying meet prior to Nationals. Those meets served as good preparation for the larger meet, but also were needed in order for the lifters to qualify for Nationals.

After the break, see how WA performed at Nationals.