In their last opportunity, the senior class finally came away with a winning float at homecoming. Their Fantasyland-themed project took top honors along with princess, king and queen candidates, as well as the Eagle football team, Oct. 16.

The 25th annual homecoming, held at Clark Intermediate, featured a “happiest places on earth” theme, with classes using their floats to depict the regions of Disneyland.

The class of 2010s float featured Cinderella’s castle, a Matterhorn and “It’s a Small World” ride. Over 40 students dressed up as Disney characters to perform for the crowd during halftime.

The win is a first for the seniors, who say they faced several obstacles on their way to victory.

“I was in charge of the construction aspect of the senior float; Tatiana [Fontes] designed it. It was a frustrating process at times: we had a supply shortage, but we got it done in the end,” senior Ryan Swain said. “We desperately wanted to win because we’ve been robbed two different years, and we really wanted to pull ahead and take first.”

After overcoming a supply shortage and finishing the project, an unforeseen setback appeared on the morning of homecoming.

“The castle was a challenge, but the worst part was that this morning, one trailer had fence running down the wrong side; it was backwards,” Swain said. “So Kyle [Maddox]’s dad cut it off and Kyle and I went over there at lunch to help weld it on the right side.

“We cut it really close; we got to Kyle’s at one o’clock and arrived at the game late. But it was all worth it because we won. It was really awesome to beat the sophomores after being beaten last year.”

While a large portion of the senior class participated in the Fantasyland performance, the juniors took advantage of a conveniently located bystander for their Adventureland-themed float.

“I thought it would be awesome if Mr. [Mike] Fenton [math teacher] was on the float, so we pulled him on at the last second,” Ricky Lopez, ’11, said. “He didn’t know about it before, but he jumped on and was one of the tourists on the jungle cruise.”

Before the floats rounded the track, the homecoming court was announced and crowned. 2009 alumni Janae Ford and Scott Orcutt were on hand to congratulate the winners.

King winner Landon Martens was announced at the end of the king pageant during the school day, and Sarah Hollingsworth joined him as the homecoming queen.

Heather Lichti was the senior princess and Stefi Peck was crowned the freshman princess, with sophomore going to Mary Hierholzer and junior to Mary Reynolds.

“I was surprised [to win] because I didn’t think I was going to get it because I was nominated last year,” Lichti said. “It gets the school involved and it helps the underclassmen to know some of the upperclassmen. The pageant and the homecoming night were both fun; the pageant was ‘get dirty’ and homecoming was the complete opposite.”

After wrestling pigs in the queen pageant, Hollingsworth personified the opposite extreme while being crowned queen by Ford.

“I felt very proud and thankful for being a part of such a wonderful school that I love so much,” Hollingsworth said. “I feel weird because a queen should be perfect and I’m not perfect, but I’m excited to carry out the proper tasks.”

After participating in the homecoming court coronation, Hierholzer took her place as a band member on the sophomores’ New Orleans Square float, saying she relished her place on the second-place float.

“I love all the girls nominated, but it’s a great honor to be the class princess,” Hierholzer said. “Now I get to live out my ‘bando’ identity as the ‘trombone princess.'”

The sophomores, who took first last year, managed second, while the juniors took third and the freshman fourth with a Tomorrowland-themed float.

“The decision was very hard this year because all of the floats had really excellent aspects about them,” judge Molly Sargent said. “The seniors were really good because they had so many students on their float, and they were all in unique costumes.

“It was nice to see so many students involved. I think Dalton Jones [’10] deserves a special award for being a good sport in his toga costume.”

In the midst of cries of jubilation from the seniors, some juniors say they felt jilted by the results.

“We really put a ton of effort into the float,” Bree Ainley, ’11, said. “A lot of people thought we would get second. I’m pretty sure it was rigged because everyone loves those all-star sophomores.”

While many students were involved in assembling and performing on their floats, others continued weekly performances near the stands.

“I thought homecoming was fun. The guard performed and as always, the floats were tons of fun,” color guard member Megan Stewart, ’11, said. “It is always fun to perform when people are actually there watching the guard. It does not feel like we are just standing there when people are commenting on how cool some of our moves are.”

Many alumni were in attendance, visiting former principal Gary “Papa” Schultz in the alumni tent for a chat.

“When I started high school at FCS, the floats hadn’t even started yet,” ’85 alumna and senior Aaron’s mom, Christa Kroeker, said. “I come back to stay connected with my old friends. I hadn’t been to homecoming for awhile and then Aaron started high school. I thought it was a good homecoming, especially since the seniors won.”

Amid the wild activities of the night, the varsity football team fell behind the Riverdale Cowboys, 15-0. However, in the second half they came back to win the game 19-15. Newly crowned Martens rushed 33 times for 176 yards and a touchdown to lead the victory.

“A lot of us were more focused on the homecoming events than the game, so that makes it harder to play,” junior Alex Campana said. “It’s good for the fans, but it’s harder for us. It felt good to win, but we should have started out stronger. We wanted to give the fans a win and not lose on homecoming like we did last year.”

For more information, read the Oct. 6 article, Homecoming redefines Disneyland themes, or check out the photo page.

King Dance ’09 from from FC Video Productions

Queen Pageant ’09 from from FC Video Productions