The Longs

In elementary school, seniors Ellen and Holly Long tried all of the same activities, including soccer, orchestra, and band. The Longs have never stopped doing activities together.

The Long sisters have been playing music together for ten years. Ellen now plays violin and clarinet in school, and Holly plays the flute and viola. They both are in Girl Scouts and ring handbells together at their church.

When the Longs were younger, they would find ways to do activities jointly. They would play together since they didn’t have any other siblings, which they said led them to be very attached.

“We were always, always together,” Ellen said. “When we had to choose groups, we would be with each other. Even when we were in separate groups, we traded with someone else so we could be together.”

As they grew older, Ellen and Holly decided to branch out and choose separate activities. For example, Holly continued with soccer and Ellen tried fencing.

“When we were younger, I liked having Holly do [activities] with me because I always had someone I knew and someone I could work with,” Ellen said. “Now that I am older, I don’t need her as much.”

They both decided to continue with music classes because it was something they both enjoyed. However, Holly and Ellen appreciate different aspects of music.

“She doesn’t like to perform as much and I like performing,” Holly said. “She likes to listen, which has given her an appreciation for the music, but she doesn’t  want to play professionally.”

The sisters are going to the same college, but they plan to take their own paths. They are going to do a few activities together, such as music, but are going to take separate classes.

“We have some things that we both love, like handbells, and we are planning on doing that together, so it is just certain things we both want to do together and other things [one person] will just deviate from,” Holly said.

At first, Ellen thought that it would be strange not seeing her sister all the time, but she thought that the gradual change of activities they had would make the transition after high school much smoother.

“Sometimes I don’t remember she is my twin,” Holly said. “She is just my sister that I do a lot of things [with]. People always ask what it is like to be a twin, but I say I don’t know what it is like to not be a twin — I don’t know how to compare that.” 

The Frys

During first semester, sophomore Abby Fry and senior Chris Fry can be found nearly everyday after school working on debate — researching topics, giving speeches and having practice debates — the time adding up to nearly ten hours a week.

The Frys participate primarily in policy debate. They are given a new  topic each year and have to come up with arguments for both sides of any related issue. However, the argument is not about who is right — it is about who formulates their argument better.

“Debate is a game,” Abby said. “It is not a truth-seeking activity — you are just trying to win.”

The Frys compete on the varsity debate team in tournaments all over the country. Although they do not debate as a team due to their differing skill levels, they spend many of their weekends traveling to the same tournaments in cities such as Chicago and Las Vegas.

“We are not competitive with each other in debate,” Abby said. “He [Chris] is just ahead of where I am in his comprehension in debate. It would not be productive for us to try to compete with one another because he would always win.”

Chris agrees that experience is one of the best ways to get better at debate.

“I just win debates against her because I am older — [I’m] faster, better, know more things,” Chris said.

With just over half of the current varsity team graduating, Abby knows that she is going to have to take on more responsibility for the squad to continue reaching success.

“It is going to be kind of strange because all of the seniors do a lot of work [doing research] for the team, and there are a lot of them and they all play a pretty big role on our team, so filling those spots are going to be really challenging,” Abby said.

However, with more work comes improvement, and that is something that the seniors have set an example of.

“I’m looking forward to becoming better at debate, Abby said. “Chris is pretty good at debate. I would like to get to that level.”

The Shinkles

The varsity baseball game was about to start when freshman Brent Shinkle was told he was playing. This news meant that Brent was also going to play with his brother, senior Blake Shinke.

Blake and Brent have both played baseball since they were in elementary school, but due to their age difference, they had never played together before Brent was called to play in the varsity games this year.

“I thought it was a big surprise [being on the same team], Brent said. “Before this year, no freshman had been on varsity, and it was completely different from summer or fall [base]ball. It was a completely new experience.”

Blake and Brent typically play shortstop and second base, which are part of the middle infield. Since their positions are so close together, miscommunications can arise.

“We had a little argument over who should have covered the bag — that was one of the negative things,” Blake said. “But I like playing with him, and it is the first year I have gotten to, so that is definitely a positive thing.”

Brent has found that having an older brother on the team has made it easier to play with the varsity team because he already knows some of his teammates, including many of the seniors.

“I try to be a good leader for him,” Blake said. “It is just nice to have a sibling out there. Not many people get to have that experience.”

Blake has signed on to play baseball at the University of Kansas next year. The brothers can see themselves playing together again in college, but according to Blake, it is all up to Brent.

“I’ll push him to do more things, to do better,” Blake said. “It is always my goal.”

The Westroms

The Westrom sisters train, practice and play basketball together. They have an advantage over other players because they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and also can sometimes sense where the other is going to be on the court.

Junior Brooke Westrom and senior Taylor Westrom have played varsity basketball together for three years. They started playing together on a YMCA team, and throughout elementary, middle, and high school, have been placed on various rec, school and club teams together.

Sometimes, the sisters get put on opposing teams, but they try to avoid basketball competition between each other. This is partially avoided because they play separate roles on the team and are better at different aspects of the game. They also focus more on improving each other’s skills.

Taylor said one of the best thing about playing together was that they know each others strengths and weaknesses. She considers Brooke to be better at assisting while she is better at shooting. Since the sisters have played together for so long, often one sister will open up a shot for the other because she can predict where her sister is going to be.

“What I really like about basketball is the teamwork aspect, not just on the court but off the court,” Taylor said. “You get much closer with your team ,and it is just all the comradery and the winning and losing together. There is nothing else like it.”

Brooke and Taylor consider themselves a good team because they spend so much time together practicing, both inside and outside of school.

“Me and Taylor know each other so well,” Brooke said. “I know where she is going to be and she knows where I am going to be. I think it is easier playing with a person you know…We even each other out.”

The sisters have found that sometimes they will confuse opponents due to facial similarities.

“When we play against other teams, they are like “which one did you have?” and they get confused and it’s kind of funny,” Brooke said.

However, despite their similarities, the sisters each play an important role on the basketball team that is separate from the other.

“We are just two totally different players and I think we are together but separate,” Brooke said. “[We are] the Westrom sisters, but we play two totally different roles.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Photo by Donna Armstrong

Senior Taylor Westrom and junior Brooke Westrom have played basketball together since elementary school.