MHS students choose homecoming royalty
The glowing stadium lights at Leonard Cole Field provided an opportune setting for this year’s Marshalltown High School Homecoming Coronation themed “Light Up the Night.”
The ceremony followed a traditional parade on Main Street – only the second one in four years due to the 2018 tornado and the COVID-19 precautions.
Marshalltown High School Counselor Valere Corson, who is also co-advisor of the student senate, said it has been exciting to get back to school traditions after an abridged celebration in 2020.
“There was a coronation last year during the pregame Friday on the track in front of the stadium. We had a ‘modified’ version of our traditional ceremony,” Corson said.
With an estimated 500 to 600 community members and students in attendance, the MHS student body voted Rochelle Avalos as queen and Dominick Garth king for homecoming.
The honor was passed down to Avalos and Garth by last year’s school royalty Milagros Barajas and Sergio Zaragoza. Zaragoza goes to Kirkwood Community College and Barajas is at Iowa State, studying kinesiology.
“It feels kind of weird to be back but I see a lot of familiar faces so it’s nice to be back and see my family too,” Barajas said.
New homecoming queen Avalos is involved with the Math team, National Honor Society, Chess club and Mentors in Violence Prevention.
“It feels really good. Everyone cheering for you and just all the excitement going on just gives you kind of a rush,” Avalos said.
Garth, this year’s king, felt nervous and does not normally like to be the center of attention. He is the starting running back for the Bobcat football team and also plays defensive line.
“I’m nervous about tomorrow but I know we can pull out the W because I’ve got some good teammates that are ready to play with me,” Garth said.
The homecoming court also included:
Queen candidates: Bianca Andrade, Lisbeth Avina, Phoebe Hermanson, Jennifer Mendoza, Kendall See and Rachel Smith.
King candidates: Austin Close, Marco Herrera, Emmanuel Gonzalez, Aaron Seberger, Ziek Slocum and Gannon Williams.
With the crowning of a new queen and king, the stage is set for Friday’s 7:30 p.m. homecoming game against Fort Dodge. The Bobcats will go into the game with a 1-2 record following last week’s loss to Newton. Fort Dodge brings an undefeated 3-0 record.
The week will conclude with the homecoming dance in the MHS cafeteria from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday. Some COVID-19 precautions are encouraged during the dance, such as masks, taking fresh air breaks and not dancing in a large group.
Corson said while they are taking provisions to address COVID she feels there is a heightened sense of anticipation amongst students.
“So far ticket sales are trending to be higher than in past years. I believe overall students are just overly excited to have the dance and resume our normal homecoming traditions,” she said.
Contact Austin Chadderdon at news@timesrepublican.com.