Thursday, January 18, 2018 • Vol. 53, No. 35 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1
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Pisani leaving Stoner Prairie Principal reassigned to district office at end of school year SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Sebastian Marko/ Red Bull Content Pool
Verona Area High School graduate Caylie O’Neil, member of the United States team, performs during the time trials at the third stage of the ATSX Ice Cross Downhill World Championship at the Red Bull Crashed Ice in St. Paul, Minn. on Feb. 3, 2017.
On crashed ice
VAHS graduate O’Neil enjoying new ‘extreme’ sport JEREMY JONES Sports editor
An online video sparked her interest, but it was seeing the Red Bull Crashed Ice race two years ago in St. Paul, Minn., that inspired Caylie O’Neil to actually try the sport. The sport, created and managed by energy drink company Red Bull, is similar to ski cross and snowboard cross, except with ice skates on an ice track instead of skis or snowboards on a snow track. With an X Games feel, it’s as much bravado as it is skill. “Riders” race down towering ice tracks lined with obstacles (jump, drops and turns) at speeds of up to nearly 50 mph. O’Neil, a 2011 VAHS graduate who moved to St. Paul in 2015, distinctly remembers turning to her dad and his wife during the race and saying, “Next year, you will be here watching me.” That was as much a promise to her family as it was to O’Neil, who was “simply in awe of their bravery and skill” and joined the sport based on her “gut feeling.” The former two-time Verona Area High School state track and field qualifier dove headlong into the sport and traveled to Austria for her first Riders Cup race last season, in December
shot at getting there.” This weekend (Jan. 19-20), the 24-year old graphic designer will be competing in her new hometown Red Bull Crashed Ice again, back at the Cathedral of St. St. Paul Jan. 19-20 Paul, the backdrop of the Crashed Ice Downhill event in Minnesota. Jyvaskyla Feb. 3 The series of races is expected to Marseille Feb. 16-17 brings millions of dollars in revenue Edmonton March 9-10 to St. Paul, just weeks before Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. It features Riders Cup more than 100 men and women from Wagrain-Kleinarl, Austria Dec. 16 around the world racing four at a time. Crans-Montanta, Switzerland Jan. 12-13 Nearly 100,000 people attended the event last year on Saturday alone. Saint Petersburg, Russia Jan. 27 “It was pretty unreal coming Saariselka, Finland Feb. 10 full-circle and competing in St. Paul,” Bloomington, Minn. Feb. 24 O’Neil said. “With all of the other races happening in other countries La Sarre, Canada March 3 and time zones, it was awesome to have my family there supporting and 2016. She finished 10th of 12 women, cheering me on, as well as getting to which was good enough to qualify for show them just what I had been workthree events: in Marseilles, France, in ing so hard for.” Jyvaskyla, Finland, and back in St. Learning the sport Paul. “I really don’t think my dad took The majority of athletes who have me seriously when we were at the picked up the sport came to it from event,” O’Neil said, noting it hap- a hockey, skiing or extreme sports pened to be on her birthday weekend. background. “I’m not quite sure how long after the Seven-time event winner Jasper event it took him to figure out that I Felder of Sweden, for example, was a was serious, but I’m guessing not too long. Once I put my mind to someTurn to O’Neil/Page 12 thing, I’ve generally got a pretty good
Race schedule
Stoner Prairie Elementary School will have a new principal for the 2018-19 school year. Mike Pisani, who began at the school in fall 2013, announced Wednesday in a letter to parents and staff that he had requested Pisani a reassignment and superintendent Dean Gorrell had approved a change. Beginning July 2, Pisani will work in the central office providing support on data and assessment, student
services, professional development services and other duties that remain to be determined, according to his letter. Pisani thanked families at the school for their support during his time at the school, and wrote that his “commitment to the children of our district and their success remains steadfast” in his new role. “I am so very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as the principal of Stoner Prairie Elementary School and to work alongside you and our wonderful staff on behalf of all of your children,” Pisani wrote. “As I reflect on the work we have done over the last four and a half years as well as Stoner Prairie’s future, I believe the time is right for everyone for a new leader.” Pisani’s time at the
Turn to Pisani/Page 14
A new building project McGilvray turns attention to home life after 14 years on council JIM FEROLIE Verona Press editor
After 14 years of “building” a city with strong finances, infrastructure and public safety, Mac McGilvray has turned his attention to a different sort of construction project – his new home. T h e f o rmer alder and council McGilvray president moved to the Town of Verona in December, just blocks away from his previous home, which made
Turn to McGilvray/Page 13
McGilvray file Age: 53 Family: Wife Kim, children Kade 21, Makenna 19, Kieran, 15 Occupation: Superintendent at 1848 Construction Education: Medical training at U.S. Air Force, carpenter’s apprenticeship Hometown: Spokane, Wash. Moved to Verona: 1998 Why? I wanted to build a house, my wife is from Verona. Wanted to be closer to family. What do you do for fun? I watch my kids’ sports. That’s pretty much my life, my kids activities is what we’ve done for our free time. That’s because every other free moment has been the city.
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