Sydney Harrell organizing our Tape and Array box for the run!

During a short stop in Eupora, we let these two girls sit in the car!

Sundancer II starting its journey from Carrollton back to Houston!

While leaving out of Maben, our car was pulled over for speeding!....Just Kidding!! After the long day's run, we pulled over to charge Sundancer II and an officer of Maben stopped to see our car!

When we arrived back at the school, we surprised Hillary Colbert with a party and birthday cake! We forgot plates or utensils so we used a box cutter to cut the cake and coffee filters for plates!

Monday, June 21, we took Sundancer II on a training run to Carrollton, MS! We met bright and early at 6:30 that morning to start charging Sundancer II for the day's run! (We found out a few of our members aren't exactly morning people!) Our run lasted until five that afternoon, and our team stayed at the school to re-charge the car and to celebrate Hillary Colbert's 16th birthday!!

Training Run!

Karmen Spratlin was our first driver of the day!

Hillary Colbert trying to catch a breeze in the summer heat...She wasn't very successful!

Making a 15 minute stop at Smokies to change drivers and charge our car!

Unloading Sundancer II after a lunch stop at Wendy's in Fulton!

The team getting the car ready to resume our training run!

After we arrived back at the school, we let Sundancer II re-charge from the 50 mile run!

June 18, we took an all day training run to Fulton, MS! After we arrived back at the school, we let our car charge untill dark and had a team meeting about the day's run. We also discussed the upcoming race, which is only 26 days away!!

"The Girls" finding the best spot to start charging Sundancer II!

Simulating an actual day in the race, we placed cones around Sundancer II while it was charging and put Catherine Marsh on watch duty!

Suzy Reese taking the car for a test run!

Mr. Reese driving Sundancer II around the school!.....I think he needs a taller car!!

Thursday, June 16, our girls team met to test drive Sundancer II to make sure it would be ready for our upcoming training run close to the Alabama state line and to practice any skills that will be necessary for this years race, including positioning the solar car so it can receive the most sun! Mr. Reese also drove the car but had a little difficulty fitting as you can see in the picture above!

Tuesday June 8, our team met to finish building the body on Sundancer II! Before we started we had a brief meeting about the fast approaching race and decided to arrive a day early so we can go to Six Flags!! We had a successful night and finished the body in under two hours!

Dr. Mobley started the presentation of by telling the students a little about our team and by introducing all of the members!

Team sponsor Anita Ellison shared stories from previous Hunt-Winston solar challenges and also from the World Solar Challenge in Australia!

Nolen Hood talked to the students about our team this year and about building Sundancer II!

Our team posed with a couple of the teachers from North Pontotoc!
We would like to thank everybody at North Pontotoc for inviting us to come speak, we had a blast!!

Karmen Spratlin, Adam Chandler, and Reagan Byrne checking the air pressure in Sundancer II's tire!

Karmen Spratlin getting the girls' tool box ready for the race this summer

Whitney George organizing tools while Hillary Colbert cuts out foam circles to go on our car!

Hillary Colbert and Whitney George sawing pieces of foam to put on our car!

With the race only two months away, our team has been working extra hard to get our cars race ready! We are putting the finishing touches on Sundancer II and have starting organizing our tool boxes and arranging our tools in preparation for the race!

Jay Alford and Hillary Colbert measuring the car to see how much foam board we'll need while Reagan Byrne and Hunter Powell practice aligning the tires!

Hillary Colbert starting to cut the first piece of foam board....How do you like her hot pink box cutter?!

Putting the first piece of foam board on Sundancer II :)

This week we have started the process of attaching foam board to Sundancer II. We have been getting the measurements of the car and have starting cutting out pieces of the foam board. We are extremely excited to start seeing our car have a more finished look after months of hard work! After we have completed adding the foam board, we will finally finish Sundancer II by applying the graphics which will include the logos of all of our sponsors!

The team raising Sundancer II's array so it can start charging!

Sydney Harrel and Elise Mobley practicing aligning the tires!

Karmen Spratlin and Whitney George securing the array down before taking Sundancer II inside after charging while being supervised by Mrs. Turman's grandson Grayson!

Jay Alford holding up Sundancer II's array while Will Turman helps Thomas Brown get ready for the day's training run!

Last Sunday, April 25 our team met to train for the upcoming race to Golden, Colorado! The girls and guys trained separately. The guys took a training run around Houston while the girls stayed at the school to practice aligning and changing the tires as well as other skills that will be needed for the race this summer!!

Getting to Know the Team

Having a competitive car is obviously a major factor in solar car racing, but the team racing the car is what truly makes a team capable to win races. We thought we would give you a little insight into the lives of our team members. Even though solar car takes up a lot of time,all of the members of our team find time to participate in other extra-curricular activities. These other activities include cross country, BETA, Anchor, tennis, cheerleading and golf.

Thomas Brown is a member of the Anchor, Volunteer, and Charity club.

Catherine Marsh is in Anchor and Beta club, is an HHS Diamond Girl, and in FCA.

Suzy Reese is in FCA, an HHS Diamond Girl, runs Cross Country, and is a part of the community theatre.

Hunter Powell is involved in FCA, Anchor Club, BETA Club, and runs Cross Country.

Reagan Byrne is a member of the BETA and Anchor Club, an HHS Diamond Girl, the Spirit Club, and run Cross Country.

Jay Michael Alford is a member of FCA and the BETA Club.

Nick Callahan is an Anchor and BETA Club member, a member of the Golf Team, and in the Cars Club.

Will Turman is on the Tennis Team and in the Wildlife and Fisheries Club.

Nolen Hood is a member of Anchor and FCA.

Hillary Colbert is a member in Anchor, BETA, and the Spirit Club; also, she recently became a big sister to Kaylee Alivia.

Sydney Harrell is a member of the BETA, Spirit Club, and in the community theatre.

Elise Mobley participates in cheerleading, BETA, is an HHS Diamond Girl, and is in the community theatre.

Whitney George is a high school cheerleader, a tennis player, runs cross country, in the Spirit, Anchor, and BETA Clubs, and participates in Houston Community Theatre.

Karmen Spratlin is a high school cheerleader, a member of the Anchor, BETA, and Spirit Clubs, a Houston Diamond Girl, runs Country, and also participates in the Houston Community Theatre.

Spring Training!!

Thomas Brown showing off his smile before zooming off in Sundancer!!

Stopping to make a quick driver change in Sundancer!

The girls taking Sundancer II out of the shop to start charging for the training run!!

Sunday, April 11, our team took Sundancer and Sundancer II on a training run through Houston! The guys and girls trained separately with the guys using Sundancer and the girls training with Sundancer II. Both cars simulated different scenarios that could happen at the race including flat tires and Code Blues (emergency). We are pleased with how well the training run went and love seeing our team improve with each run we take!

The PLC Special Project Class from ICC working with our team and learning about the cars!

Reagan Byrne and Hillary Colbert acting as Whitney George's brakes as she zooms around campus!

A close up of our back tire after Sundancer II accidently ran through a huge mud puddle!

Clay McNutt from ICC paid our team a visit this week and brought a few of his students from the PLC Special Projects Class to work with the cars!! Lately we have been putting the finishing touches on Sundancer II and have started testing it for any problems! We are getting closer and closer to fininshing our car and can't wait to start training runs!

Three Day Training Run!!

With the Hunt-Winston Solar Challenge swiftly approaching, our team has started planning several training runs!! We will soon be taking a three day training run to Meridian to give the team a taste of what the cross-country race from Dallas, Texas, to Golden, Colorado, will be like this summer! We are still discussing dates but plan to go on the run in either April or May!