![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
Talents come in different sizes shapes and forms; you may be be able to sing like there is no tomorrow, break out a dance that is worthy of attention, or make an audience laugh until they feel as if they could die. America’s Got Talent gives every person who believes they are talented the chance at fame.
“Our talent is to train ordinary rabbits to hop through obstacle courses,” Abbie Stout, freshman, said. “I received my rabbit a few years ago have been training it to jump through hoops and crawl under tunnels with treats and words of encouragement.”
Stout tried out for AGT with the seven other members of her 4H Club, a group that trains rabbits to hop their way through obstacle courses. They made the decision to try out when the producers of the show saw a video of them Rabbit Hopping at the Clackamas County fair a few years back and called to say that they really wanted the 4H club to audition. On Dec. 1, they went to the Oregon Convention center to try to earn a spot in the 2013 season of AGT.
“Because the producers of the show had asked us to audition, when we got to the convention center we got to skip the mile long line that everybody was waiting in and go right into the building,” Stout said. “It was pretty sweet.”
“In fact, I would have to say that my favorite part of trying out was watching the puzzlement and envy of the other contestants faces as we were allowed to bypass them. It kind of felt like fast passing a ride at Disneyland, while everybody else had to wait in hour lines it was like we only had to wait in 10 minute lines,” she said.
Stout is optimistic about moving on to the next round of AGT. “The producers seemed to really take to us,” Stout said. “They commented on how cute the bunnies were and asked a bunch of questions, like how long we had been doing it and what the bunnies names were.”
In order to go as far as they can in the AGT competition, Stout and the 4H club will work hard and use everything that they possible can to their advantage. They have made it past stage one of the Audition process and now they are about to enter stage two which is where they audition in front of the actual judges instead of the producers. The 4H club intends to up their game in the AGT competition.
“We will continue to make new obstacles courses for the rabbits and use our cuteness to our advantage,” Stout said.
“If I were to win AGT I would split the money evenly with the rest of the 4H club of course and then I would save the money I would get for college” Stout said. “ I would also perform in front of thousands of people and make lots of money.”
