Endzone | 2021–2022

ENDZONE ENDZONE SPORTS MAGAZINE • A REMARKER PUBLICATION • MAY 20, 2022

PAGE 6-7

Volleyball takes the SPC title, spearheaded by senior captains Miller Trubey, George Warren and Will Shoup.

PAGE 15

After many successul years in blue and gold, committed athletes from the Class of 2022 take a look ahead.

PAGE 20-21

This year’s record-breaking track squad breaks down their historic season for the Lions’ program.

FROM THE EDITORS T he two of us first stepped on the field together seven whole years ago at Scotland Yard, Highland Park’s varsity baseball field, before we even attended the same school — one of us a quiet, speedy outfielder and the other a nervous, lanky first baseman — as new players on a select baseball team.

Our voices were still too high, our bedtimes were still very early and our time playing sports was still relatively brief. And, frankly, we ended up being terrible — but we met many new people and got a few stories out of it nonetheless.

Then, it was basketball over the summer going into freshman year, this time in a Lions uniform — our first time meeting in years.

While it didn’t end up being the most successful summer (Peter received a concussion, which Toby was somehow given a double technical for), the two of us grew a lot closer with the people we played with and began to understand a little of what St. Mark’s sports are about Then, it was JV baseball our freshman year, where we spent time on and off the diamond learning lessons from upperclassmen about the game, school and the right way to eat sunflower seeds.

2 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

Then, we watched with all of our classmates as Stanford star and future NBA talent Harrison Ingram dominated nationallyranked athletes in the American Airlines Center.

Just a year later, we rushed the court

when Ingram and his teammates won SPC. Immediately after, we rushed the field after soccer took home yet another SPC championship.

We cheered on football together on live streams throughout the pandemic. We rushed the court for volleyball. Jumped around with sweaty, ecstatic cross-country guys as they hoisted the trophy above their heads this year.

We took turns playing center on JV basketball, despite the height discrepancy –– thanks coach Kahn and Crume.

We traveled to Austin and Houston for conference and state championships.

We spent Friday night after Friday night leaving campus with our voices completely shot after shouting ‘D-Up’ for hours.

And on and on and on.

There’s something uniquely connecting about sports. Something uniquely St. Mark’s.

The St. Mark’s capacity for extraordinary hard work. The St. Mark’s yearning to compete with every atom we can have. The St. Mark’s way of just getting it done.

Whether it be the field, court or pool, Marksmen work harder than anyone else, understanding that their efforts further a decades-long tradition of excellence and honor in the name of their classmates, teachers and younger Marksmen.

Now, we’re stepping off the baseball field for the last time together, and we’re starting to realize how immensely lucky we were to have the opportunity to be a part of that tradition.

So, here’s our farewell to that Blue and Gold we love so much — an ode to the incredible athletes and coaches that make Lions sports the remarkable thing it is. St. Mark’s School — we sing thy praise. ­—Peter Orsak, Toby Barrett Endzone editors

Table of Contents FALL

3

Cross Country

4-5

Volleyball

6-7

Football

8

Fencing

9

WINTER

10

Basketball

11

Soccer

12

Swimming

13

Wrestling

14

College Athletes 15 Alumni Athletes

16

SuperFanMen

17

SPRING

18

Lacrosse

19

Track & Field 20-21 Tennis

22

Golf

23

Baseball

24

Crew

25

Water Polo

26

From The Players 27

3

SPC titles

1

state title

FALL Volleyball — First Cross Country — First Football — Fifth

PUSHING THE LIMITS After losing their 2020 SPC tournament due to the pandemic, the cross country team came out fighting and finished on top.

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hey were the team supposed to win all season.

The fans knew it. The players knew it. The coaches knew it.

But living up to the hype was something the Lions knew would be a tall task.

Having won SPC in 2019 and with SPC in 2020 being canceled, the anticipation of their quest for back to back titles had to be put on hold. So the night before their final race, all the emotions from last year and this year came back.

But senior captain Sahil Dodda knew exactly how to calm his team down.

“We’ve worked really hard for this moment,” Dodda said. “It all comes down to this, but at the end of the day, I want everyone to know we have had a great season.

We should be proud of what we’ve done so far. Don’t let tomorrow define everything.”

On a cool November morning, the Lions put on their blue and gold uniforms and lined up behind the starting line. All the hard work the team had put in over the course of the season prepared them for this moment. And as the gun fired, all of the nerves and anticipation of the team went away. It was just a normal race.

Dodda ran neck-and-neck with the top runners and ultimately finished second. Watching many of his teammates break personal records and finish in great positions, Dodda was proud of the way his teammates raced.

With five finishers in the top 20, the Lions won the SPC championship, scoring 51 points, 41 points higher than second place finisher St. John’s. Winning two SPC championships in three years, the team is at the pinnacle of cross country accomplishment.

▪▪▪ During the summer, the cross country team welcomed new leadership and new players. In order to get strong team chemistry, senior captains led offseason workouts.

“In the offseason, we all tried to get our base mileage up,” Dodda said. “We all did a lot of easy long runs to get used to the pace. Every once in a while, we completed temple runs, which are three to four miles that help anaerobic capacity.”

For many runners, including junior Sky Park, going up north and practicing in the woods really helped the team improve.

“We had summer practices pretty much the entire summer,” Park said. “We also had Wimberley, which is a one-week meet out in Wimberley, TX. We brought the sophomores, juniors and seniors, and it was a really good bonding experience. We went on pretty tough runs out in the wilderness. Some people who were out of shape, like me, were able to get back into the swing of things while also building relationships with teammates.”

Some of those relationships, however, were built eveb after practices had ended.

“On Fridays, we would have ice baths after workouts,” Park said. “Those were really fun because all the guys got to sit around and talk with each other while also being in some really cold water.”

After many weeks of hard work, the team was ready to begin the regular season. Dodda realized that with all of the work the team put in and how close the team had gotten, they had a chance to accomplish a lot.

“We had a goal coming into this season to repeat,” Dodda said. “The summer workouts were a big step in

MEDAL WINNERS After this year’s North Zone race, seniors Sahil Dodda (left) and Fisayo Omonije (middle), along with sophomores Clark Cooper (left center), Asa McCaleb (right center) and Raja Mehendale (right) earned the title of All-Zone. Leading the team to an SPC championship, all five of these runners were also named All-SPC at the title race this fall.

achieving that goal. Not only did we get better as runners, but this was the first team I have been a part of where everyone knew each other and made an effort to know each other. This made it feel like it wasn’t a bunch of individuals running. Instead, we were all a team and were ready to work for each other.”

Throughout the season, the team went to many different cities to compete. They even got to travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas and compete in the Chile Pepper Festival at the University of Arkansas. Going on all of these trips were meaningful for the Lions, but Dodda believes one trip really sums up the season.

“The trip down to Houston was pretty big,” Dodda said. “We took 15 guys down to the Maverick Scramble, but I couldn’t race because I got sick that night. But everyone

BY THE NUMBERS

11 41 of

12

runners going under 18 minutes for a 5k

16:18.33

top cross country runners in SPC are on the team.

2nd

best 4A or smaller team in Texas

2nd best team in school history by average time (of top 5)

else pulled through and had a really good race. Coming back, we realized that if we could do well even if one of our top runners was out, we were going to be very dangerous down the stretch and at SPC.” For head coach John Turek, overcoming injuries and pushing through those periods of flux is crucial for the team and takes a lot of resilience.

“Every single person went through something on their own,” Turek said.

“Whether it was a mental slump or an injury, everyone had to overcome something and they always had a teammate to rely on and pick them up.”

As it came time for North Zone and the SPC championship, Turek knew he needed to keep his players composed and ready for the upcoming meets.

“I would always make sure the guys were calm before meets,” Turek said. “I told them, ‘Don’t think of it as SPC. Just go out there and do your job. Because if we do our job, we will win.’”

These words resonated with each player, and ultimately helped the team prepare for the two biggest meets of the season.

“Our mindset kept us on track during the last few weeks,” Park said. “Coach Turek told us to treat each week like we normally would. Even though we were the favorites, Coach Turek did a good job of calming us down and letting us know we would be ok.”

As the team culminated their season with the resounding SPC championship, Park can’t help but credit the support of the

Story Dillon Wyatt, Shreyan Daulat, Aaron Augustine Photos Lars Ochs

community for boosting them to victory.

“Going to Norbuck was a trip to remember,” Park said. “We had fans and members of the team who weren’t participating show up and cheer us on.

It gave us added confidence knowing the school was behind us to go win a championship. Actually winning the championship, too, was a great feeling to experience with the entire team.”

For the seniors, achieving their goal and winning SPC was special to them. But throughout their four years running for the Lions, the moments they will remember are ones that are often overlooked.

“Since it was my senior year, I really cherished the small moments,” Dodda said.

“Getting up in the morning to go to meets or to practice and hanging out with my teammates. Obviously, the meets were fun and winning an SPC championship was the goal, but I’m going to miss spending time with the guys and getting to bond with them.”

As the Lions prepare for next season and a potential three-peat, Park knows the leadership the seniors showed will help the juniors step up and the lead the way next year.

“The seniors did a really good job using their power to help guide the team in the right direction,” Park said. “Their positivity and willingness to help other players showed us how leaders should act. It was really fun having them be my captains this year, and I can’t thank them enough for helping lead us to the championship.”

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 5

WAITING TABLES Senior captain and Loyola University Chicago commit Miller Trubey serves a beauty.

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wo years in the making.

Ever since their heartbreaking loss to Trinity Valley back in the 2019 SPC championship, the Lions have been hungry for revenge.

But when the 2020 season was shortened to just six games, the team was forced out of another opportunity to take back the ‘chip.

“It was definitely frustrating,” varsity head coach Darren Teicher said. “Tristan Doan and Daniel Sanchez from our 2020 team were two of the best players I’ve ever coached here. They deserved to have a shot at redeeming themselves. They got screwed out of that, but like the rest of us, they just dealt with it. We couldn’t let that change how we approached this year. We knew we could be competitive, but you never really know. We had to go out and prove ourselves, just like any other year.”

Despite coming in as the third seed in North Zone, they swept through higherranked competition, meeting Trinity Valley in the final.

From there, with two years of builtup frustration running through their minds, the Lions took care of business.

▪▪▪

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS The volleyball team made it happen, redeeming a season that was essentially lost, claiming the glorious SPC championship.

6 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

Even though the team has been hit with several setbacks in recent years, through the tornado that swept through Hicks Gym and a pandemic-riddled 2020, Teicher approached this season like any other.

“My mindset is always the same: be as competitive as we can be,” Teicher said. “Coming off a season in which we only played six games was pretty frustrating. Most of the guys’ hearts just sunk for all those seniors who didn’t get an opportunity to end their careers with a chance at a championship. Coming into this year, we thought we were going to be competitive, but no one ever really knows for certain. I was just ready to go out the same as any other year.”

According to senior captain Miller Trubey, the team needed some time to adjust to the new season after a rather wild one the year before.

“We weren’t able to play a lot of games last season, so we came into this season inexperienced,” the Loyola University Chicago commit said. “There was just a lack of playing time from the team as a whole. Team chemistry comes with that ‘going to battle with the boys’ mentality, which we just didn’t have at the beginning of the season. But as we got used to playing with each other, things really started to come along. Every season has its ups and downs, and we were just fortunate to peak at the right time.”

Freshman middle hitter Jacob Lobdell

believes those ups and downs were very evident in the back half of the season.

“I felt like we were supposed to win SPC during the whole season,” Lobdell said, “and then we had a lot of times during the season where we just played terribly, like our Ft. Worth Country Day loss. We said we really need to stop messing around because we’re giving up easy games.”

Teicher thinks this loss also changed the team’s mindset going forward.

“I think we had a lot of physical talent on the team,” Teicher said. “Because of that, they just expected to win all the time. That loss was just a wakeup call — every single team is capable of beating us. I believe that was actually the best thing that happened to us because the guys’ mindsets definitely changed.

Everyone took stock of where we were in the season and decided where we needed to be better. We took every single match and every single point more seriously. That was the difference in the tournament. We didn’t screw around, and we took care of business.”

Despite this bump in the road, Trubey loved how everything came together by the end of the season.

“We just knew where everybody else was on the court,” Trubey said. “Playing with the guys for an entire season, you start to understand where they’re going to and what they’re able to do. We just played to each guy’s strengths. I think we were able to do that in SPC more effectively than other teams.”

While Trubey battled through a couple of injuries throughout the season, he was confident in his teammates’ abilities to get the job done when he struggled to play.

“I’m still growing into my body,” Trubey said. “As I get closer to seven feet tall, everything in my body is sort of moving and hurting all the time. But the boys took care of business when I wasn’t feeling well.

For example, my back was killing me in the SPC championship and [freshman] John Householder came out to serve and did awesome.”

In addition to Householder’s clutch serves, Lobdell also stepped up big all season long and especially in the SPC final.

“Jacob had been a starter throughout the season,” Teicher said. “He’s very experienced,

BY THE NUMBERS

CELEBRATION STATION Following a 3-1 victory at home over Trinity Valley School Sept. 17, the volleyball team jumps in happiness and joy with their Marksmen fans.

having played club volleyball in previous years and over the summer. He was just more seasoned all around from the start. And then he was just outstanding in the final. Everything he did was just on point.”

Teicher also believes that senior leadership was crucial to the overall success of the team.

“Their demeanor was probably the biggest thing,” Teicher said. “George Warren had a very even-keeled mentality throughout the whole season. He always owned his mistakes and made sure everyone moved forward no matter what. None of the senior captains made anyone feel like they were panicking. And Miller was simply a leader by example. He was head and shoulders, better than anybody else in the SPC.” Despite not being a favorite to win, Trubey and the rest of the team knew exactly what they were capable of from the start.

“Going into the SPC tournament as the third-seed,” Trubey said, “our coach told us that he had received word from some of the other coaches saying, ‘man y’all are having a Cinderella season, going all the way to the finals like this.’ But we all knew we were supposed to be in that spot the whole time. It might have been a rough road to get there, but we definitely deserved it.”

13-5 7-2 5 overall record

home record

Story Arjun Khatti, Keshav Krishna, Ben Adams Photos Sal Hussain

shutouts (games won 3-0)

‘

That loss was just a wakeup call — every single team is capable of beating us. I believe that was actually the best thing that happened to us because the guys’ mindsets definitely changed.”

— volleyball head coach Darren Teicher

SENIOR CAPTAINS: Miller Trubey Will Shoup George Warren

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 7

NEW COACH, NEW CULTURE

The Lions jumped out to a hot start under new head football coach Harry Flaherty, and finished the season with a winning record of 5-4. The team now looks to build upon their progress.

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he last five years of Lions football have been riddled with heartbreaking injuries, disappointing losses and various coaching changes. The team has produced a combined record of 14-21, falling short of the program’s goals and aspirations.

With a mostly new staff spearheaded by incoming head coach Harry Flaherty, from the outside, this year may have looked no different.

However, heading into week seven, the Lions boasted an impressive 5-1 record, taking down the likes of Cistercian, Houston Christian and Fort Worth Country Day. But tragedy struck. In the second quarter of the team’s fifth win, senior captain and starting quarterback Alex Nadalini felt a pop in his knee –– a torn ACL. Nadalini and the team soon realized his high school career was sadly cut short.

“I was pretty down,” Nadalini said.

“And then I just realized it’s bigger than myself, and I had a lot of faith in the team.

While I was on the training table, [junior] Asher [Wilburn] was throwing touchdowns, and [senior] Niles [Harvey] was running for 200 something yards. So that worry went away pretty quick. At that point, I just wanted to be there to cheer on the team and still lead where I could for the rest of the season.”

▪▪▪ One big change Flaherty brought to the program from day one was having grades nine through 12 all practiced together as a team. Nadalini credits this philosophy for the team’s early success.

“There were a lot of young guys that stepped up and played really big roles for our team,” Nadalini said. “It hasn’t been common in the past years for freshmen to play on varsity, and one of coach Flaherty’s main things coming in was that we’re all one team –– everyone’s on varsity.

And it proved to work.”

In the midst of their Harry Flaherty hot streak, the moment that stood out to Nadalini the most was the Lion’s second game against Cistercian at home.

“It was a whiteout, and the student section was going crazy,” Nadalini said. “[Junior] Blake [Malouf] caught that go [route] on our sideline, and then right 8 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

SING THY PRAISE The team leads the student section in the Alma Mater after defeating Cistercian 25-21 in the final moments.

after, [senior] Conor [Duffy] had a nice touchdown where he made a guy run into his teammate. They scored back, but the very next drive, the first play, Blake took a screen 70 yards to the house. I’ve never been a part of a game with that much energy, from the crowd to the team. The adrenaline rush was crazy.”

After securing their fifth win against Houston Christian, the team faced three of their tougher opponents and I just wish I had three more closed out the season with a years with coach Flaherty. record of 5-4. But what that record He connected might not show with the team, is the greatly with all the improved players and team morale, really the whole the concerted staff. effort in the off— senior season and the experience the captain Alex younger players Nadalini benefited from.

“Our team this past year had a really good summer that I think laid the foundation,” Flaherty said. “We focused on becoming a team that was hard to beat.

And even though we would have liked to win a couple more games, we felt like we were competitive in every game. Now, we’re looking to take that next step.”

Flaherty is aiming to maximize each player’s potential and continue building the culture he helped instill in the team this year.

‘

DYNAMIC DUO Senior captain Alex Nadalini (left) and junior Blake Malouf (right) talk X’s and O’s on the sideline.

“We’re trying to come together as a team and get the most out of every player,” Flaherty said. “I think heading into next season, we know that nothing we did last year counts towards anything that will be accomplished this year. We have to come together as a team one day at a time and just try to become the best team we can be.”

With over 70 players on the team roster for next season, wide receiver Blake Malouf feels that the framework for a strong 2022 season is well in place.

“I think we can build off of the great leadership that all the seniors brought,” Malouf said. “This year will be our second year with coach Flaherty and the first full summer with him. We have a ton of seniors and younger guys playing football for the first time which I think will play to our advantage. I can’t wait to get back out there and see what we can do.”

Story Peter Orsak, Nolan Marcus Photos Sal Hussain

BACK TO THE BLADE

After COVID-19 struck, fencing here took a big hit. Some fencers were online, while others were left unable to compete owing to pandemic restrictions. This year, they got back to work.

A

jab. Two thrusts. A swipe. Disarm.

Advance. Retreat.

Each carefully executed maneuver in fencing requires hours upon hours of practice, training, a familiarity with the subtleties and particulars that come with brandishing the foil, épée and sabre — the three swords used in fencing.

But, since the pandemic struck, the fencing program has taken a hit. The closeness necessitated by the sport, in combination with the highly contagious nature of the virus, led to the dwindling of fencing opportunities here last year.

“Between COVID and the initial restrictions that we had until November through the fall season, and then a lack of equipment, we still had to fence outside on the basketball courts by Spencer [Gym],” junior Bijaan Noormohamed said. “We didn’t really have an indoor location. So, all those things put together made for an inopportune situation.”

Senior captain Spencer Burke, after brandishing the sword for two seasons, missed the opportunity to fence altogether his junior year.

“I was virtual, so I couldn’t even fence last year,” Burke said. “Just being able to fence and having everyone on the team is great.

It takes some work, but fencing comes back quickly, it’s just a fun sport. I missed getting to do it for a whole year.”

However, this year, the fencing program hit the ground running, picking up from where it left off with gusto and determination.

“We started in September, doing general fencing drills, like lunging and target practice every single day,” Noormohamed said. “Then in October and November, we really started fencing with épées and some sabres.”

Despite the seeming ease and grace with which fencers compete, Burke emphasizes

the particularly grueling nature of fencing training.

“Fencing uses a unique set of muscles,” Burke said. “You use the arms and wrist a lot for sword work in a way that you really don’t see in other sports. And, if you’re fencing, you’re in a continual lunge for 45 minutes to an hour, and you’ll feel it the next couple of days.”

Burke also attests to the thriving fencing community off campus.

“Especially with COVID and the mere fact that there haven’t been very many tournaments for schools in fencing,” Burke said, “what people do is play in clubs outside of fencing, and that’s where people really shine.”

Part of that community is senior Adam Lai, committed to the Princeton University fencing program next year. Yet, because of the pandemic, even nationally ranked Lai had serious doubts about his future in fencing.

“For a long time last year, obviously COVID was a big obstacle, and after that, it took a long time for me to get back on my feet,” Lai said. “At that point, I really had no goals for fencing — I kind of went to tournaments and saw what would happen.”

But after competing over and over and over again, Lai began to see the sport as a big part of his life — as something he wanted to pursue beyond high school.

“Eventually I started getting really a lot better, and once I started getting results I was starting to get recruited,” Lai said.

“I’ve always thought about that, but I never like actually went through the actual steps — like talking to coaches and showing my results — but once I did, that definitely became a reality.”

For other seniors who are putting down the sword, the time spent fencing in the

LEAPING Lai jumps to attack his opponent.

Story Toby Barrett, Myles Lowenberg Photos Courtesy Adam Lai

AT THE READY Senior Adam Lai stands on the mat with his sword at a national fencing tournament, fully prepared to compete.

Spencer and Hicks gyms is something to be long cherished.

“The hardest part is knowing it’s going to be your last season,” Burke said. “Each member of the team has inside jokes, and it’s just the culture that makes it special.”

According to Noormohamed, though, the future of the fencing program is bright.

Next year, the team looks forward to even greater progress and skill development.

“Thankfully, with the help of the athletic department, we’re getting new equipment provided by the school,” Noormohamed said. “We’re getting access to workouts tailored by Coach Dilworth for initial conditioning. If the new gym is completed, then we’ll be back in Spencer, where it used to be.”

VICTORY Lai walks away from his opponent after a win.

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 9

WINTER Wrestling — Third Basketball — Fourth Swimming — Fourth Soccer — Fourth

NO MOMENTUM LOST

Despite years of competitive play, many people counted out Lions basketball. With team chemistry, strong leadership and plain hard work — they reminded everyone who they are.

HIGH RISER Senior captain Caleb Vanzant drives to the bucket for a tough layup.

S

imply put, varsity basketball approached the season with a chip on its shoulder. Coming off a competitive season with and losing high-profile players in Stanford forward and NBA draft declaree Harrison Ingram ‘21 and four-star senior Vanderbilt commit Colin Smith, the team strove to reassert its place as a potent basketball program.

“I think our mentality was to… not prove everyone wrong, but show that we were still a good team even after losing a lot of good players that once had made St. Mark’s who we were,” junior Rapha Mitterer-Claudet said. “Losing Harrison, that was a huge loss, because he was top 15 in the nation, but we definitely wanted to prove we could compete despite not having a major player like him.”

For coach Greg Guiler, the process started with a positive mindset, both for team morale and to bolster team leadership.

“We wanted to lead the nation in high fives,” Guiler said. “I really like that kind of thing. Play for each other every day, and we’ll start seeing the results we want.”

Team leadership echoed Guiler’s point for positivity. Senior captain and point guard Caleb Vanzant remembers agreeing to strive for humility and hard work among all else with other captains Tate Laczkowski and Corvin Oprea.

“The captains really focused on prioritizing the younger guys,” Vanzant said.

“I feel like we hadn’t had success as a team when it was a one-man show or players were kind of in it for themselves.”

Vanzant attributes a huge part of

building the team up to the team’s visit to Memphis during the winter to play a tournament, as well as watch the Taylor Jenkins ‘03-led Grizzlies face the Mavericks.

“It was a great time and just a huge bonding moment for all of us,” Vanzant said. “It was probably only a month into the season, and just naturally being together for a few days and staying in the hotel — I feel like it really helped our chemistry in general. And we spent a lot of time deep in conversation and just talking with each other. It was also successful because we beat a pretty notable prep team that we were definitely undersized against and undermatched with, Elevation Prep.”

Mitterer-Claudet saw the bonding soon translate to the court.

“Coach Guiler said that we had one of the best team bonds that he’s ever seen, probably because of that Memphis trip,” Mitterer-Claudet said, “because we spent so much time with each other. We worked together a lot. That chemistry was just really good after that.”

Despite some tough in-conference losses to round out counter play afterward, the team approached the SPC tournament ready to do damage. First on the list — Kinkaid, in a 68-39 win featuring a triple-double from Vanzant and Oprea’s 1000th career points.

“I think we came up with like a 22 to zero run,” Vanzant said. “And we tried to emphasize not stepping off the gas and playing the whole game.”

And they didn’t. Despite falling behind early, the team managed an impressive comeback victory in the next game,

Story Toby Barrett, Austin Williams Photos Alex Barrett, Sal Hussain

eventually beating Houston Christian by 16.

Next was Greenhill, a team loaded with college-level talent. While the team did not get the result it wanted, Vanzant is proud of the game.

“It’s definitely a game I wish we could replay, but we surprised a lot of people,” Vanzant said. “I mean, we were a team that wasn’t considered any bit decent at all at the beginning of the season. I don’t think some people expected us to even make the tournament. Obviously, we played for third, and the fact that we were playing for thirdplace in SPC tournament in a very loaded year for basketball with a ton of high D1 prospects — I think that’s a testament to our chemistry as a team.”

Vanzant looks ahead to his younger teammates to advance the program even further.

“The future looks really bright,” Vanzant said. “There are a ton of underclassmen.

There’s really good chemistry, and I’ve seen a lot of offseason work, and I’m really pumped to come back and see what they can do and hopefully how they can build upon what we did this year.”

FLOOR GENERAL Senior captain Tate Laczkowski directs his teammates.

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 11

E

ight games. Six hundred forty minutes.

The varsity soccer team scored 13 times during the SPC North Zone counter season and conceded none.

Such impressive stats were the making for a season that was truly... unprecedented.

▪▪▪ Before the start of the season, varsity soccer head coach Cory Martin lamented losing talent in players such as last year’s captains Knobel Hunt, Eric Yoo and Henry McElhaney, but still felt confident about the season ahead.

“I knew we would be competitive,” Martin said. “I had no doubt about that.

I saw us, at best, finishing third behind Greenhill and Casady, the two teams that I thought were going to be stronger than we were. I did not see us finishing as one of the seeded teams, I thought we’d have to play a play-in game.“ With a favorable but not terrific start to the season, senior captain and midfielder Lars Ochs started seeing greater promise during the match at Greenhill Dec. 14.

“When we played Greenhill at Greenhill, [freshman] Alden [Reagins] had one of the best games I’ve ever seen,” Ochs said. “He was probably the best player on the field that game, and he was a freshman.

And so I started to realize, ‘you know, maybe we lost some people, but we also gained some people.’“

TEAM HONORS All-SPC Honors

Stefan Moreno, Lars Ochs, Noah Soliz

All-North Zone Honors

Alex Abel, John Ma, Murphy Paul, Zack Stone, Reed Sussman

Top Goal Scorers

Alex Soliz (11), Noah Soliz (11) Lars Ochs (8), Alden Reagins (8)

Top Assists

Lars Ochs (12), John Ma (5), Alex Soliz (5), Noah Soliz (5), Zack Stone (5)

Shutouts

Stefan Moreno (9)

That Greenhill away game was also a highlight of the season for senior captain and goalkeeper Stefan Moreno.

“We’re supposed to be playing the best North Zone team,” Moreno said. “We go in and we’re only losing one to zero at halftime, and we start really slow. They score on us, they’re pounding us for a little bit, then we finally find a rhythm. We start playing a pretty balanced game, and Alden scores and then sometime in the second half, we just start pounding them and we’re knocking at their door. I think we should have had something, especially at the end.

12 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

UNPRECEDENTED After a losing great talent in the Class of 2021, the soccer team fought through to a perfect counter season, conceding no goals.

ON THE RUN Sophomore Alex Soliz is chased down by three players from Prestonwood Christian Academy as senior Lars Ochs and junior John Charest watch patiently. The Lions would go on to win the Dec. 3 match with a final score of 3-1.

But that really was the game that gave me a belief in the team.“ Coming back from Christmas Break, two losses right before the start of SPC counter play raised some questions about the team’s future performance in the conference. However, after wins against Fort Worth Country Day and Trinity Valley, the Lions went on to win three more successive games against Cistercian, Casady and Greenhill in the span of two weeks, which gave Martin a great deal more confidence.

“I really felt that we had survived the gauntlet because I knew that while Oakridge and ESD might pose issues for us, those were both winnable games,” Martin said, “and at that point, I was no longer worried about our performance from a talent point of view. And I think going into those games, having a perfect record and not having allowed a goal, in some ways helped, because I think the boys took a lot of pride in that and that got them a little bit more attentive and a little bit more focused.“ The success would be replicated throughout the counter season, as the team went on to win every game without conceding a goal. Going into the SPC tournament, the Lions were a serious contender for the SPC title. After a rattling game against Awty that as won in overtime, the Lions faced Kinkaid in what would prove to be a heartbreaking game.

Kinkaid converted an early penalty kick and the Lions tied the score later in the game.

“We’re going back and forth with

chances, and we get to the last minute, and they put in that corner kick, and we switch off defensively,” Moreno said. “It gets flipped to the back post and I’m scrambling to get over there. And I swear I thought I was in front of it. I swear I thought I got it.

But he just hammers it into the roof and the score is two to one. We get one more corner kick and it sails over. That was pretty crushing. We all really thought we could go all the way. We got a little bit unlucky.“

BY THE NUMBERS

17-1-5

55 GF, 20 GA

13

4th

overall season record

unanswered goals in counter play

in SPC

Looking back at his time on the team, Ochs is proud of having represented the school.

“When I’m playing for St. Mark’s, I’m playing for St. Mark’s,” Ochs said. “The kids who play club soccer understand this: when you play club soccer, you only play for the team. But when you play for your school, you are playing for something more than yourself and more than your team.

So I think one thing that was really cool, for me at least, was that I had a place to play for something that was greater than myself. It wasn’t just that I wanted to play soccer, it was that I wanted to do well for the school.”

Story Axel Icazbalceta Photos Sal Hussain

NEW BLOOD Despite graduating a strong senior class, the swim team stepped up, going undefeated in counter meets.

T

he rough plastic block against bare feet.

The jarring sound of the buzzer.

The shock of cold water surrounding the body as it slices through the surface of the pool — hands, arms, torso, and legs.

Each signals to a St. Mark’s swimmer the beginning of 50 meters or more of tearing down the frigid lane, each stroke another challenge, until his hand hits the wall at the end of the race.

This year’s season, however, brought difficulties beyond the pool, not least of which was Head Coach Trent Calder’s absence for over a month.

“The most challenging moment of the season had to be having coach Calder gone for paternity leave in the middle of everything,” Senior captain Brett Honaker said. “During those six weeks, we were kind of lacking real motivation.”

Senior captain Sam Reitich says that, for him, the biggest challenge lay in the road leading up to SPC. “The hardest part of the season came during the weeks leading up to SPC,” Reitich said. “Meets are always something to look forward to while grinding through a hard week, but in the weeks before SPC, we didn’t have any meets. It was difficult to get through the grind.”

However, the team managed to find the drive to keep training. While the encouragement they got from their teammates was important, sophomore Adrian Lutgen says he was motivated by a friendly rivalry with freshman George Hoverman.

“My personal favorite moment was racing George in the 100 breast after he talked smack all month,” Lutgen said. “It was definitely one of the most anticipated races of SPC. Of course, I beat him, and Mrs. Gao got a cold picture of me laughing at him while he’s making excuses. It’s currently my lock screen.”

Of course, SPC itself was not without its challenges. The team faced particular adversity during the relays due to a lack of communication.

“During SPC, We got a

FLYING THROUGH THE WATER Senior Nicolas Gomez races down the pool during the 100 fly finals. During SPC, Gomez set a new school record for the event — 50.92 seconds..

disqualification during the 4x200 relay since the first guy started early, and nobody told us that we were disqualified,” Calder said. “I thought we left late, so I told him, ‘Hey, we have to be better on our starts.’ In the 4x100 relay, the same guy again left early, but since I had no knowledge of the first mistake, I couldn’t tell him to be careful.

That stopped us from getting third and we ended up getting fourth. That was the most frustrating part for sure.”

But SPC still produced some of the best races of the entire season. For Calder, The seniors’ races in particular really stood out.

“My favorite moment of the season was SPC finals and seeing Nic and Brett in their final races,” Calder said. “Nic’s 100 fly was awesome, and Brett was unbelievable in the 200 and 100. In the 4x100 relay, he dove in with a team that was a body length ahead of him, and he tracked them down and caught them and beat them. You don’t see those kinds of comebacks very often, so that was probably the highlight of the year.”

Despite having an excellent race during SPC, Honaker’s highlight was senior night.

“My favorite moment of the season was definitely senior night. We cheer each other on a lot, but we get the most cheering during senior night. That’s when you get to see the team come together, and doing senior relays is super fun.”

Reitich agrees. Senior night signals the end of a Marksman’s journey on the team and Reitich enjoyed the support from the younger team members.

“Senior night is the culminating

Story Ian Dalrymple, Ben Adams Photos Courtesy Laurie Otto

BY THE NUMBERS

5 wins 301

0

losses

during counter season

points scored on senior night

4th

place in SPC

moment of a St. Mark’s swimmer’s career,” Reitich said. “We have fun races while the underclassmen cheer us on, and they all make amazing posters for the seniors and lead chants throughout the meet. We get a great ceremony with the coaches that signifies the end of our swim careers, and a photo of all of us together. It was easily my favorite part of the season.”

But, even though the seniors will shed their blue shirts and move on to college, they’ll still look back fondly on the memories they made. Honaker’s favorite quality of the team was their bond.

“I’ll definitely miss the camaraderie that stems from hardship,” Honaker said.

Reitich feels the same way. He says that that bond is what makes the team so special.

“St. Mark’s aquatics has some of the best chemistry of any community on campus,” Reitich said. “We’re a family, and we wouldn’t be able to make it through a week without each other.”

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 13

BUILDING A NEW DYNASTY After a successful year on the mat, Lions wrestlers look to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

LOCKED IN Senior captain Elijah Ellis advances on his opponent.

T

he iconic banner that decorates the long-standing wrestling room is a constant testament to the grit and toughness of every single athlete who touches that mat.

Those who stay will be champions.

This year’s wrestling team displayed just that: multiple state champions, AllSPC wrestlers and SPC champions. While the team didn’t come out victorious, they showed just how capable they were of earning a championship.

Placing 11 out of their 14 wrestlers as well as earning the same amount of SPC champions as the first place St. John’s Mavericks, the Lions gave these perennial champions a signal into the future. With the legacy that the senior wrestlers have left, along with the immense talent that remains, there’s many a reason to believe that St. John’s six-time winning streak is in jeopardy.

▪▪▪ Thinking back to the pre-season, senior captain Jedidiah Kim remembers facing his last year as a wrestler with a strong-willed mindset.

“Coming off of a state title the previous year, I knew that I was the best in SPC and the state,” Kim said. “I knew that the process I had established thus far was good enough to maintain that. I tried to push myself toward higher goals of becoming a Prep All-American so that I wouldn’t stay complacent during the season. This also helped me push the younger guys on the team since I could share my experience with them.”

Kim also believes that, given the team’s blend of long-tenured wrestlers and newer wrestlers, their fiery performance in the SPC tournament was a culminating point in the season.

“I think that performance speaks to the preparation we had this year,” Kim said.

“We had a lot of veteran guys returning and getting right back to business, but the rest of the team consisted of first-year wrestlers.

I’m super proud of our underclassmen though, because they showed their toughness throughout the season.”

For varsity wrestling head coach Reyno Arredondo ‘87, the team also found success

14 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

in aspects other than strictly wins and losses.

“To me, success is building a culture of Marksmen who want to either wrestle or learn how to wrestle,” Arredondo said.

“Success is the number of Marksmen that come to wrestle for the program and stay with the program.”

According to junior wrestler Hayward Metcalf, the several championships stacked into the final weeks of the season proved to be a challenge that the team had to overcome.

“The challenging part of the season was definitely the final stretch,” Metcalf said. “State got moved in between SPC and nationals, making the turnaround time exhausting. Another tough part was when we almost missed nationals because of the snow storm. Thankfully, we pulled it off and got to see some competition.”

However, all of the team’s challenges were faced with a reinforcing message of brotherhood, something Arredondo finds crucial.

“Our team dynamic is like a family because everybody can help each other,” Arredondo said. “That’s what’s really important in wrestling, and it comes from the way we set up the team. Every senior will be a squad leader, and then I’ll have one or two junior team leaders, and then we’ll break down the rest of the team. So that way, there’s almost a chain of command, if you will.”

Looking down the road, Metcalf sees a

BY THE NUMBERS

6 10-6 3rd 5 spc champions

dual meet record

place in SPC

state champions

bright future in the wrestling team despite the loss of key senior leadership and talent.

“I think the direction of the program is strong,” Metcalf said. “It does hurt to lose those guys, but I think we can recreate the team structure with some of the eighth graders we have coming up.”

As Kim departs from the wrestling team, he leaves a final message for those who still have one — if not several — seasons ahead.

“If you really love wrestling and you find yourself having fun in the room, invest in it,” Kim said. “It’s not the most glamorous sport, but there’s a lot of reward waiting for those who really work hard. That banner in the wrestling room definitely inspired me, and I hope it can do the same for you.”

Story Arjun Khatti, Nikhil Dattatreya Photos Courtesy Adam Lai

TAKING OFF

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

Fourteen members of the Class of 2022 chose to further both their athletic and academic careers in college. Here’s where they’re headed:

Adam Lai — Princeton Princeton has great academics as well as a great fencing program. I visited there twice and knew it was the perfect fit for me.”

Nico Gomez — WashU After visiting, I knew it was the right fit for me. Everything was perfect. I’m really excited to attend and swim at such an amazing university.”

Ian Mize — Princeton The recruiting process was great, and I’m really glad that it led to me getting to play lacrosse in college next year.”

Drake Elliott — MIT I can’t wait to begin rowing at my dream school, and I look forward to joining some of my former teammates.”

Brett Honaker — UCLA After winning state with my brother, I knew I wanted to play water polo in college. We’re going to try to win more championships together.”

Elijah Ellis — West Point Being able to play football, get a great education and also serve my country after school is something I’m looking forward to.”

Zack Stone — JHU It was fun talking to all the coaches.

I wanted to play college football for a lot of my younger years, so I’m excited for this opportunity.”

Interviews Dillon Wyatt, Toby Barrett Compilation Austin Williams

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

Tate Lazckowski — WMA I went to some Ivy League basketball camps up north, and coaches were interested. I eventually settled on Wilbraham & Monson Academy.”

Sahil Dodda — UPenn I’m so excited to be in Philly. I’m really looking forward to being part of a running team where everyone relies on one another.”

Fisayo Omonije — JHU I loved the coaches and team when I visited, and I’m excited to be able to run at a great institution like Johns Hopkins. Go Blue Jays!”

Miller Trubey — LUC I’m very excited to be able to go to Loyola Chicago and get not only a great education but also be able to play volleyball at the college level.”

Evan McGowan — Cornell I’m really looking forward to rowing in college. My commitment is the result of the support and sacrifice of so many people.”

Corvin Oprea — Rochester I’m very thankful for the community making 10600 Preston Road feel like home. I can’t wait to play basketball in the fall. Go Jackets!”

Rana Thakkar — Dartmouth Dartmouth was my first choice because I really liked the coach and school when I visited. I’m super excited to represent my school in squash.”

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 15

NEXT LEVEL ATHLETES

Each year, a handful of Marksmen take their athletic talents to a new stage. We took a look at how this year unfolded for alumni.

BASEBALL Reece Rabin ‘18 - Princeton University Appeared in 13 of the Princeton Tigers baseball team’s first 32 games. Struck out 18 batters through 31.2 innings pitched.

Zach Landry ‘18 - Haverford College Hit .322 in 37 games for Haverford College baseball. Led the team in doubles with 12.

BASKETBALL Dylan Osimetha ‘19 - Kenyon College Appeared in every game for Kenyon College basketball, shooting 46% from the field. The team finished the season 3-22.

Andrew Laczkowski ‘20 - University of Pennsylvania In 28 games for University of Pennsylvania basketball, scored 35 points, helping the team to a 12-16 finish.

Harrison Ingram ‘21 - Stanford University Led Stanford University basketball, averaging 10.5 points per game and will enter the 2022 NBA draft.

CREW Blake Hudspeth ‘21 - MIT Rowed on Massachusetts Institution of Technology’s heavyweight crew team.

The team earned silver at the National Invitational Rowing Championships.

Christian Duessel ‘20 - MIT Rowed on Massachusetts Institution of Technology’s heavyweight crew team.

The team earned silver at the National Invitational Rowing Championships.

Billy Lockhart ‘20 - Dartmouth Rowed on the Dartmouth College crew team. The team won the Packard Cup after defeating Syracuse, Apr. 30.

FOOTBALL Conor Gaffney ‘21 - USMMA In three games for United Merchant Marine Academy football, totaled two tackles.

Trevor Gicheru ‘21 - Oberlin College Recorded two tackles in five games for Oberlin College football, helping the team finish 1-9.

Ryan McCord ‘20 - Vanderbilt Playing cornerback for Vanderbilt University. The team finished with a 2-10 record.

Paxton Scott ‘20 - Dartmouth Totaling 504 receiving yards and four touchdowns for Dartmouth College 16 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

football, helping the team win the Ivy League championship.

ON THE HARDWOOD After finishing his first basektball season John Harbison ‘19 with Stanford University, Ingram declared for the 2022 NBA draft.

- Sewanee At defensive end 10,000-meter run at the Tufts Snowflake for Sewanee, he finished the season with 6 Classic, April 2. sacks. The team finished the year 0-10.

Michael Vanesko ‘21 - Middlebury College GOLF Runs for Middlebury College track and Sam Clayman ‘17 - Princeton University field.

The team’s best finish was second at In his final year with Princeton University the Middlebury Invitational Jan. 29. golf, the team finished fourth in the Ivy Andres Arroyo ‘20 - MIT League championship.

Ran long distance events for MIT with brother Pablo. The team finished first at the LACROSSE New England Division III Championship, Jonathan Taylor ‘19 - Villanova Feb. 25.

Played one game at defense for Villanova Pablo Arroyo ‘20 - MIT University lacrosse. The team finished 8-4.

Ran long distance events for MIT John Gunnin ‘18 - Colgate with brother Andres. The team finished Started one game as goalie for Colgate first at the New England Division III University lacrosse, helping the team finish Championship, Feb. 25.

3-9.

Seth Weprin ‘19 - Dartmouth Ran middle and long distance for SOCCER Dartmouth College track and field. The Knobel Hunt ‘21 - SMU team finished seventh at the Ivy League Plays defense for SMU soccer. The team Championships, May 8. finished the season with an 8-5-3 record.

Houston Engleman ‘18 - Claremont McKenna College Started 13 out of 15 games for ClaremontMudd Scripps soccer, helping the team to a 14-2-3 record.

TENNIS Daniel Ardila ‘20 - Johns Hopkins Played doubles and singles for Johns Hopkins tennis, helping the team finish the season 13-1.

Mark Motlow ‘21 - Sewanee Played doubles in seven matches for Sewanee tennis. The team finished with a 10-11 record.

TRACK & FIELD Kit Colson ‘21 - Yale Runs as a sprinter for Yale University track & field. The team’s best finish was first against Columbia and Dartmouth.

Cristian Pereira ‘21 - Yale Participates in jumping events for Yale University track & field. The team’s best finish was first against Columbia and Dartmouth.

Julian Ivarra ‘21 - Babson College Is a distance runner for Babson College track and field. Finished sixth in the

VOLLEYBALL Albert Luo ‘19 - MIT Plays setter for MIT volleyball. Helped lead the team to a 13-9 finish.

WATER POLO Leo Ohannessian ‘21 - University of California, Santa Barbara Played attacker his freshman year for UC Santa Barbara water polo. The team finished with a 22-9 record.

Jack Palmer ‘21 - Santa Clara University Is an attacker on the Santa Clara water polo team. The team ended the year 13-16.

David Li ‘20 - University of Toronto Played this year as a wing player for University of Toronto water polo.

Chase Honaker ‘19 - UCLA Won the national championship with UCLA water polo playing goalkeeper WRESTLING Cooper Ribman ‘21 - Harvard University Was a wrestler in the 149 pound weight class for Harvard University wrestling.

Tucker Ribman ‘18 - Harvard University Finished the season 1-2 in his final year with Harvard University wrestling.

Story Dillon Wyatt Photos Courtesy Harrison Ingram

SETTING THE TONE

Through pep rallies, the student section and social media, the SuperFanMen foster school spirit day in and day out.

Peter Orsak: What made y’all want to apply to be SuperFanMen? Camden Reeves: With two years of COVID, I really missed the energy and electric atmosphere that you would get at sports games, especially going to football games freshman and sophomore year, so I wanted to be able to inject that passion back into the student body and also reinvent things like assemblies and pep rallies.

Cole Norman: Yeah, by the middle of my freshman year, I realized I wanted to be a SuperFanMan. I feel like my personality kind of fits the persona of a superfan. I’m just very energetic and loud.

Alex Nadalini: I agree, I’ve always been drawn to it, and it fits who I am. I found myself sophomore spring and junior year going to a lot of sporting events. And my brother [Austin Nadalini ‘19] was one a few years ago, and I saw what he did and what Jack [Trahan ‘20] and Luke [Evangelist ‘20] did, so I wanted to foster that energy and passion.

PO: What does having support from your classmates do for Lions athletes?

CR: All three of us played football this year, and it’s definitely really encouraging, really meaningful when you got a whole crowd behind your back, and everyone’s loud and showing that they’re invested in the team and the athletic program.

CN: Since we weren’t in the stands, it was really meaningful to have guys like you and Tate in the stands, leading the crowd by themselves, just out of love and commitment to the school.

AN: We’ve seen it so many times this year –– SPC basketball, lacrosse games –– where the team is doing alright, and then the crowd shows up, and the whole momentum shifts.

PO: What was your favorite sports memory from this year, so far?

CN: The win against Cistercian in football.

AN: Yeah, the Cistercian game, and then the Houston Christian basketball game at SPC. We were down pretty big heading into halftime, but then the student section showed up, and we ended up blowing them out. It was just such a huge swing.

CR: And then even just a couple weeks ago, the ESD lacrosse game. We absolutely packed Story Peter Orsak Photos Sal Hussain

the house at their home field. I think we had more fans than them, and we definitely TRIUMPHANT TRIO Seniors Camden Reeves, Alex Nadalini and Cole Norman had a bigger built upon past SuperFanMen by establishing the Lion’s Mane this year. presence. It in support. was really CR: I’ve had several parents reach out and cool to rush the field and sing the Alma thank me for keeping them up to date and Mater. I was really proud of our guys. even for live streaming games, which I don’t think SuperFanMen have done in the past.

PO: What’s y’all’s favorite chant?

It gives people a way to stay involved even CN: I’m a big ‘D-Up’ guy. At the Highland Park lacrosse game, Alex and I did it for like a if they can’t make it to the game. Also, the creation of the Lion’s Mane chain to honor minute straight multiple times. It was like an people who make our athletic program. actual workout.

CN: Yeah, I love the Lion’s Mane because it CR: One of my favorites is the good old ‘We allows us to recognize younger guys who can’t hear you,’ especially when we have all are making an impact who might not get of the momentum. recognition otherwise.

AN: I like the personalized ones. ‘D-I Duffy’ AL: I think Luke and Jack did a really good and ‘Money Mize.’ Also, ‘weight room’ job of building our brand. With COVID, my because it’s always an electric play. Oh––my mindset this year was to reestablish it through favorite is ‘I believe that we will win.’ social media and get that energy back.

CR: I also like the one that goes like ‘Ooo-ohoh-oh-ooo-oh.’

PO: If you had to name an honorary SuperFanMan this year, who would it be?

CN: There’s a couple. [Junior] George Genender.

AN: [Junior] Logan Johnson. He helped us with football. You. [Senior] Henry Piccagli.

CR: I’d say someone like Alex Barrett. He traveled to a lot of road games and brought a lot of energy.

AN: I’d also like to give a shoutout to [Hockaday senior] Alexis Cuban.

LIONS’ DEN The SuperFanMen stand their ground in the student section last summer.

PO: How did y’all work to build the SuperFanMen brand?

CN: The social media aspect is one that’s more available to the general public. My hope is that we cultivated a brand of being all in for the school. Even if you don’t play sports, you’re giving 110% in the stands and

PO: What advice would you give the incoming SuperFanMen? CN: Think outside of the box. Be creative. Try and make everything that you do memorable.

Our foremost job is to support the athletes, but we still have the responsibility to try to improve the community with everything that we do.

CR: Set the tone early. Establish that sense of energy, excitement and passion in the summer before we even get to the fall. And once we get there, make it your own. We’re always looking for ways to improve.

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 17

SPRING Track and Field — First Water Polo — First Crew — First Lacrosse — Second Golf — Second Tennis — Third Baseball — Seventh

FIGHTING FOR THE CROWN With a new interim head coach, the lacrosse team fought hard down the stretch to secure itself second place in the conference, making it to the final four of the D-I state tournament.

RIVALRY CONQUERED The Lions warm up for their rivalry match-up against the ESD Eagles away (left). After defeating ESD for the first time in the last four years, the team celebrates and fist-bumps each other, as the scoreboard reads 13-12 in favor of the Lions.

W

ith the departure of the winningest coach in Texas high school lacrosse history, the team was faced with the difficult task of building upon former head coach Hayward Lee’s legacy.

Last year, having no seniors on the squad, the team struggled to find consistent success. What that meant for this year, though, was returning almost their entire roster and having the opportunity to strengthen the chemistry they established last spring.

So, throughout the offseason, the rising seniors stepped up to the challenge, creating a culture of hard work and dedication for the team early on.

Lifts. Conditioning. Stick skills.

You name it. The senior leadership and initiative set the stage for a shot at the state title.

“From last year to this year, a lot of emphasis was on building that bond and togetherness –– that brotherhood feel,” head coach Jason Leneau said. “I relied on my seniors to do a lot of that and hold each other accountable. That allowed them to step forward and say, ‘If you’re not going to put in the work, then maybe this is not the right atmosphere for you because we’re trying to work toward something pretty amazing here.’”

▪▪▪ With a strong offseason as a foundation, the Lions found early success, starting off 10-0 in the state of Texas. Air Force lacrosse commit junior Jake Park credits the seniors’ strong leadership for their hot streak.

“The seniors consistently displayed good leadership and brought good energy not only to games, but to practices and workouts as well,” Park said. “They even showed great leadership during the preseason, which was a big factor in why we started off so hot to begin the season.

As the season progressed, the energy that the seniors had rubbed off on the rest of the team, and we were able to keep our hot streak going.”

Their tenth and final win of their hot streak came against cross-town rival ESD April 14. After the Lions took an early commanding lead, the Eagles clawed back, but eventually fell 13-12.

“One of the highlights of this year was definitely beating ESD at their place on their senior night,” senior captain and Princeton lacrosse commit Ian Mize said. “During my time here, we haven’t been able to get it done, so it was really special to sing the alma mater on their turf surrounded by my classmates.”

After a close loss to Highland Park, the Lions crushed the Episcopal Knights by a margin of 20 goals in the SPC semifinals. While the Lions felt confident heading into their rematch against ESD in the conference championship, the offense failed to get going, and the team lost 5-14.

“Every single one of our losses were caused by self-inflicted wounds,” Leneau said. “Things didn’t go our way.

We found ourselves in the penalty box.

It’s hard to win games when you’re down a man or you’re giving up goals

Story Peter Orsak, Will Pechersky Photos Sal Hussain

in transition. It was a good reminder going into state playoffs that we have to continue to work and improve upon all aspects of the game.”

In the quarter finals of the D-I state tournament, the lacrosse team snuck past Southlake in the final moments of the game with a clutch goal from junior Henry Boykin. However, the Lions fell to the firstseeded Jesuit Rangers in the semifinals, who eventually took home the state title after defeating ESD 11-10.

“Obviously, you want to win your final game, and unfortunately we didn’t meet that task, but I think overall this year was a success,” Leneau said. “I think we gave a lot of teams, including Jesuit, some things to think about in terms of how small of a school we are, and how big we’re able to compete not just on a local stage but on a national stage.”

Although the end result wasn’t what the team hoped for, Mize values the season highlights as well as the time spent together with the squad.

“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Mize said. “We didn’t finish the job, but it was also the farthest we’ve gone since I was in high school. My freshman year we lost in the first round to Southlake, and then sophomore year we obviously didn’t have a tournament. Junior year we made the lower bracket, which was really disappointing, so it was really fun to compete for the highest level championship and get a few weeks of extra lacrosse with my teammates and friends this year.”

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 19

A RECORDBREAKING SEASON

Despite early injuries, the track and field team came together when it mattered, claiming the glorious SPC championship and leaving their mark on the record board.

A

t the end of the SPC track and field meet April 29 and 30, the Lions finished with 166.5 total points.

Second place? 100 points.

Third? 79.

But the team wasn’t just the most dominant force in SPC (having set two conference records in the 3200m and triple-jump with the hard work of senior captain and University of Pennsylvania commit Sahil Dodda, as well as junior Zane Wallace, respectively).

No, this year’s team ran alongside the fastest in school history, having set five separate school records — several of which in events runners broke twice in the same season.

For Dodda, this kind of a season was a “when” — not “if”.

“We’ve had good guys at every event for a while,” Dodda said. “[Junior Jack Jackson] came back from an injury this year and was better than ever. Zane is insane at jumps, and our throwing guys had a great year. Our distance team has been taking off, too. So, everyone took a step up from last year and really wanted to prove it.”

Dodda attributes much of the distance team’s success to one particular player: fellow senior captain and Johns Hopkins

cross country commit Fisayo Omonije, who broke the 800-meter record and was a part of school records in the four by 400-meter and four by 800-meter relays.

“Fisayo really emerged this year,” Dodda said. “He’s made the biggest jump of anybody since last year, and him being able to run the 400 and the 800 just really elevated everyone across the board.”

Many members of the team, including sophomore distance runner Raja Mehendale, feel that it was the leadership of the Omonije-Dodda duo that led the team in the right direction from the get-go.

“They’re not the most outspoken captains, meaning they’re not just harping on people, but they lead by example, and they have fun and we make jokes,” Mehendale said. “But when it’s time to work, they are some of the hardest workers I know. They get after it, and that’s infectious among the team. I think that’s why our distance program is so good — because our leaders at the top lead by example and work so hard.”

For Omonije, this mix of work and fun was essential to the team’s success.

“I think one of the biggest parts to growing as an athlete, as a person, is being comfortable with those around you,” Omonije said. “So I was always, as a

captain, trying to bring people closer. That team chemistry really pushes you to want to be better. You always run better with your friends.”

Mehendale recalls one practice in particular that shifted the team dynamic.

“One day, before practice, we were all up in the film room having a team meeting,” Mehendale said, “Coach Turek surprised us when he said, ‘Okay, Fisayo, let’s hear a freestyle.’ So Fisayo freestyled for the entire team. After that, we talked about really supporting each other in practice, and from that moment on, the mood of practice changed. You’d hear guys yelling encouragement at each other from across the track. The throwers were encouraging the sprinters, sprinters to distance guys, and vice versa.”

Dodda recalls the brutal training the team underwent during these practices.

“We have two days every week called interval days,” Dodda said. “It’s hard training, and you kind of have to just get through it and want to make those days count. No matter what, though, I really think trusting coaches, because they always know what they’re doing, was important.”

Initially, injuries and impressive SPC I think South Zone running times put a lot of pressure on the team.

“We had our ups and downs,” Dodda said. “[Senior captain Enoch Ellis]’s hamstring started hurting so he was out for a couple of weeks. I also didn’t race for three weeks or something like that.”

But after a strong meet at St. John’s in Houston during the season, the team began to look forward to the SPC tournament in excitement.

“We went down to St. John’s, and we showed up for the first time as a unit — not just distance did well, but everyone across the board,” Dodda said. “I broke the record for the 1600-meter, and we also broke the record for the four by 400 in the same weekend. We didn’t make everyone race — Enoch didn’t run hurdles, Zane SPC CHAMPS The team poses for a photo with their freshly won trophy.

20 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

Story Toby Barrett, Austin Williams Photos Courtesy Fisayo Omonije

SCHOOL RECORDS BROKEN THIS YEAR: 4x400 meters: 3:20.56 Blake Malouf Enoch Ellis Fisayo Omonije Jack Jackson

4x800 meters: 7:57.01 Fisayo Omonije Sahil Dodda Raja Mehendale Zach Lightfoot

didn’t jump — and we weren’t at full strength, but we still dominated the meet, and I think that gave us a lot of momentum going into SPC, where we wanted to do that again.”

Omonije also remembers the change in mentality that came during the meet.

“That was a really big turning point in our season,” Omonije said. “It was when we kind of saw that our training was paying off. It was awesome, Sahil ran down a guy he was behind by like four seconds and ended up beating him at the last second.”

Despite the team’s overall confidence, Dodda and Omonije wanted to go into the meet taking nothing for granted.

In particular, Dodda wanted to start things off with a bang, placing first in the 3200-meter race.

“Going into the meet, you want to set the tone right the first day,” Dodda said.

“I knew I was the first race of the day, so I just wanted to win that one so the team had something to go off of. Then, our throwers did really well that day, with [senior captain Sam Eleumenoh] getting first and third. Plus, Zane got first and second in his jumps.”

Even so, the team kept pushing themselves. For Omonije, a first and second place in the 800-meter from himself and Dodda was when he realized the trophy was in reach.

“I feel like the defining moment for me was when we hadn’t mathematically won yet, but then Sahil and I placed first and second in the 800 and got 18 points from that one race,” Omonije said. “I feel like that was the moment where I kind of knew that we would do this thing.”

Dodda won the 1600-meter (setting an SPC record), Ellis won the 110-meter hurdles and placed second in the 300-meter hurdles and the team placed second in the four by 100-, 400- and 800-meter relays on top of everything else.

And, by the end of Saturday, the team hoisted the trophy over their heads.

“It was amazing,” Omonije said. “It was also kind of sad because I realized it was the last time I was gonna be able to do that. But it also felt great to go out as a

800 meters: 1:54.37 Fisayo Omonije

1600 meters: 4:10.27 Sahil Dodda (also an SPC record)

3200 meters: 9:06.39 Fisayo Omonije

Triple jump: 47’11.5” Zane Wallace

champion. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work. I had spent four years kind of chasing these records. It was really fun, doing that with my brothers.”

Now that the season is over, Wallace, Mehendale and other team members feel the loss of the seniors.

“It’s gonna be sad, just like last year, when Kit [Colson] and Cristian [Pereira] left, we’re going to miss the seniors,” Wallace said.

“They’re a big part of our team this year. But, as they made their impact, we upcoming seniors are also going to make likewise impact. We’re going to try to emulate the stuff that they did.”

Omonije looks back at the team and believes it will become even better.

“I think our future is really bright,” Omonije said. “It’s funny, because I always think of it like we’re reloading our talent, and we’re never really going to run out. I think as long as they keep having the same mentality — and I have every belief they’ll do so — I feel like they can be better than we were. They have that drive, and you can see it every day. They’re always excited to be at practice. The sky’s the limit.”

But, for now, Dodda and Omonije are just grateful for the experiences they’ve had in the program.

“This was the best way it could have ended for me,” Dodda said. “I still haven’t fully processed that my last time in that uniform has passed. And I have a love-hate relationship with that uniform — it’s checkerboard, so it’s not the most flattering.

But yeah, it’s just been a fun ride, and it’s going to take a little bit to process. I’m just grateful for this team — for what they’ve done for me. They’ve been like a second family.”

BRING IT IN Head Coach John Turek hugs track star Fisayo Omonije after the St. Mark’s SPC victory was announced.

HUNT FOR THE TROPHY

Although the team fell just shy of the title, tennis, spearheaded by new head coach Cameron Hillier ‘13, will only continue its success and get even better going into next year

T

he team had one goal that set the standard for the season.

Win SPC again.

Though they broke a 19-year title drought the year before, they wanted to break a drought that had lasted since the tennis program started.

Win back-to-back SPC championships.

They knew the team had the talent, but they also knew everyone would be trying to dethrone the defending champions.

To stay at the top, the Lions realized they would have to grow as a team and play their best tennis during the SPC tournament.

▪▪▪ After winnning the SPC championship last year, the team and head coach Cameron Hillier ‘13 had high expectations coming into this year.

“I think as a team, we expected another challenging season,” Hillier said. “We were absolutely a contender to repeat our win and get SPC again.”

Early on, Hillier noticed a sluggish start to the season, but after returning from spring break, the team really began to hit their stride.

“We played a couple scrimmages before spring break, and we won them all, but we hadn’t been playing our best tennis,” Hillier said. “When we got back, our first conference match was against Trinity Valley, and I was really impressed. Coming out of those shaky scrimmages, we showed up and played great tennis and swept them 5-0.”

After finding their identity, junior Shreyan Daulat knew the team had what it took to play consistent down the stretch and get back to the SPC championship.

BY THE NUMBERS

6 10-6 3rd

spc champions

dual meet record

UP AND UP All-SPC North Zone senior captain Alex Ryan prepares to deliver a scorching serve.

22 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

place in SPC

“We really grew as a team throughout the year. It was a notable achievement finishing second in North Zone, so we had big hopes for ourselves going into SPC.” Finishing 6-1 in SPC and earning second in North Zone, the Lions got a bye in the first round of the playoffs. However, in the quarterfinals, the Lions went up against a familiar foe.

“We played St. John’s, who we beat last year to win SPC,” Hillier said.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match, and we played well. I think we peaked at the right time and played some of our best tennis, but they were able to beat us that night.”

For senior captain Jeremy Yu, losing in the semifinals was not how he wanted to end his career with the Lions, but he is proud of the way the team played all year.

“It was definitely a disappointing way to go out,” Yu said. “It was tough, but I still feel like we had an amazing season and an amazing tournament overall, especially the seniors with this being our last high school season.”

Though the team missed out on the finals, Yu knew the team would not be discouraged, and would continue to play well the rest of the tournament.

“Our greatest strength as a team was our ability to bounce back,” Yu said. “After taking a pretty tough loss against Greenhill in the regular season, we were able to outperform them the rest of the season.”

With the loss to St. John’s, the Lions had to quickly regather themselves and get ready for another tough matchup in the third place game. But given the team’s resiliency throughout the season, the Lions were ready for the challenge.

“The next morning we played against Kinkaid, who was the South Zone two seed,” Hillier said. “That was another really competitive match, and it was nice to end

TEAM HUDDLE Varsity tennis head coach Cameron Hillier draws up strategy before a match.

the season on a good win.”

Yu credits the team’s spirit for helping them get through the season despite some setbacks.

“Obviously, all the seniors throughout the entire season, we really did our best to give a good experience to the younger guys because tennis has given us so much,” Yu said. “It’s been such a great ride the last few years, even from the very first scrimmage.

We’ve actually had to teach younger guys how to bring energy to the matches and all that good stuff. Every single practice brought new inside jokes, and it’s been a great journey.”

Even though the Lions fell short of winning the SPC championship, Hillier was proud of how hard the team played throughout the season and how the team matured throughout the year.

“We were a strong team, and we played well,” Hillier said. “We performed really well at SPC and the players should be proud of that and proud of the way they grew together as a team throughout the season.”

As a rising senior next year, Daulat will use this season as motivation to help the team grow stronger and hopefully lead the team to a second SPC championship in three years.

“We were pretty disappointed to fall short,” Daulat said. “But we have some rising freshman that will make great additions to the team, and we will be back for vengeance next year.”

Story Dillon Wyatt, Keshav Krishna Photos Rana Thakkar

CHIPPING AT THE TOP With an experienced senior group leading the way, the golf team fought their way towards the top in a season to remember.

E

leven years and one month.

That’s how long it’s been since the golf team last took home the SPC championship trophy — all the way back in 2011. Since then, aside from a close second place finish in 2017, an SPC championship had seemed far off.

But despite the discouraging streaks, senior Mac McKenzie still held hope.

Setting high goals for himself and the rest of the team, McKenzie, along with other team leaders, led the squad to the highest ranking in five years — a worthy season of golf to remember.

Before competition began, McKenzie had two specific targets he aimed to reach on an individual level.

“Individually, my goals for the season were that I wanted to have a scoring average a little below 75 and be a mainstay on the top five for the team,” McKenzie said. “My scoring average was actually just a little bit above 75 because I just had one off tournament, and I was a mainstay on the top five.”

▪▪▪ Junior Logan Johnson also held high expectations for himself in his individual success throughout competition.

“This season, I focused on putting myself in a position where I could play to win individually in the smaller tournaments throughout the season, with the goal of building some momentum and confidence going into SPC,” Johnson said. “Of course, I didn’t quite hit all those expectations, though I did get a couple first place finishes, and placed top five in all the tournaments I played in.”

As a junior and valued member of the team, Johnson displayed leadership in a different manner than some might expect.

“I really liked working as a junior leader this year,” Johnson said. “Of course, I had some great seniors to look up to, who taught me how to be a better leader since they’ve been in my shoes before. For me, it was more about doing the tedious tasks, like designing

uniforms. I spent a bit more time playing golf and just kind of taking care of the business side of things, VICTORY In the Jesuit Dallas Invitational at Brookhaven Country rather than being Club Feb. 28, the team sported their new medals after placing first. a super vocal leader.”

Throughout the season, head coach Greg Guiler emphasized the importance of being deliberate while spending time on the practicing side of the game.

“One of the things that seemed to surface a lot in our conversations as a group is just intentionality in reps,” Johnson said. “Sometimes it’s easy to go to the driving range and just hit balls, but progressing through your bag and thinking intentionally about what certain circumstances might necessitate and trying to make every rep a pressurepacked rep.”

During the season, the golf team STRONG FINISH Seniors Mac McKenzie, traveled to Austin April 6-7 to compete Anashay Monga and George Warren helped in a tournament at St. John’s along with lead the team to a second place SPC finish. many other SPC teams.

“We were going to have to play “We went down to Austin and almost a perfect round of golf to be first got third, and that was kind of an SPC in SPC, and there’s no such thing in the preview, so I remember thinking, ‘Man, game of golf, but it was still kind of a we got some things to clean up before bummer not winning,” McKenzie said. we get to the SPC tournament,’” Guiler “Also, we haven’t placed second since said. “Our guys put their noses to the 2017. Before that, it was 2011, so we set grindstone and really got after it.” a bar and I just know the bar is going to After continuing to prepare both continue to get raised.” mentally and physically, the team placed After the tournament, McKenzie, second to Kinkaid in the SPC tournament along with others on the team, earned the April 25-26 to complete the team’s title of All-SPC, an unforgettable moment season. for a senior who’s dedicated hours upon “All in all, if you had told me going hours to the team’s success over the last into the tournament that we as a team four years. were going to average below a 75 for our “It was a little bit surreal getting eight scores that counted, I would have named All-SPC,” McKenzie said. “My said, ‘Man, that’s really strong. I think dad was next to me, and my dad’s been I’ll take that,’” Guiler said, “but it wasn’t my biggest mentor in the game of golf. enough.”

My swing looks exactly like his, and he’s Although the team fell just short taught me everything I know about the of first, McKenzie finds success in the results of his season and holds confidence sport, so it was pretty neat. I’m glad to finish my St. Mark’s career in that way.” in the team’s future.

Story Will Pechersky, Aaron Liu Photo Courtesy Mac McKenzie and Logan Johnson

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 23

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE Despite close losses in SPC play, Lions baseball established a new culture of work. As next season approaches, returning players look to build off of it and compete with anyone in SPC.

T

he murmur of the home fans, the infield dust kicking into the air, peanut shells dropping under Doc’s golf cart.

This is America’s pastime. This is baseball.

Bottom of the fifth, senior Max Vafa on first, a crisp pop of the ball hitting the catcher’s mitt signals strike one. Taking a deep breath, senior captain Camden Reeves steps out of the box and gets the sign from coach Johnny Hunter: swing away.

Striding back into the box, Reeves wiggles the bat at the pitcher daring him to throw a fastball. Coming set, the pitcher rears back and fires, right down the pipe.

The tell-tale ping of an aluminum bat sounds.

Home run.

▪▪▪ The baseball team wanted to head into the year a step ahead of their opponents, and to do so, they established a rigorous training regimen to prepare them for the trials ahead.

“We wanted to reinvent the culture because, for a while, baseball has not been as focused on improvement in the offseason as other sports,” Reeves said, “so we worked with Coach Dilworth to put together offseason weight training and we had unofficial, player-run practices and workouts throughout the winter that helped build team chemistry and prepare us for the season. All of that work in the offseason helped translate to some good productivity and wins early on.”

One of these wins included a 20-0 rout of Dallas Lutheran in the annual Hillcrest High School tournament, which junior captain Silas Hosler ascribes in part to the offseason lifting program.

“We had an extraordinary number of big lifters on the team relative to the

BALL FIRST Senior Max Vafa blocks a ball.

24 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

typical baseball program, and the lifts and offseason program also helped set the foundation for good team camaraderie,” Hosler said.

“Who doesn’t love some good chemistry?”

Team morale was at an all time high this season, which varsity coach John Hunter attributes to the return of fans at home games. “[The fans] were a huge plus,” Hunter said, “ and seeing the little guys, the younger students and younger siblings of our players at the game, in addition to a great set of parents and their support, has really encouraged and energized our players for sure.”

Despite all the hard work the team put in, they narrowly fell short of qualifying for the SPC tournament following close losses in multiple counter games.

“We all know the issues that we had to fix, but when it came down to it, we just didn’t hit well enough,” Hosler said. “We didn’t pitch well enough. We didn’t perform at the level that we had envisioned that we could have. I don’t think that’s because we didn’t commit to wanting to win, I just think that we needed a little bit more of a buy-in early on from everybody so that we can set the tone early and not fall behind.”

As the season draws to a close, Hosler looks forward to next year with an even better idea of what a cohesive unit looks like and a goal to build upon the current

SCOOP Vafa picks up a ball bouncing in the dirt.

camaraderie.

“I hope to include a lot of the underclassmen and will try to build lots of bonds within the program,” Hosler said. “Hopefully, some of the underclassmen last year can serve as mentors for the incoming guys next year. We certainly have a lot of

LAYING OUT Sophomore center fielder Alex Barrett dives for a ball.

returning ballers, so my focus for next year is to reinforce our team bond so that, come game time, all we have to do is have fun with one another.”

Reeves also emphasizes the importance of a sense of belonging on the team, as some of his most treasured memories stem from the baseball program.

“This season was the most special because it’s the closest I’ve felt with a team and it’s the most emotionally attached I’ve felt to a team representing the school,” Reeves said. “Obviously, as seniors, it means more. That’s a little bit sad, but I’m also really happy with all of the memories that I’ve built at St Mark’s and as a member of the baseball team. Even though the year didn’t turn out how we wanted it to competitively, I’m still really happy with all of the relationships and memories that we created.”

STRETCH Vafa reaches up to catch a high fastball.

Story Grayson Redmond, Aaron Augustine Photos Courtesy Preston Patton

FIGHTING THE CURRENTS

we stopped for almost 20 seconds to deliberate whether we should keep going or not.

Pushing until complete exhaustion, the crew We ended up team worked its way to a successful season. placing second against the Woodlands, which, while frustrating, kept us really hungry for the rest of the season.”

After the ON THE WATER Senior captains Evan McGowan and Paul Valois compete Austin regatta, at the Central District Youth Rowing Championships in Oklahoma City select team May 6-8. The duo would go on to win their race at the event. members ome kids panting, some kids traveled to Boston, MA for the Head of puking –– everyone sprawled across the Charles, what McGowan coins as “the the floor.

Super Bowl of rowing”.

Senior captain and Cornell rowing “Drake and I ended up undercommit Evan McGowan remembers the performing, but Paul and Bren-dog [junior moment that distinguished crew from any Brendan Kelly] did very, very well,” sport he had ever played in his life.

McGowan said. “I think they may have The older rowers had just finished placed 13th, but it was remarkably good for a 2000-meter piece — what McGowan a small program.” describes as the “gold standard of rowing After a winter season full of “grinding metrics.” on the erg,” the team entered the spring As novices boarded the rowing in great physical shape. The first regatta machines in their places, he remembers they competed in was the Heart of Texas in watching the older guys rally, “donating the Austin. very little energy they had remaining to the “I believe we placed second in the younger guys, trying to will them through [varsity] quad, second in the [varsity] their pieces.” double, and third in the two-string quad,” This season, senior captains McGowan, McGowan said. “Overall, it was a pretty Drake Elliott and Paul Valois have strived strong showing — the only thing that was to follow in the footsteps of captains before lacking was our novices. That brings me to them, embracing the team culture that the single biggest challenge of our season. makes crew so unique.

The wind.”

▪▪▪ Unlike most school sports, the crew THE BREAKDOWN team practices and competes almost Training on the erg is a critical part year-long. The fall season isn’t officially of the crew season. Here are the record times of the top ergers on recognized, but they compete in two the crew team this season: important regattas. The winter season is Top three 2K erg times reserved for training, with team members 6:18.3 — Evan McGowan (school record) focusing on improving erg times and 6:24 — Drake Elliott general strength.

6:49 — Paul Valois Finally, the spring season is where Top three 6K erg times it all comes to fruition, with regattas like 21:03 — Evan McGowan the Texas State Rowing Championship 21:44 — Drake Elliott and the Central District Youth Rowing 22:36 — Paul Valois Championship. McGowan remembers a bumpy beginning to their fall season at the While McGowan conceded that it may PumpkinHead Regatta in Austin. seem silly because the wind is an almost “We had some issues at that regatta,” ever-present issue for rowers, head coach McGowan said. “It was a four or fivePitts Yandell echoed his point. kilometer head race, but there was this “The crew season was difficult, loop at the end that no one knew about. given the weather conditions in the first We had probably outraced first place, but months with several days of ice or snow,

S

Story Austin Williams, Nolan Marcus Photo Courtesy Evan McGowan

as well as March and April’s high winds,” Yandell said. “The team’s enthusiasm was undaunted when we had to work out on land, but it was definitely detrimental to our skill development on the water. The old saying is, ‘ergs don’t float.’”

Their first spring regatta, the Texas State Rowing Championship, was particularly challenging.

“States was not a regatta,” McGowan said. “It was surviving. The wind was at a dangerously high speed. I injured my back — I’m not particularly sure why USRowing had us race, but they did. Paul and [junior Spiros Hallax] actually did very well, they were able to come away with gold.”

Hallax, a recent addition to the varsity quad, thinks of that race as his most memorable moment from the season.

“Rowing with Paul during States really changed my mindset,” Hallax said. “The conditions were bad and I was stressed over the race we had coming up. Paul kind of told me to relax, to think of it as if I was rowing with my friends, and it helped me a lot. All three of [the captains] have really inspiring mindsets.”

BY THE NUMBERS

3 boats

qualified for USRowing National Youth Championships (school record)

16.372seconds gap between varsity double and next boat at Central District Youth Rowing Championship

The Central District Youth Rowing Championship was the team’s next highlight, and it was a spectacular return to form.

“Paul and I placed first in our double, and it was an absolute slaughter,” McGowan said. “We gapped the next fastest boat by 16 seconds — an ungodly margin.

On top of that, our [varsity] quad actually placed first, beating Woodlands, although that race was a little choppy. Beating them was a phenomenal way to exit our season because they were often seen as our archnemesis.”

While the main season is over, McGowan, Elliott, Valois and Hallax will be flying to Sarasota, Florida for the USRowing National Youth Championships July 9-12.

“Now, we’re in this weird limbo because Centrals was fantastic, but it presents some challenges,” McGowan said. “We don’t know what to prioritize.

The double has obviously produced some incredibly promising results, but we also want the quad to place well.”

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 25

END OF AN ERA In their last TISCA-organized tournament before switching to UIL, the water polo team solidified its legacy, defending their throne as state champions for the last time — without eight of last year’s top nine players.

A

fter a compelling season filled with injuries, missed games and controversy, the Lions overcame all those obstacles to bring home their third straight TISCA Water Polo State Championships title.

Heading into the season, varsity head coach Trent Calder had very high expectations despite six of seven starters and their two top players off the bench graduating last year.

“The only person who remained from our top nine guys was Brett Honaker,” Calder said. “Basically everyone else with the exception of Sammy [Larkin] and Ethan [Gao] was new to the roster.

However, this year’s sophomore group won JV championships last year and had a lot of growth potential for this year.”

Part of creating a whole new lineup for Calder was taking chances on different players early in the season, and then determining the starting lineup later in the season based on numerous factors.

“Three of our starters in the first game ended up not starting at the end of the season and were taken over by guys who weren’t starting because they gave us better balance coming off the bench,” Calder said. “It wasn’t about putting our best team out there right away. It was about putting a good team out there and supplementing it with another good team coming in.”

In addition to finding the perfect lineup, to junior captain Sammy Larkin, the leadership on the team made a substantial impact on the team’s unity and success.

“We have some great upperclassmen who have been on the team for a while, and we also had a lot of younger athletes who were new to varsity,” Larkin said.

“I think the older guys did a great job of leading the younger guys on the team.”

26 | ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022

LOCKED IN Surging out of the water, senior captain Brett Honaker winds up for a shot against Marcus High School. Leading the team to a state championship, Honaker was named the 2022 TISCA MVP.

However, the team still had some challenges early on in the season.

“Building a new team with new talent was definitely tough and the beginning of the season was definitely a little bit rocky,” Larkin said.

Early in the season, the team struggled to come together as several players missed weekend games due to other academic commitments.

“We were still at that point of the season where we hadn’t quite gelled with what our identity was as a team,” Calder said. “So every time we’d make two strides forward, one of these guys would come back, and then it would be like a step back, and we were just never able to fully gel until two weeks before state.”

Despite the unfortunate injury to one of the team’s best players, senior captain Brett Honaker, the team was able to bond together and work to overcome the loss of their leader.

“The last three weeks, we really had to buckle down and we just said, ‘this is who we are’ and everybody bought into it,” Calder said. “We really were struggling with identity issues, but then we kind of figured it out.”

The team “figured it out” at regionals, where, according to Larkin, the team finally started to come together and play the game at a different level.

“At that regional tournament everything just seemed to click,” Larkin said. “It felt like we got it together, and that carried over to state.”

Although winning the state

championship was clearly the highlight of the season for each member of the team, there are other plays throughout the season that stand out to Calder as turning points for the team.

“We had a couple of games that Michael [Gao] hit game-winning shots that were just daggers for us,” Calder said.

“And then in the state final, his brother [Ethan Gao] had been struggling to get power on his shot before, but he turned and got a good clean shot and ripped it and scored. That was the moment you could see the other teams’ heads drop and feel that we would win.”

Looking into the future, the team will continue to train throughout the summer in preparation for the season next fall.

“Everyone on the team is also in the same club,” Larkin said. “We’re all practicing together year round. It’s also probably even better that the season begins in the fall because we will all be coming off of summer club, which is really intense.

By next season I think we’ll all be in good shape and be able to get into gear quickly.”

BALL CONTROL Junior Michael Gao looks down the pool for a teammate.

Story Ben Adams, Nolan Marcus Photos Courtesy Laurie Otto

EVER GREATER MAY WE RISE

I

by Zack Stone

had just given up a humiliating 40-yard completion as a sophomore cornerback playing against Cistercian when Coach Lee pulled me off the field. I felt defeated. Embarrassed. Angry.

I did my best to shake it off.

Standing on the sideline feeling sorry for myself wasn’t helping anybody, so I asked to be put back in. At the snap, I got into my backpedal and watched as the quarterback turned my way, cocked his arm back and launched the ball towards my man. This time, I was ready –– I undercut the route and picked off the pass. The roar of the student section filled my ears as I came down with the ball and was promptly swarmed by the upperclassmen on the field with me.

By the time I was a senior playing in my final game against ESD, I had sought every opportunity to hear that beautiful sound again. As the ball was tipped up, I reached out to bring it down, making sure to get both feet in before stepping out of bounds with my last interception as a Lion. I knew exactly what to do. I turned to the student section, arms stretched wide and smiled as their thunderous roar again filled the night.

Months later, I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew by joining one of the most talented lacrosse teams in all of Texas as a senior. After weeks of trying to play my role as a defensive backup seeing limited playing time, I unexpectedly got the nod to join the main rotation for our state quarterfinal game. It would be my last time playing for St. Mark’s in Hunt Stadium. As I squared off against one of Southlake’s best shooters, I heard the familiar roar of the student section. They were shouting my name and barking at my opponent. My worries melted away as we went to work, our brothers cheering us on.

Time and time again throughout my career at St. Mark’s, this community has been there to raise me back up in defeat and to celebrate passionately in victory.

St. Mark’s stands apart because we make every field our home field; because we make every player feel the full force of an entire community behind him; and because even in defeat, we raise ourselves back up, sing the alma mater and get back at it the next day.

While we are here in this special place, we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

Take pride in this brotherhood of ours. Aim high. Sing loud. Bite off more than you think you can chew sometimes. Whether you are on the field, on the bench, or loud and proud in the Lion’s Den, give everything you can give in all you do. Most of all, be grateful for this time together. As the returning alumni like to remind us, much will change after we leave this place. But the brotherhood remains. Ever greater may we rise.

ENDLESS BE YOUR FAME

I

by Tate Laczkowski

remember the first time I watched my older brother, Andrew, play at St. Mark’s. He was a freshman and had already made varsity. It was a Saturday matinee game in front of maybe seventy people.

It was not an exhilarating game by any means; St. Mark’s won by about twenty points.

What caught my attention though was the energy the bench brought — the technical term for it is benergy. One player made seven threes that game, and after every one he hit, the bench got louder and louder. Watching that benergy was special for me. Combine that with the fact I would be playing with my older brother, I knew I wanted to play at St. Mark’s from that day on. I wanted to play in the Lions’ uniform.

Fast forward three years, and I’m sharing the court with Andrew. That year was special. The memories created playing at the American Airlines Center, hitting 3 three-pointers to start the second half against Greenhill in front of a packed crowd or watching Andrew score his 2000th career point and then subsequently throw down a monstrous off-the-backboard dunk are all memories that I will carry with me for a lifetime.

The most special moment, however, was winning the SPC championship. We overcame so much adversity that year, from the tornado destroying our gym to outside noise trying to break us down. Winning that championship symbolized the resiliency and determination we played with all season. It was special to win with that group. Doing so with my older brother was a dream come true.

Two years after Andrew had led me on the court, I had the opportunity to lead my little brother, Luke. After a disappointing junior season riddled with pauses due to COVID-19, I was ready to make my senior and final season at St. Mark’s special. And it was just that.

The chemistry we had on and off the court this year was undeniable. Everyone on the team loved being around each other, and I created friendships that will last a lifetime. I grew even closer to Luke, and playing with him and seeing him make strides as a player and person was something I will also be grateful for. I was so proud of us for fighting back and beating Houston Christian and making the semifinals of the SPC tournament. We left it all out there that weekend, and I am so proud of every one of us.

And while it was special to share the court with my two biological brothers, the friendships I have made with my teammates are just as incredibly. I would go to war with them any day of the year and fight to the death for them.

St. Mark’s, thank you for allowing me to don the Blue and Gold for four years. Thank you for letting me work hard at something I love.

Most of all, thank you for giving me some of the best years of my life getting to compete with my brothers, both by blood and by choice.

Endless be your fame.

ENDZONE — MAY 20, 2022 | 27