A new cross-country course winds through the natural beauty of Cistercian’s campus
Report 2023–2024 School Year
“A Calling of the Heart” Cistercian Alumni Choose
to Serve
Dr. Edith and Dr. Lorand Fekete
Dr. Edith and Dr. Lorand Fekete married in 1954 and enjoyed a long and happy marriage for 62 years until Lorand’s passing in 2017 and Edith’s in 2022. While Lorand attended a Hungarian Catholic high school, Edith attended the Hungarian Mixed Lyceum Notre Dame. Later, they met as classmates at University of Targu Mures Medical School. They chose to flee Romania during the years of political oppression and unrest and escaped via a refugee camp before immigrating to Dallas in 1966. Lorand became a neurologist, and
Edith became a child psychiatrist. They were both very dedicated to their work in the Dallas medical community. For years, Lorand studied the arts and practiced sculpting, metal hammering, and ceramics. As a sculptor, he learned bronze casting at SMU, was a long-standing member of the Texas Visual Arts Association, and participated in numerous exhibits in Dallas and Budapest. Edith and Lorand traveled extensively and collected art as part of their everyday life. They enjoyed cooking, entertaining, and sharing
their passions with friends and family. While they never had children, they were like family to many and made a deep connection to the Hungarian community they found in Dallas through Cistercian.
They always knew they wanted to leave a little piece of their vibrant life and legacy to Cistercian through their estate. This gift came at a unique time to highlight their love of Cistercian and the arts, because their gift will help fund the construction of the new theater. What a beautiful encore performance this gift is as their legacy!
To remember Cistercian with a planned gift, contact Erin Hart. 469-499-5406 | ehart@cistercian.org
CISTERCIAN PREPARATORY SCHOOL
Rev. Paul McCormick Headmaster
Greg Novinski ’82 Assistant Headmaster
Fr. Philip Lastimosa ’00 Head of Middle School
Fr. Lawrence Brophy ’01 Head of Upper School
Fr. Ambrose Strong Dean of Students
Brandon Mills Director of Admissions
Chris Blackwell Director of College Counseling
Erin Hart
Director of Development and Alumni Relations
Jack Dorn ’05 Director of Athletics and Physical Education
Peter Thompson ’13
President, Cistercian Alumni Association
School Board
Rt. Rev. Peter Verhalen ’73
Rev. Lawrence Brophy ’01
Rev. Thomas Esposito
Rev. Paul McCormick
Dr. Adebola Adesanya
Mr. Victor Arias
Mrs. Lucy Brittian
Ms. Kathleen M. Muldoon
Mr. Dan Odom
Mrs. Joan D. Raff
Mr. Peter P. Smith ’74
Mrs. Gloria Tarpley
Mr. Jere W. Thompson, Jr. ’74
Mr. Matthew P. Walter ’86
Continuum
Erin Hart Publisher
Brigitte Gimenez Editor
Jim Reisch
Photography Editor FigDesign Layout
Published each spring and fall by Cistercian Preparatory School 3660 Cistercian Road, Irving, TX 75039 469-499-5400 www.cistercian.org
Cistercian Preparatory School was founded with the aim of preparing talented boys for the colleges of their choice by challenging their minds with excellent academic programs, molding their character through the values of Catholic education, and offering them guidance with both understanding and discipline. Cistercian Preparatory School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, nationality, or ethnic origin in the administration of its admission and education policies, financial aid programs, athletic programs, and other activities.
From the Headmaster
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of Faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2
ThisScriptural reference to a “great cloud of witnesses” is engraved in stone at the entrance of the new bridge connecting the lower parking lot to the start of the cross-country trail. And, it aptly titles this issue’s feature article highlighting the remarkable qualities of this new 3.1-mile trail, while reflecting on the rich history of Cistercian’s cross-country program. For decades, dedicated student-athletes and coaches have run, each for different reasons, but all united by a shared commitment to the sport and love for each other. Their memories reveal how
lessons learned in those formative years continue to inspire in running life’s most important race today.
Our second feature article tells compelling stories from others among Cistercian’s “cloud of witnesses,” those who boldly answered the call to serve our nation in the armed forces. These valiant young men reflect similarly on the people and programs of Cistercian that helped shape them and, through them, all those with whom they have served, embodying our school motto: Ardere et Lucere.
Also, please enjoy the humorous column by Patrick Spence ’08, who shares his favorite cross-country and track memories, including running through the “ghostly streets of midnaught Las Colinas.”
Finally, Fr. Thomas reminds us that in being a part of this “cloud of witnesses,” none of us run our life’s race toward holiness alone, but do so supported and inspired by all the saints and martyrs who cheer us on as we look to Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of Faith.
“A Calling of the Heart”
Cistercian Alumni Choose
Fr. Paul McCormick
Cover photo by Jim Reisch
Tom Pruit
Bob Greenfield
News & Notes
New faces on campus
Brandon Mills is excited to join Cistercian Preparatory School as the Director of Admissions and Communications. With eight years of experience in college admissions at the University of Missouri, he is passionate about helping families find the right fit for their educational journey. Mills takes pride in creating a welcoming atmosphere for prospective visitors, ensuring they feel at ease from the moment they step onto campus. Originally from Missouri and now thriving in Dallas, he balances his professional role with the joyful chaos of family life, including an adorable ten-month-old daughter and a spirited three-yearold son. With his blend of expertise and enthusiasm, Brandon looks forward to connecting with families and guiding them toward a meaningful experience at Cistercian.
volunteer, life has come full circle. “I am blessed to rejoin the Cistercian community and be the caretaker of all records in the database,” said Currlin.
Matt Mercy is an assistant varsity and middle school coach for football and track while teaching Form III Health. After earning his finance degree as a student-athlete at Tennessee Tech, he worked in business before playing professional football in Europe. He then earned his M.Ed. at Lipscomb University while working at Ravenwood High School in Nashville, where he coached football and wrestling. He also served as sports information director and taught business management. After his wife’s career brought him to Dallas, he became the head wrestling and assistant football coach at J. J. Pearce High School, where he also taught finance. Before Cistercian, he was an assistant football coach and engineering teacher at Nolan Catholic High School. Coach Mercy’s philosophy when mentoring students and athletes is best summarized by Sir William Francis Butler: “The society that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.”
Alumni parent (Sebastian ’19, Oliver ’22, and Xavier-Class of ’25) and native New Yorker Mary Currlin joined the Development Office as the Database Administrator. While Mary was earning a BS in marketing from SUNY Geneseo, she worked part-time for the college’s alumni office and volunteered for their annual alumni phonathon. After years as a Cistercian Parents’ Club
Clare Frank joined the Cistercian art department with a wealth of teaching and art experience. She earned her undergraduate degree in art history and printmaking at the University of Dallas and her MFA in 2D art at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Over the last 24 years she has taught, participated in local arts organizations, and exhibited art professionally. She was an art teacher at Great Hearts Irving for nine years, where she taught fourth through twelfth grade and sponsored students participating in regional competitions. Her previous teaching experience includes drawing, design and printmaking at the collegiate level and workshops through museums and colleges. She is teaching Forms I and II, art electives for Form V, and sponsoring Art Club. She takes great joy in seeing students develop their powers of expression and looks forward to seeing her Cistercian students grow more fully into themselves in art.
Br. Nathaniel May was born in Topeka, Kansas, but grew up all over the United States, eventually settling in the area outside Louisville, Kentucky, where he completed his senior year of high school. Br. Nathaniel graduated from Thomas Aquinas College (CA) with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, and began working for two years in the Bronx, NY, as a missionary and teacher. In 2023, he entered the novitiate of Our Lady of Dallas and took temporary vows on August 18, 2024. Currently, Br. Nathaniel teaches E-Lab II at Cistercian, delving into the parts of speech and grammar usage.
Br. Kolbe Novey joined the Abbey in August 2023 after spending time as a teacher in the Bronx and later in Irving. After making his first temporary profession of vows, he now enjoys teaching Latin at Cistercian. He grew up somewhere in the cornfields of Illinois, and studied at the University of Dallas as an undergraduate. “I’m grateful to begin playing a small role at the School in continuing the incredible
Brandon Mills
Clare Frank
Br. Nathaniel May
Br. Kolbe Novey
Matt Mercy
Mary Currlin
legacy of the Cistercian Fathers, teachers, and community,” said Br. Kolbe.
Jennifer Kerr joined Cistercian as the receptionist, where she manages the front desk and ensures a welcoming environment for students, staff, and visitors. In 2020, Jennifer and her family moved back to the DFW area to ensure their children could attend school in person. Her son, Harrison, is now in Form I at Cistercian, and she has a daughter at Great Hearts in Irving. Jennifer brings valuable experience from her role at O’Dea High School, an all-boys Catholic school in Seattle, where she also worked in front desk administration. After growing up in the DFW area, Jennifer attended both the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Washington. Kerr said, “I’m so grateful to be part of Cistercian—the students, faculty, and staff create such a warm and welcoming community, and I am excited to be part of the team helping young men grow into their best selves.”
Alumni networking
Hungarian exchange students—“András2”— spend time at Cistercian
In August and September, Cistercian hosted two exchange students from the Szent Imre Cistercian Secondary School in Budapest, Hungary, for five weeks. András Izsak (“Andrew”) and András Polony (“Polo”) benefited immensely from the experience of cultural and linguistic immersion. They were hosted by several Cistercian families, treated to Cowboys and Rangers games, rodeos, and great Tex-Mex food, as well as enlightening experiences like shadowing an ER doctor and touring Dallas public schools. In exchange, they presented on a favorite Hungarian poet—Ferenc Kölcsey—to the Form VIII English class, and they gave PowerPoint presentations on Hungary and their Cistercian school in Budapest to several forms and to the novices in the Abbey. Best of all, they were embraced by their new Dallas classmates in Cistercian’s Class of 2025.
Parallel with the mentoring program for current students and college-aged alumni, the School is also working to connect alumni already out of college within fields and professional interests. Alumni are encouraged to update the “Education” section of their LinkedIn profile to grow the public’s awareness of the Cistercian Preparatory School alumni network and also to join the private Cistercian Preparatory group exclusively for alumni, alumni parents, and faculty of the School (the private group does not appear in search results and is not visible to others on members’ profiles).
CPR saves lives
With half a million cardiac arrests each year, CPR increases the likelihood of surviving such an event. CPR instruction provides the skills and confidence to act in an emergency and save a life. Cistercian fully recognizes the importance of this lifesaving skill, and we are pleased that 100% of our full-time faculty and staff are now fully CPR certified.
Youth Mission to Costa Rica—June 2024
The Diocese of Dallas continued its annual Youth Mission to Costa Rica in 2024. Our students and their fellow missionaries from other area schools spent eight days living and working in the diocese of San Isidro de el General, Costa Rica, attending Mass in Spanish in their cathedral, visiting local schools, and helping rural chapels and their associated communities with minor renovations and building.
Jennifer Kerr
Luke Roppolo ’25, Carter Kenny ’25, and Bishop Dunne junior Kaden Polachek work to expand the facilities at a rural chapel
News & Notes
A gift from the East
A Byzantine Catholic friend of the monastery commissioned a beautiful icon of Bl. János Brenner—the Cistercian monk who entered the diocesan seminary under direction of his novice master when the order was suppressed by the Communists and who eventually was martyred when he refused to stop serving as a priest. The icon was “written” by a Byzantine Catholic, Oleh Skoropadsky (cathodox.com), who works in Ukraine, and it was shipped from overseas in August. Unfortunately, it was damaged in transit, but the iconographer was allowed by the Ukrainian government to travel abroad. As he traveled to various places in Canada and the U.S. for work, he was able to come to Dallas to repair the icon and speak to Form VIII about the tradition of Eastern iconography. Icons are “windows into heaven,” as Mr. Skoropadsky explained it; that is, they are places of meeting or encounter. It was a great privilege to hear directly from the artist who created a work that our community will treasure for many decades to come.
Hope Squad
Cistercian has partnered with the Grant Halliburton Foundation to implement Hope Squad, a proven peer-to-peer youth suicide prevention program founded in 2004. In over 200 North Texas schools and 1,600 school across the continent, Hope Squad aims to reduce stigma associated with mental health, create a school culture of connectedness and empathy, and prevent mental health crises. Hope Squad members are nominated by their peers and are trained with a specific curriculum, not only on the risk factors and warning signs of suicide, but also on topics such as resiliency, self-care, and adversity. In August, counselors, Form Masters, and department heads were educated about Hope Squad. We are excited to implement this program in a way that is fully consistent with Catholic anthropology and values to help our students normalize discussions about mental health and learn skills they will use throughout their lives to help others.
Helping others in Sierra Leone
Last summer, Zachary Fernandes ’25 joined alumnus Tom Lewis ’73 and Dr. Cathy Schanzer for a mission trip with Southern Eye Institute to Serabu, Sierra Leone. The Southern Eye Clinic, founded in 2006 by Lewis and Schanzer, provides care to thousands of people each year in Serabu. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have experienced the medical mission trip to Sierra Leone in June. The humility of the locals and their ability to remain faithful and happy amidst their suffering was inspirational. Having the chance to witness the eye clinic in action was an amazing blessing, because I was present for several patients’ first time seeing after years of blindness. We are not able to cure every suffering these people endure, but at least we can participate in God’s plan by restoring the gift of sight, which is only possible through Him. The trip helped strengthen my resolve to pursue the medical path, and it was a great trip to get exposure to the medical world as a 17-yearold,” said Fernandes. To learn more about the Southern Eye Institute’s mission, visit https://southerneyeinstitute.net/ our-mission/
Educating faculty about Hope Squad
Mentoring/Internship Initiative
Efforts to support current students and college-aged alumni as part of Cistercian’s mentoring program range from something as little as a onetime Zoom/phone call, to an on-campus presentation/panel, to a shadow day at one’s workplace, to a summer internship. Juan Muldoon ’05 and Mark Roppolo ’88 helped this initiative gain traction last summer with positive feedback from all parties involved. Seven rising seniors participated in alum-sponsored summer internships/research; one performed research for UTSW; and three shadowed professionals in their area of interest. Peter Thompson ’13 also led a group of fellow alumni/alumni parents in hosting 15 rising seniors at Crow Holdings Capital for a tour of Old Parkland and a panel on private equity.
Capital Campaign Update
Thanks to the generosity and support of so many in our community, we have secured the whole of the $3.6 million match and have now slightly exceeded our $15 million capital campaign goal! Of course, with an eye toward anticipated cost overruns with the remaining construction, we have a number of additional requests outstanding, including foundation grant requests, estate gifts, additional verbal promises, as well as future year-end gifts that will help give us a cushion above the $15 million mark. We will dedicate the cross-country trail in the spring and will break ground on the new theater in summer 2025. Exciting times for Cistercian!
Sharing faith through music
As seniors, William Greene ’23 and Carter Soderberg ’23 were instrumental in the formation of Miracle Melodies, a musical group dedicated to bringing praise-and-worship music to students at the Notre Dame School of Dallas. The Class of 2023 has moved on, but the current Class of 2025 continues to carry on the group’s mission. Seniors practice on their own time and give up their late-start Monday mornings each week (a senior privilege at Cistercian) to bring joy to students with developmental disabilities.
News & Notes
Inspiring athletes
Since Coach Hillary’s time, there was a sign in the locker room, shown below, that inspired generations of athletes as they made their way to the playing fields. The sign was lost during the renovation, but it was replaced with big lettering on the wall between the varsity locker room and weight room. When our athletes compete, they “bring honor to us all.”
Quiz Bowl news
The Upper School Quiz Bowl team competed in their first tournament of the year in Shreveport. Team A finished second with Andrew Kosel ’28, Bennett Tschoepe ’26, Christian Oh ’26 and Drew Durgin ’26. They were undefeated in the preliminaries but lost a tense and exciting final matchup. Team A qualified for both national tournaments. Byron Duhé ’25, Rishabh Rengarajan ’25, Joe Schulz ’26 and Dhruv Gohel ’28 brought home a fourth-place finish for Cistercian’s Team B. Individual awards went to Duhé (fourth) and Roman Jeffery ’28 (fifth). Four additional team members finished in the top twelve: Durgin (sixth), Gohel (ninth), Oh (ninth), and Kosel (twelfth). At the first Middle School Quiz Bowl Tournament of the year, Cistercian A (Ewan Dilley ’29, Markham Hay ’29, Enrique Mosothoane ’29, Knox Shurley ’29, and Bob West ’29) finished fourth and qualified for the National MS Tournament in Chicago. Dilley was ranked fourth out of 56 competitors.
New perimeter fence
Work was completed recently on the installation of a perimeter fence around campus. The fence runs along the eastern and western boundaries of Cistercian’s property and along the Hwy 114 access road to further limit access to campus and increase security.
Perimeter fence shown in red. Cross country course indicated by dotted lines.
Fall middle school production of Oliver Jr. that had three sold-out shows!
College Matriculations
Big draws, impressive accomplishments, and new schools
The39 members of the Class of 2024 had wonderful options of schools to attend and eventually settled on a list of 22 excellent college choices.
22
Colleges chosen to attend by the 39 students in the class
Fifty-four percent of the class chose to stay in Texas to continue their studies, and three quarters of that percentage (16 students) are attending one of three schools. The most popular destination was Texas A&M University where six students chose to enroll, including Billy Neylon who received a full NROTC scholarship from the United States Marine Corps and Jonathan Zabolio who was the recipient of the Brown Foundation full scholarship. The University of Dallas enrolled the largest number of students from a single Cistercian class where Santiago Barajas received the full-tuition Scholars of Excellence scholarship, two students are recipients of the tuition remission employee benefit, and John Paul Jacob is studying in his propaedeutic year at Holy Trinity Seminary—Cistercian’s
first graduate to enroll directly into seminary after high school. Additionally, although the University of Texas saw a record 73,000 applications this year, four of our eight accepted students enrolled at UT in business, computer science, and Plan II majors.
University. Additionally, two students are attending schools that have not enrolled a student in over 25 years: Dominic Halbmaier at Benedictine University and Thomas Sfikas at Colgate.
54%
Chose to attend a university in Texas
After being named one of only 150 Coca-Cola Scholars (from an initial applicant pool of over 100,000 students), Rithvik Gabri chose to enroll at Stanford University along with classmate Ryan Fang. Owen Putnam and Zeb Minear were granted appointments to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Patrick Garda was selected from over 1,000 applicants to claim one of ten available spots as a Lyceum Scholar studying a Great Books curriculum at Clemson University. And Charlie Humphreys was recruited to play on the offensive line at Yale University. Two students are attending schools where no Cistercian student has enrolled in the past: Ben Refakis to the University of Arizona and Nick Schieferdecker to San Diego State
Class of 2024 Colleges by State
87%
Plan to major in STEM or businessrelated fields
In terms of majors, 13 students are studying computer science or engineering, 12 in physical sciences or healthcare studies, and nine have enrolled in business programs. The remaining five have enrolled in coursework to study philosophy, theology, English, and psychology.
“The irony is not lost on me that the English teacher Form Master would have a class full of STEM and business majors,” says Gary Nied, Form Master for the Class of 2024 (and 2009), “but it has been so good to hear from them in their first few weeks of school about how well they are adjusting to life in college and how happy they are at the schools they chose to attend.” •
Class of 2024 College Destinations
Auburn University
Baylor University
Benedictine College
Clemson University
Colgate University
Furman University
Indiana University
Northwestern University
Rice University
San Diego State University
Southwestern University
Stanford University (2)
Texas A&M University (6)
Texas Christian University
United States Military Academy at West Point (2)
University of Arizona
University of Dallas (6)
University of Michigan
University of North Texas
University of Notre Dame (2)
University of Texas at Austin (4)
Yale University
A Cloud of Witnesses
Dr. Tom Pruit
Photography: Jim Reisch
A new crosscountry course winds through the natural beauty of Cistercian’s campus
Henry Van, a.k.a. Saint Henry, a longtime, beloved member of the maintenance staff, always arrives on campus before dawn. One morning earlier in the fall, Henry was so struck by what he saw that he shared a photo with faculty and staff. “The new bridge connecting the lower parking lot to the hidden field looks like a nighttime tunnel to Heaven, and it makes a big difference on the campus; we are so grateful and blessed,” he said.
In the daylight, it is possible to see, just to the left of the bridge, these always inspiring words from the Letter to the Hebrews: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of Faith.” Certainly Steven Reinemund ’99†, whose vision inspired the new cross-country trail and to whom it is dedicated, as well as all the other alumni, monks, lay faculty and family members who have passed on, now make up that “cloud of witnesses.” They will be looking down, cheering on the “perseverance” which all
our “races” require of us, but in a particular way the race through the twists and turns in the woods, and around the pond and along the river, lost for a short while in the natural beauty of our campus before coming out once again into the more familiar terrain of sports fields and classrooms.
In a Texas culture that lives and breathes the glories of Friday Night Lights and high school football, cross-country was always the “other” fall sport existing in a world without much fanfare, as barely a spectator sport with few dramatic moments beyond the last 100-200 yards of the finish. Class of 2003 alumnus Andrew Theilen’s first impression of cross-country was, to say the least, not flattering—and it was a sentiment shared by other runners for whom cross-country was definitely an acquired taste. It was, as Theilen recalls, “the least glamorous, the most unbearable, and it got exactly zero attention from the ladies and almost no respect from peers.”
Yet, it has always had its strong proponents, and that has certainly been true among Cistercian alumni. Vincent Zimmern ’06 admitted that cross-country was his introduction to grit and discipline, and its Spartan aesthetic (no celebratory touchdowns, no marching bands, no cheerleaders, etc.) had a certain unlikely appeal, forcing participants to find their energy and discipline within.
Another six-year devotee to the sport, Nico Walz ’20, related his participation to his overall Cistercian experience,
recalling that while running was almost always painful, it easily became prayerful. “Running in fact proved to be beautifully monastic; it became an athletic expression of ora et labora.” Alejandro Torres ’08 echoed that thought, observing that cross-country at Cistercian “is yet another extension of that Cistercian monastery spirit: just you, your garb, your thoughts, and your fellow runners. Complex simplicity.”
For others, it was just part of toughening up—the acquiring, as David Pruit ’06 put it, of a “perseverance mindset.” Torres remembered agreeing with the assessment of his physics teacher, the late Judith Leonard, that “running long distances is like hitting yourself with a hammer, because it feels so good when you stop.”
Theilen, however, perhaps put into words the most common sentiment shared by those who donned the simple garb of the sport: “Running cross-country in high school left an indelible impression on me: I can tolerate pain, I can push myself farther than seems possible, and I can be mentally tough. This will eventually apply to other aspects of my life, not just the physical, but this was the first time it was tangible for me. If I can do this, I can do anything.”
“I can tolerate pain, I can push myself farther than seems possible, and I can be mentally tough… If I can do this, I can do anything.”
Andrew Theilen ’03
This toughness, grit and perseverance laid the groundwork for some of these guys to continue running long past their Cistercian cross-country days. David Pruit ’06 and Luke Rakowitz ’22, among others, ran for their universities while some continued what has become a lifelong
practice of distance running or some derivative activity.
Kenneth Adams ’90 recalls that running cross-country began as a corrective imposed by his father as he prepared to enter Form III.He had returned from his summer in Japan quite chubby, after being happily fed “every sweet treat possible” by an indulgent Japanese aunt. While he hated every minute of running off that extra 20 pounds, “there was something in the shared suffering that brought me back to the cross-country team in Form IV,” said Adams. Though admittedly never a great runner, the experience was a fundamental turning point in his life. All the aerobic exercise prepared him for his true passion, cycling: “Cross-country made me fit enough to race bikes, and I did that all through high school, college, medical school and in the 23 years since finishing residency in 2001.” Kenneth has had success, and a lot of fun, competing in races all over the world.
1989-1990 team
Nick Shea ’08 used his cross-country training in high school to fuel his goal of competing in an Ironman Triathlon before the age of 30, which he accomplished in 2019 at age 29. Peter Graham ’02 credits his crosscountry training with getting him through the U.S. Army Airborne School where many others were dropped for
failing the daily runs.
Peter McCormack ’03 and Theilen both learned the value of what they had suffered through running cross-country at Cistercian only later, once out of college. McCormack was chiefly in other sports at Cistercian, and running became a barely endurable penance for keeping in shape. In his mid-30s, he reassessed the value of his Cistercian cross-country career and resolved to start again. After an initial struggle, he now runs 20 miles a week. “Running crosscountry taught me persistence. Perhaps all sports do, and that’s why we love them. But the simplicity and accessibility of running makes the lesson universal. Besides that, it has improved my general mood, and my health is better than in my 20s,” McCormack said. Theilen picked up running again, believe it or not, in medical school, running his first marathon in 2008. He has since run too many half-marathons to count and has even run the Grand Canyon rim to rim. He confesses that he runs when “a thirst develops that can’t be quenched until I pound pavement for an hour or two or bag a peak near my home in Salt Lake City.” Long-distance running is a passion that for Theilen isn’t pursued “so that my gut can get tighter, but instead just to push harder, get faster, and see if I can be broken.”
By the pond
Victor Arias ’00 continued to run well into his 30s, becoming more and more aware that “the mental health benefits were almost more important than the physical.” Arias has recently cofounded a mental health start-up with Daniel McSwain ’01, and talk of their cross-country experience at Cistercian comes up often and offers many positive lessons which they are trying to incorporate into their practice. “The cross-country team felt like a brotherhood of strong-willed misfits trying to do the best with what they’re given but being intentional about pushing and uplifting each other in order to win. That’s the only way it would work.”
I“Running crosscountry taught me persistence. Perhaps all sports do… But the simplicity and accessibility of running makes the lesson universal.”
Peter McCormack ’03
n Alan Sillitoe’s short story, “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner,” Smith, the main character and long-distance runner, sums up the challenge and significance of the run, reflecting not only Arias’s experience, but that of many of our alumni: “the longdistance run of an early morning makes me think that every run like this is a life—a little life, I know— but a life as full of misery and happiness and things happening as you can ever get really around yourself.” Grit, discipline and the ache of muscle and lungs, the relentless pounding of shoes, the feelings of misery and the triumph of perseverance—it’s a tale, for sure, both of running and life.
Through the woods
However, lest I fail to report the “other side” of alumni recollections, I must remember some of those lighter, more humorous moments. Chris Buchanan ’91 recalls that, while a disciplined workout in search of an improved personal time and improved positioning for an improved team score were laudable goals for “the chumps,” some “enlightened thinkers” chose a “higher path” which led them to finding ways “to discern opportunities” to turn practice into a “less strenuous affair.” He then remarks, with tongue firmly implanted in cheek, “Is this not a driving force at Cistercian: to undertake the impossible, the improbable, and succeed (with panache and cunning)? Carpe diem!” There were also the funny recollections of “coach moments.” Chris Kribs ’85 remembers learning from a guest coach (most likely, as he remembers, someone’s dad) about the advanced technique of “fartlekking” which always brought a few chuckles and a sense that they all had gotten “pretty advanced” since middle school. There were the memories of Coach Saied Baghvardani (known affectionately as “Coach Saied”), an excellent soccer coach who was also tasked with directing the cross-country program. Chris Stewart ’91 remembers that Coach Saied’s daily remarks to his players, made in his thick Iranian accent, always began with “beer at 2:45” which always got his runners’
hopes up. “To this day,” Stewart said, “if someone says ‘be here,’ I hear it in Coach Saied’s voice.”
Then there were the stories of being told by a coach to just run across Hwy. 114, touch Texas Stadium, then run back, or of being dropped off somewhere in Las Colinas and told to run back to campus, which generally involved running along the 114 access road as cars whizzed by at 70 miles per hour. There were also fond memories of the “freshman initiation day” which, as Chris Davidson ’03 remembers it, began with a senior telling him (but not explaining why) to ditch the school colors “and procure a pair of red running shorts instead.” Freshmen were then told to run to Las Colinas and to jump into the murky waters of the canal—an action frowned upon by the Las Colinas security patrol. “Once we’d climbed out, now dripping wet, we were told to run as quickly as possible back to school. If noticed and reported, we would not be wearing Hawk black and white, but the red and white of another local school,” said Davidson.
got one of the small white buses stuck under a low overhang in a parking garage. Once they had managed to barely scrape their way in, there was no way to get back out without destroying the top of the bus. John Armitage ’08 remembers: “Someone (I think it was James Hansell ’06) finally had the bright idea of deflating the tires enough to make the clearance. We piled off the bus and pulled off all our gear to save the suspension, then removed the fire escape hatch while Coach drained the tires.” The deflation worked, they eased out of the parking garage, and “we counted that as a bigger victory than our race that morning,” recalled Armitage.
WBut the most enduring story, told by many as a favorite memory from all of high school, was the tale of the trip home from a meet when Coach Ryan Gorman
hile running through the neighborhoods of Las Colinas, to the horses in Williams Square, or on Campion Trail might spark a sense of adventure in some, having a beautiful and challenging course right here on our own campus is a dream come true for many. Though the current track will certainly be a professional grade course fit for real competition, it is not the first trail to be blazed on campus. The thought had come up in the mid-to-late 90s that, with all our land (by
1982-1983 team
2008-2009 team with Coach Gorman
2004-2005 Upper School Cross-Country Team
then we had possession of all 82 acres), we ought to think about establishing a cross-country course on campus—but such a project was tagged a low priority, given the need at the time for a second gym and more practice fields. However, Reinemund, then in high school—who did not know the meaning of “no,” “not now,” “not a priority now”— figured it wouldn’t cost much just to rent a tractor to carve out a simple trail on which to practice. As a young Form Master, Greg Novinski ’82 found himself spurred on by Reinemund’s irresistible enthusiasm, renting and driving back to campus one Saturday a Bush Hog with the intention of turning this non-priority into something of a reality—not professional grade, but good enough for practice. The distance was ‘more or less’ accurate, the saplings were chopped off at ground level, the grass and dirt were bare, and the course cut its way through the woods immediately surrounding the Abbey and School (including the woods which have since become the Hidden Field and those through which the Stations of the Cross Trail now winds). But to keep the trail fully usable took a level of care that the School, at that time, had neither the motivation (Steven graduated in 1999) nor the manpower to sustain, and the trail soon went back to nature.
“the space will become another opportunity to experience the natural beauty that sets the Cistercian campus apart.”
David Hocker ’96
outdoor Stations of the Cross, a project which had been envisioned years earlier and supported enthusiastically by Reinemund as well. The establishment of the Stations of the Cross Trail was finally accomplished as a confirmation project in 2011 by the Class of 2015 and then beautifully refurbished in the spring of 2024. The area now provides a peaceful and more permanent invitation to a prayerful walk. Such an attractive and creative use of the landscape rekindled the desire to revisit the possibility of establishing a professional, meet-capable cross-country course on campus. The goal was to build an abiding and beautiful creation which would, as much as possible, harmonize with the natural beauty of its surroundings while providing the School with a uniquely challenging cross-country course.
The renovation of the Stations of the Cross Trail, its combination of natural beauty and a welcoming openness, quickly grew into the desire to create another trail, one on a larger scale which would offer both a professional, competitive cross-country course for the School’s athletic department and a beautiful, contemplative walking trail for the entire Cistercian community.
The idea of a trail through Cistercian’s woods, however, did not die, but receded behind other priorities before re-emerging as a trail to incorporate an
“Once the project is completed and the site is allowed to heal from construction, the space will become another opportunity to experience the
1998-1999 MISC Champions (including Steven Reinemund ’99)
Robert Patrizi ’00
natural beauty that sets the Cistercian campus apart,” remarked David Hocker ’96, who is responsible for designing and implementing much of the natural landscaping which adorns the campus. “The project,” Hocker continued, “grew out of an extensive, fruitful conversation with a lot of people from the Abbey, school administration, maintenance and coaching staff, parents, and perhaps most significantly, the Reinemund family, for whom the project became a labor of love—both in honor of the School and of their son Steven.” His remarkable spirit, his optimistic vision, his love of the outdoors will be remembered in many ways on the trail, and every competitive run and quiet walk will add another moment of gratitude for his legacy.
Coach Dennis Harris, now in his fourth year as head track and cross-country coach, is quite excited:
“One of our advantages this year is our new on-campus course. As I told the guys, and they’ve learned because they practice on it every day, this is the toughest course you’ll run all year. It’s also unique with all the woods and twists and turns.” Coach Harris is also very pleased that the course is so heavily mulched, which makes it more impervious to mud and all the issues that brings. “For high school runners, there is simply nothing like this trail—for its beauty, its challenge, its complexity—anywhere, either in the Metroplex or the entire SPC. It is one of a kind.”
At first, like a lot of other coaches whose primary sport was something else, Harris saw coaching crosscountry as just something he did to get ready for track. “But here at Cistercian, I have fallen in love with the sport; I’ve begun to dig in and learn—it’s fascinating once you get into it. Besides, I love to win, and in the SPC, you’ve really got to be on your game to compete.” Apparently, that love is contagious, because each year, Coach Harris’s teams seem to get better and better. Winning the SPC track title last spring—the first in Cistercian’s history—has sparked the desire to do the same thing in cross-country. Harris also has a couple of runners currently (junior Ben Brittian and freshman Henry Litton) who have a shot at breaking the long-standing Cistercian SPC record of 16.15 set by Robert Patrizi ’00 in 1999. “That would be a great accomplishment for the boys and the School,” said Harris. It would make their coach very proud too.
As Abbot, Fr. Peter Verhalen ’73 is charged with taking the long view, whether of the Church, the Order or, closer to home, of our local Cistercian community. Thus, looking out at the prospect of completing yet another beautiful addition to the landscape of the entire Cistercian campus, he is led to reflect on the significance of having these 82 acres, accrued during the early decades of the School’s existence. At first, the School acquired land to create a buffer between the Abbey and the bustling growth of
“We have now begun to experience the land, to discover… the rich variety of this place we call home.”
Las Colinas. The purchase of land was in fact the one place where the monks would break their cardinal rule of fundraising: you build only when you have the money. There were to be no long-term loans— except, if need be, for the purchase of land.
Fr. Peter
“The Abbey wanted to safeguard as much as possible the quiet and natural beauty of the land which helped define the character of the Monastery and School,” reflected Fr. Peter. The full 82 acres first sat largely unexplored (except by the occasional botanist, ornithologist, or adventurous miscreant). “We have now begun to experience the land, to discover, within the general urban landscape of the surrounding area, the rich variety of this place we call home,” said Fr. Peter.
What Fr. Peter has come to understand more fully is that beneath that practical desire to acquire land was the more profoundly providential bestowal of a gift— “the restorative quality,” Fr. Peter reflects, “of being able to go for a walk in the woods, to pray in a more natural solitude, and to enjoy the surprising variety of wildlife which the campus affords.” Such important activity requires a slowing down and an adjusting to
the rhythms of nature.
Place into that revelation the creation of the new cross-country trail, which meanders through the full 82 acres, opening up vistas from a scenic spot now known as “the peninsula” to a peaceful stretch along the Trinity River, as well as an interval along “the pond.” It also explores the wooded areas on all parts of the campus—and manages to conform its use to the rooted traditional and liturgical rhythms fostered by the monastic life. Nature abides, and we run (or walk) through her diverse beauty, bringing our happiness and our misery, our sense of adventure and our sense of loss. God abides, and we feel his Presence, and as Wendell Berry concludes in his poem, “The Peace of Wild Things,” “For a time/I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
Henry’s “tunnel to Heaven” beckons all of us, and we need to be ever thankful for that “cloud of witnesses” who, in the company of Steven Reinemund and all the rest who have gone before us, cheer us on as we, with as much perseverance as we can muster, run the race that is set before us. •
“A Calling of the Heart” Cistercian Alumni Choose
to Serve
CHRIS UMPHRES ’04
Bob Greenfield
We all have a calling. Some might refer to it as their vocation. A true calling to the military is a call to serve, an exercise in giving back. Or, as one Cistercian alum and veteran put it, “a calling of the heart.”
Following that calling can take one down many different paths. A few end up in the cockpit of one of the fastest and most lethal weapon systems in the skies today. Others find that answering their call led them to serving the dogs that keep their fellow soldiers and us safe by detecting bombs or explosives. Others might be surprised to find that suffering through those grueling Cistercian math classes actually paid off as a field artillery officer. These are a few of the stories of Cistercian alumni who have followed their calling of the heart.
A calling of the heart… BILL PRITCHETT ’97
When Bill Pritchett talks to young people who are thinking about joining the military, he asks them if they have had a “calling of the heart.”
“I tell them there are lots of reasons for wanting to join the military. There are many practical reasons. The service academies themselves are a great opportunity. There are patriotic reasons, of course. But I challenge them by asking if there is something in their hearts calling them to serve. It doesn’t have to be a crystal-clear calling— they are usually 17 or 18 years old after all—but I ask them if there is something that is calling to them,” Pritchett said.
At the United States Naval Academy, Pritchett followed in the footsteps of his two older brothers (Les Pritchett, Cistercian Class of 1989 and Naval Academy Class of 1993, and Jack Pritchett, Cistercian Class of 1993 and Naval Academy Class of 1997).
ing but not surprising aspect of the student body. “I saw this statistic, and I’m sure it still is true that a high percentage of the students at the academies are Catholic. I think it’s a natural next step for a young Catholic person to want to ’do’ something. To act. The military isn’t the only outlet, of course. But it’s a good one.”
Looking back, he realizes that Cistercian played a role in his first step toward the military. “I
tradition of service.”
His modesty aside, Pritchett’s accomplishments are considerable. After graduating from the Academy just prior to the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center in New York, he entered flight school and became the pilot of a P3 Orion, a long-range, anti-submarine and surveillance aircraft. As a 26-yearold, he found himself responsible for 12 other crew members and a $60 million aircraft “looking for bad guys” in Southeast Asia as part of Operation Enduring Freedom— Philippines.
“My brothers and I were four years apart, and we all went to the Academy. So, it may be noteworthy that there was a Pritchett at the Naval Academy for 12 straight years. For me, part of my wanting to go there was: if my brother did it, I sure can,” he said and laughed.
A few years after leaving the Academy, he noticed an interest-
appreciate the dedication and sacrifice of the monks. They are an amazing example for all of us, and we are lucky to have them in our lives,” he said. “There is a long line of alums who went to one of the service academies, and that’s just a proof-of-concept of the type of education we received at Cistercian; the values that were instilled in us by the priests, the faculty and the families that are a part of the School. More than anything, I’m just proud to have been a part of that Cistercian
After nine years, he left active duty but served another three years in the reserves while attending law school.
With law degree in hand, he went into private practice as a corporate attorney before becoming an in-house assistant general counsel for an environmental company. And last year, he became the general counsel for a start-up contract maintenance firm serving industrial plants such as oil refineries and chemical plants.
“Our employees,” he explained, “are hard-working, blue-collar workers providing for their families. They make our economy and the world economy go. In many ways, they’re just like the military: a bunch of hard-working, goodhearted people doing their part.”
From floating on air currents to riding a rocket
CHRIS UMPHRES ’04
For most of us, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like to rocket along behind the controls of the supersonic F-35 Lightning fighter jet, the most lethal aircraft in the world. But for Chris Umphres ’04, piloting the F-35 is not too far removed from floating along on the air currents in the glider he flew as a 15-year-old.
“The basics of aviation don’t change,” he explained. “Both the glider and the fighter jet get you from point A to point B. Where the fighter differs from the glider is in the weapon systems, the sensors and the mission sets that make it lethal.” In fact, his experience with gliders comes in handy as a fighter pilot.
“I had my glider license before I got my driver’s license,” he said. “Since most fighter jets are singleengine aircraft, we train on what to do if the engine fails. When that happens, the jet turns into a glider, and it’s up to me to manage the energy of the craft knowing that I won’t be able to add thrust from the engine. That’s what I learned flying gliders as a teenager. I’d like to think that flying gliders prepared me to be pretty good at that part of my training.”
Instead, he accepted an ROTC scholarship at the University of Virginia, where he committed to the Air Force. Over his last two years as an undergraduate, he went through a competitive process and was selected for pilot training. Six months after graduation, he was stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, TX, where he
trained in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) program.
of Hunter Washburne ’01, are stationed at Luke Air Force Base outside of Phoenix, AZ. Eleanor is a lawyer and a member of the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. She is the area defense counsel for Luke AFB. As Director of Operations for the 310th Fighter Squadron, a training unit, Chris splits his time between instructing F-35 pilots and directing the overall operations of the unit.
Over the years, he’s extended his commitment to the Air Force to pursue additional training and education, including a PhD from Harvard in public policy. He expects to serve through 2030 when he can retire with more than 20 years of service.
During his senior year at Cistercian, Umphres was nominated to attend the Air Force Academy but was not accepted.
“At the other pilot training programs, you have to compete to go on to the next phase of training, but at ENJJPT, the default for everyone in the program is that you’re going to become a fighter pilot,” Umphres said. “So, if you want to be a fighter pilot, this is the program you want to get into, because there are fewer hurdles once you’re in.”
Umphres and his wife, Capt. Eleanor Washburne Umphres, who happens to be the sister
Looking back at his time at Cistercian, Umphres recalled Abbot Denis summoning him to his office. “He knew I was considering the military, and he called me into his office, the only time I was ever called into the Abbot’s office,” he said. “He understood the military from the Hungarian and Soviet perspective—authoritarian and totalitarian. He basically said to me: ’What are you thinking?’ But he didn’t understand the U.S. military the way I did based on my dad’s and my grandfather’s experiences. When I look back on that now, I remember it fondly, because Fr. Denis was only looking out for my best interests. I came away from that meeting knowing that he cared for me.”
CONNER MCCONNELL ’18
Becoming a military officer piqued his interest during his sophomore year. Conner McConnell ’18 eventually set his sights on a lofty goal—the United States Naval Academy—but, like all good Marines, which he would eventually become, he had a backup plan.
“I wanted to go to the Naval Academy, but I wasn’t accepted. Instead, I got ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) scholarships from the Army and Marine Corps. And when I got into Vanderbilt University, my firstchoice college after the Naval Academy, I used my Marine ROTC scholarship to go there for four years and graduate in 2022.”
College graduation day can be a crucial turning point for many young adults and it was doubly so for McConnell. “On the day I graduated from Vanderbilt, I was commissioned into the Marine Corps,” he said. “Five months later, I went on active duty and was enrolled in The Basic School (TBS). For six or seven months, we studied infantry tactics, leadership skills, and other introductory courses with the goal of becoming a provisional rifle platoon commander.”
McConnell explained. “We interact with the pilots concerning all the information they need for the mission. For example, if we’re doing a casualty evacuation, I make sure the pilot has the proper equipment and personnel he needs onboard the aircraft.
We provide routing information, safety-of-flight data—all the mission status information he needs before I give him the radio frequency for a JTAC to take over.”
means he keeps track of all the professional Marine education and training requirements for the squadron. He administers and keeps track of all test results, such as physical fitness testing, and ensures that all the prerequisite coursework needed for promotions is completed. He hopes that his next assignment will be as a company executive officer, but there are no guarantees.
The Marines are known for the cohesion and camaraderie of their small groups—the platoons. McConnell experienced the same sort of sense of community at Cistercian. “I still talk all the time to the guys I went through TBS with,” he said. “And Cistercian builds that kind of close-knit feeling too. Cistercian helped me develop into a well-rounded person, mentally, physically, academically, and professionally.
After Basic School, he was assigned to his current job with a Marine Air Support Squadron. “I control aircraft from airfields up until they reach their destination,”
JTAC, or Joint Terminal Aircraft Controller, guides the pilot through the actual mission with the respective ground unit.
McConnell also serves as his unit’s training officer, which
Father Raphael taught me a lot about leadership. We worked together on yearbook, but he didn’t make decisions for me. He allowed me to make my own decisions while guiding me in the right direction when I needed guidance. That was a great example of leadership for me, and now I’m trying to do the same for the young Marines I work with who are mostly between the ages of 18 and 24.”
From one band of brothers to the next...
DAVIS BENN ’15
“The culture of Cistercian is really a culture of service, a culture of giving back,” said Cpt. Davis Benn ’15 who recently started two years of training to become a member of the Army’s Special Forces, the Green Berets. “I look at what I’ve wanted to do in the Army—working on a small team of highly trained, specialized individuals—and I can see that this was set in motion for me back at Cistercian.”
“Many of my classmates were a lot smarter than me, but just being around that group of high-competence guys has carried me through the jobs I’ve had in the military. I mean, at Cistercian, you look to your right and look to your left and you’re around a bunch of high-quality men that push each other to excel. That’s where it started for me,” said Benn.
While in high school, Benn became interested in attending the Army’s West Point Academy because of the leadership training, and he’d always been an avid outdoorsman.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t accepted, but he didn’t give up his dreams. “I didn’t apply myself and put in the effort I should have in high school,” he said. “But it worked out. I was told you can’t just flip a switch once you get to college, but that’s what I did. I studied more
He was awarded an ROTC scholarship to Virginia Tech where he finished his first two semesters with a 4.0 grade point average. He applied again to West Point and this time was
set his sights on Special Forces. “I spend a lot of time outdoors. I gravitated to the infantry, and I knew that would be the best path to the Special Forces.”
After Basic Officer Training and Ranger School, he was assigned to the fabled 101st Airborne Division and its 506th Parachute Regiment. He served three years with the 101st and although he was never deployed to a combat zone, he was stationed for 10 months within miles of the Russian border. “When Ukraine was invaded, our unit was sent to Estonia to train with forces from our NATO partners, Germany, Latvia, Estonia, and others. I was able to see 11 countries while I was there.”
admitted, but had to repeat his freshman year. The extra year in college worked to his benefit though. “I was able to figure out what I wanted to do, what drives me, and why I made the mistakes I did,” he said.
After graduating from West Point as an infantry officer, he and was more disciplined than I ever had been before.”
Last March, he went through the selection and assessment process for the Green Berets and was accepted into the program. The next two-plus years will be full of training courses on topics like tactics and leadership, survival, evasion, and resistance. After that, he’ll have a commitment of another three or four more years to Special Forces.
“I’ve always been somewhat restless,” Benn said. “I’ve needed to be constantly busy and pushing myself to meet the next challenge. The military has been another way for me to keep pushing the envelope. I don’t know how long I’ll do this, but as long as I enjoy it, I’ll keep doing it.”
A roundabout way to his wings DREW ROBERTS ’12
The path to receiving his aviation wings of gold on the day before his 30th birthday has been circuitous for Drew Roberts ’12. He went from Texas to Scotland for college and the Netherlands for graduate school before doing a stint as an aide on Capitol Hill. Eventually, he found his way to the Navy’s Officer Candidate School (OCS). All the while, he did what he did in the classroom and on the football field at Cistercian— he persevered.
“I think it started when I was about three years old,” Roberts said. “My mom had these educational videos for my brother, Connor ’12, and me and one was about the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. I could tell you all about that carrier, the aircraft onboard, the crew, the different shirts the crew wore, all their responsibilities. I was fascinated.”
And a thick Scottish accent landed him at the University of St Andrews for his bachelor’s degree in modern history. “I didn’t want to go to tennis practice one day, and our college counselor, Mrs. Bucher-Long, said I ought to listen to the recruiter from St Andrews because he had a really awesome accent. She was right, and that’s where I ended up.”
From there it was Leiden University in the Netherlands for a master’s degree before four years working as a congressional staffer on Capitol Hill. “I took a promotion, and the day before I was going to start a new job on the
Hill, the Navy recruiter emailed me that I had received orders to OCS and I would be sworn in the next day!”
And now he’s training as a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) on the E-2 Hawkeye turboprop airborne early warning aircraft. “The pilots fly and the NFOs like me operate
the mission side of the aircraft. With radar and other sensors on board, the Hawkeye acts as the eyes of the fleet. We communicate with the ships and planes in the Carrier Strike Group to give them battle space target detection and situational awareness. It’s a lot of work for three NFOs, but it’s a true privilege to be a part of carrier aviation,” Roberts said, betraying his Navy pride.
Roberts found that the challenge of attending Cistercian gave him an advantage in the Navy.
“Most of the guys and gals in flight school have excelled their whole lives,” he said. “But then when you get to flight school, you’re going to screw up, and it can mess with your psyche. I think I was prepared, because at Cistercian, I got a regular dose of humble pie. I wasn’t a star student, but I developed a work ethic and mental toughness that served me well. I could bounce back and not get too down on myself. In Officer Candidate School when I was getting yelled at—as everyone does—I could just tell myself: OK, this is just like football practice at Cistercian.”
Working alongside man’s best friend
LUKE TOMASO ’12
Long before he graduated from Cistercian, Luke Tomaso ’12 started thinking of pursuing a career in the scientific field and thought he might go into medicine. He finally settled on veterinary medicine, because, as he explained it, he “wanted to do something different. Being a physician would be a little too normal.”
Then during his senior year at Texas A&M, after he’d been accepted into veterinary school, he found out about the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship Program which got him thinking about the military. “I had never previously thought about combining the two, veterinary medicine and the military,” Tomaso said. “The more I thought about it, the more interesting it seemed, and it snowballed from there.”
After applying for and receiving the scholarship, he has since completed his original fouryear commitment to the military and decided to continue serving. In addition, the Army selected Luke to go back to school to complete a residency in veterinary radiology. He loves what he does.
unique category. They are owned by the government, but it’s up to their handlers and us, their vets, to take care of them from the standpoint of their health and welfare. To do this, I have to build a relationship with the dogs and also their handlers. I find that very
rewarding.”
Military dogs are typically trained in bomb or explosive detection, as well as going on patrol where their role is one of suspect apprehension. It’s demanding work.
physical demands placed on them. We see a lot of sportsrelated injuries like soft tissue and orthopedic injuries, as well as neuromuscular disease. “There’s a lot of pressure to proactively diagnose and treat their injuries so the dogs can do their job every day. When the dogs can’t do their jobs, that has implications for the soldiers who rely on them. We work with their handlers to optimize their care as best we can.”
Luke, who was on the football, soccer and track teams while maintaining his studies at Cistercian, sees this emphasis on both the mind and body as an effective preparation for the military. “While at Cistercian, we were always balancing the two, academics and sports. The School builds the person as a whole. I’ve seen a lot of individuals who struggled to maintain that balance and who had a difficult time with the military.”
“I really like being an advocate for military working dogs,” he said. “These animals are in a
“These working dogs are finely tuned athletes,” Tomaso explained. “There are a lot of
Ultimately though, Tomaso takes his military service personally. “We all have frustrations from time to time with how our public systems work,” he said. “I joined the military because I wanted to make a personal investment in the functioning of our society. I wanted to have a personal stake in the things we rely on to have a functioning society.”
PETER GRAHAM ’02
Peter Graham’02 had a rude reawakening when he began his Army training as a field artillery officer.
“I thought I’d left my Cistercian math classes behind me, but at the artillery schoolhouse, they stuck a box of slide rulers in my hand and said: you’ll need these,” he recalled. “I quickly realized that I was well served by the critical thinking and problemsolving skills we’d been taught. Rote memorization and just repeating facts weren’t as important as thinking through second and third order effects. We were exposed to this in a lot of our classes at Cistercian.”
Peter was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to his interest in the miliary. He’d gone off to college at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, but it wasn’t until the end of his sophomore year that he met several fellow students who were in the ROTC program. “That kind of demystified the military for me,” he said. “I got into ROTC late in my sophomore year of college.”
elite units. I really appreciated the Cistercian connection. It helped me get through Airborne school.”
After graduating from Villanova and being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, Peter did his artillery officer training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma before being stationed in Texas at Fort Hood. “I was hoping for Germany or Italy, but no such luck. I ended up right back in Texas,” he said.
They thought that as a 24-yearold, I somehow had control over the weather. Under Saddam, there was a perception of total government control, and folks in government often waited until someone told them what to do. It was foreign to us, since initiative and independent thinking were so important to us in the Army.”
During the summer before his senior year, he attended Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA, and a providential encounter with another Cistercian alum added to his comfort level with the military. “I found out that Nathan Porter ’95 was stationed there with the 3rd Ranger Battalion,” Graham said. “He picked me up one weekend, showed me around and was a huge help. He was really motivating for me. It was my first time on an army post, and Nathan was in one of the Army’s
His time in Texas didn’t last long. In May of 2008, he and his 40-man platoon were deployed to Iraq.
“The difference in culture was really stark,” Graham said. “We were working with school teachers and with people trying to provide clean water. At one point, one of the local town council members said that all our plans for a new canal were great, but if we weren’t going to let it rain, it wouldn’t matter. It just shocked me how different perceptions were.
After leaving active service in 2010, he entered the Army reserves and was deployed again in 2014 to Afghanistan, where he worked as an information operations officer, an office job—mostly. “I was with the Joint Task Force in a job that focused on developing ways to engage with the local population,” he said. “I was in the Kunar and Nuristan districts, which were very mountainous. It was amazing how different the culture was from one valley to the next in that area, and it forced us to find unique ways to engage with folks in each valley. It really tested our ability to organize massive amounts of information, write tailored content, and at times think outside the box.”
Another skill Graham honed at Cistercian and found useful in the Army was the ability to write clear and concise prose. “Being able to write well was surprisingly important. In the Army, they say: be brief; be brilliant; be gone. That means don’t belabor the point. Get to the bottom line and state your case clearly. Some of the guys had trouble with this, but I bought into it and felt giving clear and concise briefings became a strength.” •
Bob Greenfield is the father of Rob ’92 and Michael ’99, grandfather of Joseph Hess ’22, and spouse of Jackie Greenfield, Cistercian English teacher for 24 years until her retirement in 2017.
Dr. Cheryl Huff
Remembered by Dr. Richard Newcomb II
The recent news of the passing of Dr. Cheryl Huff, my colleague and fellow math teacher, brought much sadness, but also much gratitude and appreciation for the high level of excellence, dedication to her students, and love of math that she brought to her teaching every day while with us from 1991-2001.
For me, two of her many amazing qualities stand out. As a former head of the mathematics department, Cheryl was a most gracious and effective mentor to me in that role when I arrived at Cistercian in 1995. I recall her assisting me as I began the Upper School Math Club by suggesting many good candidates, and I am certain she made sure they attended the first few meetings
Class Reunions
too! She impacted others as well. “Cheryl personally gave me a boost of confidence every time I interacted with her,” said Greg Novinski ’82. The places the math department has been able to go rest in many ways on the work of Dr. Huff.
I did have an opportunity to return, at least in part, some of the many gifts of her mentorship by helping her with one of the most demanding courses in her Ph.D. studies at the University of North Texas: Functional Analysis. The course was based on the famous, or perhaps infamous is a better descriptor, book of the same title by Hewitt and Stromberg. We spent many hours wrestling with the difficult theorems and problems contained in it. It was fun; that says a lot about her. I admire so much her intellect and drive to attain her doctorate in mathematics from a leading university while in her 50s and while teaching full time at Cistercian. It was no surprise to learn that after leaving Cistercian, she became the principal of the North Hills School and was still teaching math late into her 70s.
May her soul rest in peace with our Lord. •
Class of ’79
Class of ’74
Dr. Cheryl Huff
Class Reunions
Class of ’99
Class of ’89
Class of ’04
Class of ’09
Class of ’19
Class of ’14
Fall Sports
Hawks tackle adversity
Cistercian athletes are known for overcoming adversity, and with fewer upper school students playing football than usual, this year was no exception. The team’s tenacity and resilience never wavered despite the odds. With leadership from Stuart Walton ’25, Brock Harrod ’25, and Cash Lechler ’25, the Hawks strengthened the foundation for the future of the program.
The season started with a very tough, nondistrict schedule including Frisco Legacy, St. Marks, and Grapevine Faith. The team battled and won their game against Grapevine Faith with the final play going viral on social media. In this matchup, Cistercian’s running game was unstoppable with five rushing touchdowns from Coleman Griffith ’25, Will McHugh ’26, and Patrick Sporl ’26. Behind 400 yards of offense and great defensive stops by Dean Nevitt ’26, Riley Murphy ’25, and Andrew Davis ’27, the Hawks were able to set up one last defensive stop. With three seconds on the clock, Grapevine lined up for a game-winning field goal. With a strong push by the line, the attempt was blocked and scooped up by Major Beasley ’26 for a time-expiring touchdown giving the Hawks their first victory of the season.
Cistercian went 1-5 in SPC despite respectable efforts on both offense and defense. The team’s struggles did not affect their preparation for opponents, however, and a trip to St. Andrew’s Episcopal in Austin secured another victory. With 231 yards on 30 carries and three touchdowns, Walton helped power the team past the Highlanders. It took every second of the game to earn the win with great defensive stops by Brett Sharp ’26, Harrison Hart ’26, and Tiernan Peterson ’28 as time expired with the Hawks ahead on the scoreboard after a fourth-down stop. Homecoming was a bittersweet ending to the season as we said goodbye to this year’s seniors. Facing a very good Houston Christian team, the Hawks’ raced out to a 12-7 lead in the first quarter and continued to battle all game with great efforts from Dillon Pitts ’26, Arthur Moran ’27, and Trevor Stanley ’28, who came in at quarterback and threw his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter.
What the season’s record cannot show is the strong leadership from the seniors and the enthusiasm of the underclassmen. With a talented middle school group rising and the underclassmen who gained experience this season, the future for Cistercian football is bright.
New training trail for cross-country Cistercian’s
cross-country team made significant strides throughout the 2024 season, and the addition of the new campus 5K trail played a large part in the team’s success. The Hawks won the team championship at both the Terry Jessup Metroplex Striders Invitational and the Southwest Christian School Invitational. These two wins positioned Hawks cross-country for a successful season.
Personal best records were made and broken. Top performer Ben Brittian ’26 returned to competition after missing the past season while recovering from an injury and set a new 5K personal record of 16:43. Will Oliver ’27 had almost a full minute improvement from his previous best and posted a 17:04. David Fernandes ’25 shaved 23 seconds from his personal best, and Anderson Lee ’28 and Rishi Gopal ’27 each improved over two minutes during the season. Several runners had improvements of over 20 seconds.
The team was fired up and ready to compete in the SPC Championship, but a series of unfortunate events derailed their chances for the win. A fall on the course and the illness of several team members prohibited the Hawks from performing at their best level and led to a fifth-place finish.
The future is bright as most of the team will return next year, including all-SPC runners Brittian and Oliver, who finished sixth and seventh respectively in the SPC Championship. •
Fr. Raphael Schaner
Running Joke
A cross-country alum looks back in exhaustion
Scientists have determined that the ideal temperature for running marathons is 55°F, which is why we have cross-country in August, when the temperature is twice as ideal.
We have just installed a new cross-country trail, 3.1 million miles long, or one lightyear, which will enable us to host meets on campus, hunt boar, etc. Rumors of a secret path behind a swiveling bookcase that cuts out the second mile of the course are unconfirmed.
In my day, before all this jazz about avoiding needless casualties, we ran along the service roads, through the ghostly streets of mid-naughts Las Colinas (where some of us who didn’t prefer wearing shirts were often mistaken for ghosts), and finally out to the peaceful shade and freedom of the Campion Trails, by which time I never felt like running anymore. Each year we jumped from a footbridge into the Las Colinas canals, which we believed would render us tireless and invulnerable, like Achilles after his dip in the Styx. Somehow we always made it home—at least, we never did a head count to prove otherwise.
I was not good at cross-country at all. Senior year I had an inhaler and two rules: Don’t walk, and
sprint at the end. I still live by those rules, as any of my students will tell you who have seen me trying to get to class.
There is a lot of value, I think, in doing sports you’re naturally bad at. They will generally leave you humbler, make you more teachable, and give you an appreciation for the talents of others. On some level, we are all automatically at a disadvantage when we run. Look at the rest of Kingdom Animalia. Cheetahs. Polar bears. Lions. By comparison, a running human, unless it’s one of the Detroit Lions, who I already mentioned, is always going to look relatively awkward and slow. It’s odd that we even do it, unless it’s to practice getting to class.
I had two rules: Don’t walk, and sprint at the end.
Track season taught me to stay in my lane and turn left.1 Our runners still use these skills almost daily, but other things have changed. So many risky track events have been taken off the meet schedule over the years: shot-put dodgeball was probably the worst, followed by a version of ultimate frisbee we called “collaborative discus.” Of these sorts of events, only the steeplechase remains, because most people still have no idea
1 Baseball turns left, too, but that’s my next column.
what it is.
In many ways, the steeplechase is the Cistercian of races: it has a weird, liturgical-sounding name, it takes eight laps to complete, there is an honest-to-gosh water hazard similar to our parking lot at high tide, and you age visibly from the start to the finish.
The officials who time the steeplechase are, I suspect, just there to make sure you don’t try to climb an actual steeple and hurt yourself right as we were almost to the 4 × 4 relay.
One level of strangeness and difficulty down from steeplechase is the 300-meter low hurdles. “Let’s run three-quarters of a lap, with low hurdles,” thought someone who was running out of ideas. My time is currently the second-best in the school, because that’s how many people have wanted to run that event.
One of the sophomores is running a 44-something, so it’s not a question of “if” but “how soon.” This is okay with me. I swear. Honestly. My favorite track memories to revisit are not the exhilarating and sporadic Chariots of Fire moments but the frequent half hours lying on the sunwarmed high-jump pads with my friends.
Hopefully many other slowpokes will get to enjoy that. And if you’re ever on the new cross-country trail, look for the bookcase on the left at the start of the second mile. You have to pull out The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes and then it sort of swivels back. •
Patrick Spence ’08
Community Calendar Cistercian
December 21, 2024
Alumni Christmas Party
January 25 and February 1, 2025
Admissions Testing
February 1, 2025
Jim & Lynn Moroney Award Dinner
PREPARATORY SCHOOL
3660 Cistercian Road
Irving, Texas 75039
Running as a metaphor for the spiritual life
The New Testament is quite familiar with the archetypal image of life as a road or a graced journey. Jesus speaks of Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and before “Christian” becomes the standard designation, the first followers of Jesus refer to themselves as “the Way” (Acts 9:2). Saint Paul exhorts his readers to consider the analogy of a footrace as they persevere in the life of faith, straining joyfully toward a triumphant end (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). He also expresses confident trust that he is not running the race of his ministry in vain (Galatians 2:2; Philippians 2:16). By implication, then, running is the most biblically sound and theologically profound of all the sports. (Having run cross-country and track in high school and college, I assure you that I have no personal bias on this subject.)
Those who run will recognize the spiritual opportunities that are available to them through the physical discipline of running. So much is beyond your control on a run. The previous day’s rain could create massive puddles on a concrete road or a swampy trail. One poorly planted step on a curb or a tree root could lead to a sprained ankle or a stubbed toe. The sun could be mercilessly fierce; the biting wind could pierce your layers of clothing and numb your limbs. Your body might simply not be “in the zone” that morning.
What you can learn to control, however, is your selfish will that prefers the lazy way. You could easily yield to the interior discouragement underlying the intense pleasure of hitting the snooze button before the run even begins. You could cut short the run, opting for the alluring coffee break instead of breaking a sweat. But you could, of course, learn to resist such temptations and propel yourself forward thanks to those negative thoughts. You also have the privilege of talking to God in the silence generated by the harmony of the fast-beating heart and
the rhythmic sequence of inhaled and exhaled breaths.
Granted all those internal life lessons, though, the individual on the path is an insufficient metaphor for the spiritual life. No one, after all, is an isolated monad jogging alone down the path of life, training the body merely for the physical health benefits and personal achievement. The cross-country team is, I think, the proper model for the metaphor of the great journey of life. On the team, you always train for and run your own race, and yet you never run alone.
This fact is reinforced by the quote inscribed on a rock near the bridge leading to the no-longer-hidden field and our new cross-country trail: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of Faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
“The race” is the translation of the Greek word agōn. This is the root of our English word “agony,” but it describes a contest, a competitive game. In the spiritual life, the race entails the agonizing effort to conquer the self and to share in the life of Christ, the victor over sin and death, as well as His body, the Church.
The communal sense of the Church is represented by the great “cloud of witnesses” cheering us on. The saints, who have already run the race of faith that Christ himself traced out for them, accompany and encourage us with their prayers. The greatest athletes of the Church are the literal “witnesses” to Christ: the martyrs, those men and women who earned a glory far greater than Phidippides did upon his death after the original marathon.
The saints remind us that our own race toward holiness is, both collective and individually, “marked out for us.” We do not determine or create the path we are to take; true freedom lies, paradoxically, in obedience to the will of Christ, who calls each of us to a unique path of sanctity. The saints have already trodden the path of holiness; and while the race of life is common to all, each saint (past, present, and future) takes a proper path that runs to the leader and goal of all life, Christ Himself. Running for and toward Christ means that we run our respective races together, with the graced assurance that we never run alone. •
