PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE.

The 2022-23 year kicked off with two State Championships in the fall. The swim & dive team, known as the AquaHawks, had a historic performance at the State Meet. Rockhurst scored a record 422 points en route to its third straight title, and 14th in program history, the most in Missouri boys’ history. Caden Francois ’23 and Owen Stuckey ’23 were individual State Champions in the 100 Backstroke and Diving, respectively. All three relay teams won their titles, and 14 AquaHawks earned All-State recognition; Francois, Stuckey, and John Tietjen ’23 were named All-Americans.

Not to be outdone, the Soccer Hawklets repeated as State Champions, winning back-to-back titles for the third time in program history, and the ninth championship since 1998. Despite losing nine starters from the 2021 team, Rockhurst had new players step up as the team finished the season with a 21-22 record, ranked #1 in Missouri, #2 in the central region, and #14 in the nation. Four players were named All-State, including Baka Kante ’24 who was the Missouri Player of the Year and an All-American.

Cross country earned its 16th consecutive State Meet qualification and placed 7th out of 16 teams. Henry Acorn ’25 placed 6th individually, becoming the first Rock runner to place top-10 as a sophomore. The football team faced a challenging regular season schedule, finishing 5-4 including big wins over Blue Springs, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Louis University High School, but lost in the final seconds of a high-scoring District game against Park Hill. Andrew

Sprague ’24, a top-10 ranked offensive tackle in the country, was named 1st Team All-State.

In the winter season, the basketball team dealt with a combination of new players and season-ending injuries. But after a slow start to the season, Rockhurst found its groove and earned a spot in the District Championship before losing to Lee’s Summit West. Hayden Spachman ’23 was named 1st Team All-District and Braden Lamley ’24 was Honorable Mention. The wrestling team, with only two seniors, won two of its final three duals of the season against Bishop Miege and North Kansas City before placing 12th out of 16 teams at Districts. Rockhurst had three juniors, Luke Tyrer ’24, Robert Purcell ’24, and Bobby Clemons ’24 come up one place short of qualifying for State in their weight divisions.

Spring brought another championship back to The Rock, as the lacrosse team completed an 18-0 undefeated season. Along with going 13-0 in league play, the Hawklets also defeated out-oftown opponents in Strake Jesuit (TX), Episcopal (TX), Creighton Prep (NE), and SLUH and Chaminade from St. Louis. Rockhurst was dominant. The team ended with a +249 goal differential for the season, and won playoff games by scores of 28-3, 16-4, and 14-10.

Eleven players were named to the LAKC All-Metro Team; among them was Luke McNamara ’24 who etched his name all over the Rockhurst Lacrosse record books. In those 18 games, while not playing in the second half of many games due to lopsided scores, McNamara netted 103 goals, shattering the previous record of 72, which McNamara set in his sophomore season. In just the second game of his junior season, he broke the program’s career goal of 133. With still his final year to play, his goal count sits at 226.

The Golf Hawklets came up one stroke short of winning their second straight title. The team cruised to another District Championship, with all five golfers placing in the top 18 and earning AllDistrict honors. Jack Cobb ’23, who was 10th at Districts, shot one-under in both rounds at State to become an individual Co-State Champion - the seventh ever Hawklet to win an individual title.

Volleyball had its final season as a club sport at Rockhurst. In 2024 it will join as an official MSHSAA varsity sport. The team competed its second consecutive undefeated KC High School Boys Volleyball League going 26-0 en route to another championship, and losing only two sets all season. The Kansas City teams were then invited to participate in the Missouri State Tournament for the first time, which included St. Louis schools. The Hawklets advanced to the State Quarterfinals against Parkway South, but lost a very close match 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 24-26). All-District selections included Barrett Brewer ’23, Colin Fitzgerald ’23, Connor Gaarder ’23, Gage Heueisen ’23, and Mason Kastel ’25

Rockhurst Baseball made its deepest playoff run since the 2019 season after a strong year-end run. In late-April, the team’s record sat at 8-12, but the Hawklets kept fighting and wrapped up the regular season at 15-14, earning the #3 seed in the district. Behind strong pitching performances from Marco Dumsky ’23 and Cooper Westra ’24, Rockhurst defeated Ray-Pec and the top-two seeds in Lee’s Summit and Lee’s Summit West to earn a spot in the State Quarterfinals against the defending State Champions, Liberty North. The Hawklets fought until the final out, but lost 2-0 to end the season.

With another undefeated KC League season, the Volleyball Hawklets won its second straight championship before playing in their first Missouri State Tournament.

The track & field team came just short of winning a District Championship, as Rockhurst took 2nd, just five points behind the winning team. Three relay teams and eight individual events placed in the top four, qualifying for the Sectional Meet for the opportunity to move on to State. At Sectionals, two relays and five individual events made it through the toughest grouping in Missouri to advance for the State Meet. In one of the most competitive State Meets in history, Rockhurst had five All-State performances. Kene Okpareke ’23 placed 5th in the 100-meter and 8th in the 200-meter, Brendan Kerr ’23 placed 4th in the 800-meter, the 4x800 Relay Team placed 5th, and the 4x100 Relay Team placed 2nd.

Each of the top seven players for the tennis team were first-year varsity players following the 2022 season; and the top 12 players were all underclassmen. The Hawklets worked through a difficult regular season of growing pains, but got hot at the right time in the playoffs. Rockhurst won its first two matches of Districts before losing to Pembroke Hill in the State Quarterfinals. On the individual side, two doubles teams, Caleb Bridges ’25 / Henry Stevens ’25 and Nate Dierks ’24 / Luke Johnson ’26, qualified for the State Tournament and the duo of Bridges and Stevens placed 7th.