ENDZONE Sports Magazine | 2023

ENDZONE

ENDZONE SPORTS MAGAZINE • A REMARKER PUBLICATION • MAY 19, 2023 AQUATIC TEAMS HEADLINING LIONS ATHLETICS WITH CHAMPIONSHIP WINS WATER POLO: PAGE 4-5 SWIMMING: PAGE 12-13

THIRTEEN GRADUATING SENIORS’ COLLEGIATE SPORTS COMMITMENTS PAGE 18 ONE SENIOR’S PARTING MESSAGE ABOUT HIS TIME WITH ST. MARK’S ATHLETICS PAGE 27

FROM THE EDITOR

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he beauty of sports at St. Mark’s is that the legacy you leave behind as an athlete isn’t fully reflected in numbers — whether it’s positive or negative.

School records, impressive marks, championship wins.

Historically poor stats, disappointing losses, last-place finishes.

In both cases, focusing solely on the numbers can lead you down a path of either excessive pride or destroyed confidence, and ultimately, a skewed view of why we even play sports — and more importantly, why we at St. Mark’s care so much about them.

Of course, we should, as this magazine does, celebrate our accomplishments and acknowledge our shortcomings — without doing so, we have no sense of progress. But beyond that, we must also illuminate our qualitative aspects.

I say this to claim that the true impact of a St. Mark’s athlete lies in the characteristics that define our sports community — things like leadership, spirit, camaraderie. It’s the memories you share, the advice you give, the example you set — the legacy you leave in those physical interactions — that keeps Lions athletics consistently strong, year after year.

So, with this magazine, I encourage you with one simple challenge: take a look beyond the quantitative. Yes, each page has those alluring numbers, those “measures” of success.

But surrounding them are reflections on the moments of teamwork and friendship, grit and resilience, passion and joy, that keep our athletic teams going.

It’s common knowledge that you can’t

Table of Contents FALL Water Polo

3 4-5

Football

6

Volleyball

7

Cross Country

8

Fencing

9

WINTER

10

Basketball

11-12

Swimming

13

Soccer

14

Wrestling

15

SuperFanMen 16-17 College Commits 18

win everything. Results will always waver, but what pushes us through turbulence is our sense of community, and our continued effort to pursue those moments that can’t just be captured by a number.

—Arjun Khatti Endzone editor

Alumni Athletes

19

SPRING

20

Track & Field

21

Lacrosse

22

Tennis

23

Baseball

24

Golf

25

Crew

26

Guest Column

27

Endzone Staff EDITOR

WRITERS/DESIGNERS

Matthew Hofmann

Neil Yepuri

Arjun Khatti

Ben Adams

Aaron Liu

Eric Yi

Morgan Chow

Myles Lowenberg

CONTRIBUTING

Will Clifford

Nolan Marcus

PHOTOGRAPHERS

EDITORS

Ian Dalrymple

Grayson Redmond

Zachary Bashour

Noah Cathey

Nikhil Dattatreya

Will Spencer

Sal Hussain

Shreyan Daulat

Lawrence Gardner

Dillon Wyatt

2 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

FALL Water Polo — First Football — Fifth Volleyball — Fourth Cross Country — Fifth Fencing

STAYING THE COURSE After switching seasons from spring to fall, the Lions water polo team had to adjust to new circumstances while working to maintain their coveted legacy.

CHAMPIONS The Lions dominated the TISCA Private School State Championship, cruising into first with multiple double-digit victories.

While the tournament wasn't as competitive as it was in prior years — due to teams joining the UIL system — the Lions still enjoyed the win.

Story Arjun Khatti, Neil Yepuri Photo Courtesy Ethan Gao

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t had been a long season.

One with ups and downs, highs and lows. A state championship in between.

The Lions battled, from the departure of last year’s veterans to a senior captain’s season-delaying injury. They struggled through tough losses and found themselves in valiant wins.

And now, on the road in sunny California, the varsity water polo team had something more to prove.

They had four games — four chances — to show they belonged in the upper echelon of high school programs across the country. These teams were better than the ones at home, but they took that challenge head-on.

In many ways, their endof-season trip to California was indicative of a lot of successes and struggles the team faced this year. heir first game saw the Lions

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fall four goals short. The second was closer — an opposing sudden-death goal in overtime was the deciding factor. The third was a two-point loss.

But just as the Lions seemed to lose hope, they harnessed the same grit that had earned them so much success in Dallas. In their fourth game, the squad pulled through, ending their run together on the most thrilling moment of the entire season.

The match was tied 7-7 as the play clock wound down — the final seconds of their season ticking away — when sophomore Ben Chen ripped a shot into the back of the net. he scoreboard flashed — - .

The Lions had won. It was their first of the trip. heir last of the season.

It was at that moment when the Lions once again embodied the tides of their tumultuous few months together.

Even through hardship, they

found a way to come out on top.

Before the season started, the team was forced to adjust to new circumstances — ones that, while not affecting the school directly, severely impacted the strength of their opponents.

“The state of Texas put water polo into the UIL system,” water polo head coach Trent Calder said.

“Basically, we could play those [public school teams] teams, but we couldn’t compete with them at the end of the season. We lost 90% of the competition we were going to play against in the championship series.

So, unfortunately, we just didn’t get the same state championship status as we have in the past.”

As a result, the Lions’ state championship run was primarily against other private schools, which are traditionally inferior to many of the strong public school sides. While

they relished in their championship win, the team knew it wasn’t something to savor for too long.

“It was fun to win — I think we won the championship game by 10 goals,” Larkin said. “The games we played versus IL schools were definitely more meaningful. I cared more about beating some of the good UIL schools when we played them. To me, those were championship games more than the private school state championship itself.”

The Lions’ regular season, however, was filled with highs and lows. Some key wins early on, such as their first game versus eller igh School, helped bolster morale and displayed a glimpse of what the team had to offer this year. “ hat first weekend was a good success,” Calder said. “We got a good win under our belt, found our baseline and learned a lot about ourselves defensively.”

Next, the team traveled down to Houston to face a top 6A UIL team in Strake esuit. fter coming out with the win, the team headed into their next game against awson igh School of Pearland, TX. This team was a familiar foe — the Lions had faced them in their previous two state championship games.

Continuing their momentum, the Lions rolled past Dawson with a two-goal victory.

“All the classes really stepped up, but our sophomores had a lot of really good things happen for them that weekend. Sophomore Leo Scheiner was our leading scorer with six or eight goals.”

At the end of this early season tournament, the team would square off against eventual IL champion Brazoswood igh School, who did not lose a game all season, winning 28 of 29 contests. Their one draw, in fact, came against the Lions, who almost scraped

BY THE NUMBERS

out the win. After having a one-point lead in overtime, the Lions conceded a goal with just one second left on the clock, ending the game in a tie.

While the team performed well throughout the tournament, their momentum soon slowed down when they learned they had lost senior captain Sammy Larkin to injury. n already small Senior lass had just gotten smaller — and that required others to step up in his place. “ e found out Sammy broke his back and was going to be missing most of the season,” Calder said. “We lost a very important part of our group. But what was impressive about that was how we adjusted on the fly by putting somebody else in his position. unior Adrian Lutgen stepped up and really did just a tremendous job. Also, big minutes and big opportunities came for juniors Howard Zhang and Dawson Yao.” For Larkin, that injury robbed him of much of his senior season — the culmination of his water polo career at the school. He was, however, able to stay connected with the team even through his recovery, and he eventually rejoined the team for their final game of the season.

“Water polo is the love of my life,” Larkin said. “There’s nothing I love more than water polo. I joined the St. Mark’s water polo club back in fourth grade. When I heard I was going to miss some of the season and maybe all of the season, it really broke me. When we were on the bus ride to Houston, I cried on the bus — and I don’t cry often. I mean, I was heartbroken. But I love our team, and I was still able to be around them. I still was at every practice and every lift.”

After battling against the top teams in the new UIL division, the team returned to Dallas, entering their true regular season phase. They would play many games in this time period,

8-5-2 1st overall record

including some influential ones against Highland Park.

“We got to play Highland Park two or three times, and we lost all of them,” alder said. “ he first time we played them was a horrible game. The second time we played them, we came back and had a great game but lost again to a lastminute goal in overtime.”

But, those losses taught the team to keep pushing through adversity — just like they had been doing all season.

“It was a really anticipated game, and losing to ighland ark in overtime was especially heartbreaking,” junior captain Ethan Gao said. “But we had to just keep going, keep swimming and keep working. We had to learn from what happened, and then after learning, we couldn’t forget about it.”

That spirit took the team into their culminating California tournament, where they embraced everything they had put themselves through over the past few months.

“Our California trip was the most memorable — and my favorite — part of the whole season,” Gao said. “We played against good competition, we had fun at the beach and we bonded as a team. It was the true pinnacle of our season. We were all tuned in.”

TEAM AWARDS Coach’s Award Sophomore Reagan Brower Most Improved Sophomore Leo Scheiner Dr. Laurie Otto Grit Award Sophomore Gage Fojtasek, junior Caleb Maddox Team MVP will be awarded at the Athletic Banquet May 19.

CAPTAINS: in the TISCA Private School State Championship

Senior Michael Gao Senior Aadi Khasigwala Senior Sammy Larkin Junior Ethan Gao

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 5

TAKING THE NEXT STEPS

In year two under head coach Harry Flaherty, the football team rebounded from adversity and changed their culture. With several impact players returning, the Lions look to a bright future.

Story Ben Adams, Will Clifford Photos Zachary Bashour

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fter finishing with a record above . in head varsity football coach arry laherty’s first year, the Lions football team looked to improve on the performances and habits developed last year. hile this year’s team was unable to match last season’s win total as they finished - , they saw new stars arrive on the scene after injuries to key senior starters. laherty was pleased with the previous season’s record and wanted to improve upon it, but he also preached to the team how important other aspects, such as culture, are as they went into the first game.

“I try not to get too caught up with expectations in terms of records or outcomes,” laherty said. “But I was looking to see a step up in terms of our culture and practice habits and competitiveness. nd I thought that our players worked really hard in the summer and training camp, and they prepared themselves for success.”

Sophomore defensive lineman enry stes thought the team’s experiences during summer training made the players feel like they were more than just teammates. “ very player went through a twohour practice in the -degree heat,” stes said. “ ll of the players always lifted each other up. hether we were getting ready for meetings in the locker room, or on our lunch break, we spent time with each other and grew as a group.” fter winning its first game against ort orth ountry ay, the team suffered STIFF ARM Senior captain Keats Leffel shoves a Legacy Christian defender on his way to the endzone.

6 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

two non-counter season losses against istercian and ohn ooper. espite these early losses, laherty was pleased with how the team responded as the Lions won their next two games. “ e had some injuries early on, and we lost two straight games early in the season,” laherty said. “But we rebounded to win a few more games and made a strong showing for ourselves, and we certainly never showed any uit, which I was proud of.” ans from the Lion’s en made the riday night lights shine even brighter on the players. “ hen we ran out of the tunnel in the last game of the season against S , it was pouring rain,” stes said. “ s we were sprinting out, there were tons of fans in the students’ section, who were completely drenched, hyping us up, and that got us fired up. he fans energized us later on in games to keep pushing for the win, and as a team, we felt obligated to go out and put on a show for them.”

One of the key injuries that hampered the Lions’ season was to senior captain eats Leffel, whose shoulder injury kept him from playing his normal linebacker position. owever, Leffel found success on the other side of the ball, as he played running back for the Lions during the second half of the season. “ s the defensive captain, I was just hoping to continue on the momentum we had last year with laherty coming in as the new head coach,” Leffel said. “I was trying to make the most of my senior season, and then it got derailed when I had to switch to running back. But that ended up being a great thing — that’s what I was recruited

A BRIGHT FUTURE

The Lions had more than 1,000 yards rushing for the second year in a row. The passing attack, which led the SPC in total passing yards, had eight players with more than double-digit receptions. Here are the leading and most experienced returning skill players from this season.

Passing

Leading: Asher Wilburn, 1,658 yds, 21 TDs Returning: Jimmy Francis, 567 yds, 2 TDs

Rushing

Leading: Keats Leffel, 468 yds, 6 TDs Returning: Russell Higgins, 222 yds, 2 TDs

Receiving

Leading and Returning: Lucas Blumenthal, 796 yds, 12 TDs

for.” lthough their winless counter record was not what the Lions were hoping for, many young players got a chance to play at the varsity level, allowing for a more experienced group of players to develop for next season.

“In our first three wins, the game at halftime could have gone either way, and I think our conditioning, toughness and resilience really showed in all of those games when we went on to win in the second half,” laherty said. “ e had players that started on either offense or defense for us, and a lot of those guys are coming back.” fter his second year of coaching, laherty’s culture shift has grown the team’s confidence to new heights. “ e are going to go into every game next season having the entire program believing that we can win that game,” stes said. “ very guy on the team is a team-first player and is goal oriented. ext year we will go out with a bang.”

RUN IT BACK Senior safety John Charest returns an interception against Greenhill.

Charest led the Lions with six interceptions and eight pass break ups this season.

FUTURE STARS

HUDDLE Before the first point, the team comes together to amp up their spirits going into the set.

Though the volleyball team fell short in SPC, powerful underclassmen showings forecast strength for next year.

Story Nolan Marcus, Will Clifford Photo Sal Hussain

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oming into this season with a crown on its head and an SPC championship added to the volleyball team’s banner, expectations were high for the team this year despite graduating three all-conference players.

However, the Lion’s start to the season was anything but what was desired and expected.

They began the season with immediate struggles as they lost their first game against rinity alley and could not find a win in the Houston Cup Tournament, leaving the team winless through the season’s first couple of weeks.

But finally, senior captain Luke Stallings brought life back into the team upon his return from a back injury, helping lead the team to an undefeated record in counter season.

“The younger returning players really helped us,” volleyball head coach Darren eicher said. “ e had ach ivica, Luke Stallings, John Householder and Jacob Lobdell, who were key players for us last year return. They had experience playing in high-stakes situations, which helped us later in the season.”

However, the Lions needed more than just upperclassmen to step up and help move the team forward.

“This is probably the best youthful team I’ve ever had,” Teicher said. “We had three or four sophomore starters this year.

They held their own going up against guys that were bigger and stronger than them, and it makes me think that the future is really bright.”

Despite the plentiful young talent on the team, their season started off rocky.

“We had a slow start this year,” Stallings said. “We lost to Fort Worth Country Day this year, and in general the season just felt like a uick high then a longer low.” fter the first nine games, the team held a record of 4-5, and sophomore Jacob Lobdell knew the team needed to change

their mentality if they wanted to turn their season around.

“At the beginning of the season, we thought we were not going to have as good of a season as last year because we were hung up on losing all of the seniors,” Lobdell said. “Once we started playing more as a team, there was a steady uptick in our performances.”

Additionally, the seniors helped strengthen the bonds between players.

“Because we had a pretty young team this year, we needed seniors to step up and lead the team,” Teicher said. “The seniors did a great job of picking us up when we were at our lowest. hey kept everybody positive and working toward the same goal, even though things weren’t always going as we wanted them to.” hen Stallings came back from an injury sidelining him for the beginning of the season, the team had the full effect of a strong senior class leading them to better and more intense practices and performances.

“I was originally injured at the start of the season,” Stallings said. “I came back right when the counter season started, and from there we became a different team.”

Halfway through the season, the team caught fire, winning seven games in a row and clinching the first seed in the zone.

“Luke Stallings coming back from his back injury was massive because it improved our right side,” Lobdell said. “ e was able to shake off the rust pretty uickly and cemented himself as a leader for all of the younger guys on the team.

[Junior Kevin Lu] also wasn’t having a bad season before, but he really picked it up and started playing well around that same time as well.”

Electric student sections also added fuel to the fire, helping the team find an added motivation to play their best.

“It’s night and day in games when we don’t have a student section versus games when we do,” Lobdell said. “I remember

one game we played versus Casady where we didn’t have a big student section, and we lost the first two sets. In the third set, people started to show up and the student section grew. The crowd started to make more noise, and we got on a roll and won the last three sets to complete the comeback. aving people there to react to what you’re doing makes every cool moment 10 times better.”

Lobdell’s favorite moment of the season was when they played Greenhill on their Homecoming night.

“That was such a fun game because we had a huge student section at an away game,” Lobdell said. “There was a football game around the same time so there were a bunch of guys there who packed the stands. uring the game, we just walked all over reenhill and swept them.

Everything went right for us, and we collectively had one of our best games.”

Even though the Lions became a very formidable team, they ultimately fell short in the playoff semifinals, giving them a fourth-place finish in the S .

“We showed we could beat any team and that we were good enough to win it this year,” eicher said. “ e just ran into some teams that got lucky and played their best games against us in the tournament.

Sometimes that happens, but the five-set loss to Trinity Valley really stung.”

The future is bright for the volleyball team, who will play next season with a chip on their shoulders.

“I’m very confident and excited about next year because we have a lot of really talented underclassmen,” Lobdell said.

“I know for a fact that we are going to continue to work all offseason. e have gotten a whole lot better, and it is going to be scary for any team facing us next year. I promise that next year is gonna be electric, and we’re gonna win. That loss against Trinity Valley was soul-crushing. I wanted to win four championships in a row, and I know we could have done it.”

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 7

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

Though multiple runners went down due to injury, the cross country team never wavered, staying together as a team and setting the stage for the future of the newly changed program.

POST RACE The Lions gather after their first competition of the season at the Greenhill Relays Aug. 27, which gave the team a chance to compete against bigger 5A-6A schools.

Story Dillon Wyatt, Lawrence Gardner Photo Courtesy Arjun Khatti he Lions had been plagued by injuries all season, but as they lined up for the last race of the season, a spark of hope and determination could be seen in their eyes. The sun glared down unforgivingly, but the runners were prepared to give it their all. he team took off with dynamic speed, their legs bouncing off the dirt-beaten path as they rumbled down the trail. With every step, the team pushed themselves to the limit, driven by an unwavering desire to prove they were more than just some injury-stricken team. But as the race wore on, it became clear that the team’s weakened roster was an obstacle too di cult to overcome. espite finishing fifth in S , a lowerthan-expected ranking, the team is proud of their accomplishments and the effort they exuded to battle against the unfavaroable odds.

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For first-year head coach Ryan Hershner, the emotions that ran through his head during the team’s first meet were fulfilling, but he knew he still had a job to do. “ t our first meet, there was a lot of excitement and a sense of accomplishment,” ershner said. “But I treated it as if it was any other meet during the season.”

Throughout the season, the Lions were plagued with injuries. For junior captain Raja Mehendale, the team’s battle against injuries was grueling, but they never backed down.

08 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

“As a team, we did really well to keep pushing throughout all that,” Mehendale said. “ e started off a little bit slow with some guys injured, and then we got a little bit stronger as the year went on. We came together as a team mentally, but physically, we were never at full strength as a team.

We were always one or two guys short due to injury and other things. That was pretty disappointing, and that really hampered us toward the end of the season. During our S meet, we had multiple guys, including myself out with injuries or sicknesses. It was a pretty tough end to the season. But throughout the season, we battled adversity, and we handled it well.”

Hershner realizes the battles the team had to face, but he emphasizes the importance of adversity, and continuing to fight even if the odds are stacked against you.

“Growth comes at the point of resistance,” ershner said. “If everything was easy and we won every year, it wouldn’t be much fun. It’s fun to be challenged. That’s how you grow and learn.” hile a fifth place finish for ershner’s first year of coaching may be disappointing, Mehendale commends his job at the helm and knows there’s more to come in future seasons.

“I thought he did a great job this year,” Mehendale said. “It’s a very di cult result to have your first year, but he took everything in stride. He handled everything super, super well. There was certainly no drop off from him to former head coach

John Turek]. He was there every practice, and he’s always been super invested in us.”

As the seniors graduate and the juniors step into the leadership role, the team is going to have a new slate. For sophomore Noah Roby, being part of the team is something that brings him a lot of joy.

“I feel really blessed to be given such a great coach and team,” oby said. “I want to take advantage of that. I hope to run for college, but whatever plan God has for me, I trust it. I enjoy the thrill of getting faster and winning races, but ultimately the team comes before me. he more I run, the more I learn that you perform better when you enjoy running. This helps me to relieve the pressure off myself and enjoy racing and training with the team.” s the Lions look toward next year, they will be determined to bounce back and make another run at S .

“Everyone performed really well this year and improved a ton this season,” oby said. “ owever, at S , a lot of people were sick and injured, and we just didn’t have the performance we wanted. Overall, the season was great, and I’m really excited to see what we can do next year, especially at S . e are ready for a rematch.”

FINAL STRETCH Junior Clark Cooper stays in stride at the Garmin MileSplit Invitational Sept. 24.

AGAINST THE ODDS I

Despite a season plagued with difficulties, the fencing team overcame all challenges.

Story Lawrence Gardner, Matthew Hoffman Photos Courtesy/Fencing t’s August in Texas. The afternoon sun beats down on the grey concrete sur face of the outdoor basketball court.

Across the track, heat waves rippled through the air. The crack of helmets and pads from the football team echoes across the field.

The sound barely reaches the fencers, the wire mesh and kevlar helmets creating an oven around their heads as they repeat footwork drills for what seems like endless time.

But at the end of practice, the relief of taking off the uniforms and the satisfaction of a hard workout outweigh the obstacle of fencing outside.

And that’s what the team has done all season — overcome the odds and fight through tough circumstances to develop an unrelenting team of fencers.

Part of the issue that faced the fencing team was having a good training location. With Hicks Gymnasium still destroyed because of a tornado and the volleyball team utilizing the entire Spencer Gymnasium, there was not any space for the team to practice.

“Sometimes other people just took our court so that we were even practicing in the alleyway behind St. Mark’s.” Arjun Badi said. “The issue of space was big all season.”

Continually, the issues COVID presented created another reason for the team to be outside, something uncommon for fencing.

“Fencing is supposed to be an indoor sport,” senior captain Branden Song said.

“Pre-COVID, we had practice indoors, and

ONE BIG FAMILY Fencers (from L to R) senior Arjun Badi, senior Braden Song and sophomore Hans Hesse sit on the base of the Path to the Manhood with coach Hossam Mahmoud.

fencing strips set up inside the gym, but post-COVID we moved outdoors and had to readjust all the equipment that we had. It was a di cult hurdle to get over.”

But despite this obstacle, the team persevered and GETTING CREATIVE With Spencer Gym occupied by made the best of a seemingly the volleyball team, the fencers resorted to the outdoors. impossible situation, in part due “We set up the fencing strips in the to the senior leadership from the captains. gym, similarly to pre-COVID with tapes,” “I feel the guys who were there before Song said. “This year was actually the COVID hit put in a lot of work to boost first year that we had got to have the everyone’s spirits,” Song said. “We told tournament back indoors, and it was a everyone that it’s still the same fencing, huge success. e had several different and we might be outdoors now, but we’re brackets going, and all the fencers were going to make it work.” supporting each other. Parents came to The underclassmen truly felt that the watch as well.” captains’ leadership was beneficial in Unlike many keeping the team in line.

We told everyone other sports, “I’ve got a lot of respect for Arjun that it’s still the there is barely Badi and Branden Song,” junior Thomas same fencing, any competition Whitehurst said. “Those guys put in a lot and we might be for the team in of effort and managed the responsibility of outdoors now, the Dallas area, being captains well, keeping everyone on with only one but we’re going track for the season.” other school to make it work.”

Badi is equally complimentary of with a fencing — fencing Whitehurst, expecting him to take the team. captain Branden reigns when he graduates.

“We are Song “I just want to say that he is by far the the only other underclassman who showed the most school in the interest and the most leadership,” Badi area that has a fencing team besides said. “He did an amazing job this year Hockaday,” Badi said, “and we were told stepping up as a junior.” that we were not allowed to play against Despite battling several elements all them. So that is why our tournaments were season long, the team remained steadfast almost entirely internal.” and dedicated while looking forward to Despite this setback of outer their end-of-year tournament, where they competition, Badi is hopeful for what the could finally showcase their skills. future holds for the fencing team.

“We have really fostered a sense of team spirit, something that was not there in prior years,” Badi said. “In the last few years, there have been a lot of new fencers who have really made strides in their like craft.”

And with Whitehurst to pick up the reigns for next year, the team will be in good hands to continue its success.

“I may not do club fencing, but I think a lot of my efforts come in terms of leading the team,” Whitehurst said. “I really want to guide the team, especially in trying to fill the shoes of the great seniors we had this past year. We are making sure we are e cient and ready to go for next year.”

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ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 9

WINTER Basketball — Third Swimming — First Soccer — Third Wrestling — Fifth

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oming off an unexpected fourthplace finish last year, the returning players on the Lions basketball team were fired up to work even harder over the offseason and come into the season with a revitalized passion. owever, the team graduated three key players leaving a void in three out of the five major statistical categories that needed to be filled. espite this loss, the general feel of the team remained constant throughout the offseason and into the school year. “ veryone is super close,” sophomore Luke Laczkowski said. “It didn’t matter that we gained a few new players and lost a few of last year’s. he vibe never changed, and as the year progressed, we just became closer.”

Laczkowski attributes the closeness of the team to constant communication and everyone striving for the same common goal.

But even though the team chemistry was hitting on all cylinders, the Lions experienced a rough beginning to their season. inally, after finding their rhythm, the team uickly stepped up to the challenge and exceeded expectations

TEAM HONORS

All-SPC Honors Luke Lackowski Rapha Mitterer-Claudet All-North Zone Honors Lucas Blumenthal Jake Bond CJ Ness Scoring Leaders Laczkowski (17.4), Mitterer-Claudet (9.4), Blumenthal (8.5) Charge Leaders Blumenthal (16), Mitterer-Claudet (8), Bond (7) throughout the season.

“It was one of the most coachable teams I’ve ever seen,” head coach reg uiler said. “ hey were very eager from day one to do whatever it took to play well. here there was not a lot of ego on this team. I think that humility is the reason why they were so cohesive.” et, chemistry is nothing without hard work and commitment, and the Lions knew that in order to succeed, they couldn’t start working in ovember. hey knew they had to get better during the offseason.

“Over the summer, guys like junior Lucas Blumenthal, senior captain apha Mitterer- laudet, Luke Laczkowski, junior ess and sophomore enry stes all put in a ton of effort, and a ton of work,”

GROWING LEAPS AND BOUNDS

With a new look and a tight bond, the basketball team ascended to new heights.

Story Nolan Marcus, Eric Yi Photo Sal Hussain UP THE COURT Sophomore Lawrence Gardner analyzes the defense in the back court against Trinity Valley on Fan Blizzard night Jan. 13. The Lions went on to win 79-45.

senior captain eorge enender said. “ his whole season was a result of that.” art of the fruits of the team’s labor over the summer presented themselves with their unfazed confidence to perform against anyone. “ e played a really competitive schedule,” uiler said. “ e weren’t afraid to play some of the very best teams in allas. Many of the teams we played fared very well late in the season, like aith amily cademy, who won their state championship. risco Memorial igh School was a turning point win for us — beating a team that had one of the best players in the area.” uiler’s highlight of the season was beating iSchool cademy, a very competent team with great individual talent that was expected to beat the Lions. “ e went out on the floor and just played a perfect game and had a bunch of guys contribute,” uiler said. “It was the deepest rotation I’ve probably ever played as a coach. e have a lot of guys who stepped up and played well. But on that particular game, everybody was on their -game. It was just a perfect kind of game.” hile team drive and motivation are often self-produced along with help from fans, parents and coaches, there have been a few team members who have gone above and beyond, giving all they have to fire up the team.

“I give the four seniors a ton of credit because I just think those guys are really special leaders,” uiler said. “ guy like eorge enender — you walk into the gym and just hear him because he’s so eager to support everybody in the blue and gold. rjun hatti — hurt, and yet still there at

every practice and game and going to therapy to get himself ready. ake Bond and apha Mitterer- laudet also go along with all the other upperclassmen we’ve had. here was a very, very close around each other. ” espite finishing the season third in S , the Lions had a fun season that uiler regards highly.

“By the end of the season, the guys had made it abundantly clear that we had every reason to expect a really strong S performance, and they lived up to that expectation,” uiler said. “I was super proud of them.”

BY THE NUMBERS

22

9

wins wins in SPC play

2,129 3

rd

points scored

259

in SPC Class 4A

total three pointers made during the season

Looking into next season, Laczkowski looks forward to being a primary leader on the team as a junior.

“I will be coming off my second year on varsity and into my third, and hopefully I can play a role in helping the younger guys on the team,” Laczkowski said. “Being a leader on the team is a big responsibility, but I’m excited to take the challenge head-on.”

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 11

EXCEEDING THE EXPECTATIONS

ON TOP The Lions squeaked by St. Stephens by seven points to claim the SPC 4A title, marking a successful revenge tour from their fourth-place finish last year.

Despite a dominant season, the swim team wasn’t the favorite going into the SPC final. But with strong efforts reflective of their regular season success, the Lions took care of business and finished first.

UP FOR BREATH Senior Michael Gao (above) and freshman Miller Martin (below) compete in a dual meet against Greenhill Jan. 19.

Story Arjun Khatti, Neil Yepuri Photos Courtesy Ethan Gao

U

p to this point, varsity swimming head coach Trenton Calder felt solid about the season.

Four meets — four wins.

360.75 average team points. . average point differential over second-place teams. alder’s young s uad had leaped off the blocks in dominant fashion against local private school competition.

But their next opponent was a different beast entirely. an. , Southlake Carroll, a 6A public school in the Texas system, would give the Lions their first real test.

And they did not disappoint.

Every single swimmer recorded a personal best in at least one of his races, and the team displayed massive strides of improvement as they looked ahead to S .

While the Lions fell short of victory, marking their only loss of the entire season, their performance gave them all the motivation they needed moving forward.

“That’s when I knew we’d be a 12 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

danger at S ,” alder said. “ e peaked right there. I started to think, ‘We really have an opportunity to win this year.’”

When the Lions entered the season, one image left a stain in their minds — last year’s S meet. heir fourth-place finish left a lingering taste of disappointment, which both pained and invigorated their spirits going forward.

“During every practice when we had a hard set,” senior captain Sammy Larkin said, “we would think about fourth place last year, because that’s just not acceptable for our program. Second place isn’t okay.

Fourth place is unacceptable. That really lit a fire under us throughout the season.”

That disappointment was not the only obstacle the team had to overcome, though. A strong class of senior swimmers had graduated, and a small group of rising seniors was set to follow them. In addition, many South one teams were shaping into worthy opponents for the Lions.

But when the season started, they started building momentum quickly,

convincingly winning their first meet. “ he first meet of the year was against restonwood hristian, and lcuin came out as well,” alder said. “ e outscored both teams in total . e went first and second in all events — it was a good shellacking.”

Next, the team geared up to face a familiar foe with some added motivation from the previous year’s S meet. nd, under that pressure, they delivered.

“We went up against Cistercian, who we had some bad blood with,” alder said. “Not anything personal with the swimmers there, but we got beat out by them at S last year for third place. It was awful. So we were excited to put the hurt on them this time, and we did just that. e won eight of the events and defeated them - .” fter that, the team faced ohn aul II igh School before hristmas break and arish right after. Both meets continued the Lions’ dominant start to the season and extended their win streak to four. ust one month into the season, the team had already improved by leaps and bounds.

“I think almost everybody had a personal best at that point in the season,” Calder said.

Around that same time, the team got some extra support from sophomore George Hoverman, who returned to the team midseason after studying abroad through Swiss Semester for the first half of the school year.

“For most of the season, we didn’t really have any challenging opponents,” Lutgen said. Most of our [SPC] competitors are from ouston.

But getting George was still a huge boost. Our team was always missing one little piece, and he was that guy for us.”

Throughout the season, the team leaned heavily on their juniors, such as Lutgen and captain than ao to lead them, due to the small number of seniors on the team. “ he junior class was really that leading class this year,” Lutgen said. “Seeing all those upperclassmen who had carried me in past years graduate, I realized I needed to step up and be the one who was winning the races, rather than relying on other people to score points for us.”

In addition to the Junior Class’s strength, the team also picked up a major injection of

DIVING IN Junior Howard Zhang takes off in the second leg of the 200 yard freestyle relay against Southlake Carroll Jan. 12.

youth in the freshman class, which exceeded expectations immediately.

“I had a very, very talented freshman crew coming in, and they showed that this year,” Calder said. “Miller Martin was unreal. He won some events in times our pool hasn’t seen in quite a while.”

But in their fifth meet, the team would need all its parts to come together and perform once again, this time in their toughest test all season. The upcoming showdown against powerhouse in Southlake Carroll loomed large on the schedule.

“We did a small three-day taper for [the meet,] and that really dialed the guys in and got them fired up,” alder said.

“We ended up losing that one , but again, that’s a top s uad, and we were as fast as I’ve ever seen. It was special.”

Meanwhile, around that time, the team began to look ahead to the postseason.

Once again, their drive and determination helped them get better and better, with their sights now fully set on an SPC trophy.

“I can think of one practice in particular — about a month and a half before S — where we were given a tough set,” Larkin said. “ veryone from freshmen to seniors put in really

solid swims, even while they were dead tired. I think that was the moment where I went from, ‘Ok, we have an outside shot’ to ‘Ok, we’re seriously in this thing.’”

Before they knew it, the Lions found themselves right in the thick of the S finale.

“By the time we got to SPC, the projections had us, St. ohn’s and St. Stephen’s all right next to each other,” Larkin said. “ e knew it was going to be close.

I was so happy with the team because we went out on the first day and performed. ou can say whatever you want about the rest of the season, but at SPC, every single person PR’d.” fter the first day, there was no stopping the Lions. They continued to pick up steam for the rest of the competition and eventually secured their third S win in four years, scoring points to St. Stephen’s and St. ohn’s .

“We were beating people we weren’t supposed to beat, and at that point, we knew in our heart and our head that we weren’t letting anyone take this away from us,” Larkin said. “I was so unbelievably proud of the team.

It was so great to see and, as a senior, to be able to go out on top after getting fourth last year — I couldn’t imagine a better ending.”

‘

We were beating people we weren’t supposed to beat, and at that point, we knew in our heart and our head that we weren’t letting anyone take this away from us.”

— senior captain Sammy Larkin

BY THE NUMBERS

TEAM HONORS

7 wins 1 186 1st

All-SPC George Hoverman Sebastian Illum Adam Kappelmann Adrian Lutgen Martin Miller Dawson Yao

loss

average point differential over second-place teams in wins this season

in SPC Class 4A

Most Improved Award Baker Lipscomb Coach’s Award Sammy Larkin Team MVP will be awarded at the Athletic Banquet May 19.

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 13

NEXT MAN UP

Only having a full-strength team for the SPC playoffs, Lions soccer fought to a third place finish.

Story Matthew Hoffman, Dillon Wyatt Photo Courtesy Jasmine Ma pproaching the 2022-2023 season, and you have to be careful.” head coach Cory Martin had high Despite the lower number IN THE BOX hopes for the team with many of players, the team fared well Senior captian varsity players returning to the pitch, ready during the regular season and Nat Fisher looks for an opening and excited to repeat the success of the counter-season, largely in part against Awty previous year. due to the leadership of the International However, injuries quickly set in, captains — seniors Nat Fisher School Dec. 12. drastically lowering the number of players and Murphy Paul and junior securing them a third-place finish in the in a fit condition to begin the season.

John Ma. SPC tournament.

“We had a pretty good feeling about the “Being a captain was a privilege,” Fisher But for some on the team, there was a season but then before we started playing, said. “I was grateful to be in a position to sense of underachievement for the season. tons of players got injuries,” Martin said. point the guys in the right direction. We “ e finished third, which was a lot “ Senior eats Leffel tore his labrum, faced many setbacks this year with injuries, higher than we would have expected,” sophomore lex bel broke his tibia and however, we were able to combat that and sophomore lden eagins said. “But given we lost senior captain Murphy aul for a come together as a team before SPC. While the fact that I think this is one of the worst significant period. It was just one thing after we may feel we fell short of our goals, I’m seasons we’ve had, in terms of counter another.” still extremely proud of the team and I have season results, we could have done much Many of these injuries stemmed from no doubt in my mind that the future is

A

the two and three-sport athletes who had to make a quick transition from their previous sport to the soccer pitch.

“They would come into the season already injured,” Martin said. “I try to do my best to give them a window to recover so that when they do come back out, they feel rejuvenated and ready to go.”

TEAM HONORS All-SPC Nat Fisher John Ma Reed Sussman All-North Zone Aydin Sumer Tyler Tang Captains Murphy Paul Nat Fisher John Ma Spirit of the Game Award Murphy Paul Nat Fisher Hunt Silcock Award Murphy Paul Nat Fisher MVP TBA at Athletic Banquet May 19 nd with many club players still playing with their club teams, overworking the players was an issue at the beginning of the season as well.

“We have a few of our club guys who are still having a pretty full club season,” Martin said. “They are still playing matches, 14 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

bright for SM soccer.” aul echoes isher’s sentiment, and as one of the many players who suffered through injury for most of the season, he made sure to enjoy every moment he had on the pitch.

“I felt great pride to be picked to be a captain last year, and I felt even better playing in the few games I did this past season,” aul said. “I love all my teammates, and I enjoyed every moment.”

With captains leading the team, the Lions powered through injuries, finishing with a counter season record of 3-3-1 going into the SPC tournament.

“We did a good job of holding together, and we started the counter season well,” Martin said. “But we never felt that we were at our best. he first time all year that I was able to play what you might think is our optimal team was in the SPC tournament.”

Seeded fifth in orth one for the tournament, the team battled it out against wty International School, beating them two to one to advance to the semifinals where they would play Kinkaid. Despite the team’s best efforts, the Lions fell short of a win.

“We lost to a very good Kinkaid team,” Martin said. “ e lost in the final minute off a corner kick. They were good at their set pieces.”

But the team rallied together and entered day three of the tournament in the thirdplace game against a rival — Greenhill.

The players put on a show, dominating the game and finishing with a - win,

BY THE NUMBERS

12-5-9

overall season record

62 32

goals against goals for

3rd

in SPC Class 4A

better.”

Martin feels a similar way.

“I thought we started to wear down near the end of the loss to Kinkaid,” Martin said, “and I can’t say they were not the better team, especially on their set pieces, but I think there was a feeling that we could have done more.”

With this slight disappointment in mind, the team has already begun preparing for next year with a new fire.

“Next year, we want to focus on the conditioning piece,” Martin said. “We used to do the whole in-season conditioning that [Strength and Conditioning Coach Kevin ilworth oversaw, which was great. So I’m hoping to return to that full scale.” nd Martin is hopeful that with a returning group with many varsity players, the team has the capability to repeat its success.

“We have a lot of depth on our team in terms of skill,” Martin said. “That enables us to try different formations and to really find something that will win us games, so I am hopeful we continue that next season.”

NOT A REBUILD, BUT A RELOAD

Losing several key seniors from the previous year, the wrestling team shined with young talent.

Story Ben Adams, Eric Yi Photo Sal Hussain fter graduating several key seniors and going into the season with a team full of underclassmen, the wrestling team was riddled with varied expectations.

Quickly, many of the young wrestlers blossomed into key members of the team.

This led to duels dominated and medals won.

Injuries and rough performances led to the team finishing the season on a bad note, but the young wrestlers are confident that they can come back stronger than ever.

“Personally, I think we were a little bit stronger early, in what I call the “meat” part of the season,” head coach Reyno Arredondo ‘87 said. “There’s a lot of training going on and a lot of technique, trying to not just build up our wrestling acumen but also our [cardio] from a wrestling standpoint. I thought we attacked that aggressively early in the season. In other words, from November through December, we came out real strong. ot that we flopped or anything like that, but I think other teams caught up to us.”

Freshman Beau Bacon has been wrestling since he was eight years old, but despite his vast experience, he was still nervous as he took the leap to varsity.

“I was definitely nervous just because it was my first year of high school and with the varsity guys, and there are obviously guys that are going to be bigger and stronger than me,” Bacon said. “But I knew my fundamentals would help me through it.”

Although the team lost several key members including Elijah Ellis ’22 and Jedidiah Kim ’22, several wrestlers stepped up and led the team to a season with high hopes for SPC. “We had a really great season, and our expectations grew and grew as he went on,” euhoff said. “ e were pretty

A

HEAD TO HEAD Senior captain Stice Neuhoff dukes it out with his ESD opponent. Thanks to solid performances across the board, the Lions came out with the Senior Night win.

poised to get top three at SPC.” One of the highlights of the season was Senior Night against ESD, where a good number of Marksmen came to show support.

“The guys just rallied,” Arredondo said. “The swim team came out, and a whole bunch of other guys were right there with us. I was wondering why the guys on the team were getting hyped up — it was because there were a bunch of Marksmen there behind them. And then to beat ESD was pretty fun.”

After the team won several duels to start the season, wrestlers completed at the Prep State Championships the week before the SPC tournament. Bacon placed first in the state in his weight class, and first-year wrestler freshman ackson Barnes also placed top three.

“My favorite moment this year was probably watching Jackson Barnes get top three at state,” euhoff said. “I love JB, and it’s really exciting to see someone join the sport and find so much success quickly. He’s about as natural a wrestler as you’re ever going to find, and after only two months of wrestling, to get top three as a freshman is insane.”

Despite the high expectations and several top-three finishes at state the week before, the team performed below its expectations in the SPC meet and placed fifth.

“Wrestling is a very individual sport, and it really wasn’t our day,” euhoff said. “Everything culminates in one day.

Obviously, there are multiple matches, but if you wake up feeling a certain way, there’s a chance that it’s not your day. hat day definitely wasn’t ours.”

ON THE ROPES Sophomore Wyatt Loehr makes a big move in a round against ESD.

Even with disappointing results, Arredondo is excited for next year’s season and the experience they’ll bring back to the team for new or younger wrestlers to learn from.

“The experience manifests itself in a higher quality practice room,” Arredondo said, “and when you have a high- uality practice room, that’s where you build champions. The guys have now really shown and seen for themselve that working hard is truly going to pay off.

And you don’t have to talk about it. You just have to go out there and do it.”

Although the season failed to end the way the team expected, the wrestling program boasts many young talented wrestlers, leading to high expectations for the future.

“I think we have a pretty good younger class, especially the freshmen,” Bacon said. “We have a pretty good team coming up, and I think we can be a state championship contending team for the next couple of years.”

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 15

KEEPING THE DEN LOUD The heart and soul of Lions athletics, the SuperFanMen brought energy all year long while shedding the spotlight on athletes and students for their achievements.

Story Dillon Wyatt Photos Courtesy George Genender What was your favorite chant this year?

George Genender: Oh man, I got some good ones. "You can’t do that!" is a good one. We also got “Let’s go Lions!” I think by far my favorite is whenever [senior] Luke “Power” Noack has a sack and the whole stadium screams, “Power Noack! [Clap clap clap clap clap]. Power Noack! [Clap clap clap clap clap].”

Adam Alfalahi: I really liked the personal chants. I think they were really fun. I liked the Amari Cooper type chant: “Maloooouf!” everytime he did well.

Logan Johnson: Yeah I’d have to agree with Adam. I loved yelling “S.S. Keats!” and “Maloooouf ” on the football field.

Silas Hosler: “Stice is nice!” is by far my favorite. A three-sport athlete needs a dynamic chant.

If you had to give someone honorary SuperFanMan, who would you give it to?

SH: I’ve got a few guys to nominate. I would say [senior] Chase Fisher because he’s done a great job of showing up to a bunch of events. [Junior] Mitchell Galardi and [junior] Zach Olyan round out my top three.

LJ: I’m going to say [junior] Zach Bashour.

He came in really clutch with a bunch of media this year. e filmed a bunch of things and took a ton of pictures.

GG: I’m going to give mine to two people: [junior] Mitchell Galardi, like Silas said, and [senior] Rapha Mitterer-Claudet.

Rapha always brought the energy and he always showed up. Same goes for Mitchell.

Mitchell clutched up for us while we were all in sports. Silas was in wrestling, Adam in soccer and I in basketball. We’d have Logan do basketball, but Mitchell would do soccer and he’d always keep the crowd loud. I could hear them from the gym.

Mitchell and Rapha were complete dogs.

AA: I’d say [senior] Sal Hussain. He’s in one of our SuperFanMen groupchats, and he is always helping us out. I’d also say [senior] Casey Bajec. For lacrosse games, he comes in with a lot of energy and he knows how to get in the opponent’s head.

16 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

FINAL ROAR Arm in arm, the SuperFanMen bid farewell to the school, having left an irreplaceable mark on the community.

How important was it to have fans pack the stands for games?

LJ: Being able to look up and have people yelling for you and have that noise constantly buzzing in your ear is much needed motivation for all athletes.

GG: There are two different kinds of motivation in sports. There’s the motivation where there’s nobody in the stands so you have to do it yourself. Then there’s the motivation where everyone is there and you want to perform for them and win for them. If you want to display your school the best, having people at games only ups the competition.

Across the board, if you give us a student section at those Houston football games, the SPC championship for lacrosse, or any away game, I think it’s a different story.

AA: Yeah it is really important. I mean, it’s our job to get people at games, and we try our very best. here’s a different type of feeling when you look into the stands and see a group of guys or a whole group of people cheering and supporting you in those close games. In the lacrosse game against Jesuit, we had a loud and rowdy crowd, and we really helped our team in that close game.

SH: When you have a home game, that’s the time when a team should really capitalize on taking that momentum and bringing the energy. As fans, we need to make sure the other team knows that it’s St. Mark’s house because this is the den. It’s important that as many guys as possible embrace each other in whatever facet their classmates are involved with. Whether it’s the play or a musical talent, it’s super important that guys show up to each other’s events.

What advice would you give to the next SuperFanMen? AA: Be creative. Be fun. Try to expand on what SuperFanMen is. I know we are your role models, and we’re at a place where there are people you can look up to. Try to do your own thing, be loud and be fun, and people will love you.

SH: Be shameless. There’s a tendency for guys, when they’re on stage, for instance, to be worried that people will judge them. I think being part of the SuperFanMen is you have to be shameless. You can’t be scared of other people. You should embrace your Lion pride and put it all out there.

GG: he effort you show in every sport and other things outside of football, basketball and lacrosse doesn’t go unrecognized.

I remember going to two or three cross country meets and two or three water polo games. I made friends with guys that I wouldn’t have because I went there. It was really fun to see them do their thing. I went to a robotics meet, and I had no idea what was going on, but just being there meant a lot to the guys.

LJ: orking as a team is really beneficial for this. You need to stay organized on all things social media. That is something that is extremely important in terms of planning things. I’d also say to show up at everything you can.

LOOKING BACK With the 2022-2023 athletic year in the rearview, the SuperFanMen take a trip through time to review their five favorite moments in Lions sports this year.

1

First Upper School Assembly, Aug. 26, 2022

Everyone was sitting quietly in their seats, listening to senior Shreyan Daulat play some piano chords, when, all of a sudden, he transitioned to “Still D.R.E.” by Dr. Dre. The lights faded, the actual song started playing and the SuperFanMen burst out of the Decherd doors and onto the stage.

“It felt like the biggest rush of adrenaline I’ve ever had in my life,” SuperFanMan George Genender said. “If you watch the tape back, Logan and I are so excited that we run right into each other at full speed. And I felt no pain. That whole moment just set the tone for the entire year.”

2

Soccer SPC Quarterfinal win vs.

Awty, Dec. 10, 2022

After a grueling regulation period in which each side produced one goal, the pivotal playoff game was headed to extra time. As the Lions gathered themselves before resuming the rest of the match, the basketball team — fresh off a uarterfinal win themselves over Kinkaid — rushed over to support their classmates.

“We were freezing in the stands,” Genender said.

“The game eventually went to penalties, and storming the field after winning — there’s no better feeling.”

4

Lacrosse win vs. Jesuit, March 8, 2023

One of the most anticipated matchups of the year, this showdown put the Lions on the map as one of the best teams in Texas. The team started the game hot, gaining a decent lead in the first half and never taking its foot off the gas. ith a final score of - , the Lions successfully took down esuit for the first time in years.

“Having so many people show up on a school night really epitomized the dedication of our fans,” SuperFanMan Silas Hosler said. “It was really awesome to see.”

TIME TO SHINE Student Council president Sal Hussain takes the Decherd stage for the first time this school year in Upper School Assembly Aug. 26.

3

Homecoming football game vs. ESD, Oct. 22, 2022

Chilly weather. Lightning delays. A tough opponent. The circumstances seemed bleak, but the community showed out when the Lions needed it the most. Despite having to pile on the extra layers and sit in Spencer Gym for the weather to clear, fans still packed the stands to watch their team compete. While the result wasn’t what we hoped for, this game made for a memorable moment.

“It was really big having way more fans than ESD,” SuperFanMan Logan Johnson said. “The fact that it was cold and pouring rain also made that game pretty cool.”

5

Basketball win vs. Greenhill, Jan. 27, 2023

There was a lot of tension around this game, with both teams featuring vastly different starting lineups than last year and smack talk making its rounds among fans. The Lions fans arrived at Greenhill with a blackout theme as they hopped back and forth between the soccer game and basketball game.

Basketball excited the crowd immediately, jumping to a 22-4 first- uarter lead that never faltered the rest of the game.

“Since we had two sports playing, our student section was huge,” Hosler said. “We sort of took over Greenhill, and it felt like a home game to me. Plus, the guys played well, so it was special.”

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 17

THE NEXT JOURNEY

After years of dedication in their respective sports, these 13 graduating seniors have officially committed to further their athletic careers in college.

“The reason I first chose to pursue running in college was to prove to myself that I could, yet through that process, I found a real love for the sport. That love cemented my desire to meet my goals.”

Trey Stager University of Miami, XC and Track & Field

“It has been a dream of mine to play lacrosse since the fifth grade.

I chose Bucknell because of their success on the field and the quality education I would receive.”

“My dream has always been to make it to the next level in football. Rhodes was my best option both athletically and academically.”

Henry Boykin

Bucknell University, Lacrosse

Keats Leffel Rhodes College, Football

“I’ve always wanted to go to the academy, so when I found out I could also play football there, I jumped on it.

Sports have been a huge part of my life, and I can’t wait for the opportunity to play at the next level.

“I chose to continue football because of how important being on a team is to me. I’m excited to join a strong culture of dedicated guys while also attending an outstanding liberal arts college.”

John Charest

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Football

Luke Noack Washington & Lee University, Football

“Playing baseball in college has always been a dream of mine. The opportunity to be part of the team at Hopkins is incredible. I chose to attend because of the culture, coaching staff, success of the team and academic opportunities.”

“I always knew I wanted to attend a service academy due to the brotherhoods that form and the opportunities it would open to me.

Additionally, I wanted to continue to play the sport I love.”

Radford Green Johns Hopkins University, Baseball

Jake Park U.S. Air Force Academy, Lacrosse

“I’ve wanted to compete at the collegiate level for a while, and I landed on Baylor because of the familiar nature of the team and coaches. I’m most excited about rocking the new gear and training and competing with my team.”

“I’m pursuing track and field at the next level because I feel the sport comes naturally to me and would like to continue to grow and get better. At Harvard, I can grow through my sport and academics.

Jack Jackson

Baylor University, Track & Field

Zane Wallace Harvard University, Track & Field

“I wanted to go someplace that let me compete at a high level while still having strong student life and academics. Also, being on a team that has a chance to win a National Championship regardless of the NCAA level is exciting.”

“Football is the ultimate team sport, and the relationships I get from football last forever. I’m excited to continue playing a sport I love while also getting a great education.”

Logan Johnson

Jacob Weinstein Washington University in St. Louis, Football

Sewanee: The University of the South, Golf

“I chose to pursue rowing because I’ve loved my high school experience with the sport, and I decided on Bates based on the feeling I got from the team and school when I visited.”

Brendan Kelly Bates College, Rowing

18 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

“I can’t see myself not playing lacrosse anymore, so continuing it in college seemed natural.”

Ian Williams

Rhodes College, Lacrosse

CARRYING THE LEGACY Accomplishments from former Marksmen as collegiate athletes.

Baseball

Zach Landry ’18, Haverford College Through 122 at bats, recorded 35 hits (.287 avg), 31 RBIs, and three home runs.

Reece Rabin ’18, Princeton In final season, pitched nine games and struck out 13 batters through 26.2 innings.

Aaron Thorne ’20, Carleton College layed in one game for the nights, helping them to a - record.

Basketball

Dylan Osimetha ’19, Kenyon College layed in games, starting in one, while shooting from the field.

Andrew Laczkowski ’20, UPenn Averaged 10.2 minutes/game through 19 games and tallied season highs in points seven and rebounds nine in a - win over emple.

Harrison Ingram ’21, UNC ransferred to after two years at Stanford, where he career averaged . points, . rebounds, and . assists.

Corvin Oprea ’22, U of Rochester layed games and averaged . points, including an -point game vs. hicago.

Heavyweight Crew

Christian Duessel ’20, MIT ith the second collegiate boat, finished first in the ead of the ish.

Billy Lockhart ’20, Dartmouth ith the top club boat, finished fifth at the ead of the harles.

Blake Hudspeth ’21, MIT ith the top collegiate boat, finished th out of in the ead of the harles.

Drake Elliott ’22, MIT ith the top club boat, finished th out of at the ead of the harles.

Evan McGowan ’22, Cornell owed in the fifth varsity boat at the oes rophy ace.

Fencing

Adam Lai ’22, Princeton ent - at the enn lite Inv. ov. and - at the Sacred eart uals ec. .

Football

John Harbison ’19, Sewanee s a defensive lineman, recorded total tackles and three sacks in games.

Paxton Scott ’20, Dartmouth s a wide receiver, played nine games and led the team with catches and yards.

Connor Gaffney ’21, USMMA

layed in one game for the Mariners, who finished the season - .

Sam Eluemunoh ’22, Kenyon College layed four games as an offensive lineman for the Owls, helping the team finish - .

Niles Harvey ’22, Sewanee layed nine games on defense, recording total tackles and one pass deflection.

Zack Stone ’22, Johns Hopkins s a defensive back, played in one game, helping the team to a - record.

Lacrosse

Jonathan Taylor ’19, Villanova layed five games for the th ranked ildcats, helping them to a - record.

Ian Mize ’22, Princeton layed midfielder for the th ranked igers, helping them to a - record.

Soccer

Knobel Hunt ’21, SMU layed defense for the th ranked Mustangs, helping them to a - - record.

Squash

Rana Thakkar ’22, Dartmouth elped the Big reen to an - record.

Volleyball

Swimming

Nico Gomez ’22, WashU Swam in meets and recorded six

s.

Tennis

Daniel Ardila ’20, Johns Hopkins ent - in singles matches and - in doubles matches.

Mark Motlow ’21, Sewanee ent - in singles matches and - in doubles matches.

Track & Field/Cross Country

Julian Ivarra ’21, Babson College laced th and ’d in k at the M hampionship with a : . . laced th and ’d in the k at the onnecticut ollege Inv. with a : . .

Cristian Pereira ’21, Yale t the iegengack Inv., placed th and ’d in the m . s and placed th and ’d in long jump . m .

Michael Vanesko ’21, Middlebury laced nd and ’d in pole vault with . m at the Middlebury Outdoor Meet.

Sahil Dodda ’22, UPenn Won and PR’d in the 1500m at the Widener Invite with a : . . laced th and ’d in the k at the I Mid- tlantic hampionships with a : . .

Enoch Ellis ’22, MIT on and ’d in the m hurdles at the M hampionship . s and in the m hurdles at the ollier Inv. (55.86s).

Fisayo Omonije ’22, Johns Hopkins laced th and ’d in the m at the opkins Loyola Inv. with a : . . laced th and ’d in the k at entennial onf. hampionships with a : . .

Seth Weprin ’19, Dartmouth laced th in the m at the llis Inv. with a : . . laced th and ’d in the k at the I ortheast hampionships with a : . .

Andres Arroyo ’20, MIT laced th in the m at the ollier Inv. with a : . .

Pablo Arroyo ’20, MIT laced first in the m steeplechase at the M hampionship with a : . . laced th in the k at the III ast hampionships with a : . .

Kit Colson ’21, Yale Won and PR’d in the indoor 60m at the ale Season Opener, with a . .

Albert Luo ’19, MIT layed in matches, totalling digs and kills through sets.

Miller Trubey ’21, Loyola Chicago layed opposite hitter and helped the team finish - .

Water Polo

Chase Honaker ’19, UCLA layed goalkeeper and helped the team to a - record.

David Li ’20, U of Toronto layed wing and helped the team to a record.

Jack Palmer ’21, Santa Clara layed attacker and helped the team to a - record.

Leo Ohannessian ’21, UCSB layed attacker and helped the team to a - record.

Brett Honaker ’22, UCLA layed center and helped the team to a - record.

Wrestling

Tucker Ribman ’18, Harvard ent - in the lbs weight class.

Cooper Ribman ’21, Harvard ent - in the lbs weight class.

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 19

SPRING Track and Field — Third Lacrosse — Second Tennis — Second Baseball — Sixth Golf — Second Crew

GOING THE EXTRA MILE A fresh start and young talent allowed the track and field team to place three places higher than predicted in SPC.

Story Morgan Chow, Dillon Wyatt Photos Courtesy Mateu Parker

F

our days before SPC. Four days of team meetings. Four days of training, practice, preparation. oming off the heels of one of the best team compositions in St. Mark’s history and an S championship title, the Lions track and field team had some big shoes to fill. hey weren’t supposed to go far after losing so many seniors, but with that in mind, they knew they could work harder than the entire conference.

“If you can, you can.” “Success is doing better than what you did yesterday, what you did last year.” ead coach ohn urek used these four days — these four team meetings — to inspire a fighting spirit in his athletes to outdo expectations. nd that’s exactly what they did.

Ten personal records, one season best and five ll-S wards. rojected to only win sixth place out of eight in S , the Lions achieved a third-place finish, beating their odds and destroying expectations. ll thanks to the team’s tenacity and steadfast resolve to grind.

“Instead of focusing on the talent on the team, we had a lot more effort this year,” senior captain Sky ark said. “Last year, we depended on skill from people like isayo and Sahil who were topping the state at their event. So something that was emphasized this year was that we could outwork everybody else. e just had a bunch of hardworking dogs that went out there and scored points for us.” urek attributes this success to senior leadership and emphasis on this effort every day. “ ou certainly cannot replace a Sahil odda ’ , isayo Omonije ’ or a Sam luemunoh ’ just like that, but our seniors led the team admirably throughout the season,” urek said. “ he team really worked hard, bought into the competition mentality and improved consistently every week. hey never uit and always competed.” nderclassmen like upcoming talent sophomore Mateu arker were encouraged by this hardworking energy

from the seniors, inspired to persevere and support the team. “ he focus this PERFECT FINISH Sophomore Mateu Parker crosses the finish year was that, even line in the 4x400m relay race. though a lot of people think it’s a single-person sport, teamwork has a lot to do with it,” arker said, “like motivating your friends and realizing how everybody’s points matter for the S championship. he seniors were great at talking to everyone, communicating through roupMe, getting us to cheer for each other at meets and just being there for everybody.” o ark, this season represented a defense of the title and the school’s standing as a formidable track and field program. “ e knew that we were the IN TANDEM Senior Trey Stager (right) underdogs coming in, but we’ve been the and junior Asa McCaleb (left) keep pace school that everyone else looked at for so together in the 1600m race at the Nick long,” ark said. “ e’d had the reputation Finnegan Spring Invitational April 15. as the top dog in S , and we needed hat’s why I was close with a lot of them.” to step up and live up to the St. Mark’s urek is very pleased with their name.” performance and is looking forward to the eamwork and dedication were the following years. crucial elements of the team’s success “ fter S I told the team that we, the despite the odds. ark recalls his favorite coaching staff, were very proud of how memory of the season with senior captain hard they competed,” urek said. “On rjun hatti at a rince of eace meet. paper, we were not supposed to finish “It was so cold, and we had been rd in the ivision, but they competed there since a.m. even though the running events didn’t start until a.m,” ark said. with all their heart.” ith so many underclassmen, St. “ e were there for like three hours just in Mark’s rack and ield will persist with our tent. But then, rjun put out this strength. arker believes in his teammates foot by foot blanket. he entire team and promises to continue the energy. was just huddled around we had like ten “ xcept for throwers, a lot of the guys under the blanket at one time. It was people coming back are juniors,” arker crazy.” said. “ opefully next year, everybody or arker, his favorite memory was works even harder so we can be even cheering on his teammate junior emi better.”

Balogun. ccording to ark, the future is bright “My favorite moment of the season for the program. e is thankful for the was watching emi run his m in S ,” underclassmen’s determination. arker said. “ e did really well and got “Being a captain has never been an third place.” easier job,” ark said. “I can count on all e attributes this supportive the underclassmen to stay focused and atmosphere to the seniors around him. help others. e have a great young core on “ lot of the seniors were all really the team across all events, and they will be nice this year,” arker said, “and they all a scary sight to see in the S next year.” worked hard on trying to make it a team.

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 |21

SETTING THE STANDARD While fans banked on the lacrosse team’s success on paper due to heavy senior leadership and college commits, the group of athletes sought a different goal: a lasting legacy.

IN STRIDE Senior captian Jake Park — who committed to U.S. Air Force Academy for lacrosse — surveys the field.

Story Shreyan Daulat Photo Courtesy Jake Park

M

arch 8 was the day the athletic community eagerly awaited.

Would the lacrosse team live up to the hype?

In their fifth game of the season, the Lions entered Jesuit’s Ranger Stadium to take on the two-time defending state champions. hile esuit fans might’ve expected a continuation of their dominance, arguably more was expected of our Lions.

“We had 20 seniors — each leading in unique ways — and several college commits for lacrosse,” senior captain ake Park said. “Expectations were higher than ever.” eading into the fourth uarter leading - , the Lions scored four goals to keep esuit allas at bay, securing the biggest win of the season — a feat head coach Trey Whitty regards as a turning point.

“It was a big moment that showed us we can pretty much compete with anybody,” hitty said. “ he boys were really proud of that accomplishment.” or ark, the win meant a lot for team morale and confidence. “ esuit was a big win because it was revenge from last season after they ended our state playoff run,” ark said. “ unning to our fans after the game and dapping them up and celebrating with a team dinner at Torchy’s were great memories.” hitty claims the objectives going into the season were not exactly tangible, in terms of wins, losses, placement in competitions, etc.

“Our goals were fairly broad,” hitty said. “ e wanted to instill a culture of competing as hard as we can, representing our school the right way, taking great pride in St. Mark’s and just getting better each day.” he large presence of seniors — including team captains enry Boykin,

22 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

Ian illiams, rant Warnecke and Jake park — was crucial in helping achieve those goals.

“Having so much senior talent helps a lot with leadership,” Park said. “Everyone offers their input and ideas leading up to a game, and we take everything into consideration.”

The team’s spring break trip to rizona was critical in team bonding per Whitty.

“The trip was really fun, and it was an opportunity to spend time off the field,” hitty said. “ hether being out by the pool together, going on a run with the defense or attending a minor league baseball game, the trip was really fun while important for team morale during the season.”

The team went on to pick up another decisive win against St. lbans, a team from . . “ he win meant a lot to us because they’re a team from the ortheast, where competition is fierce,” ark said. “Beating them meant that we could pretty much beat any team in exas on any given day.” hen the S tournament rolled around, the Lions felt prepared. hey picked up wins in the first few rounds to head to the finals versus piscopal School of allas. “ hose expectations from the beginning of the year created some pressure for us to get this win,” ark said, “but one thing this team does really well is handling that pressure. We use that as a chip on our shoulder to play even harder.” he Lions got a reality check after

getting blown out 3-10 in a devastating loss. “ here was a lot of disappointment after the S loss,” hitty said. “That game was a combination of S playing really well — probably their best game of the season — and us really not having the energy needed to pull out a win. We really took a look in the mirror, coaches and players alike, to rededicate ourselves to how we want to finish the season.” s head coach, hitty knew changes needed to be made after S to be able to compete at the state level. “ oing into state, we wanted to play faster, at a higher pace,” hitty said. “ lso, we wanted to work on playing a little more freely, not feeling like we’re handcuffed by ’s and O’s. Lacrosse is a creative game, and we want to empower our guys to play free and fast. Since that S game, that was our primary focus.” he team fell in the first round of state to The Woodlands High School.

While Park understands that the team fell short in certain areas, he asserts that the positive contributions made to bettering the team are e ually, if not more, important. “ e left a great legacy for St. Mark’s,” Park said. “The underclassman had insane growth and improvement throughout the season, and we know us seniors have set a good example for how to behave on and off the field.”

Whitty applauds the senior leadership for their contributions and knows he’ll miss them next year.

“One thing is for certain — there’s going to be a big void next year,” he said. “ his group of seniors was a joy to be around. They love each other. They love playing the game.”

A FOUNDATIONAL YEAR Despite plenty of new faces on the court, the tennis team battled its way to an undefeated record among 4A schools and a second-place SPC finish.

Story Myles Lowenberg, Ian Dalrymple Photo Courtesy Patrick Flanagan

J

unior Patrick Flangan knew what the odds looked like for the freshman-heavy tennis roster playing an experienced SPC opponent.

“We went into Greenhill expecting to get destroyed,” he said.

It was what most would have expected from a squad that lost its longtime Line 1 singles and doubles players after they graduated last year and was starting a new era of St. Mark’s tennis with a young roster. But after freshman Dilan Koganti came up with an unexpected lineup shift to create a spark of hope for the team in the Greenhill match, the victories began to roll in. he track and field team, also on Greenhill’s campus, came to the court to support their classmates. With a loud crowd at their back, the tennis team began to roll. lanagan earned the first win. he Line 1 doubles team for that match, senior Shreyan Daulat and freshman Nathaniel

TAKING A SWING Junior Patrick Flangan readies to hit a ball. Flanagan was part of the older leadership that guided new members of the team in their first time playing tennis at the varsity level.

Hochman, got the second. The line 2 doubles teamm, freshman Aryaman Lahoti and junior Arnav Lahoti, got the third, securing the team’s win in the best out of five matches format. inally, with his classmates still cheering in the stands in a massive away-game audience, freshman Kian Foshee’s win at line 3 singles added emphasis to the team’s 4-1 dub.

It was an underdog victory, characteristic of what drove the team to finish first in North Zone and stay undefeated out of 4A schools, ending in second place overall this year. At its core, a vibrant team spirit and key contributions from younger players drove the Lions to success. Senior Will Grable oversaw many of those elements as a team captain. “ here has definitely been change, but it was so awesome,” Grable said. “All the freshmen were great, and despite having such a young team, there was still a lot of yelling from the crowd and cooperation on the court. I was really impressed by the guys.”

Flanagan and the senior captains held a crucial role in creating a culture that helped the new players develop.

“Highlights from the year included our hype video, 7 a.m. workouts, campus runs and a football game,” Flanagan said. “The seniors and I worked really hard to form a great team environment for the younger guys. Only one of them had ever played a team sport before.”

An important part of Grable’s responsibility as a captain was to be a mentor for the many players on the team who had never participated in high school tennis at all and were now tasked with representing the team on the varsity level. After many of the team’s most reliable contributors for

years had graduated with the class of 2022, these young players had big shoes to fill.

“It was a big change from last year,” Grable said. “It was important to make sure there wasn’t disjointedness between the freshman and the upperclassmen, and what helped with that was things like morning lifts, which united the team.”

This equality between many of the players, all completely new to the team, created a culture that could encourage hard work and extra effort.

“It was a very flat structure,” rable said. “Everyone did their part. There was no need to ask who was getting the water today or getting the balls after practice.

People showed up to the weight room.

Last year we had a really good team spirit because everyone had been together for so long, so this year we tried to replicate that.”

Flanagan also emphasized how the team learned and maintained its competitive spirit from former players.

“I was really proud of how our team handled itself under pressure,” Flanagan said. “We adopted the mentality of previous champions, relishing in the spotlight and an indomitable spirit of competitiveness and family. We turned a traditionally individual sport into a truly team-oriented game.”

Looking into the future, Grable sees a squad that can capitalize on its underdog wins in the 2023 season for years ahead as the future generation of St. Mark’s tennis.

“I would say the team exceeded our expectations,” Grable said, “And they’ll play even better later. I mean, once all the freshmen become sophomores and juniors, that’ll be a killer team.”

This season has the potential to become a foundational year for the team, creating a culture and legacy that can be kept by its young members for the coming years in addition to the big wins the team scored in 2023.

“We envisioned our matches as not a 1v1 but as a 15v1.,” Flanagan said. “With the team coming together to rally behind each other each practice and match, it was easy for us to go into every match undefeated. With a numbers advantage like that, how can we lose?”

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 23

NEVER GIVING UP

IN THE DUGOUT The Lions watch and cheer on their fellow teammates on the diamond.

Lions baseball started off struggling, but flashes of improvement brought hope to the second half of the season.

Story Keshav Krishna, Shreyan Daulat Photo Courtesy Silas Hosler

C

omebacks have extended beyond sports to take a vaunted place in American, and, indeed, global pop culture. The New England Patriots down 25 points, LeBron James in the 2016 Finals, FC Barcelona’s storied “La Remontada.”

Less spoken about but arguably more di cult is a prolonged comeback — a long-term resurgence over the course of a season to reverse a team’s fortunes. And this year’s varsity baseball team is a case study into the art of reviving a team.

Entering the season, the team included a number of first-time varsity players, a fact that senior captain Silas Hosler was cognizant of.

“We had a very young team, so it took some games to build that chemistry,” Hosler said. “However, come counter season, I feel like we really came together as a team to figure out what our guys needed to succeed and who to put in the lineup. So I’d say the trajectory was definitely exponential throughout the season.”

The season started with a narrow home loss to the Shelton School, followed up by lopsided losses against the Home School Athletic Association and Parish Episcopal. Subsequently, their fortunes in the Hillcrest Tournament weren’t much better, where they suffered three losses in three games, including a one-run loss to archrivals Greenhill.

For junior second baseman Grayson Redmond, this marked the low point in the season.

“The losses against Home School and Parish were really demoralizing,” Redmond said. “Honestly, the nail in the co n was when we lost to reenhill in the Hillcrest Tournament. We were up the majority of the game, and we conceded a bunch of runs and lost.”

Senior first baseman Sam dams attributes their failures partly to a poor mentality.

“It really sucks in the moment,” Adams said. “And after the fact, too. I think the big thing we were eventually 24 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

able to figure out was being able to feel down about something but then move on.

Especially in a baseball game, if you have a not great at-bat or something, and you come into the field the next inning still thinking about that, then you might make an error, which then compounds. It can go from being pretty calm to getting out of hand pretty fast.”

To Adams, this contrasts their mentality toward the end of the season, a change that contributed to their success.

“The shift in mentality and being able to have something happen like a strikeout or an error in the field and take a couple of seconds to feel frustrated about it and then flush it out and move on was powerful,” dams said. “It was di cult, but being able to make that shift was really helpful.”

As a captain, Hosler had to steady the ship, emphasizing unity and camaraderie.

“After struggling for a lot of the season, it’s very easy to point fingers and for that to snowball,” Hosler said. “But I feel like the other captains and I did a solid job trying to focus on identifying what we can build upon rather than tearing each other down.”

In addition, collaboration with coaches and speaking with teammates was recognized by Hosler as a positive, which helped the team grow.

“There was pretty solid communication,” Hosler said. “The captains were pretty close in touch with the coaches, so we were able to determine the best lineups to put in each game and the proper practice format, and one of the most effective improvements that we made this season was the format of our practices.”

In particular, Adams credits assistant coach Sam Carpenter’s methods with improving the team’s outlook. “ e invented a fielding drill that was named the infield circus,” dams said. “ e had three bats go in at once hitting balls all over the place. [Coach Carpenter] was central in creating very structured practice for us. I think that was one of our turning points because suddenly, the practice was

worth a little more, and I want to credit him for that.”

The team entered the SPC tournament after gaining three wins in counter play, a significant improvement to their previous performance. hile they lost in their first game to Houston Christian, the Lions were able to find solace in a -run win against Greenhill, ending their season on a relatively high note. Hosler credits critical performances by a number of underclassmen for their success.

BY THE NUMBERS

4 wins 15 3-5 6 13

losses th

in counter games

in SPC Class 4A

the team’s largest margin of victory this season, coming against Casady April 6

“I was very impressed by the underclassmen this year,” Hosler said.

“Considering that for many of them, it was their first year of varsity baseball, to rise to the occasion and execute really impressed me, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they accomplish in the coming years.”

Looking ahead, Redmond hopes to build on this year and use the lessons they’ve learned as a team to further their success.

“I have high hopes,” Redmond said.

“But I also realize that this year was a bit of a wake-up call. You can’t expect to automatically get better. You have to keep working. And I think, at least right now, everyone’s really fired up and ready to stay working throughout the offseason to really make an impact next year.”

GOING FOR THE GREEN

Despite unexpected setback after setback, the golf team pushed through the season in a consistent upward trend, repeating last year’s success with a second place finish in SPC. Story Nikhil Dattatreya, Aaron Liu Photos Courtesy Greg Guiler

I

njured players. Unexpected weather.

Graduated talent.

From the start of the 2023 spring season, the golf team had a string of rough starts. Whether it was top players having to move away during the school year, or new players figuring out their spot on the team, the season started off more challenging than they could imagine.

But despite all the setbacks, the Lions put their best foot forward. And that started with a single, unifying goal: win SPC. “We came in second place last year, so we really wanted to make a push to try to beat Kinkaid, who has won a ton in a row,” senior captain Logan Johnson said.

“We had some bumps along the way — we had a sophomore leave halfway during the school year who was contributing a lot to the team — but our main goal was still taking the players we put out there and having them play their best.”

Soon after the regular season began, however, a number of unprecedented challenges surfaced.

“Ever since I was a freshman, we would win pretty much every tournament outside of SPC,” Johnson said. “This year, though, our best [regular season] tournament was third. A lot of that was because we had more tournaments scheduled this year, so we had a lot more guys not playing in every regular season tournament because they were catching up on schoolwork.”

But fortunately for the Lions, regular season tournaments serve mainly as practice for the team to get into a rhythm

before SPC. While the results were lower than desired, the squad steadily improved leading up to the final tournament.

In the days before the big tournament, another unexpected challenge appeared: forming the final team. hile the Lions expected to send mainstay senior leaders, a few key members ended up unable to attend.

“I was really looking forward to competing in my final S tournament this year,” senior captain Tommy Zheng said, “but a couple academic conflicts came up last minute, and I was unable to compete.

Fortunately, a few newer but dedicated members were able to step in and give their best.”

Even getting practice wasn’t all that straightforward, as unlike almost every other sport Marksmen compete in, golf requires facilities that cannot be hosted on campus.

“Golf is a unique sport in that we don’t have a daily gathering of every single guy like we would for sports where we have facilities on campus,” head coach Greg Guiler said. “By and large, the guys are going to the courses, and most courses aren’t so keen on having twenty guys from one school come out and mess up the range.”

The workaround involved sending a few members of the team to each course and rotating these groups as the season progressed, giving each golfer a chance to play every course while keeping the course’s wear to a minimum.

“The courses around here have been

extraordinarily generous, so we have had access to a bunch of really nice country clubs this spring,” Guiler said. “We had a rotational basis set up, where guys could go out and play or hit at the driving range, and some of them have their own swing coaches or have access to their own ranges.”

With the separation of the team comes an inherent lack of supervision, a void which uiler says must be filled by the motivation of each individual team member.

“One of the hardest challenges from a coaching standpoint is making sure that everybody is accountable for doing what he’s supposed to be doing,” Guiler said.

“Our guys that made it down the homestretch and put themselves in a position to compete in the SPC tournament were the guys who had demonstrated the most commitment all season long.”

While he’ll be continuing his golf career at the college level next year, Johnson is optimistic for future teams, and he hopes that the program will continue to nurture more golfers.

“I think the recipe for success is having guys who want to succeed enough and play at the next level,” Johnson said.

“Especially at a hard school like St. Mark’s, it really helps to have guys who want to develop their golf game on top of being excellent students. I hope that the school can continue to find those guys and help them discover that they can be talented at golf.”

BY THE NUMBERS

2

nd

in SPC Class 4A

STANDING PROUD Despite missing key members, the Lions earned second in SPC.

MIDSWING Senior Logan Johnson aims for the hole at a regular season tournament.

3 -1

2/5

of the SPC starting team was underclassmen

Lions golfers named to All-SPC: Senior Captain Logan Johnson, senior James Thomson and freshman Duff McKay

Trio of Johnson, Thomson and McKay shot one under par in a practice round leading up to the SPC tournament.

ENDZONE — MAY 23, 2023 | 25

LEAVING IT ALL ON THE LAKE After enduring unfortunate weather and physical pain, the crew team continued to pursue excellence. Their perserverance resulted in multiple bids to the national championships.

Story Will Spencer Photo Courtesy Linyang Lee

W

heezing, sore, drenched in sweat and laying on the floor, seniors Thomas Goglia and Brendan Kelly are in agony. hey have just finished a 2000-meter timed spring on the ergometer.

“It’s fun, but it’s also not fun — because it hurts a lot,” Goglia said. “But you also get to see the products of your work up until that point, and you can see the younger team members finding and settling into their speed and strength.” fter a moment, the seniors rise off the floor and hobble back over to the rowing machines to cheer on the underclassmen.

To Goglia, this 2k is his fondest memory of the of year, despite how much it hurts. Perhaps that’s because the 2k encapsulates the essence of St. Mark’s crew, epitomizing the grit, perseverance and comradery of crew team members that keeps its rowers returning, day after day after day.

One prevailing theme of the 2023 crew season was the scarcity of senior rowers.

This year, there were only three senior class members on the crew team: Brendan Kelly, Thomas Goglia and Ian Dalrymple.

This was a large drop from the number of juniors on the crew team last year.

“There were a lot of seniors who were injured,” Kelly said. “There were also some seniors who just didn’t choose to pursue crew their senior year. It’s unfortunate because some of them are actually pretty fast, so we lost out on some speed this year with the older guys.”

Another prevailing theme of this year’s crew season was frequently unfortunate weather conditions, leading to diminished time on the water and cancelled regattas.

“The most important training for

rowing is obviously actually rowing on the water, but this year and last year have been really windy, so we haven’t been able to get on the water as much,” Kelly said.

“The reason you can’t go on the water when it’s way too windy is because the boats are pretty thin and pretty tippy, so the slightest balance issue can really throw them off. If it’s wavy at all, you won’t get anything out of a row. “ So as not to waste valuable practice time, the crew team conditioned themselves as much as possible on days where weather conditions prevented rowing.

“On days like that we just do a lot of conditioning,” Kelly said. “Instead, we just tried to get in really, really good condition on the erg [short for “ergometer,” a type of rowing machine] and get on the water as much as possible.”

This year, the crew team participated in three different regattas — the eart of Texas regatta, the Texas State Rowing Championship and the Central Youth Championship. At the time The ReMarker spoke to Goglia and Kelly, the crew team was in the midst of the Central Youth Championship. Though the crew team faced stiff competition, elly was satisfied with the team’s results at the eart of Texas regatta.

“We were still pretty early in the season, and we were still getting a feel for what to expect in the coming races and how to plan our training,” Kelly said. “We always expect to do at least decently, but I wasn’t expecting to get a bunch of like first place medals or anything.” ccording to elly, the first regatta of the year is often rather challenging due to

ROWING AS ONE The top quad boat, finishes a race at the Regional Championships.

The four rowers (from L to R)— senior Brendan Kelly, sophomore Linyang Lee, junior Kevon Mostafavipour and freshman Ian McGowan — work together to qualify for nationals.

26 | ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023

competition with other teams that have been able to practice year-round.

“We don’t have a winter season, and we have somewhat of a fall season, but that’s more like a club thing rather than an actual season,” Kelly said. “A lot of the other teams that we raced against get to row year-round, so usually the first round is pretty tough because we’re going against kids who have been training over the winter.”

The Texas State Championships, however, did not go as well for the St. Mark’s Crew team. Kelly and Goglia propose bad weather conditions and a lack of seniors on the team as possible explanations. Whatever the case, the team was determined to make a comeback at the Central Youth Championships, the last regatta of the year.

“Before Centrals, the team was on somewhat of a revenge tour because state didn’t go so well,” Kelly said. “So far, it has gone a lot better.”

To Goglia, the friendships he’s forged with other team members over the past four years have been the most valuable part of his experience on the team and his motivation for coming back time and time again.

“I think the value of crew for me in some ways comes from the people across all grades of Upper School that I would not have met or interacted with much that I’ve been able to hang out with,” Goglia said.

“That, on top of just having such a great team dynamic, makes me want to come back day after day. Even though practice is hard, and rowing is hard, I still want to show up because of those people.”

Aware of the impending end of his time on the St. Mark’s crew team, Kelly declared that rowing was the defining activity of his high school career, thanking the coaches and teammates that had helped him along the way.

“Going into freshman year, I didn’t have a thing that I was really passionate about or dedicated to, but, over the years, rowing has become that thing for me,” Kelly said. “The older guys were really inclusive, friendly and nice, and our coaches are so awesome, and they’ve made me love the sport. I just love the team so much, and I’m so sad to be leaving. It’s just had such a big impact in my life.”

REFLECTIONS ON LIONS ATHLETICS T

by Logan Johnson

here weren’t many times that you wouldn’t catch me at a St. Mark’s sports event during my eight years

here.

Beginning in the fifth grade I was able to involve myself with becoming a fan of all teams on campus, from the seventhgrade football team to the varsity lacrosse team. In fact, I don’t think it would be untruthful to say that all my memories from going here revolve around athletics.

It’s what I love, and it’s what I’ve become known for.

My first venture into St. Mark’s athletics came as a sixth-grade football manager for the varsity s uad. I loved wearing a navy polo to school on gamedays and hanging out with the team in pregame warmups. I felt a part of the team, feeling no regrets for missing out on being in the backfield with my ockaday friends.

While the team had its worst record in forever, losing every S game they played in, I was able to see what it meant to be resilient.

Only a year later I was in the stands for the season opener against reenhill, a strong team who surprised the Lions with a stunning loss the year before. he game was a shootout and came down to us blocking their field goal attempt for a win. he entire St. Mark’s student body huddled around the team and sang the alma mater, showing me that the community was about being there for each other. he rest of my Middle School years were full of resilience on all playing fields.

On April 28, 2017, the Lions took down a powerhouse ighland ark lacrosse team full of over ten ivision I commits and talent all across the board. he scrappy Lions, with depth all over the field, fought their tails off, tying the game - at the end of regulation. o one expected this to happen, and the Lions made the best of it. huge save by ohn unnin ’ led to an off-balanced left-handed bounce shot by illy ood ’ that s ueaked past the Scot’s goalie, ending the game in

triple overtime. Only seconds later was a huge pack of St. Mark’s students hopping the concrete wall to celebrate with their teammates.

My tiny frame was in the middle of it all.

I loved St. Mark’s lacrosse enough to become involved with the team. oach ayward Lee and I buddied up and would talk lacrosse almost every day during my lunch periods. I soon became a spotter in the press box, reporting to oc who scored what goal and who made what save. oing to their state semi-final game in allowed me to see what beating S in their best sport felt like.

It was amazing. he years to follow were full of tough academics, a love for golf and St. Mark’s athletics. uring my freshman year winter, I became a full-fledged basketball nut.

We had a top 25 team in the country, and I would gladly give up any weeknight’s homework load to go watch arrison Ingram ’ , olin Smith, and ndrew Laczkowski ’ play together.

I bonded with Luke vangelist ’ , a superfanman, and wholly bought into St. Mark’s athletics culture. We would go to every game possible. Sports were the one thing I knew that could bring everyone together.

I am extremely fortunate to have played four years on the varsity golf team as well. he relationships I formed were one of a kind and I suppose that’s what you get when you spend hours and hours on a grass field with a good group of guys.

Being a captain for two of those years and getting the experience of winning both as a team and individually has blessed me with confidence for my future on a college golf team. he relationships I formed with people in the St. Mark’s community made my current role as Superfanman with three close friends incredibly fulfilling. etting to lead and be a source of showing campus talent both athletically and in other areas has been eye-opening. he role gave me an

excuse to do even more of what I love — watching my fellow Marksmen compete and display excellence.

My six years of working in the press box, running the chains and scoreboards, filming on the sideline and trying to win golf tournaments has led me here. nd now, I’ve just experienced my final days as a Marksman.

Life moves fast, so show up, support others and do what you love.

ENDZONE — MAY 19, 2023 | 27