Athletics

Winter Sports Having Record Seasons

by Lance Quessenberry, Athletic Director This time of the year is always a lot of fun. Our winter sports have completed a large part of their schedules, and we have enjoyed seeing them develop into the teams they can become. Girls' Swim has seen a record number of swimmers come out this year. Under Coach Welch’s leadership, the girls are starting to become more competitive individually and as a team. Several swimmers have finished within the top three in their events. As a result, the team’s success has begun to grow as they are starting to become competitive in most meets. It has been fun to watch this program grow since it began four seasons ago. Coach Thomas and the wrestling team have seen a similar story unfold. They also have a record number of participants, and a lot of success has followed. In the past few years, SCA has had outstanding individual performances by several of our wrestlers but have not had the showing they wanted as a team. That has changed this year. Not only are they continuing to perform well as individuals, but the team results have improved in each tournament in which they compete. Watch for this team in the postseason as they promise to deliver some exciting results. The Girls' Basketball team has had a great start this year. Their record currently stands at 7-2, which ranks as the best start in SCA Girls' Basketball program history. They finished 3rd in the Eagle Invitational and competed in the always-challenging Pleasant Hill Tournament. Coach Neal is doing a great job building a foundation that will help our girls program grow and continue to improve. Finally, Boys' Basketball has mirrored the girls in that they have also had an outstanding start. Their 8-1 record is the best start since the 2016-17 Eagles went 11-1 to start their season. They finished 2nd in the Eagle Invitational and also competed in the Pleasant Hill Tournament. Coach Truesdale has the team playing well in his first year at SCA as he looks to build the culture of the program. As always, the competitive excellence takes a back seat to our real purpose with SCA Athletics. Our teams continue to amaze me in how they use the sport they love to represent Christ and make His name known. That will always be our purpose at SCA, and our coaches and athletes do a great job living that out during competition.

Lance Quessenberry

Boy's Soccer Finishes 2nd at Class 1 State Championship

Varsity boys’ soccer finished their postseason run with a second place finish at the state championship game on Saturday, November 19 after winning the Class 1 state quarterfinals against New Covenant Academy 3-1. The team lost by one goal to St. Francis Borgia in the Class 1 championship. The goal was scored at the 77:50 minute mark into the left lower corner by St. Francis Borgia’s Adam Rickman. “What a season,” shared Varsity Soccer Coach Brad Creason. “I knew we had a chance to do something special this season, but we had to buy into our team motto of 'we over me.' As the season progressed, we truly started playing for the team over the individual while doing our best to continually honor God with our actions on the field. After ten previous trips to the district championship game in the last 15 years, we finally won a district championship for the first time in program history. After reaching that goal, we went to the state final four and left everything on the field while taking second place at state. I'm so proud of these players and the season they had this year.” The Varsity girls’ cross country team finished their postseason run at the state meet on Saturday, November 5 after winning the Class 3 District 4 title the week before. The team finished third overall in Class 3 after being bumped up from Class 2, where they placed second in 2021. The team combined score was 167. They followed St. Charles West High School with 74 points in first and Centralia High School with 137 points. All seven girls have been solid all year and they are a great team on and off the course,” shared Varsity Cross Country Head Coach Rick McGregor. “They are more than just

Varsity boys’ soccer team finished second in the Class 1 State Championship game in Fenton, MO. This is the first time in SCA history that the boys’ soccer team has won the district title and finished second at the state tournament. teammates, they are also close friends and enjoy so much of their lives together. After a close district race, I wasn't sure they could finish in the top four at the state meet. It was a cold, windy, and wet day but they

Girls' Varsity Cross Country Finishes 3rd at State Meet

Varsity Wrestling in Midst of Strong Season

Freshman wrestler Jack Brownlee is competing strong in his first season of varsity competition. Varsity wrestling is off to a very good start, despite a few key injuries. Senior Jeramiah "Frog" Smith (157 lb), who placed 4th in state competition last year, leads the team with a 16-3 record. He's been in the finals of all tournaments thus far and leads the team with 149 takedowns. Other standout athletes on the roster include Junior John Newton (175 lb) who is second on the team in several categories and has an 11-2 record. He has a Raytown South Championship to go along with many dominant performances. Sophomore Ben Winters (285 lb) has been a very pleasant surprise with a 14-6 record and several excellent performances. Freshman Jack Brownlee (165 lb) has hit the ground running as he has a 13-6 record with five Spladles already. Finally, we're hoping Senior Memphis Hinton (138 lb) will return soon from an injury for a final run at state in February. The coaching staff is very pleased with the progress and efforts of our athletes! We always need a few more athletes, so don't hesitate to plan now to wrestle next year!

Cross Country continued from page 5 were ready and determined to be their very best. All year we have talked about finishing the course and being a fighter until the very end. They kept fighting until they crossed the finish line at the state championship at Gans Creek. They have been so consistent all year and that Saturday was no exception. Our team battled through the cold and rainy conditions to get to the trophy stand and cheer, ‘God is good!’ This was really big for our team. Last year we finished second in Class 2 and we knew we were going to get bumped to Class 3. These girls stepped up their game. Our team was just as competitive with the bigger Class 3 schools, and I am proud of how they finished.”

The varsity girls' cross country team placed third at the Class 3 State Championship at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, MO. Pictured left to right: Assistant Coach Marla Sanders, team members Marina Parks, Katie Coats, McKinzie Parks, Adriana McGregor, Keyler Quessenberry, Julia Osgood, Lucie Epema, and Head Coach Rick McGregor.

Health Office Notes

For your child’s protection and the protection of others, children should be kept home when they have any of the following symptoms: • Temperature: a child must have a normal temperature (under 100.4) WITHOUT medication for at least 24 hours prior to returning to school. • Upset stomach, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea:

A child must be kept at home until there has been neither vomiting or diarrhea WITHOUT medication for at least 24 hours. • A child must be kept home with an undiagnosed rash or skin lesions, or red or discharging eyes until diagnosed by a doctor and the student has been symptom free for at least 24 hours. • Head Lice: Students may not be readmitted to school until treatment has been accomplished and evidence of all lice and lice eggs (nits) have been eliminated. • Please notify the office if your child has been diagnosed as having a communicable illness. If a student complains of illness, the school will: • Check the child’s temperature. If it is 100.4 degrees or more, the parent will be called to take the child home. • If the student is still not feeling well one hour after an original complaint, the parent will be called to take the child home. • If the child is vomiting and/or has diarrhea, the parent or emergency contact will be called immediately. Recess Please remember as long as it is dry outside, the children will go out for recess. Please send a warm coat, hat, gloves, etc. and dress your children appropriately to go outside. If there is a medical reason for your child to stay in, please contact the students’ teacher or the health office at 524-0185, ext. 206. Thank you for helping keep SCA a healthy and safe school environment! Your SCA Health Clinic Staff, Noelle Rhyne, RN, BSN nrhyne@sca-kc.org Erin Rider, RN, BSN, MSN erider@sca-kc.org Tiffany Summitt, MEd tsummitt@sca-kc.org