25 minute read
Beyond the Classroom
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM FINE ARTS Drama Upper School
By Emily Goodpasture // Director
In February, the Upper School Drama students brought to the stage Arthur Miller’s classic play, The Crucible. While centered on the historic Salem Witch Trials, this play also asks the characters and audience questions about forgiveness, loyalty, community, and integrity. Since The Crucible is a part of the sophomore English curriculum, Head of Upper School Chris
Ashbrook made special arrangements for the entire sophomore class to see a special performance during the school day. The cast was led by seniors
Gracie Moore playing Elizabeth Proctor and Conner Caughlin in the role of
Rev. John Hale. Junior Kennedy Brandenburg took on the role of Abigail
Williams and sophomore Evan Schelton played John Proctor. The rest of the cast included Victor Williams-Arana, Megan Buchanan, Anna Caughlin, Lauren Caughlin, Zoe Corrigan, Surika Dennill, Ryan Edwards, Parker Gray, Belle Henshall, Justin Highbarger, Joseph Kelly, Victoria Lyczak, Charles Lee, Lolly Newman, Hannah Rai, Max Salemi, Carson Smith, Hope Smith, Andrea Subtirelu, Nate Trout, and Mallory Wells.
Left: Betty Parrish, played by Zoe Corrigan, attends the witch trials as a witness against the accused. Bottom left: Elizabeth Proctor, played by Gracie Moore, prepares dinner while awaiting her husband John’s return home with news from the witch trials. Francis Nurse, played by Victor Williams-Arana, pleads for the court to release his wife from jail and to drop the absurd charges of witchcraft.
Musical Middle School
By Sarah Chocron ’21
For this year’s Middle School musical, students from both the 7th and 8th grades joined together to produce You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. Based off the comics of Charles M. Schulz, the musical describes the struggle of an everyday first grader and, more specifically, Charlie Brown. Although Charlie Brown may not be very handsome or clever, he charms his friends, and certainly the audience, with his unique “Charlie Brown” way of being. In this way, Galichia Auditorium became America’s favorite Sunday comic strip with perhaps a little more color and singing. Under the theatrical direction of Sharon Garton and musical direction of Ruth Powell, students learned important acting skills like enunciation and projection. In fact, students got to experience working as dancers and singers at the same time with choreography by Andrea Purdy which was a challenge for almost everyone. Rehearsals started in January for almost two hours every night until the final production in March. By the end of the production process, Chadwick Armstrong, the costume designer, put together a vibrant combination of dresses, shirts, and socks that brought out the first grader in everyone. Throughout this production, the audience encountered various characters, including Sally Brown, Lucy and Linus Van Pelt, Schroeder, and the much-beloved Snoopy. Perhaps this musical is best described as a compilation of short and funny scenes which give the audience a glimpse of everyone’s unique character. Together, with the chorus members, those characters combined to create a colorful, humorous, and delightful production that pleased both children and adult audiences alike.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM FINE ARTS Showstoppers Middle School By Matt Webber // Director
The theme for Showstoppers 2017 was Saturday Night at the Movies. The show took place on April 29 in Galichia Auditorium. Bella Voce, Madrigals, and Dynamics teamed up to present a variety show featuring songs from favorite movies. All fifty performers opened the show with The Bugs Bunny Show’s “This Is It.” Austin Schwartz (’18) followed it up with Top Gun’s “Danger Zone” then the Combined Men’s Ensemble performed “Born to be Wild” from Easy Rider. Shelby Melton (’20) performed “Skyfall” from Skyfall (a James Bond movie) and Megan Buchanan (’19) sang “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from The Breakfast Club.
Tiffany Ruan (’18) reprised her Italy performance of Shrek’s “Hallelujah” and Justin Highbarger (’20) wowed the audience with his piano rendition of the theme from Forrest Gump. Mallory Wells (’20) performed Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” Belle Henshall (’19) crooned “To Make You Feel My Love” from Hope Floats, and Zoe Corrigan (’19) performed “Everything I Do (I Do It for You)” from Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves). The Ladies Quartet opened up the Disney portion of the program with “When You Wish Upon a Star,” then Irene We (’18) performed “Reflection” from Mulan, Conner Caughlin (’17) sang “Go the Distance” from Hercules, and Savannah Kotkin (’17) performed “Just Around the Riverbend” from Pocahontas. The Combined Women’s Ensemble performed “Life Is a Highway” from Cars and seniors Brooke Tyler (’17) and Emily Mudra (’17) both performed beautiful solos from the Prince and the Frog and Anastasia. To close the program, the senior ladies performed “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic, followed by Evan Schelton (’19) singing “Evermore” from the new motion picture Beauty and the Beast. Then the combined choirs performed “Seasons of Love” from Rent and “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing. The entire evening was an enjoyable experience for all of the performers and their friends and families.
Did you know that the stories of “Aladdin,” “Sinbad the Sailor,” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” are not considered to be in the original cannon of Queen Scheherazade’s famous 1001 Arabian Tales? This spring, the 5th and 6th grade students took on the challenge of bringing to life some of the lesser known stories from the original 1001 Arabian stories. In this original production, the cast and crew of 63 students shared seven stories, including one about a fisherman and a genie, a poor carpet weaver and his special carpet, and a sneaky wife and her new parrot. With beautiful sets created by Jordan Slusher and Mark Scheltgen and costumes designed by Chadwick Armstrong, these young thespians transported sold-out audiences back to the ancient Middle East to share these fun and sometimes magical tales.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
ATHLETICS
I struggled and struggled to come up with the right word or words to describe this season but finally settled on a couple that seemed to fit this very, very unique season and TEAM; they were “almost magical.” I have never been more pleased with a group of young men than I was this season. They totally bought into everything we wanted them to do and embraced the process of becoming a Championship Caliber TEAM. They played together and were a TEAM in the truest sense. They were agenda- and ego-free and that is very rare in TEAM sports in this day and age. So, for that, I say “thank you gentlemen. You were ‘Pure Heart Guys’ in every sense. You played the game the way it was meant to be played.
Baseball Upper School
By Joe Gehrer // Coach
Spartan Baseball finished the year with 10 wins and 9 losses, finishing 6-2 in the League, which was good for 2nd Place, our best finish in the AVCTL-IV. The Spartans statistically had their best year in many categories, including a team ERA of 3.167 and 69 total stolen bases. Senior John Egan led the team offensively, hitting .344 for the year, while Myles Parkhurst was dominant on the mound going 5-0 with a team best 1.989 ERA. John Egan was selected to 2nd Team All-State Outfield and 1st Team All-League. Myles was selected as 2nd Team AllLeague Pitcher. Thank you, seniors John Egan, Jake Flamini, and Cooper Root, for your commitment to WCS Baseball!
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
ATHLETICS
Boys’ Golf Upper School By Kevin Reed // Coach
Senior Conner Gartner led the WCS Boys’ Golf Team as the lone returning member from last year’s squad. Rounding out the team of seven were juniors Will Lammers and Deion Simms, and freshmen Eli Graham, Brooks White, Nick Siemens, and Jon O’Hearn. The highlight of our year was our second place finish at League behind top-ten finishes from Eli, Conner, and Nick. Individual highlights included Conner’s score of 79 at the WCS Invitational, which was his first sub-80 high school round, and Eli Graham qualifying to play at State by finishing 15th at a very competitive regional tournament. Eli shot 85 at the state tournament to finish 28th, just outside of earning a medal. The boys worked very hard this year and improved their team score by almost 50 strokes from the first tournament to League. Well done, guys!
Girl’s Soccer Upper School By Jillian King // Coach
During this year’s preseason, the girls decided that a reasonable goal for our team would be to win half of our games. I was pleased with this goal because I believed that number of wins would show that we had made progress and that our program was headed in the right direction. Little did we know, but at the same time we were setting that goal, a guy named Taylor Eldridge was picking our team to go 4-11 in his preseason predictions. He doesn’t know it, but that may have been the greatest thing he could have done for our team. Our girls were furious. The players believed they were being underrated and I agreed with them. The girls developed this fire inside of them to prove him wrong… but I could have never known how far that fire would take them. Just three short months later, our Varsity team would finish with a record of 11-6, and finish the season by making it to their first ever Regional Championship game. Our JV team would finish with a record of 5-7-3, proving that there is a lot of young talent on this team just waiting and preparing in the wings. Three years ago, we started varsity play in the AVCTL. Our first season, we lost every single game, we scored only six goals against our opponents, and we lost seven of our 10 games by a 10-0 margin. In our second season (just one year ago), we finished with a record of 3-7-1. We lost only two games by a 10-0 margin, and racked up 17 goals. This season, with a final record of 11-6, we lost only one game by a 10-0 score (and it was to a 6A team who advanced to the State Tournament). We scored 59 goals with 56 recorded assists with eight different field players involved. We averaged more time in possession in 11 of our 17 games and had more shots on goal than our opponents in 12 of our 17 games. We were also helped a lot on the other end of the field by a defense that gave up only half as many goals as they did last season and a combined average for goals scored vs. shots saved of more than 70%.
With a wealth of young talent, and a growing excitement for our program, this is just the beginning of great things to come for the Spartan Soccer program at WCS.
The Collegiate Men’s Swim Team had a fantastic 2016-2017 season. Our roster had nine boys this year, which was the biggest in the past three seasons. Our seniors, John Powell, Mac Foley, Connor Caughlin, and Niko Chapas, have been with me the past three years I have been the coach and they led our team very well. As a team, we finished 5th out of eight teams at the AVCTL League swim meet, which was one place better than the previous season. John Powell also picked up a 2nd Place League finish in the 100-m back. Our team also qualified all three of the relays for the State swim meet along with John qualifying in the 100-m free and 100-m backstroke. The Spartans have not finished in the top 8 in any event since 2014 at the State swim meet. Powell earned his first State medal with an 8th Place finish in the 100-m free with a lifetime best time of 49.95 seconds. Our 200-m free relay of Brooks White (FR), Drew Brophy (JR), Mac Foley (SR) and John Powell (SR) was seeded 24th going into the meet and earned the Spartans their first relay medal since 2013 with a 7th Place finish. Our 400-m free relay also tied for 15th. We finished 21st as a team – four spots better than the previous season.
I am very proud of my boys this season and I hope we can keep the trend going for I am very proud of how my team has grown over the many seasons to come. past three years since I accepted the job. We went from a bunch of kids who don’t necessarily consider swimming their “best” sport, to kids who have excelled and developed a love for this wonderful sport. They wake up every day to come to practice at 5:45 in the morning, which is not easy and very demanding. I am very proud of my boys this season and I hope we can keep the trend going for many seasons to come. Spartan Swimming is starting to become what I wanted it to be when I took the job three season ago, and that makes me very excited for our future. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my team. Go Spartans!
Spartan Football Tennis Upper School By Dave Hawley // Coach
It was a historic season for the WCS Upper School Boys’ Tennis team, as the boys in blue defended their 4A State title in dominating fashion. A school-record 51 boys played on the team this year, and every boy won at least one match. Truly a sport for a lifetime! The Spartans won the 16-team Ark City Invitational, the 20team Tournament of Champions, Regionals, and finally, an epic performance at the State Meet in Overland Park. The team had great senior leadership, with Easton Ewy making his fourth trip to state and finishing 7th. Seniors Austin Gartner and Matt Regehr finished third in doubles, and senior Ben Murphy teamed with sophomore Max Wheeler to give the Spartans a runner-up in the doubles field. Finally, junior Lakelin Conrad battled valiantly in the finals of singles, but lost a tight three-set match. All in all, a great performance by the Spartans. This was the 23rd boys’ title in WCS history, and 50th for the boys and girls combined!
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
ATHLETICS
Track & Field Upper School
By Troy Black // Coach
The 2016-2017 Upper School Track Team didn’t have big numbers, but had a very successful season. Despite not having the numbers to compete for team titles, we had many great individual performances. The biggest highlight was that all the kids who did participate got better and were giving their best performances at the end of the season. We had four kids make it to State. Paris Vincze made it in the 100m dash, 200m dash, and the long jump. She got 6th in the 200m dash and 7th in the long jump. Kirby Krumsick qualified for State in the discus. Tristan Guerra got 5th in State in the 400m dash. Lakelin Conrad got 11th in the 1600m run and 4th in the 3200m run. We competed, in my opinion, in the hardest division in the state when it comes to Track and Field: Class 4A. Grant Henry, who competed in the 1600m run and the 3200m run, also had a nice season. Grant placed 3rd in the League Meet in the 1600m run and he finished 2nd in the 3200m run. Mac Foley returned to pole vault after a year off and finished 5th in the League Meet with a personal best jump of 12’6”. We are looking forward to next year.
Cheer Upper School By Ashleigh Hennessy // Coach
When someone outside the sport thinks of cheerleading, the first few words that come to mind are most likely flexibility, tumbling, or stunting. If someone within the sport of cheerleading is asked, their first few thoughts are more along the lines of commitment, hard work, or dedication. Cheerleading is much more than what meets the eye. Behind the smiling faces, loud voices, and pompons are mentally tough athletes who spend hours upon hours of their time each week memorizing chants, perfecting motions, and practicing tossing people (yes, people) into the air with ease.
This past year, I had the pleasure of working with a group of athletes who were able to come together from various backgrounds and create a fantastic cheer squad for our school. Cheerleading is a double-season sport that runs July through midMarch. Working at every single home game and a number of away games, the extensive amount of time these students dedicated to their school was so very admirable. Senior Cheer Captain Bailey Horsch has shown that dedication to the fullest. Bailey was committed to her school from her first year at WCS until the end of her senior year of high school. That’s a minimum of 12 sport seasons, not including her time on the track team or in the Spartan band. She always led by example, both on and off the field/court. On behalf of myself and Wichita Collegiate, we are thankful to have athletes like her who continue to create legacies for our WCS sport programs.
Shooting Team Upper School
By Tom Binyon ’75 // Coach
The Spartan Shooting Team finished the 2017 spring trapshooting league with two of our female Spartans finishing in the top 10. Junior Calli Pirner placed 8th overall among females, and sophomore Bailey Gibbs placed 10th. Individual team awards are as follows:
High Average Male: Matt Regehr High Average Female: Calli Pirner Most Improved Male: Colton Weaver Most Improved Female: Baily Gibbs The Spartans had 21 studentathletes participate in the 2017 Kansas State High School Clay Target League’s spring trapshooting league. Altogether, 704 studentathletes representing 39 high schools competed. Our veteran shooters improved over last year, and we had a talented group of new shooters on the team this year. We are looking forward to even more students participating in the 2017 league. If anyone has an interest in learning to shoot over the summer and joining the trapshooting team for the 2017-18 school year, please reach out to me at tbinyon@ gmail.com.
By Amy Cunningham // Team Sponsor
The Spartan Pommies began 2017 with a visit from the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder Girls. It was a great visit as the team got to spend time hearing about life as an NBA Dancer and learning about everything these women do as part of their job on the team. Our Dance Team continued to perform original dances, spending over 47 hours in practice just this semester. The girls created choreography for every home basketball game, which made a total of seven new routines. They also perfomed their “Beyonce” routine at the El Dorado Basketball Tournament. In February, the team joined with Drumline for the first time and together performed “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Single Ladies.” The crowd went wild and it was a fun collaborative project! February 21 was Senior Night and it truly was an emotional performance as the four seniors – Captain Riley Sherwood, Kursten Regehr, Carson Meares and Taylor Cusick-Wetta – danced together for the last time. In April, the team celebrated an incredible year of work and friendship with a party for family and then a team sleepover at Flint Hills. The team presented the seniors with gifts and then watched videos of every dance they had performed that year! Even though basketball season had ended, Dance Team continued to work, as ten members of the team represented Collegiate at the ISAS Arts Festival in Oklahoma City. The team was adjudicated by a professor of dance from Oklahoma City University. The team performed a new routine, created by Riley Sherwood. The four sophomores - Rose Cunningham, Danni Varenhorst, Christina Naftzger, and Zoe Corrigan - performed a “Beyonce” routine and Maeve Ashbrook, Danni Varenhorst, and Rose Cunningham all performed solo routines. Needless to say, they were all highly praised and were a credit to the school and our fabulous team.
We would also like to recognize sophomore Danni Varenhorst for being accepted to the Joffrey Summer Dance Intensive. Danni will attend the New York session to study ballet this summer and we are all so proud of her.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM ATHLETICS Girls’ Swim Upper School By Katie Idbeis // Coach
Our small, but mighty, group of girls took on the 2017 swim season with a fierce work ethic as we hit the pool for our daily 5:30am practices! The team of Natalie Freed, Emma Parkhurst, Calli Pirner, Addison Squires, Abigail Wagle and Hannah Rai competed in 10 meets over the course of 2 months. Along the way we racked up a number of personal best times, team records, and state qualifying times. Our goal for the season was to improve on our league and state finishes from last year, and get a relay into the finals at the state meet.
At the league meet we finished 5th as a team, taking down some school records and making additional state qualifying times as well! The 200 Medley Relay (Squires, Wagle, Freed, Pirner) placed 5th, and the 200 Free Relay (Squires, Wagle, Pirner, Freed) placed 3rd while setting a new school record. Individually, Natalie Freed placed 2nd in the 200 free and the 100 free. Addison Squires was the league champion in the 50 free and 2nd in the 100 fly. Abigail Wagle placed 4th in the 200 IM and 4th in the 100 Breast with a new school record and state qualifying time. Calli Pirner placed 11th in the 200 IM and 10th in the 100 Breast. Emma Parkhurst was 15th in the 100 Free and 19th in the 100 Breast. Hannah Rai placed 20th in the 50 free and 14th in the 100 Breast.
Because of the girls’ hard work and dedication during the season we were able to get all 3 relays qualified for State and take our ENTIRE team to compete in Topeka! As a team we improved from 18th (2016) to 14th (2017) at State. Squires, Wagle, Pirner, and Freed finished 10th in the 200 Medley Relay and 12th in the 400 Free Relay, setting school records in both. The 200 Free Relay of Wagle, Pirner, Parkhurst and Rai finished 24th. Individually, Addison Squires earned two state medals placing 4th in the 50 Free and 3rd in the 100 Fly. She set school records in both, as well as the 100 Free leading off the 400 Free Relay. Addison was also named to the 1st Team All-State roster. Natalie Freed finished in a school record time and placed 10th in the 200 Free. She also finished 9th in the 100 fly with a personal best time. Abigail Wagle finished 18th in the 100 Breast. It was another record-setting season for the girls swim team, and I am exceptionally proud of these young ladies!
Bowling Upper School By Jessica Abel // Coach
The Spartans returned nine bowlers from the previous season, which proved to be a big help in setting the tone for the whole season. The Varsity boys got off to a hot start, winning their first match of the season against El Dorado. They continued to excel and improve as a team throughout the season, winning four of their regular season matches. The boys worked hard and tallied their highest total to date at their match on January 27 against Andale and Cheney, posting a 2,404 total. This carried over into the League Championships, where Ben Murphy led the way with a 619 series, medaling and helping his team to a 2nd place finish. The momentum continued to carry over into Regionals where Kevin Eyster and Mitch Squires led the way. The team just missed their first birth to the State Team Championships; however, Eyster and Squires represented Collegiate individually in their respective division. This capped off Collegiate’s most successful bowling season to date.
Track & Field Middle School
By Troy Black // Coach
The Wichita Collegiate Middle School Track Team, while low in numbers, was not low in talent. Several student athletes showed great talent and success, both individually and as members of various relay teams. Sixth grader Cj Meyer set the League record in the 1600m run with a time of 5:23, while also winning the 800m run at the League Meet. Spartan relay teams dominated all season long, as well. Lily Conrad, Breckon Meares, Caroline Walling, and Emma Halas made up the winning 400m relay team, while Lily, Breckon, Emma, and Maya Torres made up the 800m relay team. Jack Duarte and Ryder Walsh were strong 400m runners, while the relay team of Jack, Ryder, Cameron Brown, and Spencer Sullivan consistently placed high. In field events, Nick Herrman stood out in shot put, while Cameron Brown did well in long jump. Despite low numbers, the student athletes represented Wichita Collegiate School well. They worked hard, competed hard, and showed great sportsmanship.
Girls’ Basketball Middle School
By Ryan Smith // Coach
The 2016-17 Middle School Girls’ Basketball season was filled with teamwork and growth for individual players. There were twenty-six girls who made the commitment of working hard and becoming stronger, more knowledgeable competitors. The 8th grade group set the tone for the whole season. They were an experienced group of leaders full of energy and enthusiasm. Expectations were high for them. Even though they started the season a little shaky, they were still able to finish the season strong with multiple double-digit wins and a very strong performance in the post-season tournament. The 6th and 7th grade groups proved to be very exciting as well. They both won games by large margins, but were also able to persevere and win close games as well. The 7th grade group was bothered by illness at the end of the season that ultimately cost them their championship. They will be playing with a chip on their shoulder next season and should be very exciting to watch. The 6th grade group showed a lot of promise by carrying their undefeated regular season record into the tournament. They lost their first game in the tournament, but then turned right around and beat that same team back-to-back to become both regular season and tournament champions.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM ATHLETICS Boys’ Basketball Middle School By Joe Talbot // Coach
The 2016-17 7th and 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball season was a very successful one! We not only got better as individual players but, more importantly, we grew and got better as a team. By the end of the season, our four teams had collectively won two regular season championships, two post-season championships, and a mid-season tournament championship! The 8th grade A Team went 8-2 in the regular season (12-6 overall), and won the CSAL regular season championship. The 8th grade B team had a great season, battled every game, and were very competitive in a good league! The 7th grade A Team went 17-0, winning the midseason Bishop Carroll Christmas Tournament, the CSAL Notre Dame Division regular season championship, and the CSAL Notre Dame Division post-season tournament. The 7th grade B Team went 16-2, finishing second in the regular season, and came back to win the CSAL Cathedral Division post-season championship. It was a great group of kids! There is high-end talent and depth of talent with both of these classes. They were a fun group to coach, always working hard and always finding a way to get better. They were really just a great group of kids that happen to be a great group of basketball players.
Boys’ Tennis Middle School
By Dave Hawley // Coach
The WCS Middle School Boys’ Tennis team had a fantastic spring season, in which 28 young men represented the Spartans against area schools. The Blue and Gold played in three tournaments, winning the Collegiate Invite and the Winfield Invite, and finishing second in the Salina Lakewood Invite. The boys were eager to improve, and the depth of our team grew as the season went on. Coach Hawley has great hopes for the future of Spartan Tennis!
