Lion Sports Update (01/30)
Swimming
The varsity swimming team was back in the water last Wednesday and they would take on several local schools. John Paul II would be the top of that group though Parish, Alcuin and Prestonwood would have some great swims as well. In the end the Lions would come out on top scoring 195 points, JPII would be second with 77 points, then Prestonwood and Parish would be neck and neck, finishing with 13 and 12 points respectively. Up first the in the 200 IM, the Lions would take 2nd, as the team of junior Sebastian Illum, senior co-captain Adrian Lutgen, senior Howard Zhang and senior Adam Kappelman would all have strong swims going a time of 1:46.68 which is about 10 seconds off the season best. In the 200 freestyle, the Lions would go 1,2,3. In fact, the Lions would go 1-10. The Ethans would go 1,2: sophomore Ethan Wang swam a 1:51.82 and senior co-captain Ethan Gao would have a strong swim at 1:55.60. Freshman Cade Daigle would round out the top 3 with a 1:57.88, his personal best (PB) in this event. Sophomores Doan Nguyen and Kevin Hong would also have PBs, both dropping 3 and 4 seconds in their times. In the 200 IM, senior co-captain Anderson Selinger was back in prime form taking the win with a 2:09.05 which was 3 seconds off his personal best time, but his best time of the season and he is looking very strong for a good SPC showing. In the 50 freestyle, JPII would have their best showing of the meet going 1, 2 out touching sophomore Miller Martin who would be a second off his best time with a 22.95. However, in the 100 butterfly, the Lions would again dominate going 1-6. Senior co-captain Gao took first with a 57.33, sophomores Oliver Geheb would be 2nd with at 57.81 and Miller Martin 3rd with a 58.58. Sebastian Illum was 4th, Adam Kappelman was 5th and sophomore Michael Yang was 6th with a personal best.
In the 100 freestyle, the Lions would be shut out for the first time all year. Freshman Judah Isaacs-Sodeye would get 4th with a 53.73. In the 500 freestyle, it was a 1,2,3,4 finish for the Lions with junior Leo Scheiner having his best time of the season (5:22) while Daigle would come in 2nd with a 5:33.93, junior Reagan Brower with a 5:48 in 3rd, and freshman Paul Sumethasorn would finish 4th with a time of 6:07.41. In the 200 freestyle relay, the Lions would grab big points going 1,2,3, with the top time of 1:38.25 being a 6 second victory over 4th place JPII. In the 100 backstroke, JPII would grab the top spot, but the Lions would go 2,3,4 with strong swims from Illum, E. Wang and Selinger who was less than a second off his personal best. In the final individual event of the night, Lutgen and Geheb would go 1,2 in the 100 breaststroke with Lutgen out touching Geheb by 0.75 of a second. In the final event of the evening, the 4x100 yard freestyle relay, the Lions would go 1,3 and wrap up a very strong night of swims. Up next, the Lions will take on Cistercian, the SPC 3A 2023 champions, for Senior Night on Tuesday, Jan. 30. Come catch some great swimming action and say farewell to the seven seniors who have given so much to the St. Mark’s program. Senior Night begins at 5:45 p.m. with the meet starting shortly after at 6:05 p.m.
Soccer
The fourteenth match of the varsity soccer season was a memorable one, especially in front of a rowdy Fan Blizzard crowd. The Lions did not disappoint with a spirited and lively affair that saw St. Mark’s score some of the best team goals in recent memory. The Lions wasted no time scoring in the sixth minute with a dizzying combination of passes between senior captain Reed Sussman and senior striker Zach Bashour that led to an incisive through ball to sophomore Kazim Hussain. Hussain then produced a low, driven cross that junior Aydin Sumer emphatically struck into the back of the net at the far post. Sumer would prove to be the linchpin of the Lions’ offense with a hat trick that was punctuated with a goal in the 80 + 1st minute of the match where he beat four Greenhill defenders and their keeper. In addition, he drew the foul in the penalty area and senior John Ma converted the resulting penalty kick in the twenty-sixth minute, meaning Sumer was instrumental in all four goals. In the moments in between, Sumer struck again, this time courtesy of senior captain Alex Soliz. Sumer’s offensive display was matched by the defensive prowess of senior goalkeeper Tyler Tang, who was man of the match in his own right. He owned the goal box, repeatedly coming of his line to intercept numerous crosses in a crowded penalty area then beginning the attack with decisive distribution. The victory leaves the Lions in second place in the north zone (first among 4A schools), just behind Cistercian; however, the Lions have a match in hand. This week, the Lions travel to Oakridge on Tuesday before closing out the counter season by hosting ESD on Friday. Wins in both matches could see the Lions win the north zone with a favorable goal difference.
Basketball
On Friday, Jan. 26, the varsity basketball team hosted Greenhill. Spencer Gym was packed for a showdown featuring the last two undefeated teams in SPC play. In every way, the game lived up to its billing. First, when technical difficulties prevented the playing of the national anthem, the incredible SM student section broke out in song, leading the entire gym in an acapella rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner. Then, the senior starting trio of Bryan Graham, CJ Ness, and Lucas Blumenthal got the Lions off to a quick start with hot shooting inside and out (Graham hit the first basket of the game from beyond the arc, and Blumenthal ignited/finished several first-quarter fast breaks en route to both finishing the game with 16 points) and lockdown defense (Ness took on the unenviable task of trying to slow down the Hornets’ leading scorer).
Juniors Henry Estes and Jack Baker and sophomore Pranav Danda provided important sparks off the bench, and freshman Dawson Battie turned in a double-digit performance. Unfortunately, though, things were looking grim for St. Mark’s, as an early lead melted into an 18-point deficit midway through the third quarter. But the boys in navy and gold kept scratching and clawing their way back into the game, and with 16 seconds remaining, the team had the ball with a chance to tie, having cut the margin to merely 3. Junior Luke Laczkowski, who was honored pre-game for scoring his 1,000th point earlier in the season, caught the ball near mid-court, made his way toward the right sideline and launched what looked to be an impossible shot while fading out of bounds. SWISH!!!! The game went to overtime!! Despite all the momentum being with the Lions, however, it was Greenhill who made back-to-back three-pointers to forge a sizeable lead in OT. But Bryan Graham made a clutch three pointer and shortly thereafter came down with two courageous offensive rebounds in the same possession to give the home team the lead and a chance to ice the game away at the free throw line, which they did. Final score, 87-83 St. Mark’s. What a wild game!! This week, the Lions play at Oakridge on Tuesday and host ESD for the final game of the season on Friday at 7:30 p.m. for a chance to clinch consecutive North Zone titles.
Wrestling
The varsity wrestling team did not compete last week as the team prepares for the Prep State Tournament at Cornerstone Christian School in San Antonio this Saturday, Feb. 3.
Back
The varsity swimming team was back in the water last Wednesday and they would take on several local schools. John Paul II would be the top of that group though Parish, Alcuin and Prestonwood would have some great swims as well. In the end the Lions would come out on top scoring 195 points, JPII would be second with 77 points, then Prestonwood and Parish would be neck and neck, finishing with 13 and 12 points respectively. Up first the in the 200 IM, the Lions would take 2nd, as the team of junior Sebastian Illum, senior co-captain Adrian Lutgen, senior Howard Zhang and senior Adam Kappelman would all have strong swims going a time of 1:46.68 which is about 10 seconds off the season best. In the 200 freestyle, the Lions would go 1,2,3. In fact, the Lions would go 1-10. The Ethans would go 1,2: sophomore Ethan Wang swam a 1:51.82 and senior co-captain Ethan Gao would have a strong swim at 1:55.60. Freshman Cade Daigle would round out the top 3 with a 1:57.88, his personal best (PB) in this event. Sophomores Doan Nguyen and Kevin Hong would also have PBs, both dropping 3 and 4 seconds in their times. In the 200 IM, senior co-captain Anderson Selinger was back in prime form taking the win with a 2:09.05 which was 3 seconds off his personal best time, but his best time of the season and he is looking very strong for a good SPC showing. In the 50 freestyle, JPII would have their best showing of the meet going 1, 2 out touching sophomore Miller Martin who would be a second off his best time with a 22.95. However, in the 100 butterfly, the Lions would again dominate going 1-6. Senior co-captain Gao took first with a 57.33, sophomores Oliver Geheb would be 2nd with at 57.81 and Miller Martin 3rd with a 58.58. Sebastian Illum was 4th, Adam Kappelman was 5th and sophomore Michael Yang was 6th with a personal best.
In the 100 freestyle, the Lions would be shut out for the first time all year. Freshman Judah Isaacs-Sodeye would get 4th with a 53.73. In the 500 freestyle, it was a 1,2,3,4 finish for the Lions with junior Leo Scheiner having his best time of the season (5:22) while Daigle would come in 2nd with a 5:33.93, junior Reagan Brower with a 5:48 in 3rd, and freshman Paul Sumethasorn would finish 4th with a time of 6:07.41. In the 200 freestyle relay, the Lions would grab big points going 1,2,3, with the top time of 1:38.25 being a 6 second victory over 4th place JPII. In the 100 backstroke, JPII would grab the top spot, but the Lions would go 2,3,4 with strong swims from Illum, E. Wang and Selinger who was less than a second off his personal best. In the final individual event of the night, Lutgen and Geheb would go 1,2 in the 100 breaststroke with Lutgen out touching Geheb by 0.75 of a second. In the final event of the evening, the 4x100 yard freestyle relay, the Lions would go 1,3 and wrap up a very strong night of swims. Up next, the Lions will take on Cistercian, the SPC 3A 2023 champions, for Senior Night on Tuesday, Jan. 30. Come catch some great swimming action and say farewell to the seven seniors who have given so much to the St. Mark’s program. Senior Night begins at 5:45 p.m. with the meet starting shortly after at 6:05 p.m.
Soccer
The fourteenth match of the varsity soccer season was a memorable one, especially in front of a rowdy Fan Blizzard crowd. The Lions did not disappoint with a spirited and lively affair that saw St. Mark’s score some of the best team goals in recent memory. The Lions wasted no time scoring in the sixth minute with a dizzying combination of passes between senior captain Reed Sussman and senior striker Zach Bashour that led to an incisive through ball to sophomore Kazim Hussain. Hussain then produced a low, driven cross that junior Aydin Sumer emphatically struck into the back of the net at the far post. Sumer would prove to be the linchpin of the Lions’ offense with a hat trick that was punctuated with a goal in the 80 + 1st minute of the match where he beat four Greenhill defenders and their keeper. In addition, he drew the foul in the penalty area and senior John Ma converted the resulting penalty kick in the twenty-sixth minute, meaning Sumer was instrumental in all four goals. In the moments in between, Sumer struck again, this time courtesy of senior captain Alex Soliz. Sumer’s offensive display was matched by the defensive prowess of senior goalkeeper Tyler Tang, who was man of the match in his own right. He owned the goal box, repeatedly coming of his line to intercept numerous crosses in a crowded penalty area then beginning the attack with decisive distribution. The victory leaves the Lions in second place in the north zone (first among 4A schools), just behind Cistercian; however, the Lions have a match in hand. This week, the Lions travel to Oakridge on Tuesday before closing out the counter season by hosting ESD on Friday. Wins in both matches could see the Lions win the north zone with a favorable goal difference.
Basketball
On Friday, Jan. 26, the varsity basketball team hosted Greenhill. Spencer Gym was packed for a showdown featuring the last two undefeated teams in SPC play. In every way, the game lived up to its billing. First, when technical difficulties prevented the playing of the national anthem, the incredible SM student section broke out in song, leading the entire gym in an acapella rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner. Then, the senior starting trio of Bryan Graham, CJ Ness, and Lucas Blumenthal got the Lions off to a quick start with hot shooting inside and out (Graham hit the first basket of the game from beyond the arc, and Blumenthal ignited/finished several first-quarter fast breaks en route to both finishing the game with 16 points) and lockdown defense (Ness took on the unenviable task of trying to slow down the Hornets’ leading scorer).
Juniors Henry Estes and Jack Baker and sophomore Pranav Danda provided important sparks off the bench, and freshman Dawson Battie turned in a double-digit performance. Unfortunately, though, things were looking grim for St. Mark’s, as an early lead melted into an 18-point deficit midway through the third quarter. But the boys in navy and gold kept scratching and clawing their way back into the game, and with 16 seconds remaining, the team had the ball with a chance to tie, having cut the margin to merely 3. Junior Luke Laczkowski, who was honored pre-game for scoring his 1,000th point earlier in the season, caught the ball near mid-court, made his way toward the right sideline and launched what looked to be an impossible shot while fading out of bounds. SWISH!!!! The game went to overtime!! Despite all the momentum being with the Lions, however, it was Greenhill who made back-to-back three-pointers to forge a sizeable lead in OT. But Bryan Graham made a clutch three pointer and shortly thereafter came down with two courageous offensive rebounds in the same possession to give the home team the lead and a chance to ice the game away at the free throw line, which they did. Final score, 87-83 St. Mark’s. What a wild game!! This week, the Lions play at Oakridge on Tuesday and host ESD for the final game of the season on Friday at 7:30 p.m. for a chance to clinch consecutive North Zone titles.
Wrestling
The varsity wrestling team did not compete last week as the team prepares for the Prep State Tournament at Cornerstone Christian School in San Antonio this Saturday, Feb. 3.
St. Mark’s School of Texas
10600 Preston Road
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000
About Us
St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
