Fall Sports Kickoff

The Varsity Cross Country Team participated in the Marcus I Invitational at North Lakes Park in Denton during Labor Day Weekend. The Varsity Team competed in the 6A race early in the morning, to take advantage of cooler temperatures and better competition. Under ideal conditions, the 5 man team ran a great race. JT Graass ’16 was our top runner finishing 25^th with a time of 16:22. He was followed by Nick Buckenham ’15 with a time of 16:50, Daniel Cope ’17 in 17:11, Chris Carter ’15 in 17:30, and Shourya Kumar ’15 in 17:46. The team finished 10^th overall in a field of 38 teams. It is one of the team’s best showings ever at this meet. The following weekend, the Cross Country team competed in the Southlake Invitational. Racing again in the 6A race with many big teams from around the state and Oklahoma, St. Mark’s again impressive with a 13th place finish out of 51 schools. Leading the pack this week was Nick Buckenham who finished in 53rd place with a 5K PR time of 16:43. He was followed by Daniel Cope in 16:58, JT Graass in 17:27, Chris Carter in 17:31, Shourya Kumar in 17:32, and Nolan Jenevein ‘17 in 18:27.

 

The Varsity Football team opened its season against the other all-boys school in the SPC, Cistercian, on August 29. In an exciting back and forth battle, the Lions trailed early, 0-7 at the half. Two long passes from Walter Johnson ’15 to William Caldwell ’16 for TDs helped the Lions take a 14-7 lead into halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Justin Jones ‘15 punched one into the endzone to put the Lions up 21-7. Cistercian attempted a comeback by connecting on two long pass plays on consecutive possessions to close within 1 point (missed PAT), but then a Johnson to Andrew Patison ‘15 TD sealed the victory for the Lions, 27-19. In his first start as the Varsity QB, Walter Johnson threw for 310 yards and 3 TDs, and had another 65 yards on the ground. William Caldwell caught 6 passes for 126 yards and 2 TDs, and Justin Jones scampered for 37 yards and 1 TD. The Lions went on the road to take on ESD on Friday, August 5. Without starting QB Walter Johnson who was out with a knee injury, the Lions looked to Sophomore Hyer Thomas to step in and lead the Lions high octane offense. Unfortunately, ESD played better on this night despite the Lions defense forcing several turnovers. Justin Jones turned in a good effort with 83 yards and 1 TD on the ground and 65 yards receiving and 1 TD in the air. William Caldwell had his second straight 100 yard receiving game, and Hyer Thomas connected on over 50 percent of his passes for 206 yards and 1 TD. The Lions will travel to Ft. Worth Country Day to take on the Falcons on Friday, September 12 with a 7 pm kickoff.

 

The Varsity Volleyball team has had a busy first few weeks. The team traveled to Oklahoma City to play in the Red River Roundup hosted by Casady and were forced to play without their 10 seniors who were on the senior retreat. Several of the more experienced underclassmen were brought up to fill their place, and they filled in admirably. Going undefeated in pool play, the young Lions team made it all the way to the tournament finals where they lost to last year’s SPC runner-up and tournament host, Casady (23-25, 23-25). The Lions played their first regular season match against Trinity Valley on August 2. In a match where every player contributed to the cause, the Lions beat Trinity Valley 3-0. The team then played in the Houston Cup hosted by St. John’s the weekend of September 5. Now with their full complement of players, the Lions cruised through the tournament, going undefeated and never dropping a game. This was the third straight Houston Cup championship for the Lions who are on a quest for their third straight SPC title. The Lions next play at Greenhill on Wednesday, September 10 at 5:30 pm.