Lions Sports Update (Jan. 7)

The varsity swim team faced fellow SPC powerhouse St. Stephen’s on December 18, delivering strong performances across the board and securing a 91–77 victory. The meet opened with the 200 Medley Relay, where Armaan Newaskar, Ethan Wang, Cade Daigle, and Miller Martin edged St. Stephen’s by just 0.15 seconds to claim first place.

In the 200 Free, St. Stephen’s swept the top two spots, but Oliver Geheb and Andrew Zheng turned in solid swims to finish third and fifth, respectively. Ilan Gunawardena captured first place in the 200 IM, with Cruz Santana and Larry Fan finishing third and fifth. The Lions continued to rack up points in the 50 Free, where Judah Isaacs-Sodeye, Wang, and Martin placed second, third, and fifth.

Newaskar returned to the top of the podium in the 100 Butterfly, followed closely by Santana in second and Michael Yang in fourth. Although St. Stephen’s won the 100 Freestyle, the Lions placed second through fourth behind strong swims from Martin, Daigle, and Luke Nguyen. In the 500 Free, Wang earned second place, while Will Bhenke added another valuable point.

The 200 Freestyle Relay was all Lions, with teams finishing first, second, and third. The top relay of Isaacs-Sodeye, Yang, Gunawardena, and Martin dominated the field, touching more than six seconds ahead of second place. In the 100 Backstroke, Newaskar narrowly missed first, finishing second by less than half a second, while Nicholas Sun placed fifth. Geheb claimed first in the 100 Breaststroke, winning by three seconds, with Isaacs-Sodeye and Yang finishing third and fourth.

The Lions finished second in the final event, the 400 Freestyle Relay, capping off a successful meet highlighted by numerous personal bests. Up next, the Lions host Strake Jesuit, John Paul II, Alcuin, Oakridge, and Shelton School on Friday, January 9, at 4:30 p.m.

The St. Mark’s varsity basketball team remained active over the holiday break. A pair of home games leading into the break featured junior Dawson Battie’s hot shooting from beyond the arc in the first contest and strong inside-out ball movement in the second.

The annual alumni game on December 20 brought more than two dozen former Marksmen back to campus for a high-scoring matchup filled with hugs and high fives. The Lions closed out 2025 by competing in the 45th edition of the Beach Ball Classic in South Carolina, one of the nation’s premier basketball tournaments. Junior Asher Collins delivered an outstanding performance in the second round, recording 25 points and 18 rebounds.

This week, the Lions host Dallas Thunder on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and DASCHE on Friday at 7 p.m. in Hicks Gym at the Zierk Athletic Center before opening SPC Counter play next week.

The varsity soccer team hosted three matches on the final weekend before the holiday break, finishing with two draws and a win. On Thursday night, the Lions drew with Greenhill after conceding an early goal in the 14th minute when a long-range shot took an unfortunate bounce into the net. The match remained tightly contested, and senior Mateen Mostafavipour equalized late after Ian Cho forced a save and Mostafavipour converted the rebound.

On Friday, the Lions played TCA to a scoreless draw despite creating more than fifteen scoring chances. The weekend concluded with a 5–2 victory over the St. Mark’s Alumni team on Saturday. After conceding an early penalty, senior captain Kazim Hussain converted a penalty of his own to level the score. Hussain and David Dickson then combined twice more, with Dickson scoring both times. JP Hanks added a goal from distance, and Wyatt Gair completed the scoring.

The Lions open SPC Counter play on Tuesday, January 13, against Cistercian.

Over Christmas break, the wrestling team traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the Journeymen Collegiate Duals, conduct joint training sessions, and compete in friendly duals at Montgomery Bell Academy from December 20–22. Observing NCAA Division I programs such as Penn State, Ohio State, Cornell, Stanford, and Lehigh University provided valuable insight and inspiration.

The Lions competed in friendly duals against MBA, John Paul II, and Lakeway Christian Academy, with host teams supplying additional wrestlers to help fill out rosters. The experience fostered collaboration, relationship-building, and growth. The team continued training through the break before competing in the 18th Annual Prep Slam Tournament at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta, a national event featuring 48 teams.

Out of six Lions competing, senior co-captain Jackson Barnes finished fifth and junior Oliver Loehr placed third—the strongest individual results during Coach Arredondo’s tenure. As a team, the Lions finished 29th overall. After a short recovery period, the Lions return to action on January 16 at the North Zone Duals, hosted at St. Mark’s in Spencer Gymnasium at 4 p.m.