Lion Sports Update (03/30)

Tennis
The varsity tennis team had their first match of the season on Thursday at ESD. The Lions defeated the Eagles 4-1 highlighted by exciting wins by junior Jeremy Yu and senior Max Wu in singles. Both doubles teams (EK Tambe/Alex Ryan & Amogh Naganand/Shreyan Daulot) won in dominating fashion. This week the Lions open SPC North Zone league play with matches at Oakridge on Monday and Casady on Thursday.
 
Baseball
After being rained out on Tuesday, the varsity baseball team played its first of three home games of the week on Wednesday vs. Covenant Christian. Senior Daniel Sanchez started the game and worked out of a few early-inning jams before relinquishing pitching duties with bases loaded in the fourth inning to fellow senior Klyde Warren. With the game close at 1-2, a series of untimely walks, well-placed hits, and opportunistic baserunning undid St. Mark’s as the Lions’ offense remained stifled by Covenant Christian’s pitching. The final score was 1-8 in Covenant Christian’s favor. Looking to turn things around on the challenging season, St. Mark’s hosted HSAA on a gorgeous Friday afternoon. Senior Jake Daniels set the tone with a spectacular one-hit performance through four dominant innings of work. Seniors Alex Zuch and Daniel Sanchez and sophomore Silas Hosler were the driving forces behind a potent Lions’ offense. Junior reliever Toby Barrett pitched a solid fifth inning while junior Cal Graham’s RBI single ended the game in walk-off fashion as St. Mark’s stopped play early with an impressive 12-2 run-rule of HSAA in five innings. Saturday featured a matchup with THESA, a tough annual opponent. Led by hot-hitting Alex Zuch, who was 3 for 4 on the day, the Lions pounced on THESA’s starting pitcher for three runs in the first inning. However, junior hurler Camden Reeves was unable to hold the lead after a series of hit batters, walks, hits, and passed balls gave THESA its first lead of the game. In a redemption moment from earlier in the week, senior reliever Klyde Warren confidently took the ball and kept THESA’s offense at bay with four outstanding innings of work. However, St. Mark’s was unable to capitalize off of Warren’s spark, falling 4-7. The Varsity baseball team opens SPC North Zone counterplay with two road games this week: Tuesday at Oakridge and Thursday at Casady.  
 
Golf
On Monday, March 22nd, the varsity golf team shot a team score of 320 to place 3rd in the Dallas Invitational Tournament hosted by Jesuit at Brookhaven Country Club. Sophomore Logan Johnson placed third in individual scoring among the 66 golfers in the field with a team-best 76. Junior Mac McKenzie struck the ball well all day long en route to an 80, and fellow juniors Anashay Monga and George Warren, along with sophomore Tommy Zheng, all posted an 82. Henry Hoak’s 85 was among the best scores for freshmen participating in the event. This week, the Lions will compete in a pair of 18-hole events, first at Bear Creek on Wednesday (against Parish and Country Day) and then on Thursday (against Shelton).
 
Water Polo
The water polo teams were back in action after a well-needed Spring Break. The JV team defeated Flower Mound HS (11-4) and Denton Guyer (22-5) this weekend, both with overwhelming dominance. The chemistry shown by this group continues to be one of the top factors for their success, their help defense and press defense looking top-notch. The varsity beat Dallas ISD (12-7) and Flower Mound Marcus (22-3) and in similar fashion the teams’ chemistry on defense was their main success. The offense had balanced scoring, but it was the fast break goals from defensive turnovers that paved the road for success. Early in the Dallas ISD game, the score was tied 4-4, but moments later the game broke open with 3 consecutive goals scored by the Lions off of steals and counter-attacks. Up next for the Lions, the JV team plays on Friday, April 2, as they square off again with Denton Guyer at 5:00 p.m. and face Flower Mound Marcus for the first time this season at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, April 3, the varsity team takes on Southlake Carroll at 2:00 p.m. and Denton Guyer at 4:30 p.m.
 
Lacrosse
The varsity lacrosse team hosted McKinney last Friday upon our return from Spring Break. This was the team’s first North District THSLL counter game of the season. The Lions led 5-2 at the half and then 9-2 at the end of the third quarter, eventually winning the game 14-4. Juniors Ian Mize and Henry Piccagli led the Lions in scoring with 3 goals and 1 assist each. Junior Niles Harvey and sophomore Jack Gordy pitched in 2 goals and 1 assist each. Sophomores Henry Boykin and Luke Stallings each had a goal and an assist, and junior Blake Molthan and sophomore Murphy Paul capped off the scoring with a goal apiece. Junior Alex Geng dominated the faceoff draws, winning 75% (15 out of 20). On defense, James Fults and Ian Williams combined for 7 saves in goal. This week, the Lions have two road games, traveling to Plano West (Clark Stadium) on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. game and then to Allen (Curtis MS) on Good Friday for a 6:30 p.m. game.
 
Track & Field
The varsity track & field team traveled to Prince of Peace for a 4-way meet with Greenhill, Prince of Peace, and Prestonwood on Saturday, March 27. St. Mark’s finished first in the team scoring with 240 points. There were many highlights from the meet. The biggest one was the performance of junior Sam Eluemunoh in the discus. On his second throw, Sam launched the discus 160’ 8” to improve his PR by 25’ and move to #4 ALL-TIME on the SM record board. Earlier, he PR’d in the shot put with a winning throw of 45’ 11”. The team combined for 30 PR’s and 8 SB’s (seasonal bests) in the meet!  Aided by a very strong tailwind, senior Kit Colson led the sprint crew with a 10.75 in the 100m. That time was a PR and solidified his standing as #5 on the ALL-TIME SM list. HE also won the 200m with a time of 22.48. The distance runners produced their usual hoard of PR’s with freshman Raja Mehendale running well in both the 800m and 1600m. The 4x400 Relay of sophomore Zane Wallace, junior Enoch Ellis, junior Sahil Dodda, and senior Cristian Pereira joined together to win in 3:28.71. It was the fastest 4x400R for St. Mark’s since 2017. On Friday, at Greenhill School, Zane Wallace won the triple jump with a PR of 45’ 10.75” to move to #3 on the ALL-TIME SM list. All in all, a great weekend for the Lions. The Lions are taking Easter Weekend off and will then host a meet with Bishop Lynch, ESD, Hockaday, Greenhill, and Prince of Peace in Hunt Stadium on Saturday, April 10, starting at 9:00 a.m.
 
Crew
The varsity crew team traveled to The Woodlands for a scrimmage with the Rowing Club of the Woodlands on Saturday. Twenty boys raced in 9 doubles races and 4 quad races against crews of similar skill level in three separate races. The format was head-to-head racing on open water. Each double paired up with an equal from the Rowing Club of the Woodlands and raced for 750 meters. After all doubles had raced, competitors lined up again against a new opponent for another 750-meter head-to-head. For many of the crews, it was their first racing experience. The head-to-head racing was done on water without lanes, unlike our traditional spring sprints. This added the pressure of steering and navigation to competition. The doubles races served as a good chance for the team to shake off the nerves of not having raced in a year as well as an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the lake for the quad race which was much more difficult at a length of 1500 meters. The short doubles races tended to favor the crews with a more efficient stroke and technique while the 1500 meter quad pieces favored the crews with horsepower and skill. The quad races proved to be a much tighter competition as the Lions crew had now warmed up and become comfortable with the course. The first quad race was for the novice rowers. Each team fielded two quads. Lions Crew came in second and fourth. The 2v race was next with Marksmen fighting their way down the course holding the competition's feet to the fire but were unable to overcome for a second-place finish. The varsity quads [were] evenly matched in skill and strength. The Lions crew led from the start and finished first, but not without challenges. The Woodlands put on a very strong sprint in the last 500 meters but were unable to push past the lead held by St. Mark’s. The boys were thrilled to be able to compete and the experience left everyone wanting more.
 
ALUMNI ATHLETE NEWS
Chase Honaker ’19, a member of the UCLA Bruins Men’s Water Polo team, helped the Bruins to an NCAA National Championship this spring!  UCLA beat USC 7-6 in the championship game. This was the 2020 NCAA Championship that had been delayed due to the COVID19 pandemic. This marks the 6th NCAA Water Polo Championship team that a Marksman has been a member of: Michael Shashoua ’08 won four straight from ’08 to ’11 while he was at USC and Tim Simenc ’15 won at Cal-Berkeley in 2016.

 
Garrett Mize ’18 has contributed a goal and an assist in two lacrosse games for the Washington and Lee University Generals early in the 2021 season.