Lion Sports Update (03/10)

GOLF
Ten golfers (seniors Jackson Lutz, Mac McKenzie, Anashay Monga, Will Shoup, and George Warren, juniors Logan Johnson, James Thomson, and Tommy Zheng, sophomore Charlie Hill, and freshman Mateo Ubinas) woke up early Sunday morning for a lengthy bus ride to Bastrop, Texas (just southeast of Austin) for a two-day tournament at Wolfdancer Golf Club at the Lost Pines Resort. The event featured the strongest SPC golf programs and served as a conference preview of sorts leading up to the SPC championship tournament to be held in the metroplex at the end of April. Conditions were fairly optimal on day one, although an incessant north wind eventually brought uncomfortably chilly conditions throughout day two. Several individuals turned in rounds in the 70’s, including Tommy Zheng, Logan Johnson, George Warren, and Mac McKenzie. The team finished third overall and will look to build on that performance following spring break with a match at Bent Tree Country Club against defending TAPPS state champ TCA on Thursday.

BASEBALL 
The varsity baseball team had a very busy week, playing a rare collection of four games after having had their previous two games canceled due to inclement weather. On Monday, St. Mark’s hosted TACA. Falling behind 0-3, the Lions’ bats woke up in the bottom of the fourth inning after walks and an infield error set up senior Camden Reeves who singled in two runs to put SM ahead, 4-3. In the top of the fifth, junior Radford Green struck out the first batter, but walked two consecutive batters before fellow Junior Silas Hosler slammed the door shut on the TACA rally with two back-to-back strike outs. With little available light left, the umpires called the game in the bottom of the 5th, giving the varsity team its first win of the season. On Thursday, the Lions opened up game one of the Hillcrest Tournament versus the host team. Senior Toby Barrett was effective and efficient with his pitches despite a couple costly early fielding errors which allowed Hillcrest to overtake the Lions’ early lead, which was generated behind the bats of sophomore Alex Barrett, Hosler, and Reeves. Although competitive through four innings, Hillcrest put the game out of reach in the fifth inning, handing the Lions an 8-1 loss. Friday’s 10:00 am game pitted St. Mark’s against Rice HS. Camden Reeves was magnificent on the mound, hurling a one-hit shut-out through five strong innings of work. In the third inning, junior catcher Ethan Gaertner singled home two Lions’ baserunners, which gave the Lions some breathing room as the offense chalked up a few more runs over the next two innings. Senior OF Peter Orsak’s run-scoring fielder’s choice ended the game by run-rule with the Lions ahead 8-0. Returning to action Saturday morning, St. Mark’s played Dallas Lutheran. Senior Cole Norman threw two strong innings before turning the ball over to senior Cal Graham, who struck out the side in the bottom of the third. Having amassed an incredible 20 runs in the first inning while playing “station to station,” the Lions secured their third victory of the season upon reaching the mercy rule by the end of third inning. This week, the varsity team hosts HSAA on Tuesday afternoon before traveling over to Cistercian on Thursday for a pre-conference friendly match.

TRACK & FIELD 
The varsity track & field team competed in their first track meet of the 2022 season. The Prince of Peace Relays in Plano was a good start to the season. The Lions had balance in almost every event and won the meet easily. Wirt “Jack” Jackson led the team with victories in the 100m and 200m and contributed to the winning 4x400m Relay team. Fisayo Omonije won the 400m in a new PR (Personal Record) and contributed to the 4x400m Relay team. Sahil Dodda won the 800m in a very fast 1:59.28. Sam Eluemunoh picked up two third place finishes in the discus and shot put. Rapha Mitterer-Claudet won the high jump in his first ever competition. Winston Lee won the pole vault in his first ever competition. Zane Wallace won the triple jump with a distance of 46 feet 9 inches. This week the Lions host the Bradley V. Urschel Invitational on Saturday, March 12. There are 21 teams entered which should provide for great competition.

WATER POLO 
The varsity water polo team was back in action this weekend taking on Flower Mound Marcus and Southlake Carroll. The team was playing shorthanded with 6 athletes out for National Team Practice. First up against Marcus, the Lions would get off to a great start going up 8-2 at halftime. Right off the sprint to start the 3rd quarter, the Lions would allow a shot from point with no pressure. At this point, Warner Hartnett, normally a field player, stepped in at goalie this weekend and was phenomenal. However, for this unopposed shooter, he was no match. Then over the next 4 minutes, the Lions would force passes into tight windows allowing the opposing team easy steals and fast odd man transition goals the other direction. This lack of discipline in the 3rd quarter allowed Marcus to cut the lead to 8-6 going into the 4th quarter. During the quarter break, the Lions were able to refocus and return to their style of play, outscoring Marcus 4-2 in the 4th and winning the game 12-8. Scoring for the Lions were: Honaker (7), Ghosh (2) and Reitich, Ouyang, and Kappleman all with 1 goal apiece. After a short break, the Lions would take on Southlake Carroll, who defeated Marcus earlier in the day 7-3. In the first half, St. Marks took a 5-3 lead with Carroll getting a few hero passes for easy goals (a hero pass is a situation where a guarded player throws the impossible, boarder-line lucky, perfect pass to another guarded player that lands exactly where it needs to be allowing for a shot.) The 2nd half saw the Lions out score the Dragons 10-6, finishing the game with a 15-8 victory. Lions goal scorers were: Honaker (5), Kappleman (3), Brower (3), with Ouyang, Reitich, and J. Chen each with 1 goal each. This weekend, the Lions play in the Aggieland Invitational hosted by Texas A&M University. This will allow the Lions to face the top teams in the state in preparation for regionals and the state tournament.

LACROSSE 
The varsity lacrosse team rebounded nicely from last week’s IMG contest in two SPC counter contests against Kinkaid on Friday and Houston Christian on Saturday, both from the Houston area. On Friday, the Lions held a first quarter lead of 3-1. Kinkaid fought back to close the gap before halftime, making the score 4-3. The Lions went on a 5-0 run in the third frame which seemed to be the difference maker in the game, while in the fourth and final frame, St. Marks and Kinkaid traded goals to bring the final tally to 16-8. Junior Henry Boykin (5 goals/1 assist) and senior captain Ian Mize (4 goals) led the Lions in scoring. Attackmen Jake Park added three goals and two assists, while Conor Duffy had two goals and one assist and Luke Stallings and Charlie Estess tallied a goal apiece. Senior faceoff specialist Alex Geng won 72% of his faceoffs and senior Xander Bowles won 50%. Day two of the double header was against Houston Christian. The Lions dominated from start to finish. Ian Mize had a great feed to Dillon Wyatt who found the back of the net to give SM the early momentum. Mize finished the day with 1 goal and 3 assists while freshman Owen Park and junior defenseman Luke Noack each scored their first varsity goals of the season.Niles Harvey, Jack Gordy, Murphy Paul, and Henry Boykin all had two goals apiece, while Luke Stallings tallied 4 goals and 1 assist on the day, helping the Lions to a 17-2 victory. This Thursday, the Lions face the Southlake Dragons in their first away contest of the season. Over spring break, the boys of 10600 Preston Road will head to Bradenton, Florida to compete on IMG academy’s complex for local contests and tournament play with teams from around the country. 
 
TENNIS
The varsity tennis team traveled to Cistercian in their first match of the season on Thursday and won 5-4 in a scrimmage format. A good showing for the Lions with the entire line up competing! On Monday, March 7th, the Lions posted a clean sweep of Parish all the way down the line. Particularly solid wins from Shreyan Dualat at line 2 singles and Preston Laird & Sebastian Kiehn at line 3 doubles. The Lions host Jesuit on Thursday at 4:00 p.m.
 
ALUMNI ATHLETE NEWS
Harrison Ingram ’21 won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors for his body of work on the Stanford Men’s Basketball team this season. Harrison was also Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 and part of the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Harrison is one of only 2 true freshmen in the country that are averaging 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists, the other being Paolo Banchero at Duke. Ingram has also been awarded the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors 6-times over the course of the season and was a top-10 finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. Read more about it HERE.
 
Seth Weprin ’19 and his fellow members of the Dartmouth Track & Field team’s Distance Medley Relay team earned All-Ivy League First-team honors by winning the Distance Medley Relay at the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships last weekend. Seth ran the 1200m leg of the relay, with teammates running the 400m, 800m, and 1600m.