Lion Sports Update (April 4)

GOLF
On Monday, March 27, the St. Mark’s varsity golf team participated in the Hockaday Invitational Tournament hosted at Brookhaven Country Club. The unique partner scramble format made for a fun day, as did the fabulous weather. A little hardware always adds to the excitement, and the Lion combo of junior Hudson Brown and freshman Duff McKay medaled by tying for second among all competitors with a team-best 64. Seniors James Thomson and Aaron Greenberg were right there as well, shooting a 5-under 67. Juniors Henry Hoak and Charlie Hill combined for an even-par 72 to forge a 3-team total of 203, which was a mere 3 strokes away from first place as a group. Rounding out the effort were pairs that featured senior Tommy Zheng and sophomore Mateo Ubinas (73), sophomore Luke Lemons and freshman Jonathan Lobel (75), junior Jimmy Francis and sophomore Robbie Tate (79), and juniors Zach Olyan and Jordan Feldman (79). Perhaps the most interesting component of the event was the strategic cleverness employed as players worked together to find a rhythm; as a result, every group improved from their first nine to their second. This week, the Lions will compete in a match play event against Trinity Christian on Wednesday, April 5 at 4 p.m. at the nearby Country Place Golf Club.
 
BASEBALL
Last week, the varsity baseball team squared off against Cistercian for its second SPC North Zone counter game. The Hawks capitalized on a couple early defensive miscues, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. However, the Lions rallied for a three-run response, highlighted by John Stephen Hohmann’s two-RBI single, which knotted the game at 3-3. Silas Hosler settled in on the mound, and he shut down the Cistercian offense for six straight innings. Racking up 11 hits on the day, the St. Mark’s bats came alive in the bottom of the 6th, scoring five runs in support of Hosler’s excellent pitching. Hohmann, Jackson Williams and Grayson Redmond collected multiple hits as the Lions put the game out of reach for good at 8-3.

On Friday night, St. Mark’s traveled over to Breckenridge Park for a non-counter match against HSAA. Facing a tough RHP, the hot-hitting Lions offense cooled off, managing only two hits by Silas Hosler and Jack Frary through seven innings of play. Deven Pietrzak was stellar on the mound, scattering four hits on three unearned runs in five innings of work. The Lions defense turned two double plays, but also had multiple fielding errors, which allowed HSAA to win the game, 6-0. St. Mark’s (1-1 in counter play) has two conference road games this week: Tuesday at Fort Worth Country Day (6 p.m.) and Thursday at Casady in Oklahoma City (4:30 p.m.)

TENNIS 
Last week, the varsity tennis team hosted Cistercian for an SPC North Zone counter match and won 3-2. While the match score was close, the Lions secured the team win with victories at all three singles spots. Patrick Flanagan, Shreyan Daulat and Nathaniel Hochman at 1, 2, & 3 singles won easily and quickly! Although the doubles struggled a bit, they had great grind and put forth good effort. It was a good tune up as the Lions prepare for two road matches this week: Ft. Worth Country Day on Tuesday (5 p.m.) and at Casady in Oklahoma City on Friday (4:30 p.m.)

TRACK & FIELD 
The St. Mark’s track & field team enjoyed another successful outing at the WT White Longhorn Invitational this past Saturday. Under beautiful weather, the Lions were led by Asa McCaleb with a 1st place in the 1600m (a new PR) and a 2nd in the 3200m, and Jadiel Sarfo who captured 1st place in the JV 400m with a new PR.  Other notable performances were Temi Balogun and Vikram Singh in the 100m and 200m, and Zach Andrews, Ethan Singleton, Jacob Grossfeld and Neil Rakheja in the 400m. Julian Carlson and Jonah Perez faired well in the Shot Put as did Bobby Strauss in the Discus and Baker Long in the Triple Jump. A very productive day against many top 6A-5A public schools. The Lions produced 20 PR’s and 4 Seasonal bests. This week the Lions travel to First Baptist Academy’s “Saints Relays” on Thursday, April 6th, to sharpen their skills.

LACROSSE 
It was a busy week for the varsity lacrosse team as they played three games in four days, taking on a tough out of state opponent in St. Albans from Washington D.C., followed by two great SPC opponents in Episcopal (Houston) and St. John’s. On Wednesday, the Lions matched up against St. Alban’s from Washington D.C.. The Lions went toe to toe with a team that had beaten three other strong Dallas opponents in recent days. Yet the Lions were ready for the challenge! A back and forth affair saw the St. Marks score the last 5 goals to earn a 10-7 win. Our SPC opponents from Houston traveled up to Dallas for the weekend and gave the Lions all they could handle. After a tight game in the early stages, the Lions would pull away from Episcopal in the 2nd half for a 19-6 win. The following day was a physical matchup with St. John’s, with St. Marks scoring the winning goal with 10 seconds to go on a rebound and put-back by freshman Christian Warner to claim a 10-9 victory. Next up is our rivalry game with ESD on Thursday, April 6 (7 p.m.) at home!