Lions Sports Update (Oct. 7)

Cross Country
The varsity cross country team traveled to Tomball, Texas, for a preview of the SPC Championship course. St. John’s has hosted the Maverick Ramble for more than 40 years, and this year’s race doubles as the SPC site. The Lions entered 12 runners across two divisions and came away with 11 personal bests.

In the Black Division, Jackson Bailey, William Cho, Ward Beasley, Nicholas Cho, Lawson Boutros, Payton Elder, and George Brown placed seventh as a team. Meanwhile, Josh Nunez, Ailesh Sadruddin, Charles Shea, Alex Marczewski, and Preston Bailey captured first place in the Red Division. The Lions have the upcoming weekend off from racing and will spend it giving back to the community through service at White Rock Lake.

Water Polo
The varsity water polo team took on John Paul II last week in a memorable matchup that doubled as Senior Night. The Lions honored nine seniors—Oliver Geheb, Joshua Goforth, Charlie Grable, Kevin Hong, Everett Jin, Matthew Liu, Doan Nguyen, Michael Yang, and Andrew Zhang—a group whose names have become synonymous with legacy and success in the St. Mark’s water polo program.

The Lions defeated JP2 18–4 with excellent ball movement, strong defense, and unselfish team play. Michael Yang led the charge with four goals as St. Mark’s controlled every phase of the game from start to finish. The Lions will now host the TISCA State Championship next weekend, beginning Friday evening with St. Stephen’s facing JP2. St. Mark’s will take on Dallas Consolidated on Saturday, with the winner advancing to play either Houston United or the St. Stephen’s/JP2 victor.

Volleyball
It was a challenging week for the varsity volleyball team. On Tuesday, the Lions hosted Fort Worth Country Day in an SPC counter match, with both teams entering undefeated in conference play. Missing a key starter due to illness, the Lions fought hard but ultimately fell 1–3.

On Friday, St. Mark’s hosted Greenhill in a non-conference match that went the distance, with the Lions narrowly losing 2–3. The bright spot of the week came as the team returned to full strength—Alex Hochman and Manning Trubey both rejoined the lineup after missing the month of September with injuries. The Lions are focused on regaining rhythm and closing the season strong.

This week’s schedule includes a home match against Dallas One Club on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.), a road match versus DASCHE Club in Duncanville on Thursday (7 p.m.), and a home contest against the Red River Rattlers on Friday at 6 p.m., prior to the football game.

Football
Last Friday, the 4–1 Lions traveled to Houston to face the Kinkaid Falcons. After Kinkaid capitalized on two short fields to jump ahead 14–0, the Lions fought back. A 65-yard run by David Dickson set up a touchdown pass to Nic Kiehn, and in the third quarter, quarterback Braden Scott connected with Wyatt Hanson for a 30-yard completion before throwing a touchdown to Grant Kennington and catching a two-point conversion from Blaize Schuhmacher.

Despite several key defensive stops and a strong offensive effort—highlighted by Dickson’s 136 rushing yards—the Lions fell 45–22. Spencer Hopkin led the defense with 11 tackles, including one for a loss, and a forced fumble. Now 4–2, the Lions return home this Friday to host the undefeated John Cooper Dragons at 7:00 p.m.

Corvin Oprea ’22, a senior on the men’s basketball team at the University of Rochester, was recently honored with the Lysle “Spike” Garnish Scholar-Athlete Award, presented to athletes who have completed their junior year and demonstrated excellence in both academics and athletics.

A business, finance, and economics major, Corvin was named both UAA All-Academic and CSC Academic All-District last season.