Winter SPC Recap
Swimming
The varsity swim team competed in the SPC Championships held at the Conroe ISD Natatorium this past Saturday. The Lions took advantage of its depth, exemplary team chemistry, and magnificent across-the-board performances to secure its 9th straight SPC Title. Each swimmer’s performance was outstanding with the team experiencing a high percentage of personal best times. The team won the 200 Medley Relay (Jacob Hum ’17, Eddie Ro ’18, Ethan Pittson ’18, and Matthew Yang ’17), the 200 Free Relay (Eddie Ro, Ethan Pittson, Andrew Lin ’17, and Benjamin Hurst ’18), the 400 Free Relay (Matthew Yang, Andrew Lin, Jacob Hum, and Benjamin Hurst), senior Jacob Hum won the 50 Free, and junior Benjamin Hurst won the 100 Breaststroke. The Lions placed swimmers on the podium in 8 out of 11 swimming events, had 6 swimmers awarded All-SPC honors, and finished 46 points ahead of the second-place team.
Back
The varsity swim team competed in the SPC Championships held at the Conroe ISD Natatorium this past Saturday. The Lions took advantage of its depth, exemplary team chemistry, and magnificent across-the-board performances to secure its 9th straight SPC Title. Each swimmer’s performance was outstanding with the team experiencing a high percentage of personal best times. The team won the 200 Medley Relay (Jacob Hum ’17, Eddie Ro ’18, Ethan Pittson ’18, and Matthew Yang ’17), the 200 Free Relay (Eddie Ro, Ethan Pittson, Andrew Lin ’17, and Benjamin Hurst ’18), the 400 Free Relay (Matthew Yang, Andrew Lin, Jacob Hum, and Benjamin Hurst), senior Jacob Hum won the 50 Free, and junior Benjamin Hurst won the 100 Breaststroke. The Lions placed swimmers on the podium in 8 out of 11 swimming events, had 6 swimmers awarded All-SPC honors, and finished 46 points ahead of the second-place team.
Wrestling
The varsity wrestling team also went to the SPC Tournament which was hosted by St. John’s School in Houston this past Saturday. Although the team was unable to fill all of the weight classes, many of those who wrestled made it to the finals or consolation finals in their respective weight class brackets. Junior Will Wood won the SPC title at 113 lbs. despite wrestling up a weight class. He will wrestle 106 lbs. at the Prep National Tournament. Senior Ivan Day took 2nd at 132 lbs., senior Drew Whigham took 3rd at 106 lbs. in his first year wrestling, senior Eli Ware took 3rd at 170 lbs. and had an 8-second pin in the one match, and senior Rob Crow took 4th in a very competitive 145 lbs. weight class. Sophomore Colin Neuhoff finished in 4th at 160 lbs. The team ended up finishing 6th place in the SPC. Junior Tucker Ribman, a Prep National Qualifier after winning the Prep State Tournament, was unable to wrestle at SPC due to an injured wrist, but with the added recovery time he will still be able to represent the Lions at the Prep National Tournament on February 23 and 24 at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
Basketball
The varsity basketball team turned in a superb performance at the SPC tournament this past weekend in Houston. As the heavy underdogs in round 1 against Houston Christian, St. Mark’s showed no signs of fear with junior Sam Sussman knocking down a pair of early 3’s and senior point guard and captain Will Ingram ’17 overcoming an ankle ailment to spearhead the attack. The game seesawed back and forth throughout the first half, but a mid-court buzzer beater put Houston Christian up 4 going into the break. That margin widened with another 3-pointer as time expired in the 3rd, and the Lions found themselves trailing by 9 early in the 4th. However, freshman Andrew Laczkowski knocked down a pair of 3’s and converted an acrobatic “and-1” off a long pass from junior Reece Rabin to give the Marksmen a chance to win. Following an alley-oop finish by junior Jimmy Rodriguez, the Lions regained possession with 12 seconds to go, trailing by 3. Unfortunately, despite generating a pretty good look from behind the arc, the Lions could not score and lost their first-round game. On Friday, however, the Lions would rebound against St. Andrew’s. The game started slowly for St. Mark’s, but senior Fabian Reyher sparked a rally to end the first quarter with a half-court buzzer-beater that gave the Lions a 1-point lead. The Lions held the lead the rest of the way until things got tight in the 4th quarter. A couple of missed free throws gave St. Andrew’s the ball with a chance to take the lead with under a minute to play. However, junior Garrett Mize, who had been playing a monster role defensively all season long, prevented St. Andrew’s leading scorer from catching the ball and instead generated a pair of late-game steals to secure a 1-point victory for the Lions. In the consolation championship on Saturday morning, St. Mark’s looked a little drowsy, thanks in part to a hotel elevator malfunction that kept the team trapped in an elevator until Houston fire department officials could pry them out well after midnight. The event made for some fun camaraderie and story-telling but not the most energetic of basketball! The opponent, St. John’s, on the other hand, benefitted from playing in its home gym in front of a boisterous crowd and used the advantage to make 4 of its first 5 threes and jump out to a fast 12-2 lead. Then junior Omar Rana came out of nowhere to save the day. Despite playing limited minutes all season long, Omar sprung into duty with a pair of threes and a layup to nearly even the score. Rana then added two free throws, several assists and rebounds, and another layup in the 2nd quarter and helped the Lions to a 7-point lead heading into halftime. Several others joined the party from there, including freshman Paxton Scott, sophomores Austin Nadalini, Myles Jones, and Dylan Osimetha, junior Seun Omonije, and senior Michael Wang who scored 6 important points late in the 4th to ensure a double-digit win. Junior Sam Sussman was virtually unstoppable all weekend and finished as St. Mark’s leading scorer and rebounder for the SPC tournament. Senior Will Ingram was named All-SPC to cap off a fabulous basketball career for the Lions. What an incredible finish for the Lions!
The varsity wrestling team also went to the SPC Tournament which was hosted by St. John’s School in Houston this past Saturday. Although the team was unable to fill all of the weight classes, many of those who wrestled made it to the finals or consolation finals in their respective weight class brackets. Junior Will Wood won the SPC title at 113 lbs. despite wrestling up a weight class. He will wrestle 106 lbs. at the Prep National Tournament. Senior Ivan Day took 2nd at 132 lbs., senior Drew Whigham took 3rd at 106 lbs. in his first year wrestling, senior Eli Ware took 3rd at 170 lbs. and had an 8-second pin in the one match, and senior Rob Crow took 4th in a very competitive 145 lbs. weight class. Sophomore Colin Neuhoff finished in 4th at 160 lbs. The team ended up finishing 6th place in the SPC. Junior Tucker Ribman, a Prep National Qualifier after winning the Prep State Tournament, was unable to wrestle at SPC due to an injured wrist, but with the added recovery time he will still be able to represent the Lions at the Prep National Tournament on February 23 and 24 at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
Basketball
The varsity basketball team turned in a superb performance at the SPC tournament this past weekend in Houston. As the heavy underdogs in round 1 against Houston Christian, St. Mark’s showed no signs of fear with junior Sam Sussman knocking down a pair of early 3’s and senior point guard and captain Will Ingram ’17 overcoming an ankle ailment to spearhead the attack. The game seesawed back and forth throughout the first half, but a mid-court buzzer beater put Houston Christian up 4 going into the break. That margin widened with another 3-pointer as time expired in the 3rd, and the Lions found themselves trailing by 9 early in the 4th. However, freshman Andrew Laczkowski knocked down a pair of 3’s and converted an acrobatic “and-1” off a long pass from junior Reece Rabin to give the Marksmen a chance to win. Following an alley-oop finish by junior Jimmy Rodriguez, the Lions regained possession with 12 seconds to go, trailing by 3. Unfortunately, despite generating a pretty good look from behind the arc, the Lions could not score and lost their first-round game. On Friday, however, the Lions would rebound against St. Andrew’s. The game started slowly for St. Mark’s, but senior Fabian Reyher sparked a rally to end the first quarter with a half-court buzzer-beater that gave the Lions a 1-point lead. The Lions held the lead the rest of the way until things got tight in the 4th quarter. A couple of missed free throws gave St. Andrew’s the ball with a chance to take the lead with under a minute to play. However, junior Garrett Mize, who had been playing a monster role defensively all season long, prevented St. Andrew’s leading scorer from catching the ball and instead generated a pair of late-game steals to secure a 1-point victory for the Lions. In the consolation championship on Saturday morning, St. Mark’s looked a little drowsy, thanks in part to a hotel elevator malfunction that kept the team trapped in an elevator until Houston fire department officials could pry them out well after midnight. The event made for some fun camaraderie and story-telling but not the most energetic of basketball! The opponent, St. John’s, on the other hand, benefitted from playing in its home gym in front of a boisterous crowd and used the advantage to make 4 of its first 5 threes and jump out to a fast 12-2 lead. Then junior Omar Rana came out of nowhere to save the day. Despite playing limited minutes all season long, Omar sprung into duty with a pair of threes and a layup to nearly even the score. Rana then added two free throws, several assists and rebounds, and another layup in the 2nd quarter and helped the Lions to a 7-point lead heading into halftime. Several others joined the party from there, including freshman Paxton Scott, sophomores Austin Nadalini, Myles Jones, and Dylan Osimetha, junior Seun Omonije, and senior Michael Wang who scored 6 important points late in the 4th to ensure a double-digit win. Junior Sam Sussman was virtually unstoppable all weekend and finished as St. Mark’s leading scorer and rebounder for the SPC tournament. Senior Will Ingram was named All-SPC to cap off a fabulous basketball career for the Lions. What an incredible finish for the Lions!
Soccer
Having defeated ESD 4-0 earlier in the week to clinch an SPC berth, the varsity soccer team entered the SPC tournament as the fourth seed in the North Zone. The Lions lost 3-0 to the fifth seed in the South Zone, John Cooper, in the first round of the SPC Tournament. It was the first time that St. Mark’s had ever lost to John Cooper in SPC play. The Lions were then matched up against the same ESD team that they had beaten on Monday. This time, the Eagles struck first and held a 1 goal lead going into halftime. The team regrouped and senior Jake Vaughn scored the tying goal in the 62nd minute to give the Lions hope. Just minutes later, senior Isaiah Kazunga found the back of the net after ESD failed to clear a corner kick and this goal would prove to be the difference as the Lions won 2-1! In the SPC Consolation Final, the Lions lost to Casady by a score of 1-2. St. Mark’s lone goal was scored by junior Kabeer Singh from fellow junior Owen Berger’s throw-in. Senior Josh Bandopadhay was awarded All-SPC honors by the other SPC coaches.
Having defeated ESD 4-0 earlier in the week to clinch an SPC berth, the varsity soccer team entered the SPC tournament as the fourth seed in the North Zone. The Lions lost 3-0 to the fifth seed in the South Zone, John Cooper, in the first round of the SPC Tournament. It was the first time that St. Mark’s had ever lost to John Cooper in SPC play. The Lions were then matched up against the same ESD team that they had beaten on Monday. This time, the Eagles struck first and held a 1 goal lead going into halftime. The team regrouped and senior Jake Vaughn scored the tying goal in the 62nd minute to give the Lions hope. Just minutes later, senior Isaiah Kazunga found the back of the net after ESD failed to clear a corner kick and this goal would prove to be the difference as the Lions won 2-1! In the SPC Consolation Final, the Lions lost to Casady by a score of 1-2. St. Mark’s lone goal was scored by junior Kabeer Singh from fellow junior Owen Berger’s throw-in. Senior Josh Bandopadhay was awarded All-SPC honors by the other SPC coaches.
St. Mark’s School of Texas
10600 Preston Road
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000
About Us
St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
