Lion Sports Update 03/26

Baseball
On Tuesday, the varsity baseball team hosted THESA. Although Junior pitcher Mason Rareshide surrendered three runs in the first inning, he remained composed and shut down THESA in his three additional innings of work. After clawing their way back, the Lions tied the score in the bottom of the fourth and then tacked on two more in the bottom of the 5th following key at-bats by sophomore Daniel Sanchez and seniors Andy Crowe and Connor Pierce. However, untimely walks and a “bloop” single gave THESA a 6-5 lead headed in to the bottom of the 7th. Following Senior Cole Arnett’s two-out walk, Rareshide smashed a ball off the right field netting. Unfortunately, Arnett was tagged out at home after two perfect relay throws were completed by THESA’s RF and SS. Entering SPC play, St. Mark’s squared off against Cistercian on Friday afternoon. Playing in front of a supportive home crowd, the Lions jumped on the board in the 1st inning with runs scored by senior Connor Pierce and junior Mason Rareshide. Senior hurler Cole Arnett pitched six solid innings as the Lions largely stifled Cistercian’s offense. Multiple hits were collected by seniors Jack Rocchio (3) and Connor Pierce (2) and sophomore Daniel Sanchez (2). Additionally, junior Aaron Thorne and sophomores Marlon Henderson and Alex Zuch provided speed threats on the diamond by stealing bases against the Hawks. Staked with a 10-3 lead, sophomore Jake Daniels closed out the game on the mound while facing the minimum number of batters in solid relief work. St. Mark’s will be on the road this week, playing at Trinity Valley at 5:30 on Tuesday and at Greenhill at 4:30 on Friday in two important SPC counter matches.

Golf
The varsity and JV golf teams had a strong showing at Hawk’s Creek in Fort Worth on Monday, March 19. Ten Marksmen combined to claim the top 2 spots in the sub-varsity division (James Rogers and Will Shoup each shot 90 to lead the way for their respective teams), and the top 5 golfers finished with a score of 325, good enough for 2nd place in the varsity division and only 3 strokes away from the winning score of 322. Junior Romil Mathur tied for the tournament’s best-scoring round (75), and freshman Mac McKenzie wasn’t far behind (78). This week, the Lions will play in an 18-hole match play event on Wednesday against Greenhill and ESD at the Trinity Forest Golf Club, the same course that the PGA’s Byron Nelson is played on, and then play Parish Episcopal at Canyon Creek Country Club on Thursday.

Water Polo
The varsity water polo team traveled to Conroe, Texas, for the Annual Allison Maloney Tournament to face some of the best teams in Texas. In the first game, the Lions defeated Cy-Creek HS 16-1. The St. Mark's faced Friendswood HS and won 10-2. In the tournament semi-finals, the Lions played Memorial HS and won 14-1. The Championship Game matched the Lions up against the top-ranking team from the Houston area, Foster HS. After a tough battle, the Lions emerged victorious, winning by a score of 8-7 and won the Maloney Cup. This week, the water polo team goes on the road on Wednesday to face Flower Mound at the Lewisville ISD Westside Aquatics Center.

Tennis
The varsity tennis team had an excellent week. On Tuesday, March 19, the team hosted Trinity Valley in a non-counter matchup. Sophomore Mark Motlow at line 1 singles established a clear lead over his opponent, never giving him a chance to get ahead and winning the match (6-1, 6-2) against a solid player. Freshman Jeremy Yu, playing only his second match for the Lions, defeated an experienced player at line 2 singles, for a final score of 6-3, 6-4. Sophomore Max Palys, also on his second match ever for the team, had a strong win over his line 3 singles opponent with a score of 6-3,6-2. At line 1 doubles, the reunited senior duo of Adnan Khan and Matthew Pollock quickly dominated their opponents 6-2,6-0 and at line 2 doubles, seniors Samir Rattakonda and Sid Vattamreddy never even gave their opponents a chance to get in the match, dominating 6-0, 6-0. The Lions won the match 5-0. On Friday, March 22nd, the Lions played their first SPC counter match of the season against Cistercian, who proved to be a tough opponent in a match that lasted 3 hours. The doubles teams proved a formidable force. Again, the dynamic duo of Khan and Pollock dominated their opponents with a quick and solid 6-1,6-2 win, gaining the first point for the Lions. Reunited seniors Creston Brooks and Rhys Arana at line 2 doubles brought out their A-games to defeat their opponents in a tight 6-3,6-4 match that had really got the crowd cheering. They secured the second point for the team. At line 2 singles, Jeremy Yu faced a remarkable opponent who made very few mistakes. Jeremy put up a great fight, but a few missed opportunities made him fall behind, eventually losing 4-6, 2-6. Max Palys on line 3 clinched the match for the Lions, battling through a roller coaster of a match against a very consistent player. He confidently entered the third set to win 6-2,5-7,6-2. Mark Motlow at line 1 won his first set 6-2, but his opponent would not back down and beat Mark 5-7 in the second set. With the other matches over and both teams and all of the fans focused on this third and final set, Mark used the home court advantage and the crowd’s energy to come back from down 0-2 to win the third set and the match 6-2,5-7, 6-2. He put on an amazing performance to finish out the match and give St. Mark’s the 4-1 win.

Track & Field
The varsity track and field put together an outstanding team performance at their only home meet, the Bradley V. Urschel Invitational, this past weekend. The team had many outstanding performances throughout the meet. Sophomore Kit Colson had another outstanding weekend in winning both the 100m & 200m, the former in a new PR of 10.92. He also anchored the 400 & 1600 Relay teams to 2nd place finishes. Freshman Enoch Ellis also had a good day finishing 2nd in both the 110h & 300h. Senior John Harbison saw plenty of action as he placed 3rd in the pole vault, 3rd in the discus, and 10th in the shot put. The distance runners were everywhere with almost all of them running PRs. Senior Seth Weprin, juniors Andres & Pablo Arroyo, and senior George Lamb led the way. This week Kit, Enoch and sophomore Colin Bajec have qualified for the prestigious TEXAS RELAYS at the University of Texas in Austin to compete in the 100m & 110h, respectively. The rest of the team travels to The Oakridge Invitational in Fort Worth on Friday.