Track & Field Wins SPC

Track & Field
The SPC Track & Field Championships, although non-existent at the beginning of the season, were able to take place after all. The top four finishers from the SPC North and South Zones qualified for the Championships. St. Mark’s qualified at least one person in 15 out of 17 events. Outstanding performances were everywhere on May 8th in Hunt Stadium. Lion athletes won 8 events, produced 22 ALL-SPC awards, and scored 189 points in the meet! Certainly, the highlight of the meet was the performance of Christopher “Kit” Colson. His performances in the 100m and 200m were electrifying. First, in the 100m, he blasted out of the blocks and was never challenged. Riding a tailwind, Kit smashed the School Record and SPC Record with a time of 10.32! Breaking his own school record of 10.67 and the SPC Record of 10.57. 55 minutes later, Kit got in the blocks for the 200m and again, ran uncontested, as he crossed the finish line in 21.24, again breaking the School Record (21.54) and SPC Record (21.31). The meet had some other great performances. Enoch Ellis won both hurdle races with times of 14.78 (PR) and 39.90 and also ran a leg on the 2nd place 4x400 Relay team. Sahil Dodda came away with 1st place in the 800m in a daring last-step lunge at the finish line, a 2nd in the 3200m, and a 3rd in the 1600m. Mike Mendoza had a huge day, winning the Shot Put with a throw of 47’ 3.5”, a PR by over 2 feet! Sam Eluemunoh won the discus with a near PR and preceded that with a big PR in the Shot Put, finishing 2nd to Mike with a throw of 47’ 1”. Michael Vanesko earned the last SPC Champion title with a 1st place in the Pole Vault, equaling his PR of 13’ 0”. Others ALL-SPC performances were Zane Wallace in the Long Jump (2nd place) with a near school record jump of 23’ 4”, 2nd in the Triple Jump, and a leg on the 4x400 Relay (2nd) team. Other members of the team earning ALL-SPC were Fisayo Omonije (3rd in the 800m, 2nd in the 4x400 Relay, 2nd in the 4x800 Relay) and Cristian Pereira (2nd in the 4x400 Relay), and Zach Lightfoot, Bryce Nivet, and Sky Park (members of the 2nd place 4x400 Relay). This is the first SPC Championship in Track & Field in 8 years!


Lacrosse

The varsity lacrosse team traveled to Kingwood High School for the semi-final game of the THSLL Class A Tournament on Saturday, May 8th to face Coppell High School. In the first minute of action, midfielder Luke Stallings and his familiar lefty jump shot struck first. Coppell answered back at the 9:28 mark. Midfielder Henry Boykin orchestrated a scoring opportunity finding Henry Piccagli on an extra-man goal to put the Lions up by one. The next face-off was controlled by Coppell and a quick scoring goal shifted the momentum, tying the score at two apiece. The Lions were given possession with a face-off violation by Coppell, but a costly turnover led to another quick score by Coppell putting them up by one (3-2) at the end of the first quarter. The Lions had some opportunities on offense, but we’re unable to slow Coppell down with their senior led offensive threats. Attackman Number 7 for Coppell scored three unanswered goals wearing down the Lions defensive unit before St. Mark’s offensive unit was able to tickle the twine with a goal assisted by Luke Stallings finished by Henry Piccagli with one minute and two seconds remaining in the first half. A personal foul on Coppell for crosschecking allowed St. Mark’s to retain possession going into the third frame of action. Coppell led the tally 6-3 going into halftime. Unfortunately, the Lions were unable to capitalize on the extra man opportunity to begin the third quarter. Both teams took some heavy hits and shots, even some doorstep chances that were erased by both goalkeepers. Junior goalie and captain, James Fults, made some remarkable saves to keep the Lions within striking distance. Sophomore midfielder Luke Stallings put the Lions back on the board with a score in the second half, almost identical to his first goal of the contest scoring a lefty shot from the wing. Junior midfielder Niles Harvey broke his man down running lefty down the alley past his defenseman and found Henry Piccagli for an easy dunk on the crease. Coppell scored their seventh goal at the 4:31 mark in the 3rd quarter, but was quickly matched by a score from Henry Boykin to give the Lions some momentum back leading into the fourth frame only down by one. The Cowboys struck first in the fourth quarter putting two quick goals to extend her lead by 3 before junior captain and attackmen Ian Mize was able to score. Niles Harvey received a timely pass from sophomore midfielder Murphy Paul and beat his defender topside putting in the 8th goal of the game for the Lions. Coppell’s top attackman scored his 6th goal putting Coppell up 10-8, putting the Cowboys up two scores, and they were able to use clock for the remainder of the contest, giving the Lions little chance to come back. Final score St. Mark’s 8 – Coppell 10. This was the last game for Coach Hayward Lee at St. Mark’s as he and his family are moving to Ft. Worth. Coach Lee won 10 SPC Championships (9 in lacrosse and 1 in football) and one State Championship in lacrosse while at St. Mark’s. His teams were awarded the Patterson Award twice (’05 & ’06) and Coach Lee received the Coach Earl Bill Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018. Despite the loss of Coach Lee, the future is bright for St. Mark’s lacrosse as the team returns every single starter next year.
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St. Mark’s School of Texas

10600 Preston Road
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.