Spring SPC Championships

In the first round of the SPC tournament, the varsity tennis team battled Kinkaid, a longtime south zone rival. The line two doubles duo of Jack Parolisi ’18 and Matthew Pollock ’19 battled tough and won in straight sets. Following in the same accord, line three singles player Adnan Khan  ’19thrust his wrath upon his Kinkaid opponent putting the lions up 2-0. Harris Wilson ’18 at line one singles lost a very tough match tightening the overall score to 2-1. The line one doubles team of Frank Thomas ’17 and Gopal Raman ’17 battled tough in their match, but lost the first set 5-7 and the second set 6-6, 5-7 in the tiebreaker, evening the score at 2-2. Line 2 singles Davis Bailey ’18 split sets and won a clutch set 6-2 in the third to secure the first round win against Kinkaid. In the SPC semifinals, the Lions took on Houston Christian. In a hard fought battle, the Lions quickly lost one singles with Harris Wilson, two singles with Davis Bailey, and three singles with Frank Thomas. In another close match, line one doubles team of Gopal Raman and Adnan Khan lost to the tough Houston Christian team. However, line two doubles of Kobe Roseman ’18 and Jack Parolisi came up with a clutch win, overall falling to the south 1 seed 1-4. On Saturday at 10:00 a.m., the Lions were matched up against Casady for 3rd place in the SPC. Line three singles Adnan Khan and line 2 doubles Jack Parolisi and Daran Zhao ’17 quickly won their matches putting the Lions up 2-0 against the Oklahoma rivals. The line one doubles team of Gopal Raman and Frank Thomas lost a close match of 3-6, 2-6. With two matches still out and one needed to clench the win, the Lions stood on the adjacent courts yelling and cheering for their teammates, pulling them to hopeful victory. Line two singles Davis Bailey pulled out an impressive second set comeback from 2-5 to 5-5 and eventually 6-6 but came up short in the tiebreaker. With a tied overall score of 2-2, the Lions crowded the walkway behind line one singles Harris Wilson and witness him pull off a huge victory in the third set (7-5) securing third place for the Lions in the SPC Championship Tournament.

 

The varsity track & field team played host to the SPC Track & Field Championships again this year. The weather was iffy but, in the end, cooperated with beautiful conditions both days. The Lions fought hard both days, putting up some impressive performances across the board. Unfortunately, the conference, as a whole, has improved in almost every event. There were 7 meet records either broken or tied, the most in the recent history of SPC Track & Field. Leading the way for the Lions was Keith Kadesky ’17 with a win in the Pole Vault, to go with his victory from last year, with a jump of 14’ 0”. He was trying for a new school record, which he had set earlier this season, but came up just short. Daniel Cope ’17 did the yeoman work for the team with a 2nd place finish in the 4 x 800 Relay (anchor leg) which is good for #5 time on the ALL-TIME list, 5th place in the 800m, 5th in the 1600, and 7th in the 3200m. All in all, there were 20 personal records set in the championship meet by the Lions. The team finished 4th in the team standings. St. Stephen’s won their first ever SPC Track & Field Championship followed by St. John’s and Casady. The Lions are a mostly young team so next year looks promising. 

 

Entering the SPC Championship Tournament as the #6 seed from the North Zone, the varsity baseball team squared off against #3 South seed St. John’s during the first round of games. The Lions jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, largely thanks to junior Zach Landry’s sacrifice fly and senior Clarke Wood’s heads-up base running. Junior Reece Rabin dominated the St. John’s offense while only allowing one run in seven innings of work. The game was highlighted by freshman Alek Houillion’s game-ending throw to junior catcher Canyon Kyle, who tagged out the runner sprinting in from 3rd base. On Friday, St. Mark’s played North Zone #2 seed Fort Worth Country Day in front of a lively, supportive home crowd. Scoring on a FWCD infield error, the Lions took an early lead but surrendered it right back following a defensive miscue of our own. Sophomore Cole Arnett eventually settled in, throwing four scoreless innings afterwards. Down 2-1, the Lions' offense, that had been a bit unlucky with four line outs at FWCD defenders, managed to tie the game in the top of the 6th but turned the lead over for good (2-4) to FWCD after several misplayed balls in the outfield. Saturday’s 5th place game (and season finale) against North Zone #4 seed Oakridge at the University of Dallas was a rollercoaster of emotion, as all six seniors started their last game in a Lions’ uniform. Falling behind 4-0, senior Gordon Gunn blasted his second home run of the season with a man on to left field, cutting the lead in half. However, Oakridge almost put the game out of reach by scoring four more runs at the bottom of the same inning. But the St. Mark’s bats came alive, sparked by seniors Grant Brooks, Clarke Wood, and Reid Johannsen’s timely hitting. A day after surrendering the lead to FWCD, freshman Mason Rareshide toed the rubber and secured an amazing 11-10 come from behind win, helping the Lions finish 5th in the SPC.

 

The varsity water polo team won the Private School State Championships for the second year in a row. They defeated Cistercian in the semifinal and then Jesuit in the Championship Game. The JV Water Polo team won the JV Championships for the eighth consecutive year. They defeated Flower Mound HS in the semifinal and Southlake Carroll in the Championship Game. The team will be competing this weekend in the TISCA State Water Polo Championships, which will be held at the Lewisville ISD Westside Aquatics Center. The Lions are three-time defending TISCA State Champions so every other school in the state will be attempting to dethrone the Lions this weekend. 

 

The varsity lacrosse team traveled to Highland Park on Friday, April 28. The Scots were ranked #3 in the state, while the Lions were ranked #7. The Lions went down 3-6 early in the game, but managed to score two unanswered goals in the second half to get the team within one goal of the Scots. With one minute left to play, Jonathan Taylor ’19 and Blake Rogers ’19 executed a great double team on the ball after a timeout to get the ball back to the Lions offense. With no time outs remaining, the Lions were able to clear the ball, and with one second left on the clock, Garrett Mize ’18 scored the equalizer on a turn-around shot to the right of the crease. Neither team willing to budge, the game went into the 3rd overtime period where Will Wood was able to score the game winner as he was knocked to the ground!  You can see the game tying and game winning goals HERE. In the game, John Gunnin ’18 made 11 crucial saves, Case Lowry won 75% of the faceoffs, and a balanced offense got goals from Sam Schroeder ’18, Luke Rogers ’17, Will Wood ’18, Garrett Mize ’18, Rish Basu ’17, and Jake Vaughn ’17. Then on Tuesday, May 2, the Lions hosted Plano West in the North District playoff with a chance to go to the Texas State Super Regionals on the line. The Lions opened the scoring with 3 goals and looked to be on their way to an easy win. However, the Plano West Wolfpack answered with 3 goals to tie the game. Luckily, Basu and Luke Rogers were hot, each scoring a hat trick on the night, and Lowry kept winning faceoff after faceoff to keep the ball away from the Wolfpack’s offense. With the lead, the Lions defense held strong, leading St. Mark’s to a 10-6 victory. Gunnin saved 9 shots and Wood (2 goals), Vaughn (1 goal, 4 assists), and Mize (1 goal) contributed to the scoring. The win propels the Lions into the round of 12 in the THSLL D1 State Playoffs where they will face Central District #2 seeded Lake Travis on Saturday, May 6, at 4:00 p.m. at Curtis MS in Allen. 

 

Danny Koudelka ’13, a senior midfielder for the University of Texas Lacrosse Club, was named 1st team All-Conference for his efforts this year.