PN 81–23

Volume LXXXI, Issue XXIII

sluh.org/prepnews

St. Louis University High School | Friday, March 3, 2017

Past SLUH President and Jesuit provincial of Students, alumni show Mo. Province, Rev. Costello, S.J., dies at 87 off culinary expertise at SLUH Iron Chef

artwork | Lancer Li

BY Joseph Reznikov and Andrew Pluff NEWS EDITORS

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he St. Louis U. High community lost a distinguished member last Tuesday, Feb. 21, with the death of the Rev. Robert Costello, S.J., ’47. Costello was 87 years old when he lost his battle with cancer. A Mass of Christian Burial was held for the former SLUH President yesterday, March 2, at St. Francis Xavier

College Church, after which he was buried at Calvary Cemetery in North City.

In his 87 years on earth, Costello worked everywhere from the United Kingdom to Canada to Houston and many places in between. After receiving a Bachelor of Science in psychology with a minor in sociology from Saint Louis University, Costello entered the Society of Jesus in

1951. Then, after spending seven years as Jesuit Provincial of the Missouri Province, Costello was given a new assignment—president of St. Louis U. High. He served as SLUH’s president from 19921997 and laid much of the framework that has made SLUH the place that it is today.

“He was a good man who did many good things here

and anywhere he went,” said President David Laughlin.

“Many of the things that are happening in the school today are things that Fr. Costello helped lead a vision for.”

One of Costello’s greatest contributions to the SLUH community was the planning and construction of the F. Joseph Schulte Theatre.

“When I think about all of the great things that happened in the Schulte Theatre, I think about Fr. Costello, because it was a thing that he led and had a vision for,” said Laughlin. “It benefits our students and our community in so many ways. ” Costello’s work with the theatre was part of an overarching project entitled “Upholding the Tradition,” which served as a revitalization of SLUH’s campus, including the addition of the theatre as well as a renovation of the central cooling system throughout the building.

“When they first remodeled the first floor, he must have have gotten the first electric bill, because he went running around the building trying to turn off the night lights, and I had to tell him that they were meant to always be

BY Brian REPORTER

Tretter

A

midst a cloud of steam and suspenseful countdown music, the St. Louis U. High Iron Chef competition heated up in the West side of the Commons on Monday.

Spectators gathered around the two roped-off kitchens for a cooking showdown. Separated by a long table of various colorful ingredients used for the competition were two teams, each comprised of a guest alumni chef and three SLUH students.

The competition was

Students cooking in the Si

continued on page 4 Commons.

hosted by SLUH’s Sustainability Club as part of the Green Schools Contest. Iron Chef ’s purpose was to expose students to healthy, low impact foods and to support local businesses and farmers.

“You don’t wanna know how sausages are made, but you’re seeing how a lot of food is made here,” noted English teacher Adam Cruz, co-MC for the event along with Patrick Zarrick.

Brendan Kirby, ’99, led Augie Lodholz, Mikes Trittler, and Darion Mullins, cre-

continued on page 4

photo | courtesy of Mr. David Laughlin

Hockey headed to Challenge Cup Students reflect on social justice issues after Mission Week finals in rematch against CBC Will Farroll and Nathan Langhauser

play with four minutes left in It was all SLUH from SPORTS EDITOR, REPORTER the first period, sophomore there. Despite a number of captain Henry Wagner beat penalties, the boys were able end them back! The St. the goalie with a quick wrist to keep Oakville out of the Louis U. High hockey shot. continued on page 6 team is on its way to the Scottrade Center once again for a rivalry matchup with CBC in a repeat of last year’s State Championship. After a close semifinal series victory over Oakville, the Jr. Bills have the Challenge Cup within striking distance.

In the first game of the series last Thursday, SLUH continued its dominance over Oakville this season.

The boys started off slow, but through some key saves by sophomore goalie Brendan photo | Brendan Voigt Rasch, were able to hold off The hockey team after the semifinal vicOakville. Then, on the power tory.

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News

Incoming! Gibbons visits Editor in Chief Sam Chechik sat down to talk with incoming principal the Rev. Ian Gibbons, S.J. about his week spent visiting the school. Page 2 News

Honduras alumni meeting Honduras veterans met this past week at the first ever Honduras ©2017 St. Louis University High reunion to catch up and share exSchool Prep News. No material may periences. Page 2 be reprinted without the permission of the editors and moderator.

BY Nathan REPORTER

Wild

A

fter days of car smashing, hypnotization, basketball, and discussion of gender equality and masculinity, St. Louis U. High’s 2017 Mission Week came to a close, raising a total of $9,898, benefiting the three chosen charities.

Following Mission Week, students reflected on the themes of social justice and vocalized their opinions about the week while STUCO is using this time to get feedback from the student body to improve upon next year’s Mission Week.

The self-evaluation on STUCO’s part allows them to bring back student favorites from past years. For example,

Opinion

Letters to the Editors Check out two letters written about themes and events of Mission Week. Page 3 Features

Students on mayoral campaigns Two juniors have been hard at work promoting Democratic candidates for mayor Lyda Krewson and Antonio French. Check out what they have been doing and why they are so passionate about their causes. Page 5

STUCO brought back the hypnotist from 2014’s Mission Week as a result of enthusiastic student support.

“The hypnotist was a really great part. I was a part of it so it was funny to see what I was doing on stage. The car smashing was also great. It got us all hyped up for the game,” said junior Steven Zak. This year’s Mission Week was largely well received.

“The car smash was pretty unique and awesome. It was an experience that I have never had while at SLUH and it was pretty cool to have before I left. This year was definitely an improvement. It was a good incorporation of Mission Week and Justice Week,” said senior David Gordon.

This year’s Mission Week

Sports

Basketball shows up Ritenour The Jr. Bills basketball team will be advancing to the District Championships after handily defeating Ritenour 81-47 last Tuesday night. Page 6 Sports

Racquetball continues reign The racquetball varsity and JV 1A got first place in their divisions of the state tournament in a warm up for the National Tournament this weekend. Page 6

was enjoyed by a majority of the student body, regardless of their political stance concerning the theme of social justice.

“I did not agree with all of the political stuff, but it was all going to a really good cause,” said freshman Jackson Ducharme.

Student reaction remained positive throughout the week; however, student attendance at events dwindled as the week progressed.

Many students felt the pressure of their schoolwork too overwhelming and decided to use their free period to talk to teachers or study. Because of this change, STUCO has entertained the thought of new changes.

continued on page 4

INDEX 2 News 3 Opinion News 4

Continued from page 1

5 News Feature 6-7 Sports 8

Around the Hallways

Calendar Sports

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NEWS

Prep News

March 3, 2017

Volume 81, Issue 23

Honduras Night unites alumni and current Conversation: students through reflection and shared experience Incoming principal

Alumni from the Honduras Program on Monday Night.

BY Riley McEnery REPORTER

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he Honduras Committee hosted the first ever Honduras Night on Monday night in the Si Commons. The goal of the night was to bring back alumni who had done the Honduras Senior Project, as well supporters of the project, to see updates to the Nutrition Center and reflect on their experiences on their trips.

The idea for Honduras Night came about as a result of brainstorming done by the Honduras Committee— which was formed about two and a half years ago—to raise more money for the project.

The committee reached out to lots of alumni; over 100 people have been to Honduras with SLUH. “We were trying to reengage a community that certainly has been supportive and involved with the project,” said Honduras Committee member and director of Campus Ministry Nick Ehlman.

The committee hoped to strengthen the bond that these alumni and students have shared through this experience.

“They’ve all held those babies, changed those diapers, and been in that same location, so they have kind of a common experience,” said Ehlman.

Honduras Night started at 6:30 p.m. with lots of snacks, drinks, and Ted

photo | courtesy of Mr. David Laughlin

Drewes for the guests.

The event began with an opening from president David Laughlin, followed by a prayer. After prayer, Ehlman spoke about the Honduras Committee and introduced the members of the committee: Spanish teacher Charles Merriott, Ehlman, Spanish teacher Magdalena Alvarado, art teacher Sean Powers, French teacher Suzanne Renard, theology teacher and campus minister Dan Finucane, assistant principal for mission Jim Linhares, and Paddy Bommarito, a SLUH grad and current teacher at Webster high school who went on one of the first trips when he was a senior at SLUH. Following introductions, Merriott got up to discuss the history of the Nutrition Center, as well as where the Center is now and where they want it to go in the future.

“I was really grateful for Mr. Merriott sharing the history of the center for everyone to hear, and giving an update to where the center is now and where we want to take it,” said committee member Powers.

“We thought it was important to hear from Profe, who has obviously been the director for so many years and could give a historical perspective,” said Ehlman. “Even within that, he was able to hit some specifics on memories or events that were touching to him.”

Following Merriott’s talk, the committee showed a video of a tour of the Yoro Nutrition Center. Then, senior Joe Laughlin gave a reflection about his experiences on the trip this January.

“It’s in subtle ways that the project has and will stay with all of us,” said Laughlin.

“It’s not just when we think about it, but it’s how it changes our worldview.”

After Laughlin’s testimony, committee member Sean Powers gave a guided reflection about the Honduras project experience.

“I wanted to tug at the heartstrings of the alumni so that they could remember the power that these children and the experience of serving with those people had,” said Powers.

However, Powers’ reflection was not for just alumni— he hopes it was meaningful for all in attendance.

“I’d like for people who are interested in the Honduras project to think, ‘yes, that’s absolutely something I want to do,’” said Powers. “For the seniors that just went and the seniors are about to go on spring break, I would just want them to be excited to share that experience with as many people as they can.”

Powers’ creative and imaginative reflection resonated with many people involved with the Honduras Project.

“I think Mr. Powers did

a wonderful job of bringing in an Ignatian concept of contemplation and imagination,” said Ehlman.

To close out the night, president Laughlin got back up to give a brief conclusion about the significance of the Honduras project, but not before Merriott received a standing ovation for all of his work and dedication to the project.

“He’s done so much for the program, and I don’t think he’s gotten the praise that he really deserves,” said Powers. “The Honduras Project is such an iconic thing around the school and he doesn’t get as much credit as I think he should.”

The committee then opened up the floor to questions. Committee member Renard passed around a mic, and alumni, students, teachers, and parents could ask anything about the Honduras Project. As guests exited, informational cards were handed out, outlining more specifics about the project.

The Honduras Night was definitely a success for its first go-around.

“It’s the first one we’ve ever done and we had no expectations,” said Powers.

“Nothing caught on fire so I think we were good.”

“I thought it was a special event because it brought together a ton of different people who have all shared this completely unique experience of going to Yoro and that center as SLUH students,” said Laughlin.

While the event was originally intended to serve as a fundraiser for the Honduras project, Ehlman and the committee ultimately decided that it would be better to wait to ask for donations and use this event to simply reconnect people with the center.

The Honduras committee hopes that Honduras Night can continue and they strive to bring new ideas to the table for the Honduras Project.

“I think there’s more that we can do, and we’ll go back as a committee and digest that.

We need to see what the next step will be,” said Ehlman.

Gateway Greening Summit shines light on community gardening in St. Louis

BY Kevin Murati REPORTER

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LUH hosted over 200 people during the Gateway Greening (GGG) Summit, a conference that focuses on community gardening, last Saturday.

Gateway Greening is a gardening summit, and for the past eight years, many different speakers, such as Magali Regis last Saturday, have been invited to give advice on gardening techniques as well as how to set up local gardens.

The conference is somewhat of a gardening workshop, said science teacher Bill Anderson,

who attended it last Saturday.

“The entire conference is focused on learning how to help neighborhoods set up community gardens,” said Anderson.

After the main topics of the summit have been covered, there is a break-out session afterwards, during which you can learn more about a certain subject, like pollinators or fertilization, from experts around the nation.

The conference is open to anyone who wants to know more about gardening and setting up community gardens.

For the past three years

SLUH has held the summit, and it has included people from gardens all around the city and even branches out into the county a bit. The ultimate goal of the summit, though, is to get people to start gardens where all the members of the community can help out and bond together.

“The summit brings together lots of diverse people, not only at the meeting itself, but also around St. Louis, through the gardens,” said Anderson. “If you were to see the people at the meeting, you would see St. Louis: people of all kinds of different races, ethnicities, religions, economic statuses, and so on.”

artwork | Liam Connolly

Gibbons chats Regis, Jesuits, and his week at the U. High

BY Samuel J. Chechik EDITOR IN CHIEF

which is on the Upper East Side, which means space is extremely scarce. We’re not Editor’s note: Editor in Chief a STEM school; we’re a great Sam Chechik sat down with books, liberal arts school, and incoming Principal Rev. Ian we produce very famous peoGibbons, S.J., during lunch last Friday to discuss the week ple in those regards, whereas Strake Jesuit has produced he spent at St. Louis U. High, great people in those ventures. his meeting schedule, and his overall impression of the school. Each school is distinct.

This transcript has been edited The question for us going for length. into the third century is certainly ‘Who are we now?’

SC: You’ve been talking with but certainly ‘Who do we directors along with Mr. need to become?’ Certainly a Hannick as that transition is, great formator of young men of course, in place, and Mr. is important, but how are we Laughlin as well. Are you going to go about that? Are we working more with him for going to lean more towards this transition and learning STEM? Are we going to really the role a little bit, or is it focus on research? How do we mainly meetings now, and you’re going to learn a lot over want to approach this? the summer? Because I know SC: You obviously researched that’s a big time, too.

SLUH generously before you came here to learn about the IG: Yes, really to both. I’m place, and now that you’re pretty thorough in the way that I do things, so I came up here being on the campus, seeing the experiences, talkwith talking points for each ing with the people, learning person, systematic things that would be helpful, and, of to feel the atmosphere of the school, I wanted to ask course, I took copious notes. because some of the students For each of these sessions, I don’t know you. Maybe if had a little different take. For they read the Prep News they example, Campus Ministry. might get an idea of who you We have a Campus Ministry director, and just speaking big are, maybe not see you in picture: what we do, what are person unless you introduced yourself to a few students the strengths, in what ways walking around, but I was gocan I be supportive of those ing to ask: what aspect about programs.

SLUH—the SLUH culture, One thing in my experience is it seems—has been the most that I love new experiences, so welcoming for you as an at all the schools I’ve been, I’ve incoming principal? done just about all the major IG: I’ve actually been very imoperational roles. I’ve even pressed with the students’ weldone development work. comes. I’m not here this time particularly to be meeting All this stuff—I have a good with students; that will come sense of what happens, but later. These are more just iniI don’t have a good sense of what happens in those depart- tial times; it’s, as you know, a very packed schedule, but the ments at SLU High. Each number of guys who will stop school is sui generis in those me and just say, ‘Now, who are ways, and it’s an important you?’ To welcome me, they’re step for me to learn that, to very interested about what hear from the source. The my role’s going to be. Some downside is this week then of them have deduced who I becomes a firehose of inforam. It’s not like it’s my secret mation. identity or anything like that, like Bruce Wayne. I’ve probSC: It seems like with the ably had a dozen guys who’ve amount of people you’re stepped up and said, ‘We’re talking to and the amount really glad to see you.’ of topics that you’re trying to discuss, Jesuit schools as The passion that the incoming a network have a lot of similarities, like you said, but even parents and incoming freshmen have—they’re very, very then the city that they reside in and the school’s operations excited, and that’s tremendous to see. And the alumni at yesdo shift. terday’s dinner just love this place. And the Jesuit connecIG: And the character of the tions—those are so important. schools. Strake Jesuit is very Two of the freshmen dads much a STEM-based school. on Tuesday night, they heard It’s based in Houston, Texas, which is the petroleum capital my story, and they ran up of the United States. It has the and said, ‘We’re graduates of largest medical complex in the Regis,’ which is my school in world in Houston. Huge com- New York. But their work or life brought them to St. Louis, puter industry—it’s a STEM and they can’t send their son city—so they have a 73,000 to Regis, but of course they square foot STEM building on the campus. This is a high would send them to SLU High. Their passion, their school; that’s who they are. love for Jesuit formation— continued on page 3 I’m at Regis in New York,

OPINION

March 3, 2017

Letter Mission Week car smashing is contrary to SLUH’s mission To the editors: Last week I was looking at the many exciting activities going on in the SLUH community as a part of Mission/Justice/ Dooley Week. I saw the car smashing event coming up, and was interested to see how that event would unfold on Wednesday. After getting some homework done during the first part of Activity Period, I went down to the Commons to get a snack and saw many students peering at an event in the turnaround.

Naturally, I went over to see what grabbed the large group of students’ attention, and remembered the car smashing event.

As I looked out the window, I watched a SLUH student take an aluminum baseball bat as he began violently striking the already severely damaged car covered with student-applied graffiti. As the student was hitting the car aggressively and many students were videotaping the event on Snapchat, the large group of onlookers cheered loudly, congratulating the student on making contact. Students witnessed glass and auto parts fly through the air, some of which even caused minor injuries.

Upon returning to class for third and fourth periods, the image of the young man excessively and brutally hitting the car replayed in my mind. This student was greatly influenced by his peers, who were cheering him on, encouraging him to donate to hit the car and show his aggression. The buzz in the hallways afterward was his incredible manliness and the prowess spurred on by the useless violence.

Based on the popularity of the event, I would assume that the car smashing made a large sum of money. Although the event raised funds for three worthy organizations, I believe that the Student Council, as well as the student body supporting this violence and vandalism, does not represent the ideals of the mission of last week, nor the ideas upon which St. Louis University High School was founded. Through the usage of social media by many students during and after the event, this shows a less than positive representation to potentially hundreds of individuals beyond the SLUH community. This event, which answers the question of “Who are we?” posed by Ms. Sideco, tarnishes the reputation we have been building as a Jesuit community for almost 200 years.

On the vandalized car was graffiti that named the school that SLUH was going to compete against in hockey. This also was published on social media, where students of the named school could see the videos of the “car smashing event.” This event not only targeted the inanimate object to be destroyed for violence, but also a group of students at another school community. Although this could be posed as promoting competition, there are other more effective ways to promote healthy competition.

In addition, I believe that this event also encourages the all-male student body to think of “car smashing” as a “manly” and right thing to do. It especially seems to promote the stereotypical view of masculinity in our society today. In my opinion, this idea contradicts the theme of the week, as well as what our school represents. It would be too bad to compromise the education and environment that SLUH provides for its students with this particular type of event in order to raise money. There could be other fun, creative, and humorous ways to raise these funds similar to some of the fundraisers STUCO sponsored last week.

One of the main reasons I decided to come to SLUH was because of the incredible, life-affirming community I sensed in my eighth grade year and experienced as a student for almost two years. Mission Week is one of the most impactful and memorable weeks of students’ time at St. Louis U. High—this event was not one to remember.

Letter

Prep News Volume 81, Issue 23

3

After messages of prayer services and Mission Week, why should we care or act?

To the editors:

problems that are well on the way to a solution.

Yet racism and sexism do persist. And they are present in our community; we know this because members of our community have courageously told us so. We know there is no quick fix.

We have to be in this for the long haul. Therefore, I would like to suggest one initial way I know to approach hearing things that challenge me.

When I hear something challenging, I try to take a step back and recognize if I am being defensive or even hostile to someone’s viewpoint. I try to cease my internal monologue about what I think I know. I try to quiet my heart and mind as best as I can and listen to people in my community who say that all is not as it ought to be—that all, in fact, is not as it could be. Though I myself fail mightily at these things often, I know they are vitally important.

I believe that the measure of our community’s goodness and health is not the maintenance of comfort and ease that most enjoy (while others quietly or silently bear their pain). Rather our community’s goodness and health are at their strongest when we take the time to listen to those in our midst who are not comfortable, who feel belittled, who feel that their dignity is in question.

Our community’s health ought to be measured by our capacity to listen to the stories of those who feel marginalized and affirm these persons as courageous, beautiful and dignified as they are. In terms of Catholic Social Teaching, this is what it means to make a preferential option for the vulnerable among us. I assert that as long as members of our community question their worth or their value, whether persons of color or women or whomever it might be, we must listen and self-examine. And listen again. And listen until the stories become stories of joy.

Our aim in talking about and praying over challenging issues is not to instill guilt. If you have felt otherwise, I sincerely apologize. Rather, our aim is to invite you, time and time again, to open your heart to persons in our community and their stories.

I wish to say one more thing. We have great capacity for doing good, as members of this St. Louis U. High community. I firmly believe that. In order to do this, however, we cannot rely on the false comforts of feeling good about what has already been achieved or flee when we feel uncomfortable or challenged. We must rely instead on a vision that embraces and truly affirms in thought, word, and most importantly, action, that all people possess remarkable beauty and indisputable dignity.

This vision is not achieved by wishful thinking or platitudes or half-hearted appeals to equality; this vision is achieved when we want and choose it to be, by the grace of God. It will require work. It will entail failure alongside the small successes. And it will mean that we will most likely feel more, not less, challenged in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

Let us embrace this challenge, which calls upon the best of who we are.

Recently, I have heard from some faculty and students, stimulated by Mission/Justice Week and this week’s prayer service, who felt like recent discussions on sexism and racism were a onetwo punch that has left them reeling. I imagine that is so. These are challenging issues. Perhaps these have been weeks when many have felt emotions of frustration, of being told that there is something wrong with them, the way they think, the way they act and interact with others. And perhaps many conclude: SLUH wants me to feel guilty.

I understand this because certainly, I have arrived at the same conclusion on many occasions. And the conclusion often leads to the following three questions, for me. Perhaps they are the same for you. I’ll take them one at a time.

(1) Can we not get a break? Aren’t we doing some things right?

Yes, St. Louis U. High students. You are generally good people. In fact, I give up a good deal of my time to be around you, as do all of your teachers here. I would dare say that I love getting to be a campus minister and teacher because I love being around you, hearing your ideas, witnessing your humor and rejoicing in the great goodness you are capable of and so often do.

But love must go beyond praising your goodness. Because I love you–because we all love you–I wish to call attention to where you can be even better. It is my sincerest hope that we form you to be young men who are not only men of character, but also men of deep self-reflection, who take time to consider what they hear and take it to heart that perhaps they are still in need of conversion.

(2) I am not doing the things I am hearing about, why do I need to listen to this?

I imagine that a good many of you do not engage in overt sexist or racist speech or action. Thank you for refraining from such foul behavior. But I also imagine that you hear racist or sexist speech or have witnessed racist or sexist actions performed by peers here at St. Louis U. High. Do you say anything? Do you confront your peers? Do you summon the courage to declare that such speech and such actions undermine the dignity of another person?

Furthermore, our words and actions are one thing. Our thoughts are another. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, says that even our thoughts, when polluted with lust or violence or false truths, must be confronted. I know that I myself think in ways that are racist or sexist; my thoughts are poisoned by the culture I live in and the privilege I enjoy as a white male to go much of the time without having such thoughts challenged. Yet I know I am ultimately responsible for such thoughts and preconceived notions. We all are.

(3) Why do we have to keep talking about this?

It may not be evident why we need to keep speaking about things like racism and sexism. Perhaps it feels like our community Mr. Dan Finucane has heard enough, has a grasp on the situation, or is speaking of Campus Ministry

Incoming principal Gibbons gets week-long preview of SLUH, meets with directors

kind of the homecoming nature to this. Yes, I will be closer to family, but the Jesuits are obviously my family as well, and that’s an amazing thing. You should also know that a lot of these guys are known worldwide by the Society. The work they do is just legendary. We’ve been celebrating the life of Fr. Costello, in many ways just a name to a lot of people in this building, but he is talked about all over the world. It will be a big deal, the celebration of his life, not just St. Louis, but globally.

SC: I really just had one final question: now that you’ve learned about SLUH through research, you’ve talked to people in meetings, you’re here until the weekend, really I wanted to ask now that you’ve been here and you’ve had experience: what do you think of SLU High as a whole? What is your mindset coming into this position as principal, and what do you hope to bring now?

Reed Milnor, ’19

artwork | Lancer Li IG: I love the fact that we have a campus. Living on the upper

Brother of Gary Kornfeld dies Dan Kornfeld, brother of former football head coach Gary Kornfeld and assistant coach Mark Kornfeld, died on Thursday, Feb. 23 surrounded by his family. Dan enjoyed going to SLUH football games that his brothers were coaching. The visitation is this Saturday, March 4, at 10:00 a.m, and the Memorial Mass is at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mary Magdalen. Please keep him and his family in your continued prayers.

east side, we have a great building, but it’s just that: a building.

In New York, everything is built sort of straight up. This is a that’s very edifying, and in some ways, it’s very humbling too. great facility, but it’s also a challenge. I don’t know how you This is so much bigger than what I do, what you do, what any guys get from point A to point B in three-and-a-half minutes. individual does.

(Director of Facilities Joe Rankin) went through the whole SC: It is really impressive, honestly, with this whole Jesuit ideol- campus using Google. It’s not just this—it’s all the fringe buildogy that they’ve really instilled in us throughout our time here. ings, the storage areas, the fields over in the park. We have entanglements with the neighborhood in ways that are not I was actually curious because one of the interesting points about you becoming principal here is that you’re the first Jesuit obvious. principal in 34 years, so that looks great especially for the religious identity of the school, I was going to ask: what has it been SC: So the facilities, the campus have been a great part of the experience so far and learning about that compared to going like meeting the Jesuits here at SLUH? Have you met some of up, we’re expanding out. What else about SLUH are you excited them before? about?

(continued from page 2)

IG: It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve lived in St. Louis, and in my career, I am from this province, but I’ve been assigned to peripheral places. I’ve never been assigned to work in St. Louis before. Fr. Houlihan, he’s a legend, and I’d certainly met him at ordinations, but you meet him in a group. So all these living legends in the Society I really haven’t had the chance to get to know them well, but that’s going to change. That’s a great part of

IG: I’m excited to be a part of a lot of the activities and sports.

We don’t have football in New York, and the types of students we have is a scholarship school. We call the debate team our “contact sport.” We don’t have that focus on sports, and I love sports, so that’s going to be a big part of my arrival here is to make sure I’m going to all of those sorts of things. Absolutely.

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NEWS

Prep News

March 3, 2017

Volume 81, Issue 23

Beloved by all, Costello leaves behind legacy at SLUH (continued from page 1)

on,” said Food Service Director Kathy Hylla with a kindhearted laugh. “Man, was he in a tizzy.”

Costello was very involved in many facets of the SLUH community, in specific the Christian Life Communities (CLC), small groups of students and faculty members designed to give people an opportunity to share their faith in a tightly-knit, small group setting. He enjoyed being able to spend time with students, and found that through the CLCs as well as through retreats. He once said, “Some of my greatest experiences as president have come on Kairos retreats.”

“It was all about personal relationships. There was a part of his grace as a Jesuit that whenever he was assigned to his next assignment, he put himself fully into it,” said Laughlin. “He developed personal relationships in every assignment.”

Costello also was a key

hunt, but he couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn, so Bambi was safe when Coz was in the woods.”

Director of Information Technology Jon Dickmann, ’96, was a freshman when Costello came to SLUH, and Dickmann has many fond memories of the president, including talking to him outside the upper field gate to the soccer field as Dickmann assisted in running the sporting events.

“Even though I was just a freshman, I remember him being interested in getting to know me and being very easy to talk to, with a great sense of humor,” said Dickmann. “For reasons I can’t recall now, I always called him ‘Jones.’ I feel like when I met him and didn’t know his name, one of us came up with that name and it stuck through the years I knew him—really, to this day.”

Costello also liked to have fun, and enjoyed making jokes with people. Hylla re-

Costello (center) with Ed Macauley, ’45 (left) in 1993.

with fingers), and he looks at the rest of us, and we’re all thinking he would say something about Christian duty,” said English teacher Bill George. “Instead he says, ‘I got that guy in my crosshairs’, like he was going to get him that night.”

A jack of many trades, Costello served a wide range of roles in the Jesuits before his assignment as President of SLUH. He taught Latin and Elocution at SLUH from 1957-1960 and psychology at Rockhurst University from 1965-1974. Costello also received a Ph.D. in counseling from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1971.

After taking a heightened interest in prisoners and helping the incarcerated, Costello practiced as a psychiatrist at a U.S. penitentiary in Kansas in 1975 and later founded “Seventy times Seven,” a program dedicated to changing opinions about prisoners.

Costello served the Society of Jesus for 65 years,

photo

| courtesey of

Dauphin Yearbook

contributor to the Honduras project, having held office when the first group traveled to Honduras for their Senior Project in 1994.

“He was instrumental in the vision of what this place needed to become,” said Principal Craig Hannick. “He left his mark on the school.”

Known as a kind-hearted, spiritual man with a calm demeanor, Costello—or to his friends, “Coz”—was beloved by the SLUH community and by the Jesuits as a whole.

“He was somebody that was just fun to be with,” said Ralph Houlihan, S.J., recalling a roast of Costello he once participated in. “I called him the Mother Theresa of the forest because he liked to

members one day when some people were taking a tour of the school and he got locked in the elevator and started banging on the door and yelling in jest hoping to frighten the people on the tour.

“He had an outgoing personality and was always joking or kidding about something,” said Hylla.

Even in formal department and committee meetings, Costello was able to break up the usual formality and make jokes about whatever the current topic was.

“We were in a committee meeting and he hated raising money, and somehow this one potential donor’s name came up and he does like this (raises hands and makes cross

spending 53 of those as a priest, and bringing joy and laughs to all those he met.

“He was a kind and patient man, someone who had a lot to do for the school but was always willing to pause for a quick conversation to see how you were doing,” said Dickmann. “He is one of many people in my life who have served as examples of faith, self-sacrifice, and humility, examples I still look up to and try to emulate in my own life.”

“He was a man of humor and deep spirituality,” said Laughlin. “We pray in thanksgiving for his life, and ask him to intercede on behalf of us now in heaven.”

(continued from page 1)

er, sous chef at Brasserie in the Central West End. “Alex really helped us stay organized,” said competitor Ismail Hacking.

The audience and the competitors’ anticipation grew as the countdown neared the end. Anne Marie Lodholz, moderator of SLUH Sustainability, threw out bread from Companion Bakery to the crowd.

“It’s really cool what they

can make in only 20 minutes,” said English teacher and judge Sean O’Brien.

Though Feldmeier’s team had a man down early in the competition due to a cut finger, they ultimately beat Kirby’s team by just a decimal point, with an average score of 8.2. The event raised over $400 for St. Patrick’s Center and all unused food was donated.

On the chopping block: chefs impress judges in new SLUH event ating a dragon fruit curry and seafood tacos for the panel of judges.

Alex Feldmeier, ’04, led freshmen Ismail Hacking, Julian Verde, and Christopher Tyrrell. Their team made a shrimp salad with asparagus and a Red Hot Riplet-crusted trout slider with cole slaw.

“The best part of the competition was working with my team,” said Feldmei-

STUCO uses student reactions to continue to improve Mission Week

Juniors and seniors hypnotized in the Si Commons last Friday.

(continued from page 1)

“By Friday it seemed like people were tired. So I am not sure if a Mission Week is what our school can handle.

I know other schools make it work, but they don’t have tests or homework that week; that is not our culture here.

I am wondering how we can incorporate fun throughout the year. Maybe a month of activities with two activities a week, so we can have more fun events and less fatigue,” said Toussaint.

Although STUCO found Mission Week to be a relative success because of positive student reaction, they continue to seek ways to improve for next year.

“I think we could have done a better job with advertising and preparing the students for the week just to get more people out. The events were a lot of fun, but people

didn’t know a lot about them.

But I think we did a lot of things right and I am proud of all the work the student council and I did,” said STUCO President Thomas Leeker.

Teachers usually have a large impact on Mission Week and the events that it entails.

However, STUCO hopes to get student reaction and opinion more involved in the selection process.

“A lot of the ideas we had this year came from the teachers. Next year, we can do what they have in mind and more of what students have in mind to continue the great mission weeks,” said Leeker.

The creators of Mission Week want to make it an entertaining week that includes a focus on social justice. This more serious side was shown in the Forum held in the Si Commons, which gave students an opportunity to talk

photo | Brendan Voigt

about social justice.

“I wanted to express my opinions and listen to other’s opinions about the speaker (Jocelyn Sideco). Out of the Forum I got some new perspectives on words and phrases that some of us use every day and some other perspectives on what it means to be a man,” said junior James Pollard.

Overall, STUCO members were excited about the week they had prepared.

“I wanted students to see the week as an enjoyable avenue through which they can positively contribute to our community and really give back. The idea is that it’s a fun week, it’s a fund-raising week, and it has this point of justice.

I really hope the students saw all of those things and interacted with each of them and in the end had a great week,” said Leeker.

Soccer shoes for Haiti

BY Jack Schweizer CORE STAFF

E

conomics teacher Kevin Foy and the Skydration Systems team will be collecting used soccer cleats in the coming weeks of March to donate to children in Haiti.

St. Louis U. High was asked to take part in the effort by Dr. Steve Fleischut, a dentist and friend of Foy’s who has been going on mission trips to Haiti since 2009.

Fleishut provides dental treatment to impoverished kids in Haiti who otherwise couldn’t afford proper care.

While working in Haiti, Fleischut noticed many children playing soccer without any shoes—one problem among many in a country suffering from poor governments, tropical storms, and a damaging earthquake in 2010.

“Seeing kids play soccer barefoot in a rocky sticker bush field gave me the inspiration to collect soccer shoes and balls for the village of Ste Jean de Sud (Saint John’s of the South),” said Fleischut in an email.

However, a recent hurricane in Haiti hit Fleischut’s storage facility, wiping out an accumulated stockpile of shoes he had saved up over time. To recover from some of

his losses, Fleischut reached out to SLUH and De Smet in search of high school sized shoes, because some of the kids were outgrowing the children’s sized shoes.

“You look at any family’s garage or basement, and there’s probably a handful of shoes that aren’t being used,” said Foy. “We don’t want anyone to buy new shoes—you guys are already asked to spend plenty of money. This is just a way to get rid of the stuff that’s just taking up space.”

Large collection bins will

most likely be placed in front of the St. Ignatius statue at the front entrance and in front of the Main Office. Foy asks that donors tie the strings of the shoes together so they don’t get mixed up.

Senior Jacob Price, in reaction to the news, was happy to hear of Fleischut’s mission and the opportunity to help kids in Haiti.

“I think it’s a good way to bring even some of the minor tragedies into view before our school,” said Price.

artwork | Joe Bytnar

5 Speech team wraps up season at

NEWS

March 3, 2017

Two juniors helping with upcoming St. Louis mayoral campaigns

BY Sam Goedeker CORE STAFF

J

uniors Damen Alexander and Matt Rauschenbach have spent the past couple months working for two different St. Louis mayoral campaigns trying to make a change in their city.

Although both Alexander and Rauschenbach are helping out Democratic campaigns they have very different opinions on who should be our next mayor: Lyda Krewson or Antonio French.

Alexander and Rauschenbach have been hard at work by making phone calls and canvassing—knocking on doors to talk about their candidate—for a couple of months.

Alexander started work-

ing for Alderman French back in November, before the presidential election.

“I saw what he did for the 26th ward, up in North City, and I knew he could do the same for our city as a whole,” said Alexander. French who is now fourth in the polls, is polling at 12 percent, his highest percentage yet.

Rauschenbach started helping out with Alderwoman Krewson in January after then-President Barak Obama’s farewell address.

“President Obama called us to get involved in local politics, politics up and down the ballot, all across the country, and I took that challenge.” said Rauschenbach. “And I think Lyda is the best person for the job, as she has been endorsed by the current mayor and St.

PN Puzzle

Louis Police department.”

Alderwoman Krewson is currently leading the polls at 34 percent, down two percent from the first week of February.

“Although we may have a very strong fundamental disagreement on who should be mayor of our city, I think that we have learned that we are truly ‘stronger together.’

This city, regardless of who wins, needs someone who will reach out to other city leaders to move our city forward,” said Rauschenbach of new election.

The primary will be held on March 7 and the general election will be held on April 4. Both Alexander and Rauschenbach encourage everyone to get out and vote.

Prep News

Volume 81, Issue 23

interscholastic finals

BY James Pollard REPORTER

T

he speech team’s season came to a close last Sunday with a fourth place finish at the Christian Interscholastic Speech League finals, held at SLUH. St. Joe came in first, with Cor Jesu placing second and Borgia in third. Although they did not place, the Speech Bills had several strong individual performances.

Senior Evan Gorman placed first in Storytelling as well as third in Duet Improv with sophomore Ethan Schmidt. Schmidt also placed third in Radio Broadcast. Junior James Pollard placed second in Prose and junior Sean Cailteux placed third in Ex-

temporaneous Speaking.

Both junior Pierce Hastings, a finalist in Humorous/ Serious Interpretation as well as Duet Acting, and junior Darren Tucker, a finalist in Poetry, were unable to make it to the final meet due to some last minute conflicts, hurting the team’s point total.

It was a bittersweet ending for seniors Blaise Lanter and Gorman.

“I have been in finals three straight years for Storytelling, but I had never placed before so it was exciting to come out on top in my last year,” said Gorman, the president of the speech team. “Especially in such a weird year for the team, where we missed

Four seniors take first at Science Club competition with wooden bridge

Four SLUH seniors with their photo | courtesey of Adam Kleffner winning wooden model bridges.

BY Jake STAFF

Hennes

S

Across

1. “____, ____, goose” 4. Genetic instructions 6. Often found on a witch’s nose 8. Below; downward 9. Low bank or reef of coral, rock, or sand 10. Edible plant known as ‘ladies’ fingers’ 12. Difficult tests, taken in May 13. This is _____ 81.23 of the Prep News 15. Children’s t.v. show featuring a hand with eyeballs 18. Alabama 19. Middle eastern food; shish _____ 21. Adam and ___ 23.

25. A witch; an ugly old woman 26. Creature found in The Lord of the Rings, also called ‘goblin’ 29. Animal Protective Association 31. Buttocks

33. Georgetown 36. Used as an expression of doubt or hesitation 38. Most suitable; perfect 40. Under Armour 42. In the grain family 43. Foreigner 45. Sacred sound in the Hindu religion 46. Large tanks or tubs 47. Oprah’s television network 48. _____ Famous Recipe Chicken 49. Cutest creature in Star Wars 50. Female sheep 51. Male deer; without a partner at a dance

Down

2. Movie starring about Lightning McQueen 3. _____ Csupo 4. A boring or studious person; a SLUH student 5. Entertainer who performs gymnastic feats 6. Wyoming

the first meet and two of our competitors missed finals.

Even though it was a down year for the team it was exciting for me to finish first in Storytelling.”

The speech team hopes that next season, with more consistent attendance at meets, they can come in first like they did last year.

“I’m excited to see what the future holds for SLUH speech. Unfortunately, we missed the first meet which knocked us down a lot of points and then at finals we were missing two people. I’m confident we’ll come back strong next fall,” said Tucker.

eniors Ian Mulvihill, Leo Henken, Adam Kleffner, and Henry Byrne came in first place in the Billiken BEAMS competition held in Carlo Auditorium at Saint Louis University this past Saturday. This was the second year that the team participated in the competition.

Although it wasn’t an official Science Club event, the team was formed after modercrossword | Craig Grzechowiak ator Robyn Wellen asked Mulvihill to gather some friends 7. The Prep News often has this and participate. The goal of 11. ____ Bill the competition was to use 14. Acronym; Upper East balsa wood and glue to build Side, New York the strongest bridge possible.

16. “To __ or not to __” Last year, the team fin17. Material from an ele- ished in the middle of the phant’s tusk pack, holding a weight of 18. Aang’s flying bison around 50 pounds.

20. Ohio “We felt like there were a 22. Emergency Room 24. “Remember the _____!”

27. Spanish for ‘home’ 28. Food cooked in a certain Editor in Chief way Sam Chechik 30. Plutonium 32. Maryland News Editors 33. Dad’s name in Malcolm in Andrew Pluff the Middle Joseph Reznikov 34. Pizza topping; looks simiSports Editors lar to a grape Will Farroll 35. Not uncle Andrew Modder 37. Massachusetts 39. Objectively the greatest Features Editors bird on earth Galen Bacharier 41. Action on Facebook Matthew Book 44. North, South, West Core Staff 47. Oklahoma

Prep News

Liam Connolly Matt Godar Sam Goedeker Jack Schweizer Staff Zach Hennes Jake Hennes

couple simple things we could have done differently to greatly improve our design, after watching bridges stand strong last year,” said Mulvihill.

The group prepared by working together at SLU to come up with a design. They were only allowed to use a specified amount of balsa wood and a bottle of glue.

They knew that this year they had to include parallel arcs as the main component of the trusses of their bridge after seeing all the top bridges last year have that in common basic design last year.

“We thought about quitting after we procrastinated for most of the building time, but Henry kept telling us to ‘Truss the Process’ so we forged ahead and got it done in time,” said Mulvihill.

“Two months before the actual competition, we went

Credits

up to the Parks College at SLU, received our wood from SLU and designed a bridge on the computer with this program that showed our bridge’s weak spots,” said Kleffner.

On the day of the competition, 27 teams gathered in the Carlo Auditorium to see how much their bridge would hold until it broke.

“The competition was larger than last year, which led to a super intense, cutthroat atmosphere,” said senior Ian Mulvihill.

Their bridge came in first place and was able to hold 88.1 pounds.

“We were the thirteenth team to test our bridge,” said Kleffner. “We didn’t think out bridge held enough weight to hang on for the win because the winning team last year held around 170 pounds. A couple of surprising breaks later and all of a sudden we won.”

Along with a trophy, the winnings included some different scholarships to camps that SLU is hosting this summer.

“We won a half scholarship to their engineering summer academy this summer and a full scholarship to their entrepreneurial camp,” said Kleffner.

The team and Mrs. Wellen are looking for underclassmen to join the team and help defend the title next year.

Volume 81, Issue 23

Nick Gima Ben Frailey Jack Waters Matthew Quinlan

Brian Tretter Ben Klevorn Jack Connaghan James Pollard

Art Directors Ian Mulvihill Joe Fentress

Contributing Photographers Mrs. Kathy Chott

Staff Artists Lancer Li Will Kramer Jack Bailey

Contributing Artists Syed Fakhryzada Craig Grzechowiak Adam Kleffner Jack Heller

Staff Photographer Brendan Voigt Reporters Riley McEnery Nathan Langhauser Ben Dattilo Liam John Nathan Wild Stephen Ocampo

Advisor Mr. Ryan McAnany Moderator Mr. Steve Missey

Lucky Seven: R-ball dominates to win seventh consecutive State title Liam John REPORTER

T

he SLUH racquetball dynasty continues its success in the State tournament.

Both varsity and JV 1A got first place in their divisions in the tournament. The JV 1B team got second behind the A team.

Starting with varsity, senior No. 1 seed Chris Schulze won first after beating his main opponent John Dowell from Kirkwood. The final score was 15-11, 15-10. He ended up being number one in the state of Missouri.

Junior James Storgion played Lindbergh’s Lukas Bell and took him to the third game, but lost and played in the third place game against Vianney’s Sam Visintine. He took Visintine down 15-12, 15-5 to finish third in state.

“I suffered a heartbreak, but I’m coming for John Dowell next year,” Storgion said.

Senior Carlos Ayala won

first in the third division. In the finals, Vianney’s Evan Riganti surprised Ayala with a killer backhand that caused Ayala to lose the first game 15-10. After Ayala learned to counter this, he took Riganti down 15-11, 11-6 in the next two games.

Senior Jacob Sullivan won his seed against Daniel Barrett from Parkway West, SLUH’s toughest competition.

He finished his tournament with a 15-5, 15-7 win.

The future of SLUH’s racquetball team, sophomore Matthew Hayes, took everyone out, and ended his season with a 15-8, 15-3 win. Hayes had a great season and has another two years to refine his skills.

Junior Adam Hanson did not give up a single game in the state tournament and only gave up a total of 20 points.

His final match was 15-2, 155.

The varsity doubles team

of Byzantine (seniors Roman Visintine and Joe Boyce) did not give up a game either.

Their season of success prepared them for Nationals.

Varsity 1 took first in six of the divisions, claiming victory by 320 over the second place team of Parkway West.

Varsity 2 came in fourth in the tournament. The players beat last year’s record of 5-5 in matches by going 7-3 this year. The players are very proud of their successes and even though they did not win the top places, they still played amazing games and had fun while doing it.

JV 1A also won first as a team, and the top four seeds won first in their divisions.

The doubles team won third place after losing to the SLUH JV 1B team.

Juniors Steven Zak, Riley McEnery, Nick Patritti, and sophomore Liam John beat their competition without much hesitation. Zak, McEn-

ery, and Patritti did not lose a game.

Doubles team junior Alex Siampos and sophomore Michael Oldani lost their first match to the team of sophomore Zachary Pavlisin and senior Chris Schulze. After that first loss, they reenergized to win the third place game to De Smet’s team 15-9, 15-9.

The racquetball team will compete in the National Tournament this weekend.

To support the SLUH racquetball team, any student is allowed to come for free to both Vetta Concord and MAC West. To check where someone is playing, you can go check the schedules at https:// www.mohsrball.com. Come watch another SLUH national victory. Also if you want to check any statistics on a certain player or team, you can also go to that website for the season, State, and Nationals.

Mini game victory propels hockey to Scottrade

photo | Brendan Voigt

The hockey team after a goal in Saturday’s game against Oakville.

(continued from page 1)

net, establishing a strong forecheck and maintaining possession. In the second period the Jr. Bills scored three times on goals from three different juniors: Nick Corker off a rebound, Joe Winkelmann on a breakout rush, and Trevor White top shelf, taking advantage of numerous Jr. Bill power plays.

Seemingly frustrated, Oakville increased physicality with some cheap shots away from the play and roughing after the whistle. The referees had a quick chat with an Oakville coach after an open ice hit in the neutral zone while the puck was in the SLUH offensive zone.

SLUH opened the third period strong, stepping up to Oakville’s physical play with their own, causing many coincidental penalties on both sides. Multiple players were in the penalty box at once throughout the period and many of the players were

openly chirping even after being separated by the officials.

Bad blood began to boil, and the refs forced the captains to meet and settle things down.

The short-handed goal had been the downfall for Oakville in its previous meetings with SLUH, and with seven minutes left, Winkelmann found himself on a breakaway and with some smooth fakes, and slotted the puck with a backhand. A real morale crusher for Oakville, as the Jr. Bills went up 5-0.

Oakville didn’t stop fighting, though, and with over a minute left, finally beat Rasch through traffic. However, the game was already decided and SLUH walked out with the 5-1 victory.

On Saturday they met again at the Hardees Iceplex for the final game of the series. If SLUH won or tied, they would move on. If Oakville took the game, they would play a minigame directly after to decide the semifinal win-

ner.

The game kicked off and it was evident that a new Oakville team had come to play in this second game.

SLUH continued their plan of hard forechecking and keeping it in the offensive zone, but their success was shortlived. Oakville was finally able to counter the hard pressure in the zone, blocking many shots.

This proved to be effective and eventually SLUH took a slapper from the point that deflected to the neutral zone. Out of position, the defense struggled to get back as three Oakville players sprinted down the ice.

The odd man rush was enough for the Tigers to slide the puck to an open player who easily wristed it past Rasch, who had no chance.

Oakville had the early 1-0 lead.

The wakeup call was enough to get SLUH back into shape it seemed, as they were

more conservative on positioning and didn’t allow any odd man rushes.

Finally after a hard offensive press, SLUH stole the puck in the neutral zone and senior captain John Sieckhaus took it down the right side. He dumped a pass back to senior captain Luke Gassett, who sent it to the middle where Winkelmann was waiting to tie the game at one with 9:29 left in the first.

After continuing the hard forecheck, it seemed that SLUH had Oakville under control for the remainder of the period, except for another rush with 30 seconds left, which was halted by a stellar flurry of saves from Rasch.

The second period started much like the first, with little offensive opportunity and the teams trading possession.

SLUH had an amazing chance to go up when junior Kevin Einig found himself in front of the net with a loose puck on the goalline. Unfortunately, the Tiger goalie was able to fall on top of the puck to get the freeze and halt play before SLUH could capitalize.

After a successful penalty kill late in the period, Oakville got a man on the blue line with the puck and no one in front of him. He skated down unopposed and notched a backhander into the net to take the lead once again.

Having rarely played catch up all year, the Jr. Bills seemed to lose all momentum to the onslaught of the Tigers offense.

“We had a rough start to the game and got down early,” said senior Peter Hoffmeister.

“We came out flat to start the third also.”

Forty seconds into the third period, Oakville took

continued on page 8

Basketball rolls over Ritenour, prepares for Chaminade showdown

photo | Brendan Voigt

Seniors Brandon McKissic and B.J. Wilson during SLUH’s last game against Chaminade on Feb 14.

Matt Godar CORE STAFF

T

he St. Louis U. High basketball team advanced to the District Championship with an imposing display of dominance, defeating the Ritenour Huskies 81-47 in the semifinal game Tuesday night.

The 81-point outburst was the latest in a string of offensive explosions. The Jr. Bills averaged 69 points per game in their last three wins, a huge increase from the season average of 55.9.

Ritenour entered the game with an exquisite record of 18-8, which held up nicely to SLUH’s record of 20-6. Notably, the Huskies came close to knocking off district powerhouse Webster Groves earlier in the season.

Nonetheless, the HoopBills were ready to hoop.

From the jump ball, the game took on a high energy and offensively geared slant. Senior guard Brandon McKissic, coming off a stellar 33-point performance against CBC on Senior Night last Tuesday, opened up the scoring for the U. High with a three ball.

The scoring only ballooned from there. SLUH continued to put the ball in the basket, consistently finding a diverse range of scoring options. Unfortunately, Ritenour found nearly equal success, matching the Jr. Bills against the usually stubborn SLUH defense.

“We knew we could score whenever we wanted, so we kind of slacked off on defense,” said senior guard Anthony Hughes.

“It was a slow start defensively, we just couldn’t put together stops, which was a struggle,” said McKissic.

The Huskies never managed to put together enough stops against the Jr. Billiken onslaught, leaving them unable to take advantage of the rare half-court defensive struggles from SLUH. Despite nearly breaking into the 20s, the Huskies trailed heading into the second quarter by a score of 21-19.

“We were a little rusty.

We hadn’t played in ten days, so some of our close outs were

slow, we gave up some easy layups. But we knew once we got those legs under us, we’d be fine,” said head coach Erwin Claggett.

In the second quarter, the Jr. Bills made sure two points were the closest the Huskies ever came to the U. High lead.

As SLUH’s offense continued to pound, its defense came alive. The Jr. Bill spark came, per usual, in fastbreak transition. After senior forward Brent Smith ripped down a rebound and rifled a rocket to a rampaging McKissic, B-Mac took off, and found junior forward Matt Leritz running a seam past a Ritenour player futilely attempting to get back on defense. Leritz caught McKissic’s dime a step inside the three point line in full stride and, with the wings of Pegasus and the grace of Bellerophon, floated into the night sky, before gravity returned and Leritz rammed the ball with two hands into the hoop. The Danis Field House erupted.

“I was ready to rebound in case Brandon took a shot, but if he passed it to me, I was dunking it home,” said Leritz.

“The way he came down had me laughing on the court.

I was near tears, it was very comical,” said Smith.

“Any time you get a strong finish, it pushes an energy boost into the team,” said Claggett.

The next two times down the court, following Ritenour misses, McKissic drilled two more threes, bearing a resemblance to three-point marksman Kyle Korver. The Jr. Bills had gone on an 8-0 run to start the quarter, and all of a sudden their lead was ten.

“I’ve been working with coach a lot on my three. I’ve kinda been timid with it, but coach put confidence back in my shot,” said McKissic.

The Huskies began to find their footing against the lockdown D, matching SLUH’s scoring for a bit. Unfortunately for them, the Bills were not finished filling highlight reels.

Following his ferocious two-handed jam against CBC, a jam which was voted the

continued on page 7

Rugby looks to rebound after State loss last season Jack Connaghan REPORTER

W

ith two consecutive second-place State finishes haunting their past, the SLUH rugby team is entering the 2017 season with a veteran starting lineup and a renewed emphasis on teamwork and guile over sheer strength.

Although many strong Ruggerbills left with the class of 2016, the returning squad will rely on an experienced starting lineup comprised primarily of four-year veteran players to outplay more physically-imposing opponents.

Several players have utilized club teams in the offseason to hone their skills, with some even competing in regional

land.

The Junior Blues—a talented club team that attracts strong high school athletes from all corners of the Kansas City region—have become a nationally-recognized incubator for to-be professional rugby players. While the Jr. Bills have few worthy rivals this side of the Ozarks, the Junior Blues have become an archenemy of sorts to the SLUH team.

“We lost by two tries last year,” said Henry Herzberg, a senior center, lamenting the team’s valiant, if unsuccessful, performance at the end of last season. “But this year we’re looking to bounce back. We have a lot of experience. We

photo | Syed Fakhryzada

competitions.

“This is probably the most talented group we’ve had in the four years I’ve been playing,” said senior captain Ryan Houghland.

Houghland, a forward, is confident in his team’s intelligence and ability, though he hasn’t forgotten about the squad’s past failures against Missouri’s top juggernaut and SLUH’s rival, the Kansas City Junior Blues.

“Losing to the (Junior Blues) in the state championship the past two years was rough, but our focus is a lot better this year,” said Houg-

have good cohesion.”

Senior Jacob Coriell, a starting wingman and a growing force on the team, also acknowledges the squad’s mistakes from last year but has high hopes for the coming season.

“We’re getting down to basics. We’re really hungry for state this year,” said Coriell.

Beyond the state championship, the Jr. Bills are also hoping to participate in the National Invitational Tournament, a high school National championship for only the most prolific and successful rugby programs in the coun-

try. Although the Jr. Bills have had several high-profile successes in the past—including stellar performances against the Junior Blues in the last four State championship tourneys, as well as their continued dominance at regional competitions—they have yet to be invited to the Tournament.

“Usually the invites are handed out based on rankings,” said assistant coach Chris Keeven, who takes issue with the team’s absence on rugby publication Goff Rugby’s national rankings.

“The Kansas City Junior Blues are top five on the national rankings, and we’re two points behind them in every game.

We’ve won midwestern regional tournaments. Goff just don’t know who we are.”

Despite the team’s misfortunes on the national stage, Keeven still believes that the Jr. Bills could make a huge impact if given the chance to play at a national tournament.

“We’re returning a lot of experience,” said Keeven, “(This year’s team) is the most experienced lineup I’ve ever coached. We just need to get noticed.”

The varsity team currently has no matches scheduled before the weekend of Mar. 25, when they will head to Tulsa for the Hooligan Rugby Tournament. In the meantime, everyone is working hard to ensure the team’s success at State—and, with a little luck, the National Invitational.

“I want to do whatever it takes to get my team to State,” said Herzberg. “I’ve suffered four years with these guys, gone through absolute hell.

Seeing them hoist up a trophy would be the best thing in the world to me.”

Eating Deviled eggs: Basketball squares off against Chaminade for District title (continued from page 6)

PrepHoops dunk of the week, Hughes looked to prove his athleticism and dominance once more. The opportunity came with three minutes left in the first half, and Hughes more than succeeded.

Hughes waited patiently on the baseline as junior guard A.J. Hardin found a good look at the basket from the free throw line, but failed to convert on the shot. Hughes came from nowhere, and soared past an unaware Ritenour big man like a bald eagle eluding capture, reached for the rebound high above the court like the Buddha reaching for enlightenment, and hammered the orange down with the divine presence of Noah completing his ark, all in a single, fluid motion. Once again, the Field House was in a frenzy over the putback dunk.

“I hadn’t been able to pull one off in practice yet, but I just went up for it, and things just slowed down. I felt like I was alone up there,” said Hughes.

“I did not see it coming,” said McKissic. “He crashes the

7 Lacrosse sets sight to State return

SPORTS

March 3, 2017

boards so hard I knew it was coming, but I did not see it coming there.”

After the BasketBills again put together two consecutive stops, Hughes hit two consecutive threes. SLUH had gone on a second 8-0 run.

The Jr. Bills outscored the Huskies 24-10 in the second quarter, leaving them with a healthy 45-29 lead heading into half.

In the second half, the Jr. Bill defense was stifling.

“Coach told us, ‘No guarantees from here on, we have to start playing well right now,’ and we came out and just pounded them,” said senior forward Andrew Grassi.

The quarter opened with a strong transition finish from senior forward B.J. Wilson.

The U. High defense locked down, the Huskies could not match the high level of play.

While SLUH continued to score and dominate in transition, Ritenour struggled immensely. The Huskies did not score a single field goal in the quarter, with their only points coming from five free throws.

As the clock ran down

in the quarter, McKissic sized up his defender and attacked, fighting through physicality to drop in a floater as time expired. Entering the final quarter, SLUH led 67-34.

“We kind of buckled down and said enough is enough,” said Smith.

The fourth quarter was a cruise for the Jr. Bills, with the 33-point lead too great for the Huskies to overcome against SLUH’s all around prowess.

As the Jr. Bill defense loosened a bit, the offense still found buckets often, though at a lower rate than the rest of the game.

The huge lead and a running clock gave senior forward and fan favorite Nick Lally a chance to enter the game. He did not disappoint.

Lally immediately went to work in the low post, using his strength to assert his position like a strong oak tree.

After receiving an inlet pass from Hardin, Lally played maestro, saucing a beautiful dish to junior Sam Ratterman, who then scored his first varsity points of his career.

The next time down the

Prep News

Volume 81, Issue 23

Seniors Jerry Howe and Anthony Hughes celebrating in photo | Brendan Voigt last year’s game against MICDS.

Stephen Ocampo REPORTER

T

he St. Louis U. High lacrosse team has made the Missouri state championship game three of the past five seasons, winning it all in 2012. This year, the team hopes to keep up this trend of excellence.

After last week’s tryouts, the team finalized its 34-man roster, which includes new players.

“I’m very impressed with the roster. We’re going to play well off each other,” said junior Cooper Nichols.

Since 16 seniors from the last year’s team graduated, the team looks towards the new upperclassmen to step up as leaders for the team.

“It’s definitely a big loss, but I think that we definitely still have the talent and the leadership in our seniors,” said junior Pete O’Malley. “It just opens spots for everyone floor, Lally again channeled his inner Stockton, whipping a stinging pass to a wide open Leritz in the corner. Unfortunately, Leritz could not convert the opportunity.

“He had a wide open three, and he just bricked it.

I gave him such a great pass,” said Lally.

“I’m so sorry for missing that three. It was a beautiful pass, and I had all the time in the world, but it was just an off-day,” said Leritz.

The offense continued to run through Lally. After gathering an inbound pass under the basket, Lally worked his defender, simultaneously creating space with his body and passing to himself off the backboard. He then knocked down the layup for SLUH’s final points, as the crowd exploded.

The clock ticked down to zero. SLUH had won by a rousing score of 81-47, and advanced to the District championship.

“We’re really built on our defense. If we can get that going, it ignites the offense, and we did that tonight,” said Claggett.

SLUH will next take on Chaminade in the District championship tonight at 7 p.m.

“It’s gonna be a good game. We’re ready,” said McKissic.

to step up and fill those spots of those influential players.”

This year, the team looks to add a new defensive core, as their old core of seniors has graduated.

“We lost a lot of seniors last year, especially defensive seniors,” said senior Nolan Corker. “So we’re going to need players like John Sansone and Jake Killian to step up.”

However, the team still looks towards the underclassmen to play major role on the team, despite being younger.

“So far, I haven’t really been looked at as a freshman, but as being able to play,” said freshman Brendan Hannah.

“A lot it right now is just familiarizing ourselves. It’s really about getting our team chemistry up and finding out what works and what doesn’t work within our team because we have so much new talent coming in and we need to find

a way where it all clicks together,” said O’Malley.

Along with the change in leadership among students, the coaching staff lost assistant coach Thomas Deane.

However, the team added defensive expert, and teacher Sterling Brown to the staff as an assistant. Head coach Tyler Gilbert and assistant coach Taylor Flynn will also return to the team.

“We’re familiar with coach now, and we’re already implementing new formations that we’ve never implemented before,” said Nichols.

The team will start its season this weekend with the lacrosse Jamboree, where the team plays multiple minigames versus various teams.

“It’s always been a really fun way to kick the season off because there’s great competition but everyone is still sort of feeling their teams out,” said O’Malley. “It’s a great way to see where we’re at preparation-wise and skill-wise, and be able to make adjustments.

The Jamboree is a good way to warm-up the players for the regular season as the lacrosse team looks to repeat last year’s success.

“It’s definitely a year where it’s gonna be a little tougher season, having our big games away,” says Corker.

“I’m feeling very comfortable with our talent, and it should be a very interesting and fun season.”

The Jr. Bills’ first regular season game is in the MCC Tournament on Tuesday at 4:45 p.m.

WoPo prepares for season despite lost seniors Jack Waters STAFF

A

fter a successful 2016 season that ended in a State championship last May, the St. Louis U. High varsity water polo team is scheduled to begin its season in the upcoming weeks.

The AquaJocks defeated Lindbergh last year in the State final 10-1, which clinched the program’s 18th State title. It was their 31st consecutive Final Four.

The 2016 team had five All-District selections, including Mark Franz, ’16, the Missouri Offensive Player of the Year, and Chris Kreienkamp, ’16, the Missouri Player of the Year.

Despite losing eight seniors, the Jr. Bills look to another hopeful season.

“The first thing we have to notice is that this our team, we have our own strengths and weaknesses,” said senior Brandon Trusler. “I know we have the talent to be great.”

The squad returns ten

players, including seven seniors. Seniors Trusler and Thomas Nordmann were named captains by head coach Paul Baudendistel. SLUH will also bring back senior goalie Mike Harris, who also received varsity exposure last year as a junior.

Also returning are junior standouts Joe Jellinek, John Burke, and Nick Mattingly. All three had impactful seasons as sophomores last year. Burke finished the 2016 campaign with 16 goals, and Mattingly tallied 17. Jellinek finished with a whopping 36 goals and 29 assists last year.

The Jr. Bills will start their season on March 14 against CBC at 5 p.m.

“Our goal this year, as it is every year, is to be the best team we can be and hopefully the rest of it falls into place,” said senior Kyle Irvine. “We’re just looking to work as a pack of minnows this year, swimming together like a school of great fish.”

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8

Prep News

IT’S PUCK SEASON

Volume 81, Issue 23

New Teacher retreat From Sunday evening until Wednesday, SLUH’s newest faculty, including math teacher Stephen Deves, social studies teacher Sarah Becvar, Latin teacher Rich Esswein, theater tech teacher Scott Schoonover, and science teacher Bradley Mueller, attended the New Ignatian Educators Retreat in Kansas City. The retreat focused on the faith development of first year faculty from Jesuit schools around the country and delved into the meaning behind common Jesuit terminology including the Magis, Ignatian indifference, and the First Principle and Foundation. The retreat featured keynote speakers, silent reflection, and daily Mass to allow the faculty to take a break from their hectic lives at school and refocus on their

score of 556, and sophomore Jack Doyle was fourth with a score of 548. he Saint Louis U. High riFor junior varsity, senior fle team competed in two Liam Quinlisk shot 552, sophcompetitions on Feb. 18. omore Zac Tiberghien shot The varsity team took 551, freshman Matt Friedrichs first overall with a score of shot 540, freshman John Hilker shot 532, sophomore Max Wilson shot 531, sophomore Anthony Rizzo shot 524, and freshman Miguel Cadiz shot 506.

Quinlisk took top honors in the Army ROTC Gateway battalion rifle. The award is given to the best shooter at the competition.

“When it happened, I was really surprised and for the first few seconds after hav| Mrs. Kathy Chott ing my name called for the photo Senior Liam Quinlisk at the competition.

REPORTER

T

2241.

Sophomore Adam Stemmler was first for SLUH with a score of 575, sophomore Hayden Steingruby was second with a score of 562, junior Joseph Weber was third with a

they had never seen before performing it for a different judge. The scores from the four judges amounted to a “1” rating overall, which was the band’s goal. Tomorrow, soloists and smaller groups of at most eight students will compete in the Solos and Ensembles section of the festival.

Those who qualify at districts in this section will then be able to move onto the State competition in late April.

the puck down the right side and into the zone. After a pass to the middle, the Tiger player slid it around Rasch’s left blocker and hit the cold metal of the back post. Now it was 3-1. And they didn’t stop there. Following a Jr. Bill turnover a minute later, Oakville wrapped around the goal and passed to the middle for a one timer and another goal to extend the lead to 4-1.

“It was a combination of two things: one, we didn’t play well and two, they played well, and well like I told them, if you beat a team five times, it’s kinda tough,” said head coach Kevin Fitzpatrick. “No excuses, we just didn’t play well.”

Any momentum SLUH had was now gone, and in a last attempt they called a timeout to collect themselves.

“I told them to keep working, keep your head up.

I said that we have another game after this so we can’t give up or get out now,” noted Fitzpatrick. “Of all times, you cannot give up now.”

The timeout seemed to have an effect, as the defense buckled up and began to deflect all Oakville attempts.

The offense made hot a once cold engine, but the Tigers kept collapsing on shots, and that mixed with badly placed ones kept the SLUH goal tally at one.

At some point the SLUH crowd tossed an octopus onto the ice, and it was later deemed the rally squid, refer-

ring to the SLUH rally late in the game.

With 4:44 left, Oakville took a penalty for too many men, and SLUH capitalized.

On the second attempt in the power play, Sieckhaus got the puck on the left corner and skated in towards the net.

As the Oakville player approached, Sieckhaus let it rip to the top left corner. The puck rang around the pipes and in, and SLUH finally came out of the drought.

On the very next play, Oakville took the faceoff and attacked the zone. They passed to the top and attempted a slap shot, but it was blocked by sophomore Gabe Schwartz at the point. Along with Wagner, Schwartz skated down the ice on the rush and, after some nice passes and one save by the goalie, Wagner put the biscuit in the basket to cut Oakville’s lead to 4-3.

“I think the goals got us back on track. It got their goalie thinking a little bit, and got us feeling good. It was huge for us,” said Fitzpatrick.

“I think if those don’t happen then the momentum doesn’t switch into our favor, and we might have a different outcome if that happens.

I think they totally translated into the mini game,” said Sieckhaus.

Despite the late Jr. Billiken rally and the extra man advantage after pulling Rasch, Oakville took the game 4-3.

This meant that they would

play a ten-minute mini-game to decide the team that would play at Scottrade next week.

“We battled back which made it hard for us, because normally I would have sat the kids in the last four or five minutes to rest up for the ten minute game,” said Fitzpatrick. “Then we get within a goal, and with a tie and we move on.”

This game could not have been any more different than its predecessor. SLUH dominated play and only the Oakville goaltender kept them alive in the early minutes of the game.

However, a line change mishap landed SLUH in the penalty box with 7:30 left, for a too many men call. Oakville had their chance, but the ghost of hockey past came back to haunt them in the form of shorthanded goals.

A minute into the Tiger power play, the dynamic duo of Schwartz and Wagner struck again, this time Wagner taking the blocked shot and Schwartz putting the puck in the back of the net on the breakaway.

As the puck went in and Schwartz’s hands went up, the SLUH crowd erupted and the bench went nuts.

As if that wasn’t enough, a minute later sophomore Christian Berger received the puck on the left side of the ice just inside the blue line, and took a wicked slap shot that zipped over the goalie’s right

Lenten Speaker Series Sophomore Class Mass University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Snack—Bosco sticks Special—Shrimp and fries Vegetarian—Grilled cheese V Basketball vs. Chaminade @ SLUH

10:00am Chinese Cooking Class 6:00pm Mother/Son Trivia

Sunday, March 5

Mom Prom Dance Lessons

Monday, March 6 Half-Day schedule before exams

Tuesday, March 7

Half-Day Schedule Exam Schedule

8:05am English Exam 9:50am Math Exam

Wednesday, March 8

Exam Schedule

8:05am Theology Exam 8:15am Lent Adoration 9:50am History Exam —Will Slatin, Zach Hennes, Joe 12:15pm Third Exams Reznikov, and Joe Hillmeyer

V Basketball Sectional Game 8:00pm V Hockey Mid-States Final @ Scottrade Center

first award I felt like this definitely wasn’t happening,” said Quinlisk. “Because the range at Pacific high is very different from ours at SLUH, I felt like, hey, I don’t think I’m gonna do too well here and neither does most of the team, but I’m gonna shoot my best and see where that takes me.”

“Right now though I feel really thankful for my team and coaches helping me get to the point that I’m at with my shooting skills, and looking back on it I also think of it as proving how quickly I can improve and contribute more to the successes of the team,” said Quinlisk after getting the award.

Third time’s a charm: Hockey with third State attempt

(continued from page 6)

Regular Schedule

Saturday, March 4

Rifle takes first overall in Army ROTC Gateway Ben Dattilo

Friday, March 3 7:45am AP

Lunch

7:00pm

faith in order to bring out the best in themselves and their students when they returned.

National Latin Exam On Thursday during activity period, the National Latin Exam was taken by Latin students in the Old Cafeteria. The test is taken nationwide, and Band participates in state SLUH Latin students for all competition levels took the test.

On Thursday, the SLUH Symphonic Band attended Faculty Mardi Gras Party an event described by muTuesday’s late start made time sic teacher and band director for SLUH’s faculty to attend Jeff Pottinger as “the culmitheir annual Mardi Gras party nation of what we’ve done in the morning in the Curri- since August”—the Missouri gan room. Teachers enjoyed state band festival. The Jr. food, decorations, and com- Bills played two pieces, “Cirpany in preparation for the cus Days” by Karl King and Lenten season. A vast num- “Chorale and Shaker Dance” ber of the faculty also donned by John Zdechlik. After perbeads for the remainder of the forming these songs in front day, in cordial celebration of of three judges, the band had the holiday. six minutes to prepare a piece

March 3, 2017

Thursday, March 9

Modified Exam Schedule 9:05am Foreign Language Exam 9:40am Confession 10:50am Science Exam 6:00pm Water Polo Blue/White Dinner and Parent Meeting Friday, March 10 No Classes Spring Break Exam Make-Up Day

Saturday, March 11

V Basketball Quarterfinal Game

Sunday, March 12

Appalachia Trip Kino Border Initiative Trip

Tuesday, March 14

Spring Break

4:00pm JV/V Water Polo vs. CBC

Wednesday, March 15

Spring Break

8:15am Lent Adoration

Thursday, March 16

Spring Break V Basketball State Championships @ Mizzou

Friday, March 17

Spring Break

St. Patrick’s Day V Basketball State Championships @ Mizzou shoulder, off the crossbar, and 4:00pm B Baseball @ Seckman Senior High School into the bottom of the net.

Spring Break With a 2-0 lead, SLUH Saturday, March 18 had put the dagger in V Baseball TBD @ GSC ballpark Oakville’s dreams of the Chal- B Baseball TBD @ Seckman Tournament lenge Cup. The frustrated Tigers began taking penalties, and one player even received a game misconduct penalty before the final whistle.

When it was all said and done, the Jr. Bills had won the mini 2-0 and secured their sport in the Challenge Cup Final for the third straight year.

“I think we got a little complacent after we beat them bad in the first round of playoffs, but I think it was a good time for it to happen, even though we cut it a little close,” said Sieckhaus. “I think it’s a good wakeup call for the team, and hopefully we’re ready to go in about a week.”

They will face off against CBC at the Scottrade Center on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.

SLUH is 2-1 against CBC this season, beating them 6-4 and 3-0, and losing once 4-1.

“We’re hoping to limit our penalties and, when we do take penalties, make sure our penalty kill is strong; don’t let them set up because they move the puck well on their power play,” said Hoffmeister.

“I don’t think we’re nervous at all. I think if we just play how we can, we should be able to take care of things,” said Sieckhaus. “It’s unlike any other year, I think CBC should be the ones who are worried.”

Monday, March 20

Regular Schedule

Classes Resume AP Southeast Missouri State University Tuesday, March 21 Regular Schedule AP

3:30pm 4:15pm

Graduation Tux Measurements Lent Confessions University of Kentucky William Jewell College Grades Due Ignatian Evening and Dinner C Baseball vs. St. Mary’s @ Forest Park

Wednesday, March 22 8:15am AP

4:00pm 4:30pm 6:30pm

Regular Schedule

Lent Adoration Graduation Tux Measurements Lent Confessions Truman State University C/JV #1 Track C Baseball vs. Collinsville @ Forest Park Counseling tips from the pros night

Thursday, March 23

Regular Schedule AP Graduation Tux Measurements

Lent Confessions 4:00pm JV/V Water Polo vs. De Smet 4:15pm V Tennis @ Priory 4:15pm C Baseball @ Webster Groves 4:15pm JV Tennis vs. Priory @ Dwight Davis 4:30pm C/JV/V Volleyball @ Parkway Central 4:30pm V Baseball vs. Hancock @ Heine Meine Baseball Field Friday, March 24 Regular Schedule 7:45am Lenten Speaker Series AP Graduation Tux Measurements

Lent Confessions

Loyola University New Orleans 4:15pm JV Tennis vs. Marquette @ Dwight Davis 4:15pm V Tennis vs. Marquette @ Dwight Davis 4:30pm JV/V Water Polo @ Lafayette calendar | Jack Schweizer