Starling’s Story

Joel Starlings Recaps One of His Favorite Moments

By Nick Hanley ‘23

The class of 2023’s time at Benedictine is coming to a close. They have made many lifelong friends and learned much, but most importantly they have made many memories that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Joel Starlings, who played football all four years, recapped one of his favorite moments under Big Green’s roof. Joel’s best moment at Benedictine dates all the way back to the fall of his freshman year. This moment is the winning of the state championship in 2019 over St. Chris, with a final score of 14-6. “Man, the atmosphere was just electric,” said Starlings. “When the game clock hit zero and the student section stormed the field while singing the fight song, it brought tears of joy to my eyes, because my brothers and I really had just won the state championship together.

Coach Fogarty’s pregame speech had us all hyped up for the game and made us believe that we truly deserved to be there to compete and earn that win.”

The Cadets came ready to play, as they quickly gained the upper hand with an early lead. At halftime, the Cadets stepped out of the locker room back onto the field of a tied game. As soon as play resumed, the Cadets scored a touchdown in their first possession in the third quarter, pushing the score to 14-6. A rock-solid effort from the Cadets’ defense forced a shutout on the Saints in the second half. “When Jay (Woolfolk) scored that touchdown, I just knew that all of our momentum would carry and there was no way in the world that we could possibly lose that game.

Coach Fogarty’s postgame speech is what really makes this memory golden, as he highlighted all of the reasons that we were in the place that we were in and why we deserved all that we had earned that season. It was a perfect ending to our season and that is a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life.” former members in the fraternity. Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, baseball slugger Babe Ruth, legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi and President John F. Kennedy are a few of many prominent figures who were part of the group. Major Ramos, one of Benedictine’s Bioethics and Leadership teachers, is a hard- working member as well.

The group is involved with a handful of community programs focused on helping others. The Helping Hands program provides aid to those who are less fortunate and need assistance with tasks. The Coats for Kids event is when the councils across the nation provides new winter coats to children. The Global Wheelchair Mission is focused on donating wheelchairs to those with disabilities, giving them the gift of mobility. The Habitat for Humanity project oversees homes being built for families in need.

The Columbus members can always be found executing productive tasks within the church. The group works very closely with the monks, administration and the school. “We care a lot about vocations,” said Fink. “We help sponsor many young seminarians. We are currently sponsoring the young man everyone knows as Brother Ambrose. He helped by teaching as a substitute before heading off to the seminary.”

From Page 11: Both Sides of the Scale

have his rank suspended until further notice.In addition, an officer cannot accrue more than three detentions, or opt out of Benedictine senior officer camp, which occurs before school starts in early August. Once he has completed those tasks, the life of a senior officer begins. Every officer has a specific position that is assigned to him in the Corps. This position could be as a company commander, executive officer (XO), platoon leader, a member of staff or a staff assistant. These Cadets are able to command lower-ranking Cadets and perform positionbased tasks at formation. “

I have enjoyed being an officer,” said platoon leader Gardener Campbell, “The privileges that come with it like the senior lounge and the special events makes being an officer a great experience.”

Events such as Sponsors Day Review, Commissioning, and Change of Command are all events that celebrate the senior officers. Sponsors Day review involves sponsoring officers introducing the Saint Gertrude sponsors to the Corps for the first time. It is a timeless tradition that is cherished at Benedictine. Commissioning is when officers are officially introduced to the Corps of Cadets, and officers receive their swords to sheath them for the first time. At the end of every Benedictine school year, Change of Command takes place: an event that celebrates the service of the current senior officers and announces the new senior officers for the next school year. All these commemorate the hardwork and dedication that the senior officers have put it throughout their career at Benedictine.

On the other hand are senior privates: the life of a senior private is uninterrupted compared to the life of an officer. The only tasks privates have are to attend formation and to wear the correct uniform. The majority of these senior Cadets are placed together in Headquarters Company, which causes chaos at times. There is no real downside to being a senior private: as long as one follows the rules and does what he is supposed to do, life will be simple. Some senior privates are a part of the National Honor Society and have the opportunity to earn the rank of master sergeant if they behave well throughout the year. These Cadets have the ability to achieve officer rank (assuming they remain in good standing) if a current officer is removed or turns in his rank. of players ready to go if their starters got tired. We had no one to take our place if we felt fatigued. Only an injury to the head would prevent you from jogging back onto the field. This year we have a handful of Cadets who came out which helped us greatly. Our team had a few seniors that are going to be hard to replace. I know we have team members like Kegan McCallum, the Janus brothers, Cristian Ramos and Christian Ferrell ready to step up to the challenge.”

Baseball has also had a strong start. The team has been stacked with senior players such as Daniel Lingle, Terrence Rhodes, Jagen Ratlief, Luke Franko, Nick Howe, Ethan Loucks and Ryan Sellers. Unlike rugby, they have a handful of juniors and sophomores fighting for a spot to represent the school at varsity level in the diamond. The field has plenty of talent in every position for every grade level.

“I think we are losing a couple of really good key players,” said Christos Rubis. “However, we still will have a very strong team with lots of potential and the possibility of being title contenders for next season.”

The Benedictine football team has had seniors playing the main roles in the offensive and defensive lines for the last couple of years, leading them to the championship games in 2021 and 2022. Top players like Joel Starlings, Jacob Moore, Myles Bridges, David Ngendakuriyo and Terae Baldwin leave the team with some massive shoes to fill. Luckily the team has junior, sophomore and even a couple freshmen stars ready to rumble.

The BCP Basketball team’s search for a new coach has concluded. Bill Dooley has been selected as the varsity coach. He brings over 30 years of coaching experience from the International Irish men’s basketball team, University of Richmond, Virginia Tech, Hartford, LaSalle, George Mason and Delaware Valley. With Quentin Toulson, Omar Johnson and Marshall Williams stepping off the court, Benedictine still has a cabinet full of weapons for Coach Dooley to unleash next winter.