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At a Glance

In With the New: Class of ’28 Bathed In Blue

Jr. Bills have a cracking time in Krakow, exploring city’s culture. Page 3

Students held captive as Baltic banter goes too far. Russian students take on Latvia and Lithuania on a summer immersion trip across the pond.

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Fast and Furious 12? The SpeedBills dominated in Illinois, brings home 1st and SLUH’s all-time fastest race.

To the top! SLUH soccer has almost reached the peak of St. Louis soccer, ranking 2nd in the city after a dominant week.

Page 6

The Jr. Bills dive into a dominant win over Parkway South.

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Hungry for Moore. SLUH Football has eyes set on an exciting season after a dramatic home opener win vs. Hillsboro. Page 7

BY Thomas Juergens and Madhavan Anbukumar Core Staff, Staff

The St. Louis U. High School campus was a sea of blue last Friday night as the Running of the Bills kicked off the football team’s first home game. This cherished event, which serves as a rite of pas -

sage for incoming freshmen, was filled with energy, enthusiasm, and blue paint.

The evening began with a series of competitions between freshman advisories to help them bond and acclimate to the SLUH brotherhood. The fun started in the Field House and the Rec Room with a variety of games from ping-pong

Under Pressure: Weather balloon ventures to the edge of the world

to bashball. Freshmen also participated in a trivia contest held in the Si Commons. This lively environment set the stage for the evening’s festivities.

As the evening went on, the freshmen and Senior Advisors gathered for a hearty dinner of burgers, chips, cookies, and soda

continued on page 4

BY Henry Hassenstab and Hendrix Fyvie reporters

Everything from Beyoncé to BMWs were displayed last Friday as St. Louis University High held its annual Activities Fair, an exposition event for most of SLUH’s extracurricular clubs and affinity groups. Over 70 clubs were part of the fair, which took place on the Circle Drive, and the fair was a joint venture for the Food Drive, where StuCo sold Pretzel Boys and donuts to raise money for freshman service.

The Activities Fair provided an opportunity for students to explore the many clubs that SLUH has to offer. Members and faculty who participate in the clubs had tables for posters, sign up sheets, and items representing their club.

“I was most interested in robotics due to my fascination with computer programming and coding,” said freshman Mack West.

“The club I was the most interested in was the Bushwhacking Club, because you get to go camping and learn survival skills,” said freshman William Doerhoff. “It interested me because I have been camping since a young age and I enjoy it a lot.”

BY Leo Hahn Features Editor

Feature

The epic and long-awaited return of paper towels this school year means hands and hallways will remain dry. This monumental return comes two years after paper towels were infamously removed from St. Louis U. High restrooms as an environmental measure, but there are already talks of removing them again after a recent wave of seemingly intentional cloggings.

The discussion for the return of paper towels has been taking place over a long period of time, with varying degrees of seriousness. Students and teachers alike expressed interest in their return.

St. Louis U.

Environmental

past

The balloon provided great data and photos

before coming down in Illinois.

“Big picture is we’re looking at climate, and climate change,” said Anderson. “Climate is long-term patterns, primarily temperature and precipitation. Weather is on a given day.”

By sending out a weather balloon to take data on the wind speed, temperature, pressure, weather, among other

“I think it was one of the things that we had talked about almost, kind of in a joking way, in different circles around the school,” said Assistant Principal for Student Life Brock Kesterson. “Some teachers kind of wanted them back, and then I would have informal conversations with students like, ‘When are we getting our paper towels back?’”

After two years of paper towel dispensers collecting dust in storage, they

were finally reinstalled in time for the 2024-’25 school year by Director of Maintenance Rick Figge and Director of Facilities Services Joe Rankin.

It’s important to note that the dispensers were only removed from the highest trafficked restrooms of the school: all M-wing, locker room, Si Commons, and theater lobby restrooms. All teacher restrooms, J-wing restrooms, and Field House restrooms were left untouched.

But what caused paper towels to be removed in the first place? Two years ago an unruly student (or students) began deliberately flushing paper towels down the school toilets. Because the standard brown paper towels aren’t as biodegradable as toilet paper, this quickly created blockages in the building’s 100-year-old plumbing system.

“There’s an older system, it’s all ceramic and clay piping,” said Director of Security Dan Schulte. “And that’s over $1000 to fix that clog. So, the clog is because people are putting paper towels down the toilet, not trash cans. They have to literally walk further away to make that a problem, which makes it seem pretty intentional.”

The Activities Fair isn’t just continued on page 4

photo | Kathy Chott

The blue-painted Class of 2028 roars for Zach Allen’s first touchdown. continued

BY Micah Doherty and Lucas Hayden Editor in Chief, News Editor

High’s

STEM class, taught by science teacher Bill Anderson, launched their annual weather balloon this

alike

The weather balloon floats above Earth. photo | Courtesy of Bill Anderson

Game on: Fitts joins as Director of Athletic Performance

BY Jens Istvan Core Staff

Fitts has joined the St. Louis U. High staff in the role of Director of Athletic Performance and has already taken steps to level up the school’s sports teams as well as foster a healthy and active community.

Fitts has been working with the football and lacrosse teams, but he eventually hopes to expand his program to include more of the student body.

“The overall goal is to work with every athletic team in some way, shape or form,” said Fitts.

After only a few weeks, the weight room is already more organized after school. Football and lacrosse team lifts on the day have forced Fitts to come up with an organizational solution. Now, near the entrance of the weight room, a whiteboard features which racks and machines are being used by which sport.

“I have football and lacrosse coming in today, so you could imagine it’s a lot of a lot of people, probably 100 bodies in here,” Fitts said.

“Coach Fitts has (already) helped me grow and develop as a person and athlete,” said senior Jakob White. “Immediately he started implementing new ways to do the team workouts for football and maximizing our efficien-

cy. Instead of doing a certain number of sets per workout, we just do as many as we can in ten minutes then switch to a different station where we focus on another part of our body.”

In addition to working with sports teams, Fitts has begun working with other students by means of the weightlifting club, a recent re-addition to SLUH’s list of extracurricular activities.

“Some of the guys asked if we could restart the weightlifting club,” said Fitts, “And I’m all for it, that community fitness. Some of them are athletes, but it’s a different way to approach it than just working with the athletic population.”

Fitts and the club are offering open lifts during Activity Periods, with a program for each day written out on the whiteboard near the entrance. Not only are these lifts a good way to get involved with the SLUH community, but there are also numerous benefits to mid-day exercise.

“From a physiological standpoint, your body is actually able to absorb more information and retain more information from classes if you get your blood flow up during the day, during something like an Activity Period,”

said Fitts.

“I know academics is a huge priority here, and that’s one of the great things about SLUH. I want to mirror that with what we do here to help with improving the academics. If you’re able to retain more information that you learned in class, then it’s going to help,” said Fitts.

Fitts’ favorite verse from the Bible is 2 Samuel 22:2, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,” and this verse reflects a lot about what he brings to the SLUH student body. In helping make the weight room more accessible and organized, Fitts keeps his eye on what’s really important, doing what is best for the student body and following SLUH’s Jesuit mission.

Environmental Services refreshed with promotion, two new hires

BY Lucas Hayden and Gavin Simon News Editor, Staff

Although it’s one aspect of St. Louis U. High that students can miss on a daily basis if they don’t look closely enough, Environmental Services has both a familiar face in a new role—Environmental Services Director Emmitte Prince—and new EVS staff hires Gerald Brown and Ryan Baker.

Prince was promoted at the end of May as an interim director of the department, and then as the director in August. Prince had already been carrying out many of the tasks the normally associated with the role, but the promotion added responsibilities such as payroll, and taking on new employees.

“It has been an absolute pleasure working with Emmitte Prince since 2007 in his role within the EVS department,” said Director of Facilities Services Joe Rankin in an email to the Prep News. “His unwavering dedication and exceptional work ethic have greatly contributed to our team’s success over the years. It is with great pride that we acknowledge his well-deserved promotion this past summer, a testament to his commitment and outstanding performance. Emmitte truly embodies the spirit of excellence, and we are fortunate to have him as part of our team.”

Although the title is new, it hasn’t come with much change in tasks for Prince—partly because

he was doing many of the tasks a director would already, and partly because every day looks so different.

“My day is really interesting. Whatever they put on the calendar, we just try to get it done. As long as they give me enough leeway, we always manage to get it done,” said Prince.

However, while fewer new things to get used to means less difficulty adjusting, there are still challenges that come with the job, especially when it comes to scheduling, which Prince says is challenging.

All in all though, Prince is settling into his new role smoothly. One thing he did to start off the year was hire two new members of Environmental Services.

Gerald Brown has been on the EVS staff for about two weeks, and says he has adapted well to the new work environment at SLUH, which is much different from the environment at his previous jobs.

“Before I came here, I was doing a little decorating work down at the American Center,” Brown said. “My job was all about setting up shows and breaking them down. It wasn’t everyday work, only when people booked shows.”

When Brown learned about the job opening at SLUH from his advisor, he was immediately keen on the opportunity.

“The job is pretty competitive,” Brown said. “A lot of people want this position. There was a waitlist for about a couple of months, but I was happy to get through the application

process and finally get the job.”

Even though being an Environmental Services member at SLUH takes more time and effort than his previous work, Brown couldn’t be happier with his new job.

“We all love it here,” Brown said. “It’s a pretty big school and I’m learning my way around, but I love it, for sure.”

The other new hire, Ryan Baker, who has been in the custodial business for 15 years, has also definitely earned his stripes on the job.

“I’ve been in two or three districts. Normandy, Webster Groves, and Adams Elementary School, so yeah, you know, I’ve been doing this for a little minute,” said Baker.

When he saw the job posting for SLUH, he jumped on it.

“I was familiar with the area, and I was familiar with the school,” said Baker. “I didn’t really want to be at the (SLU) campus because that’s really big, but I’m used to elementary all the way through high school, you know? So I was like ‘Hey man, let me give it a shot.’”

All in all, the new shape of EVS this year looks incredibly promising.

“I like being here. I’ve been here 23 years, and I like being here,” said Prince. “It’s a good job, a good place to work for, and I’m planning on retiring here if I could. It’s a good place to work. I like the people around here, everybody’s friendly, I get along with everybody. It’s a good place to go.”

Up, up, and away: Environmental STEM launches annual weather balloon

(continued from page 1)

variables each summer and winter, long term patterns in weather can be tracked and more accurately examine the climate of the area and how it’s changing over time.

“The longer we do this, the better our data gets, because it gives us more data points to look for trends,” said Anderson. “When we send up the balloon, we measure temperature, pressure, the percent of oxygen, the relative humidity and UVA, and we will also get wind speed, and altitude, obviously, because we’re trying to see how all of those variables change with altitude.”

However, great results didn’t happen effortlessly. Setting up the weather balloon takes lots of time before each launch.

“They spent a couple of weeks writing Python code for the Raspberry Pi cameras that we send, we send three cameras and the pictures they get are really, really cool,” said Anderson. “So, they spent quite a bit of time learning how to write Python code, and get cameras to do what they wanted, because each camera captures pictures at a different rate.”

“In the weeks leading up to the launch, we assembled the payload of cameras, sensors, trackers, and other stuff as well as programmed the different cameras,” said senior Charlie Dougherty. “The programming was done in Python on a Raspberry Pi, and it was extremely fun to do.”

After all the programming, the class spent a few days putting the actual balloon together, fastening all the instruments onto the frame securely. Once the day of the launch came around, new batteries were installed in all of the equipment and cameras were powered on before making a few last minute attachments to the frame and carrying it

outside for launch.

“We attached the balloon … to the parachute then the parachute to the payload,” said Anderson. “There were several days for them to start practicing how to tie knots. Then we inflated the balloon and let it go, and it goes where it goes. We’ve got software that does a pretty good job of predicting its flight, and then the trackers that we put on it, there’s three trackers, follow it much more closely.”

“Launching the balloon is one of my favorite days of the year,” said Director of IT Jon Dickmann. “It’s just a ton of fun to see the culmination of all of our work.”

This year, the weather was in favor of the group as they were able to efficiently send the balloon up and follow it along its path.

“The winds were really calm, so it went up really slowly,” said Dickmann. “We got some nice shots of the campus. It kind of hung out over Forest Park for a while.”

The balloon works by being filled with helium in order to rise to a certain point until there is as little pressure in the air as necessary for the balloon to pop, because gasses such as helium expand when under lower pressure, stretching and eventually popping the balloon, which can grow to about 20

times its size on the ground.

“It was really fun doing the launch, all the work so far with coding and then assembling the package with data collectors seeing that come to fruition,” said senior Joe Mannello. “I know the anticipation for the launch was growing substantially every day we got closer so it was quite fulfilling to see our work succeed.”

“It was a very interesting and fun experience,” said senior Gavin Moyich. “We all had our jobs on the day of the launch to make the launch go as smoothly as possible. I had the job of helping blow up the actually balloon.”

As the balloon drifted, Anderson and Dickmann tracked the balloon’s path and followed it to Highland, Illinois. Because the wind was still affecting the balloon, the team had to do a little backtracking and back-backtracking to ensure they were in the right spot for it to come down, but eventually it floated down on parachute and was able to be collected all in one piece.

“The guys this year did an exceptionally good job with their organization, like when we’re outside. So everybody has a job, and they were right on it, on task, everything went real smooth,” said Anderson. “And it took off without a hitch, so yeah they did good.”

photo | Kathy Chott Fitts.

The Environmental STEM class, as seen from the balloon.

The instant the balloon popped in Earth’s atmosphere.

A balloon’s eye view of SLUH. all photos | Courtesy of Bill Anderson

Russian IV students take on Lithuania, Latvia in first Russian language trip in five years

BY Lincoln Shorley and Patrick BYrne Core Staff

Over the summer, eight rising seniors made the trip across the sea to immerse themselves in Lithuanian and Latvian cultures and in the Russian language.

Because of the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine, students were forced to travel to alternative countries where the primary language is not Russian. It’s an unfortunate situation, especially for students wanting to experience the language they’ve spent three years studying, but the Global Ed program made the best of the situation by having the students stay with Russian-speaking host families and attending classes taught only in Russian. They not only grew as speakers, but also had the opportunity to learn about Russian culture and their way of life.

“The trip definitely helped me in understanding the Russian language, but not as much as it helped me understand cultural norms and stuff like that,” said senior Henry Birkmeier.

It has been five years since Russian students were able to travel to immerse themselves in the Russian culture and language.

“This was the first time since 2019 that we were able to go on an immersion trip, and that year we went to St. Petersburg, Russia,” said Russian teacher Marina Chura. “It was also the first time that I went with students I taught, so I knew each of them pretty well.”

The students began their trip in Vilnius, Lithuania, the capital and largest city in the country. Vilnius is known for its grand architecture in its city and students experience this while walking through and exploring the city finding

joy in different things.

“We went to a TV tower in Vilnius that was pretty cool,” said senior Jaden Yarbrough. “It was kind of similar to the space needle in Seattle, but just going up there, you got to see a bird’s eye view of the city.”

The students spent four days in Vilnius, growing their understanding of Russian culture and exploring the beauty of the city. During the four days, the students stayed in a hotel prior to leaving for their next destination and participated in many exciting excursions and activities that grew the students’ appreciation for the city’s unique cultural identity.

After the four days in Vilnius, the students went on their way to Riga, Latvia, the capital and the largest city in the country. In Riga, students stayed with host families, which helped to improve their language skills by having them be surrounded by Russian at all times.

“I probably learned the most Russian during the time I spent with my host family,” said senior Cyrus Ranek. “The only way I could communicate with these people was to get really good at Russian really quick.”

In Riga, the students experienced a tour of the whole city by going to the many museums, concert halls, and other significant places completely different from anything the students had seen before.

“One of my favorite parts was doing a little paddle boat journey with Ben Shup. There is this river in downtown Riga and it used to be used as a moat surrounding the city, and we paddleboated in it,” said Birkmeier. “It was cool to go through the downtown area and see everyone from the water and see the fountains (too).”

Outside of Russian at home, students spent every day in three hours of Russian class at the Baltic Center

From the Archive

Editor’s Note: Following the attacksonSept.11th,2001,then-Editor in Chief Andrew Ivers wrote a commentary on his own experience of the day. The following is the original commentary that was published on the front page of Prep News Volume 66 Issue 3. On Tuesday morning, I walked into my second period classroom—for Latin IV with Mark Tychonievich—worrying about the previous night’s translation homework, which I had yet to complete. The television’s corner was brighter than usual: I was taken aback. As we filed in, Tychonievich told us to sit down. This was the day’s lesson. You want to go to school?

Tychonievich asked in a realistic tone his friends know well. This is it. The twin towers of the World Trade Center looked like smoke

in Riga. The Baltic Center has worked with schools like the Georgia Institute of Technology and Stanford University. These daily classes strongly improved the students Russian speaking and vocabulary skills on a technical level.

Accompanying the students on the trip was English teacher and current Russian student Chuck Hussung. He came along to enjoy the culture and learn more about Russian as a semichaperone and semi-student of the language. Like the students, Hussung went to class each day and stayed with a host family.

”Mr. Chura gave me the option of staying in a hotel or with a host family,” said Hussung. “However much my Russian improved during that trip, it improved the most staying with the family.”

Hussung explored the city too, finding joy and wonder in the many things he saw and experienced. He especially enjoyed the stories that he was told while he was exploring the various parts of the city.

”We took a tour of the Jesuit high school in Vilnius, and our tour guide was a Jesuit priest,” said Hussung. “He had served in the Soviet army when he was young and then he trained to be a Jesuit in the underground Catholic Church of Lithuania during Soviet rule. It fascinates me, makes me want to know more.”

Overall, the students greatly enjoyed their time in the two countries. It allowed them to advance in their understanding of the Russian language and to experience Russian culture while still appreciating the interesting cultures of both countries too.

”I would recommend this trip one hundred percent to any rising Russian students,” said Yarborough. “I not only gained a lot of proficiency and experience in the language but also learned a lot from the cultural perspective.”

Witam,

Poland! Jointschool trip immerses in culture, history

BY Finn Rose reporter

Taking a step into the Polish past and present, a group of students from St. Louis U. High, Nerinx Hall, and St. Joseph’s Academy boarded a flight on May 25, 2024, for a 16-day summer exchange program. They landed in Krakow, Poland, and had classes at SLUH’s Jesuit partner school, Kostka High School. Students stayed with exchange families in their homes and learned about Polish culture. Director of Global Education Rob Chura traveled with the students.

In Krakow, students had the opportunity to visit Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, a former metal factory. Krakow was a major filming site for the movie Schindler’s List, which featured this factory.

Students visited Auschwitz and had the chance to speak with a Holocaust survivor, who was given up by her parents during the war because of her Jewish descent. Students discussed with her what her childhood was like as a refugee hiding her identity. Chura remembers in particular a plaque in a gift shop that he thinks represented what students took away from the experience: “Eleventh Commandment: Don’t be a bystander.”

After a week in Krakow, students traveled north by train to Gdynia, Poland, on the Baltic Sea. They visited another SLUH partner school, St. Stanislaus, and again stayed with new host families. Students learned about more modern Polish history in Gdynia, where they visited the Gdansk shipyards and the European Solidarity Center, where the Solidarnosc movement was started by Poland’s first president, Lech Walesa.

Students had a day of service in Gdynia, where they visited Dom Marzen, which translates to “House of Dreams.” Don Marzen is a home for mentally handicapped adults and teens to develop independent skills. Students worked with the residents and heard their stories.

Chura oversees many exchange

programs throughout the year, but it is a much rarer occurrence when he attends one. The two partner schools in Poland often participated in virtual exchange programs, so Chura wanted a chance to visit in person, with the hope of establishing a Polish exchange program. His first visit to Poland was planned for March of 2022. When war broke out in February between neighboring Ukraine and Russia, it gave Chura a new purpose for the trip.

While volunteering to assist Ukrainian refugees, Chura and school administrators realized that the war in Ukraine was not going away soon. This exchange program was the result of SLUH and its Polish partner schools wanting to play a positive role, and they have succeeded in doing so. As the war has slowly simmered down, the service aspect of the trip shifted to more local community service in Krakow and Gdynia.

“When the war started in February, that added an extra dimension to the potential program that we were hoping to develop together,” said Chura.

Chura wanted to give his Russian students a chance to view the war up close, and to see and talk to Ukrainian refugees flooding in. The program became more focused on Poland and less on Russia over time, and it is now open to all students. Despite not having a Polish course at SLUH, Chura feels that this trip teaches students a valuable lesson about a different culture.

As stated by Chura, the goal of this and all other programs is to create an opportunity for students to engage with peers and adults, celebrate differences, and connect and collaborate.

“That word ‘collaborate’ is so powerful and important. Cooperate is one thing, where everybody comes together and agrees to do things by the same set of rules. Collaborate is when people come together and really do something that’s new and exciting that both groups have developed together,” said Chura.

How it felt at SLUH on September 11th

stacks, as Tychonievich later observed.

We were watching because there was nothing to do which was more important, yet I think very few of us felt or knew the magnitude of the situation. About ten minutes later, the South Tower collapsed. I excused myself and made a brief search of the upper halls, trying to find any students or teachers upon whom I could impart the information. They needed to know. I could honestly think of nothing else besides relating the situation to anyone I could. I found Latin teacher Mary Lee McConaghy conversing with a sole student in her classroom.

As I entered her room, I told myself she had surely heard something; she had not. I spit out the information: hijacked planes …

the Pentagon … the World Trade Center towers … one already fell … . Then I said a word which has stood by itself on countless lips the last few days: “It’s …”. I could not finish the thought. I finally said “ridiculous,” then immediately realized my understatement. Soon we were back in Tychonievich’s room. The second tower fell. The Pentagon was on fire. Lower Manhattan was a cloudy pile of rubble. Another attacking plane might be 25 minutes from Washington. All I could think of was precedent. I realized there was none.

I thought about the way the Great Depression reconfigured the mentality of one or two generations directly and changed the basics of the U.S. economic and federal banking system. I thought of the way World War II elevated

the U.S. to the peak of a global pedestal, again, changing the American mentality. Tychonievich was right in assessing the situation’s gravity: things happened on Tuesday that had never happened in our nation’s history. I realized I was living through a moment of before and after. Some of America’s most prominent establishments— from industrial Manhattan to the view Americans have of their security—had been “All changed, changed utterly,” as Yeats said in his poem “Easter 1916.” He was talking about the execution of 16 Irish nationals by English officers after an uprising in Dublin which transformed the men from questionable rebels into heroes and invoked fervent support for the Nationalist cause among the Irish. He knew the world after that ac -

tion would be completely new and different. And so it is now.

As I watched the events unfold, I did not think of the casualties. I will admit that. The sheer awe the acts against the country inspired was what mainly drove my emotions on Tuesday. Now we live in a different world: the world after. Bush lived like a ghost on the evening news; political and military headlines on old newspapers in my room seemed completely unimportant. The gravity of the perceived and the palpable repercussions alone are too much for me to think of; such an utter change is too much to comprehend.

The group outside a castle. photo | Courtesy of Stephen Niklawski

photo | Henry Birkmeier

Ben Shup in the stocks.

Paint and chants welcome freshmen at Running of the Bills

(continued from page 1)

provided by Food Service. This meal served not only as energy for the evening, but also as the calm before the storm.

One of the highlights of the evening was the pep rally in the Field House led by StuCo and Blue Crew. Senior spirit leaders Steven Baudendistel and Alex Rose were instrumental in energizing the freshmen.

“The spirit guys prep pretty much the entire year for the Running of the Bills: cheers, what we need, assembling Blue Crew, etc.” said Baudendistel.

“As a spirit leader, we were in charge of teaching and coordinating the cheers for the freshmen,” said Rose. “We had a very short window of time to teach them the ‘student section basics’. We want -

ed the pep rally to be calculated chaos, where we bring as much energy and calamity to the freshmen as possible.”

The actual Running of the Bills followed the pep rally, with freshmen dousing themselves head-totoe in blue paint.

“My favorite part was seeing everyone in blue yelling and just being really happy and rowdy,” said freshman Guhan Anbukumar.

Seniors helped with the painting, dumping the gallons of paint onto the freshmen, while a myriad of family, friends, and upperclassmen looked on.

“My senior advisor, John Powers, is really helpful,” said Anbukumar. “He was super happy, and he dumped paint in our hands. He really made it a good experience, a fun experience.”

Paper towels return, future status questionable

(continued from page 1)

Even though paper towels have only been back again for the first month of the school year, there are already plumbing issues. Last week a clog originated from the Si Commons area, either the locker rooms or the Commons restrooms. As a result, a plumbing company had to be hired to snake the pipes, and later power flush the whole system. The cost of the operation isn’t quoted yet, but it’s expected to be similar to two years ago.

The alternative to paper towels would be the upgrading of all automatic hand dryers throughout the school, an operation that would be costly and time con suming. SLUH didn’t even have paper towels until the Covid-19 pandemic, when they were added as a more sanitary option to auto matic hand dryers.

sophomore years I had frequent nosebleeds,” said junior Wyatt Ogier. “And that meant a lot of awkward runs to the Main Office for tissues when classrooms didn’t have any, so the paper towels being back is a huge plus in my opinion.”

“It’s awesome,” said junior Uriah Binder. “Before it really sucked because the blow dryers don’t really help, and they actually blew back germs into your hands. The paper towels are environmentally bad, but honestly I’m not sure if it’s worth not having them.”

“If we’re gonna say no, 100 percent to paper towels, we have to do some upgrading on the hand dryers,” said Sculte. “It’s expensive. Why are we spending money on something like that? Wouldn’t you want something cool to spend the money on?”

Despite the current issues, students are happy to see the return of paper towels after two years of damp hands and wet floors. Also, since dispensers in classrooms weren’t frequently refilled, many students lacked access to tissues or napkins during classes.

“Yeah during my freshman and

The iconic run up Oakland itself serves as a symbolic welcome to the SLUH community.

“I’ve been a part of every Running of the Bills that has existed while I’ve been in SLUH. I did it as a freshman, and then I did it as StuCo for the last three years,” said Student Body President Noah Butler. “And so what does that blue paint represent? It represents a continuation of tradition and brotherhood that has lasted here on Oakland Avenue for the last one hundred years, and as a school community for over two hundred years. Obviously, Running of the Bills didn’t exist for the whole time. But it represents the fact that we’re still doing this, and that this tradition is so special to SLUH and to who we are, so to get to share in that was something that’s really special to me, and that was my highlight of the night.”

The experience of the Running is exhilarating. The mob of blue starts its run at the bottom of the turnaround, making its way up Oakland and stopping to fill the north side of the bleachers.

“The first five seconds of the actual running was something I’ll never forget. I was holding the massive SLUH flag which meant I was the first to run,” said Rose, “When Mr. Curdt gave me the thumbs up to go, I turned around and looked at the 300 people behind me, screamed, and started running. I definitely had a ‘God moment’ realizing that in those moments I had initiated an event

that those kids will never forget.”

“I felt the brotherhood surging through my veins,” said freshman Ryan Safar. “Me and the boys, getting painted, screaming, it was just so much fun.”

The freshmen and Senior Advisors then joined the student section at the football game, creating the iconic image of the blue freshmen contrasting with the Senior Advisors, clad in orange.

“Keeping the energy high is always a challenge. Football is a long game, and it’s often hard to keep the energy the entire game. With that being said, us having a good football team and winning the game helped us immensely,” said Baudendistel.

The event’s smooth execution was a result of meticulous planning and coordination, which paid off in the overwhelming success of the event.

“I thought the freshmen listened really well to the instructions,” said math teacher and Freshman Class Moderator Julie Moeser. “We were a little concerned at one point about some Hillsboro fans parking up the Circle Drive. We worried about potential accidents if (a blue freshman) ran into a car, but Mr. Curdt quickly updated his instructional slideshow and had some Senior Advisors stationed to prevent any issues. I didn’t see anyone trip or fall, which was a relief. Last year we had a couple of injuries, but this year went really smoothly.”

English Teacher Tim Curdt

has been pivotal in organizing the Running of the Bills for 24 years.

“After all the details about the schedule for Fun Day are set, we focus on coordinating our work with SLUH administration, security, and other departments,” said Curdt, “It’s a total team effort to ensure everything runs smoothly.”

The event’s impact on the SLUH brotherhood is profound. It not only welcomes new students, but also fosters a strong sense of unity and school spirit.

“The Running of the Bills is amazing, because it very clearly lays out the idea of brotherhood at SLUH,” said Rose. “It shows us that everyone is in the same boat, regardless of personality, race, or where you live.”

Activities Fair invites students into new extracurricular opportunities

Menne. “The Car Club brought a car to the fair, so having it outside, while it’s hot and very sunny, allowed us to have room for more activity, making it seem a little more fun.”

“I really enjoyed the BMW that was brought in by the Car Club,” said junior Brayden Bussmann.

Alongside paper towels, some restrooms also have new soaps. With sleek clear casings and a satisfying pink color, the new cranberry-scented hand soap has already improved the smell in the few restrooms it has been added to. Could the return of paper towels be the final nail in its own coffin? If patterns continue it could very well be their last year, and who knows how long it would take them to return. The future of SLUH’s restrooms is in the now dry hands of the student body. Will they flush their hopes for cleanliness down the drain? Or will responsibility prevail? Only time will tell.

“It’s such silliness too,” said Kesterson. “Like it doesn’t have to be that way. Accidents happen. This is not an accident.”

(continued from page 1)

meant for freshmen, but for all SLUH students to explore the many clubs that SLUH has to offer.

This year’s Activities Fair was in a few ways different from years past. One key difference this year was the fact that the coordinator, Director of Student Activities Megan Menne, took up most of the planning for the event.

“Because StuCo has so much on their plate due to activities like the food drive, BTSM, and Spirit Week, I decided that I would try to help lessen their workload and take the reins on this event,” said Menne. “I think that letting them focus on other aspects of the social atmosphere at SLUH was the right thing to do.”

Menne’s job was to coordinate with both student and faculty moderators of the various clubs and activities, and to get them to bring their supplies and volunteers to sell the clubs to any incoming freshman or others who wanted to join extracurricular activities.

Activities Fair was once again held outside, as it was last year.

Holding the fair outside allowed for clubs to have freedom for movement that wouldn’t be possible indoors. The weather, while warm, was luckily perfect for an outdoor assembly.

“It allows for clubs like the Disc Golf Club, Rugby Club, and Hispanos y Latinos Unidos to kick the soccer ball around, throw the frisbee around, and whatnot,” said

One final key difference when compared to last year was that due to limitations within the SLUH schedule, the Activities Fair was limited to one Activity Period; last year, it took up a modified Advisory/Studium/Lunch block, which was about three hours long. Despite this, the Activities Fair still attracted a large crowd of SLUH students and was a very successful day.

“We had 72 clubs that participated and there were students outside the entire time,” said Menne. “So it seemed like it went really well.”

photo | Aidan Giljum

Drake Dedert, Nick Francis, Parker Townsend, Brennan Burke, and Graham Urban pose for a flick.

Alex Rose commences the run.

photo | Harrison Renner

Seniors Nick Ridgway and Jakob White peek under the hood of the BMW displayed by Car Club.

Hispanos y Latinos Unidos members.

photo | Kathy Chott

photo | Kathy Chott

Record Bandits

S P O R T S

Cross Country can’t keep their hands off the history books

BY Otto Reitenbach and Tristian Kujawa Core Staff, Staff

The St. Louis U. High Cross Country team officially put the rest of the state on notice. The Jr. Bills opened their season with a strong underclassmen performance at the O’Fallon Futures Invitational followed by a varsity win in dominant fashion at the Granite City Invitational.

What could top a performance like that? Perhaps the fastest race in school history? Last Saturday, the SLUH varsity squad opened its season with an amazing performance, announcing themselves as one of the top teams in the state.

The Jr. Bills led early, with sophomore Jackson Miller leading senior Alex Bendaña and sophomore Michael Luna through the first mile in 4:45. Teamwork is often overlooked in what may seem like a highly individual sport, but the cooperation and group running of the SLUH pack has been a key part of the team‘s success.

The fast pace didn’t let up, as Miller battled O’Fallon senior Zach Thoman for control of first, trailing by only 0.8 seconds for a final three mile time of 14:21. Bendaña wasn’t far behind, finishing in blazing fast 14:31 for third place. Both of these times demolished the 14-year-old school record of 14:55 set by Tim Rackers in 2010.

Senior Gus Talleur took home 8th in 14:56, an incredible achievement not to be overshadowed by the team‘s high performances across the board. Sophomore Luke Hartweger (15:14.1) and Luna

(15.14.8) rounded out the scoring five. Juniors Nick Alheim (15:20, 20th place) and Jaden Elgin (15:28, 22nd) completed an absolutely dominant performance by the Jr. Bills.

The average scoring time of 14:51 is the fastest in SLUH’s history, setting the bar high for a season of success.

“We did a great job going out in that race,” said Talleur. “Seeing that we had seven of the top ten spots was pretty inspiring to me. It gave me some great confidence later on to go after and chase Alex and Jackson. It was very awesome.”

After the dominance of the varsity, SLUH freshmen and sophomores in the B/C race looked to do the same. Sophomores Ben Yoffie and Joe Talleur were up front early running the first mile in a 5:08, with competition following closely at the time. At two miles, they were still right alongside each other, splitting a 5:21 mile, until Yoffie made the move to push the pace. Splitting a 5:04 last mile, Yoffie gapped the entire field in fashion to win in 15:32.

“I knew it was a fast course so I was really pushing for a good time in the last mile, even with no one around,” said Yoffie. “When I saw my teammates cheering me on it also made me push more in the end.”

Finishing strong is something that the Jr. Bills have been practicing throughout many of their workouts throughout the season and it was executed perfectly by Yoffie. Behind him was Talleur in 16:11 snagging 6th place for a top ten finish. Sophomore Nathan Khouri was not far behind in 16:22, an almost six minute improvement from his 22:05 time last year, an outstanding

achievement proving further the grit and intensity that the team has put in in the offseason.

Finishing out the top 5 in the B/C race was sophomore Edmund in 16:58 and freshman Gibby Fyvie in 17:02, cementing himself as one of the best in his class in the early season.

Despite the fast times, a scoring spread of 1:30 was just too much for the Jr. Bills to win, and they took sec ond place behind a strong O’Fallon team.

“It shows we are starting from a very strong place,” said assistant coach Charlie Hatch. “Although we cannot get caught up in these early results, they do show that our program on all levels can go up against some of the best teams in the St. Louis region and Illinois.”

The penultimate the day was the open which SLUH has ruled every year at Granite Much like the B/C there was another

duo leading the front with juniors Hendrix Fyvie and Jake Fitzpatrick coming through the first mile in 5:15, a slow starting mile for athletes of this caliber. As they hit the asphalt for mile 2, Hendrix Fyvie made his move, definitively dropping a sub-5 second mile with Fitzpatrick only 5 seconds behind. This move made the race play out in just the way Fyvie wanted it to, winning in 15:35. Fitzpatrick was close behind for second in 15:48.

Rounding out the top five were fellow juniors Tristan Kujawa (16:13) and Preston Eash (16:16) and senior Paddy Jones (16:47). All five scorers were in the top ten of this race, securing the team win.

“We have tons of potential this year from all levels of the team,” said Hatch. “I think also though we have extremely strong competition in the state which will bring out the best of the program later on in the season.”

As more open racers finished into the finish line, there were many high fives and “U’s” being thrown up showcasing another dynamic aspect of the team: the brotherhood.

Granite City wasn’t the only dominant performance from the Bills this week either. Last Wednesday, SLUH’s freshman and sophomore runners trekked across the Mississippi to O’Fallon, Illinois to take on early crossstate competition. The result: complete domination by the Jr. Bills. SLUH defeated the second place O’Fallon Pan-

Athlete of the Week: Alex Bendaña

thers by a score of 35 to 57 in the freshman race.

“This was really a good test for the freshmen to kind of get that experience to race,” said assistant coach Mike Lally. “I was really happy to see some of them find that balance on the course.”

The sophomores followed up on the momentum by scoring an impressive low of 21 points.

Yoffie set a new meet record of 16:01 for the three mile race, the fourth straight year a new meet record has been set by a Jr. Bill.

“We expected this very impressive performance from the sophomores,” said Lally. “I think Yoffie had a great finish and good starting point from guys like Edmund Reske. Most importantly of all though we saw huge leaps from guys like Nathan Khouri and Mark Schoemehl which is a testament to the hard work they have been putting in.”

SLUH’s depth was on full display, snagging 11 of the 20 available medals. This meet set the tone for underclassmen competition, and prepared the team for a successful season to come.

The dominance looks to continue this Saturday as the program hosts the annual Forest Park Cross Country Festival. The meet brings in over 4,000 athletes and more than 10,000 spectators from more than 5 states providing a perfect time for the program to test its true depth. The Varsity squad races at 8:40 a.m., where Miller and Bendana hope to continue their successful trend by adding their names to the forefront of SLUH cross country records.

BY Theo Agniel Sports Editor

Senior Alex Bendaña has flown under the radar for the past couple of years in the St. Louis U. High cross country program, scoring consistently for the team as one of its top varsity runners. However, there was nothing under the radar in his past race at the Granite City Invite, as the runner soared to new heights breaking the school’s previous three mile record of 14:55 by an astonishing 24 seconds (final time of 14:31). Bendaña’s miraculous run spurred the Jr. Bills to a landslide victory at the meet, and his presence in the squad is key to their hopes of winning a state championship for the first time since 2013.

Theo Agniel: Where does your SLUH cross country journey begin? Did you have any experience in other sports before joining the team?

Alex Bendaña: I did the usual CYC

and grade school sports: basketball, soccer, and golf. I’d probably say that I wasn’t the most athletic kid or the star of the team. My mom had heard about SLUH cross country and how amazing it was but I said no because I thought that all cross country kids were weird—everybody knew that. Somehow, on the first day of practice I ended up on the top steps of the Field House, listening to coach Ford talk about the program. I didn’t find a love for it at first, but by the end of my freshman season, I had made all of my friends through cross country.

TA: When did you find out throughout your cross country career that you had the potential to become a great runner?

AB: I feel like one of the reasons why I’ve been able to get to the level I’m at is through people like my parents, teammates, and coaches. They’ve always made me feel like I could accomplish my goals even when I was

running unimpressive times.

TA: If you had to pick one meet that was your breakthrough meet, whether track or cross country, that really solidified yourself as a varsity contributor, what would that be?

AB: One that I remember specifically in my mind when I thought that this was something I could maybe be good at was Sioux Passage my freshman year. All I did was get a medal, and for me, that was the most amazing, coolest thing ever—to have a medal around my neck. That was the first time in my life, in a sporting experience, that I had earned an award for myself. I can’t pinpoint a certain event besides that where I wanted to be on varsity. I mean, maybe going into sophomore year, I knew that I wanted to be on varsity because I started training every day over the summer.

TA: At what point did you officially

make varsity cross country, and what was your role on the squad when first joined?

AB: I first made it my junior year, but the first time I put the actual varsity uniform on was at the end of my sophomore year when I was running to be one of the three alternates for the seven varsity runners. In the final races to earn that alternate spot I ended up not getting it, but I raced a varsity competition in the process. Not being an alternate made me mad and I was really motivated to get it that next year. So, I worked all year and then my junior year I was finally able to be on varsity. At the start of my junior year, I was our five guy, but as the season progressed, I became our consistent three runner.

TA: I think it’s safe to say that everyone was astonished with your historical performance. Your time of 14:31 is SLUH’s second fastest three mile time ever, an outstanding feat. What

was going through your mind when you broke the original record?

AB: At this point, my mind has still not fully processed it. Usually, when I hear that someone has run subfifteen I’ll be like, “What the hell, get out of here, that’s unreal.” Really, what I was thinking the entire time during that race was just to place in the top three. I needed to stay with Jackson and this O’Fallon guy, because my goal was to beat O’Fallon as a whole team. I was just thinking of trying to help the team the best by scoring the lowest amount of points possible. Going into these next races, I’m just going to be thinking about racing for the team. If we can’t do it again at the state meet or the regional meet, then it doesn’t matter at all. But it is kind of affirming to know that to win some of these bigger meets, we don’t have to go out there and do something crazy. We just need to do something that we’ve already done.

Cross country stars pose with first place trophy after winning in Granite City.

photo | Brendan Sullivan

Soccer climbs to the top as second best team in the region after four straight victories

BY Theo Agniel and Aiden Erard Sports Editors

With wins against both local and statewide competition, and now formally ranked No. 2 in the St. Louis area, the St. Louis U. High soccer team is now full steam ahead after defeating No. 3 Lindbergh, No. 4 Webster, Springfield Glendale and St. Mary’s (rankings according to GSV). The team found strength through its defense in these games, which hasn’t allowed a goal in the past week.

Glendale

As the weather in St. Louis started to cool down, the SLUH soccer team started warming up. First up after their tough loss in penalties to Marquette was Glendale. A top team from Springfield, Missouri, the Jr. Bills had high hopes to use Glendale’s three-hour bus ride against them by wearing them out with stout defense. A fantastic four, the typical starting backline for SLUH has consisted of freshman Will Journagen and juniors Andrew Wolf, Carson Hall and Andrew Chalmers. Their lockdown defense combined with reliable play out of the back has been the grounding force for the Jr. Bill side so far this season.

Defense came into play early as the Jr. Bills had early trouble keeping possession of the ball, relying upon the aforementioned backline to take the ball back from Glendale. Midfielders and forwards on both sides struggled to connect on long balls for fast breaks.

“Both teams were organized, which made it hard for us to break them down. High school soccer in general is kind of has a frantic pace regardless if you like it or not,” said head coach Bob O’Connell. “I think for most of that game, I don’t know if either team would have said that they possessed it a whole lot. I thought they were pretty dangerous trying to switch up their point of attack. Ultimately, we were able to collect so many of their balls because of our shape and when

we got the ball, we went from there.”

Finally, as the Jr. Bills started to control the ball more, junior James Barry lobbed a ball over the top of the Glendale defense to junior Henry Sanders, who deftly put the ball past the keeper, who had come out of his den to challenge the play. With 30 minutes to spare in the first half, the Jr. Bills found this a crucial break from the monotonous play so far in the game.

The Jr. Bills’ backline held solidly until the last few minutes of the game, when Glendale cracked the Jr. Bill back four. Thankfully, sophomore goalkeeper Cole Chambers’ aggressive positioning outside of goal extinguished two fast break chances.

With four minutes in the game, a Chambers attempt to clear a ball fell on the foot of a Glendale player. With no goalie in net, it looked like a sure goal for Glendale, but the 40-yard shot went several feet wide of the goal along with Glendale’s best chance of getting a draw. Nerves shaken, the Jr. Bill side became more possession conscious for the final minutes. Glendale didn’t have a single shot for the rest of the game, leaving SLUH with morale high and a significant 1-0 victory.

St. Mary’s

A challenging 1-0 win over Glendale left the Jr. Bills hungry for goals, and what better place to find treasure than a dragon’s den? A top team from the St. Louis area, and competing in Class Four, the Jr. Bills had a better reputation and standing than St. Mary’s, a Class One soccer team. However, from the opening whistle, St. Mary’s put up a fight. The Dragons took advantage of the Jr. Bills’ small stature, and found that being aggressive and handsy was the best strategy to jump the skill gap between the two sides.

Fighting a dragon is never easy, and SLUH struggled for the opening 15 minutes to break past St. Mary’s backline. With subs handy, O’Connell brought off almost the whole starting lineup in hopes of giving bench players a chance to prove themselves, and prove themselves they did.

Sixteen minutes in, a long pass from junior defender Adam Traschel to senior John Hasemeier gave the Jr. Bills some space in the middle of the field to work with. Hasemeier turned and fired a pass to senior Luke Ruyle who, after possessing the ball for mere seconds, slid it to senior Caleb Bircher, who seized the first goal of the day from the Dragons.

Once the Jr. Bills had poked the Dragon, the goals started spewing. Only a few minutes later, Hasemeier put a cross into the box that senior Max Tieber rolled back for freshman Grant Urban, who rocketed the ball into the back of the net.

Seconds later, sophomore Javi Vigil made a run down the left side of the pitch and laid the ball back to the top of the eighteen for Sanders, who launched an absolute missile into the bottom right corner to give the Jr. Bills their biggest lead of the season: 3-0. The scoring didn’t stop there, as before half Vigil had a vision for his own goal and after receiving an impressive trivela pass from Sanders, beat a defender with his pace and put the goal past the keeper into the net.

“Sanders’ leadership has helped organize the team against lesser teams when sometimes it’s difficult because you aren’t as focused thinking you’re going to breeze by the teams,” said Wolf. “Those are the times when we really need to focus on how we play in order to get better and he has helped us keep that focus and organization.”

As goals started to come, St. Mary’s play became more aggressive to the point of becoming dangerous. Before the halftime whistle, they were issued their first of three yellow cards, much to the happiness of SLUH as they were tired of the rough play that had happened so far.

Goals in the second half from Tieber and sophomores Paddy Byrne and Luke Schuman sealed the game for the Jr. Bill side, as they took their biggest victory of the season by far, 7-0.

Lindbergh

Following the big win, the Jr. Bills

faced their best opponent of the year so far, the Lindbergh Flyers. The Flyers, ranked third overall in the state, had recently beat the CBC Cadets 6-0 and weren’t worried about the Jr. Bills. However, SLUH came to play, showing off their young talent all game long.

SLUH knew they would need to play a mostly defensive game in order to keep Lindbergh from running away with another brutal win. The Jr. Bills possessed the ball extremely well in the first half against such a strong team. Lindbergh has proven their status as one of the best teams in the state through their dominant offense.

“Lindbergh was a strong team, likely one of the best that we will play this year. We kept our shape, moved the ball, and worked hard,” said senior captain Nicholas Hammond. The first half was full of opportunities from both teams. Lindbergh took their first shot in only the sixth minute which was soon followed by a near miss from junior James Barry. Barry took control of the wing, beating his defender for most of the game. Despite questionable reffing and a yellow card for both the Jr. Bills and the Flyers, the first half ended 0-0. A last second free kick for SLUH from about 10 yards outside the box left them just out of reach of the first score of the game.

Entering the second half, both teams were hungry for a goal. SLUH came out dominating their side of the ball. Making runs and getting plenty of good looks at the goal, they seemed to be much more confident in possession.

“Our defensive formation didn’t allow for many strong Lindbergh attacks, and the team collectively did a great job of keeping us in control of the game, especially throughout the second half,” said junior Andrew Chalmers.

However, after even more controversy, including a yellow card for shooting the ball after the whistle and a called back goal, the game remained tied 0-0 at the end of regulation leading the Jr. Bills to their third overtime of the season in only their fifth game.

“The Lindbergh game was definitely a tough matchup, but we outplayed them, especially in the second half. Our defensive formation didn’t allow for many strong Lindbergh attacks, and the team collectively did a great job of keeping us in control of the game,” said Chalmers.

Their overtime against Chaminade in the first game of the year ended with celebration and positivity, so the Jr. Bill hoped to finish the Flyers off in the same manner. Both the first and second ten minute halves of overtime, however, looked strikingly similar to the rest of the game. A few opportunities from both sides of the ball, somewhat scrappy play, and more questionable reffing led to a 0-0 tie at the end of overtime.

This meant a second set of pen-

alty kicks for the Jr. Bills in their last three games. Many players still struggling to overcome their most recent and only loss of the season against the Marquette Mustangs saw this as an opportunity for redemption.

The Jr. Bills had the honor of taking the first penalty kick, which junior Andrew Wolf buried. After Lindbergh responded with a goal sophomore Luke Sherman struck the goalpost. Lindbergh followed with a goal to go up by one.

Junior Henry Sanders, a varsity veteran, was up next. Feeling little pressure, he found the back of the net to keep the Jr. Bills in the game. Once again, however, Lindbergh followed with a goal.

After a long game filled with some frustrating calls, Byrne also scored his PK, and then senior goalie Henry Neff made an amazing save to keep the shootout tied with only one to go. Taking the last PK for SLUH was Vigil, who has proved to be a dominant force for the Jr. Bills this year. Vigil was clutch under pressure, forcing the Flyers to respond, which they did.

Forced into extra PKs, freshman Will Journagan took the sixth shot. Despite being a newbie to the program, Journagan found the back of the net like his teammates before him. Again, Neff made an amazing play on the ball to win the game for SLUH on the sixth PK after a scoreless game.

“Neff had two amazing saves and nearly had a third,’ said Hammond. “I think we won because of him.”

“When I am in a PK I always try to psych the shooter out by moving side to side and acting kind of crazy. My old club coach taught me that at a young age. I saw number 9 open his hips so I thought he would probably go outside and I got a little lucky and guessed correctly. After the save it was just a bunch of emotion, I threw up the ball and rushed over to my teammates and celebrated a hard fought win. It was great to get that win because I didn’t even know I was going to play until day of. I also have trained with the other goalie on Lindbergh so it was a little bit extra special to get the win over him,” said Neff.

Looking Ahead

Last night, the Jr. Bill side faced Webster, where they won 1-0. This Saturday, the team plays against Kirkwood at home before starting play in the annual CBC tournament. In the tournament, the Jr. Bills face Vianney on Tuesday and CBC on Thursday. “We obviously want to beat our conference opponents, but I think the messaging has always been this year and the last few years: how do you improve each week,” said O’Connell. “You get to play three quality teams who we know about historically. At the end of the day, did we do the little things and have the quality to beat quality teams. We’re just excited to see where we are at.”

Swimming bubbles with momentum; notches second straight win

BY Brendan Hunt and Henry Hassenstab

reporters

The St. Louis U. High varsity swim team just demolished its second dual meet of the regular season, beating the Parkway South Patriots by 78 points this past Tuesday. The 129-51 victory is the second straight for the Jr. Bills in the season, and the boys are just getting started.

The meet, being early in the season, was a good chance for the team to mix up the lineup. Some members of the team swam in events they weren’t accustomed to,

such as captain Ben Chumley, who swam a 1.52.69 second 200 free, a rare race for him.

Along with this were some improvements among some of the new varsity swimmers.

”We had some personal bests in the 100 freestyle. Grant Heidbrink and Brendan Hunt had best times in the 100 free,” said varsity head coach Lindsey Ehret. “We’re coming off a hard training day, so yesterday was a pretty tough, shortrest practice. And to come and race the next day is admirable.”

Last week, in the meet against Parkway Central, SLUH had no div-

ers to compete against the opposing two divers. However, one exciting event for Tuesday’s meet was the diving portion, in which freshman Abraham Malkus competed in his first ever diving meet. The new diver finished with a score of 120.50, consistently earning around four points from each of the judges on all six of his dives.

“When you can take someone who doesn’t have any diving experience and get them to six dives in four weeks, that’s really remarkable,” said Ehret. “And he’s really taken to the board and he gets good height. He’s really open to learning,

and it’s translated into a lot of success as he went from trying out for soccer to being on the freshman team.”

Having a diver is crucial for SLUH Swim and Dive because not having one is lost points. For the diving team, it’s difficult to be able to compete after just a few weeks of training because participating in the competition requires the diver to have six different types of dives practiced and memorized. Parkway South’s diver Harry Pendleton competed as well, and with his years of experience finished with a score of 213.20.

The meet wasn’t all up, as the Patriots came home with first and second in the 100 butterfly, as well as the SLUH C relay being disqualified after a false start in the third leg of the event. It is important to note that those small mistakes and blunders add up over the long term, proving that it is imperative that the varsity squad holds itself to the highest degree.

It goes without saying that the Jr. Bills did well at this meet, and there is a bright future ahead for SLUH swim and dive.

Senior captain Nicholas Hammond shielding the ball against Springfield Glendale. photo | Theo Agniel

Electrifying offense leads football to first win of season against Hillsboro

BY Jacob Fitzpatrick and Daniel Neuner Core Staff

Let’s go get a statement win.” That was the mentality of junior quarterback Kyren Eleby as SLUH came home from a hard-fought loss to St. Ignatius in their season opener last week. Facing the Hillsboro Hawks, a team who last year went 12-2 and won their district championship, the Jr. Bills looked to feed off of the energy of the Running of the Bills to catapult them to victory. They ultimately succeeded, snatching a 24-17 win from Hillsboro with a late fourth quarter touchdown under the Friday night lights.

Before the game began , the Hawks set a fire inside the Jr. Bills by disrespectfully stomping on the Jr. Billiken logo at the 50-yard line.

”Our guys played with a chip on their shoulder,” said head coach Adam Cruz. “They wanted to prove that they’re better than the effort they put forward against Ignatius. And when Hillsboro stomped on the Billiken, our guys took that pretty personally.”

As a stampede of blue-bellied Jr. Billikens stormed into the stadium, senior kick returner Matthew Moore opened up the game with a strong 25-yard return. The presence of these rowdy, painted freshmen was heard all game long.

“There wasn’t a single point in the game where the energy was down,” said Eleby. “Their intensity and noise really kept us in it.”

A combination of the electric crowd, hurry up offense, and a series of short runs from sophomore Quincy Jones pushed the Jr. Bills downfield. But an early illegal-hands-to-the-face penalty moved the offense back to their own 20-yard line to make it third and 21.

SLUH’s first offensive breakthrough came on the very next play with the Jr. Bills pinned deep in their own territory. On a long ball from Eleby, junior wide receiver Zach Allen ran a post-corner for a 40-yard gain.

With a roar from the student section, the Jr. Bills marched into Hillsboro’s territory. However, they were left emptyhanded as they turned the ball over on downs after three incompletions.

The Hawks took the field with 7:45 left to go in the quarter, led by dual threat quarterback and North Dakota State commit Preston Brown.

After a quick Hillsboro first down pickup, the Jr. Bills, commanded by senior three-star recruit Landon Pace and junior defensive lineman Sebastian Tate, swarmed the Hawks for a loss. After a failed deep shot, the Hawks were also forced to punt.

“I was really excited about how we

executed, especially defensively,” said Cruz. “Every week you put in a game plan, but if you don’t execute, it doesn’t matter.”

The Jr. Bills took the field on their own 28-yard line, led by junior running back Jordan Taylor. In his freshman season, Taylor racked up 360 yards for six touchdowns. After missing the whole 2023-24 season with an ACL tear, Taylor looked to bring a new dimension to this year’s Jr. Bills’ offense.

“The atmosphere was great for coming back,” said Taylor. put in a lot of hard work in the offseason, and a lot of people don’t see the behind-the-scenes so it was definitely cool for it to pay off.”

On his first carry in over a year, Taylor found a hole and broke multiple tackles for a pickup of 10. Despite this momentum, the Jr. Bills were forced to punt once again after two lackluster running plays and a botched snap.

The Hawks continued to rely on Brown’s elusiveness as they called three straight QB runs. On fourth and 2, Brown ran it once again and was met at the line by a pack of pursuing SLUH defenders but narrowly gained the first down.

Junior defensive tackle Albert Rein berg invaded the backfield, tackling the Hawks ball carrier for a pivotal loss of two. On the very next play, Tate pursued the running back for another loss of yards, closing out the first quarter with the score tied at 0-0.

SLUH began the second quarter on their own 30-yard line following a punt from Hillsboro. The Jr. Bills were quickly frustrated by multiple penalties that pushed them back 15 yards into their own territory. Eleby tested Hillsboro’s defensive backs with another deep throw to Allen, but the pass was just out of Allen’s reach. With three straight incompletions, Billikens’ first drive of the came to a swift close.

On the punt return, Brown picked up 35 yards and set Hillsboro up at SLUH’s 27-yard line. A tenacious sec ond down rush from Brown netted 16 more yards, but SLUH’s defense regrouped and held Hillsboro to no gain on the next two plays. On third down, junior captain Keenan Harris deflected Brown’s pass in the flat that forced a field goal on the next play for the Hawks, making it 3-0 in favor of Hillsboro.

charged forward with a five-yard and a 15-yard gain.

With time winding down in the half, Eleby hit Pace on a nine-yard slant and then senior Levi Miller for a first down reception.

After Jones and Taylor wore Hillsboro down on the ground in the fol-

being able to showcase it our junior year is really awesome.”

The Hawks responded quickly and proceeded to pound SLUH on the ground with two gains of 10 from Hillsboro running back Chris Duncan and a strike across the middle into SLUH’s territory. With the Hawks on the Jr. Bills 36, Brown read the defense on a fake handoff and tiptoed down the sideline to SLUH’s 10-yard line. After a SLUH penalty, Brown took it in himself with a two-yard rushing touchdown to cut the

launched a bomb to a striding Zach Allen, meeting him in the end zone for an electric touchdown that made the scoreline 14-3. This chemistry between Eleby and Allen has been brewing for years.

Looking to respond, Eleby fired another deep shot to a sprinting Allen, who barely missed the pass. However, the Jr. Bills danced down the field with a first down pickup by Allen, and a series of short runs from both Jones and Taylor put the ball in Hillsboro territory.

Eleby checked down to Keenan Harris, who plowed through a duo of Hawks defenders, putting the Jr. Bills in striking distance of another touchdown. Now in the red zone, Eleby looked to freshman tight end Tyler Kozminske in the endzone, but Kozminske was hit hard by a Hillsboro cornerback and the ball fell to the turf. Senior Christian Ziegler kicked home a field goal to ex-

On their next possession, Hillsboro slowly moved upfield in short rushes as they had all game long. Once again, the defensive duo of Reinberg and Tate overwhelmed the Hillsboro line for a three-yard tackle for a loss, slowing the Hawks momentum. With the fourth quarter running down, Hillsboro turned up the intensity yard reception Keiten Pipkins rush from could’ve been longer if not for a great tackle by Moore.

Moore did it all for the Jr. Bills, both as a returner, but especially as a leader on the defensive side of the ball. With 10 tackles on the year already, Moore’s

“My main thing was making sure I kept the energy high,” said Moore. “Whenever a big play happened I made sure that the guys stayed level-headed.”

and picked up another ten yards on the next play. Allen finished with eight receptions for a total of 134 yards.

Following a first down from a Jones rush, SLUH took their time as they neared the end zone. With just two minutes on the clock and four yards to cover, Eleby faked the hand-off and snuck through the Hillsboro defense to give the U. High a late 24-17 lead.

“Every week we practice the four minute drill, which is where you try to both score and take time off the clock so that the opponent doesn’t get the ball back,” said Cruz. “We executed a four minute drill perfectly both at the end of the first half and at the end of the game. We had the ball at about 5:30 in the first and six minutes in the second. Both times they got the ball back with under a minute left. Kyren, especially, did a great job of managing the clock, moving the chains but also making sure that if Hillsboro got the ball back, it wasn’t going to be in a great situation.”

Sure enough, Hillsboro was faced with little time to organize a drive that would tie the game. As a result, multiple rushed inaccurate throws downfield led to a turnover on downs with about a minute left on the clock.

With the offense in victory formation, Eleby took a knee on the final play, and the Bills closed out the game with a thrilling 24-17 victory.

“We always talk about what the biggest change is between Week 1 and Week 2,” said Cruz. “We started a couple guys for the first time who played well in their first game. Defensively, we held Preston Brown, who’s a top 30 player in the area, to 4-for-13 passing and 34 yards. That’s a really good quarterback, and our guys kept stepping up to the challenge. I was really proud of our grit.”

Coming home again, SLUH looks to face Jesuit foe De Smet who have started off the year 2-0 after beating Creighton Prep (Omaha) and MICDS. At the helm for the Spartans is Kansas State commit Dillon Duff. For the third week in a row, SLUH will have to put forward a consistent effort to contain a star-studded offense.

After trading punts, SLUH received the ball on the 50-yard line with five minutes to go in the half. Breaking through Hillsboro’s stout defense, Jones

“We’ve been playing with each other since like seventh grade and working out with each other almost every single week during the offseason,” said Allen. “We’ve built that connection from playing JV together our freshman year, so

Fantasy Football Week 2: Starts and Sits

BY Matteo Abbate Staff

Editor’s

Note: With a new year of fantasy football articles releasing this year, an explanation is due about how each week’s picks are chosen along with an accountability factor to make sure the Prep News’ fantasy reporting is top notch.

Under ESPN’s Fantasy App, the Prep News looks at the percentages of each player who is currently rostered and starting for the week. Based on this information, our reporters are able to gauge what the majority of people are currently aware of when picking their weekly starters. Our platform is aimed to analyze what people are not aware of, and therefore our reporters try their best to shed light on these more hidden options.

Finally, the Prep News acknowledges the importance that each pick can

have on the success of your team, which is why we are dedicated to providing the most reliable picks possible. From now on, SLUH Prep News Fantasy Football will provide a short recap of each previous week at the beginning of the article consisting of the picks that were positive and/or negative.

Week One Recap: Week One was a great success for fantasy football predictions with 5 out of our 6 picks being useful to managers. The only bust was WR Deandre Hopkins, and this choice was based off of Will Levis’ potential development and a solid season last year from Hopkins with Levis. Some big boom predictions featured QB Baker Mayfield and WR Rashid Shaheed who put up 30 fantasy points and 16.3 fantasy points. Some key sits that were predicted included WR Brandon Aiyuk who put up 4.8 points and TE Jake Ferguson who put up 4.5 points.

Nowhere else can you get these kinds of insights that the Prep News is bringing, and we hope this week’s picks can satisfy your fantasy needs to a greater extent.

(35.6% start) J.K. Dobbins, Chargers, RB: START. Chargers newly-acquired running back J.K. Dobbins could not have had a better start to the year, rushing for a whopping 135 yards and a TD on only 10 carries. Not to mention his receiving abilities that showed tons of upside, leading all Chargers backs with 13 routes and 3 targets. With the Chargers matched up against the Panthers defense this week, this pick is a no doubter.

(82.9% start) Chris Olave, Saints, WR: SIT. The Saints WR1 had a rough start to the year, putting up just 2 receptions for 11 yards, while WR2 Rashid Shaheed and RB Alvin Kamara seem

Inside the red zone, Hillsboro was pushed back by a false start penalty, but a fierce run earned them a first down and goal. Duncan darted to the goal line but was stopped there by Moore. Another spectacular defensive effort held Hillsboro out until they ultimately went in for the score, tying the contest at 17 apiece.

On the next possession, Allen started the drive off by picking up yards after the catch. He took SLUH to Hillsboro’s 31-yard line with a first down reception

“Like it was with Ignatius and Hillsboro, they’ve got a fantastic quarterback. We have to keep him under control and keep them from taking over the game. Against Ignatius we didn’t do that, but against Hillsboro we did, so hopefully we do it again with Dillon Duff, who is a great football player,” said Cruz.

“Our main focus is to stay levelheaded. We know that they are gonna get some big plays off, but we can’t drop our heads after those plays,” said Eleby. “We know it’s gonna be a battle all game long, but we’re ready.”

to have stolen the show. Despite playing the weakest team in the league, the connection just wasn’t there. Now, Olave will have to match up against a Dallas defense consisting of Trevon Diggs and Micah Parsons. It’s safe to say it will be hard for him to get anything going this week, especially with the workload being divided up more.

(46.3% start) Jayden Daniels, Commanders, QB: START. The rookie quarterback for the Commanders had a day against the Bucs, putting him the QB3 in points for the week. While only throwing 184 yards, he was able to compensate for this by showcasing one of the most valuable skills a fantasy quarterback could possess— rushing. He rushed for 88 yards and two TDs, which proves his upside for weeks to come. This week’s matchup is just another reason to start Daniels as the Commanders face the Giants, who

have been in nothing but shambles as of late.

(96.3% start) Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals, WR: SIT. While this pick may come as a shock, the evidence will soon show that this is obvious. Through a holdout with the Bengals front office, Ja’Marr Chase has not at all worked out with the Bengals team during training camp, and will likely still be shaking off some rust. Chase’s 10.3 yards per catch for 6 receptions in Week 1 is an indication of this rust as he couldn’t seem to get any yards after catch. Things won’t be getting any better this week as the Kansas City Chiefs defense, who locked up Zay Flowers last week, should be expected to do the same if not better this week. Quarterback Joe Burrow also had a disappointing start, and while he usually does well against the KC Chiefs, the Bengals offense has been known to take a while to get going once the season starts.

PN CROSSWORD: Bob and Weave

ACROSS

1. Smoke trail

5. Plant that predates dinosaurs 9. _____ of honor

13. Man’s name that’s a fruit backwards

14. Ice cream mix-in

15. Playwright Henrik 17. Forest rangers?

19. Le Louvre, par exemple

20. Compete stranger?

21. Label rakers? 23. Regret

25. Donkey park?

26. Curls night out?

30. “Fiddlesticks!”

31. Borden spokescow

32. Physicist Bohr

34. Chapter of history

37. Toss, as a coin ... and together with 38- and 39-Across, a clue for filling in the theme entries

38. Minor, as a complaint

39. Box office bomb

40. Jetsam of 1773

41. _____ makes waste

42. Nearsighted person

43. Text message status

Prep News Credits

“What will you use Studium for next week?”

Editor in Chief

Micah “lollygagging by the water fountain” Doherty

News Editors

Andrew “DEFINITELY academic pursuits!” Hunt

Lucas “NOT academic pursuits!”

Hayden

Sports Editors

Theo “servery time!” Agniel

Aiden “getting motion twin” Erard

Features Editor

Leo “writing another

commentary” Hahn

Visual Editor

Jesse “activity period” Heater

Core Staff

Patrick “napping” Byrne

Jacob “watching ND Football highlights ” Fitzpatrick

Jens “complaining about the schedule” Istvan

Thomas “practicing racquetball” Juergens

Kane “pondering my orb”

Luchun

Daniel “investigating” Neuner

Otto “proving it” Reitenbach

Lincoln “precalc retake” Shorley

Staff

Madhavan “partying”

Anbukumar

Tristan “toilet clogging” Kujawa

Max “Fiddler rehearsals” Marnatti

Gavin “project mart analysis” Simon

Staff Artists

Colin “watching Kansas football” Schuler

Reporters

Matteo “fantasizing… football”

Abbate

Hendrix “run laps in J-Wing”

Fyvie

Henry “turning the power back on” Hassenstab

Brendan “mourning the loss of instructional time” Hunt

Finn “catching the weather balloon” Rose

Logan “clay pipe repair” Schimweg

Photographers

Henry “stocking” Birkmeier

Kathy “studying the periodic table” Chott

Aidan “spending it with Ben Bundschuh” Giljum

Harrison “aktiv chem” Renner

Brendan “fathering” Sullivan

Moderator

Steve “Extras!” Missey

DOWN

1. Love After Lockup channel

2. Modern “methinks”

3. Alexa’s rival

4. Begged

5. Communal cheese dish

6. Before, in verse

7. Take five

8. Have a snack

9. Brunch cocktails

10. Exploding now

11. Japanese immigrant

12. Regards

16. Egg container

18. Spooky

22. Before the bell

24. Physicist Rutherford

26. Weight

27. French fashion magazine

28. Largest of seven

29. Big cheese

30. Hate, hate, hate

33. Addams Family cousin

34. Magnate Musk

44. Beach bond?

46. Lifting single?

49. Private eye, in old lingo

50. Cool runnings?

53. Five dollar wine?

58. Honda’s luxury division

59. Yellow green?

61. Jamie of Ted Lasso

62. Prefix meaning 1E-18

63. Mardi Gras city, in brief

64. Sunday service

65. Knitting need

66. Friendly nation

35. Lasso

36. Made like

38. Solar _____

39. Memo opener

41. Billies with beards

42. Type of econ

43. Stifled laughs

45. Nonstick coating

46. Exam for an aspiring attorney

47. William of _____, friar with a famous “razor”

48. Communications officer on the USS Enterprise

51. Online auction site

52. Chief operations officer on the USS Enterprise-D

54. Catholic university in New Rochelle, NY

55. Organic compound

56. Actress Carter or Tiger Free

57. June 6, 1944

60. Paper size (abbr.)

Scholarship Semifinalists

Henry Benson

Charlie Dougherty

Jacob Grijalva

Andrew Hunt

John Kelly

Nate Pini

Luca Rogan

Food Drive Statistics

Going into the final day of the Food Drive it’s important to review the current standings. The underslassmen loser will have to stack chairs for a week and the upperclassmen loser will be withheld from the servery for the first five minutes of lunch for a week.

1st: freshman - 276 points

2nd: juniors - 267 points

3rd: seniors - 216 points

4th: sophomores - 209 points

Football team shaves heads for Nora Laffey

After practice on Monday, the Jr. Bills took a step away from the grind before their Friday night game against De Smet. The SLUH football team came together to stand with junior defensive lineman Pat Laffey, whose sister Nora was diagnosed with DIPG, an inoperable brain tumor, in March. The football squad crowded around the southwest corner of the end zone and began to shave their heads in unity with Laffey. In total, over 30 Jr. Bills, along with head coach Adam Cruz, went with the buzz cut to support Nora and the Laffeys. If you are looking to support this cause, please consider donating at: https://gofund.me/857f77be

Friday, September 13

Miami University - Oxford

The University of Alabama

Marquettte University

University of Southern California

University of Tulsa

American University

Monday, September 16

Bradley University

University of Saint Mary

University of Chicago

Missouri State University

Principia College

Tuesday, September 17

Ringling College University of Arkansas

Wednesday, September 18

Case Western Reserve University

Quincy University

Hillsdale College

University of Illinois at Springfield

Thursday, September 19

University of Memphis

Illinois Wesleyan University

The University of Texas at Austin

Crossword | Paul Baudendistel | criticisms, compliments, and ideas welcome at pbaudendistel@sluh.org

Football players with their fresh cuts. photo | Dominic Sansone