Sports Highlights

BY CHRIS MUSKOPF ‘91 ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

Check @SLUHAthletics on Twitter and sluh.org/athletics for news, scores and updates as the winter season concludes and the spring season begins.

The ability to conduct seasons in our four fall sports hinged upon our ability to practice and compete within parameters that placed the safety of our student-athletes, coaches and general community as our top priority. This priority manifested in daily screening protocols for studentathletes, practices in small groups (rather than as a full team), COVID testing on campus every 14 days and limited attendance at home and away contests. To offset the limited attendance at contests, the SLUH Communications Department spearheaded a plan to increase the frequency of livestreamed contests using the SLUH Sports Network (SSN) and Facebook Live. The additional contest broadcasts provided an opportunity to connect with professional broadcaster Joey Zanaboni ‘09, who has been a dedicated member of the SSN broadcast crew, doing play-by-play for soccer and basketball contests and serving as mentor to current students involved in SSN productions. To view archived broadcasts from the fall and winter seasons, visit team1sports.com/SLUHAthletics. CROSS COUNTRY For the third consecutive year, SLUH finished as runner-up at the MSHSAA Championships in the large schools classification. Since 1999, this is the sixth second place finish for the program, along with five team championships. The depth of the Jr. Bill team and ability to run as a pack was highlighted in the State race in Columbia as the five runners earning points – Grant Brawley ‘22, Ryan Kramer ‘21, Baker Pashea ‘22, Hayden Zenor '21 and Sean Kellogg ‘22 – finished with a 19-second spread across their times. This spread marks the smallest gap between the scoring five runners at the State meet in the history of the program and repeated the spread recorded by the five Jr. Bills who earned points at the District Championships. The week prior, the varsity squad conquered a tough course in Sullivan to earn its 25th District Championship since 1983. The five runners earning points for the Jr. Bills were: Daniel Hogan (4th), Grant Brawley (9th), Baker Pashea (10th), Ryan Kramer (11th), and Hayden Zenor (12th). By virtue of capturing the District Championship in 2020, the cross country program’s streak has been extended to 28 consecutive years of entering a full team at the state meet. All three levels of the program captured the top spot in team scoring at the MCC Championships, marking the 17th consecutive title for the varsity. Senior Daniel Hogan captured the individual championship with a cadre of teammates placing in spots 4-7. FOOTBALL In the fourth season under Head Coach Mike Jones, the Jr. Bills fought through the adversity of the pandemic to compete in three regular season games and advance to the District semifinal round of the postseason. The varsity squad recorded an MCC victory over St. John Vianney and moved to the district semifinal with a forfeit victory over Kirkwood. In the district semifinal at Lindbergh, the Jr. Bills battled through the final seconds with chances to tie the contest on their last possession. With over 90 participants in the program in 2020 and a 4-0 record compiled by the freshman/ sophomore team, excitement and optimism abound within the program.

The sense of excitement is further buoyed by the representation of Jr. Bills on the various lists of postseason accolades. Twenty members of the 2020 varsity team were recognized as All-MCC with Chris Brooks ‘22 (WR), Luke Ratterman ‘21 (TE), Tyler Ridgway ‘21 (P), and Zak Stevenson ‘21 (OL) landing on the 1st team. Six Jr. Bills were on the Missouri Football Coaches (MFCA) All-District Team: Phillip Bone ‘22 (DB), Brooks, Kyle Dulick ‘21 (DB), Ratterman, Ridgway and Stevenson. Ten Jr. Bills were honored on the Academic All-State team: Bone, Brooks, Blake Collins '21, Dulick, Luke Johnston ‘22, Jack McClelland '21, Danny O’Keefe '21, Ratterman, Ridgway and Tim Torrez '21. Lastly, Ridgway was recognized as the 2nd Team All-State punter by the MFCA. SOCCER The truncated season for the Jr. Bill varsity soccer team began on October 3 with a victory over Mehlville. The team rattled off three more victories, including a thriller in PK’s over St. John Vianney, to start the season. One of the toughest schedules in the area landed the team with an overall record of nearly .500, with the season ending with a 1-0 loss in District play to Chaminade on a late corner kick.

Six Jr. Bills garnered All-MCC postseason recognition: Jacob Hammond ‘21 (1st Team Back), Caiden Harris ‘23 (Hon Mention Back), Grant Locker ‘24 (Hon Mention Midfield), Tilahun Murphy ‘21 (2nd Team Back), Stephen Saladin ‘22 (1st Team Forward) and Jaylen Sinclair ‘21 (2nd Team Back). Hammond was named to the Missouri Boys Soccer Academic Team and earned recognition on the Missouri Soccer Coaches All-Region team and Honorable Mention on the All-State team.

SWIMMING & DIVING The 2020 version of the SLUH Swimming & Diving team overcame its share of COVID-induced adversity, including a lack of access to its home pool at Forest Park Community College, the absence of large meets and invitationals on its schedule, and minimal events at which spectators could attend. The AquaBills valiantly overcame that adversity as it registered an undefeated regular season, captured the MCC Championship and turned in amazing performances at the MSHSAA Class 2 Swimming and Diving Championships. The State meet at the Rec-Plex began with Sebastian Lawrence ‘22 capturing 1st place in the diving competition with a Class 2 record and SLUH record score of 515.65 points. When the swimmers took to the pool, the 200 Medley Relay team of Cooper Scharff ‘22, Ned Mehmeti ‘22, Jonas Hostetler ‘22 and Eli Butters '21 grabbed 2nd place and set a new SLUH record with a time of 1:34.91. Scharff and Mehmeti were joined by Gavin Baldes ‘23 for the 200 IM, an event in which Baldes landed in 17th, Mehmeti finished 11th and Scharff set the 3rd SLUH record of the event with a 2nd place finish and a time of 1:49.87. Butters and Hostetler were accompanied by Jason Cabra ‘23 in the 50 Free and kept the momentum going as Cabra placed 21st, Hostetler finished 18th, and Butters registered a torrid time of 20.48 for 1st place, a Class 2 record and another SLUH record. Scharff returned to the pool and became a