Inside... News
Opinion
-Latin & Greek students win -Diversity more than awards, pg. 2 just race, pg. 3 -Departing faculty, pg. 2, 3
Feature “If nothing else, value the truth”
-A look at underclassmen call-ups,pg. 7
Sports
-Volleyball falls to DeSmet, pg. 4 -Underclassmen sports finals, pg. 6
The weekly student newspaper of St. Louis U. High - 4970 Oakland Ave. - St. Louis, MO 63110 - (314) 531-0330 ext. 183 - online at sluh.org/prepnews - prepnews@sluh.org
Volume LXXIV
Issue 30
St. Louis University High School, Friday, May 14, 2010
Jazz and hip-hop Junior Ring Banner Signing closes Jazzuit Series Photo by Mr. Matt Sciuto
Drew Dziedzic Core Staff ssistant Principal for Diversity Robert Evans presented the final installment of the St. Louis U. High Jazz Diversity Series Wednesday in the Commons. Over 45 students and teachers attended, and many received extra credit from their history and English teachers. The talk focused on the similarities between jazz and hip-hop, but also discussed how jazz led to the development of hip-hop. “I really enjoyed the conversation,” said Evans. “Obviously during Activity Period you don’t get much time to talk and explore some ideas as you would like, but I enjoyed it.” Evans felt that comparing jazz to hiphop made it more relatable for the students than the previous presentations had. “I felt like jazz is a perfect theme to springboard into a lot of these conversations, but I don’t know if everyone was open to that idea,” said Evans. “I felt hip-hop was a natural transition into more contemporary issues in music and diversity.” The presentation began with a history of jazz, which according to Evans was developed from a variety of cultures, especially African and European. Evans stressed that the important components of jazz include
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individual assertion and improvisation. He played samples of jazz in its early days, including “Doodlin” by Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers. Next, Evans discussed how hip-hop is a style, using rap music, graffiti art, and break dancing to define it. Evans played the movie trailer of Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, mentioning how the movie’s colorful, fun, and energetic scenes reflected the early hiphop movement. “In the early ’80s, that’s what you would see, and the evolution is not quite the same,” said Evans. “Someone came up after the presentation and said right now in hip-hop everyone is going with the nerd look ... and I asked, ‘Why?’” Evans showed the parallels between jazz and hip-hop. He described how both came from urban origins, utilize call-and-response patterns, and were initially considered low class music and were not popular among either musical critics or mainstream society. “It was interesting to see connections that I could relate to,” said junior Brian Silvestri, who is a hip-hop listener and thought the talk helped him appreciate jazz. Later, Evans played a variety of songs to exhibit the parallels between jazz and hiphop. Two selections that Evans used were Hank Crawford’s “Wildflower,” a jazz song
Juniors Ben Emnett, Joe Earsom, Andy Eilers, and Tom Dell’Orco sign the junior class banner last Friday. Juniors received their rings at a Mass Friday afternoon, and danced the night away at the Mahler Ballroom Friday night.
from the ’70s, and “Drive Slow” by Kanye West from 2004. The crowd marveled at how both songs began with similar beats and rhythm. As this is the final installment of the Jazz Diversity Series this year, Evans attempted to connect his talk with the multiple talks that have happened throughout the year.
see JAZZUIT, 11
Linhares looks back on his first year as Assistant Principal for Mission Conor Gearin schools,” Moran said of the administration’s Core Staff current structure. “Because if we didn’t have fter 26 years in the theology office, some people devoted to our long-term goals, Assistant Principal for Mission Jim we’d never get there.” Linhares said that when he accepted the Linhares left his full-tme teaching posi- tion for a room in the main office. He has position last school year, his role was broken used his new position to advise and guide up into two main categories. The first was to St. Louis U. High faculty and propagate guide faculty according to SLUH’s style of pedagogy. Toward the Jesuit mission of this end, Linhares the school. met with teachers Tr a n s i t i o n i n g one-on-one, took from teacher to adminpart in the evaluation istrator proved a chalprocess of faculty lenge, but Linhares members, and met has adjusted and does with new teachers not foresee significant to educate them on changes to his role for the Ignatian mission next school year. and teachings of the Principal John school. Moran said that in T h e s e c o n d addition to adminispart of his job entrators tasked mainly tailed “everything with day-to-day issues that falls under the such as Assistant Prinexplicit Catholic, cipal for Student Life Jesuit mission of Brock Kesterson and the school,” LinAssistant Principal hares said. Linhares for Academics Tom served as a liaiBecvar—who also son to the Campus have some long-term Ministry department goals—the adminisAssistant principal for Mission Jim Linhares. and sought to help trative team needed positions that focused on long-term goals— people understand just what the school’s resulting in the creation of Assistant Princi- mission entailed. When he accepted the position, Linhares pal for Diversity Rob Evans and Linhares’ said that in his future role he “saw lots of positions. “It’s a model I’ve seen work at a num- one on one opportunities to talk with faculty ber of other schools, including other Jesuit and I saw and looked forward to lots of op-
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Photo by Mr. Matt Sciuto
portunities to think about the Jesuit identity of the school, read about it, find ways to help people understand it, articulate it, support it in the school.” However, Linhares understood from the start that many peripheral duties would pop up. “The job description and Dr. Moran’s comments to me made it clear that being an administrator always involves all kinds of extra detail. There were three or four responsibilities under the job that looked like asterisks to me when I started it but turned out to be bigger than asterisks” as the year progressed, Linhares said. One such extra detail was managing funds for professional development of faculty members. “The school has access to some funds that allow teachers to do professional development—go out and take courses, and (go to) conferences—and it’s quite a bit of money that comes through an agency that connects to the state,” said Linhares.
see LINHARES 11
Track wins MCC
Nathan Rubbelke Staff he St. Louis U. High track team was on a mission last Thursday evening. They had not just one title to defend, but three. They wanted to match their previous conference sweep at all levels: varsity, JV, and freshman. As any hard-working gentlemen would do, they cleaned house and swept the Metro Catholic Conference (MCC) Championships. It took key performances from every squad and event to win a meet like this. The distance squad, as usual, carried a lot of weight in terms of team points. They pulled off a rare feat, sweeping the distance races and scoring the maximum amount of points, 50. They started off the afternoon cruising to victory in the 4 x 800-meter relay by nearly a minute. Senior Caleb Ford (4:22) and junior Tim Rackers (4:24) went first and second in the 1600. One of the many highlights of the day came from the open 800. Senior Nick Seckfort and Ford finished one-two. Seckfort set a new conference record of 1:54, and Ford finished with a time of 1:57. “I was just very glad Caleb was running that race with me or else I don’t think I would have done that well in the race had he not pushed the pace a little bit,” said Seckfort. Senior Emmett Cookson and Rackers also went one-two in the 3200, wrapping up the Distance squad B-Town beat down.
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Editors’ Note
see TRACK, 11
This week the Prep News is launching its new website, www.sluh.org/prepnews. We are very excited for this major upgrade to our site, and we hope you will consider it a major improvement. Senior Matt Bettonville, junior Patrick O’Leary, adviser Michael Koenigs, and system administrators John Haefele and John Dickmann were all major contributors to the site. The website is based on the Joomla platform, which has allowed us to integrate multiple new features which include links to articles, slideshows, videos, polls, and a much improved design. To access the PDF as you would have done on the old site, click the button in the right hand column of the website that says “Download PDF.” If you have any questions or feedback about the new site please e-mail us at prepnews@ sluh.org.
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News
Volume 74, Issue 30
Classics students earn honors in Latin, Greek contests Eric Lewis Core Staff atin and Greek students of St. Louis U. High recently competed and impressed in state and national-level competitions. On March 9, Latin scholars from all four grade levels took the National Latin Exam. Six seniors, three juniors, 11 sophomores, and seven freshmen earned gold medals with their test results. Students who score significantly higher than the national average receive gold medals, but the percentile that earns a gold medal changes every year to allow for a consistent number of medals. The National Latin Exam has not yet released this year’s percentage separating first and second-place finishers. “I pay attention more (in class) because I want to do better in competitions, and I also have fun doing it, too,” said sophomore gold medalist Matt Neyer of competitions’ effect on his schoolwork. “It works both ways, I guess.” Neyer missed a perfect score by a single question this year. He turned in a perfect test as a freshman. On Saturday, April 24, three Latin Dream teams traveled to Columbia, Mo. in the Missouri Junior Classical League certamen, a quiz bowl-like competition in which two teams of four sit at tables with buzzers and try to earn more points than their opponents by answering questions about
Latin grammar as well as Roman mythology, history, and culture. All three teams made it to the final match at their respective levels, but finished second. The varsity team, composed of juniors and seniors, lost to perennial powerhouse Pembroke Hill, which is located in the Kansas City area. The sophomore JV squad lost to a surprisingly strong team from University City, and SLUH’s freshman team lost to local rival DeSmet. “(The loss to DeSmet) was just bitter because I hadn’t taught these freshmen,” said Latin teacher Jim Gioia, who taught Latin at DeSmet before coming to SLUH this year. “It would have been bittersweet if they were any of the kids I’d taught.” Latin students also took state-level tests on March 22. There are state tests for each individual Latin studies topic: history and culture, grammar, mythology, and derivatives, which Gioia defined as “essentially English words derived from Latin.” Seniors Brian Campbell (grammar), Tony Melillo (history and culture), Patrick Nacanaynay (derivatives) and junior Max Waters (grammar) each earned first place in their respective categories and grade levels. Freshmen Joe Archer (derivatives) and Cullen Gurber (mythology) both placed second. “In terms of involvement, it’s pretty strong. In terms of ability, it’s very, very
strong, very strong. I’m hoping to get more kids involved next year, but already the involvement is pretty impressive,” said Gioia of Latin Dream Team. Twenty-five seniors, under the tutelage of Greek teacher Mary Lee McConaghy, were among 732 students to take the beginning-level National Greek Exam. “It’s usually a select group of students nation-wide that take the exam to begin with,” said McConaghy, whose students have taken the National Greek Exam since she first taught Greek at SLUH in 1991. “This year’s result was our best ever. I was really pleased with the students’ work.” Each of the 25 students that took the exam won an award, with eight students earning blue ribbons, the second-highest honor offered by the exam. Campbell and Melillo each missed a perfect score and the purple ribbon by one question. “Greek is unique at the high school level, and this exam is often given in colleges and universities,” McConaghy added to stress the difficulty of the test. “After four years of being in the Latin program and three years being involved in the Latin Club certamen, I feel that doing Greek my senior year has rounded out my Classical education,” said Campbell. “(The National Greek Exam) was a very appropriate test to compare ourselves to the other Greek beginning students in the nation.”
Patrick O’Leary I like,” said father of senior James Fister Core Staff and sophomore Greg Fister, Jeffery Fister. any St. Louis U. High students, fac- “SLUH is known for its academics and sports ulty, parents, and friends enjoyed a but it’s nice to see the arts side.” James and Greg Fister both have display of art Wednespieces in the show. day night in the annual “I am impressed Student Art Show. by the level of excel Students in John lence of the art and Mueller’s, Joan Bugthe variety in the art,” nitz’s, and Mary Whealsaid Susan Beckerle, on’s art classes contribmother of junior Anuted some of their best drew Beckerle. She pieces to the show. specifically cited the Whealon said that frog hanging from she was very excitthe ceiling created by ed to see the finished senior Dave Stankshow, which has been oven and the pencil in construction all year. sketch of a boy with Whealon said that she the block of the drawspecifically likes to see ing containing his the students and their eye created by junior parents excited about Stephan Laury. the students’ work. Both Mueller “Art is visual art; and Bugnitz praised it is meant to be shown, the sub-set of the to be looked at. It’s like show that deals with putting on a play for the book The Curious the drama people,” said Incident of the Dog in Whealon. the Nighttime. Bug “It’s great diversity nitz’s printmaking of artwork. I’m not an 3-D ceramic project on display in the art gallery. class and Mueller’s expert, but I know what
all-year 2-D Design class participated in the project. Whealon is also pleased with the collaborative effort between Bugnitz’s 3-D Design class and Whealon’s Advanced Ceramics class. According to Bugnitz, for the project everybody created a 15 by 15 inch square and did variations of a specific theme. They each did a part and now they are bringing it together as one sculpture. Students who worked on the project included juniors Sonny Hager, Ed Harris, and Bobby Kaye, and senior Joe Quinlan. “It is really neat for students to see the quality of the work at the end of the year after we clean it up and put it in a beautiful space. It’s really neat to see guys excited for other guys,” said Bugnitz. “It’s neat to watch (the artists) bring other kids in to show them,” said Whealon. Mueller said that he hoped a lot of parents and kids come. He mentioned that parents go to see their kids’ sporting events and wants them to come see their artwork as well. “I think it’s one of the strongest shows we’ve had in quite a few years,” said Mueller. “I think the work just shows a whole lot of talent.” The show will be up through next week for students and faculty to view if they missed opening night.
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Annual art show features student work M
Photo by Ted Wight
Chinese teacher Chien to depart Matt Cooley Reporter fter two years at St. Louis U. High, Chinese teacher Weiwei Chien will be leaving at the end of this school year. Chien taught Chinese I last year and Chinese II this year, leading one group of students through their first two years of studying the language. For Chien, who had a marketing career in Taiwan until she settled permanently in the U.S. in 2007, SLUH was her first indepth exposure to an American high school. Adjusting her teaching style to American culture was a challenge at first.
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“It was kind of a difficulty for me at the beginning, the classroom management,” said Chien. “I think I’m still learning now. But I really enjoy the students. I think I have the best students.” “(She) had great perseverance in going through with our extremely rowdy class,” said sophomore Jack Sellman. Despite initial challenges adjusting to the high school classroom, Chien said that she enjoyed the school’s atmosphere. She was often in the stands at football and hockey games to watch her students compete. She also served on the Diversity Council, where she helped assemble the Jazz Diversity Se-
ries. Working with sophomore William Edwards to film a contest-winning Chinese karaoke video was another highlight of her time at SLUH. “Every day, I just think coming to school is a joy,” said Chien. “She’s probably shown the most energy out of any teachers I’ve ever had,” said sophomore Reid Cavallini. Next year, Chien will be establishing a new Chinese program at another high school. She also is working on her Master’s degree in education.
May 14, 2010
Evans wraps up five-year career at diversity helm
Nate Heagney Staff fter serving at St. Louis University High for five years, Assistant Principal for Diversity Rob Evans is leaving SLUH to become principal of Christ the King High School in Chicago. After previously serving as a teacher at Cardinal Ritter High School, Evans was hired in 2005 as Director of Diversity. However, in 2009 his title was changed to Assistant Principal for Diversity as part of a restructuring in the SLUH administration. Evans said that the Robert Evans new job helped him to bring his perspective and influence to the administration through weekly meetings with the administrative team. “While it was really important and exciting for me, I think it was equally important for Dr. Moran to have a team where diversity was an issue that we were constantly talking about,” said Evans. “I’ve also found myself in more conversations with the Instructional Council of the school. I’ve found myself in more conversations about evaluations of teachers in the school and professional development. So, those are some of the ways in which the role changed.” Diversity has been an issue stressed by the administration during Evans’ tenure, as evidenced by his change in title. But Evans has also contributed to the advancement of diversity in other ways—organizing a Diversity Council at SLUH to discuss the school’s diversity, organizing a Diversity Hiring Fair which produced the application of future Director of Admissions Anja Schmelter, and arranging a school-wide Diversity Survey. Besides his work with diversity, Evans has also served as co-moderator of Student Council and has co-taught a section of Introduction to Modern African History Class. “He (is) a tremendous mentor, role model and teacher. And of course he brought solid academic foundation to the course,” said history teacher Tom Zinselmeyer, who co-teaches with Evans. Evans feels his time at SLUH has prepared him to lead at Christ the King. “I tell people all the time when I think about this role (as Director of Diversity) I think there are two pre-requisites you need: patience and really thick skin,” said Evans. “In the next role I think patience is going to be really important because I’m dealing with multiple levels of people. ... You need thick skin because as a principal you usually shoulder a lot of the responsibility when things happen well and when things don’t go as well. And those are some things I think I’ve learned in the last five years that will help me at the next level.” However, Evans knows not everything at SLUH has gone as smoothly as he planned when he first took the job, referencing some of the results of the aforementioned survey as a disappointing sign. “I think we’ve come a long way but I don’t think that everyone has come with us,” said Evans. “As I read through the comments it seems like there is a small population of folks who just don’t get it, just don’t get oppression, just don’t get how oppressive tradition can be.” Evans said he will look back on his time at SLUH with fondness. “I have friendships and relationships that I think will last a lifetime. SLUH is a big family, but like every family we have our issues,” said Evans. “But while I mention those frustrations, I have definitely grown to love and appreciate this place.”
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Photo by Mr. Matt Sciuto
May 14, 2010
Opinion
Letter to the Editors
Diversity is more than skin color To the Editors: Throughout this 2009-2010 school year, SLUH has put great emphasis on diversity (e.g., having diversity presentations, conducting diversity surveys, and elevating the role of Director of Diversity to Assistant Principal of Diversity, etc.). While I believe the intentions of the school are admirable, I believe it is time we take a step back and look at what diversity really is. Diversity should be a celebration of racial, cultural, and social union among groups such as the student body and faculty at SLUH. We are all unique and different, and it can be beneficial to be exposed to different cultures and ways of life. There are many different aspects of diversity and many of them are present at SLUH. I would consider SLUH to be diverse based on the many different places its students reside. We have students from Chesterfield, South County, North County, West County, Saint Charles, Illinois, Wentzville, and St. Louis City among several other areas. Living in each of those areas exposes people to different ways of life, which are then brought to SLUH. We also have students from many different economic backgrounds and even some from different religious backgrounds that all contribute to the diversity of the school. We also have students of many different races at SLUH, from European to African to Central American to South American to Asian. No matter what background a young man may have, as long as he is open to growth, intellectually competent, religious, loving, and committed to doing justice, he is welcome at SLUH. However, considering all these different aspects of diversity, I feel like a major emphasis at SLUH has been placed on the one aspect of diversity that I think is of the least importance, which is race. I have been brought up hearing that the color of one’s skin is not what matters, but who the person is on the inside. In fact, I consider this view so obvious and essential that I would champion it to the death. I do not believe that I, who am of Spanish descent with tan skin, am any different from someone of Irish descent with pale skin; or that the person of Irish descent with pale skin is any different than a person of Kenyan descent with dark skin. Our skin colors are different. So what? We should be treated no differently based merely off our skin color. Nevertheless, it appears to me that skin color is the major focus of the Diversity Council at SLUH. In the May 7 article in the Prep News on the Assistant Principal for Diversity’s departure, it states that Mr. Evans “redefined his role after his first year to work more on retention and recruitment of students of color.” In addition, the article states that Dr. Moran said, “Faculty diversity has been a recent goal of his, and he was disappointed to lose the role that Evans played in recruiting faculty of color.” While it is beneficial to have people of different races, it should not include giving an advantage to people “of color.” I do not even like the term “people of color.” Skin color comes in an infinite array of shades, and who is to say which shades should be considered “of color” as opposed to others. If we really live in a world where we think everyone is equal and should be treated equally and have equal rights, then why are we as a school saying we would rather have
Volume 74, Issue 30
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Koenigs finishes ASC year, heads to Connecticut
some students or faculty of a certain race over others of a different race? While I believe it is admirable that we are trying to give opportunities to minority students and faculty, I also believe Nathan Rubbelke we are undercutting the ideals that the Civil Rights moveStaff ment fought so hard to realize 50 years ago. If everyone is his year of service has been delectable,” said Alumni equal then let everyone be treated the same. No advantages “ Service Corps (ASC) volunteer Michael Koenigs. or disadvantages should be applied to a person because of Koenigs is departing St. Louis U. High after a year of his or her race. There are many and more significant aspects of people service with the ASC. Koenigs taught junior English. Koenigs has been heavily involved at SLUH. In addition that contribute to diversity than race. Diversity should cel- to his teaching ebrate significant differences like culture, language, and other duties, Koenigs categories instead of skin color. It should be blind to race. has been an asConsequently, the admissions and faculty screening process sistant coach for for SLUH should be blind to race. Instead of attempting to the cross counrecruit students based solely on race, under some vague try, track, and notion of recruiting people “of color,” the administration C-basketball could attempt to find students and faculty who embrace and teams, a pool participate in their cultural heritage. As a result, the person’s hall monitor, activities and accomplishments will speak for themselves and Prep News rather than the color of the person’s skin. adviser. He also For example, they might come across a student of Mexihelped launch can descent who speaks Spanish and still follows many of Gadfly TV . the traditions and customs of Mexico. Or, they could find a “I have gotfaculty member of Middle Eastern descent who can speak Mr. Michael Koenigs ten to meet the Arabic and raise awareness about the culture and customs of that Middle Eastern country. There is a difference between jocks and the scholars,” said Koenigs. “Although I teach a person of Nigerian heritage and a person of Nigerian juniors, I have gotten to hang out with the sophomores, freshmen, and seniors.” heritage who still practices some of his native customs. For Koenigs, the experience has surpassed his expec As opposed to being just “people of color,” such members of the SLUH community would better fulfill the tations. The city of St. Louis has been much better than goal of diversity at SLUH as defined on the SLUH website, anticipated for Koenigs, who said he was often asked, “Why “a diverse student body and faculty becomes part of the St. Louis?” “It’s a hidden gem of a city with so much to do,” said educational experience, better preparing students to work in an increasingly multicultural world, one in which local, Koenigs. “It is a young, vibrant city.” Koenigs will be back to work this summer. He will be national, and international tensions are often grounded in working as one of the new media directors for Ned Lamont, cultural, religious, or linguistic differences.” What I am trying to say is that when it comes to diver- who is running for governor of Connechticut. Koenigs will be sity, there are many different facets to that concept. And working on the campaign from the Yale University campus to best achieve the diversity we as a school are looking for, and has ideas for combining new media with education. Said Koenigs, “I may be filming interviews with we need to look at more than just one aspect, specifically race. So I think that when we say, as a school, that we want the professors (at Yale) and Columbia (University), and a diverse student and faculty body, it is important to look afterwards I am going to try and combine new media and at what diversity really means. Does it mean we want to education.” focus the majority of our efforts on race so that we can say Koenigs has not ruled out a return to the classroom as a student. He took the LSAT last fall and says that law school that we have x number of students “of color?” I don’t think that is what we mean. I think we want is still a possibility for him. “I am still a wandering soul,” joked Koenigs. to create an educational experience in which students are Whatever Koenigs does, he would not mind heading prepared to be exposed to different languages, cultures, religions, and traditions with which they aren’t familiar. back to his hometown, Denver, Colo. “I love Denver, and I think at some point I will return The administration at SLUH realizes that diversity is an important thing and is doing the best it can to propagate it, to the homeland,” said Koenigs. But for now, Koenigs is reflecting on the past year, and, but sometimes we can just get so caught up in one small aspect of diversity that it pays to take a step back and look as he often likes to say, “It has been a pleasure.” objectively at our goals. Do these actions build an educationally diverse school or just a superficially diverse one?
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Phot by Matt Bettonville
- Andrew Danter ’10
Schulte departs classroom, ready for new role Ben Kim “I like him,” said sophomore Michael Fitzmire, who News Editor takes Oral Communications. ine arts teacher Joseph Schulte will no “I think it’s interesting when longer teach classes after the end of this he tells us all his stories. … school year but will continue to be involved I guess the classes are going at St. Louis U. High, especially in theater. to suffer without him.” According to Schulte, next year his re “He’s amazing, serisponsibilities will include directing theater, ously. The stories he tells us moderating the Circus Club, guest lecturare inspiring, I’d say,” said ing, planning prayer services and retreats, senior Mike Gaines, who and working with alumni. takes Acting Improvisation. Schulte first arrived at SLUH as a fresh“I kind of want to be a teacher man in 1950, and, after graduating in 1954, he because of the impact I see he attended St. Louis University, where he studied has made on his students.” math. While at SLU, Schulte assisted SLUH One of Schulte’s greatwith its plays and helped build the theater est contributions has been his sets, ultimately being hired in 1958 as a math dedication to SLUH’s theater teacher and set designer. program, which he has been During his 52 years as a faculty member at involved with for the past SLUH, Schulte has held a myriad of positions: 60 years, including his colmath department chair, fine arts teacher, Circus lege and high school years. Club moderator, and assistant Student Council According to Schulte, since moderator. As a math teacher, Schulte taught he started directing in 1962, a smattering of math subjects for 50 years, he has been involved in 125 Schulte receiving his Backer Award last week. ranging from algebra to geometry to calculus productions of the Dauphin to statistics and analysis to trigonometry. Currently, Schulte Players in some fashion. He will continue to be involved only teaches the fine arts classes of Acting Improvisation in the Dauphin Players next year. and Oral Communications. “He’s been in the business a really long time,” said senior
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Photo by Kyle Vogt
Chris Ayala, who participates in SLUH theater. “I think the most important thing he has with a play is his vision.” “He’s a great director. His experience definitely shows through, and he combines his teaching skills and experience to direct good shows,” said senior Alex Seidel, another theater participant. Schulte’s teaching abilities have also gained praise from many different organizations in addition to SLUH. Along with his recently-received Backer Award, Schulte has received teaching awards from the Arts and Education Council, Emerson Electric, and the Speech and Theater Association of Missouri during his career. Looking back on his teaching career thus far, Schulte mentioned that though he is a teacher, he has learned many things from students. “There’s a song from the show King and I, which has the line: ‘If you become a teacher by your students, you’ll be taught,’” said Schulte. “And I have learned that my students have taught me a lot of things about life, about perseverance, and about the fun of just learning.” Though he won’t be teaching any formal classes next year, Schulte still looks forward to his interactions with students. “I enjoy seeing the students respond, listen, laugh, and have a good time in the process of learning. I think that it is exciting to see people enjoy the process of learning,” said Schulte.
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Sports
Volume 74, Issue 30
A week of MCC: Basebills split against CBC and Vianney Jake Fechter Reporter fter a tough loss to Chaminade last Thursday, the St. Louis U. High Basebills looked to solidify their season by guaranteeing a share of first place in the Metro Catholic Conference (MCC) by beating CBC this Tuesday. Junior ace Sasha Kuebel started for the Jr. Bills and looked dominant in his first two innings, hitting his spots and getting multiple popouts and groundouts with the help of his defense. But in the top of the third, Kuebel allowed two straight hits, and both of those runners scored in the inning to give the Cadets an early 2-0 lead. After allowing a third run in the 4th on an RBI single, Kuebel buckled down and regained control. Faced with runners on first and second and no outs, Kuebel struck out the next two batters and got the third to pop out to end the rally. Inspired, his offense caught fire in the fourth inning when sophomore Mitch Klug bombed a RBI triple to left bringing home freshman Joey Rund. Klug scored later in the inning on a passed ball, and the Jr. Bills managed to cut the CBC lead to 3-2. A great sign came in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Ostobills were trying to manufacture any kind of offense against CBC
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PHOTO BY DR. RICK KUEBEL
senior Derek Mazzio. With one out in the inning, senior Scott Milles chopped a grounder to the second baseman. Hustling all the way, Milles slid head first to beat the late throw. A f t e r a sacrifice Sasha Kuebel slides back into first base after a pickup attempt against Vianney. bunt moved Milles to second, sophomore Willie Flo- Because of the large amount of rain this ros knocked an RBI double down the week, Thursday’s game, scheduled to be first base line to tie the game at three. played at Sheridan Stadium, was moved to Kuebel pitched into the 6th inning, Vianney. Senior Andrew Ostapowicz started where he gave up an RBI double that gave on the mound and pitched a strong game, the Cadets a one-run lead. solidifying himself as a steady number two Klug came in for late-game pitching option come playoff time. Ostapowicz went duty, but the CBC bats manufactured another the distance, pitching all seven innings while run in the 7th inning to take a two-run lead, only allowing two runs with the help of a which they would hold for the win. solid defense behind him. The SLU-bound Mazzio was too much Klug again came up big for the offense for the Jr. Bills to handle. The righthander again, smoking a three-run home run against only allowed four hits and fanned eight a strong Vianney bullpen. The offense strung SLUH batters. With the 5-3 win, CBC took together hits and, with the help of a shaky control of first place in the conference. see TURN TWO, 10
Volleybills survive one senior night, fail to ruin another Andrew Salamone Reporter his past week marked the final week of the regular season for the St. Louis U. High volleyball team. Having won nine of their last 10 matches, the Volleybills were looking to enter the State playoffs on a hot streak. SLUH had beaten each team in the Metro Catholic Conference (MCC) at least once and was trying to reclaim the conference championship from defending champion DeSmet. The Volleybills were even hoping for a No. 1 ranking in the Post-Dispatch by the end of the week. But things didn’t work out as well as the team would have liked, as the Jr. Bills hardly squeaked past Althoff before being bounced by the Spartans of SLUH West. Relaxed after an enjoyable Senior Night celebration, the Jr. Bills did not come out ready to play this past Tuesday when they took on the 2-11 Althoff Crusaders. SLUH was expecting to roll over a much
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less talented team. Althoff had other plans, however. The Crusaders were looking to spoil the U. High’s Senior Night by pulling off an upset and winning a match that would make their entire season. SLUH came in as the confident powerhouse, and Althoff came in as the underdog with nothing to lose. Besides junior setter Zak Robben, the starting lineup for the Jr. Bills was all seniors, including senior Kyle Baxter, who was making just the second appearance of his injury-stricken season. The players seemed relaxed as they were expecting an easy win and to get home early that night. However, right from the start Althoff showed SLUH they were going to hang with them all match long. After each team traded points, the Volleybills put together two separate 6-0 runs to keep them in the game, but they never really took control and struggled to put together a consistent offensive effort. Poor serving and even poorer communi-
cation at times by the Jr. Bills allowed Althoff to hang around. But despite the halfhearted effort, the Lil’Tayonbills slipped past the Crusaders in game one in part because of a great play from Baxter, who is now an area leader in blocks per game. “I was just glad to get out there and do my thing. It felt good to contribute and play well, especially on Senior Night in front of all my fans,” said Baxter. Hoping for an easy win and looking to give underclassmen some valuable experience, coach Paul Scovill started game two with all substitutes besides the invaluable setter Robben. Althoff played as if they took this move personally. They took control of the game from the very beginning, leading for almost the entire game. Although the Crusaders deserve their credit, a lot of their win in game two could be attributed to minor errors by the Jr. Bills. Missed kills, serving errors,
see VOLLEY, 10
Ruggers head to Jefferson City photo courtesy of rob koehneman
On Saturday, in the first round of the state tournament, the first year SLUH Rugbybills defeated hapless opponent Parkway United, 62-0. To the left, senior Brian Faron scores the first of SLUH’s many tries en route to victory on the game’s first possession. Now in the final four, the Jr. Bills take on the Eureka Wildcats in Jefferson City Saturday afternoon. If victorious, the state finals take place Sunday in Jeff City. -reporting by Adam Cruz
May 14, 2010
Tennis on a roll, heads to sectionals Alex Paino Reporter he St. Louis U. High tennis team finished its regular season last Thursday against a talented Kirkwood team, losing 6-1. The only victory came from junior Greg Marifian at No. 1 singles, though senior Joe Murphy-Baum came very close to victory at No. 2 singles. The team headed up to North County to play at Districts on Tuesday and Wednesday. The format for Districts includes a singles tournament and a doubles tournament, where each school is allowed two entries in each tournament and the first and second place finishers of each tournament are guaranteed to play at state. Tuesday went smoothly for the Wilsonbills, as Marifian and Murphy-Baum easily won their first two matches in singles, and seniors Brandon Eversgerd and Alex Paino easily won their first two matches as a doubles team. Junior Cameron Trachsel and sophomore Matei Stefanescu had little trouble in their first match, but faced a more difficult opponent in their second match where they ended up winning narrowly, 7-6, 7-5. The team knew the competition would be tougher on Wednesday. However, it was still no problem for singles players Marifian and Murphy-Baum, who easily won their semifinal matches, guaranteeing both of them a spot in the singles tournament at State. Having played the tougher opponent the day before, Trachsel and Stefanescu did not have any problem winning their semifinal match, which also guaranteed them a spot in the State doubles tournament. Eversgerd and Paino, however, had more difficulty with their semifinal match. They played the No. 1 seeded team from Hazelwood Central, and got off to a quick start by winning the first set 6-2. However, Central bounced back to take the second set 6-1, and force a third set. The third set was mostly even throughout, but in the end Central pulled out a 6-4 victory, which made for a disappointing loss for SLUH. Eversgerd and Paino then had to play the third place match for doubles, where they got off to a lethargic start losing the first five games. However, they made a nice comeback by winning seven games in a row to take the set 7-5. The second set was more even, and Eversgerd and Paino captured third place by winning the second set tiebreaker, 14-12. Meanwhile, Trachsel and Stefanescu played the team from Hazelwood Central in the finals of the doubles tournament, but unfortunately they lost in two close sets. Nevertheless, the team easily secured a first place overall finish at Districts. The team will play the Regionals dual meet on Monday against another District champ, and if they win they will go on to play a tougher team in a Sectionals dual meet, which is all that stands in the team’s way of qualifying for State as a team.
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Sisyphus Correction Sisyphus regrets misspelling the name of Sonny Hager, whose remarkable artwork appears in several places in the Spring 2010 edition of Sisyphus.
May 14, 2010
Sports
Volume 74, Issue 30
Inlinebills’ future bright despite early playoff exit Matt Geisman Reporter oming off an inspirational game following Jake Ritz Night, the St. Louis U. High inline team faced off against top seeded St. Mary’s. With scoring woes as of late, the team got off to a poor start, letting in five unanswered goals within the first half of the game. Just when the game seemed hopeless, freshman Mike Cella netted a goal just before the half ended, and junior Matt Potter opened up the second half with another. With the score 5-2, a comeback seemed like a legitimate possibility. However, the Dragons pulled their game together, scoring two goals within less than a minute. Although Cella scored his second goal of the game moments later, there wasn’t enough time
PHOTO BY DR. RICK KUEBEL
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A SLUH inline attacker takes a shot against the Celtics.
left to complete a comeback. The game got chippy towards the end, with Potter and a St. Mary’s defender taking coinciding roughing minors late in the game. The game ended quickly, and along with it, another chapter in the Puckbills rebuilding
period. SLUH fell, 7-3. “A year ago, our future was uncertain,” said head coach Tim O’Neil. “We graduated six seniors, and we weren’t sure if we could even field a team next year.” However, unlike last year, the future of next year is almost certain. “I see next year as being very successful for us… (as) we will have a lot more experience,” said junior Tommy Meehan. On this team’s varsity roster, only two players had previous experience in the club. Next year, there will undoubtedly be more experience. Although the early exit from the playoffs seemed disappointing, the underlying hope for next season will carry the team through the off-season, hopefully producing better results.
Laxbills win, lose close games, head to playoffs
PHOTO BY MR. MATT SCIUTO
Andrew Kastner Core Staff ery rarely do high school athletic contests come down to the final seconds. The St. Louis U. High lacrosse team had not one but two of these games in the past week, tasting both victory and defeat in these situations against Parkway West and Chaminade, respectively. The Jr. Bills’ regular season drew to a close this past week with victories against Parkway West (6-5) last Friday and Lafayette (9-8) on Tuesday and losses to Chaminade (4-3) in double overtime on Saturday and Christian Brothers (10-4) on Wednesday. SLUH’s face-off against favored Parkway West yielded one of the Jr. Bills’ best performances all season, with both teams fighting equally hard for the victory. West’s offense attacked the Jr. Bills viciously the whole game, but thanks to the SLUH defense’s ability to take apart the coming attacker and senior goalie Connor Blanquart’s lockdown of the crease, the game was tied 2-2 at halftime. West came out of the half on a warpath, quickly scoring and taking control of the ball offensively. After several denied attempts on the SLUH goal, the Jr. Bills managed to turn the tide and respond with a goal of their own. The game remained evenly matched, with each side adding another goal to the scoreboard. West, however, with less than a quarter left in regulation, began attacking the Jr. Bill defense even more aggressively than before, and if not for Blanquart’s multiple amazing saves at close range, the game would have been lost there. With Blanquart and the rest of SLUH’s
defense holding back West’s advances, SLUH was able to gain control of the ball long enough for senior Rich Mehan to score the winning goal from the outside with less than 20 seconds left on the clock. The game against Chaminade, however, was not as successful. SLUH managed to match Chaminade’s scoreboard every step of the game, staying even from 1-1 to 3-3 thanks to senior Walter Reilly’s goal with 17 seconds left in regulation. While SLUH actually scored four goals during the game, one of Reilly’s goals was recalled due to an illegal stick.
Chaminade’s solid goaltending and defense as well as SLUH’s own prevented either side from scoring and claiming dominance and sent the game into its second overtime. Sadly, with 45 seconds remaining, Chaminade scored to take away the win. “We didn’t play our game,” said Reilly. Lafayette proved to be an easier opponent than Parkway West and Chaminade had been, with the Jr. Bill’s solidly in the lead for the first half. While SLUH led the game 8-4 at the half, “we kicked it into neutral,”
Kurt Piening Reporter he St. Louis U. High water polo team started its road to redemption Wednesday night by facing off against Ladue, one of the four teams that it had lost to this season. The Polobills started off sluggishly, allowing Ladue to notch the first goal, and played inconsistent offense for the majority of the first quarter. Hayden Yancey, Ladue’s star player, managed to keep the game tied up until the second quarter. Also, some dubious officiating hobbled the Jr. Bills’ attempts to gain a lead. However, after a very questionable call that took SLUH’s first lead of the game away because the shot clock allegedly should have already run out, the Jr. Bills rallied. With less
than eight seconds left on the clock SLUH managed to get the ball the entire length of the pool to sophomore Michael Savio, who launched a beautiful backhand shot into the upper corner of the goal. Coach Paul Baudendistel is reported to have joked: “Take that, public schools,” upon seeing the goal. Officially, Baudendistel said, “Our God is a just God.” Once SLUH’s fire was lit, Ladue had no chance of stopping the Baudbills. The Bills notched seven more goals to Ladue’s one by the end of the game thanks to the impenetrable defense of senior Robert “Spanky” Golterman, and won 10-3. The win allowed SLUH water polo to advance to the final four of the State tournament for the 23rd year in a row. “I’m happy for this team, and especially
these seniors. Obviously we want to win this weekend, and we can, but if we don’t, we can still hold our heads high,” said Baudentistel. The H2OPolobills continue their redemption tour against Parkway North tonight at the Rec Plex in what should prove to be a very difficult and interesting game. Parkway North captain, Marty Ruzicke, arguably the best two-meter guard in the state, said of the upcoming game, “We’ve been preparing for the semifinals game against SLUH for the last couple of weeks. They’ve made huge progress since the last time we played, and we know they’ll come out strong. It will be a fun game, and if they win, we’ll be rooting for them in the finals.”
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Seniors Mike Riddering and Will Hollabaugh chase down a CBC attackman.
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Polobills begin road to redemption T
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C-Basebills grab MCC crown
Adam Cruz Sports Editor he St. Louis U. High C-baseball team has had a season to remember thus far, corralling 17 victories and winning the Metro Catholic Conference (MCC) crown. The team began the season on a hot streak, rolling off seven consecutive victories. High points during the run included a doubleheader sweep of rival Vianney, in which the Slickfieldingjohnnybills offensively blew up with a 17 run outburst in game one, then shut down Vianney in a D-game immediately after. Vianney finished second in the conference. In the early going, SLUH was led by the hitting of captains shortstop Matt Binz (.484) and second baseman Tony Bright (.375, team leading 20 runs), and the pitching of captain J.J. Guenther (3-1, 18 K’s) and knuckle-change specialist Andrew Quinn (2-0). However, after an 8-6 win over the Longhorns of Parkway West, the Bultebills hit a speed bump, dropping three straight to DeSmet, Eureka, and Parkway South. In these games, SLUH could not put the pieces together, struggled through missed opportunites and sloppy defensive play, and also battled an injury to captain Matt Clohisy, the team’s ace pitcher and starting third baseman. But the Jr. Bills, after dropping the first game of the SLUH tournament, rallied around some unexpected heroes with two of their most exciting victories of the year, including a walk off win over the Farmington Knights. Starting with the two wild come-frombehind victories against Farmington and Parkway Central in the SLUH tournament in which the team’s back-ups shone, the C-teamers began another winning streak, this one spanning 10 games and including victories over key MCC opponents. In one of their last MCC contests, the BartaloneChevroletbills took on the Spartans in a night game at Sheridan Stadium, looking to avenge an earlier loss. However, it appeared DeSmet would again get the best of SLUH, as they led 5-1 after 6 innings. But with one out in the bottom of the 7th, the RayJaybills bats came alive. After key pinch hits by utilityman Cole Tarlas and designated hitter John Bartalone, SLUH tied the score at five with two outs still to go. With the Spartan infield in, Quinn slashed a triple down the right field line to score Bright and start the dogpile at home plate as the Jr. Bills won in a doosie, 6-5. “The game against DeSmet was amazing, easily the highlight of the year,” said Bright. “It almost made all the runs we had to make to Forest Park every single day worth it. Almost.” Later in the month, when battling the CBC C-team for a chance at the MCC title, coach Ray Bulte went with pitcher Matt Rancillio (3-0) in only his second start to try and mow down the Cadets. The move paid off, as with just 49 pitches in 7 innings, Rancillio delivered a two-hit shutout, overcoming the quiet bats of the Russianpoliticsbills en route to a 2-0 victory. But the luck ran out for the C-team this Tuesday, in a revenge opportunity against the Patriots of Parkway South, who had tenrunned the team earlier in the year. Though the game was close in the beginning, defensive let-downs and baserunning gaffes led to the second Patriot blowout of the year. “In the games against South, for some
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see C BASE, 10
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Sports
Volume 74, Issue 30
May 14, 2010
JV Track wins MCC championship B Baseball falls to CBC, by an outstanding 101 points looks to Michael McLaughlin Reporter won SLUH the 4 x 100 relay, after a time of s the school year comes to a close, so 1:41.74 won them the 4 x 200. In the final 4 too does the JV track and field sea- x 400, SLUH rose to the occasion yet again son. And what a season it has been. The one word that most accurately describes this stellar group of athletes would have to be “unstoppable.” “We always muse, ‘If only there were a state meet for JV in cross country.’ Well, ditto for track,” said co-head coach Joe Porter. St. Louis U. High’s JV squad competed in eight meets, more often than not earning a top-three team finish. Their most recent victory was the Metro Catholic Sophomore Evan Becton flies in the running long jump. Conference (MCC) Championship. SLUH’s JV won by an outra- to pull out a first-place finish. In all, the JV geous 101 points, the largest lead out of any sprinters earned SLUH 45 points. On the distance end, the heavily-favored level of competition that day. The sprint squad was led by junior Riley Jr. Bills’4 x 800 team threw down the hammer Konzen, who won the 400-meter dash in with an 8:43.80, around 40 seconds faster 55.23, closely followed by fellow junior Pat than second place DeSmet. In the 1600, junior Alan Ratermann Hart, who finished in third place. Hart and gapped the field in the mile with an incredible sophomore Jamil Irvin-Muhammad double 4:39, followed by second-place sophomore teamed the 100, placing fourth and second, Michael McLaughlin five seconds later. The respectively. An outstanding time of 47.09
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PHOTO BY MR. MATT SCIUTO
crowd-favorite, junior Joe “The Champ” Meier, blew away all but one of his competitors in the 800, finishing first ahead of sophomore Tyler Gardner, who finished just two seconds back. The longest race of the day, the 3200, was won by sophomores Nathan Rubbelke and Joe Esswein, who finished with a gold and silver, respectively. Of his meet record 10:01 in the two mile, Rubbelke commented, “I was out there racing for my hometown, B-Town (Ballwin). Without fellow B-Town resident, Coach (Chris) Scott, cheering me on, I would not have run so well.” The JV distance squad earned all 50 possible points. Sophomore Tommy Behr placed first in the 110-meter hurdles, followed closely by sophomore Matt McCarthy, who doubled in the 300-meter hurdles, and placed first with an impressive 43.23. Sophomore Dan Williams finished mere milliseconds behind McCarthy, earning a silver medal. The hurdlers claimed all 28 points possible for their events. Behr and Burke went one-two in the high jump, each leaping 5’2” en route to the podium. Irvin-Muhammad and sophomore Geddy Trebus both triple jumped over 38 feet, gapping their best competition by seven feet. Irvin-Muhammad brought home the gold, and Trebus the silver. The jumpers totaled 15 points. Junior Jon Conley vaulted his way to silver at 9’6”, earning six points. Another of the top performing squads of the meet was SLUH’s JV throwers. Junior
see JV TRACK, 10
JV Polo splits up and conquers the post-season game ended at 7-6. Sean Sullivan Since SLUH’s white and blue teams Reporter finished 2-0 in group play, they advanced he St. Louis U. High JV water polo to a round robin that included SLUH team wrapped up its season last week and DeSmet. Blue was the first of the at the JV conference tournament. For the Where’sBusiebills to take on the Spartans. tournament, the team split into a white The blue squad got off to a slow start, only team, consisting of all freshmen, and a winning 3-1 at halftime, but took control blue team, consisting of two freshman and in the second half. Led by the scoring of sophomores. sophomore Michael Slaughter and freshman While the blue team blew out their first Darion Castro, who both netted three goals, two opponents, winning 12-2 against MICDS and 14-0 against Parkway South, the white team had two very close contests. In their first game, SLUHwhite took on Parkway South. Finding themselves down at half 3-0 in their Freshman Chris Favier scans the pool for an open pass. first game of the year without any of their sophomore team- the blue team pulled away and won 10-1. mates, the freshmen were able to score two SLUH white took on DeSmet next. The goals to make it a one-goal game going into Hungarianbills took a 7-2 deficit into halfthe fourth quarter. time, and could not make a third comeback, Late in the game with the score tied at falling by a final score of 15-4. four, freshman Chris Favier scored off a drive On Friday night, SLUH white took on as the shot clock expired, and the white team SLUH blue in the last game of each team’s was able to hold on for a 5-4 win. season. On this night, the sophomores In its second game, where it was playing showed their superiority over their freshto advance out of their group, the white team man counterparts, winning the game 14-1 took on a very strong Ladue team. Again the behind player of the game sophomore Pieter Froshbills found themselves down constantly Derdyn’s one goal and three assists. White’s but were able to claw back to have the score lone goal came in the fourth, when Koors at 6-6 late in the game. With less than 10 put a perfectly-placed shot into the upper seconds left, Nick Koors scored and the left corner from the right wing.
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PHOTO BY MR. MATT SCIUTO
Including the conference tournament, the Calibills finished the season off at an impressive 22-1. While the team’s record was superb, their real success can be seen in the progress they made throughout the year. When asked about the freshman team’s growth throughout the year, coach John Penilla said, “Those guys who had never played made big improvements, and the experienced players contributed more and more to the team as the season progressed.” While the freshman will graduate to becoming the leaders of JV next year, the sophomores are looking to next year contribute to the varsity squad. Of the sophomores, Penilla said that through their performance they have “showed they are ready for the big time next year.” Going into next year, the members of the JV Speedobills hope to help make their team the best in the area, not at all too high of a goal.
close historic season
Danny Hogan Reporter s the memorable season for the BBaseball team comes to a close, the Jr. Bills hope to capture a Metro Catholic Conference (MCC) title. With an exceptional record of 16-4 (4-1 MCC) the Jr. Bills hope to establish their place in history as one of the best B-teams to put on the SLUH uniform. The team entered last Tuesday night’s home game against rival CBC in first place with a perfect conference record, but CBC ended that perfection. The Jr. Bills got off to a slow start, hitting the ball hard but failing to find holes in the staunch Cadet defense. Sophomore starting pitcher Danny Fogerty struggled early, giving up three runs while receiving little defensive support. The Jr. Bills fell, 3-1. Fortunately, the Jr. Bills remained in first place despite the loss. If they can hold their position atop the league, it would be coach Scott Gilbert’s first conference championship in 13 years of coaching the B-team. “It would be a great way for the story to end,” said Gilbert. The team’s impressive season has been marked by both outstanding pitching and consistency at the plate. With wins over CBC and Vianney in its final two games, the team could cement themselves as one of the best teams in Gilbert’s career. “If not the best, (this team) is up there with some of the best I’ve coached,” said Gilbert. The team hopes to prove they deserve that praise by bringing home wins in its final two games.
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PHOTO BY MR. MATT SCIUTO
Freshman Ryan Hurston in position at third base. photo by Ben Kim
Author Kathleen Finneran Visits SLUH Author Kathleen Finneran visited St. Louis U. High yesterday for a discussion of her memoir, The Tender Land. During the presentation, which was held in the Ignation Conference room, Finneran read a section of her book and answered questions. English teacher Frank Kovarik’s class had just finished studying her memoir.
Feature Gettin’ the call May 14, 2010
Volume 74, Issue 30
A look at underclassman call-ups at SLUH
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a guy is physically ready and not mentally ready, and that it is more experience and basketball IQ, to make the jump Adam Cruz is a testament to U. High as a school and the kind of kids it from freshman to B.” Sports Editor However, Ross said that when a freshman makes has,” said Kornfeld. B-team, it is extremely important for that player and the pperclassman athletes fear it, freshmen and sophoSoccer program, because Ross is essentially making a “four year mores strive for it, and its frequency seems to in The last three years, coach Charlie Martel’s soccer team commitment to the guy” by putting him on the sophomore crease each year. In almost every sport at St. Louis U. has boasted a freshman on the varsity squad, including fresh- team at a younger age. High, underclassmen are contributing and even starting man Joey Rund, a key cog on the State runner-up team this Ross cited summer basketball, especially in tournaments at the varsity level. season. Unlike other sports, which feature frequent mid- to with the SLUH summer squad, as an essential way to see So in the past month, I tracked down five varsity coaches late-season call-ups, once teams are set on all levels after if a former freshman is ready to make the leap, especially and questioned them on the strategies and methods they use the first few weeks of tryouts, they remain that way until on a physical level. for calling up and utilizing underclassmen in their respective the season is over, despite potential injuries or needs at the “It’s easy to tell if a guy is ready for you if he is competsports. higher levels. ing with varsity guys over Questions asked: S o c c e r the summer, especially our -How do you get enough looks at a guy / learn enough tries a differvarsity guys,” said Ross. about him to know he’s ready to compete at a higher ent approach “Fechter played more than level? than the other Tim as a freshman (on -Is there a difference between calling a guy up from C programs when varsity), but you could see to JV versus from C or JV to varsity? trying to get Tim was due for a breakout -How does your program utilize swinging? a look at all because of how he was -Is there a mental aspect to it? their guys. The playing and competing -Would you rather have a guy dominating on a lower varsity and Bagainst guys like Geno level or being potentially heavily outmatched at an upper team tryouts McNeil, Andy (Hill).” level? start a day later Because of this phiFootball than the freshlosophy, Ross relies heav Though it varies from year to year, the football program man tryouts, ily on swinging. To make under coach Gary Kornfeld usually has at least a guy or two so on the first players better and ready up and starting for the team as sophomores. Recently, with day for the Cto start for two or more the addition of a junior varsity, juniors and sophomores team all of the years, he has guys practice now frequently swing between JV and varsity, and for the coaches are with the varsity and play State playoffs, deserving freshmen and sophomores dress present to look in the B-team games. As a out with varsity team. “Swing” players, usually sophomores at the players. freshman, Cooney swung, and juniors that dress with varsity but don’t play at the The last day of and sophomore Matt Clark upper level, play with the JV on Mondays and Thursdays the first week swung this past season. and spend the rest of their week with the big squad. This of tryouts fol “This year, in practice, past year, eight sophomores started at least one game, with lows the same I had Matt guard Tim and Freshman Joey Rund in the soccer State final versus CBC. sophomores Mitch Klug and Stephan Sansone earning first pattern, with all Tim guard Matt. Then, Matt would go and play in the B-team team all-conference honors. five or six coaches in the program present at the freshman games. Matt still got to play in real games, with real fans, Regarding the evaluation of underclassmen for the practice. At the end of the practice, a select few freshmen real stats, and real refs, but he also got better by playing program, film work is the most essential and extensive in are invited to tryout with the B-team and the varsity. everyday against a player of the caliber of Tim Cooney,” football. C and JV games are taped and given to the varsity “We want to be positive and on the same page about said Ross. position coaches to study in the offseason and to watch what we have, and also to be able to answer any parent Although Ross tries to make sure every guy gets a fair periodically throughout the year. Film study is not the only questions about their son’s situations,” said Martel. “We shot and looks for the best for each individual kid, senior means of scouting, however. have some extensive conversations the first few days.” or sophomore, he noted he has never had a year with all “At the end of the year, the (underclassman) coaches fill Most freshmen that are called up end up with the B- juniors and seniors on varsity. out an evaluation so we can get to know a kid,” said Korn- team, with two criteria: they must be starting or at least “We always try to do what’s best for the program, feld. “I also try to talk to the coaches so I can see if there’s be playing a majority of the minutes, and they need to be and what’s best for the kid,” said Ross. “Whether it be no a kid who should at least be practicing with the varsity. We deemed by coach Bob O’ Connell ready to play with kids sophomores up, or six sophomores up, so be it. We want to do our best to know the players before they are with us.” physically a year or two ahead. be successful, not just as a team, but for each individual as While it is not uncommon for a sophomore to be on the “Lots of freshmen are skilled, but size and speed are a well. Hopefully, they coincide.” varsity for football, it is incredbig part of it,” said Martel. Wrestling ibly rare to have a freshman “If we don’t think a freshman Out of all five sports, wrestling is probably the most play on the JV. is physically ready yet, we’d “If a guy, as a sophomore, rather him get minutes down distinctive. Because of low weight classes that older guys have trouble making, it may seem obvious to call up a is ready to compete with us on on C.” the varsity level, then there re Instead of swinging, freshman to compete in weight classes like 103. However, ally is no point to him being on the soccer program boasts unlike other major sports, most freshmen are completely junior varsity,” said Kornfeld. a JV squad where juniors new to the sport and may struggle and even be manhandled “But we have a pretty darn who don’t make varsity and at a higher level, even if they do make the weight. More than the other sports, the mental aspect needs good freshman schedule, so sophomores that don’t make freshman will usually stay put B-team can get playing time to be considered more than the physical aspects before with guys his own age and his and ready themselves to play throwing a freshman on the varsity squad, though swinging allows there to be room for messing around with different own physical size.” at the varsity level. Kornfeld also cited exter When it comes to play- combinations. Freshman Alex Tackes, a first year wrestler, nal reasons for leaving a freshing time, Martel stood firm was 4-1 on the varsity level for coach Jon Ott this year at 103, but the team elected to forfeit at that weight slot more man on the C-team level. though. “This is a guy’s first time “We like our guys to often than not. Wrestle-offs and previous experience are key when Ott out of grade school,” said Kornplay. We don’t want to have a feld. “So at least for the first guy up on B or varsity to sit, looks at potential varsity wrestlers. Wrestle-offs are matches couple months, we want a guy because why play the game? in practices between guys in the same weight class, with to get used to the academics of You learn by playing,” said the winner competing in the varsity match. “If a guy, like (sophomore) Will (Whitney), has wrestled SLUH and get socially adapted. Martel. competitively before high school, we may start him out in He doesn’t need the added presBasketball the varsity/JV room and see how he does in his wrestlesure of varsity athletics at that Although no under- offs,” said Ott. “If he hasn’t, then we look at a young man’s time.” Kornfeld, in regards to Sophomore Andrew Pitts turns two against Creighton Prep last month, classman made a significant mental make-up and physical physique.” with fellow sophomore Willie Floros looking on. impact this year on coach Ott added, “A big part of it is whether he wants to go calling up the underclassmen, John Ross’s District runner-up up or not. If a freshman doesn’t want to wrestle varsity, why labels himself as a “big proponent” of a guy getting playing varsity squad, an era of underclassman dominance is ending force him to?” time above all else. “We will never call a guy up to sit. He has got to be and a new one may soon begin. With seven seniors lost to As in football, a freshman on JV is a rarity. Only when playing,” said Kornfeld. “That’s why this JV thing is nice, graduation from this year’s team, open spots are up for the a freshman would have a bye on the C level do they get because we can have the best of both worlds, have a guy taking. The team graduates seniors Tim Cooney and Jake pushed up to the junior varsity side. Fechter, two of Ross’ first four-year varsity athletes. Seniors “We tend not to focus on wins and losses as much on practicing with us and still playing.” “Because there is no off-season or ‘club’ football, it’s Mike Butler and Andrew Ostapowitz, key contributors since the lower levels, especially with the JV,” said Ott. “Wins on the lower levels are nice, but the ultimate goal is varsity, vital during our regular season for guys to have some actual their sophomore year, also end their varsity careers. game experience,” said Kornfeld, citing sports like basket- Cooney and Fechter are rare cases, however, as Ross says and preparing guys to compete there.” ball and soccer where there are select off-season teams that it is “extremely rare” to find a freshman ready to compete Swinging, however, occurs frequently in wrestling, at a varsity level. especially between the JV and varsity levels and concerning make it easier to have a guy sit. “B-team, the guys don’t have to be as physically gifted weight requirements. However, for Kornfeld, an athlete’s mentality does not see UNDERCLASSMEN, 11 stand as a road block. “I’ve never run into a situation where as you would have to be on the varsity,” said Ross. “A lot of
U
Photo by Mike Dryden
Phot by Dr. rick Kuebel
8
Seniors
Volume 74, Issue 30
May 14, 2010
CLASS OF 2010 COLLEGE CHOICES Listed by College
Bellarmine University (3): Joseph Bettger, Patrick Macauley, Matthew Odem Belmont University (1): Jamie Hagan Berklee College of Music (1): Dominic Tramelli Butler University (1): Matthew Schumacker California, University of-San Diego (1): Scot Metzger Cardinal Glennon Seminary (2): John Schneier, George Staley Carnegie Mellon University (1): Patrick Dustmann Catholic University of America (1): Patrick Gilfoil Central Missouri, University of (1): Collum Magee Columbia College (1): Daniel McCarthy
Daniel Jones, Dylan Jungels, Benjamin Kirchner, Timothy Kuensting, Andrew LaFaver, Luke Landolt, Joseph Luckey, Jeffrey Mathews, Joseph McDonald, Richard Mehan, Scott Milles, Timothy O’Brien, Alexander Paino, Michael Perez, Jacob Pilla, Austin Pollock, Anthony Randazzo, Walter Reilly, Paul Ruppe, Andrew Schaller, Andrew Scheibe, Joshua Schnitzler, Dane Stole, Charles Stoltze, Matthew Turner, Michael Wedekind, William Weiss, Stephen White, Patrick Williams Missouri, University of-Kansas City (3): Benjamin Castro, Peter Everson, Kevin Perks Missouri, University of-St. Louis (2): Ryan Burke, Anthony Medina Montana State University-Bozeman (1): John Seaton Notre Dame, University of (7): Christopher Ayala, Andrew Brady, Brian Campbell, Jack Dowd, David Fleming, Luis Llanos, Matthew Tryniecki
Columbia University (1): Griffin Lowry
Ohio State University (1): Kurt Eisele
Creighton University (7): Andrew Evens, John Helling, Eric Hoffman, Mark Kissel, Gregory Mathews, Ryan Oberman, Andrew Ostapowicz
Pittsburgh, University of (1): Michael Phillips
Dallas, University of (2): Patrick Archer, Daniel Schmidt
Purdue University (3): Patrick Davis, Matthew Hencken, Mitchel Jones Quincy University (1): Christian Stark
Dayton, University of (5): Cole Aston, Joseph Edmundson, Zachary Harris, Scott Jackson, John Steurer Denison University (1): John Huddleston DePauw University (1): Michael Riddering Drury University (1): Anthony Bruno Emory University (1): Andrew Kastner Fordham University (3): Kevin Conroy, Patrick Jerry, Richard Pisoni Full Sail University (1): Nicholas Cerame Hendrix College (1): Michael Ottenlips Holy Cross College (1): Joseph Quinlan Illinois, University of-Urbana-Champaign (2): Brian Lickenbrock, Grant Welge Illinois Wesleyan University (1): Michael Mayberger Indiana University (1): Andrew Salamone Iowa State University (1): William Franey Juilliard School (1): David Ball Kansas, University of (4): Peter Fiore, Daniel Hudson, Nicholas Seckfort, Patrick Vastola Kenyon College (1): Aaron Dripps Loyola University-Chicago (11): Ryan Bedell, Michael Dienstbach, Devin Jordan, Timothy McLaughlin, Anthony Minnick, Anthony Re’, Michael Tynan, Jefferson Uriarte, Ted Varty, Nicholas Verzino, Marcus Wright Loyola University-Marymount (1): Quinlan Thames Loyola University-New Orleans (3): Patrick Donovan, Collin McCabe, Sam McCabe Macalester College (1): David Lopez Marquette University (10): Thomas Bobak, William Bufe, Steven Burns, Michael Butler, Sean Dailey, Joseph Ebel, William Hollabaugh, Kevin Mueller, Bernard Nester, Alex Whalen Maryland, University of-College Park (1): Peter Harris Maryville University (2): Christopher Bachmann, Joseph Zacher Massachusetts Institute of Technology (3): Robert Bertucci, Luke Chellis, Kenneth Siebert
Regis University (1): Alistair Vierod Robert Morris University (1): Sean Meagher Rockhurst University (5): James Fister, Kevin McAuliffe, Andrew Meyer, Kurt Piening, Lawrence Rudolf Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (1): Padrick Mulligan San Francisco, University of (1): Matthew Reda Santa Clara University (1): Robert Golterman Southern California, University of (1): Zachary Gima Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (1): Nicholas Whelan Southwestern Illinois College (1): Zachary Oppland Spring Hill College (2): Matthew Burke, Alexander Myers St. Louis College of Pharmacy (1): Jasper Grippi St. Louis Community College-Meramec (2): Alexander Kendall, Tyrell Komorowski St. John’s University-Minnesota (1): Stuart Fogarty St. Louis University (25): John Barrett, Connor Blanquart, Chad Carson, Tim Clohisy, Adam Cruz, Thomas Dempsey, Michael Dryden, Jacob Fechter, Benjamin Ford, Michael Gaines, Daniel Goeddel, Brenden Graczak, Robert Koehneman, Martin Lee, Philip Luongo, Michael McVey, Andrew Mertens, Michael Meyer, Travis Meyer, Ben Minden-Birkenmaier, Patrick Nacanaynay, Daniel Pike, Gregory Place, Aric Rhodes, Andrew Tierney Stanford University (1): Matthew Bettonville Truman State University (13): Houston Barber, Austin Brauer, Stephen Cullen, Vincent Curcuru, Michael Gassert, Joel Geders, Kevin Kickham, David Kirner, Joseph Murphy-Baum, Gregory Powell, Andrew Swafford, Adam Voss, Joseph Wright Tulane University (1): Benjamin Kim Tulsa, University of (8): Christopher Burnworth, Emmett Cookson, Patrick Creedon, Casey Fitzgerald, Jonathan Henke, Michael Kaucher, Andrew Kresyman, Colin Lehman United States Military Academy (1): Kevin Easley Wisconsin, University of-Madison (1): Kevin Richard Wisconsin, University of-Stevens Point (1): William Linhares Wyoming, University of (1): Peter McCall
Memphis, University of (1): Daniel Hermsmeier
Vanderbilt University (2): James Butler, Frank Schumacher
Miami University-Ohio (1): Andrew Mackin
Villanova University (1): David Burr
Minnesota, University of-Twin Cities (2): Kevin Blackburn, Anthony Melillo
Washington University (3): Timothy Cooney, Caleb Ford, Douglas Guilfoy
Missouri State University (4): Dominic Hewitt, Ryan Slattery, Maxwell Sommers, David Stankoven
Webster University (1): Alexander Seidel
Missouri University of Science and Technology (8): Bret Baer, Robert Chisholm, William Gabler, Charles Gardner, Daniel Kuehl, Mark McBride, Daniel Sommer, Clint Wobbe Missouri, University of-Columbia (55): Tyler Adolphson, Kyle Baxter, Michael Bertarelli, Anthony Born, Jonathan Braun, Justin Broccard, Paul Bruntrager, Adam Clark, Andrew Danter, Gaspare DiMaggio, Daniel Doherty, Corey Donovan, Sean Drummond, Brian Faron, Kyle Felts, Kevin Fitzgibbon, Alexander Gable, Brendan Giljum, Alexander Goedeker, Joseph Gorla, William Hentz, Andrew Hoch, Stephen Hof, William Hovater, Tyler Jennings, Andrew Johnson,
Westminster College (1): Justice Royston William Jewell College (1): Eric Lewis Xavier University (2): Nicholas Sanfilippo, Timothy Wilmes Yale University (1): John Newsham Americorps Service (1): Thomas McCafferty Undecided (2): Brandon Eversgerd, Alex Placke
May 14, 2010
Seniors
Volume 74, Issue 30
CLASS OF 2010 COLLEGE CHOICES Adolphson, Tyler: University of Missouri-Columbia Archer, Patrick: University of Dallas Aston, Cole: University of Dayton Ayala, Christopher: University of Notre Dame Bachmann, Christopher: Maryville University Baer, Bret: Missouri University of Science and Technology Ball, David: Juilliard School Barber, Houston: Truman State University Barrett, John: St. Louis University Baxter, Kyle: University of Missouri-Columbia Bedell, Ryan: Loyola University-Chicago Bertarelli, Michael: University of Missouri-Columbia Bertucci, Robert: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bettger, Joseph: Bellarmine University Bettonville, Matthew: Stanford University Blackburn, Kevin: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Blanquart, Connor: St. Louis University Bobak, Thomas: Marquette University Born, Anthony: University of Missouri-Columbia Brady, Andrew: University of Notre Dame Brauer, Austin: Truman State University Braun, Jonathan: University of Missouri-Columbia Broccard, Justin: University of Missouri-Columbia Bruno, Anthony: Drury University Bruntrager, Paul: University of Missouri-Columbia Bufe, William: Marquette University Burke, Matthew: Spring Hill College Burke, Ryan: University of Missouri-St. Louis Burns, Steven: Marquette University Burnworth, Christopher: University of Tulsa Burr, David: Villanova University Butler, James: Vanderbilt University Butler, Michael: Marquette University Campbell, Brian: University of Notre Dame Carson, Chad: St. Louis University Castro, Benjamin: University of Missouri-Kansas City Cerame, Nicholas: Full Sail University Chellis, Luke: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chisholm, Robert: Missouri University of Science and Technology Clark, Adam: University of Missouri-Columbia Clohisy, Timothy: St. Louis University Conroy, Kevin: Fordham University Cookson, Emmett: University of Tulsa Cooney, Timothy: Washington University Creedon, Patrick: University of Tulsa Cruz, Adam: St. Louis University Cullen, Stephen: Truman State University Curcuru, Vincent: Truman State University Dailey, Sean: Marquette University Danter, Andrew: University of Missouri-Columbia Davis, Patrick: Purdue University Dempsey, Thomas: St. Louis University Dienstbach, Michael: Loyola University-Chicago DiMaggio, Gaspare: University of Missouri-Columbia Doherty, Daniel: University of Missouri-Columbia Donovan, Corey: University of Missouri-Columbia Donovan, Patrick: Loyola University-New Orleans Dowd, Jack: University of Notre Dame Dripps, Aaron: Kenyon College Drummond, Sean: University of Missouri-Columbia Dryden, Michael: St. Louis University Dustmann, Patrick: Carnegie Mellon University Easley, Kevin: United States Military Academy Ebel, Joseph: Marquette University Edmundson, Joseph: University of Dayton Eisele, Kurt: Ohio State University Evens, Andrew: Creighton University Eversgerd, Brandon: Undecided Everson, Peter: University of Missouri-Kansas City Faron, Brian: University of Missouri-Columbia Fechter, Jacob: St. Louis University Felts, Kyle: University of Missouri-Columbia Fiore, Peter: University of Kansas Fister, James: Rockhurst University Fitzgerald, Casey: University of Tulsa Fitzgibbon, Kevin: University of Missouri-Columbia Fleming, David: University of Notre Dame Fogarty, Stuart: St. John’s University-Minnesota Ford, Benjamin: St. Louis University Ford, Caleb: Washington University Franey, William: Iowa State University Gable, Alexander: University of Missouri-Columbia Gabler, William: Missouri University of Science and Technology Gaines, Michael: St. Louis University Gardner, Charles: Missouri University of Science and Technology Gassert, Michael: Truman State University Geders, Joel: Truman State University
Listed by Student
Gilfoil, Patrick: Catholic University of America Giljum, Brendan: University of Missouri-Columbia Gima, Zachary: University of Southern California Goeddel, Daniel: St. Louis University Goedeker, Alexander: University of Missouri-Columbia Golterman, Robert: Santa Clara University Gorla, Joseph: University of Missouri-Columbia Graczak, Brenden: St. Louis University Grippi, Jasper: St. Louis College of Pharmacy Guilfoy, Douglas: Washington University Hagan, Jamie: Belmont University Harris, Peter: University of Maryland-College Park Harris, Zachary: University of Dayton Helling, John: Creighton University Hencken, Matthew: Purdue University Henke, Jonathan: University of Tulsa Hentz, William: University of Missouri-Columbia Hermsmeier, Daniel: University of Memphis Hewitt, Dominic: Missouri State University Hoch, Andrew: University of Missouri-Columbia Hof, Stephen: University of Missouri-Columbia Hoffman, Eric: Creighton University Hollabaugh, William: Marquette University Hovater, William: University of Missouri-Columbia Huddleston, John: Denison University Hudson, Daniel: University of Kansas Jackson, Scott: University of Dayton Jennings, Tyler: University of Missouri-Columbia Jerry, Patrick: Fordham University Johnson, Andrew: University of Missouri-Columbia Jones, Daniel: University of Missouri-Columbia Jones, Mitchel: Purdue University Jordan, Devin: Loyola University-Chicago Jungels, Dylan: University of Missouri-Columbia Kastner, Andrew: Emory University Kaucher, Michael: University of Tulsa Kendall, Alexander: St. Louis Community CollegeMeramec Kickham, Kevin: Truman State University Kim, Benjamin: Tulane University Kirchner, Benjamin: University of Missouri-Columbia Kirner, David: Truman State University Kissel, Mark: Creighton University Koehneman, Robert: St. Louis University Komorowski, Tyrell: St. Louis Community CollegeMeramec Kresyman, Andrew: University of Tulsa Kuehl, Daniel: Missouri University of Science and Technology Kuensting, Timothy: University of Missouri-Columbia LaFaver, Andrew: University of Missouri-Columbia Landolt, Luke: University of Missouri-Columbia Lee, Martin: St. Louis University Lehman, Colin: University of Tulsa Lewis, Eric: William Jewell College Lickenbrock, Brian: University of Illinois-UrbanaChampaign Linhares, William: University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Llanos, Luis: University of Notre Dame Lopez, David: Macalester College Lowry, Griffin: Columbia University Luckey, Joseph: University of Missouri-Columbia Luongo, Vincent: St. Louis University Macauley, Patrick: Bellarmine University Mackin, Andrew: Miami University-Ohio Magee, Collum: University of Central Missouri Mathews, Gregory: Creighton University Mathews, Jeffrey: University of Missouri-Columbia Mayberger, Michael: Illinois Wesleyan University McAuliffe, Kevin: Rockhurst University McBride, Mark: Missouri University of Science and Technology McCabe, Collin: Loyola University-New Orleans McCabe, Samuel: Loyola University-New Orleans McCafferty, Thomas: Serving in Americorps McCall, Peter: University of Wyoming McCarthy, Daniel: Columbia College McDonald, Joseph: University of Missouri-Columbia McLaughlin, Timothy: Loyola University-Chicago McVey, Michael: St. Louis University Meagher, Sean: Robert Morris University Medina, Anthony: University of Missouri-St. Louis Mehan, III, Richard: University of Missouri-Columbia Melillo, Anthony: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Mertens, Andrew: St. Louis University Metzger, Scot: University of California-San Diego Meyer, Andrew: Rockhurst University Meyer, Michael: St. Louis University Meyer, Travis: St. Louis University
9
Milles, Scott: University of Missouri-Columbia Minden-Birkenmaier, Ben: St. Louis University Minnick, Anthony: Loyola University-Chicago Mueller, Kevin: Marquette University Mulligan, Padrick: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Murphy-Baum, Joseph: Truman State University Myers, Alexander: Spring Hill College Nacanaynay, Patrick: St. Louis University Nester, Bernard: Marquette University Newsham, John: Yale University O’Brien, Timothy: University of Missouri-Columbia Oberman, Ryan: Creighton University Odem, Matthew: Bellarmine University Oppland, Zachary: Wartburg College Ostapowicz, Andrew: Creighton University Ottenlips, Michael: Hendrix College Paino, Alexander: University of Missouri-Columbia Perez, Michael: University of Missouri-Columbia Perks, Kevin: University of Missouri-Kansas City Phillips, Michael: University of Pittsburgh Piening, Kurt: Rockhurst University Pike, Daniel: St. Louis University Pilla, Jacob: University of Missouri-Columbia Pisoni, Richard: Fordham University Place, Gregory: St. Louis University Placke, Alex: Undecided Pollock, Austin: University of Missouri-Columbia Powell, Gregory: Truman State University Quinlan, Joseph: Holy Cross College Randazzo, Anthony: University of Missouri-Columbia Re’, Anthony: Loyola University-Chicago Reda, Matthew: University of San Francisco Reilly, Walter: University of Missouri-Columbia Rhodes, Aric: St. Louis University Richard, Kevin: University of Wisconsin-Madison Riddering, Michael: DePauw University Royston, Justice: Westminster College Rudolf, Lawrence: Rockhurst University Ruppe, Paul: University of Missouri-Columbia Salamone, Andrew: Indiana University Sanfilippo, Nicholas: Xavier University Schaller, Andrew: University of Missouri-Columbia Scheibe, Andrew: University of Missouri-Columbia Schmidt, Daniel: University of Dallas Schneier, John: Cardinal Glennon Seminary Schnitzler, Joshua: University of Missouri-Columbia Schumacher, Frank: Vanderbilt University Schumacker, Matthew: Butler University Seaton, John: Montana State University Seckfort, Nicholas: University of Kansas Seidel, Alexander: Webster University Siebert, Kenneth: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Slattery, Ryan: Missouri State University Sommer, Daniel: Missouri University of Science and Technology Sommers, Maxwell: Missouri State University Staley, George: Cardinal Glennon Seminary Stankoven, David: Missouri State University Stark, Christian: Quincy University Steurer, John: University of Dayton Stole, Dane: University of Missouri-Columbia Stoltze, Charles: University of Missouri-Columbia Swafford, Andrew: Truman State University Thames, Quinlan: Loyola Marymount University Tierney, Andrew: St. Louis University Tramelli, Dominic: Berklee College of Music Tryniecki, Matthew: University of Notre Dame Turner, Matthew: University of Missouri-Columbia Tynan, Michael: Loyola University-Chicago Uriarte, Jefferson: Loyola University-Chicago Varty, Ted: Loyola University-Chicago Vastola, Patrick: University of Kansas Verzino, Nicholas: Loyola University-Chicago Vierod, Alistair: Regis University Voss, Adam: Truman State University Wedekind, Michael: University of Missouri-Columbia Weiss, William: University of Missouri-Columbia Welge, Grant: University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign Whalen, Alex: Marquette University Whelan, Nicholas: Southern Illinois University-Carbondale White, Stephen: University of Missouri-Columbia Williams, Patrick: University of Missouri-Columbia Wilmes, Timothy: Xavier University Wobbe, Clint: Missouri University of Science and Technology Wright, Joseph: Truman State University Wright, Marcus: Loyola University-Chicago Zacher, Joseph: Maryville University
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News
Volume 74, Issue 30
VOLLEYBALL (from 4)
poor defense allowed Althoff to take game two and head into the final game with all of the momentum. Althoff was confident with nothing to lose. SLUH was frustrated with everything to lose. All signs pointed to a major upset. But with SLUH’s starters now back in, the OneTbills were looking to make up for their frustrating first two games by dominating the third. Despite a slow start, game three was all Jr. Bills. Senior Scot Metzger took over, serving four straight aces and sparking a 10-2 run that ultimately ended in SLUH taking the game and match by a score of 25-17. This contest was much more difficult than expected, but it served as a major wakeup call heading into the grudge match against DeSmet this past Wednesday. “The Althoff game was really frustrating. We couldn’t get anything going at all. But the good thing is that we found a way to win. And soon once playoffs start, that’s the only thing that will matter,” said senior Ken Siebert. The Jr. Bills’ meeting with DeSmet this week marked their third match of the year. The two teams had split the first two games. DeSmet’s last loss this year was to SLUH over a month ago, their only loss this year to a team from St. Louis. The implications
of the game were huge; winner of the season series, an MCC title, and a No.1 State ranking in the Post-Dispatch were all on the line. The stakes were set even higher because this match just so happened to be on DeSmet’s Senior Night. To say the least, the build-up to this match was huge. Just as Althoff came into SLUH trying to spoil their Senior Night, the Volleybills were looking to come into DeSmet and do the same. Both teams needed this game for the extra momentum heading into the playoffs. Things looked hopeful for the Jr. Bills as DeSmet’s best player and USC recruit Chris Lischke was injured with a sprained ankle. But despite this injury, he played in the first game and played a big role in a game one win. From the start, they were ready to play and looked hard to beat. SLUH had no answer for the Spartans’ overpowering attack, yet DeSmet had every answer for SLUH’s offense. The Spartans were able to feed off of their crowd and used it to dominate every facet of the first game, which they took 25-17. Despite being blown out in the first game, the MistyMaybills knew they could turn the tables and push the match to a third game. And for a while, it appeared as if they were going to be able to do this. To make things better, Lischke decided to sit out the
C BASE (from 5)
second game because of the injury. Up until SLUH called its first timeout with the score at 20-19, SLUH had had the lead for the entire game. Although the Jr. Bills were not as dominant in this game as DeSmet was in the first, they were still clearly playing like the better team. Big time defensive plays from senior Travis Meyer, efficient passing by Robben, and timely kills by Metzger all played a part in SLUH’s solid play. But as the game neared the end, it was clear it just wasn’t going to be SLUH’s night. They ended up losing their lead, and, despite a last-ditch effort by Metzger, who served up two straight aces to bring them back, DeSmet turned out just to be too much handle as they won the game by a score of 29-27, taking the match. “The loss against DeSmet was extremely disappointing, especially because it was right before playoffs. But we still know that we can beat any team that we will face. We’re going to make sure that we are well prepared and ready to play once districts start,” said Metzger. Next up for the Spikebills is the State playoffs. They start up District play this Saturday. SLUH comes into the playoffs as the overall No. 2 seed and will face the likes of Ft. Zumwalt West, Eureka, Seckman, and Parkway South in its District. The Jr. Bills are looking to capture their third State title in four years.
where everybody (including both managers) played and pitchers Jimmy Riely and Matt Hinkbien combined for a no-hitter,
the EverybodyPlaysbills are 1-0 in pool play and take on Belleville, Althoff, and reason, we never really came to play,” said Vianney in a tripleheader tonight. If victoriGuenther. ous, the team will play in “In other games, we’d put the finals Monday to try ourselves in holes just like the and win the tournament, holes at the beginning of games which would cap a hugely against Parkway, but against successful freshman year (South) our bats and gloves just with twenty wins. never came around.” “We had a lot of ups Guenther added, “We had and downs, sure, but what a lot of great come from behind was really important is we victories, though it just wasn’t started playing like a team happening on days we played towards the end,” said South.” Binz. “We started going The Jr. Bills are finishing past ‘good for freshman out the season with the CBC baseball’ and just started tournament in an attempt to win playing good baseball.” a trophy. With a first round victory in the bag over St. Mary’s, Second baseman captain Tony Bright watches his ball take flight against DeSmet. Photo by Fr. John Lan Tran
PHOTO BY FR. JOHN Tran
Volume LXXIV, Issue 30 Credits
“Dress Down Day Theme” Credits The weekly student newspaper of St. Louis U. High www.sluh.org/prepnews - prepnews@sluh.org Editor In Chief: Matt “Ben Ford” Bettonville News Editor: Ben “French Foreign Legion” Kim Sports Editors: Robby “laser tag” Bertucci, Adam “Greasers vs. Socs” Cruz Features Editor: Nick “Ha.” Fandos Core Staff: Eric “Tudors England” Lewis, Luke “Founding Fathers” Chellis, Andrew “stormy weather” Kastner, Mike “black trash bag” Lumetta, Pat “Caddyshack” O’Leary, Conor “silent movie star” Gearin, Eric “Disco gear” Mueth, Drew “Hogwarts” Dziedzic Staff: Nate “dress like Nick Fandos” Heagney, Nathan “Lax bro” Rubbelke Reporters: Andrew “Me” Salamone, Danny “Sandlot ’90s gear” Hogan, Sean “cavemen” Sullivan, Michael “lower West County” McClaughlin, Alex “Cowboys and Indians” Paino, Jake “Big Mama’s House” Fechter, Kurt “Arctic vacation” Piening, Matt
“Pirates vs. Ninjas” Cooley Staff Photographer: Ted “Candyland” Wight Contributing Photographers: Mr. Matt “camouflaged photographer” Sciuto Advisor: Michael “minimal” Koenigs Moderator: Steve “Soldier in White” Missey Editors Emeritus: Kevin “the Lucky Charms leprechaun” Casey, Pete “Sith lord” Mackowiak Photographer Emeritus: Zac “Mr. Matt Sciuto” Boesch, Will “Fr. Heumann” Hartzler
The Prep News is a publication of St. Louis University High School. Copyright ©2010 St. Louis University High School Prep News. No material may be reprinted without the permission of the editors and moderator.
May 14, 2010
Turn two (from 4) Golden Griffin defense, knocked in a few more runs to give the Jr. Bills a 7-2 victory. The win capped off a 17-6 regular season and a 5-3 record overall in the MCC, good for either second in the conference behind the Cadets or a co-share of the title. The result of the CBC-DeSmet game, which was rained out Wednesday, determines the crown. District playoffs begin next week, and the Jr. Bills look to be heavy favorites again this year. They take on an underrated and dangerous University City team on Monday.
LAX (from 5) said Mehan. The Jr. Bills allowed Lafayette to score four more goals but hung on for the 9-8 win. Senior d-pole Sean Meagher, one of SLUH’s best players, sustained a hamstring injury in the game. The previously rained-out Christian Brothers game was picked up from where it left off on Wednesday, with CBC leading at the end of the first quarter 4-1. The SLUH lacrosse team could not regain much ground against them however, quickly falling behind even more despite gaining confidence in the third quarter. At the half, CBC led 6-2, and eventually won 10-4. “The unforced turnovers killed us,” said Meagher. Finishing with a record of 13-4, the SLUH lacrosse team has finished its regular season and looks forward to the coming State tournament. “We have two weeks to get ready,” said Reilly.
JV TRACK (from 6)
Charlie Brynac chucked the shot a jawdropping 41 feet, winning the competition. Junior Simon Clark won the discus, flinging it 116’4”, and sophomore Greg Patton finished not far behind in fourth place. Field won 18 points. In all, SLUH’s JV track and field program earned 167 points, while second place DeSmet earned just 66. The Jr. Bills brought home two bronze medals, eight silver, and an unbelievable twelve gold. “We’re looking forward to next year,” said co-head coach Brian Gilmore.
French IV Video Contest
S
ix groups of French IV students in
Jennifer Crespin’s classes made videos for their final senior proj-
ects. Underclassmen studying French watched and rated the 6 videos this week. The winners are: Pat Williams, Anthony Re, Mike Riddering, Doug Guilfoy, Paul Ruppe, and Mike Mayberger. The winners’ prizes are the pure satisfaction of an A on their final project and a pizza lunch, all compliments of Crespin.
May 14, 2010
NEWS
Underclassmen
(from 7) “At the beginning of the year, guys are given certain weights they can wrestle at and certain times they can begin to wrestle at them,” said Ott. “For example, (senior) Pete Everson wasn’t allowed to wrestle 171 until December, so until then a JV guy, Sean Rammaha, filled in.” Swinging also occurs at the lower weight classes. For a freshman at 103, the opponent is vitally important to whether or not Ott wants them to go. “A lot of an underclassman wrestling varsity is the mental make up of a kid, the basic attitude,” said Ott. “If he figures he has nothing to lose, that even if he can help the team just by wrestling, he’s ready.” Baseball Last year against prestigious Creighton Prep, SLUH’s infield featured three freshmen and the pitching was done by a sophomore. This has been a trend of sorts by coach Steve Nicollerat, whose team, more than the other four sports, boasts multiple freshmen. In addition, the Baseballbills tend to keep freshmen and sophomores who aren’t playing on the varsity squad rather than the normal “you play, you stay” policy. Two freshmen, Rund and Brian Howard, are on this year’s team. Last season, five freshman were heavily relied upon on the team that reached the quarterfinals, with Willie Floros and Klug starting much of the year in the key spots in the middle infield. This season, five freshmen again are up on higher levels. Incoming freshman camp is a big for Nicollerat, as he gets a first look at the guys he has. After getting a rough estimate in camp and in the first week of tryouts, Nicollerat usually brings up around 10 guys from the freshman class to “make it easier for the freshman coach to distinguish his team, let him look at 40 kids as opposed to 50.” After three or four days, the coaches come together and re-evaluate, seeing whom they may have missed and guessing where guys might end up. They also take a look at different needs on each level, whether a particular team needs help or depth at a particular spot. “Is it a very scientific way? No, but with the time frame, with the first game in three weeks, we’ve got to do the best job we can in getting guys where they are most needed,” said Nicollerat. Nicollerat cited the difference in the competition of the levels as reasoning to move guys up, saying that the older players, the seniors and juniors of varsity, have the abilities
LINHARES
(from 1) Though he knew it would be part of his job, Linhares did not anticipate how time-consuming this duty would be. “It’s actually a bit of a pain,” he said. “It involves a lot of detail and a lot of administrative time and energy.” Linhares also manages a number of day-to-day tasks in addition to his long-term projects, including the organization of the End of the Year Mass this Wednesday. “I think any time you enter (the) administration … things look a little different,” Moran said of the adjustment to an administrative role. “If there were things that Mr. Linhares perceived about the job ahead of time and then they looked differently over the course of the year … that’s the experience of anyone coming out of the classroom full-time and then becoming an administrator.” Overall, Linhares said, he feels like the administrative role has proved just as time-consuming as one of his 26 years as a full-time theology teacher. “I’ve worked every bit as hard and long this year in this job as I did being a two-sport coach and a full-time teacher,” Linhares said. “I’ve spent a lot more time in the building than I did last year.” Linhares stepped down from coaching cross country and track in order to focus on his assistant principal position. However, this decision also freed up his weekends. He has used the extra time to do administrative work but also to “connect with my family a little bit and do some things I haven’t done much at all in the last ten years.” Linhares also continued teaching one section of Humanities, a senior theology elective. “I welcome that period in the day to have some contact with students and to engage (with) material I find very interesting,” said Linhares. “There are days when I have very little time to prepare and feel caught between the demands of both roles, but mostly I find being in the classroom adds to my own satisfaction and gives me a better perspective as an administrator.” Linhares said that looking back on this year, “practically speaking, I didn’t spend as much time on matters Jesuit and Catholic as I would have liked,” as his time was often used up on other duties. Meeting with new Ignatian Educators—faculty members of only a year or two—required fifteen meetings throughout the year for each new teacher. He also met throughout the year with many other teachers
to do more than the 15- or 16-year-olds on the B and freshman levels. Because of this, baseball is different in that it will call guys up even if they may not play as much as they would on the B- or C-team. With the different experience comes a different learning curve. “First off, you got to let a kid know,” said Nicollerat. “A lot of these kids haven’t sat a day in their lives, and they might have a hard time adjusting to it. However, if they are okay with it and their parents are too, I’d like them to spend a year learning with me.” Nicollerat said, “If I’ve identified a kid who can help me and play a lot as a sophomore, I will probably have him up practicing with me, learning with me, even if he isn’t getting that game experience.” Nicollerat doesn’t utilize swinging unless a need on the B-team emerges for one of his guys, but he said summer ball is a key place for guys to use what he taught them in the regular season, especially if a player was mainly on the bench. The year of learning, rather than maybe hitting .600 or throwing no hitters on the freshman team, is key to the program. “The calling of guys up keeps the continuity of our program going, so generally we pull up more kids,” said Nicollerat. “In the ’80s, I had nobody up; last year, I had five guys. The difference between now and then is before, you’d have a junior backup ready to step in his senior year. Now, with your rugbys, and your volleyballs, the depth of the quality is different because athletic kids are doing other things. So it is important for us as a program to find our talent early on, even if we might miss someone at first.” * * * And with all of this study, all these methods, how do the athletes themselves feel about the whole process? “There’s a mix of feelings with it,” said Cooney. “You kind of want to play with guys in your class, but at the same time varsity is an awesome experience to have that young. It helped me as a basketball player a ton competing against guys who were better than me at a young age.” “Free time is down in season, it’s more on my plate, but I wouldn’t have it another way,” said Rund. “It hasn’t hurt me socially or academically at all, and on the whole, I’ve benefited.” “You want to be on varsity. Every guy wants to be on varsity sooner rather than later,” said sophomore Trevor McDonaugh, who in addition to starting quarterback on the football team this past season has also been on varsity baseball both years of his career. “I mean, sure, it’s more pressure and everything, but to be the best you have to play the best.” for evaluations and advising. Yet Linhares has had an impact on the Campus Ministry department as part of his role as the caretaker of the school’s Jesuit mission. Before Linhares became Assistant Principal for Mission, the campus ministry department chair acted as the go-between with the administration. Campus Ministry team member Brian Gilmore feels that having an assistant principal who has improved the relationship between the administration and campus ministry has proved very helpful. Linhares has attended all of the department’s weekly meetings to advise the department members and answer their questions about administrative goings-on. “(Linhares is) so thoughtful and articulate that he’s been able to help us clarify what we’re thinking, what we’re planning,” Gilmore said. Looking forward to next year, Linhares hopes to focus more on the Catholic and Jesuit mission aspect of his job. However, he does not expect the actual definition of his role to change much. “I don’t think the job is going to change wholesale, but there might be some adjustments, there might be some things that we all agree could be reapportioned or changed, maybe some things I didn’t focus on as much really need to be focused on more next year,” Linhares said. Moran said, “From the school’s perspective, this is exactly the type of team that I think is right for St. Louis U. High.” Nonetheless, the administrative team will meet after the school year ends to evaluate the current structure of the administration. “We’ll sit down, as the administrative team does every year, and look at everything all of us are doing, and we’ll have a conversation about the kinds of things that maybe need to be adjusted or changed,” said Linhares. “For Mr. Kesterson, it’s another year of doing what he does. For me, it’ll be my very first year of looking back on what I did.” In this period, Linhares has advised and guided St. Louis U. High faculty and worked to propagate the Jesuit mission of the school. Transitioning from a full-time teaching role to the expansive managerial duties of an administration position proved a challenge, but Linhares does not expect significant changes to his role for the next school year.
Volume 74, Issue 30
TRACK
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(from 1) Cookson took the lead from the gun and never looked back, running a personal record of 9:32, seconds short of his goal to run under 9:30. Rackers, who completed the tough 1600-3200 double, finished with a fast 9:47. “We set a goal to score 50 points in the distance events, and we met it. I knew it was a possibility,” said distance coach Tom Flanagan. The sprinting squad, up against a respectable DeSmet team, needed points, especially in the relay. Worries erupted when senior Matt Schumacker and sophomore Cameron Stubbs were unable to get off their handoff in the 4 x 200, causing the team to drop out. But Stubbs and Schumacker got revenge only minutes later in the 4 x 100. Neck and neck into the final straight away with CBC, sophomore Darion Baker broke the tape, .05 seconds ahead of the Cadet runner to give the B-Townbills a crucial victory. Baker was also a member of the 4 x 400 relay team. After the first three legs, SLUH was right with DeSmet, but anchor Nick Seckfort broke the competition immediately, splitting a 49.9 to bring home his third gold medal of the day. Stubbs finished second in both the open 100 and 200 races. Sophomore Jack Milford, a member of the 4 x 400 squad, also brought home a second place finish in the 300 hurdles. For the second year in a row, senior Andrew Scheibe (43’05”) and junior Brian Bement (43’05”) swept the triple jump. Scheiebe also finished second in the long jump with a mark of 21’05”. The throws squad contributed points in both the shot put and discus. Senior Pat Davis hit a mark of 140’05” to take the discus title as senior Mike Dryden and junior Alex Cross went first and third in the shot put respectively. Dryden threw a high mark of 49’09”. Sophomore Luke Hagerty hit 5’08” to finish third in the high jump, and sophomore Christian Lukas finished third in the pole vault. In the JV division, the distance squad also swept its distance events. Junior Alan Ratermann won the 1600 in 4:39, and sophomore Michael McLaughlin finished second. Junior Joe Meier and sophomore Tyler Gardner went first and second in the 800, and sophomores Nathan Rubbelke and Joe Esswein swept the 3200. Rubbelke broke the JV conference 3200 with a 10:01. Sophomore Jamil IrvinMuhammad brought home three gold medals total from the sprint relays and the triple jump. In the freshman division, good results were seen all around. Tyler McNeil ran 54.65 to win the open 400. Tom Laughlin finished second in the 1600, Joe Vicini won the 800 in 2:14, and Matt Nicholson and Joe Archer went first and second in the 3200. Alex Groesch won the open 200 triple jump and was a member of two winning relays. The freshmen won by over 50 points. The varsity squad begins the State series this Saturday with district competition at McCluer North, trying to advance as many runners as possible to the sectional meet next weekend.
JAZZUIT
(from 1) Referencing English teacher Frank Kovarik’s speech to the sophomores, Evans pointed out that both jazz and hip-hop have pigeonholed women into certain roles, with hip-hop actually denegrating women. Members of the crowd used rap artist Nicki Minaj, whose songs are sexually charged, as an example of a woman forced to conform to hip-hop’s pressures. The presentation ended with a frank discussion, in which Evans asked for comments or questions. One major theme talked about was the transition in hip-hop from its early day to today’s hip-hop which is much more explicit with its uses of sex and drugs. The question of “Is hip-hop dead?” was discussed. “I appreciate that back-and-forth (and) that dialogue. I would like to see more of an opportunity to engage,” said Evans. “That’s why I was like, ‘Give me your thoughts.’ Forty-five minutes is not enough.” Evans, who is leaving at the end of the school year, encourages students to continue the conversation into next year. And as the Jazzuit Diversity Series comes to an end, Evans could have not been more happy with the results. “I don’t think it could’ve been more successful in its first year,” said Evans. “We had a world-renowned speaker on our campus. We had musicians. We had dancers. We had our own teachers do a great job. It was a huge collaborative effort that I’m really, really proud of. I’m sure it’ll continue in the future. I’m sad that I won’t be a part of it in the future.”
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Volume 74, Issue 30
By Nathan Rubbelke
Friday, May 14 Schedule R Senior Prom Administration Forum AP VBALL @ District Tourney TENN @ District Tourney C BASE @ CBC Tourney 6pm AP Snack—Mozzarella Sticks Lunch: Special—Brunch Healthy—Boat Load
Lords of the Rings
The Weekend Saturday, May 15 BASE @ District Tourney VBALL @ District Tourney TRK @ District Meet POLO @ District Championship
Calendar
Monday, May 17 Schedule R Senior Exams BASE @ District Tourney TENN @ Regionals GOLF @ State AP Snack—Mini Tacos Lunch: Special—Lil Charlie’s Sunday, May 16 Healthy—Enchilada Jazz Band Combo 1pm and 2:30pm Dance Performance 7pm BASE @ District Tourney
Thursday, May 20
Schedule R Ignatian Mix-It-Up Lunch 11am Beginning Band Concert 7pm Sophomore Bonus Reading AP BASE @ District Tourney
VBALL @ State AP Snack—Bosco Sticks Lunch: Special—Chinese Combos Healthy—Baked Mostaciolli
May 14, 2010
*Lunch menu subject to change
Tuesday, May 18 Schedule R Senior Exams Mother’s Club Officers Installment Rosary in the Chapel AP Little Flower 5pm BASE @ District Tourney TENN @ Regionals JV TRK @ Will Sanders Invite AP Snack—Cookies Lunch: Special—Chicken Strips Healthy—Country Fried Steak
Wednesday, May 19
Schedule R Senior Exams End of School Appreciation Dinner Wellness Club Discussion AP Little Flower 5pm BASE @ District Tourney VBALL @ State AP Snack—Garlic Cheese Bread Lunch: Special—Wraps Healthy—Lasagna Roll-up
Friday, May 21 Schedule R Water Polo Banquet 5:30pm Pax Christi Benefit Concert 6pm BASE @ District Tourney
AP Snack—Chili Cheese Nachos Lunch: Special—Burritos/ Crispitos Healthy—Roast Beef
Forecast printed with permission of the National Weather Service. St. Louis, MO Weather Service Office Phone: 636-441-8467 Compiled by Nick Fandos and Conor Gearin
PHOTO BY WILL HARTZLER ’08
Spring Band Concert
T
he St. Louis U. High symphonic band performs in the Spring
Band Concert. In this photo the musicians are playing Claude Smith’s “Emperata Overture,” a classic band standard. Roughly fifty people attended the concert Thursday night.