Endzone Sports Magazine (2018–2019)

ENDZONE ENDZONE SPORTS MAGAZINE — MAY 16, 2019

VOLLEYBALL: THE FIRST SPC CHAMPIONS SINCE 2017 PAGES 4-5

WATER POLO: REKINDLING THE STATE-WINNING DYNASTY OF YEARS PAST. PAGES 24-25.

REFLECTIONS FROM SENIOR VARSITY ATHLETES ON WHAT IT MEANS TO WEAR THE BLUE AND GOLD. PAGE 27

FROM THE EDITOR I still remember that Saturday afternoon like it was yesterday. From the moment I stepped on the court wearing my white warm-up sweatshirt until the second sophomore Tristan Doan’s spike landed out of bounds after hitting off a Trinity Valley player’s hand, everything moved in slow motion.

That moment was the one when the volleyball team won the SPC Championship, when we became the first team in over a year to bring that trophy back to 10600 Preston Rd. That feeling is one I’ll never forget, but that isn’t the moment from that day that still gives me goosebumps.

Instead, it’s thinking back to the second set, when senior Albert Luo was serving to get us back from a 24-19 deficit. Thanks to some masterful work behind the service line from him and some clutch hitting from Tristan, we began to pull that back one point at a time.

At the end of every point, the gym erupted as the hundreds of students, teachers, parents and others cheered their hearts out for the 14 of us wearing the navy sleeveless jerseys.

I had never seen more than a couple dozen students in the gym for a volleyball game before. So to see the floor flooded by students from all grades — some coated head-to-toe in body paint — who were there to support us was way more than I expected when I stepped onto the court for my first practice senior year.

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Through eight seasons spent playing volleyball and baseball here, I’ve slowly come to understand what people mean when they talk about playing for the name on the front of your jersey instead of the one on the back.

Because here, playing for the name on the front means representing the hundreds of other students who are just as excited about a win and just as heartbroken about a loss as you are.

And that’s why, when we do bring home an SPC or state champinoship trophy, it isn’t just for the team or the players who won it. Instead, it’s all for St. Mark’s.

This magazine encompasses all of that — the ups and the downs of a full year of Lions athletics. Not just for the teams and players featured in it, but for everyone who’s been touched by St. Mark’s sports and for everyone who’s touched them. ­—Parker Davis Endzone editor

Table of Contents FALL Volleyball Football Cross Country Fencing the Fast Few WINTER Basketball Soccer Wrestling the Captains Wrestling the Freshmen Jackson Fair SPRING Baseball Track and Field Lacrosse Golf Water Polo Crew From the athletes

3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 26 27

FALL Volleyball — First Cross Country — Second Football — Third

SPC CHAMPIONS

The volleyball team became the first to bring an SPC Championship trophy home in nearly two years. Here, players look back at the game in which they became a part of Lion athletic history.

NEW LIFE Keeping his eye on the ball, senior captain Albert Luo serves to kick off the third set as the crowd watches from the edges of the court.

After splitting the first two sets with Trinity Valley, the Lions would win the third set and the fourth to win the championship match 3-1, capturing the team’s first title in four years.

‘

We have a really great young core.

They have some talent. This season showed us how well we play and work as a team. The progress we made compared to any other team in SPC is not even close. We’re not the biggest, we don’t have the best volleyabll players, but we play as a team so well that we come out on top.

As long as they continue to do that and work hard there’s no reason why they shouldn’t win again next year.

— senior Albert Luo

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JUMP SERVE Leaping high in front of a silent crowd, sophomore outside hitter Tristan Doan rises up to hit a jump serve. Doan, who has been a starting player for the varsit team since the beginning of his freshman year, at one point in the match had recorded nearly half of the team’s kills. He also secured the winning point of the match, hitting a ball off a Trinity Valley defender’s block and out of bounds.

I had missed a ton of serves earlier in the game. First thing I’m thinking: ‘you have to get your serves in.’ I get back behind the line and I flip the switch. I mentally prepare myself, and I think ‘you’re gonna make these serves no matter what.’ I tune everything out and serve the way I know how to serve.

—senior Albert Luo

The team was really gelling that weekend. Our younger guys and sophomores didn’t crack under the pressure at all, and the seniors were all rock solid too.

The whole team pretty much was awesome.” —junior Toby Nwafor

REASSURANCE After self-calling a tip on a ball originally called out, sophomore Tristan Doan receives a hearty congratuations from senior captain Albert Luo.

Story Parker Davis, Colin Campbell Photos Charlie Rose, Will Rocchio

GAME OVER After scoring the final point on a spike that was deflected out of bounds, the Lions rush the court to celebrate before shaking hands with the Trojans squad. Hundreds of students — in addition to hundreds of other parents, alumni, faculty and friends — turned out for the match, which brought the first SPC Championship trophy back to 10600 Preston Rd. since the 2016-2017 winter season.

‘

The crowd was crazy, I loved it. It definitely messed with our opponents and boosted us. I don’t know if we could have won without them. Personally, when they kept chanting Toby, Toby, Toby it made me want to play better.

I wanted to play for them and impress them. Especially because those games were the first ones with a lot of fans, it was a new experience for us and we all loved it.” —junior Toby Nwafor

GETTING ROWDY As junior outside hitter Sam Ahmed tracks down the ball for a serve, the student section screams and applauds a Trinity Valley hit that had gone out of bounds, securing a crucial point for the Lions. The student section had slowly grown around the entire court, eventually reaching a population more than five times that at the next most attended game that season.

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Lifting up that trophy felt incredible. Especially when the fans came over, I mean that’s a moment I will never forget. It didn’t really feel real until I looked up and saw the trophy in the hands of all my teammates and friends.”

—junior Toby Nwafor

ONE TEAM Holding it up for all to see, senior captain Albert Luo (6) and senior Colin Neuhoff hoist the SPC Championship trophy above the crowd of students and athletes for all to see. The final match capped off a threegame run, the first two of which came during school Friday.

ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 | 5

WHATEVER IT TAKES After a rough season two years ago, the footbal team battled its way to its second consecutive winning season.

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--olin Neuhoff, starting quarterback, found himself by the south end zone of Norma and Lamar Hunt Family Stadium, alone. The game ended twenty minutes ago, but Neuhoff strapped up his helmet and looked around as if he were reading a defense. After the quarterback played the last football game of his high school career, the scoreboard read: Lions—12 Eagles—14.

But Neuhoff wasn’t upset about the score. In fact, he wasn’t upset at all. He just wanted to take in one last breath to embrace his accomplishments in a Lions’ uniform.

“It was such an honor to play quarterback for this school.” Neuhoff said. “It was a really special moment and a fitting end to my career. I was overwhelmed with how fortunate I have been, and I thanked God.” The Lions finished the season with a 4-3 record. Additionally, three defensive players, seniors John Harbison and Davis Malouf and junior Anthony Andrews were awarded All-SPC Conference team honors.

Neuhoff feels that even though the defense proved to be a force to be reckoned with throughout the season, both sides of the ball stepped up and played a huge role in the success of the team.

“Our defense was incredibly physical and punishing, and our offense could really air the ball out downfield to our outside guys, who were outstanding all year,” Neuhoff said. “At the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball we really brought it to every team we faced.”

During the Homecoming game vs.

St. John’s Episcopal School Sept.

28, Neuhoff was hit hard by a St. John’s defender, leaving Neuhoff out for the WALK-UP The football team prepares to take the field before a game, led game with by senior captain Colin Neuhoff (1) and senior captain Ryan Warner (8). a concussion. While it was disappointing to undergo an injury with so little time left

BY THE NUMBERS in the season, Neuhoff was moved by the encouragement and support he received from his teammates.

“I just think of all of the camaraderie between my teammates and I,” Neuhoff said. “This team did everything together, like a true brotherhood. Good times and hard times, each one of us stood by each th other’s side. They definitely did when I place in SPC had my concussion, and that is a special in zone play Class 4A feeling.”

Like Neuhoff, Epperson witnessed a the team’s largest special sense of empathy and brotherhood margin of victory this among the 2018 team. season, coming against Greenhill April 26 “What we did really great was our points enthusiasm on the field and how we cheer for one another and help each other up Mark’s football team is set up for an opwhen things aren’t going great,” Epperson portunity for success,” Neuhoff said. “We said. “That piece of picking each other up, have a winning culture here and the founplaying with great enthusiasm and having dation we have with the underclassmen fun; I look out there and will certainly do us well in the coming think ‘that’s how you years. I am excited to see what we can do. play the game.’”

Despite facing injuries and obstacles Neuhoff, who played throughout the season, Neuhoff believes three years of varsity that through the grit and determination the football, most of which team faced in overcoming these obstacles were at starting quarteron the field, the season was a success. back, is sad to have to “Any season that a group of detersay goodbye to a uniform mined and driven young men give their that meant so much to heart to is a success in my book,” Neuhoff him, but he knows the said. “From the first day to the last day, program is left in good this team put it all on the line. Every hands for following practice, every film session, every game.

PACK LEADERS Senior captains Ryan Warner, Blake Rogers, I know we can all look in the mirror and Colin Neuhoff, Davis Malouf, and Landon Wood led the team years.

“I think every St. on and off the field throughout the 2018 season. know that we put our best foot forward.”

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4 wins 2-4 39

4

losses

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Story Aaron Thorne Photo Will Rocchio

KEEP MOVING D

--on’t stop your feet! Keep moving!

A pride of Lion cross country team members jog through the blazing August heat in Wimberly, a small town north of San Antonio.

Gasping for air with every breath, runners may be drained. However, the faint echoes of head coach John Turek and assistant coach Ryan Hershner’s voices along with their rumbling bus engine are not far behind. They must keep jogging away — until they reach the long-waited for Blue Hole.

The Blue Hole, a small river which runs through Wimberley, offers some relaxation to the worn-out runners.

The soothing, natural water unlike any else comforts the runners, helping their muscles recover quickly.

TOP DOGS Inhaling and exhaling heavily, seniors Antonio Ivarra and Mujin Kwun race side-by-side during a race at Norbuck Park early in the season.

Cross country runners have an enjoyable time every year here, taking turns leaping into the river and competing by seeing who can reach a small ring hanging from a tree branch, both activities iconic to the Wimberley trip.

With this being the final run of the trip — and the third of the day — runners pour in every single ounce of pride.

▪▪▪ Runners know Wimberly serves as more than just a bonding experience for the upcoming season. How they respond to adversity faced here will set the tone for this upcoming season, one in which the Lions are hungry for one goal: an SPC title after last year’s fourth place finish.

“I can tell what right away it’s going to be an aggressive, pushing season,” Turek said. “From that standpoint, [Wimberly] just pulls everybody together,” Turek said. “It’s like the glue that pulls everybody in so that we can have a good team cohesiveness throughout the season.”

The team endured an inconsistent, but in the end successful three-month season, hampered by inclement

Story Jack Davis, William Aniol Photo Jayan Joshi

Faced with some of the best competition ever in the SPC, the cross country team looked to take the fight to the south. weather and muddy courses. However, members did not ultimately let that affect their performance, rallying to a second place finish at SPC. “We had to adjust accordingly and redo our training cycles and our approach to the season,” Turek said. “Most of the time we ran on muddy courses, so we couldn’t really run our best races. But to overcome all that, a lot of training and a lot of changes to training and competing, I thought the kids did really, really well at SPC.” The team trained hard together daily and cheered each other on during meets, but it passed by faster than many expected.

“Have fun because you don’t realize how fast it goes by,” senior captain George Lamb said. “You’re going out there and giving it your all every day, but in the end, what matters is that you have fun, it’s a fun experience, and you got closer with some of your friends.”

Throughout the season, the team endured grueling workouts and intervals to prepare them for meets, but they turn out enjoyable when the team work together to push each other to become their best.

“I wish I could say I had a favorite moment in my time with cross country,” senior captain Mujin Kwun said, “but basically every single moment I spent with my team and coaches were my favorite moments, so the entire team was a favorite moment.”

Although the Lions came in second place at SPC, the team strengthened their bonds and created life-long memories, even among those who didn’t compete.

“A few other brothers who weren’t running in the meet and I painted ourselves in blue and gold and painted letters to spell out L-I-O-N-S and went running around the course and got interviewed by Milesplit Texas,” Kwun said.

The motto, “pride mentality,” which has been heard in places such as pep rallies and Turek’s word of the year have been defining aspects of the team’s season.

“The pride mentality is just a way of running as a team,” Turek said, “We had 33 boys on the team, up near our biggest team ever, and every boy is important on that team. And so when we win, we win because of the strength of 33, not just the ten that are running at SPC.” Turek’s word of the year for this season was “engaged” which kept the team focused on their goals and working every day.

“The boys do so many things, and they’re involved in so many things then after a while, you end up just showing up and doing them,” Turek said. “If you are going to succeed in anything, you can’t have that attitude. You have to be fully engaged mentally and physically.”

Now that the season has come to an end, they look ahead to next year. While they will lose key senior contributors, team members will be prepared to work and fight for the SPC title in years to come.

“I think the future is very bright for the team, especially with Coach Turek and Coach Hershner at the helm,” Kwun said. “George, Seth and I leave the team knowing that it’s going to be in very good hands next year and we have a very good shot at winning SPC.” ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 | 7

EN GARDE

Faced with the decision of pursuing club fencing instead of playing here, juniors Tianming Xie and Christopher Wang reflect on why they stayed

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- ver the years, St. Mark’s has been home to an impressive list of elite fencers: nationally-ranked club fencers.

The list goes on and on, from current Stanford fencer Mitchell So ’16 to junior Christopher Wang.

And now, Wang is the last of his kind: the rare club fencer who still chooses to fence as a Lion.

“The experience that club fencers bring to the team really helps each fencer,” junior Tianming Xie said. “Every little thing they’ve learned, like footwork, rubs off on everyone else.”

The decline in club fencers coincides with a recent dip in participation in fencing.

The number of participants has dropped each of the past two years since Hockaday and St. Mark’s no longer held joint practices.

“Nowadays, it’s tough to fence both at something school and for a club,” Xie said. “You’re either choosing only fencing for one or sacrificing time at both and for your schoolwork. More and more [club] coaches are pressuring their kids to give up fencing for their school.”

So as the number of club fencers declines along with the number of fencers at school, Xie believes there’s definitely a sense of causation along with correlation.

“It’s cool to see someone who’s experienced and that makes you want to fence,” Xie said. “It’s part of what made me interested and it’s a reason we have less people although it’s not the only reason.”

But according to Wang, the smaller groups have led to a more tight-knit group.

“It’s easier to work with each individual fencer and get to know everyone on the team,” Wang said. “That’s helped a lot in growing team chemistry.”

In the fall, the fencing team’s annual tournament, the St. Mark’s Open, was canceled due to pre-existing conflicts. So

STEPPING UP Junior Christopher Wang has learned what it means to be a captain and will take that experience into next year.

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THE BOUT Juniors Tianming Xie and Christopher Wang duel it out in an intense practice bout. Wang, who served as a captain this year, feels the team this year was more tight-knit than in years past.

with no tournament to prepare for and thus no true competition to stack up against, the fencing team looked towards other areas for improvement.

“I could see definite progress in the small things throughout the season,” Wang said. “Just the attitude whenever we would start practice with conditioning definitely changed for the better throughout the year.”

Xie points to a need for each member of the team to take the sport more seriously.

“Everybody needs to buy in,” Xie said. “Fencing is regarded as a lax sport but we can change that if we go into each practice purposefully.”

The good news is that the St. Mark’s Open is on schedule to be hosted again in 2019, where Wang and Xie will lead a strong group of seniors and a large group of incoming freshman.

“One thing we’re hoping to change is having a bigger focus on conditioning,” Wang said. “Just upping the amount of time we’re spending on conditioning will help a lot.”

And as Wang attends the Junior Olympics in February, he’ll be one of the few fencers there that actually still fence for his school.

“I’ve realized that it’s almost impossible to balance fencing as a serious thing and still keep up with my academics,” Wang, who has received interest from multiple colleges, said. “So I’ve put aside some of my fencing goals in order to both fence for school and focus on my academics but I think that tradeoff was worth it.”

Story Nathan Han Photo Will Rocchio

THE LAST LEG

As his St. Mark’s athletic career comes to an end, senior captain Seth Weprin deconstructs his last season on cross country.

“I sort of wanted to leave behind a legacy of someone who, even if I’m not going to win, I’m going to fight” Weprin said. “I wanted to leave that legacy for the whole team and for everyone on the team to do that. I hope I did. I think the arroyos they’ve always been like that. It’s in their nature. But I hope I had some sort of effect on them and Tyler and the rest of the team as part of my legacy.”

A LASTING LEGACY Senior Seth Weprin and junior Andres Arroyo compete at SPC. Despite coming up short against St. John’s, Weprin is proud of the team’s work-ethic and progress this year.

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- hey were just shy of first.

Shy of hoisting the coveted SPC trophy. Shy of watching their hours spent in the blistering summer sun pay off. And shy of feeling like they’d achieved as they’d set out to achieve when the season first started.

But it wasn’t all for nothing. On the other side of defeat, senior captain Seth Weprin recognizes how far they’ve come as a group.

“I think we did a really good job” Weprin said. “We trained really hard, harder than we’ve ever trained before. It was a really positive season overall, despite the setbacks and the competition.”

Despite the tough loss, Weprin feels that, as a team, they’ve truly made an indelible mark on St. Mark’s cross country’s long and distinguished history.

“The ultimate goal was to try to win SPC, which didn’t happen, unfortunately” Weprin said. “We always have really good competition with St. Stephens, and they came out on top. But, I think this year we accomplished much more than any SM cross country team has accomplished. We were getting statewide recognition. People were really starting to have the name St. Mark’s on their mouth when they’re speaking, which is something that’s never happened before.”

But for Weprin, as much as he’d hoped for a different outcome, he was glad to have moved the needle a little further in the right direction. Glad to have left a lasting legacy of positivity and enthusiasm for running.

Story Sahit Dendekuri Photo Jayan Joshi

And an effect he had. Junior Pablo Arroyo believes Seth’s leadership was crucial to the team’s success and hopes to emulate his leadership style going into next year.

“Seth really led from the front, which was important” Arroyo said. “In the past, we’ve had seniors who tried to sit back and lead the team like that, but Seth proved it’s more effective to lead by example. Next year, I hope to lead as Seth did. By example and even going between cross country and track, in the offseason, we have been able to get a lot more of the freshman to run seven miles during practice by just leading by example.”

Going into his senior year as a captain, Weprin too came in with the goal of emulating the leadership style of his predecessors.

“I mean saying people before me, especially people like J.T., had the biggest impact on me when I was a freshman” Weprin said. “Honestly, when I stepped into that role, I just sort of had him on my mind, and I tried to fulfill the things that he did in terms of captaining, trying to make sure kids are actually doing the runs, but at the same time they don’t feel cross country is some sport that is just torture. A lot of people looking into it from the outside think that’s what it is, but if you approach it with a positive attitude, it really isn’t. And I think, as a captain, it was my goal to make sure that people see that.”

Looking ahead, Weprin is very optimistic about the team’s future and is ready to pass on the baton to the next generation of cross country leaders.

“They have some pretty incredible potential” Weprin said. “All of them have grown exponentially each year, and it always amazes me how much they accomplish and how much they are willing to push themselves. I think if they keep that up...Pablo is certainly going to break my pr. I think he could gun for a school record honestly. And Tyler and Andres have just as good a shot of breaking the top 5 or top 3.”

PASSING ON THE BATON As Senior Seth Weprin graduates, he leaves the team in capable hands, juniors Pablo and Andres Arroyo who look to emulate Weprin’s leadership style next year.

ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 | 9

WINTER Basketball — Third Swimming — Third Wrestling — Fourth Soccer — ­ Fifth

TOP TIER

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With a dynamic freshman trio led by a pair of upperclassman captains, the basketball team was poised to fight for its first SPC title.

he first thing basketball head coach Greg Guiler did in the more selfless basketball.” days following a disappointing loss in the semifinals of the But the team never got over the hump. Against EHS, the team SPC tournament? shot 5 of 15 from the free throw line and 4 of 17 from the three“I reached out to the top 15 ranked teams in the country to try point line in the first half. and make our schedule as tough as possible,” Guiler said.

They averaged 75 percent from the free throw line in the seaFinishing the season with a 29-6 record, the second-highest son and shot well from the three point line all season. total of wins in program history, the team fell in a nailbiter against “What was frustrating was when we got to the tournament Episcopal High School (EHS) 65-60 in the semifinals of the SPC we knew what a good shooting team we were,” Guiler said. “But championship tournament, before defeating Oakridge 63-58 to we just missed a lot of open shots [against EHS] in a one possescome in third place. sion game.”

“It’s frustrating: the guys really learned about the process but But the team came back out and beat Oakridge 63-58 in overdidn’t get the results we wanted,” Guiler said. “Even coming in time in the third-place consolation game. second place in the Mavs [DFW] tournament and coming in sec“Right after, I remember thinking I don’t want to play in the ond place in the Coca-Cola [DISD] tournament - you really want third-place game,” Nadalini said. “There’s no point. Pretty much to see this group of guys hold a trophy and feel like champions everyone on the team felt like that. It probably showed in the first after a championship-caliber season.” half. But then coach Guiler said some stuff to us at halftime and Even if a trophy was never hoisted, it certainly was a chamwe all just realized that it’s better to go out on a win. So we fought pionship-caliber season. The team went undefeated in SPC hard till the end and the whole team really dialed in and played regular-season play. They had unprecedented success in tournawell.” ments early in the season, including second-place finishes at the And as four of the five starters return next season, expectaaforementioned Mavs DFW tournament and the Coca-Cola DISD tions are high heading into the 2019-2020 season. Guiler compared tournament, where they faced not just top private schools but also the team to the Virginia men’s basketball team that won the against top 6A and 5A public schools, including a commanding national championship this year.

79-62 win over 6A DeSoto in the Coca-Cola tournament.

“The season left a bitter taste in our mouths,” Guiler said. “If “It was sort of expected from the beginning of the season you think about Virginia, who lost as a one seed a year ago to a that we should win SPC,” senior captain and starting point guard sixteen seed but came back to win the national championship the Austin Nadalini said, “And those tournaments just confirmed that next year, that loss definitely kept their fuse burning bright all expectation.” season long. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be motivated On the individual side of things, it was certainly just as more than ever to put in the work in the offseason to make sure impressive. Sophomore Harrison Ingram and junior Andrew and try to bring home a title next year on the SPC front.”

Laczkowski earned all-state private school honors. Ingram made the Dallas Morning News’s all-area third-team. And Laczkowski scored his 1000th point of his St. Mark’s career midway through the season.

“No question - it’s one of the most talented teams I’ve coached,” Guiler said. “Certainly the most skilled team I’ve ever coached, especially shooting-wise.”

The team had substantial contributions from two freshmen: Colin Smith and Noah Shelby, both of whom hold Division I offers and started a large portion of this season’s games.

“We have some special guys who want to be the best they can be. On Thursday, we had six schools in our gym, including Memphis, Oklahoma, Stanford, Baylor, [Texas] A&M, and TCU,’ Guiler said. “I’ve never even coached a kid that’s even been offered a D1 scholarship in my years of coaching before this group. And here we are with waves of big-time programs coming through saying, ‘Hey, we want you, and you, and you.’”

With this much talent on the team, Nadalini says being selfless was key for the team.

“We have the talent to play iso[lation]-ball,” Nadalini said. “But we’re a lot better when we move the ball and don’t play DOWNTOWN Freshman Noah Shelby lets loose a corner three in a game against Cisteriso. As a whole, we knew we needed to play cian. The Lions beat the Hawks to move to 5-0 in counter play.

Story Nathan Han, Colin Campbell Photo Will Rocchio

ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 | 11

KICKIN’ IT With a roster filled with underclassmen, the soccer team cemented its place as a powerhouse of the SPC North for the years ahead.

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- ied in the 70th minute to the Cistercian Hawks in a critical counter matchup, Lions soccer face a situation that could set the tone for the rest of the season, for better or for worse. Fans in their winter Fan Blizzard gear line the track in numbers that have not been seen since the 2013 SPC championship game.

Coach Cory Martin looks down his bench and tells freshman Noah Soliz to get ready to go in to the game. So far, the game had been a battle of the defenses, but with the substitution of Soliz, Martin hoped to put the Lions on the offensive.

Four minutes later, the tactics paid off. After a cross from sophomore Henry McElhaney ended up in a dangerous position in the box, Soliz flicked the ball over the Cistercian keeper to put the Lions up in their fifth counter game of the season.

Soon after, senior captain Lyle Ochs slips the ball past the keeper to put the Lions up 2-0 and put themselves into first place in the SPC North Zone.

For senior captain Seth Weprin, this was an emotional and crucial moment to the success of the team during the counter season.

“The game against Cistercian was a high point in the season since it put us on top of the North Zone, and it was a historic moment for the program and for coach Martin as well as a really special moment for us,” Weprin said.

After winning the game against Cistercian, the Lions found themselves in a controlling position of the standings, and were poised to win the North Zone and receive a first round bye. In his *15* years as head coach, this season was the first time that Martin had won the North Zone during the counter season.

This regular season success was due to the strength of schedule during the preseason and creation of team chemistry according to Weprin.

“Coach Martin always loads us up with games in the preseason to get us ready for the counter games,” Weprin said. “This year more than ever I think there was some drastic improvement in terms of team chemistry from the beginning of the preseason to the beginning of the counter season.”

Junior goalie Billy Lockhart also saw how chemistry played into the overall achievements of the team.

“It was one of the most fun teams I’ve ever played on,” Lockhart said. “We had really good chemistry, and I thought you could see that in our play. A lot of our success came from quick passing and trusting that our teammates were where we thought they would be.”

12 | ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019

PUSH AND SHOVE Sprinting on the attack, junior William Holtby battles a defender for the ball during a game against ESD.

Although the Lions had record-setting regular season success, it did not translate to the playoffs as the team lost to John Cooper in the quarterfinals, and Weprin wishes he could redo this part of the season.

“If I could re-do one thing, it’d have to be that John Cooper game,” Weprin said. “We went into that game a little too confident and got punished for it. It wasn’t any one person that lost that game. It was all of us. We had the potential and the ability to win that game handily had we not gone in there so cavalier about our ability.”

To Lockhart, the achievement of the season was not a reflection of that one game but should be remembered for the overall success of the team.

“Losing to John Cooper sucked, but they went on a run and almost won the whole thing. I think even though we lost our season was definitely a success. We had a historically good counter season, and I think a lot of us remember that just as much as the eventual playoff loss.”

Even after a tough end to the season and losing eight seniors, Lockhart believes that the potential of the new squad will bring resounding success.

“Losing all the seniors is tough, especially with their leadership and on-field contributions,” Lockhart said. “But I think I speak for the entire returning team when I say we feel good about our chances for next year. We’re bringing back a loaded group, especially in the midfield and offensive areas. Next season is when the experience should kick in. It will be the bulk of our team’s third year starting.”

Story Lyle Ochs, Colin Campbell Photo Will Rocchio

FIGHT FOR THE CROWN CHEERING ON Standing at the edge of the pool, swimmers cheer on their teammates competing in the 200 meter freestyle event during a home meet against Cistercian.

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--hristmas Break: a time of relaxation and vacations. Except for those going to swim practice.

To lighten the mood, they implement different themes into each day. One such theme is the New Year’s Exchange Practice.

Everyone creates a practice. Everyone puts it in a box. Everyone takes a practice.

Running around the deck of the pool, bear walks and yelling during breaststroke are three of many “fun practices” done that day.

▪▪▪ The 2018-2019 swim season brought its own shares of ups and downs. SPC served as both. Although they finished in third place, it was a time of improvement for almost every swimmer who participated.

“There were about 98% personal records,” senior captain Chase Honaker said.

“There were a couple of races in particular, especially from our younger swimmers that were really strong swims that we weren’t really expecting.”

SPC also provided a chance for the younger swimmer to hold their own and push the team where they could. Sophomore Jack Palmer swam breaststroke during the finals next to other St. Mark’s swimmers, swimmers from opposing schools, some of who are committed to schools such as UT for swimming.

“He goes from projected sixth place,” senior captain Mark Weisberg said. “And he says ‘I am going to try really hard, and I’m going to get fourth maybe if I’m lucky, third.’ He had an outstanding meet, and watching him swim and cheering for him on his breaststroke was a really big moment.”

Story Jack Davis Photo Blake Broom

After senior night, everyone sang the almamater as the swimmer swam down, and Darius Ganji, David Li and a few other students played along with their instruments.

“It was definitely something that wasn’t planned at all, but it was a really nice gesture toward all us seniors,” Weisberg said. “I thought that was a really powerful moment.”

During a counter meet against Cistercian, Weisberg was set to race in the 200-meter Individual Medley which consisted of 50 meters of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.

“He was talking smack beforehand, and I got in there and I was doing fine until the breaststroke,” Weisberg said“I fell behind, but I beat him in the last 50. I beat him by .02 seconds, and when I got out of the water everyone was like ‘Yeah’ or ‘You show him’.”

Honaker’s main mistake over his past seasons of swimming was not making the most out of it. As many others do, he originally saw swimming as something that was “required” of him or something that he did to get into shape for water polo, but as time passed, he realized how he should’ve enjoyed it more.

“The more time you spend in the program, you realize that there more to it than just that,” Honaker said. “There’s swimming for swimming and there are guys who just swim and that’s their sport.

I would’ve enjoyed the sport itself more than just looking to get through and finish it especially freshman and sophomore year.”

Incorporating younger marksmen into the teams is always something that coach-

Coming off a four-point loss in the 2017-2018 season, the swimming team hoped to bounce back and reclaim the throne it held for years.

es emphasize, but it’s also a role of the upperclassmen. Weisberg regrets he didn’t work more to help the younger swimmers because of how much of a brotherhood the team has become.

“I could have done a lot better these last two years—particularly this year as a senior—of introducing younger kids to everything that they gain from the program,” Weisberg said. “There was nothing that stopped me from taking an extra five or ten minutes after practice to try to integrate and introduce people into the whole program.”

Our swimming team has become much more than just an average team. As many other teams around campus have, it has molded into a brotherhood which has committed itself to be the best they can be.

“If you’re looking for some back and forth, you’ve got a whole world coming for you, and it’s not pretty if you want to get through swimming,” Weisberg said.

“You have to be a little bit insane, and you have to really trust that what you’re doing is the correct investment of your time and energy. If you don’t then there’s no way you’re going to give 100%.”

Although they didn’t do as well as previously hoped in SPC this year, the team will continue to have a shot every season. A key for success is to continue to strive in the years to come, and not to become discouraged at setbacks.

“If you want to gain everything, if you want to improve yourself, then giving anything less than 100% and striving for anything less than the best is just the perfect way to throw everything away,“ Weisberg said. I was proud of this team in every game.”

ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 | 13

LEAVING IT ON THE MAT

Continuing its upward trend, the wrestling team, under the leadership of head coach Reyno Arredondo, fought to a fourth place finish.

TAKEDOWN During a wrestling practice, senior Chad Kim spars with sophomore Cooper Ribman throwing him to the mat.

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BY THE NUMBERS SPC finish - 4th place Colin Neuhoff - 1st place 170 lb weight class

Zayn Bhimani - 3rd place 113 lb weight class

Sal Abbasi - 3rd place 132 lb weight class

Enoch Ellis - 3rd place 145 lb weight class

Jackson Fair - 3rd place 152 lb weight class

16 | ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019

--t was nearing the end of the -second period of the championship bout.

And it felt all too familiar for Senior Colin Neuhoff. He had been here before at the Texas State Prep Tournament.

Same competitor. Same situation.

Only this time, everything seemed to come together. All of the hours spent lifting in the weight room. All of the days spent pushing himself to the limit during drills and practices. All of the years dedicating himself to the sport.

And he pinned him down and avenged his loss.

Neuhoff had just become an SPC champion.

▪▪▪ With senior Colin Neuhoff and freshman Elijah Ellish winning first in their respective weight classes, and the team placing 4th overall in SPC, it’s clear that their spirit of resilience and hard work was intrinsic to the wrestling team’s success this year.

In fact, Coach Reyno Arredondo insists that the motto “hard work pays off” was fun-

damental to their development as a team this year.

“Hard work doesn’t have to be hard,” Reyno said. “Hard work can be fun, and I would tell you, the time the team used to build up, they were having fun. It looked like they were having fun, and that makes all the difference in the world. The SPC tournament was definitely us improving at each big championship stage.”

Arredondo, along with the rest of the assistant coaches, worked hard this year to create a culture of positivity for the team. And through this process, Arredondo believes he learned a very important lesson: do not discount anybody.

“Everybody has something they bring to the team,” Arredondo said. “Not just the wrestlers but the coaches as well. Just because somebody may not be contributing on the mat doesn’t mean their impact is not felt in the wrestling room. It’s so important to have a good atmosphere because of the physically daunting and mentally challenging aspects of wrestling, and for the team to have a good atmosphere was really nice to see.”

This positive mindset and supportive culture of the team came into play when the school community was dealing with a tough loss: the death of Coach Ike Crews. Crews was an integral part of the wrestling program and his impact and influence on the people around him was “The toughest part of last year was losing Coach Ike Crews” Arredondo said.

“He was an incredible person,

teacher, coach and he was very instrumental in working with Middle School, assistant coaching with Coach Lenau, and he would also work with the Upper School, and we just missed him. That was a big heartbreak for us, and we did not ever forget him. I need to make sure that gets out there because he was important to St. Mark’s Wrestling.”

Aside from the team’s emphasis on putting in the work on and off the mat, Arredondo feels the strength of the captains’ leadership abilities also played a huge role in the team’s growth.

“Leadership is pretty key in a sport like wrestling, and what these guys did was rally everybody together especially at the end,” Arredondo said.

“Cooper Ribman was injured because he got injured in one of our meets, but he was still there at the championship meet leading the other guys. Between Collin Neuhoff, Chad Kim, Gabe Bankston, Jackson Fair and Cooper on the sideline, it was pretty good business.”

Looking to next year, Arredondo hopes to keep building on the team’s strong foundation by going back to the basics and focusing on mastering the fundamentals.

“Each season, it seems we’re getting our fundamentals down better and better, and that’s so important in wrestling,” Arredondo said. “I know it’s not fun to actually do, but drilling and going over the basics are so important. We did that this year. We focused on drilling the routine moves and shots over and over.”

Story Aaron Thorne Photo Will Rocchio

SPLASH BROTHERS

Three promising freshmen basketball stars look back on the season and prepare for their futures as Lions.

Aaron Thorne: Talk about some of the nail biting games we had this season and how you guys handled them even though you’re some of the youngest guys on the court.

Colin Smith: I’ll talk about the game against Dallas Carter where I hit an important shot. I think it was like a minute left. We had the ball. Since there's no shot clock in high school basketball, we got to stall. And then we drew up a plan and get Harrison or Andrew in the post and Harrison got the ball in the post, but they double teamed him. Me and Noah set a screen for each other, and I was open at the top of the key. Like the three down and we went on to win the game. That was a great nail-biter.

BALL HANDLING Freshman Noah Shelby passes the ball just as he passes half court.

IN THE PAINT Freshman Colin Smith goes up for a contested layup. He proceeded to make the basket and further the Lions’ lead.

Chase Martin: We were playing Frisco Liberty and I hadn't played much in the first half. But it didn't deter me when I got the chance to go in the game. I was on the wing and Colin, fellow freshman, made a great pass to me. And I just knocked the shot down to send it over time in a game where we would ultimately win.

AT: What was your favorite game of the year and why?

CM: My favorite game of the year was the first game of the season. My favorite game was the first game because I checked in, I caught the ball on the wing, and I dribbled to the top. Their big man wasn't showing me any respect, so I just drained a three in his face. Those were my first points of the season, it made me feel really good about how the rest of the season was going to go.

I held up a three to the crowd and it felt great.

CS: On my first points, someone that had just missed a shot and they were going on the fast break. And they missed a layup. I got the rebound and I had a LeBron James mindset of going coast to coast. So I was going down the court one person stepped over so I did a euro step. And then, in midair, I kind of turned but I still managed to throw it up with my right hand and it went in. They didn't call an and-one, but it should've been. Those were my first two points, and I remember that play really well.

Noah Shelby: I was warming up before our game against South Oak Cliff in the first tournament of the year, and I was missing everything. Then, when the game started, I figured out that it seemed like I couldn't miss, so I just kept shooting.

Eventually, I got to nine threes that game.

Interview Aaron Thorne Photos Daniel Sanchez, Will Rocchio

AT: Have you already started to get ready for next year?

CS: Absolutely. You have to. You've got to keep adding to your game. I work out every day except for one day during the week, even though it’s the offseason.

CM: I do practice outside of school on a select team, and it's a great way to continue to progress my skills so that when next year comes around I'll be prepared and ready to go.

AT: Anything else?

CS: Noah can't guard me. It's almost physically impossible for him to guard me unless he just fouls and I just want to make sure everyone knows that. I'll leave on that note.

DEFENSE With a full Lions crowd behind him, freshman Chase Martin guards the paint.

ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 |17

NEXT MAN UP

In a year without any juniors in the wrestling program, sophomore Jackson Fair stepped up to captaincy as an underclassman.

W

- hen Sophomore Jackson Fair stepped on the mat this year, he felt different.

It wasn’t pain from the grueling practices every day.

It wasn’t his legs, quivering in his low-to-the-ground wrestling stance. It wasn’t anything physical. That was all the same from freshman year.

This year, it was a pride. A responsibility. An obligation to the team he spent offseason workout after offseason workout training for.

This year, Fair felt like a role model.

This year, Fair became a leader.

This year, Fair became a captain.

▪▪▪ When Fair started wrestling in fifth grade, he wasn’t zeroed in on the sport. It was just a pass time, a sport to fulfill the requirement, but quickly, both the team and the sport grew on him.

“In fifth grade, I was trying to try out as many sports as I could,” Fair said, “and I found wrestling was more fun than the rest. I would say it’s the community that keeps me coming back.

All the guys give a lot of effort, and they really inspire me to do my best.”

Going into sophomore year, Fair spent a lot of time in the wrestling room, seizing his opportunity as one of the older members of a team without juniors, and it wasn’t long until his coaches took notice.

“In the beginning of the year, I put a lot of work in,” Fair said.

“More so than others to where Coach Reyno thought I could be a captain, so one day, he approached me and asked me how I would like being a captain. I said, ‘I think I’m ready for the responsibility,’ and I became a captain the next day.”

As a captain, Fair felt an added responsibility, but he didn’t feel like he had to change his behavior. Instead, he applied lessons from off the mat to his captaincy.

“Even when you’re not a captain,” Fair said, “you have to try and be the best leader you can for everyone. Not just in sports, but in academics. In everything really.”

Among his added responsibilities, Fair felt it was necessary to gain popularity among his peers before exercising his new power.

“Personally, I felt a responsibility to earn the respect of my peers,” Fair said. “Not just because Coach made me a captain, but I actually want them to like me because of what I do. Not because I’m entitled.”

Additionally, Fair made an effort to better the team through example, leading the team in all phases.

“It’s not just what happens on the mat, but also off the mat,” Fair said. “What you do on the mat certainly inspires people to do better, for better or for worse. If I mess up a move and somebody tries to replicate that move, they’ll probably also do it wrong, so I try to be a role model for the guys.”

After the team’s fourth place finish in his first year as captain, Fair thinks his experience as a captain will open the door for him to take on a larger role within the team the next two years.

“My first year as a captain, it was really confusing because I’d never done it before,” Fair said. “I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything right, but junior and senior year, people will see me as someone who knows what they’re doing because I’ve done 18 | ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019

A NEW ROLE After an offseason of refining old moves and learning new maneuvers. sophomore Jackson Fair took it upon himself to lead the wrestling team into a new era of successs.

this before.”

Having discovered all the little details captains are responsible for, from meeting with wrestling coach Reyno Arredondo ‘87 during the day to communicating workouts with his teammates, Fair thinks he’s ready for the demands of the next two years of wrestling, and he thinks the team is ready, too.

“I think we can get higher than third place next year at SPC,” Fair said. “Hopefully, we can win it, but that’ll only happen if we put in the work this summer and spring. Personally, I would like to go All-SPC next year and place top three in state next year.”

Ultimately, the work required in the spring and summer to achieve SPC glory will start at clinics, where Fair hopes both he and his teammates can further develop their wrestling repertoires, setting the stage for years of wrestling success.

“I think we have a good chemistry with the younger people because we are a relatively young team,” Fair said, “and I think we’ll see something good within the next couple of years.”

Story Siddhartha Sinha Photo Charlie Rose

SPRING Water Polo — First Lacrose — Second Track and Field — Second Golf — Fourth Wrestling — Fourth Baseball ­— Tenth Crew

HOME RUN

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wo balls, two strikes, two outs. The score is tied 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Senior Andy Crowe, Lions’ second baseman, is up to bat.

The Lions’ are battling an Oakridge team for the third spot in the SPC North Zone.

Colin Neuhoff, who previously walked and stole second, takes his lead from the base, praying for Crowe to hit him in.

The Lions pitcher looks at Crowe with a confidence and determination in his eye as he comes set on the mound. Crowe looks back at him with a swagger of his own.

The pitcher winds up and delivers a fastball. Crowe sees the ball is going to cross the plate down the middle of the plate, but around calf level. It’s a little lower than Crowe might like, but the reminders to “protect the plate” force him to take a swing at the ball.

Crack!

The ball is hit on a line over the second baseman’s head. Cheers crescendo from the stands and the bench as Neuhoff rounds third and slides into home.

The bench clears as the Lions’ players go tackle Crowe at first base. Moms and dads are jumping up and down and hollering on the bleachers.

And with that, the Crowe secured the Lions their third seed bid in the SPC tournament.

▪▪▪ Through all the ups and downs throughout the season, Mirochna believes one of the things the Lions baseball team did especially well was bounce back after adversity.

“We were good at forgetting a bad game and coming back the next day with a lot of energy,” Mirochna said. “Even when we lost, we could come out and win the next one.”

While the Lions’ finished the regular season as the third seed in the north zone, they were faced with much tougher competition when they went to Houston to participate in the SPC tournament.

“The teams in the south zone surprised us with how good they were,” Mirochna said. “Even when we played Houston Christian, the sixth seed in the south, they had a lot of talent and a lot of team chemistry. We actually played a solid game against them, but they played better 20 | ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019

After losing five starting seniors from last season, the baseball team has spent this year rebuilding and preparing for the future.

than a lot of the teams we saw during the season.”

Despite the team’s tenth place finish, which wasn’t what the team wanted going in to the tournament, Mirochna believes that the season was ultimately a success.

“We were competitive with some good teams all year,” Mirochna said. “And, we also grew really close together and it made for a great season. I’m going to miss it for sure.”

One area Mirochna believes the team has room to improve is in its consistency and starting off strong in the first inning.

“One of our biggest issues was how lackadaisical we were sometimes in the beginning of games,” Mirochna said.

“Especially coming off the bus, coming off a long ride to Fort Worth, we didn’t have as much energy to start the game as we should have. Eventually, we woke up a little and began playing good baseball, but the results might have been better if we played our game from the first inning.”

We’re losing a lot of seniors this year, and we’re only going to have two seniors next year, which will be kind of tough,” Mirochna said. “But there is still going to be a solid group of leaders between the current juniors and seniors. I’m excited to

see what these guys can accomplish next year.”

Mirochna was elected one of four captains at the beginning of the year, along with seniors Colin Neuhoff, Cole Arnett and Jack Rocchio. Mirochna believes that the captains played a large role in how the team was able to improve over the course of the year.

“I think what set the captains apart and made them special is that they really loved playing the game,” Mirochna said.

“They were eager every day to get out there and help hold practices that were going to make the team better. Every bad game, we picked each other up, and every good game, we celebrated together.”

Even though none of the seniors are planning to play varsity baseball in college next year, Mirochna believes that his time playing baseball throughout has been a positive experience that he wouldn’t trade for anything.

Getting to go out to the field at four o’clock every day was so important to my high school career at St. Mark’s,” Mirochna said. “I honestly think that getting to share baseball with classmates and other Marksmen was one of the best parts of my time here.”

ON THE DIAMOND Senior captian Cole Arnett winds up to pitch — his fastest being 81 mph — while senior captain Daniel Mirochna takes a swing while at bat.

Story Aaron Thorne, Colin Campbell Photo Courtesy Preston Patton

POUNDING THE ASPHALT

With a young squadron of men pushing the team to new limits, the track and field team finsihed the year with a strong second place finish in SPC.

S

ophomore Kit Colson falls to his knees with exhaustion after a grueling finish as the anchor leg in a 4x400 meter race.

He’s immediately met by a group of teammates who hold him up and help him catch his breath, eventually leading him on a cooldown jog around the track.

It’s seemingly insignificant moments like this that lead Colson to believe this team is unlike any he’s seen before.

“After every 4x400, we’re all exhausted. You can tell that the team is more of a family. You see everyone coming together that just watched the race and huddling together and holding us up even though we’re super tired and can barely walk. For me, that moment was really special.”

Over the course of the year, Colson watched as the team made dramatic improvements.

“We started off pretty slow — our competition wasn’t great,” Colson said.

“At the beginning of the year, we didn’t have high expectations. None of us thought that we would do amazing at SPC. We didn’t know who would step up.

We knew St. John’s and St. Stevens had really good teams. We started off with okay times, but throughout the season we really put in a lot of work — especially the distance guys — and we came out with a team that none of us thought we would have.”

Senior captain Seth Weprin said changes in training strategy this year immensely helped the distance team.

“We had a pretty incredible season this year I have to say,” Weprin said. “I was a little skeptical of coach [Ryan] Hershner’s decision not to let us lift as we have in the past, but the speed at which we got into shape was something I’ve never seen before, and the number of guys that stepped up — especially freshmen — who I never would have guessed would be fast astounded me.”

Weprin was proud of the way each member of the distance team filled his role and stepped up when called upon.

“I have to hand it to [freshman] Sahil [Dodda] especially. He obliterated my

freshman year times in the 1600 and 800.

[Senior] George [Lamb] showed that he had some wheels in the 800 and 400, which surprised everyone. And of course the Arroyos: [junior] Andres finally found his stride again and really turned it up a notch, and [junior] Pablo, as always, was a race horse and continued to make me respect him more than any other person at St. Mark’s.”

The Lions placed second at the SPC Championship meet where Weprin took home the only gold medal for the team in the 1600-meter race.

“We almost broke the 4x800 school record, and I won the 1600 in a big upset, which I never in my life thought I would have a shot at,” Weprin said. “It was a crazy race and just about as perfect an end to my career as a St. Mark’s athlete as I could have asked for.”

THE BREAKDOWN

Three Lions relay teams competed in the SPC Championsips meet May 3-4. Here are the runners who raced and the times they ran: 4x100 meters: 43.1 seconds Josh Mysore Garrett Davis Cristian Pereira Kit Colson 4x400 meters: 3:29.8 Enoch Ellis Faraz Asim George Lamb Kit Colson 4x800 meters: 8:01.5 Seth Weprin George Lamb Andres Arroyo Pablo Arroyo

THE HANDOFF Sophomore Josh Mysore hands off the baton to Sophomore Kit Colson during a 4x100 meter race at the Navy-Greeen Quad Meet Apr. 27 at home.

Story Duncan Kirstein, Kamal Mamdani Photo Courtesy Randy Colson

ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 | 21

COMING BACK FROM HEARTBREAK The lacrosse team hoped to reach the state final for the second consecutive year after a loss to The Woodlands in 2018.

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he scoreboard reads 4-2 in favor of Cathedral. After 24 minutes of trash talking and insults being hurled at them on the field, the Lions had all the motivation they needed to take back the game with their play in the third and fourth quarters The team, led by senior captains Blake Rogers, Jonathan Taylor and Landon Wood, lines up for the second half opening faceoff, senior John Burton crouched down over the X for the Lions.

The whistle blows, and the team begins to claw back the two-goal deficit.

As the next two quarters drag on, the 4-2 lead suddenly evaporates as Lions shots continue to find the back of the net.

As the final horn sounds, the scoreboard reads 10-5, this time in favor of St. Mark’s, the team’s fifth win of the season, but one that would set the tone for the monthslong grind ahead.

▪▪▪ Having lost a strong contingent of seniors from the state runner-up team in 2018, the lacrosse team had a lot to prove coming into the season.

“We lost a ton of firepower, especially on offense,” Wood said. “As a team, a lot of people, I think, were sort of questioning our identity as we were going into the season. But I think after a few games we

BATTLE Senior face-off specialist John Burton battles with the Highland Park face-off man in the second half of the team’s game against the Scots April 23. The Lions lost 5-4.

sort of found out who the leaders were on defense and on offense and on all parts of the field.”

Wood believes, in the beginning of the year, the team lived up to the expectations they and others had set, an idea which began to take shape when the team played Cathedral as a part of its annual spring break trip.

“That wasn’t the most important game, but I think that sort of encapsulated our mindset that we had this season,” Wood said. “Even though we’re probably pitted against some teams who were supposed to be better than us on paper and better than us in the eyes of the public, I think we denied what those people were saying.”

Wood, who this year served as the team’s starting goalie, has found his time spent VICTORY The lacrosse team swarms goalie Landon Wood in the in the crease this crease after beating Allen 8-4 in district play April 18.

22 | ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019

season has afforded him some valuable lessons he will carry with him far beyond lacrosse and even athletics as a whole.

“It’s really easy to get discouraged,” Wood said, “not only [as a goalie in lacrosse], but just in any position you play in any sport if something goes wrong or something doesn’t go your way. If you’re not prepared for that, you can sort of let that take you over and crumble you your mindset. The key is just looking at it and thinking, ‘Okay, you know, that’s behind me. I made a mistake, but I can’t do anything about it now other than learn from it and try to correct that so it doesn’t happen again.”

While the team was unable to match its ultimate goal, another shot at the state title after last year’s 10-6 loss to The Woodlands in the last round, Wood sees the season as a fitting way to cap off the seniors’ Lions athletics career and a solid stepping stone underclassmen can build on for the 2020 season.

“We didn’t get to where we wanted to,” Wood said. “We didn’t finish where we wanted to with the loss in the first round of the playoffs, but I think, regardless of who you ask, it was a great season and one that we’re all proud of.”

Story Parker Davis, Cooper Ribman Photos Courtesy Peter Malouf

LIVING BELOW PAR Led by juniors Romil Mathur and Camp Collins, the golf team looked to place in the top teams in SPC and found themselves in fourth place after the SPC tournament in the Woodlands.

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hree out of the top five seniors from last year missing.

Competition with their players committed to top programs such as UT and TCU. A new wave of freshman with zero SPC competitive experience.

This year’s golf team certainly faced some hardships early in the season that made their competitive success slim, but after gaining momentum from more and more experience, the team earned an impressive fourth place at the SPC Championships and gained unquantifiable tournament experience.

▪▪▪ The team’s eventual success was built upon from the strong foundation that began early on in the season. A new system to keep players accountable for getting in enough practice reps was implemented by golf coach Greg Guiler.

“This year, coach Guiler wanted to make sure players were staying on track with their required practice time each week,” senior captain James Rogers said. “He made each of us sign a contract ensuring that we would log our reps and turn them into him each week. This was also a way for less experienced players to quantitatively prove their progression and show him that they were ready to compete.”

Another aspect of the contract was to address the challenge of managing such a large team. Increasing in number for the past few years, the team is able to put more players into competition.

“We started bringing two JV teams to more tournaments compared to one in years past,” Rogers said. “This gave more players invaluable competitive experience that can’t be replicated during practice rounds or on the range.

Eventually, our JV team became so experienced that in the tournament before SPC with most of the north zone included, our varsity and JV had the two lowest team scores, which is an incredible feat.”

Despite a slow start, partially attributed to a lack of experience, the

team eventually hit its stride with strong finishes near the end of the year.

“We won one tournament with mostly all north zone teams,” Guiler said.

We played in the same course as the SPC tournament earlier and we finished sixth. We also played a tournament down in Austin against other SPC schools and we came in fourth or fifth. To finish sixth a month ago on the same course and then to come back and finish fourth in the tournament, that’s progress.”

With more than five players that were qualified to play on varsity, the team brought seven players down to SPC for a practice round that determined the final lineup. “[James] had zero degree of entitlement despite working hard for his entire golf career,” Guiler said. “His season-long average wasn’t distinguishable enough to have an automatic spot in the top five. We had a group of top four guys, and then three guys that were in contention for fifth place. So I made those three guys get ready to play for a chance to play on Monday for the first day of the tournament. James won that practice round.”

Going into the tournament, the

Lions were the fourth seed, which definitely exceeded the team’s initial expectations.

“It felt like a fair seed,” Guiler said.

That lined up with where we were at both of the season. I came in thinking that as a fourth seed if we played really well, we could break that top three. But when I came into the season I thought if we could finish top five that would be a good year and we did. So while you always wish you could have better holes here and there and take back some mistakes, especially when you finish out of third by one stroke, I think all in all we looked at the scores and how we played and we were proud of that.”

Looking forward, the youthful team, now with plenty of experience, will be in a strong position for next year’s competition.

“I think we’ve got a good amount of returning, experienced players for next year,” Guiler said. “This year, things had to go perfectly for us to have a chance to win a championship. Next year, I feel like it ought to be our goal to win a championship and we have the firepower to go down there, probably still as underdogs, but still have a big chance to win it.”

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Junior Will Rocchio works on his swing. The team would go on to place fourth helped by a strong score from junior Romil Mathur.

Story Jack Davis, William Aniol Photo Jayan Joshi

ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 | 23

STATE CHAMPIONS Heading into this year, the waterpolo team sought to build on last year’s success. And build they did.

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n the state championship finals against Richmond Foster, the Lions water polo team headed into overtime 5-5 knowing they gave up an opportunity to win the state championship.

The team had been up three points three separate occasions throughout the game and led 5-2 before a slew of penalties led to the Foster comeback. Senior captain and goalie Chase Honaker had only let in one non-penalty goal.

But in overtime, the Lions put the past and the officiating behind them and junior Lee Schlosser scored his second goal of the game, the only multi-goal scorer on the team, to put the Lions ahead as they jumped out HANDS IN Before the championship match of the Texas Cup, the varsity water polo to a 7-5 lead and never let the lead en route team comes in for one last team huddle. to a Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coaches The road to the state championships in Austin wasn’t Association (TISCA) state championship. easy for the Lions, however.

It was the fifth state championship in six years for the In the regional tournament, the team faltered and lost in water polo program. what they considered the warm-up tournament for state.

For the seniors on the team, including Honaker, who is “We lost regionals and we knew we had a poor perforcommitted to UCLA, it was redemption for their one-point loss to Flower Mound the year before in the state semifinals. mance there,” Honaker said. “But the team did really well to get back together and step up to the state champion“It was great to come out on a win and fix what went ships.” wrong last year,” Honaker said. “We had more experience, Honaker and Newman both earned TISCA first team and it was two years together with the same people so we All-State honors along with first-team All-District honors. didn’t crack under pressure.”

Senior captain Mark Weisberg and junior David Li earned Last year, the team did not have a single senior. So juniors like Honaker and captain Robert Newman were asked honorable mention All-State honors.

“Going into the season, we hadn’t lost any seniors from to step up and lead the team. But the loss against Flower last year,” Honaker said, “and we were really close to winMound in the state semifinals broke a four-year streak of ning last year so we had high expectations.” championships that had begun in 2013.

High expectations that had been built by a previous generation of water polo players including Tim Simenc, NaIn this year’s state semifinals, the team faced Flower than Ondracek, and Andrew Lin, all three players that have Mound again and this time, came out on top in a nailbiter or are playing in college. Honaker will follow in their foot7-6 win. steps as he committed to UCLA in the fall for water polo.

“That loss was motivation to train hard and grind all St. Mark’s was the first team in North Texas to win a summer,” Honaker said. “So playing Flower Mound in the state championship back in 1975. Now, they have a chance semifinals was redemption in a way.” to set new records if they continue winning championships The Lions entered the state tournament, which was played at the University of Texas in Austin, as the third seed and restart their championship streak that ended in 2018.

To do that though, younger generations will have to and easily won their first two games against Friendswood and Jersey Village to clinch their spot in the semifinal round step up and produce, just as Honaker, Newman, Weisberg, and other seniors did in 2019. of the tournament.

24 | ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019

Story Nathan Han Photo Will Rocchio

A HISTORY OF EXCELLENCE BRACING FOR IMPACT Senior Captain Mark Weisberg gets ready to take a shot at the opponent’s goal.

ZONE DEFENSE Seniors Robert Newman, Mark Weisberg and Chase Honaker try to defend the goal.

BLOCKED Senior Chase Honaker leaps out of the water to block an oncoming shot.

VICTORIA! Despite struggling in the first half, the varsity water polo team came out on top at the Texas Cup tournament.

Story Nathan Han Photo Will Rocchio

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-efore Middle School head coach Janis Oprea arrived at 10600 Preston Rd. in 1997, the school did not have a Middle School swimming team much less a water polo team. Drastically different than their state championship winning teams of the present, a water polo club was created by now head coach Mihai Oprea with a small group of loosely committed players. “[Mihai] started with just a little band of guys,” Janis said, “and it was called a little club thing. These guys were just guys who wanted to learn how to play, and we would travel down to Houston and get our butts kicked 21 or 22 to zero, our goalie just hanging out on the side of the pool, and nobody could swim well.

We came from nothing.”

This all changed when the head swimming coach quit. Mihai became the new swimming coach, and all his athletes quit due to the workload.

“When the head swim coach quit and coach [Mihai] took it over, nobody showed up for swimming because he was too hard,” Janis said. “He made his water polo club guys swim.”

One of the changes that Mihai brought to the program was a trip to Erie, Colorado for a boot camp with his swimmers.

“We took them to Eurie, Colorado and put them in a pool in the mountains and coached them in their wetsuits,” Janis said, “and we would swim in the freezing water, weightrain, play rugby and a whole bunch of other things.”

In the SPC championships, Greenhill was the obvious favorites with a senior-heavy relay team, and the Lions hoped their training in Colorado had paid off if they wanted to take down the Hornets.

“This year was Greenhill’s year to win SPC,” Janis said, “and we went up against them and beat their all senior relay team and won SPC by nine points with a band of scrappy, freshmen that we took to Colorado to train in a boot camp like situation.”

Following this underdog victory, Mihai and Janis decided that a program to help younger athletes for both swimming and water polo were necessities to build on the success of the team.

“After this, we figured we needed a feeder program,” Janis said. “I was coaching cross country and track and field at the time.

Water polo was a fall sport at the time, and I said I would start Middle School swimming in my one season off of coaching in the winter.”

With Middle School swimming being in the winter and water polo being in the fall, the program faced difficulties as it had to compete with other more popular sports. To fix the problem, Janis quit coaching cross country and moved swimming to the fall to match the season of water polo. This was not the only problem that the program faced during this time.

“While we’re doing this, the program is getting bigger and better,” Janis said, “and parents pushed hard for water polo to become a varsity sport. Still, the state won’t recognize us as a region to let us play games, so we were trying to get Richardson, Denton and Temple involved because they said we had to have four teams to make a district. Then, they said that only one team from our district could come to the state tournament, and we would have to play the first seeded Houston team to even get into the tournament. We would get annihilated.”

To solve this problem, the Lions fought to be their own region and to make water polo a spring sport so it wouldn’t be cutting into preseason for swimming and include more teams. That was when water polo exploded, and the Lions became the dynasty that they are now known as.

“We became our own region and could send four teams to the state tournament now,” Janis said, “and we won our first state title in 2009. Since 2009, we’ve never been lower than third, and we now have six championships.”

ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019 | 25

AT THE BOW

Heading into this year, the crew team had a singular goal: to build on last year’s success and focus on the underclassmen.

IN SYNC Junior Christian Duessel, junior Billy Lockhart, Eduardo Ludwig Bernardo ‘18 and Riley Sanders ‘18 race to the finish at last year’s Heart of Texas Regatta. This year, Duessel and Lockhart served as captains and qualified for nationals by earning second place at regionals.

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uniors Billy Lockhart and Christian Duessel speed through the choppy water of Austin’s Lady Bird Lake.

Neck and neck with their closest competitor, the Varsity 2x Boat pushes for the finish line. Lockhart and Duessel begin to pull away from the boats around them, and they race for the finish line. At last, they reach the finish line, well clear of their nearest opponent.

Exhausted, but at the same time jubilated, Lockhart and Duessel begin to celebrate. After years of hard work, they have reached their pinnacle. The St. Mark’s Varsity 2x boat has won the Texas Rowing Championship State Title.

▪▪▪ The Varsity 2x’s stellar performance at the Texas Rowing Championships proved to be just one of many highlights of crew’s spring season. In addition to the Varsity 2x’s state victory, many of the team’s other boats reached the podium at the Texas Rowing Championships. Additionally, the team put together an altogether solid performance at the Central Youth Championship in Oklahoma City, capped off by sophomore Blake Hudspeth’s in the U17 1x competition.

This season’s success at the Texas Rowing Championships THE CHAMPS Junior Billy Lockhart and sophom- and at the Central Youth re Christian Dussel after winning the double event at the Texas Rowing Championships.

Championship 26 | ENDZONE — MAY 16, 2019

has proven itself to be the product of persistent hard work on behalf of the team throughout the year.

“The season has progressed very strongly from the beginning,” coach Pitts Yandell said. “The spring always provides a challenge to the crew team in particular because of the weather, the wind. We’ve had a lot of thunderstorms, which keeps us off of the water and prevents us from getting our skill mastery down early with on the water training. The season always tends to ramp and peak at the very end. We’ve done well over the season given that.”

In addition to the obstacle of the weather, this season’s squad has thrived despite a lack of numbers among senior leadership.

“This year’s juniors have really stepped up as leaders,” Yandell said. “The sophomores are right there with them in their enthusiasm and development, and the freshmen have fed off of that enthusiasm and come along strongly.”

Yandell points specifically at Lockhart and Duessel as two of the key leaders who have propelled the team to success.

“Billy and Christian are great rowers,” Yandell said. “They have a natural feel to the boat and are just very comfortable on the water. They came in first in the double even though Billy had the flu, so they’re strong-willed and determined.”

Lockhart agrees with much of what Yandell credits for the team’s success.

“I just think our hard work throughout the year, not letting ourselves give in to adversity whenever we have faced it, has been huge,” Lockhart said. “We’ve stayed together as a team, and that camaraderie has really made this team and this season a great one.”

While the team has already accomplished many of their goals heading into the year, Lockhart still aspires for more moving forward.

“This year has been great,” Lockhart said, “but if we can have success at nationals coming up, it’ll be even better. And in the future, I believe that if we can continue to put forward the same level of effort we have this year, or even a little more, the sky will be the limit.”

Story Connor Pierce, Jahaziel Lopez Photo ReMarker Archive

ONE LAST THANK YOU TO THE FANS

I

Landon Wood

-try to keep myself focused on the game whenever I’m on the field. When I’m out there, it’s just me and the game, and I’m concerned about nothing else. I’m finding Koz for a candle clear, I’m setting for pass protection, I’m punching my top hand to the ball to make a save, or I’m sprinting downfield to cut block on a wide receiver screen. I’m completely, utterly locked in. Nothing comes between me and the game.

And then I hear it.

“LAN-DON WO-OD!” *clap-clap, clap-clap-clap* “LANDON WO-OD!” *clap-clap, clap-clap-clap*...

It gets louder and louder as more people look over at Joshua Kang, who I can thank for starting this chant, as he’s using his maximum lung capacity to scream my name. For a couple moments, I’ll ignore it, remembering that I have to be locked in, but the chant gets progressively louder...Maybe I can stop taking myself so seriously for just a second. Eventually, I can’t resist.

I turn to the student section and give them a quick flex.

▪▪▪ Having people cheer for me isn’t the reason I started playing sports. But it’s part of the reason I kept coming back to it. Not because I’m a narcissist — it’s because I began to appreciate the sense of community that comes with playing sports at St. Mark’s.

If I look up to the student section in Norma & Lamar Hunt Family Stadium, I know I’m going to see a lot of familiar faces.

I’m going to see people from every grade and every friend group convening because they truly want to be there for their brothers.

They’re there for the athletes through thick and thin, through the elation of victory to the heartbreak of defeat. It doesn’t matter how greatly the odds are stacked against the Lions. Marksmen will band together and support their peers.

When I was a lowly sophomore on the football team— my first stint on a varsity roster — I wasn’t as emotionally attached to the games. I didn’t have the same sense of pride that I carry on my shoulders now. As I played more games, I began to understand and appreciate the immense support that comes with being a Lion. I know that I speak for everyone who has ever stepped on the field, on the court, or in the pool, that you–the spectator, the fan, the friend, the brother–you are the reason why it’s all worth it.

Every sacrifice, long practice, and team meeting. You give us the strength and the courage to push ourselves to the fullest. You demand excellence from us, and we give it to you. This relationship between player and fan is like nothing else. I want to go out there and compete because I want to make my brothers proud.

Playing sports at St. Mark’s has been a crazy ride. I want to thank you, the fan, for being there through all of it.

‘YOU GOTTA LOVE THE GRIND’

S

Blake Rogers

--t. Marks athletics has shown me how to be successful in many facets of life. Through the good and the bad, the level of work, commitment and focus of my teams has always determined our results on the field. All three sports I have played have shown me what your team, company or group has to do to sustain success no matter what obstacles you all face.

At St. Marks, I learned that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep such high level of commitment as the end of each season approaches and as the trimester comes to a close. As your workload in school increases, the stakes in every sport increase as well. After long nights of studying or a stress filled day of tests, quizzes and projects, going to practice everyday with the same level excitement as you had earlier in the season becomes exhausting and frustrating.

The truly great teams I have been on did not give in to these sentiments but rather, they fought through them. As Coach Lee always says, “You gotta love the grind.”

I began to understand these difficulties sophomore year. At first it seemed daunting that the next three years were going to continue to be such a grind. However, during lacrosse season that year with Coach Lee, I began to love going to practice every day to compete. Everyday, I would try and cover the best players on our team that were older, faster, and stronger than me. I loved this challenge and it pushed me to be better every day, and because of this mindset I took on, practice and games became so much more fun and exciting. After a surgery following my senior football season, I was finally cleared for soccer mid-season. Being out of shape and not in form due to my surgery, I became frustrated that players younger than me were beating me and sometimes embarrassing me in practice.

However, once again I took on the same mindset as I did as a sophomore. I pledged myself to compete with these superior players every day and by doing that, I was able to obtain a starting spot before our first counter-game.

My favorite part about sports at St. Marks were the connections I made with coaches and players. There are so many classmates at this school I would have never became friends with had I not played sports. Playing three sports connected me to such wide variety of people that I could call my friends. In my Senior year soccer season I became friends with so many underclassmen that I had never even talked to before, and I am extremely grateful for that. I would have never passed up my athletic experience for anything despite having so many shortcomings in my sports career. The lessons and experiences I have learned here through our amazing coaches will last a lifetime.