Lions Sports Update (10/2)

CROSS COUNTRY
The varsity cross country team traveled to the Prestonwood Polo Grounds in Oak Point to compete in the Jesuit Fall Classic. It was the varsity team’s first race in the 5A/6A division, and they faced intense competition. Senior Noah Roby led the team with an impressive 14th-place finish out of 282 runners. Nathan Aldis (18:47) and Josh Nunez (19:44) achieved personal bests during the race. The varsity finished 20th out of 33 teams.  On the JV side, Kai Cooper finished first for the squad and earned a spot on the varsity roster for the upcoming weekend. Chris Huang (20:36), Lucas Herrera (21:48), and William Loftus (23:14) also set lifetime bests. This weekend, the varsity team will compete in Houston at the Maverick Ramble hosted by St. John’s.

WATER POLO
The varsity water polo team had senior night this past week taking on John Paul II.  It was a great night as we said farewell to 7 seniors (Gage Fojtasek, Leo Scheiner, Ben Chen, Reagan Brower, Sam Light, Nico Costa, and Jaden Ouyang ) who have all made a fantastic impact in the water polo community.  The Lions would go on to defeat JPII 14 – 4, with senior Jaden Ouyang leading the way with 4 goals.  Freshman Luke Nguyen would be second in scoring with 3 goals, sophomore Nathan Peng would have 2 goals, and senior co-captain Reagan Brower and freshman Kyle Lin would add a goal each.  The Lions will be on the road this Friday, taking on Southlake Carrol in their final game before their TISCA State Championship on October 11th and 12th at SMU.  

VOLLEYBALL
The varsity volleyball team had two road games last week.  On Tuesday, the team was in Ft. Worth to face Trinity Valley.  The Lions were hitting on all cylinders and won the match 3-0.  Then, on Friday, St. Mark’s was at Greenhill to play in their Homecoming match.  In front of a big crowd, the Lions won games 1 and 2, only to let the Hornets stay in the match with a game 3 win.  The regroup didn’t take long as the Lions dispatched of the Hornets in game 4 (25-10) to win the match 3-1.  This week, the Lions host the Red River Rattlers on Tuesday and then host Greenhill on Friday at 5:30 pm as part of the night’s Homecoming festivities.  

FOOTBALL
Last Friday, the Lions’ varsity football team traveled to Plano to take on the John Paul II Cardinals for the first time in program history. Though St. Mark’s struggled on offense in the first quarter, the defense dominated the game, allowing the offense to rally for six touchdowns and a 49-0 victory. Defensively, sophomore Mac Saye recorded five tackles and an interception, senior William Everitt had two tackles for loss and a blocked kick, senior Henry Estes recorded a safety, and senior Jack Baker pressured the quarterback five times on the night. On offense, the Lions racked up 403 total yards, including 269 passing yards and 3 TDs from quarterback Lawrence Gardner. Mateu Parker caught two long touchdowns and recorded his third 100+ yards receiving night of the year while running backs David Dickson, Russell Higgins, and Max Bean combined for four touchdowns on the ground to finish the evening. The 4-1 Lions return to Hunt Stadium on October 4th to take on the Kinkaid Falcons for Homecoming and their first SPC 4A opponent.