Lions Sports Update (3/25)

BASEBALL
The St. Mark’s baseball team entered its third week of play in a home duel against the Mansfield Knights, a powerful home school team. Whit Turner took the mound for the Lions, giving up five runs (three earned) while striking out three in 2 and 1/3 competitive innings of work. In the bottom of the first, Lucas Petrikas doubled in Jack Frary to knot the game at 1-1, but this would be all the offense the Lions could muster on the day as the home team struck out 14 times in seven innings. A set of St. Mark’s fielding errors and uncompleted plays also opened the door for the Knights’ sluggers, who pounced on the Lions’ mistakes. Spenser New, Henry Sun, and Peter Rubi pitched in relief but could not contain Mansfield’s potent offense as the game ended in a blowout loss (1-12).

The following day, the Lions hosted cross-town foe ESD in a non-counter matchup. The home and visiting sides were charged up for this affair, with St. Mark’s taking the lead multiple times before surrendering it to a pesky Eagle squad, who took advantage of five Lion errors. Starting pitcher Lucas Petrikas experienced mixed results on the afternoon, scattering six hits, six strikeouts, and five runs (two earned) in five innings. Freshman southpaw Dylan Barnes (2 IP, 1 hit, 2 runs, no earned runs) stepped in for Petrikas, working out of a tough jam in the sixth to stop ESD from retaking the lead.  With the score tied at seven apiece, John Stephen Hohmann’s hard-hit groundball was misplayed by the Eagle’s shortstop, allowing Jackson Ostella to score the eventual winning run. The Lion’s offense cut down significantly on their strikeouts from the previous game (14 to 3), while Jake DeBoever (two hits, two runs) and Lucas Petrikas (two hits, 1 run) led the offense in a thrilling, one-run home victory.

In a rare back-to-back-to-back series of games, St. Mark’s traveled to Breckenridge Park on Thursday night to face the HSAA Angels. Deven Pietrzak pitched valiantly despite the scoreline, showing poise and composure on a tough day for the team. Missing four starters, the Lions’ lineup was extremely thin as it battled a solid HSAA squad. Alex Dahlander and Marshall Sudbury supplied the only two hits for the offense before the game ended early once the 10-run rule had been obtained by the Angels in five innings of play. The Varsity team collected some much-needed rest and recovery over Spring Break at 5-5 on the season and 2-0 in the conference. They return to action in a home contest vs. HSAA on Tuesday at 4:30 pm and a home SPC counter game vs. Cistercian on Friday at 5 pm.

LACROSSE
The week before spring break, the varsity lacrosse team took on rival ESD and, unfortunately, did not play their best game, losing 4-12.  The team will work hard to prepare for their next matchup against the Eagles. On the first weekend of spring break, the team traveled to Vero Beach, Florida, for two games and several practices.  In the first match-up, the Lions overwhelmed Vero Beach H.S. with a 12-3 win. However, the team did not bring the proper energy and focus for the 2nd game against St. Edward’s and lost 5-6. This week, the squad hosts Southlake on Wednesday at 7:00 pm, then EHS on Friday at 6:00 pm before taking on St. John’s @ ESD on Saturday at 1:00 pm.

CREW
Marksmen rowers have two regattas coming up. The 1st and 2nd Varsity 4x’s will be competing in the San Diego Crew Classic on March 29th and 30th. This will be a preview of the competition they will face at Youth Nationals in June. Seven out of the 14 entries in the 1V event competed in the 2024 Youth National Championships, and the Lions will undoubtedly see them again at the 2025 Nationals in Sarasota, FL. The 2nd Varsity 4x will also be challenged by some of the nation’s top teams.  Six out of the 14 entries in that event competed at Nationals last year, five of which finished in the top 10. On April 6, rowers will be attending the Oklahoma City Invite. The entire team will attend this regatta and face a more regional competition base.  Nonetheless, each boat will be challenged.  

TRACK & FIELD
The varsity track & field team had three meets before and during Spring Break. The first meeting was on Saturday, March 15.  The First Baptist “Rogers Relays” was attended by 35 schools, mostly private, on a beautiful but windy day.  Noah Roby led the team, who won the 800m and was 2nd in the 3200m.  The 4x100 Relay team of Alden Reagins, Max Bean, Riggs Bean, and Mateu Parker won convincingly in 43.40, their fastest time of the season.  Mateu also made his debut in the 110 Hurdles and finished 2nd overall. The team finished 2nd overall.

The second meet was the Jesuit-Sheaner Invitational. This meeting has a very long history. The Relays were first run in 1964, and the Jesuit Relays were on a new all-weather track at Jesuit High School in Dallas. The track was the first of its kind in Texas, attracting High Schools, Junior Colleges, and Universities from across the state to participate in the inaugural meet. Fast forward 61 years, and today, it is the premier high school meet in Texas. There are two divisions, 6A and 5A & under. Some of the marks that come out of this meet are the fastest in the US. A few Lions, who trained during the Spring Break, participated in the meet. Senior Noah Roby and sophomore Harman Pope ran the 3200m on Friday night. Roby ran a gutsy race and finished with a 22-second PR, with a time of 9:45.18.  Junior Max Bean ran a PR in the 100m with a time of 10.21 and sophomore Omar Jenkins threw a PR in the Shot Put with a throw of 37’ 6.75.”

The third meet was the Texas Distance Festival hosted by Southlake Carroll, which features only 800m, 1600m, 3200m and 5K races. Roby and Pope represented SM and raced very well, producing PRs of 4:35.17 and 4:45.62, respectively.  All good results from a small, dedicated group, representing the Lions over the break. This week St. Mark’s hosts the 25th edition of the Bradley V. Urschel Invitational at our beautiful Hunt Family Stadium. The meet kicks off at 9:00 am with field events and the 3200m. All the boys on the team will be competing, so come out and support the Lions!

TENNIS
For the varsity tennis team, no official matches or practices were held during the week of spring break. Coach Christian Nagy kindly offered to facilitate voluntary practice sessions attended by those in town. On Thursday, March 13, a small group of Lions squad members were joined by two alumni tennis players, Arnav Lahoti ’24 and Shreyan Daulat ’23, which was a great moment of camaraderie for the current squad. This week, the Lions face Cistercian in a friendly match on Wednesday at 4:15 pm at the Albert G. Hill Tennis Center.

GOLF
The varsity golf team members are competing at the Arlington Heights Tournament at Pecan Valley Golf Club on Tuesday, March 25.  Next week, the team will be divided in order to attend two competitions: the All Saints Tournament at Rivercrest Country Club and the Hockaday Scramble at Brookhaven Country Club. 

ALUMNI ATHLETE NEWS
On March 14 against the Charlotte Hornets, Harrison Ingram ’21 scored his first NBA points of the regular season with the San Antonio Spurs. He also added 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal in the game.  Harrison has been on the Spurs roster for most of the month of March after averaging 12.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for the Austin Spurs in the NBA’s G-League.