Lions Sports Update (10/08)

CROSS COUNTRY
This past Saturday, the varsity cross country team made their annual trip to the Maverick Ramble in Tomball, Texas. This is a staple meet for the season due to the South Zone competition. The Lions finished 12th out of 18 teams in the Black division. Notably, several runners achieved personal records. Ailesh Sadriddin crossed the finish line with an impressive time of 17:59, while Chris Huang followed at 19:41. Kai Cooper and Alex Marczewski were neck-and-neck, finishing at 20:05 and 20:06, respectively. With two weeks off to regroup and recharge, the Lions are now focused on their next challenge: heading to Austin for the SPC preview at St. Andrew’s.

WATER POLO
The varsity water polo team took on Southlake Carroll for the second time this season and the results were the same.  The Lions would control the game from start to finish, outscoring the Dragons 9-7.  This was a great tune-up game for the Lions, who finish the season this weekend at the TISCA State Championships hosted by Jesuit. Junior Oliver Geheb led the scoring and put away 3 goals while drawing 2 ejections and a penalty shot.  Senior Jaden Ouyang and junior Matthew Liu would add 2 goals each and seniors Reagan Brower and Leo Scheiner would add a goal each while Scheiner contributed 3 assists.  This game was not all that it seemed; while the Lions were able to get the job done, it was a poor shooting performance as the Lions were 9 for 29 shooting. Every possession seemed to lead to a great opportunity, but when it came time to put it away, the goalpost had something to say about it.  Senior goalie Gage Fojtasek had a great game, recording 12 blocks.  

VOLLEYBALL
The varsity volleyball team hosted two matches this past week.  On Tuesday, the Lions played the Red River Rattlers VBC. While the Lions won 3-0, the team needed contributions from the whole lineup to win each game by a close margin.  Then on Homecoming night, the Lions hosted the Greenhill Hornets in an SPC North Zone counter match.  Hoping to return the favor and play HoCo spoilers like the Lions did just a week ago, the Hornets came out with reckless abandon, coming from behind to win game 1.  The Lions would then edge out Greenhill 25-23 in both games 2 & 3 to take a 2-1 lead.  Leading 24-21 in game 4 and needing just 1 point to clinch the best-of-five match, the Lions squandered the opportunity and let the Hornets stay alive as they came back to win game 4 by a score of 27-29 and forced an exciting match-deciding game 5.  With a loud and excitable crowd behind them, the Lions made sure their fans had a reason to celebrate on HoCo night, winning game 5 (15-10).  St. Mark’s is now 9-1 (3-0 in SPC NZ play) in regular season matches and will play two more SPC road contests this week against Ft. Worth Country Day (Tuesday) and Trinity Valley (Thursday).  

FOOTBALL
Last Friday the Lion’s varsity football team hosted the Kinkaid Falcons. The Lions took a 10-0 lead in the second quarter but trailed 10-14 at the half. The Lions battled throughout the second half, closing the lead to 27-23 late in the fourth quarter. While the Falcons finished on top with a 34-23 victory, many Lions performed strongly on the night. QB Lawrence Gardner threw for 277 yards and 2 touchdowns while rushing for another. Mateu Parker and Archer Wilburn notched over 100 yards receiving and found the end zone. Defensively, William Everitt, Mac Saye, Noah Williams, and Jack Levy all recorded double-digit tackles, with Everitt leading the way with 23 on the night. Senior two-way lineman Henry Estes not only embraced a new role at left offensive tackle but also recorded 3 QB pressures and a pass breakup on defense. Senior Jack Baker caught 4 passes for 44 yards on offense while registering a big QB sack on defense. This week, the 4-2 Lions will travel to John Cooper for a rare Thursday night game at 7:00 pm.