THE SUBURBAN
The Winter Season in Review 2017-18
Marquette High School
Marquette had a great winter season for 2017-2018. Included in the list of accomplishments are the following:
- Girls Swim/Dive
- Suburban West Conference & Meet Champions
- 5th overall at State
- 4 consecutive years of undefeated record in dual meets
- numerous all-conference and all-state members
- Mystique (Poms/Dance)
- 4th at State in both Mix & Lyrical categories
- 6th at Nationals in Team Performance category
- Boys Basketball
- Jason Montgomery-Player of the Year in the Suburban West
- Wrestling
- Marco Perla-4th at State (220 lb class)
Jason Montgomery - Player of the Year in the Suburban West
Marco Perla - 4th at State (220 lb class)
Suburban West Conference and Meet - Swimming and Diving Champions
Mystique (Poms/Dance) 4th at State in Mix and Lyrical - 6th at Nationals in Team Performance
Kirkwood High School
KIRKWOOD’S WINTER SEASON HIGHLIGHTED BY CLASS 5 GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP-2NDYEAR IN A ROW
The Winter season ended with a State Championship celebration for the Girls Basketball program for the 2ndyear in a row. The Pioneers ended the season with a record of 28-3 and capturing the Class 5 State Championship in Springfield, MO by defeating Liberty High School in the semifinals by the score of 51-29 and then defeating the Springfield Kickapoo Chiefs by the score of 67-50 in the Championship game. All season the Pioneers were led by a trio of Seniors which all 3 earned Class 5 All State 1stteam: McKayla Wallace, Jaidah Stewart, and Class 5 Player of the Year Jayla Everett. Coach Monica Tritz was named the Class 5 Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.
In Boys basketball, Junior Dameon Lloyd was named Class 5 MBCA 1stTeam All State.
The Girls swim team continued their successes in the pool as they captured the Suburban XII Conference Championship for the 5thyear in a row and placing in the top 10, finishing 7thin the Class 2 MSHSSA State Swim/Dive Meet. The State meet was highlighted by the following events medaling in the top 8 and earning a place on the medal stand:
7thPlace: 200 Medley Relay: Maddie Pearl, Claire Lin, Allie Hickenbotham, Ella Pearl
7thPlace: 100 Freestyle: Claire Lin
7thPlace: 200 Free Relay: Bella Borbonus, Maddie Pearl, Aliya Swearngin, Victoria Coombes
4thPlace: 100 Backstroke Ella Pearl
8thPlace: 100 Backstroke Maddie Pearl
7thPlace: 100 Backstroke Claire Lin
8thPlace: 400 Free Relay- Victoria Coombes, Ella Pearl, Maddie Pearl, Claire Lin
Kirkwood’s Wrestling program had another successful winter on the mat capturing the Sub. XII South Division Championship while Coach Craig Dickinson was named the conference coach of the year and several wrestlers were named to either 1stor 2ndTeam All-Conference-whileSenior Jake Hibbard highlighted this group being a state qualifier.
106 Orlandis Coats 1st Team All Conference
120 Adam Dickinson 2nd Team All Conference
126 Will Hibbard 2nd Team All Conference
145 Torrance Harris 1st Team All Conference
152 Jacob Hibbard 1st Team All Conference-Class 4 State Qualifer
170 Trashun Galvin 1st Team All Conference
285 Robert Lee 2nd Team All Conference
Congratulations to all of the Kirkwood Pioneer winter athletes on another very successful winter season on the court, pool, and mat.
Kirkwood's Girls State Championship Basketball Team
Pattonville High School
GIRLS SWIM & DIVE
Richa Boara broke the school record in the 100 Backstroke with a time of
1:04.14.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Derrick Boyce III: 1st Team All-
Conference, Michael Jackson: Honorable-Mention All-Conference, Ezra Jakob: Sportsmanship Award
GIRLS BASKETBALL –
Girls basketball finished the season with a record of 16-10 and a second place finish in districts.
Tyra Brown, 4th time First Team All-Conference; Jalyia Smith, Second Team All-Conference; Kendall Battle, All-
Conference Honorable Mention; Kelsey Mack, All-Conference Honorable Mention; and Helen Nelson,
Sportsmanship Award.
Pattonville Drill Team
The Pattonville Varsity Drill team took 3rd place in small group hip hop at the National Tournament in Orlando, Florida. The drill team had also previously finished 4th in the state competition earlier in the month.
Seckman High School
Lindbergh High School
The Lindbergh Wrestling team finished 8-5 in dual meets and qualified 5 wrestlers to the state tournament. J P Homfeld, Dawson Javier, Micah Feliciano, Logan Wells, and Lucas Osia were the 5 state qualifiers and J P Homfeld placed 4th in the 106 pound weight class and Logan Wells placed 2nd in the 220 pound weight class.
Parkway Central High School
Parkway West High School
Varsity poms win first state championship in West history
By: Gabe Davis
“When we found out we had just won first place we were all in a state of shock. After you hear the second place team and your team's name hasn't been called yet, the anticipation is so overwhelming. The feeling of hearing your team’s name being called as a first place State Champion is a feeling you'll never forget. Everyone was jumping, cheering and crying together. We couldn't believe it. All of our hard work paid off,” head coach Meghan McCreary said.
This is McCreary’s sixth year of coaching varsity Poms, and the team’s road to state has been long. Leading up to the competition, they practiced two hours after school four days a week.
“Each practice we worked on precision, flexibility, timing and showmanship. Our athleticism continued to spread and grew stronger each day,” McCreary said.
DeFrank worked with Veltman to build team relationships and credits much of the team’s ability to get through the months leading up to state to their success in cooperation.
“Our team dynamic really enabled us to win state,” DeFrank said. “We all worked really hard together and made an effort to stay connected because you can’t win a state title if your team is falling apart. You have to be in unity when you’re dancing, and everyone has to want it the same.”
For varsity Poms members, the success at state was a testament to the long hours and memories made in practice.
“Sometimes when we were bored we would do impressions and Bailey can do a really good cowardly lion from the ‘Wizard of Oz.’ It was so funny that we would all try to do it ourselves as a way to loosen up,” sophomore Susie Seidel said.
Two junior varsity members were promoted to varsity to supplement the team with their personal talents: sophomore Nayeon Ryu competed in kick and freshman Emma Roth performed in hip-hop.
“Practicing with varsity was really different from JV. I had come in the middle of varsity’s competition season so I was just trying to figure out what was going on at first. Overall the girls were super welcoming,” Ryu said.
The conditions that came along with competing as a varsity team member did not end at intense practices and included many schedule changes.
“We had to wake up at 3 a.m. the day of state so we could get to Mac’s house in St. Charles by 4 a.m. I’ve never had to do that before, normally on Saturdays, I wake up at like noon, so I was "shook". I was very tired, very dead,” Ryu said.
Performing to the best of their abilities has always been a goal of the Poms team, but Veltman and Defrank were determined to take it farther in 2018 because of their looming graduation.
“I was so excited because that was our goal for the longest time and since it was our senior year we just kept talking about how we really wanted to work hard to accomplish that,” Defrank said.
For McCreary, achieving this long-awaited goal has brought her great pride as well.
“I'm ecstatic and proud. The coaches are overjoyed because we witness what the girls are capable of every day at practice and all we hope for is to display our talents in the performance. That is exactly what the team did at state. They rose to the occasion, pushed through the nerves and accomplished our goal,” McCreary said.
Despite Veltman and Defrank soon graduating, McCreary has high hopes for the future of Poms.
“We are unlike any other sport since we continue our season 365 days of the year; that's a lot of time together. I enjoy the challenge, atmosphere, spirit and competition of Poms. I'm excited to see what the future holds for this program that is so young to competition but thriving with ambition to be great,” McCreary said.
Webster Groves High School
Clayton High School
The Greyhounds dove into WINTER after coming off another successful fall sports season.
With Girls Basketball playing for the district title for the second year in a row, wrestling making it back to state, and Girls Swimming/Diving leading the way, “It certainly was a Great Time to be a Greyhound” said Assistant AD Lee Laskowski.
The Hounds were led by their aquatic sports, with a great state run by the Girls Swimming and Diving team. The Greyhounds qualified in four individual events. Brooke Becker and Bridget Walsh in 1 meter diving, and Sophia Thompson in both the 200 IM and 100 backstrokes.
Sophomore Brooke Becker also won the Ladue Dive invitational with a score of 399.20.
Swimming/Diving ALL STATE
Diving: Brooke Becker 16th
Diving: Bridget Walsh 14th
100 Backstroke: Sophie Thompson 13th
Swimming/Diving ALL CONFERENCE
Diving: Brooke Becker
Medley Relay: Sophie Thompson, Marie Claire Gatter, Caroline Foley, Caroline Thomason
Diving: Bridget Walsh
200 Free Relay: Julia Beliz, Elizabeth Cordova, Gwen Duplain, Elizabeth Miller
100 Backstroke: Sophie Thompson
For Wrestling, Junior Jeremiah Austin has come into his own at the 220 pound weight class. He had a tremendous season just missing the medal stand at state. He made it to the third round wrestle backs while chasing a single season wins record at CHS. He ultimately finished the season with a record of (37-12).
Senior Trenton Dickens also had a successful season and will continue wrestling at Missouri Baptist University.
Girls Basketball peaked at the right time and played for the district title in back to back years. The team unfortunately did not move on in the state tournament but showed their potential through relentless effort throughout the season. The team was young, only having 2 Seniors but through this experience, the future looks bright.
Boys Basketball was a season of inches as their record definitely did not dictate their level of play. The team lost 8 of their games by five points or less. The program continues to flourish though participation, and success at the lower levels as they set the stage for the future.
Cheerleading was lead by a younger group that drove the spirit in Stuber Gym. It was another season of high participation and the skill level of our Cheer teams continues to grow.
Dance was a rebuilding year as numbers were limited. The team looks to build numbers as they move forward to next season.
One of the biggest highlights every winter season is the Clayton vs. Ladue – Coaches vs. Cancer basketball game(s). Each year Clayton unites with our border rival for a cause bigger than basketball. T-shirt sales, ribbons, spirit contests and “dash for cash” are just a few of the events that take place throughout the week to support the cure for cancer. This year did not disappoint as there was some great basketball witnessed by a full house in Stuber Gym.
Every team this winter helped define the success for Clayton High School as there were selection(s) to either All-Conference, All-District or All-State in every sport.
In total, 22 CHS Athletes were named to Suburban Central All Conference teams.
Wrestling – Trenton Dickens, Jeremiah Austin, Samuel Yeom, Max Friedman, Adam Sieber
Girls Swimming and Diving – Brooke Becker, Sophie Thompson, Marie Claire Gatter, Caroline Foley, Caroline Thomason, Bridget Walsh, Julia Beliz, Elizabeth Cordova, Gwen Duplain, Elizabeth Miller
Girls Basketball – Mira Upshaw, Sara Litteken, Jadan Conner
Boys Basketball – Caleb Heusel, Darryl Sams, Jimmie Adams
Affton High School
Senior, Jadon Harrison went to MSHSAA Wrestling State Championships.
He was 6th Place 182lbs MSHSAA Class 2 State Wrestling
Affton Senior Wrestler Jadon Harrison
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Girls Basketball
With the third coach in the past 3 years and the transfer of two key players, the Ladue girls basketball program entered into this season with several major question marks. But despite these challenges word got around the school that the program was laying the foundation for a great future. Tryouts saw the numbers of girls interested in playing double from the year before allowing for both a Varsity and a Junior Varsity team to be formed.
Captains Olivia Schroder, Kalifa Muhammad and Kourtney Hay, led the Varsity team. Standouts players Jordan Peete and Katie Minkler fueled the team.
As the season began the focus on player development and hard work became very apparent and the players began to build on each success. By mid-season friends and family started to see the difference. The hard work in practice began showing up in every game and Varsity, the team that had been an after thought in most schools minds began to make waves. Starting one senior, one junior and three sophomores Ladue was turning heads. Winning games that they were picked to win and making every game against teams that started mostly seniors exciting and challenging, there was no stopping the movement. Ladue entered District as the number 2 seed but everyone had St. Joes as the favorite to repeat and return to state. So when the ball was tossed the only question in everyone’s mind was “how much” St. Joes would win by as they were seeking their third district title in a roll. Ladue made it a game with 18 lead changes and 11 ties, back and forth with the game coming down to one play with 14 seconds to go St. Joe put the ball in their senior Ericka Pudlowski hands who finished the game with a lay up with no time on the clock. That moment changed everything for the Ladue’s program. Although a loss people started to understand that Ladue can play with the best and the future is very bright. And next year, with a Junior Varsity team that only lost 2 games all season and Varsity that’s returning 6 players plus a second year under the same coaching staff and program philosophy, Ladue is poised make much deeper run in state tournament play.
Boys Basketball
The Ladue Varsity Boys Basketball team completed their season with an 18-10 record. Overall, we had a solid season with one returning starter from last season in Trent Stiebler (Sr. SG) who led the team in scoring at 16 ppg and 7 rpg. Jaylen Boyd, sophomore PG, averaged 10 ppg and 4 apg, followed by Josh Horwitz, senior forward, averaging 9 ppg and 10 rpg. Our other two post players Evan Schneider (soph.) and Moses Okpala (jr.) each averaged 6 points and 6 rebounds per game. The Rams were a young team with 5 sophomores and 3 juniors on the squad so the next few seasons look bright. The highlights of our season is being competitive in all 3 tournaments despite illness and injuries. We finished 2nd in our conference behind Parkway Central and beat SLUH in the semifinals of districts before losing to Chaminade in the district championship.
Dance Team
The Laduettes Dance Team began their season in June when they spent two intense weekends with choreographers for their Pom and Hip Hop routines. The team worked hard in the following months to perfect these routines before traveling to Columbia, Missouri in December for the Battle Spirit Championship Competition. The Laduettes took home two first-place trophies from this competition, for both Pom and Hip Hop. The team also received an Innovative Choreography Award for their Pom dance. At the St. Charles Classic, the team placed first in Hip Hop and received the highest score of the entire event. They also received fourth-place in Pom. These local experiences prepared the girls for their final competition of the year, the NDA High School Nationals. On March 1, 2018, the Laduettes Dance Team traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete in the NDA National Championship. After making it through the preliminary round for both routines, the team took home second-place trophies in Pom and Hip Hop. They also received Superior Showmanship Awards for both of their outstanding performances. Overall, the Laduettes had a fantastic season and are ready to begin working hard again for the next one!
Girls Swimming
Captains Riley Deutsch, Kela Munnerlyn & Rebecca Friedman led the 2017-2018 Ladue Girls Swimming & Diving Team to a 5th place finish at the MSHSAA Class 1 State Championships with 153 points, a mere 8 points out of 3rd place. At the same event, the 200 Yard Medley Relay (Mary Dieckhaus, Sophie Fredman, Riley & Leda Liang) finished 5th place and set a new School Record, while the 200 Free Relay (Sophie, Talia Warticovschi, Leda & Harriett Bezzant) finished 2nd place and the 400 Free Relay (Leda, Talia, Riley and Harriett) finished 5th place. Individual State Finalists (1st-16th place) were Harriett (7th in 200 Free; 9th in 500 Free), Riley (14th in 200 IM; 7th in 100 Fly), Mary (14th in 200 IM; 11th in 100 Back), Samantha Fischer (14th in Diving), and Leda (11th in 100 Free), and Individual State Qualifiers (17th-32nd place) were Talia (17th in 100 Free; 23rd in 200 Free), Sophie (18th in 50 Free; 18th in 100 Breast), and Lena Liang (19th in 500 Free; 30th in 100 Breast). The 6-4 regular season Dual Meet record reflects four losses against the strongest Class 1 & 2 teams in the state while the team finished Top 3 in three highly competitive Invitationals, each with as many as 42 teams competing and finished 3rd at the Conference against two teams that placed higher than Ladue at States. Scholastically, 32 of 42 team members had an average cumulative GPA greater than 3.75 (14 of 32 with 4.000) with 4 Seniors earning NISCA Academic All-American honors and the Varsity Team of 26 achieving an average cumulative GPA of 3.836 and, therefore, likely to remain in the NISCA Top 35 Teams nationally for the 3rd consecutive year out of over 16,000 NISCA Boys & Girls Aquatic Programs. The team expects to rank in the Top 25 in the NISCA National Dual Meet Team Ranking with 3,901 points for Class 6 Girls Public Schools with student enrollment of 901-1,400, having been ranked 27thnationally in the 2016-2017 season with 3,664 points. Led by next year’s Captains Joanna Jurgiel, Sarah Friedman and Monty Rickey, the 2018-2019 Team expects to be just as strong in Class 1 State Championship competition but challenged against more competitive teams with a revised dual meet schedule and by the loss of 8 seniors (20% of the current team)
Ladue Wrestling 2017-18 Season
The 2017-18 Ladue wrestling team finished a grueling season by peaking at the right time. The team, who struggled with numbers and injuries throughout the regular season, got their lineup back and ready for a great district and state showing. The rams ended with 4 state qualifiers, 2 state placers and their 2nd highest state finish within the past 20 years.
From the beginning of the season the rams struggled to fill all 14 weight classes having as many as 12 spots filled to as few at 7 for dual meets and tournaments. Even down on numbers the rams often prevailed as a team and many times individually. They ended with an 11-9 dual meet record finishing 6-2 in the Suburban Central Conference. Twice the rams finished third in tournaments but as mentioned earlier the rams peaked at the right time, finishing 5th at the district tournament qualifying 4 to state with 2 wrestlers making it to the bubble round as well.
The Rams took their 4 state qualifiers down to Columbia, MO to wrestle in the state championships. After it was all said and done, the rams finished in 15th place in class 3 (2nd highest in Ladue history), and had 2 medalists. Jake Mann won his first 3 matches without giving up a single point landing him in the state finals. He came up against the #1 ranked wrestler and was able to get the first takedown and an early lead but couldn't hang on and finished in 2nd place. Jacob Orsay came into the tournament undefeated and was able to get a pin in the first round but suffered an overtime loss in the quarterfinals. He then won his next 3 matches on his way back to the 3rd place match for the 2nd straight year. There he rematched his quarterfinal opponent and avenged his loss winning 4-3 in the ultimate tie-breaker finishing 3rd for his 2nd straight season. Aidan Morley had a tough draw and lost his opening round match and had some wrestleback matches to take care of. He won his next 2 matches, 12-2 and by a comeback pin making to the medal-round match. In a heartbreaking match, Aidan gave up a late takedown in the 6-2 loss coming up just short of a medal. Callen Morley came in as a 4 seed and had a tough bracket draw his first 2 rounds and was unable to get a win.
As a whole, for a team that carried as few as 5 to as many as 9 varsity wrestlers into tournaments, finishing in 15th in the state championships was a huge success. Jake Mann was the first state finalist since 2002. Jacob Orsay was the first multi state medalist since 2003. Aidan Morley and Jake Mann both ended the season with 52 wins, setting the Ladue record for wins in a season. Lastly, the senior captains ended their career 144-10 (Orsay) which finishes 3rd all-time for career wins, and 137-46 (A. Morley) which finishes 4th all time for career wins.
The rams will be looking forward to their 2018-19 campaign where they will bring back a state runner-up, a state qualifier, 2 seniors and a large number of underclassman.
University City High School
Rockwood Summit High School
Rockwood Summit continued to find success for many of their athletes during the Winter Season.
In Girls Swimming, both Macy Ryan (Freshmen) and Kennady Schertzer (Sophomore) qualfied for the diving portion of the State Championships out at the St. Peters Rec Plex.
The Boys and Girls Basketball teams worked hard to improve all season. They did achieve some post season honors. Jasmine Manuel was selected 2nd Team All Suburban XII South. On the boys side, Connor Kramer was selected 1st Team All Suburban XII South and Ben Coughlin was selected 2nd Team All Suburban XII South.
The Summit Falcon Wrestling Team finished their season in strong form by placing 10th in Class 3 at the Missouri State Championships. The Falcons qualified 5 individual wrestlers for State. They were paced at State by 3rd place finisher Evan Brooks at 195 lbs and 2x State Champion Sam Frankowski at 138lbs. We were very proud of Sam's display of Sportsmanship by recognizing his opponent from Rolla after being announced for his championship match. The Rolla wrestler was knocked unconscious and went into concussion protocol prior after the semi-finals match. While Sam was disappointed he could not win his second State Title on the mat, he felt it was necessary to acknowledge his opponent for his hard work and effort. The display of sportmanship was truly genuine and reminded all of us how important sportsmanship is with all our athletes.
Ritenour High School
Girls' swim season started out very promising with several new athletes to the program. Our overall record was 6-9 and we finished 8th out of 11 teams at the the conference swim meet. Our record is a big improvement from previous years and we had several people return for finals on the second day of the conference meet. All Conference Honorable mention recipients were Jayden Frost, Samantha Pullen, Amiya Clark, Emma Stiebel, Andrea Duarte, Alyssa Lane, and Leanna Morales.
The Ritenour boys basketball team completed the season with thirteen wins. The huskies schedule was loaded with great teams this year and included our first year in the Coaches vs Cancer tournament at Mer a
The Ritenour Girls Basketball team continued its upward climb in the 2017-2018 season. The girls improved their winning percentage for the third straight season, and started the year strong by winning the Clayton Girls Basketball Round Robin. After that tournament win, the team started 5-1 and was listed on the bubble in the Post-Dispatch Top 10 rankings for much of the season. The team graduated 6 seniors who have helped revitalize the program during their seasons here.
The Wrestling 2018 season finished with a 7-7 dual record. The varsity team placed 3rd at the Ray Doney Invitational, 12 at the Fort Zumwalt East Tournament, 14th at the Howell Thrasher Tournament, 12th at the Micds Tournament, 14th at the Lafayette Tournament. Ritenour had two state qualifiers that were seniors. They did not medal at the state tournament. Ritenour finished the year with 12 underclassmen on the varsity roster that are getting ready for the next season.
Parkway South High School
The 2017-18 Winter Sports season was a successful one for Parkway South. Highlights were found in both team and individual sports.
Boys Basketball-The Patriots finished the season with an overall record of 18-9 and placed second in the Class 5 District 6 Tournament. In Suburban West Conference action the Patriots won the last Suburban West Conference title with a record of 8-1. The title was the second in a row for the Patriots.
Girls Basketball-The Lady Patriots finished in a four way tie for first place in the the Suburban West. The title was the second in a row for the Lady Patriots. In addition to their 16-12 record the Lady Patriots finished second in the Class 5 District 6 Tournament.
Wrestling-On the mat the Patriots were led by Garret Kloeppel who finished the season at 32-3 in the 132 lb weight class. Garret’s strong season saw him finish second in the Class 4 state tournament for the second year in a row.
Girls Swimming-Kirsen Votava won the 50 Free state championship with a school and meet record time of 23.45.
Hazelwood West High School
Hazelwood West Winter Sports Report
The Hazelwood West winter sports season had a theme that ran through most of our teams this year and that theme was youth. Each of our four winter sports programs had young varsity teams that took great strides in their development. Many of our young athletes learned how to compete at the varsity level and by the end of the season were tough to beat. Our boys basketball team finished with an 11-14 record and made a deep run in districts. They lost a close game to Hazelwood Central in the district championship. The Hazelwood West girls basketball team finished with a record of 12-12 and have a nice group of young players who have a bright future in basketball that we are looking forward to watching. The 2017-18 Hazelwood West Wildcat wrestling team had a large group of new wrestlers and qualified two wrestlers to state. Senior, Christian Brinkley, qualified for state in the 182 pound weight class and Sophomore Mark Mallari qualified in the 106 pound weight class. The Hazelwood West girls swim team also had many young swimmers who had great seasons. The Lady Cats qualified for state in the 100 Breaststroke and a relay team qualified in the 200 Freestyle relay. Freshmen swimmer, Amaani Hanin set the school record in the 100 Breaststroke which had stood as a record since 1992. The winter sports teams at Hazelwood West this year were fun to watch and gained a lot of valuable experience. We are looking forward to building on our accomplishments and progress in the years to come.