Westminster senior joins 1,000-point club, Sports Briefs

Whitfield senior joins 1,000-point club

It took scoring more than 500 points in his senior season but Whitfield’s Justin Thomas has joined the 1,000-point club.

“It’s quite an accomplishment to reach 1,000 points,” said Thomas, who finished his Whitfield basketball career with 1,081 points. “When I started at Whitfield, I never thought I would be a part of the alumni that scored 1,000 points but I worked hard during, and sometimes after, practice and I believe it paid off.”

The 6-foot-4 guard finished his senior season with 519 points. He averaged 20.8 for the Warriors, whose season ended with a 54-52 loss to Lutheran St. Peters in district play.

Whitfield coach Mike Potsou said Thomas accomplished reaching the milestone despite drawing attention from the Warriors’ opponents. This year, Thomas was the focal point of the Whitfield offense.

“Each night, Justin had a target on his back as the person teams had to stop,” Potsou said. “He would see several double teams during every game. Sometimes they would double him on the catch, his first dribble, or sometimes as soon as he touched the ball no matter where he was on the court. But each night he found different ways to score. Oftentimes that was dictated by who was guarding him and what that defensive player’s strengths and weaknesses were.”

With the loss in district action, Thomas’ basketball career at Whitfield is over.

“It has flown by so fast,” Thomas said. “I had a great time and I will never forget the incredible people that helped me at Whitfield. Whitfield is like my second home.”

 

High school boys basketball

The CBC Cadets basketball team will have a new varsity coach in 2013-14. Coach Bob McCormack has not been retained as the coach for next season. McCormack will remain on CBC’s instructional staff as a physical education teacher.

CBC Athletic Director A.G. “Rocky” Streb said a search committee made up of several major stakeholders would be formed and charged with conducting the search for the next varsity basketball coach.

“Whether that process takes two weeks or several weeks is not known at this time,” Streb said. “We are still in the process of forming that committee. We will ask that group to find the best possible candidates for this position. We are in no rush to merely fill the position. We want to ensure we are able to find the right coach for our program.

“Coach Bobby McCormack had a great 17 years heading the basketball program. We thank coach McCormack for his efforts in maintaining the status of CBC basketball as a local power. We wish him the best of luck in the future.”

 

High school boys soccer

The Parkway West boys varsity soccer team earned the National Soccer Coaches Association of America High School Team Academic Award at the recent National Convention in Indianapolis, Ind.

A total of 366 high school teams (143 boys, 223 girls) throughout the United States have earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for exemplary performance in the classroom as a team during the academic year.

To qualify for the award, the high school team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.25 for the entire academic year. The Parkway West boys soccer team earned a 3.34 grade point average.

Boys on the team were Kidus Assefa, Dan Barlett, Colin Bassler, Matthew Chisholm, Kevin Doherty, John Frith, Johnny Galvin, Chandler Klemm, Nicholas Klemm, Kevin Meyers, Alex Phillips, Matt Pilgrim, Grant Post, Gavyn Prsha, Tyler Rhoads, Kori Saake, Billy Stimac, Nathan Talbot, John Umstead and Tucker Watts.

Michael Skordos is the boys head coach and the assistant coach is Annie Wayland.

 

Skiing

The independent Hidden Valley Ski Team brought home 50 first, second and third place medals in the 2013 alpine racing season with the Wisconsin Junior Alpine Racing Association (WIJARA). Overall, the team, which averages 25 racers in its traveling race team, earned 138 Top 10 finishes in the four regional WIJARA races.

WIJARA races are held annually in Galena, Ill. (Chestnut Mountain Resort); Dubuque, Iowa (Sundown Ski Resort); Portage, Wis. (Cascade Ski Resort); and Mt. Horeb, Wis. (Tyrol Basin Ski Resort). More than 520 ski racers representing nine teams competed on the race circuit this season.

“We have, on average, 20 to 25 skiers who travel to the WIJARA races in the Midwest and Upper Midwest each year,” said Matt Sadl, HVST’s WIJARA race director as well as the WIJARA league’s president. “The other teams bring 60 or more athletes to each race. To see our athletes bring home so many medals and top 10 finishes is a true testament to their hard work and dedication on the hill to train for these races.”

The Hidden Valley Ski Team, which trains locally at Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Wildwood, has 80 members currently on the team ranging in age from 5 to 18.

 

High school dance  

The Westminster Christian Academy dance team knows how to shake an arm and a leg.

The girls, under coach Brittany Hartloge, placed second overall in the recent Missouri High School Dance Team State Championship.

It was the fourth year in a row for the team to finish second overall. The girls placed first in the hip hop competition and second in pom.

“This was by far the toughest state competition that we’ve had,” Hartloge said. “The competition this year was unreal. Other teams have seriously stepped up their dance technique, choreography and creativity.”

The state competition is held once a year. The state competition is held in St. Louis and Kansas City. It rotates every other year. This year is was at the St. Charles Family Arena.

There were 12 girls on the team this year. Hartloge said Westminster is part of the Missouri Dance Team Association.

“I, as the head coach, have to be a member of MDTA in order for our team to compete,” Hartloge said. “I have to take several online Missouri coaching tests each year in order for my team to compete. The team has to compete at least one other Missouri competition besides state. The team also has to place in at least one routine at that Missouri competition in order to qualify for state.”

The state competition ends a long year. The girls begin practices in July and  practice until the end of February.

“We have practices five days a week for about three hours each day,” Hartloge said. “We do take a short hiatus in mid-October and the pick back up in November and we continue until the end of February. It is a very long season.

“We perform at both football and basketball games.”

 

High school girls basketball

For the second year in a row, The Fulton School at St. Albans’ girls forward Jessica Dunne has been named to the Class 1 District 2 all-district basketball team.

Dunne averaged more than 10 points and 10 rebounds per game this season for the Eagles.

An all-around athlete, Dunne also competed last year in the state track and field meet in the shot put.

Dunne, also the U-19 St Louis AAA Lady Blues team captain, has committed to play Division I ice hockey at Ohio State University in the Fall 2014. She is a five-year veteran of the Lady Blues.

Dunne is daughter of Tom and Tammy Dunne of O’Fallon. A junior, she is a straight-A honors student.

The Fulton School is a small, independent pre-K through grade 12 school preparing students for higher education and a lifetime of learning.