Track & Field Success at CCL and Thornton Classic

4×4 team of Brendan Coghlan, Tommy Gleeson, Leo Staudacher, and Justin Palmer

The frosh/soph track & field team placed 5th in the Catholic League Championship on Friday, May 4. Top performance came from Ronan Dolan, who placed 3rd in the triple jump and 4th in both the long jump & 400. Third place efforts came from Eddie Burke in the 3200; Nehemiah Ray in the 400; and the 4×8 team of Charlie Fitzgerald, Alex MacFarlane, Matt Quattrocchi, & Mikey Corcoran. Willie Shaw had a strong race to finish 4th in the 100.

The varsity team also competed on Friday in the highly talented Thornton Classic. The top performance came from the 4×4 team of Brendan Coghlan, Tommy Gleeson, Leo Staudacher, and Justin Palmer. This Saturday is the varsity Catholic League Championship at Loyola.

Crusaders Finish 2nd in Rice Relays

Junior David Wolf takes off for the long jump.

The track & field team hosted the 12th Annual Rice Relays on Friday, April 21. The Crusader team finished 2nd in the 10-team field.

Event champions were Tre Gladney, Matt Cegielski, Brian McElligott, and Tommy Gleeson in the sprint medley.

Strong 2nd place efforts came from Dan Spellman in the elite 1600; the distance medley team of Spellman, McElligott, Brendan Coghlan, and Gleeson; the triple jump relay of Nico Perez, Ronan Dolan, Adrian Campos, & Erik Estrada; the 300 hurdle team of Justin Palmer, Charlie Fitzgerald, and Dan Zapata; as well as the frosh/soph 4×800 team of Alex MacFarlane, Mikey Corcoran, Matt Quattrocchi, and Eddie Burke.

Water Polo Defeats Bremen on Senior Night

Wednesday, April 18, was Senior Night for the water polo team, and the Crusaders defeated a tough Bremen team, coming from behind to win 14-13. Sam Broad came through for the Crusaders with 5 goals in the 4th quarter and 6 goals overall. Quinn Russell contributed 4 goals and Patrick Dumais added 3.

Crusader Baseball Takes Three from St. Francis

Marquis Jackson gets the save.

The baseball program was hard at work on Thursday, April 19, as the Crusader varsity team narrowly defeated St. Francis 7-6. Marquis Jackson came up huge in the 7th, getting the save with 3 huge outs and 2 strikeouts. Ryan Maher had 5 runs batted in and a grand slam to give the Crusaders the lead.

The sophomore team defeated St. Francis 10-5. Amarion Brown and Brendan McQuillan paced the Crusaders on the mound. Eddie McGunn put the finishing touches on the game with a perfect 7th. Tons of Crusaders contributed offensively.

The freshman team continued their torrid start with a pounding of St. Francis 10-0. Jeremiah Powell had a double and 2 runs batted in. Jacob Palmer added a triple and 3 runs batted in, while Nate Mosqueda added 4 stolen bases. Ben Guzek, Jack Sullivan, Ryan Kirchman paced the Crusaders. Brother Rice travels to Lockport High School on Friday, April 20, to take on the top-ranked Porters in the first round of the Do It Stevie’s Way tournament.

Crusader Track and Field Narrowly Defeats Oak Lawn

4×400 team of Brian McElligott, Tommy Gleeson, Brendan Coghlan, and Ty McCoy

The track & field team competed in the Oak Lawn Invite on Friday, April 13. The Crusaders won by the slimmest of margins, 92.33-92 over the host Spartans.

The meet came down to the final event which required a victory to capture the team title. The 4×400 team of Brian McElligott, Tommy Gleeson, Brendan Coghlan, and Ty McCoy delivered with an exciting and convincing win. Josh Boulanger was a double winner in both the long jump and triple jump.

Other event winners included Gleeson in the 800m; the frosh/soph 4×800 team of Eddie Burke, Mikey Corcoran, Matt Quattrocchi, and Harrison Morg; as well as the frosh/soph 4×400 team Burke, Corcoran, Adrian Campos, and Joseph Eloby.

The team will be back in action on Tuesday, April 17, at Marmion Academy before returning home on Friday night to host the 12th Annual Rice Relays.

Volleyball Takes 3 of 4 from St. Rita

Senior Tom Phelan

The volleyball program took 3 out of 4 matches from the St. Rita Mustangs on Thursday, April 12.

The varsity team defeated the Mustangs 26-24, 22-25, 25-22. Kyle Springer and Tom Phelan combined for 15 kills and Tommy Kleist added 24 digs.

The JV took game 1 from the Mustangs 25-19, but then had a hard time putting together any kind of momentum. They lost the last two sets 25-16, 25-18. Nice performances were handed in by Mark Kelly and the middles, Sean Mahanes, Sean Joyce and Conor McMullin.

The freshman A team won 25-17, 25-15. Sean Hollander contributed 14 assists and 4 kills. The freshman B team thrashed the Mustangs 25-8, 25-13; they were led by Gabe Daggy with 6 kills and 4 aces.

Baseball Sweeps St. Viator

The baseball program was back in action as the program swept the St. Viator Lions on Tuesday, April 11.

The varsity defeated the 2017 3A State Champs in 5 innings by the score of 12-0. Zach Litke paced the Crusaders on the mound while Mike Bolton led the charge offensively. Big hits were provided by the entire offense.

The sophomore Crusaders defeated St. Viator 13-3. Jack Landmesser added 3 hits and Billy O’ Hara added 2 hits to lead the offense. Amarion Brown, Luke Whirity, Tom Devine, and Dylan Robertson combined for the gem on the hill.

The freshman Crusaders defeated St. Viator 11-3 as Luke Lawrence had a clutch bases-clearing double. Joey Konstant and Andy Sloyan pitched great in the win.

Tennis Sweeps Mt. Carmel

Sophomore Jeremy Zemgulys

The Brother Rice tennis team swept the Mt. Carmel Caravan 5-0 on the varsity and 3-0 on the frosh/soph teams on Tuesday, April 10. Jeremy Zemgulys won in straight sets – 6-2, 6-1; Grant Matern won in straight sets – 6-1, 6-4; and Connor Leibforth won in straight sets – 6-3, 7-6.

Ryan Kenny with Jack Aler won in straight sets – 6-2, 6-0, and Jimmy Maguire with Dan Golon won in straight sets – 6-0, 6-0.

Volleyball Takes 3 from Loyola

Freshman Kade Van Assen sets the ball.

In volleyball action, the Crusaders were victorious on the Freshman A, Freshman B and Varsity levels. The sophomores lost a tough 3 game match, coming up a bit short on their comeback.

The Freshman A team won 22-25, 25-21, 25-17. Key contributors were Dan Barry with 3 kills and 8 blocks and Kade Van Assen with 17 assists. The Freshmen B team won 25-8, 25-23. Brian Cavanaugh was spectacular on defense with 19 digs.

The sophomores came up just short in their comeback bid losing 25-21, 21-25, 23-25. Conor McMullin had a big day with three blocks and 4 kills. Declan McGuire added 5 kills. The varsity was exceptional in serve receive, passing a combined 2.8. Matt O’Donnell had a great service run to start the match, and the Crusaders never looked back winning 25-19, 25-14. Kyle Springer added 11 kills and Jake Evanish had 4 aces.

The Standard: Four Freshman Crusaders Make Track and Field History

Freshman 4×400 team Nehemiah Ray, Eddie Burke, Adrian Campos, and Joe Eloby

By: Michael Tinley ‘18

Four long-distance runners set a Brother Rice High School track and field frosh/soph four by four-hundred record. This race is widely regarded as the most exciting in all of track and field at any level of competition.

Four to eight teams each select four runners to compete. Each participant runs one full lap around the track with a metal baton – handing it off to their teammate next in order to run. When each team member has successfully run four-hundred meters around the track in total, a mile has been accomplished.

Luckily, Brother Rice Track and Field Head Coach Tom Wazio, picked the best four for the job.

Freshmen Nehemiah Ray, Eddie Burke, Adrian Campos, and Joe Eloby were trailing early in the race. Eloby admited, “We didn’t get off to the best start, but we didn’t lose our focus as a team.”

There are so many variables in a long distance relay race such as the four by four-hundred, that writing a team off or believing that a team has sealed a victory early in a race is meaningless. Mistakes happen, injuries occur, but some teams, simply turn it on. This is exactly what the freshman-built Crusader team decided to do. The latter portion of the race was executed perfectly, with the Crusaders crossing the finish line first.

“When I found out that our relay team broke the school record, it was an amazing feeling being able to have our names in Brother Rice track and field history,” stated Eddie Burke. More importantly, allowing Brother Rice’s youngest athletes to experience record-setting victory is crucial in their mental development. Athletic success not only motivates young high school athletes to excel in future competition, it can transfer to the classroom as well, shaping a recipe for academic and athletic success.

Congratulations to Nehemiah, Eddie, Adrian, and Joey on their excellent running in Evanston.