Congratulations to the athletes of the Fall 2022 sports season! We have lots of exciting news to share, so check out the season recap for each team. Go Rams!
Girls Cross Country
A Season Full of Championships
Jim Lohr
The 2022 Girls Cross Country team had an outstanding season. It all culminated with Senior Captain Julia Ray ’23 winning her second individual State Cross Country Championship. Ray won the MSHSAA Class 4 Championship after winning the Class 3 Championship in 2019. She completed an unparalleled career here at MICDS as a four-time All-State honoree, a four-time MSHSAA District individual Championship, and the 2021 Gatorade Player of the Year for Cross Country. Ray won the Harriet Green Award given to the team’s most inspirational athlete and was named to the All-Metro First Team. She has been the face of the program for the last four seasons and has elevated the expectations for the future. Grace Coppel ’25 raced herself to a top 25 finish and earned individual All-State honors this season. Coppel earned All-District honors for the second year in a row and was All-Metro League for the second time in as many seasons. The MICDS Team qualified for state competition with a third-place finish at the MSHSAA Class 4 District Championship. Bridget Clennan ’24, Abby Wycoff ’24, and Addie Small ’25 were all individual state qualifiers, along with Coppel and Ray. MICDS won the Metro League Conference meet for both JV and Varsity divisions. They won the Priory Invitational with a perfect score of 15 and took the first eight individual places, with Katherine Royce ’24 claiming the individual title. They finished the season with an 11th-place finish as a team at the State Championship. Happy Phatak ’23, Annagayle Senn ’23, and Jane Cohen ’23 did a wonderful job captaining the team and providing leadership and motivation.
Boys Cross Country
Highlights Include Second Place Team Finish at Priory Invitational
Chris Rappleye
The MICDS Boys Cross Country Team closed out the 2022 season with Liam McCarthy ’24 advancing to the State Meet. He finished the course in under 18 minutes in punishing conditions that included wind gusts in excess of 30 mph. McCarthy earned All-Metro league honors with his seventh-place finish at the conference meet, and his state qualification resulted from a 19th-place finish in the Class 3 District 3 meet. The team was led this year by captains Will Seemiller ’23 and Arnav Jhamb ’24. Seemiller, a four-year varsity runner, closed his season and MICDS Cross Country career at the district meet by running his season’s best time, finishing in 19:53. Team highlights included a second-place team finish at the Priory Invitational, led by McCarthy’s first-place individual finish.
Cheerleading
Spirited Athleticism into Post-Season Play
Emilee Lemp Ivie ’06 and Sydney Eisenstein ’05
MICDS Varsity Cheer had an outstanding fall season cheering on the Varsity Football team. A season highlight was during Spirit Week when the cheerleading squad performed two dances with complex stunts at the All-School Pep Rally. The team extended their spirited athleticism by supporting post-season play, stacking more pushups on the board during the Rams’ 537-point season. The cheer program continues to grow in numbers and its level and variety of stunting difficulty with more than 30 student-athletes in the program. The Rams look forward to a successful winter season of routines and stunts supporting Varsity Basketball!
Cyclocross
Earning Podium Spots Right Out of the Gate
Chris Ludbrook
Rams Cyclocross kicked off the season in fine fashion this year, earning podium spots in the first three weeks of the SuperPrestige Cyclocross Series in Illinois. Amara “Quinn” Autry ’23 took second in the first race of the season. The following two weeks found Sawyer Merlin ’25 on top of the podium, followed by Connor Paine ’24 and Ash Falk ’26 rounding out the top three spots. Most of the athletes moved up to more competitive divisions as the races returned to the west side of the Mississippi in October. While older, more experienced athletes challenged the team, they were still able to find success and make significant improvements in skills and fitness. The team also helped raise funds to support cancer research by participating in Pedal the Cause and supporting the Casey Saunders Foundation by riding in the Oreo Roubaix to help connect children of all backgrounds access the fun of bikes. As the season wrapped up, the team was pleased to honor Ash Aranha ’23 as the program’s first four-year Varsity athlete.
Football
Success in New Class 5 Division
Dr. Fred Bouchard
The 2022 version of the MICDS Football Rams entered the season in a brand new place. Due to the MSHSAA success multiplying factor, the MICDS Football program was placed in Class 5 for the first time in over 100 years of Rams football history. Having combined for an overall 19-2 record the previous two seasons as a Class 4 participant gave the Rams a head start into the season. Season highlights include a 45-3 win over John Burroughs for Homecoming, giving the Rams a six-year winning streak versus the Bombers and a 122 to 10 score differential the past three years. In the State Quarterfinals, a scrappy Cape Girardeau Central team traveled to O’Hara Stadium and beat an injury-decimated Rams team 10-14, giving the team a final season record of 11-2. Steven Hall ’23 leaves MICDS as the All-Time Leading Rusher and the All-Time Leading Scorer. Winston Moore ’23 is the top five career athlete in both categories and broke the single-season scoring record this past season with 190 points. Cortlin Dalton ’23 leaves MICDS among the all-time leaders in total tackles, and Cam Lester ’23 and his eight interceptions are among the best individual seasons in that category. The following Rams earned All-Conference First Team: Hall, Moore, Nate Schuckman ’23, and Davis Schukar ’24 represented the offense, and Dalton, Tyler Petersen ’23, Carter Enyard ’24, Lester, and Luke Allgeyer ’25 represented the defense. Second Team honors include Harrison Mandell ’23, Dorian Reddic ’23, William Carpenter ’24, Peyton Simon ’25, and Tyler Tschudy ’24. In addition, Marcus Coleman ’23, Peter Herzog ’23, Devyn Rodgers ’23, Brian Gould ’25, Adrian Ritchey ’25, and Miles Coleman ’26 were named Honorable Mention selections. Class 5 honors include Lester on All-State First Team, Hall, Dalton, Allgeyer, and Schuckman on Second Team, and Moore on Third Team.
Field Hockey
Tough Schedule Results in Remarkable Growth
Lynn Mittler
Varsity Field Hockey faced a tremendously tough schedule this season, traveling to Louisville and Chicago to play four eventual state champions and nationally-ranked teams. Their growth throughout the season was remarkable, as exhibited by their improved performance against John Burroughs, forcing them to the brink of elimination with a 4-3 loss in the quarterfinals of the Midwest Tournament. Whitney Akred ’23, Erica Engelhardt ’23, and Maggie Gonzalez-Navarrine ’24 were Metro League Honorable Mentions. Kendall Curry ’23, Ella Etherington ’24, Ellie Lochhead ’24, Virginia Portell ’24, and Caroline Birkel ’25 made the Metro League First Team. Many players will continue residence on the National Field Hockey Coaches All-Academic Squad when announced in January.
Girls Golf
New team, new experiences, new leadership, and new milestones
Diane Gioia
This season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Girls Golf Team due to the departure of four varsity players from the previous season. The season began with three players who had some varsity experience—Julie Qian ’24, Kelly Zhao ’24, and Morgan Withington ’25—along with five new players added to the varsity squad, including Aeryn Jarrell ’23. While the team started the season 1-5, all players consistently improved their games to finish with three straight match victories, ending the season with a 4-5 record. Newcomers Mac Froedge ’25 and Claire Kaiser ’26 contributed significantly to this success, while Zoie Tolson ’24 and Ella Moses ’25 stepped in unexpectedly at the end of the season to round out the team. Withington and Froedge each earned medalist honors twice during the season and led the team to a fourth-place finish in the District Championship. Froedge finished in 10th place during the District Championship, which earned her a trip to Columbia, Missouri, for the State Championship, where she finished T-50. The future of this program is quite promising now that the players have experience, confidence, and a true love of the game! Coaches Gioia and Wells are excited for next year, and the promise of even greater success lies ahead. Congratulations to the team for learning the game so quickly during competition and supporting each other during the highs and lows of the season.
Boys Soccer
Strong Second Half Against Powerhouse Opponents
Mike Lagow
The 2022 MICDS Boys Varsity Soccer team came on strong during the last part of the season. The Rams continue to play some of the best soccer schools in the area, and the last two regular season games resulted in hard-fought one-goal defeats to powers SLUH and Kirkwood. The determined play continued into the District Playoffs, where the Rams upset Parkway Central 1-0, and then they pushed state-semifinalist Whitfield for 80 minutes before falling short of taking down one of the best teams in the state. Thank you to all the seniors for their contributions this season. The Rams got acrobatic goalkeeping from Ammar Haroon ’23 in net, and spirited play from Max Birkel ’23, Christian Ford-Urenda ’23, Jason Klutho ’23, Zachary Lippert ’23, Harrison Mandell ’23, Phillip Ralph ’23, and Mac Stevens ’23 on the field. The senior players will be missed, and we are deeply thankful for their contributions over their careers.
Boys Swimming and Diving
A Charity Invite Win and Strong Finishes at State
Chris McCrary
The Boys Swimming and Diving Team closed the year by winning the MICDS end-of-season charity invite and finishing ninth in the Class 2 State Championships. Jeffrey Ge ’24 was the team’s top performer at State with a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke, with Ian Boon ’25 (50 free, 100 breast) and Owen Limbrick ’23 (100 back) also scoring for the Rams. Limbrick, Ge, Sam Ellenhorn ’24, and Boon combined in the 200 medley relay for a fifth-place finish and were the Rams’ highest-scoring relay at the meet. Oscar Sorkin ’25 was the team’s only diver competing at State, and he came within half a point of qualifying for finals in his first appearance at State.
Girls Tennis
A Great Season for Rams Tennis
Brad Heinemann
The team had an excellent result in the Metro League Tournament, finishing in second place. Stella Kreisel ’23 and Mikaela Mikulec ’24 won their Singles flights at #1 and #4, respectively. In Doubles, Mikulec and Rachel Li ’24, along with Chelsey Nwamu ’23 and Kreisel, won the #1 and #2 Doubles flights. The Rams were placed in an extremely tough district this year. The top four teams in the state had to battle it out to qualify for sectionals. In the semifinal against John Burroughs, the team lost two of three doubles matches but returned to beat them in singles with wins from Mikulec, Li, Nwamu, and Kreisel. In the finals against St. Joseph’s, the Rams fell 3-5 in a close, hard-fought match to the defending and eventual Class 3 State Champions. In individual districts competition, Kreisel and Nwamu had an impressive run to finish in fourth place in Doubles, while teammates Mikulec and Li finished second and qualified for the Individual State tournament. Mikulec and Li ended their season with second-place medals at the Class 3 Individual State Doubles tournament. The season record was 12-4, with two losses coming at the hands of the defending and 2022 Class 3 State Champions. Mikulec was selected as Co-Player of the Year for the Metro League. Li, Nwamu, and Kriesel were selected to the First Team, and Bennett Baur ’25 was selected to the Second Team.
Volleyball
Unexpected Success and 2nd Place at Districts
David Owens
The Rams Volleyball program had quite the 2022 Season. Led by a brand new coaching staff with different expectations, this volleyball program experienced some new and probably unexpected success! The team played a ton of volleyball matches which made them have to get better on the fly quickly. The Varsity team won nine matches, the most won in one season in quite some time. The team rolled to the District Finals while just coming up short in a very good match against John Burroughs, losing in four sets. Metro League Postseason All-Conference honors include Hannah Forsberg ’23, First Team All-Conference. Paige Morris ’23, Kamryn Reed ’23, and Ishika Kanjerla ’24 were named to Second Team All-Conference. The coaches are excited about the future of MICDS Volleyball!