Rams Rewind – 2023 Fall Sports Recap

We had a great fall season for Rams athletics! Check out our individual team recaps.

Boys Cross Country

Chris Rappleye

Two State qualifications and strong finishes

The Boys Cross Country team capped its season with a series of personal best times in the League, District, and State meets at the end of the season. Will Fendler ’26 hit his personal record at the Metro League meet at Principia, followed by similar achievements by Jacob Daus ’25, Alexander McCarter ’25, Hale Foster ’25, and Cam Martin ’25. Lawrence Lee ’27, Daniel Haas ’27, and Shrey Radhakrishnan ’27 ended their first year with the team by peaking as the season closed as well. At the District meet, in an effort to qualify for State, Heru Bey ’27 ran his best meet of the season on a challenging course in a cold, wet wind. Alex Bierling ’25 also dashed to his best, and Forest Gong ’27 completed the 3.1-mile course quickly. Captains Liam McCarthy ’24 and Wyatt Dickherber ’24 both qualified for State in Columbia the following week with a 27th and 28th place finish at Districts. At State, McCarthy passed 27 runners in the final kilometer to finish in 17:37.10, only a few seconds off of his best time, and Dickherber closed hard to run his best ever time. The team was pleased to see these two terrific leaders have such a strong close to the season and are looking forward to building on the team spirit they helped forge during the year. The Rams will be returning with a strong core of athletes who’ve benefited from a sustained work ethic over this and past seasons and look to return to State with the full squad next year.

Girls Cross Country

Jim Lohr

Metro League Champions and 8th Place State Finish

The MICDS Girls Cross Country team had a solid season with plenty of bright spots. The Rams were Metro League conference champions with Grace Coppel ’25 and Frances Applegate ’27 earning First Team All-Conference honors. Bridget Clennan ’24, Abby Wyckoff ’24, Addison Small ’25, Alexandra Walker ’24, and Maitland Michaelson ’27 all earned Second Team All-Conference.

The Rams were runner-up finishers at the MSHSAA District Championship, earning a trip to the State Championship as team qualifiers. Coppel was the individual District Champion, with Applegate finishing in the runner-up position. The team had several individuals who were state qualifiers based on a finish inside the top 30. Along with Coppel and Applegate, Clennon, Small, and Walker also finished fast enough to earn their ticket to the Gans Creek Course in Columbia.

The team arrived at the State Championship with the goal of finishing in the top 10 of the 16 team qualifiers. The girls managed to race to an 8th-place finish. Applegate finished 9th overall and Coppel finished in 13th. Both earned individual All-State honors.

A team’s good fortune and performance is determined by its leadership. The captains for this season’s team did an outstanding job. Kate Williamson ’24, Annabelle Medler ’24, Clennan, and Wyckoff grew as leaders and were the driving force of this year’s success. Medler won the team’s Harriet Green Award as the team’s most inspirational athlete.

Cyclocross

Chris Ludbrook

Podium sweeps early lead to competitive season and charity fundraising

Rams Cyclocross came out of the starting gate swinging this year by sweeping the podium for the first two weeks of the SuperPrestige Cyclocross Series in Illinois. Connor Paine ’24, Sawyer Merlin ’25, Ash Falk ’26, and Kolce Mileski ’27 all shared in the glory. The success continued as the team headed back to St. Louis in October with Paine, Joe Intagliata ’25, and Falk taking first through third places in the Junior Division in Queeny Park. As riders moved up to the more competitive adult divisions, Paine, Merlin, and Intagliata all pushed towards top 10 finishes with older, more experienced cyclists. The team took a week off of racing in late September to support Sawyer Merlin’s Pedal the Cause team, “Merlin’s Magical Riders.” Their efforts raised over $40,000 to help find a cure for cancer. The team then turned their efforts to indoor preparations for the highly anticipated spring road season.

Field Hockey

Lynn Mittler

Making gains thanks to the leadership of seniors

The Field Hockey team made huge strides after our challenging season last year and finished with a 16-7 record. Highlights included a second-place finish in the Huskie Invitational in Oak Park, Illinois, and a 2-1 pool performance at the Gateway Classic. The team was led by 11 seniors who created not only a wonderful environment for their teammates but also urged a daily attitude of focus and determination. Metro League Second Team included Maggie Gonzalez-Navarrine ’24, Rebecca Sennaraj ’24, Mia Brauer ’26, Georgia Lochhead ’26, Ellemieke Ferguson ’27, Mallory Jerlecki ’27, and Katherine Schott ’27. Metro League First Team members are Ella Brauer ’24, Ella Etherington ’24, Ellie Lochhead ’24, and Katie Sheehan ’26.

Football

Dr. Fred Bouchard

Continued success as program builds, second place at Districts

The 2023 Football Rams entered their second season in Class 5 due to MSHSAA’s multiplying factor based on the team’s recent success. Four weeks in, the team secured a 42-13 win over John Burroughs for a Homecoming victory. In post-season play, the Rams dominated McCluer High School 42-6 before traveling to Hazelwood East HS and winning 35-14. The District Championship was played against the #1 ranked team in Class 5, Cardinal Ritter. The Rams finished the regular season 9-3 and took 2nd place in Class 5, District 3.

The 2023 team was represented by team captains Willy Carpenter ’24, Jeremiah Clay ’24, Carter Enyard ’24, Davis Schukar ’24, Luke Allgeyer ’25, and Peyton Simon ’25. They did an amazing job of keeping the team focused and working toward continual improvement over the course of the year. The following Rams earned All-Conference: Offensive Player of the Year in the Conference: QB Brian Gould ’25; First Team All-Conference Selections included: Schukar, Miles Coleman ’26, Graham Faust ’26, Enyard, Allgeyer, Carpenter, Simon, Adrian Ritchey ’25, Henry Rohan ’26, and Malik Orsan ’25. Second-team selections included Gabe Weaver ’26, Walker Graves ’24, Ben Petersen ’26, Clay, and Mike Larkin ’24. Justin Bishop ’27 and Gokhan Yilmaz ’25 were picked as honorable mention selections.

The final state rankings and the All-District and All-State Teams are not yet out at this time. The Rams will return at least 17 starters for the 2024-25 year and look forward to continued high-level success in the years to come. Congratulations to the seniors, and best wishes as they venture into college.

Girls Golf

Diane Gioia

A winning record with every golfer contributing a score

Girls Golf finished the season with a winning record of 5-4-1 and marked a new milestone: every single golfer on the varsity roster contributed at least one score in a match this season! Their success was truly a team effort. The team achieved a third-place finish in the District Championship, and two players competed at the State Championship. Morgan Withington ’25 and Mac Froedge ’25 were the anchors of the team, with each earning medalist honors during the regular season. Withington finished in solo second place at the District Championship with the lowest 18-hole round recorded in MICDS golf history with a -2, 69 and Froedge finished T-7. At the State Championship in Farmington, Missouri, Froedge finished T-21 and Withington finished T-29. Returning sophomore Claire Kaiser ’26 had strong showings in the first few matches of the season. Julie Qian ’24, Zoie Tolson ’24, and Kelly Zhao ’24 added experience, leadership, and humor to the squad, and newcomer Lily Loeb ’25 was vital to the success throughout the season. Coaches Gioia and Wells strongly felt this would be a great season for the team, and the players lived up to that expectation. The team’s three seniors will be missed next year, but their spirit will live on in the returning players.

Boys Soccer

Scott Laneman

Achieving goals and winning over JBS

The Rams 2023 soccer season was filled with many positives to build on for the future. The team set forth a few goals at the beginning of the season, and some of those goals were accomplished. The Rams improved on their 2022 season record and finished the regular season with a .500 mark of 10-10. The Ram schedule was extremely difficult, including the likes of Class 4 powerhouses SLUH, John Burroughs, and Kirkwood. Double OT was required to determine the outcome against SLUH, and the Rams fell just short in a 2-1 nail-biter. The Rams also saw multiple district champs this season in the likes of Westminster and Ladue, playing Westminster twice and Ladue in the regular season and district quarterfinal. However, the 2023 season highlight came at Homecoming, with the Rams defeating eventual Class 4 District 3 champ John Burroughs for the first time in 11 years in another double OT contest 1-0. The game-winning goal came on a strike from senior Max Garcia ’24 with 56 seconds left in double OT. The team was extremely organized and played their hearts out for the victory. End-of-season Metro League accolades include First Team All-Conference Max Garcia ’24, Aidan Helms ’24, and Samruddh Singh ’24, and Second Team All-Conference Noni Aronson ’24, Benjamin Gelven ’25, Colin Hutton ’24, Max Padratzik ’27, James Snyder ’26, and Aryan Tibrewala ’25. The senior leaders provided a strong work ethic standard that the underclassmen will utilize moving into the 2024 season. The coaching staff would like to give a grateful thank you to seniors Noni Aronson ’24, Charlie Fischer ’24, Garcia, Ameer Hajji ’24, Aidan Helms ’24, Colin Hutton ’24, ‘Coach’ Hans Kamat ’24, Dhruv Krishnan ’24, Vivek Patel ’24, Sam Singh ’24, and Derin Whitaker ’24.

Boys Swimming & Diving

Chris McCrary

Strong showings at State and a victory over JBS

The Boys Swimming and Diving team finished their regular season taking second at the MICDS end-of-season charity invite and finishing 14th in the Class 2 State Championships. Oscar Sorkin ’25 was the team’s top performer at State with a 7th-place finish in 1m diving. Captain Jeffrey Ge ’24 also finished in the top eight in the 100 breaststroke. Ge (200 IM), Ian Boon ’25 (50 Free), and captain Sam Ellenhorn ’24 (100 Fly) finished in the top 16, along with all three of the Rams’ relays. Daniel Chen ’25 (200 Free, 100 Back), Henry Clay ’24 (100 Fly), and Daniel Kuhlman ’27 (1m Diving) also competed at State. A high point of the regular season was defeating rival JBS in the annual Homecoming meet.

Girls Tennis

Brad Heinemann

Individual Singles State title for Rachel Li ’24

This year again, the Rams were placed in a tough district. They played well and ended up losing in the finals to defending champions Ladue, who also won their second straight State title. In the Individual Districts competition, Mikaela Mikulec ’24 had an impressive run to finish in 3rd place in Singles, while teammate Rachel Li ’24 won Districts and qualified for the Individual State tournament. Li played a fantastic State tournament and ended her season as the Class 2 Individual Singles State Champion. The season record was 9-7, with two losses coming at the hands of the 2023 Class 3 State Champions, John Burroughs School, and two against the 2023 Class 2 State Champions, Ladue. Li, Mikulec, and Bennett Baur ’25 were selected to First Team All-Metro League. Li was the first girls player to win an Individual Singles State title for MICDS in 21 years!

Cheerleading

Emilee Lemp Ivie ’06

Accolades during cheer camp and an outstanding season of spirit

The Cheerleading team kicked off the season by attending the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) summer cheer camp in Branson, Missouri. In addition to working on their skill sets for both cheer and dance, they earned some accolades: 1st place for Dance Routine Overall, Small Varsity, and 1st place for Cheer Performance Overall, Small Varsity. Jada Greer ’24 and Haya Hussain ’24 won the All-American Award for senior cheer performance. Mia Krieger ’24 earned the “Pin it Forward” Award for leadership, kindness, and spirit. The team was awarded the “spirit banana” for overall school spirit and positive attitude, and garnered two additional 2nd-place trophies and a 2nd-place ribbon. The team was also gifted a cooler and a plaque for winning the Traditions Award, given to the team whose traditions inspired the entire camp and brought the most energy. These traditions include but are not limited to their “Y-E-L-L” cheer, “The Winner’s Circle” cheer they perform every time a game is won, and their basketball cheer, “The Mighty Varsity.” They returned ready to share their spirit with the community. Krieger and Cora Bryan ’24 were named captains for the fall season and served their team well. Attending all football games, both home and away, the cheerleaders supported the football players before and during the competition. They brought fresh choreography and new routines to the Homecoming pep rally, after spreading school spirit with vibrant decorations on the Upper School campus. They hit the deck and did pushups every time the football Rams scored, which meant they clocked in a whopping 1,733 pushups this season! Thanks to our seniors for serving as great role models for the rest of the team: Krieger, Bryan, Greer, Hussain, Chloe Martin ’24, and Nyla Meeks ’24.

Volleyball

David Owens

A season of improvement and a bright future ahead

The MICDS Volleyball program had a very good 2023 season with a record of 15-19, improving by 10 wins from the previous year. The team headed into Districts as the overall #1 seed but lost a very good District final match to Clayton High School. There were tons of bright spots over the season, including five wins over opponents that the team had lost to the previous year. The team also earned a ton of post-season awards, more than in years past. This volleyball program is growing, the talent is getting better and better, and the team is excited for the future. Well-earned post-season awards include Ishika Kanjerla ’24, Kamryn Reed ’24, and Alexa Doumit ’25 named to the All-District 2nd Team. Sarah Mills ’25, Sophia Fischer ’26, and May Durrill ’27 were named to the All-District 1st Team. All-Conference Awards include an Honorable Mention for Reed, and 2nd Team for Kanjerla, Mills, and Durrill. Fischer was named 1st Team All-Conference and was runner-up for Player of the Year. The senior class—Kanjerla, Ava Moore ’24, Reed, Julianna Resch ’24, and Zoe Zlatic ’24 left their mark on the team. They are a huge part of why the program is on the rise. The team is sad to lose them but excited for their future.