The Spring Spartan Sports Season Yields Multiple Champions

St. Stephen’s athletes broke records and set new ones, rewriting history throughout the season and at the recent Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) Championships in Dallas. Congratulations to all of our teams that competed in tennis, track and field, lacrosse, golf and baseball.

The Boys Tennis team wrapped up an excellent season on top with a first place finish at the SPC Championship in the 4A division. With each of the players finally healthy after being sidelined due to injuries, the Spartans started the weekend with some revenge on Dallas’ St. Mark's School after last year's SPC semifinal loss by defeating them 4-1. The second match against Kinkaid was tied at 2-2 as Thomas Groff ’24 began a third set. Even though The Kinkaid School was the No. 1 seed and beat us earlier in the year, Groff was ready for his big moment as a senior and confidently defeated his opponent 6-0 to clinch the match and send us into the finals. In the finals, we faced a Greenhill team that is known to be very strong in singles. Our doubles teams handled business to give us a 2-0 lead, but Greenhill fought back and tied the match 2-2 with wins at line 1 and line 3 singles. At line 2, Lucas Elkins ’24 was up a set, but trading games back and forth in a close second set. After many changeovers and breaks of serve, the senior stepped up to serve for the match at 5-4. Elkins hit a massive kick serve to land a 40-30 lead, and on the first championship point he hit a deep slice backhand and rushed to the net. His opponent hustled out wide and stretched for a backhand passing shot, but hit the ball too low and into the net–game, set, match. The rest of the team rushed out to swarm Elkins in celebration, and a few minutes later lifted the first place trophy together.

 

"Though we were the No. 5 seed, we knew going into the competition that we were the strongest as a full team when all our players were healthy,” said Head Coach Jason Haugen. “Despite very close matches and a lot of pressure filled moments, our boys showed this to be true."

 

On the girls side, the Varsity Tennis team knew it would be a tough weekend from start to finish with two of their starting players unable to compete. The team began the weekend with a close match against The Hockaday School, and though there were some chances to move ahead, the Spartans narrowly lost 2-3. The coaches switched up the lineup for the second match against Greenhill School, but lost an even closer one again 2-3. In the final match against Episcopal High School in Houston, the seniors each took home wins in the 4-0 routing of the Knights. In addition, Julia Hurtado ’24, Leela Weisser ’25, and Emma Eggleston ’25 each went undefeated throughout the tournament. 

 

"I'm proud of the way all our girls competed throughout the event–for their excellent sportsmanship on the court, for the way they cheered for each other from the sidelines, and for their flexibility in dealing with different lineups and conditions," commented Haugen.

 

The St. Stephen’s Girls 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay team (Elle Middleton ’24, Kennedy Lartigue ’27, Tristan Lovell ’25 and Gabi Curtis ’26) took SPC by storm winning both races and breaking both school records in the two events. The two finishes lead the entire girls team to a third place overall finish, which is the highest place on the podium since 2001.

 

Additionally, Curtis brought home four gold medals running the fastest time and crossing the finish line first in both the 100-meter and 200-meter races. Phoebe George ’24 broke the school record winning first place in the 300-meter hurdles. Lucy Middleton ’25 finished third in the 300-meter hurdles, and Audrey Wan ’25 took third place in the mile and third in the 3200-meter race. In the field events, Nevita McCormick ’25 won first in the high jump and Lartigue finished third in the triple jump. 

 

The Spartan Boys Track and Field team also made school history at the SPC Championship meet in the 4x100-meter relay. Darrell Houston ’25, Truman Bares ’26, Felix Eugene ’25 and Beltre Curtis ’24 broke the school record crossing the finish line in second place.

 

In the 800-meter race, Graham Boles ’25 and Josh Goldenberg ’27 placed second and third respectively. Boles also finished second in the mile and 3200-meter run. The Boys 4x800m relay (Boles, Goldenberg, Oscar Whiteley Bermeo ’27 and Ben Oehler ’26) finished in second place. Darrell Houston finished second in the 400-meter race. The 4x400m relay team (Houston, Elliot Morrow ’25, Truman Bares ’26 and  Eugene) finished third. In the field events, Goldenberg finished second in the high jump. The boys team finished fourth overall.

 

“The team performed well as a whole this weekend,” says Head Track and Field Coach Sandra Patrick. “Our coaching staff are thrilled and extremely proud of the team and our athletes' performances at the SPC Championships.”

 

4x100m Girls: 42.77 seconds (Elle, Kennedy, Tristian, Gabi)

4x4400m Girls: 4:02.87 (Elle, Tristan, Kennedy Gabi)

Triple Jump Girls:  33-02, Kennedy Lartigue broke 2009 school record

4x100m Boys: 42.77 seconds, broke 2017 school record

 

Gabi Curtis finished 3rd (32 points) 

Kennedy Lartigue finished 5th (26 points) 

Graham Boles finished 3rd (28 points) 

 

The Spartan Varsity Boys Lacrosse team improved dramatically during the season, despite several injured players. Even with the obstacles, the team continued to push toward success. Head Coach Noah Fink was proud of two hard fought wins against Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth and Fort Worth Country Day School, which both came down to the end of the fourth quarter losing by one goal to The Greenhill School, on the road.

 

“Our SPC campaign was full of tough and competitive games this season,” says Head Coach Noah Fink. “The boys stepped up and fought hard to win in the semis and return to the SPC final for the third year in a row. Unfortunately, the final proved to be too much of an uphill battle and our lower numbers hurt us. We will graduate seven amazing seniors who left the program in much better shape than they found it. We are already thinking about how to get ready for next season!”

 

In April, the Spartan Golf team made their mark at the Golf Club of Houston. Claire Wan ’25 left it all on the course and walked away with back-to-back SPC titles, after taking first place in the SPC Championship again–winning by 18 strokes.

 

Despite a slow start on day one, the boys team was able to bounce back on day two. Charlie Hubbard ’25, who was defending his first place SPC title, was able to recover on day two finishing third individually. The boys team finished in fourth place. 

 

“We won't lose any seniors from the varsity squads so we will once again have big expectations heading into next season and hope to bring back team trophies and a handful of All-SPC honors,” said Head Golf Coach Garrett Brustein.

 

The Girls Lacrosse team wrapped up a successful season in Dallas recently after falling to Coppell Girls Lacrosse 15-13. 

 

"I am proud of this team and the amount of effort that they put into this season,” said Head Girls Lacrosse Coach Emily Walling. “They made the most of every situation and lifted each other up when times were tough. Against some of the top teams in the state, they stepped up. When our bench was light, they stepped up. When we were down by 6 goals, they stepped up. We say goodbye to nine seniors, but I am confident that the impact they left on this team will carry through into next season.”

 

“The St. Stephen’s baseball team is a young and determined group of athletes ready to take the program to the next level,” said Head Baseball Coach Steven Elder. “Although the season did not end like we planned, they showed improvement throughout the season and got better as the year went on. Five of the starting nine players were freshman and sophomores which gives us hope for the future. We will be fairly young again next year but the program is growing in numbers and talent. Change does not come easy and it takes patience and time to build a solid foundation. I believe we have that foundation and the mindset to make a difference within the culture of the program. We are excited and are looking forward to next season!”

 

— Juliann Johnson, Sports Information Director