History was made on the court and track this spring by area student athletes. Parkway South tennis star Carson Haskins became the first player in 30 years to win four state singles championships, doing so in dominant fashion. John Burroughs standout Brandon Miller set an All-Class state record by winning the Class 3 800-meter run. Below are more highlights from a stellar spring season.
tennis
Carson Haskins of Parkway South arguably cemented himself as the best high school tennis player in the history of Missouri with his fourth consecutive Class 2 singles title at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. He became just the second player in state history to win four titles. Clayton’s Michael Johnston won four championships from 1985-1988.
But the way Haskins did so is what may separate him from other players in the past. He played 94 matches in high school. He won 94 matches. He played 188 sets. He won 188 sets.
Haskins defeated Carson Gates of Staley High School in the championship match for the third year in a row. Gates, who is headed to Michigan State to play tennis, had a career high school record of 86-3. All three losses were to Haskins, who will play tennis in the fall at Indiana University.
Area players swept the two singles championships in the individual phase of the tournament. MICDS freshman Evan Erb won the Class 1 title, defeating fellow freshman Rory Sutter of John Burroughs in the championship match. CBC’s A.J. Woodman, who won the doubles championship last year with Clayton Maack, went the singles route this year. He finished third in Class 2. His only losses during the year came against Haskins and Gates.
John Burroughs had a fantastic season as a team. The Bombers won their first state team title since 2004, capturing the Class 1 championship by defeating Pembroke Hill in the semifinals and Springfield Catholic in the championship match. Following the team title, all five team qualifiers medaled in the individual tournament: Sutter got second in singles, Akash Rajan and Matthew Fan were second in doubles, and Sam Wang and Dev Nayak were fifth in doubles. The future appears bright for the Bombers as Sutter, Rajan, Wang and Nayak were all freshmen.
Two other area teams made it to the final four as a team, with Clayton coming in fourth in Class 1 and Parkway Central doing the same in Class 2.
boys track
Brandon Miller of John Burroughs was the individual standout at the state meet at Jefferson City High School. His time of 1:49.55 is now the record for the 800 meters in Class 3 and across the state. Miller also won the 1,600 meter run and ran a leg in the 1,600-meter relay in which Burroughs finished second. The Bombers had an area-best ninth place finish in Class 3.
Maplewood finished second in Class 2 behind Cleveland NJROTC. Zach Barton and Malik Stewart led the way for the Blue Devils. Barton won the 100-meter dash; Stewart won the 1,600-meter run, finished second in the 800 meter run and ran a leg along with Jaylen Burdine, Dylan Ford and Logan MacDonald in the first-place 4×800-meter relay. Maplewood also finished second in the 4×400-meter relay.
MICDS’ Joshua Sutton had a pair of state titles in Class 4 in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. Parkway North had a couple of impressive efforts in the hurdles. Jekeel Suber won the 110-meter hurdles, and David Buckner was second in the 300-meter hurdles. Ladue had the best team result in Class 4, finishing 10th. Ladue’s Elliot Lorenz was second in the high jump.
Two area athletes won gold medals in Class 5: Kirkwood’s Martin Strong in the 800-meter run and Lafayette’s Nassim Oufattole in the 1,600-meter. Kirkwood had the best area finish in Class 5, ranking fourth as a team. Lafayette was eighth.
girls track
MICDS and John Burroughs each won team titles at the state meet. MICDS won the Class 3 championship in convincing fashion, finishing with 88 points. Washington finished a distant second with 55 points. Webster Groves was fourth.
Cara Johnson and Jhordin Galmore led the way for the Rams. Johnson was first in the 100-meter dash and second behind Galmore in the 200-meter dash. Galmore also won the 400-meter dash.
That domination continued in the sprint relays. Galmore and Johnson teamed with Krysten Holmes and Zionn Pearson to win the 400-meter relay. The dynamic duo also were part of the champion 800-meter relay with Holmes and Zuri Thomas.
The Rams also finished third in the 1600-meter relay, which was won by Webster’s team of Brittany Clark, Emma Kelly, Molly Nash and Angeline Arinze. The win by John Burroughs in Class 2 was much closer and a bit of a surprise.
The Bombers finished with 62 points just ahead of Cardinal Ritter with 59 points. Principia finished 10th in Class 2.
Bria Ward was the lone individual champion for the Bombers in the triple jump. Principia’s Busina Asinga was the individual star in Class 2. Asinga won the 300-meter hurdles, finished second in the 100-meter dash and was third in the 200-meter dash.
Nerinx Hall’s Courtney Williams was the only area champion in Class 5. She won the 400-meter dash and was second in the 100 and third in the 200. The Markers had the best area team finish at 12th place.
There were no area champions or top 10 teams in Class 2, although Maplewood’s Jayda Buchanan was second in both the 400 and 800.
water polo
St. Louis University High continues its strong track record in the pool. The Junior Bills defeated Parkway West 15-4 to capture the Missouri Water Polo Championship. It was the 33rd straight final four appearance for SLUH, which lost just one of its 27 matches this season. The championship was its 20th; the team has won 11 of the last 17 titles.
lacrosse
It was a sweep of the boys’ and girls’ titles this spring for MICDS. The Rams boys kept their streak of not losing to a team from Missouri in the last five seasons intact and finished 20-2 overall. They defeated St. Louis University High 13-1 in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association title game at Lindenwood University.
Graham Bundy Jr. led the way for the Rams, setting a single-season record for points. The MICDS girls also continued their dominance, finishing 19-2 and defeating Marquette 20-7 in the championship game at Westminster Christian.
MICDS also was undefeated against Missouri opponents, winning all 17 of its matches. Fifteen of those came by 10 goals or more. The Rams won their final 18 matches overall. The MSLA title was the 12th overall for the girls and their fifth in the last six seasons.
baseball
Vianney concluded its magical season with a school record for wins (37 against just two losses) and its third state championship. The Griffins defeated Blue Springs South 5-3 in the semifinals and Columbia Hickman 8-2 in the Class 5 title game at Car Shield Park in O’Fallon.
Vianney, which won its final 13 games, had last won state in 2004 and 2006. The Griffins were led by senior and University of Missouri recruit Luke Mann, who was the dominant pitcher in the area with a 10-0 record and 1.09 ERA. He also was one of the top hitters, finishing second in the entire area in home runs and RBI. Mann, who hit a crucial three-run homer in the first inning of the semifinal win, was named the 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year in Missouri.
De Smet reached the final four in Class 5 as well. The Spartans, who finished 21-9, were fourth, losing a tight third place game to Blue Springs South, 4-3. No other area teams reached the final four.
Valley Park had an outstanding year, winning the Class 3 District 6 title. The Hawks were led by the one-two pitching punch of Austin Schmitt and Fischer Rausch. Schmitt had 103 strikeouts in 49 innings, while Rausch had 98 in 44 innings. Rausch allowed only three runs in 44 innings, posting an area best 0.48 ERA.
John Burroughs and Westiminster Christian won district titles in Class 4, and Lafayette joined Vianney and De Smet with Class 5 district championships.
girls soccer
Rockwood Summit won its first-ever state championship this spring. The Falcons won the Class 3 title. They defeated one-loss Kearney in the semifinals 2-0. Summit capped off its 19-2-3 season with a 1-0 win over Incarnate Word in an all-St. Louis final.
Principia finished second in Class 1, losing to defending champion St. Vincent 2-0. It finished its season with a 10-9 record.
A handful of teams had impressive seasons but didn’t advance to the final four. Maplewood had a 12-game winning streak and finished 21-4-1. They were eliminated in the Class 1 quarterfinals by eventual champion St. Vincent. Westminster, led by state diving champion Margo O’Meara, was 16-4. Parkway West was 15-5-1; all of the team’s wins were shutouts by Erika Anstine.
Nerinx Hall and St. Joseph’s Academy were championship-quality teams. St. Joe’s, which finished 18-4-2, knocked out Nerinx in overtime in the sectional round and then was defeated in the quarterfinals by Eureka. St. Joe’s scored 70 goals and gave up just 12 as Emily Meara led the area in save percentage and was second in goals against average. Nerinx, which won its first 13 games, finished with a stellar 21-2 record, scoring 66 goals and giving up just 12.
boys volleyball
SLUH and Parkway Central captured championships at Webster Groves High School. For the fourth year in a row, it was SLUH and Lafayette in the Class 4 championship. And for the third time, the Junior Bills captured the title, winning in straight sets. The Junior Bills finished with a perfect 33-0 record, and Lafayette finished at 28-5. The Class 3 championship match was also a repeat as Parkway Central defeated St. Mary’s 25-20, 27-25 as the Colts won for the second year in a row. Parkway Central finished the season at 31-6, and St. Mary’s was 30-5-1.
Pictured above: Courtney Williams of Nerinx