Saint Xavier High School • Louisville, Kentucky AVIER NEWS Vol. LXXXV • No. 4 • March 14, 2014 Swim Team’s 50th State Title 26th title in a row, seniors undefeated in 4 years By Andrew Lloyd Photo by Clay Hoehler t the beginning of the season, Bombers. Athe Saint Xavier Swimming and Until four years ago, the Tigers Diving Team hoped to accomplish the had never beaten their namesake rival one thing they had yet to do during from the north. But in Coach Larkin’s their streak of 25 straight State Cham- second season as coach, the Tigers pionships: graduate an undefeated pulled out the “miracle.” Ever since class. then, the Tigers have yet to lose to the “It is a great way for our class to Bombers. The Tigers went into the go out,” said senior Tony Palazzo. “To meet with a great attitude. Although be the first class to graduate undefeat- they started off slow, they still were ed is special.” in position to win, thanks to div- Going into the state meet, not ers George McCracken and Michael many people believed that St. X could Miller. The Tigers won the much an- pull it off, but they were wrong. The ticipated showdown 167–148. Tigers won the prelim day (Friday) by “It was a huge win for us,” said 26 points. Going into the final day the Mundt. “That victory proved that we Tigers believed, as they always had, could compete with anyone.” that they were going to win their 26th The Tigers continued their streak The swim team celebrates after winning the state meet straight and 50th overall. of perfection, beating Atherton, PRP St. X only won three events, but tive, 29). The team’s 50 state titles is Johnston, the Tigers were poised to and Manual. Unfortunately, the meet their depth was unmatchable. Junior a record. No other team in the nation make a run at their 26th title. In or- against the Trinity Shamrocks was Heyward Harrison won one event and has ever won 50 titles in one sport. der to achieve their goal, the Tigers cancelled due to weather. The Tigers placed third in his other. Senior Noah In Coach Larkin’s five years at St. needed help from their whole team. won the Jefferson County Invita- Johnston won the 500 freestyle and X, he has only lost one meet, and that Each grade level made an impact. The tional, and then turned their attention got fourth in his other event. Senior was in his first year against Cincinnati juniors are led by All-American Hey- to regionals. The first day of region- Jacob Smith won the 100 butterfly. Saint Xavier. Ever since that meet, the ward Harrison and Trey Hubbuch, als was cancelled because Jefferson Junior Trey Hubbuch got fourth in Tigers have not lost. with major contributions from senior County Public Schools cancelled the 500 and ninth in the 200 freestyle. “The reason we are so success- Jacob Smith, sophomore Clayton class that day. That made Saturday a Many other swimmers earned points ful is because we have the best coach, Forde and freshman Keefer Barnum. timed final, to see who went to state. for the team by moving up in the rank- who gets the most potential out of us,” When mandatory practice rolled The Tigers started quickly and ings. Senior Kyle Brutscher got 7th in said junior Matthew McDermott. around, the Tigers came in and worked won the first relay. They continued the 50 free and 14th in the 100 free, During optional workouts from hard. After roughly a month of hard winning for most of the meet. When gaining points for the Tigers. August until Sept. 30, the Tigers had workouts, Coach Larkin began to the 200 freestyle relay came up, the “It was an all-around team ef- at least 50 percent of their team pres- loosen them up for the Montgomery Tigers were heavy favorites, but a fort,” said junior Nick Yates. “It is not ent. Bell meet on Nov. 16. The meet was a false start disqualified St. X in this just about the swimmers in the meet, “The team is very dedicated,” ju- blowout, with a final score of 225–56 event. The Tigers went on to win the but it is also about the rest of our team nior Ben Madalon said. “You feel ob- in favor of the Tigers. The team was meet, but the disqualification hurt getting up early to stand in line to get ligated to come to workouts because off to a strong start, which continued them. With their backs against the a student section.” you do not want to let down your with a win against Male the follow- wall, the Tigers went into state hun- The Tigers record of 26 straight teammates.” ing week. The Tigers also beat East- grier than ever, and did not disappoint. State Championships is the longest Behind the leadership of cap- ern and won the Brother Fabius Invi- The Tigers won state by a total score active streak in the nation (a Hawaii tains J.D. Mundt, Zach Carrico, Ja- tational, which led to the showdown of 361–328, beating out Covington team has the record for most consecu- cob Smith, Kyle Brutscher and Noah against the Cincinnati Saint Xavier Catholic’s late surge. 17 Students Earn 8 National Merit Finalists ight St. X seniors have been named National Merit finalists. They will now Scholastic Art Awards Ebe considered for scholarships offered by corporations and universities/ colleges, which will be announced beginning in April. eventeen St. X students were selected as winners in the 2014 Scholastic SArt and Writing Regional competition, including three who each earned a Gold Key, the highest distinction. The Gold Key winners’ work is automatical- ly entered into national competition. The student artists earned a combined 25 awards and were recognized at a ceremony on Feb. 20. The award winners are: Gold Keys Victor Burklow, Mixed Media; Luke Harwell, Ceramics & Glass; Kevin Riggs, Ceramics & Glass. Silver Keys Eric Bush, Photography; Max Lambert, Ceramics & Glass; Will Ostertag, Ceramics & Glass; Owen Quinn, four Silver Keys in Ceramics & Glass; Ethan Torstrick, Mixed Media; James Vessels, Ceramics & Glass; Joseph Vonderhe- ide, two Silver Keys in Ceramics & Glass; Andrew Walker, Drawing. Honorable Mentions Logan Bishop, Drawing; Jeremy Burch, Painting; Christopher Miller, De- sign; Conor O’Daniel, Ceramics & Glass; Luke Harwell, Ceramics & Glass; Zachary Revers, Ceramics & Glass; Joseph Vonderheide, three Honorable (front row): Ben Fultz, Max Mudd, Stephen Kinny, Sam Bibelhauser; Mentions in Ceramics & Glass; Adam Williams, Design. (back row): Coleman Cox, Paxton Duff, Freddie Weitendorf, Ian Scott 2 NEWS March 14, 2014 New Faces: Mr. Stephen Ashby Students Recognized in White By Sam Gray n the year 2000, Stephen Ashby walked the same halls House Student Film Festival Iand sat in many of the same classrooms that we sit in to- our students in Mr. Brian Mitchell’s day. In January of 2014, he returned to his high school alma FDigital Filmmaking class submitted mater to teach the current student body. an entry in the 1st annual White House Before attending St. X, Mr. Ashby attended Our Moth- Student Film Festival. Out of 2,000 en- er of Sorrows, where one of his classmates was Mr. Eddie tries, the team of Mark Vogt, Jacob All- Noe. While a student at St. X, Mr. Ashby worked with the geier, Ben Gumbel and Andrew Van drama department, building all of the sets for the plays. This Camp received Honorable Mention for activity led to a scholarship to set up play productions for their film,A New Way to Learn, which ex- the University of Louisville. amines technology in education, in keep- Mr. Ashby worked at the Louisville Zoo during high ing with the theme of the Film Festival. school and college. Before returning to St. X, he worked as View the video by scanning the QR a safety coordinator overseeing fire and compliance in all Louisville Metro buildings, code at the right with your smart phone and before that he taught for seven years at Presentation Academy. He now teaches or iPad. Honors Algebra 2, Honors Geometry and Elements of Calculus at St. X. “I didn’t realize while I was a student here how many connections St. X has in the community and in various workplaces,” Mr. Ashby said. “The work ethic I gained SAT Gets Redesigned while a student here and the relationships I formed as a student continue to open doors ccording to a press release issued by Math Focused on Three Key Areas for me.” Athe College Board, when students The exam will focus on three essen- During his free time, Mr. Ashby loves to craft different items in his workshop and open their SAT test books in spring 2016, tial areas of math: Problem Solving and travel around the United States. they’ll encounter an SAT that is more fo- Data Analysis, the Heart of Algebra, and cused and useful than ever before. The Passport to Advanced Math. Problem Summer Reading Options to Expand full specifications of the exam along with Solving and Data Analysis is about be- tarting this summer, the St. X Summer Reading program will see some changes. In extensive sample items for each section ing quantitatively literate. It includes us- Sthe past, all books chosen for the program were selected by English teachers. But will be available on April 16, 2014. ing ratios, percentages, and proportional now, teachers in a variety of subject areas will participate in choosing books, which The redesigned SAT will first be reasoning to solve problems in science, will include fiction, nonfiction, biography, and other types of reading from all subjects.