Spring SPC Championship
Grae Zedlitz, Staff Writer
On April 27, 28, and 29, the Cyclones traveled to Texas for the Spring SPC Championships, walking away with a second place in Men’s Tennis, third place in Men’s and Women's Golf, eighth place in Baseball, and third place in Softball. Track and Field finished with multiple first, second, and third place finishes.
The 2022-2023 year heralded “The Last Dance” for Casady’s SPC Athletics as we transitioned into the OSSAA. Time and time again, the Cyclones delivered upon high expectations. Being a Cyclone promises not only lofty expectations, but the ability to deliver upon them. Coming back from the Spring Championships marks the completion of those lofty expectations.
The Men’s Tennis team has already sported one collegiate commitment, and they performed like a team full of them, as they stormed their way to a second place finish, losing in the championship round. Then-senior Eric Tien (‘23) noticed the consistent improvement and hunger to win, proclaiming that, “This year’s team was definitely quite better than last year. We played really strong all year and could have easily beaten every team in the North Zone. The Championships went well, for the most part. We were definitely upset because of how close we came to winning the championship, but we had an amazing time together at SPC.” Eric has committed to Wabash College to play Tennis in college.
Men’s Golf competed well, finishing third overall. Led by another former senior, Ian Wallis (‘23), the Golf Team performed very well. Ian, who finished seventh overall, earned an All-SPC nod. All SPC athletes are voted on by coaches around the SPC. Citing both personal growth and team performance, he reflected that, “My season went very well:noticeably better than any of my other golf seasons, because I placed very high in every tournament I competed in. SPC went especially well for our team. We placed third overall in SPC (which consists of both 3A and 4A divisions).” Many members of the Golf team return next year, with an eye on the future and how to improve their future teams.
Track and Field finished with an outstanding performance at SPC. Women’s T&F finished third overall in the 3A division, and the Men’s T&F finished sixth overall in the 3A division. The Cyclones finished with multiple victories. Coach Isaiah Levingston (‘17) shared his pride in the team and their dedication to win all year. “SPC was a successful meet,” wrote Coach Levingston. “The Girls’ team finished with three SPC Champions and two school records. The 4x100 meter relay team consisting of Maggie Brown (‘26), Helen Olszewski (‘25), Petra Karam (‘26), and Riley Dumigan (‘23) won SPC in both the 3A and 4A divisions. Hope Fahler (‘26) won the 3A High Jump, Caroline Naifeh (‘24) placed second in the 3A discus, Helen Olszewski (‘25) won the 400 meter dash, and placed second in the 200 meter. Helen also set a new school record in the 200 meter dash with a time of 24.49 seconds. Riley Dumigan (‘23) also set a new school record, with a long jump of 16-09.75, to go with a 100 dash PR of 12.24 seconds. Larry Mathis (‘23) won the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:30:37, and won the 3200 meter run with a time of 9:34:53. The season was great! The team made so much progress throughout the season and set many new PRs across the board!” Track looks to continue their success this year, as they transition into the OSSAA Track & Field program.
Women’s Golf completed the tournament with a 3rd place finish. However, there is a definite hunger for victory among the golf team, with a desire to win and improve. Lauren Kim (‘26) remarked that “my season was not the best it could have been. I for sure showed up and worked the hardest with every opportunity I got, but I felt that I was on a downward slope. Outside of my personal performance, the team played very well overall, performing well all season. I am proud of each and every one of my teammates for all they do and the amount of work they put towards their goals. But, the most memorable thing about SPC was the team as a group. About two thirds of our team was coming down from ISAS in Dallas, and it made traveling down with the team that much more fun and memorable.” Lauren has already set eyes and expectations in the future, with improvement the sole goal for this offseason.
The Baseball team entered as the seventh seed and sadly exited quickly, losing in the first round. However, the season wasn’t all for nought, as Stephen Shafer (‘23) remarked on the team’s progress throughout the season. “We made noticeable progress throughout the season, even though we didn’t do very well at SPC. I’m proud of everyone, especially Coach Cooper. He was a fantastic Head Coach, and should be given huge credit for doing what he did in his first season. I’m excited for what’s next for the team!”
The Softball team entered the SPC tournament on fire, as the first overall seed. They competed extremely well and finished in third place overall. Sophie Buthion (’23), who has played softball for over 11 years, was proud of the way the season went. “Our season went really well,” she said. “We improved a lot with our muscle memory and overall understanding of the game. Each player’s skills and softball IQ improved so much in the few short months we had.” The softball team has lost many impactful players to college this year, but Reagan Prestidge (‘25) and Brooklyn Wells (‘26) will look to lead the team into the future.
