Beyond the Books - October 2024

October 9, 2024

At Cretin-Derham Hall, students have important opportunities to grow, learn and thrive both in the classroom and 'beyond the books!' In fact, 98% of students participate in one or more sports or activities. 

Beyond the Books is our brag book on all of your favorite co-curriculars at CDH: athletics, activities, JROTC, Campus Ministry, and the Arts. This can also be a place for occasional school-wide athletic department updates and current news on some of our activities.

ATHLETICS | ACTIVITIES | BAND | CHOIR | JROTC | THEATER

Athletics 

A Letter from Matt Funk, CDH Athletic Director

It is hard to believe but we are coming close to playoff time for all of our Fall Sports. Our Girls tennis team wrapped up their team season last week with a tough loss to local rival, Highland Park 5-2. We are heading to the Baseline tennis center for Individual sections on Thursday. Boys’ soccer received the 4th seed and will host #5 Stillwater on Wednesday, 10/9 and our girls team received the 5th seed and will travel to #4 Simley on Wednesday. Our other teams are still in action in conference play and will start section play in the coming weeks.

We had another successful Activities fair on 9/25 in the Griep Family Gym during flex. We had our 70+ Activities represented to show all CDH has to offer after school. Engagement was extremely high with a lot of energy on two of our newest clubs, Pickleball and Rugby.

Finally, September was a great month and ended with a great Homecoming week on campus.

  • 9/26 Hall of Fame 2024 Ceremony – we celebrated the induction of 6 teams and 11 individuals. We welcomed over 475 guests to campus that night to celebrate these great teams and share all our favorite Raider memories.
  • 9/27 Homecoming Pep Fest & Football Game vs Hastings – our pep fest could have been the highlight of the week. The Joe Mauer Field House was bursting with the energy of our entire community. The day was led by Mr. Maguire, Mrs. Rosen, and our Super Fans. Many thanks to our Grandparents Club for providing the pom poms!
  • 9/28 Raider Family Day – finally our newest event on Saturday kicked off with two soccer games on the pitch with our boys and girls hosting conference rival East Ridge. The carnival-like atmosphere was tremendous with food trucks, activities for all ages, and a dunk tank that raised money for the Highland Friendship Club. The most popular spot was the face painting led by our student council.

It’s a Great Day to be a Raider!

Coach Funk

Boys Basketball

By Tony Yazbeck, Assistant Coach

Congratulations to Tommy Ahneman ’25 on his commitment to play Division 1 basketball for the University of Notre Dame next fall. Ahneman will be part of prized recruiting class at Notre Dame that is ranked #1 in the nation.

In addition, Jojo Mitchell ’26 has received scholarship offers from the University of Iowa, Old Dominion University and South Dakota State University. Ty Schlagel ’27 has received scholarship offers from the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin and the University of Iowa.

Girls Basketball

By Tara Seifert, Head Coach

Tryouts for the girls basketball program will take place November 11-13 in the Joe Mauer Field House from 3 - 5 pm. We will have 9th Grade, 10th Grade, Junior Varsity and Varsity teams this year. All are encouraged to attend our “Fall Sports Meeting” on October 28 for more information.

Cross Country

By Chris Babcock, Head Coach

Girls' Cross Country ended their regular season with an invitational meet at Simley High School on Saturday, October 5. The Raiders were lead by Kate Waud (8th grader) who continues to improve her times in the 5k race. Behind Waud, Elisa Nobrega ’28, and Lorelie Kessel (8th grade) all raced to season and personal bests. Lucy Keating ’26 rounded out the Raider top 4 this week with a come back race.

The boys also raced at Simley this weekend and continue to improve their capacity to race. Connor Sondag ’25 and Caleb Fanning ’28 took the charge in the varsity race posting strong finishing times.

In both the JV races the Raiders fared well. Alex Boland ’28 led the girls. Behind her Katie Nobrega ’27 and Avery Otteman ’27 both ran season best times. Senior captain Mark Loeffler ’25 led by example running a season best in the JV race with Noah Remer ’28 following suit running a season and personal best time.

Tuesday, October 15 at 3 pm the Raiders will take on the Suburban East Conference at Tanners Brook Golf Course in Forest Lake.

Football

By Steve Walsh '85, Head Coach

The football team is 2-4 on the season but is coming off an impressive 37-7 win at Mahtomedi. The team was in the same position last season before rallying to a 5-6 record and competing in the section championship. The plan is to improve on that and take it at least one step further this year.

The team has been led on offense by running back Ja'Dale Thompson ’26 with 415 yards and 7 TD rushing. Monteff Dixon ’25 leads the team in receptions with 29 and QB Izaak Johnson ’26 has thrown for 8 TD passes on the year. The defense has been led by senior captain LB Jaydn Harris ’25 with 41 solo tackles and LB Merritt Flynn ’25 with 58 total tackles. Upcoming games include St. Louis Park and Irondale before the sectional playoffs, which begin October 22. Go Raiders!

Performance Dance

By Alison Svendsen, Head Coach

The Cretin-Derham Hall Fall Performance Dance Team's 2024 season is quickly coming to a close. The team is coming off a fantastic performance at the South St. Paul Dance Show, and a very busy Homecoming where the team took on multiple routines for Pep Fest and their amazing halftime performance at the CDH Homecoming football game. As they close out the season, they will be hosting some of their favorite "Future Raiders." The team and Kids Clinic participants will show off their routine at the Oct. 10 home Football game as well as honor their senior dancers for Senior Night. It has been a busy, but very fun season!

Boys Soccer

By Ryan Burke, Assistant Coach

Boys soccer defeated White Bear 2-0 and ties #7 Wayzata 1-1 this week. Ethan Innes has come alive on offense the past week and the defense has only given up 2 goals the past three games. Wednesday night is the start of sections and we will host Stillwater at 7 pm.

Girls Soccer

By Phil Walczak, Head Coach

The Girls Soccer program is excited to begin the playoff season this week. We have had a season filled with challenges but the team has persevered and stepped up to meet every situation. There have been several highlights such as a home win vs Stillwater, very close games vs top 10 ranked teams, and exciting games vs Holy Angels, Roseville, and White Bear Lake. Our senior leadership has been present in full force and we were proud to celebrate them this past week with our annual senior night. Come out and support the girls! The girls will open the sectional playoffs on Wednesday night at Simley. Game time is 7 pm.

Girls Swim and Dive

By Lisa Thomas, Head Coach

Girls Swim and Dive has just rounded the corner past the halfway point of our season! The  Raiders are led by seniors Emma Donnelly ’25MJ Dougherty ’25, Lauren Jennrich ’25, Maeve Johnston ’25, Eden Kelly ’25, Jacki Lauer ’25, Sara Lindner ’25, Amelia Olin ’25, Ruby Omann ’25, Anna Sewich ’25, and Cassidy Taylor ’25 who are carrying on traditions, work ethic and our theme of family. The Raiders are heading toward a busy few weeks of racing where they take on Forest Lake at home at St. Kate's on Oct. 10 (teacher appreciation night), True Team Sections at The Grove on Oct. 12 and travel to Stillwater on Oct. 15 prior to MEA. After MEA we celebrate our seniors with Senior night on Oct. 24 at St. Kate's at 5:30 pm before heading into championship season. Come cheer on the Raiders!

Girls Volleyball

By Erin Horn, Head Coach

The VB season is drawing to a close. All teams continue to work hard on and off the court. We recently had an all program practice where we mixed up girls from all five teams and played a round robin tournament. It was a blast! Varsity’s current record is 15-10. We have doubled our wins from the past two years which feels pretty good. We have three conference matches left and are hoping to finish strong! Two of the matches are at home. Please come support us if you’re able! 

Activities

Chess Club

By Jesse Cusick, Moderator

Chess club is looking to meet one day a week after school for an hour beginning in November and going through February. The day has not been determined yet and will be decided based on student availability.  Look for more information in the school announcements and student email. All are welcome to participate.

Ultimate Frisbee

By Charlie Enders, Head Coach

Ultimate Frisbee will begin practices in January. Look for announcements and practice times when we return from the holiday break.

Sustainability Club

By Jessie Botello, Moderator

Sustainability Club had their first meeting this week and we are working on posters and getting more members. We will meet on Tuesday’s during FLEX with our next meeting on 10/8.

Trap and Skeet Team

By Jason Naber, Coach

The CDH Trap and Skeet team has just completed their fall season with 8 students participating, The clay target team team will start up this spring. Anyone interested in participating should reach out to Chad Anderson.

Art Club

By Suzanne Cranston, Moderator

Art Club has been busy making creative Charm Bracelets and Friendship bracelets to kick off the fresh school year! We currently have 20+ members and meet every Monday after school in Mrs. Cranston's art room. Soon we'll be ordering t-shirts and hoodies that were designed by one of our devoted Art Club members!

Band

By Teddy Williams, Band Director

The CDH band has already been busy playing pep band tunes at CDH sporting events. Come to the home volleyball game on Oct. 14 to cheer on your favorite teams and hear the band rock the stands!

The jazz band just started. All students who want to learn an instrument/already play are welcome and encouraged to join. Rehearsals will be held Tuesdays before school at 7:30am and on Friday's during flex time. 

Fall Concert will be on Wednesday, November 13, 7pm

 

Choir

By Delilah Schuster, Choir Director

We are in full swing of rehearsals for our fall concert, which will be on Wednesday, November 6 at 7pm in the Lillian Theatre at CDH. The risers will be more crowded than usual as we have recruited several band members to join the choir on a few songs in addition to their band studies! Several choir members are trying their instrumental chops in band as well. Purple Reign A Cappella has also started for the year and are preparing their own music for this same concert. We hope to see you on November 6!

JROTC

By SGM David Berrisford '81, MSG Ken Peloski, COL Scrocca, and SFC Thingvold

The Raider Brigade held its 101st annual Diamond Promotion Ceremony on September 13. A dozen previous Raider Brigade Cadet Colonels representing six decades of Cretin and Cretin-Derham Hall JROTC were present when Jeremiah Thom ’25 was named the 108th Raider Brigade Cadet Colonel. The full Diamond Promotion article can be found here.

The weather was outstanding for the 106th annual JROTC Fall Review held Oct. 2 on Wingerd Field. This annual event welcomes the new 9th graders to the Raider Brigade Corps of Cadets and recognizes some of the top performers in the new class. This year’s award recipients were Cadets Becca Chestovich '28, Jameson Downs '28, Tess Guion '28, Olivia Kovats '28Jake Long '28, Amelia Meier '28, Madeline Miley '28, Elisa Nobrega '28, and Noah Remer '28. The full Fall Review article can be found here

On Oct. 5, the CDH Orienteering Team competed in its first competition of the school year and will compete in the post-COVID rebooted Minnesota Orienteering Club Youth/JROTC League against other area high schools and JROTC units throughout the school year.

On Oct. 7, 50 cadets from the CDH JROTC Flight Club visited the Minnesota Army National Guard Army Aviation Support Facility in St. Paul to receive a tour of the facilities and helicopter flights around the city. We appreciate all the support we always receive from the MN National Guard to provide our cadets these fantastic opportunities.

The other JROTC co-curricular teams have begun meeting as well to include the Air Rifle Team, Regulation Drill Team, Robotics Team, Color Guard, Honor Guard and the Archery Team. Unfortunately, after more than 100 years of service, the Precision (Crack) Drill Team was
forced to suspend activity this year due to lack of facilities to conduct practices. We are investigating ways to keep this CDH tradition alive.

Theater

By Cullen Wiley '16, Theater Director

Our 2024-2025 Theater Season is officially here:

Children's Show: Frozen Jr. 

Winter Play: Little Women

Spring Musical: The Addams Family

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