Heard in the Halls - December 2016
December 14, 2016
Welcome to Heard in the Halls. We encourage you to read ALL the current blogs submitted this month, but you can also click on department links below to quickly go to a particular section.
Athletics | Band | Choir | Guidance | JROTC
ATHLETICS
Girls' Hockey
by Brooke White-Lancette, Girls Hockey Coach
Boys Hockey
by Jim O’Neill, Boys Hockey Coach
Boys Hockey started the 2016-17 season by taking on #1 rated Eden Prairie. The young Raiders fell short but played an exciting brand of hockey. The team is led by Star Tribune pre-season dream team goalie Mike Magnuson. Mike had phenomenal numbers as a junior, and the team will lean on him as they begin the season. His backup is senior Manny Hertel-Bauman. Seniors Mike Murphy and Nick Auran will be counted on to lead many rookies on defense. Up front, seniors Jack English, Eddie Vrtis, John Gleason and Tucker Kruse lead a talented group of underclass forward, including top scorer junior Joey Gimberlin.
The Raiders look to build on second place finishes in last year's section tournament and the Suburban East Conference. The team will face a demanding schedule including a return to the Schwan Cup Classic over the Holidays.
Girls Basketball
by Joe Lynch, Girls Basketball Coach
CDH Girls Basketball is off to a great start. The B Squad, JV and Varsity teams were all successful in the first ever Thanksgiving Tip-Off Classic Tournament held at the University of St. Thomas. Those playing well for the Varsity team in the first few games were Captains Autam Mendez and Elizabeth Edinger and Sophomore Frannie Hottinger. The JV was led by Ellie Clipper, Molly Johnson and Samantha Salmen. The B Squad had two hard fought victories in the their first two games beating Winona Cotter and Totino Grace. Suburban East Conference play started on December 9 and the teams are looking forward to great competition every night
Boys Basketball
by Tony Yazbeck, Boys Basketball Assistant Coach
Raiders open season with big victory. The boys basketball team (ranked #5 in Class 4A) open their season at St. Paul Central on December 3 with high expectations; they delivered with a decisive 67-33 victory over the defending St. Paul City Conference champions. Junior Sy Chatman led the Raiders with 14 point followed by Daniel Oturu (13 points) and Jaeden King (12 points) as the Raiders open the 2nd half on a 30-2 run. Ryan Larson and Jake Prince had great floor games. The season gets tougher with games vs. #2 Lakeville North, #6 Apple Valley, East Ridge and rival St. Thomas Academy all before the holiday break.
Alpine Skiing
by Carrie Freitag, Alpine Skiing Coach
CDH Alpine is just getting started, ready to get on the snow, starting just this past week. There are still slots available on all squads. All abilities are welcome! Check our team page under Athletics for more information.
Wrestling
by Dan Willaert, Wrestling Coach
On Saturday, December 3, Cretin-Derham Hall senior Joshua Goldberg achieved a very rare feat on the wrestling mat. Joshua earned his 100th career victory in the championship bout of the Saint Michael-Albertville Invitational. Only four other wrestlers in CDH / Cretin history have reached this mark – Andy Braun’95, Matt Jackson'05, Matthew Boncich’15, and Jeff Jackson’07.
If Joshua stays on pace with his first three seasons as a Raider, he will have an opportunity to set a new all-time career record by the end of the season. The current record is 121 victories set by Jeff Jackson.
Boys Swim and Dive
by Mike Steineman, Boys Swim and Dive Coach
The CDH Boys Swimming & Diving season is underway! Senior Captains Jack Vinck and Isaac Nelson will lead the many new additions to our team.
We are currently gearing up for the dual meet season with some very exciting news! This year, for the first time in school history, the boys team will be hosting dual meets at St. Catherine University. Please check the website for dates and times.
Also, we are pleased to have Assistant Coach Luke Schuster'00 back on the coaching staff after a six-year hiatus due to work related travel.
Finally, you can follow us on Twitter @RaidersSwimDive or see live results on the Meet Mobile app on iOS or Android.
BAND
by Donna Novey, Band Director
Second trimester started out with a bang. Just coming off the Fall Concert it was time to make preparations for the Jazz (Dec 7) and the Christmas (Dec 14) Concerts as well as starting a new round of pep band events. Girls and boys hockey, basketball and wrestling keep the band members busy during the 2nd trimester.
Coming up in January will be the third Open House of the year and more pep bands. The big event, however, is the Suburban East Conference (SEC) Music Festival on February 6. This is an annual conference event with two components-performances by each of the top groups in the conference at the day festival and the All-Conference Grand Finale Concert in the evening.
These CDH Band Members are in the All-Conference Groups:
Orchestra:
Mikey Jay (11)-flute
Marina Tschida (12)-violin
Band:
Isaac Dietz(12)-tenor sax
Ryan Klein (11)-percussion
Katelyn Jaksha (11)-percussion
David Jaksha (11)-trumpet
Jack Chojnacki (10)-alto sax
Ninth grade tuba player Henry Wilcox participated in the 43rd Annual Tuba Christmas at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown St. Paul on December 4. This year over 140 tuba and baritone players were in attendance and presented a concert and sing-a-long event.
The Winter Concert will be held on Wednesday, February 22 in the Lillian Theater.
To keep up with the activities of the CDH Band, check out the website! Band shirts can also be purchased at the CDH on-line store.
CHOIR
by Andrew Bourgoin, Choir Director
We celebrated a successful 25th Annual Christmas Dinner on December 3! Nearly 250 registered dinner guests enjoyed a booming silent auction, beautiful table settings (compliments of the Colon-Acosta family), and a VERY supportive audience. What a treat it was to entertain parents, faculty, alumni, and friends.
GUIDANCE
by Joan O'Connell & Leslie Connelly
On Thursday, January 12, all junior students will attend “Jumpstart Your Future”, a day long series of workshops and speakers to help students get ready for the college search process and to begin formulating post-high school plans. This required school day will give students the chance to hear from college admissions professionals on a wide variety of topics.
A corresponding program for parents/guardians of junior students will be held on Tuesday, January 24 at 7:00 pm. While parents/guardians who have been through this before are welcome to attend, this evening is designed for those who are beginning the college search process for the first time. Watch for more information and invitations via email. Post-high planning meetings with junior families will begin in January and information and scheduling instructions will be emailed to you after the first of the year.
JROTC
by LTC Jamie Fischer
As always, we are busy in JROTC over the winter months. Our new Diamond Officers have been active in leading the Brigade. Weekly labs have focused on Cadet Challenge, our annual physical fitness evaluation. Every Cadet has participated in Cadet Challenge to their full ability.
We have conducted the Squad Drill Competition. The Squad Competition gives our sophomores the chance to really start plying their leadership skills on a small scale. All elements of the brigade did a great job and the squads that were selected as best, were great.
Diamond officers have begun their project selection; each volunteers to lead a more complex activity that either improves the Brigade or completes a key task for our program.
Our color guard has been busy. We are doing varsity basketball games, wrestling matches, and are preparing a nine-person color guard for the UMJC competition in February.
The Flight Club toured the Delta Airlines maintenance facility got to see how airliners are maintained and records kept for them.
Congratulations to Cadet Major Walter Cleveland for being selected from our Corps of Cadet to represent CDH in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy essay contest. He earned a scholarship at the post level and competed for over $30,000 in awards.
On December 2, we held our annual Dining In event in the commons. 75 cadets attended as well as our two faculty guests, Anne Marie Froehle and Dan Kotasek. It was a wonderful evening with good food and great fun.
Our all-JROTC service project; Junior Achievement in a Day was held on December 9. We traveled to three schools and our cadets presented the Kindergarten through 5th grade curriculum to the students. Our students did a great job and we are proud to say we performed 1,500 service hours for our community.
All juniors will take the Junior Officer test for their trimester final. This is a great opportunity for them to show their ability to master JROTC knowledge so they can lead our brigade as seniors. They have the study guide and we know they will do their best. Seniors who still want to be an officer can take the test, too.
Our seniors are beginning to receive nominations from members of Congress and our Senators for the academies. One of our seniors, Josh Goldberg has officially received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. I was able to recommend strong cadets for JROTC nominations. We should be getting word of their appointments and other military scholarships soon. Juniors who are interested in ROTC or the Academies should be accessing these websites to begin their application process. They should be planning to take the ACT and attend the CDH college fair in the spring to meet with representatives from ROTC and the academies. Contact us if you have any questions.
The rifle team has continued its strong performance in multiple air rifle meets and will be competing against teams during the Upper Midwest JROTC Challenge in early February as well as additional meets throughout February, March, and April. We as a school are also very proud to say that our JROTC Air Rifle Team has, for the second year in a row, qualified for the JROTC Air Rifle Regional Championships that will be held in Port Clinton, OH from February 16-18.
Our Honor Guard, as always, represented CDH well at the President's Advisory Committee Luncheon, other ceremonies and alumni funerals. Our Cadets have volunteered to help with Open Houses and several other school events.