Student Standouts for February 24, 2023

Student Standouts: Merlin ’28, O’Neil ’28, Pacifico ’28, Mason ’29, Schultz ’29, Art Students, Chess Club, Mock Trial, 5th & 6th Grade Drama Club, Boys Basketball, Boys Ice Hockey, Girls Swimming & Diving

Congratulations to this week’s standouts below. Way to go #RamNation! And as always, if you have a story to share, please email weeklynews@micds.org.

 

Three Seventh Graders Win First Place at Field Hockey Tournament

Lila Merlin ’28, Samantha O’Neil ’28, and Mia Pacifico ’28 finished in first place in their pool at USA Field Hockey’s National Indoor Tournament in Lancaster, Pennsylvania this past weekend.  This is their field hockey team’s second first-place 2023 win, as they also finished first place in their bracket at the Disney Sunshine Showcase in Orlando, Florida, in January. Way to go, field hockey stars!

Sixth Graders Place 1st in Club Volleyball Tournament

Margot Mason ’29 and Natasha Schultz’s ’29 club volleyball team, HP 12 Premier, won gold at the Presidents Day Classic Volleyball Tournament at America’s Center in downtown St. Louis. They placed first out of 20 teams that competed from around the midwest. Both Margot and Natasha will attend volleyball camp at MICDS this summer during the week of July 24. Great job, Rams!

13 Art Students Exhibiting Work at the St. Louis Artists' Guild Young Artists' Exhibition

The work of several art students at MICDS was selected for the St. Louis Artists’ Guild’s Young Artists’ Exhibition. According to the website, the “Young Artists’ Showcase is a juried, all-media exhibition of artwork created by high school students between 15 and 19 years old residing within 150 miles of the St. Louis Artists’ Guild.” The Opening Reception is on Friday, February 24, 5-8 p.m., with an awards ceremony at 6:30 p.m. The showcase runs from February 24 through March 25.

Congratulations to the following MICDS art students for their work being on display:

  • Ana Chu ’24 – Untitled
  • Jeremiah Clay ’24 – Where God Sent Me
  • Ella Etherington ’24 – Untitled
  • PeiPei Huang ’25 –  Teapot with Flowers
  • Hans Kamat ’24 – Teapot
  • Walter Lindsey ’24 – Untitled
  • Sam Matisziw ’25 – Teapot Blue
  • Amir Muhammad ’24 – New Era
  • Keely O’Connell ’23 – Untitled
  • Juliette Phillips ’23 – Untitled
  • Mason Swartz ’24 – Untitled
  • Elise Toombs ’26 – Spring Church
  • Abby Wyckoff ’24 – Beauty Blemishes

MICDS Chess Season Success

By Arjun Puri ’25

This year, the MICDS chess team came into the season following a successful 2021-2022 year, where they went 6-1 during the regular season and made it to the league semifinals, ultimately falling to top seed Ladue (A). Nigina Aripova and Frank Ragone graduated in 2022, leaving a team composed primarily of underclassmen. For 2022-2023, the team included (in board order) Arjun Puri ’25, Charlie Glass ’25, Yash Shelar ’26, Theodore Elfenbein ’23, Shreyas Kota ’26, Henry Clay ’24, and Eli Thomas ’24.

Coming into the season, Puri, Glass, Elfenbein, and Clay carried team experience from last year, while freshmen Shelar and Kota brought with them extensive tournament experience. In the regular season, the team went 6-3, featuring close wins over John Burroughs and Clayton and tight losses against Parkway West and Webster Groves. With each match, the team got stronger, highlighted by their five-match win streak at the end of the season. Their score earned them fourth place in the competitive west conference.

During the conference semifinals held on February 22, 2023, the team earned a rematch against top-seeded Ladue (A), who went undefeated during the regular season. In a match that took nearly two-and-a-half hours to complete, MICDS, unfortunately, ended up falling short. Despite the season’s conclusion, the team is satisfied with their performance, with an overall positive record. They plan to take this year’s experience into next season, hopefully with another deep run.

Mock Trial - Season Update & Advancing to Regionals

By Aanya Tiwari ’23

The MICDS Mock Trial program sent two teams this 2022-2023 season to compete in the Missouri High School Mock Trial Program. Founded by the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the competition provides realistic courtroom simulations wherein schools play against one another by portraying an assigned side of a given case. Attorneys fulfill the roles of judges and jurors while students fulfill the roles of attorneys and witnesses. Each team sells their story—be it Prosecution or Defense—with the help of their witness testimonies, attorney statements, objections, and support. Throughout the trial, the judge and two jurors assign scores to all the players of both teams out of a total of 10. By the conclusion of the trial, they must cast their ballot in favor of the side that delivered the most convincing argument in their eyes; majority ballots as well as a substantial team score bring home a win for the respective team.

As always, the program has offered students a taste of the legal and justice system by providing them with first-hand courtroom exposure and developing their understanding of the system’s structure and procedure. Furthermore, it has improved public speaking as well as critical thinking skills in all students. Students who have participated in MICDS Mock Trial over the years have gone on to hold internships with local attorneys and, later, pursued law degrees of their own.

This year, the MICDS Mock Trial Teams once again qualified for Regionals. During the preliminary rounds, each team played two trials. Both teams won both trials by securing all three possible ballots in each trial. Shoutout to the talented members across both teams: 

Freshman:

  • Narya Phatak ’26
  • Ava Casillas ’26
  • Harrison Foster ’26
  • Prakul Bhattarai ’26
  • Aiyla Ahmad ’26
  • Bella Anadkat ’26
  • Aaheli Aurora ’26
  • Meredith Mack ’26

Sophomores:

  • Taaj Saddler ’25
  • Claire Giokas ’25

Juniors:

  • Safi Junejo ’24
  • Prithvi Atluri ’24

Seniors:

  • Aanya Tiwari ’23
  • Ashley Benoist ’23
  • Nikitha Ada ’23
  • Sanchi Vishwakarma ’23
  • Isaac Bierman ’23
  • Henry Yuska ’23
  • Phillip Ralph ’23
  • Amara Autry ’23
MICDS Mock Trial Seniors (2023)

Of course, we would not have even reached this stage if it weren’t for our selfless, passionate, and hardworking coaches: Upper School History Teachers Tanya Roth and Jason Asher, and our attorney coach from Sinars Slowikowski Tomaska, Rebecca Nickelson. As MICDS advances to Regionals, we will be competing against two teams out of the 16 teams that have qualified, hoping to proceed to State. In addition to the team members below, several students continue to support the team as alternates and timekeepers.

Regionals/State Team:

  • Aanya Tiwari ‘23
  • Ashley Benoist ‘23
  • Nikitha Ada ‘23 
  • Isaac Bierman ‘23
  • Quinn Autry ‘23
  • Safi Junejo ‘24
  • Narya Phatak ‘26
  • Harrison Foster ‘26
  • Ava Casillas ‘26

Regionals take place on March 7 and March 9. If you wish to attend and support your fellow Rams, please contact troth@micds.org for more information. Roll Rams! 

Fifth/Sixth Grade Drama Club Attends Metro Theater Company Production

Twenty of our fifth and sixth-grade Drama Club members and their parents/guardians recently attended the production of Spells of the Sea at the Metro Theater Company. “Offering our students and families the opportunity to share a live theater experience is an important component of our Fifth/Sixth Grade Drama Club,” said Missy Heinemann, Middle & Lower School Drama Teacher.

After the show, students had an opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with the actors. In addition to attending a production at Metro Theater Company, students are also collaborating and preparing for their own live performance—the fourth annual Drama Club Showcase taking place this Friday, February 24, in the Freeman Theater! Break a leg, Drama Club members!

Boys Basketball Defeats Lutheran North

The MICDS Boys Basketball team is in the news for defeating Lutheran North last Friday, February 17, 53-40. Brin Lewis ’23 scored 20 points, Marcus Coleman ’23 scored 10, and Jason Klutho ’23 led in rebounds (8). Go Rams!

Ice Hockey Team Advances to Semifinals

The MICDS Ice Hockey team is advancing to the semifinals this weekend! They’ll be playing against Fort Zumwalt West both on Friday, February 24 at 9:10 p.m. and on Saturday, February 25 at 3:20 p.m. Both games will be located at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights. Let’s go Rams!

Ice Hockey Team 2022-23
Photo Credit: TOM PAULE PHOTOGRAPHY

Girls Swimming & Diving Takes 6th in the Class 2 Championship Meet

The MICDS Girls Swimming and Diving team made an impressive splash at the State Championship last week, earning 6th place! Here are some of the highlights from State on Thursday, February 16:

  • Isabel Phillips ’24 and Everdine Ferguson ’24 finished 15th & 24th in 100 Butterfly
  • Juliette Phillips ’23, Grace Coppel ’25, and Mikaela Mikulec ’24 finished 3rd, 15th, & 22nd in the 100 Free
  • Nina Schuerer ’25 took 5th in the 500 Free
  • In the 200 Free Relay, J. Phillips, Lindsay Naber ’25, Coppel, & Mikulec finished 1st in prelims
  • Naber finished 3rd in the 100 Backstroke
  • In the 400 Free Relay, J. Phillips, Coppel, Schuerer, & Naber took 6th

Check out the Day 2 State highlights from Friday, February 17:

  • Schuerer took 7th in 200 Free
  • Naber took 7th in the 200 Individual Medley
  • Coppel took 4th and Mikulec took 11th in the 50 Free
  • I. Phillips finishes 14th in the 100 Butterfly
  • J. Phillips took 3rd and Coppel took 15th in the 100 Free
  • Schuerer took 7th in the 500 Free
  • Naber took 3rd in the 100 Backstroke
  • In the 200 Free Relay, J. Phillips, Naber, Coppel, & Mikulec took 1st, setting a new school record
  • In the 400 Free Relay, J, Phillips, Coppel, Schuerer, & Naber took 6th to wrap up the 2023 State Swimming & Diving Championship

Way to go, swimmers!