It has been a very different experience for most of the 70-plus St. Markers playing intercollegiate sports this year. Not only were spring seasons abbreviated or cancelled outright, but many winter campaigns were cut short in the midst of tournaments or championship runs.

Eleven St. Mark's athletes were college seniors this year. Jordan Scurry '16 completed his varsity basketball career at D1 Creighton University as a champion. The COVID-19 crisis saw the Bluejays' 24-7 season—ranked seventh (Associated Press poll) and ninth (coaches' poll) nationally: their best-ever standings—ended before the start of the Big East tournament. With that annual event canceled, the Conference named Creighton co-champion of the Big East for 2020.

Over the course of his time at Creighton, Scurry appeared in 58 games as a reserve guard "who has tremendous energy and enthusiasm for the program," according to head coach Greg McDermott. He scored 85 points on his career along with 18 rebounds and nine assists, shooting .500 from the free-throw line. A journalism major, Scurry earned Big East All-Academic honors. While at St. Mark's, he was a three-time All-ISL selection and he twice was named a NEPSAC all-star. He was team MVP and was a member of the School's 1,000-point club.

Kara Finnerty '16 ended her storied women's varsity lacrosse career at Bowdoin with a spectacular four-game run before the season was shut down. During that stretch, the Polar Bears' co-captain scored seven goals with four assists and was named Player-of-the-Week by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association. Over four seasons for Bowdoin, Finnerty played in 58 games, scoring 75 goals and tallying 60 assists (the latter good for fourth-highest in Bowdoin women's lacrosse history). A multiple All-NESCAC and All-All-America honoree, Finnerty was also co-captain of Bowdoin Field Hockey, with 35 goals and 24 assists for 94 points, good for top 10 in the Bowdoin record book. She earned All-NESCAC, All-Region, and All-America field hockey recognition. She was also named to the NESCAC All-Academic team. While at St. Mark's, Finnerty was a three-sport captain, with multiple All-ISL selections and was a girls' lacrosse All-American. She was the recipient of the 2016 Fearing Athletic Prize.

Finnerty's St. Mark's classmate, Rebecca Shea '16, also closed out an intercollegiate women's lacrosse career this spring, at St. Anselm's College in Manchester, New Hampshire. A starter on defense, Shea was a key member of an outstanding Hawks team, undefeated at 4-0 before the season's sudden end. Over 48 games at St. Anselm's she registered 47 ground balls. An English major, she was named several times to the Northeast-10 Conference's academic honor roll. She was twice named All-ISL while at St. Mark's.

Tess D'Orsi '16 had an outstanding career for Princeton's women's lacrosse team. In 58 games she scored 144 goals (sixth-best all-time for the Tigers) with 43 assists for 187 points (good for 10^th-best at Princeton), while her 3.22 points per game is the third best average in the history of the university's women's lacrosse program. Injury prevented her from playing in her team's five games in this year's abbreviated season. D'Orsi was a three-time All-Ivy selection during her time at Princeton. At St. Mark's, she set a host of scoring records, was four-time All-ISL selection and a three-time USA Lacrosse All-American.

Grace Conrad '16 wrapped up four years of women's varsity tennis at Pennsylvania's Lafayette College with an extraordinary run of 16 victories (10-1 in singles competition, 6-3 in doubles) as the D1 Leopards came out of the gate going 9-2, Lafayette's best start in 15 years. During her time at Lafayette, Conrad was 50-25 playing singles for the Leopards and 35-34 playing doubles. Her freshman year she was recognized by the Lehigh Valley Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (LVAIAW) as an outstanding athlete. An Economics major, she also was named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. At St. Mark's she was three-time team MVP and three-time All-ISL selection. She was a two-time captain, helping lead St. Mark's to the New England championship in 2015.

Another St. Mark's alumnus, Jonathan Hallal '16, played his college tennis for Colby. Over four years, the former St. Mark's MVP and All-ISL selection went 19-17 as a singles player and was 2-3 in limited doubles opportunities with the Mules. Majoring in mathematical science with a minor in economics, after graduation he will be working as a business analyst for London-based Deloitte Consulting.

At least the lacrosse and tennis players this spring saw their teams get some intercollegiate competition in before their seasons were shut down in the pandemic. Collegiate rowers, including two members of the St. Mark's Class of 2016, were not as fortunate. Madison Falzon '16, a four-year veteran of the Syracuse crew program, rowed in the sixth seat of the Orange women's fourth varsity eight at the annual Head of the Housatonic last October, coming in 22^nd out of 30 boats, finishing ahead of Boston University, UMass, Boston College, Columbia, and Fordham. But there would be no races come spring. On her college rowing career, she twice rowed to second place finishes in ACC championship races. At St. Mark's she won a bronze medal at the NEIRA Regatta.

Desmond Goodwin '16 rowed four years for the Radcliffe crew. This past fall, she rowed on the Radcliffe women's heavyweight eight which came in eighth out of 32 boats in the Championship Eight race at the Head of the Charles Regatta. Three weeks later her boat finished first at the Foot of the Charles, on a cold, windy day. But as with other college crew programs, all races were cancelled this spring. During her time as a Radcliffe rower, Goodwin has been on both the first and second varsity eights, competing in many important races (including winning the Club 8 race at the 2017 Head of the Charles). A history major, she was named a College Rowing Coaches Association National Scholar Athlete in 2019. At St. Mark's, she received the Coy Prize as that athlete "whose surpassing intensity and determination, whose exceptional conditioning and physical courage, whose desire to excel regardless of injury or adversity and whose tenacious devotion to the success of his or her teams exemplify the spirit and joy of competition."

Three other St. Markers (along with Kara Finnerty) who saw college athletic action this fall will also be graduating. An earlier SM web story detailed the successes of Marcia LaPlante (Holy Cross field hockey), Marissa Feller (Williams field hockey), and Payton Nugent (University of Rochester women's rugby).

At least three more members of the St. Mark's Class of 2016 played college ice hockey this winter, but because of their gap years playing junior hockey, they are still juniors. Ryan Ferland '16 has already appeared in 66 games as goalie for the Princeton Tigers over three seasons. With one year to go, he has 1783 career saves (seventh-most in the Princeton record book), a .909 save percentage (fourth-best ever for the Tigers), and a 2.95 goals-against-average (sixth-best). Earlier this season, he recorded a career-best 44 saves against Quinnipiac. Zack Tsekos '16 transferred to Clarkson after two years at Sacred Heart, where he had 12 goals and 30 assists in 62 games and was named the Pioneers' rookie of the year. This winter at Clarkson he scored eight goals and tallied 18 assists for 26 points in 34 games for the 23-8-3 Golden Knights. He was ECAC Player of the Week with two goals and two assists against Brown in early February. A mathematical economics major with a 4.00 GPA, he was named ECAC Student Athlete of the Year for 2020. Derek Osik '16 played in a single game for the UMass Lowell River Hawks.

Ten St. Mark's alumni saw action in college or university athletics as juniors in 2020. Jess Adams '17 has already appeared in 84 games as a member of the Elmira College Soaring Eagles women's varsity ice hockey team, with 31 goals and 19 assists for 50 points over three seasons. This year Elmira went 22-4-2 and was ranked fifth in the NCAA DIII standings before post-season tournament play was cancelled. Adams had her best season, scoring 20 goals and registering eight assists. Adams' St. Mark's classmate, Grace Gorman '17, has seen success on Trinity college's women's varsity swimming team. She has already set Bantam records on the 200-yard freestyle relay team and the 400-yard medley relay team. This year, in a victory over Brandeis on the road, she won in both the 50-yard backstroke and the 200-yard medley relay. She also won the 50-yard backstroke in a road win at Clark University in Worcester.

In spring sports, Ellie Hedison '17 played in three games on defense for the 4-2 Colby women's lacrosse team. Her best game came in a win over Plymouth State. A government major (with a minor in English) she was named to the NESCAC All-Academic team in 2019. In men's lacrosse, Ian Gobron '17 played in one game in Kenyon's COVID-19 abbreviated spring season. It was a victory over Washington & Jefferson. Two St. Markers—Samantha Sarafin '17 and Keely Dion '17 were shut out of their spring rowing seasons at Radcliffe and George Washington University respectively. Sarafin rowed in the Championship 8 race at last fall's Head of the Charles Regatta, while Dion is a varsity coxswain who earned a place on the George Washington Athletic Department Dean's list.

This past fall, Tatum Schultz '17 (Dartmouth field hockey—51 games in three seasons), Brody Fuller '17 (Macalester football—13 receptions as a wide receiver and an Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Academic selection), Cole Schmitz '17 (Washington University at St. Louis men's soccer—UAA All-Academic team), and Riley Lochhead '17 (Boston College women's soccer—second on the team in assists) all played college sports.

Six from the St. Mark's Class of 2018 played college sports this past winter. Three were involved in women's squash programs. Cricket Dotson '18 is now at Bates, and she went 12-7 from the number eight position for the 12-7 Bobcats. In her varsity debut for the Jumbos of Tufts University, Natalie Bartlett '18 was 10-7, while Summer Hornbostel '18 had one win for the Middlebury Panthers. Two other St. Markers played women's ice hockey as college juniors. Caroline Peterson '18 had a goal and an assist with four blocked shots in the defensive zone for the 18-4-4 Providence College Friars. Over two years she has played in 36 games and has a pair of goals and two assists. Lindsay Dumond '18 had an assist and five blocks in 30 games for the 18-15-4 University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team in 2020. In two seasons with the Wildcats she has appeared in 66 games and has a pair of goals. Peter Nugent '18 appeared in 12 games as a freshman for Suffolk University, scoring a key goal in the Rams' victory over Castleton. He's also on the Dean's List and in the honors program there.

Springtime college juniors from St. Mark's included a trio of baseball players. Henry Butterfield '18 played in five games for 11-4 Washington College, batting .500 with one run and one RBI and fielding flawlessly in eight chances at shortstop. Nick Murray '18 was a right-handed pitcher for the University of Cincinnati, hurling 4.2 innings of relief with four strikeouts for the 7-8 Bearcats. His St. Mark's teammate and classmate C.J. McKennett '18 transferred to the University of Pittsburgh, where he struck out six in 6.2 innings of work for the 10-6 Panthers. Previously, with Holy Cross, he was 2-5 over 21 games, striking out 38 in 39.1 innings. Cooper Giblin '18 saw limited action in goal for the Colby Mules men's lacrosse team, while Lillian Stout '18 was on Princeton's women's varsity lacrosse roster. Sophie Haugen '18 was the coxswain for Radcliffe's Club 4 boat at this past fall's Head of the Charles Regatta, but there was no crew in the spring.

Eight members from the SM Class of 2018 played college sports this past fall: Anthony D'Angelo (Wake Forest football), Hailey DuBose (UMass Lowell women's soccer), Tyreese James (WPI football), Matt Leigh (UPenn soccer), Laquan McKever (UPenn sprint football), Lizzy Provost (Trinity field hockey), Grace Sambrook (Wake Forest field hockey), and Keelie Verbeek (Washington College women's soccer).

Twenty-four St. Markers played on college varsity teams as freshmen in 2019-2020. This past winter, Julianna Gong '19 excelled for the William Smith women's ice hockey program. With 15 goals and 19 assists she was the second-leading scorer for the 18-9 Herons, setting the program's rookie scoring record and ranking third nationally in rookie scoring at 1.26 points per game. She was twice United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Rookie of the Week and was selected to the UCHC All-Rookie team. She was named the 2020 UCHC Rookie of the Year and was an honorable mention UCHC All-Star. Also in ice hockey action, Alex Cardonick '19 appeared in eight games for the Williams College men's team. In men's varsity squash, Eduardo Perez '19 was 11-10 for Bowdoin, while Kareem Chambers '19 made his collegiate wrestling debut for the Johns Hopkins varsity, appearing in three dual meets for the Bluejays.

This spring, Ethan Student '19 appeared in one game as an outfielder for the RIT baseball team and Gunnar Vachris '19 played in two games at third base for 16-4 Rhodes College. Boyd Hall '19 saw action as a defenseman for the Quinnipiac men's varsity lacrosse team, registering four ground balls and forcing three turnovers in just two games. In women's lacrosse, Bailey Horne '19 had goals in victories over High Point and Louisville for the University of North Carolina's women's varsity lacrosse team, unbeaten at 7-0 and ranked #1 among the nation's D1 programs before the rest of the spring was cancelled. Caroline Dawson '19, on the women's varsity soccer team in the fall, played two lacrosse games on defense for Hamilton College while Shelby Howard '19 followed up her Bates College soccer debut in the fall by appearing in all five games for the Bobcats in women's lacrosse.

Along with Dawson and Howard, 13 other college freshmen from St. Mark's performed at the varsity level in the fall. Lindsay Strong (Wellesley) and Faith Jennings (Bowdoin) played field hockey. Alex Batista (Muhlenberg), Patrick Dei (Colby), Tyler Gonsalvez (Colby), CJ Schumaker (RPI), and Ben Winters (Franklin & Marshall) played football. Women's soccer players included Kerrie Verbeek (Colby), Teresa Meyer (Franklin & Marshall), and Zoe Maddox (Holy Cross). Grant Gattuso and Rwick Sarkar ran cross country for Williams, while Luca Vicinelli played men's soccer for Denison.

Eleven St. Mark's athletes may be graduating from college this year, but 20 more will be entering the college sports lists come autumn, so a record number of Lion alums could be seeing action at a higher level in 2020-2021. Good luck to all!

All of the above information has been carefully vetted and verified, but it is possible, especially under current circumstances, for us to have missed someone. If you know of a St. Mark's graduate currently involved in college sports, please let us know. Contact nicknoble@stmarksschool.org. Thank you.