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The Roll Dons Report is a monthly e-newsletter for the whole of our Loyola Blakefield community. Read on for the latest updates from our Athletics Department, including upcoming events, recent scores, team news and shoutouts.
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Dear Loyola Blakefield Community,
As we end the winter sports season at Loyola and spring sports begin, it is important to remember the reasons why we have athletics at Loyola. Sports should be fun, first. They are meant to be played for enjoyment and to share a common goal and bond with teammates. When an athlete’s playing career ends, most miss the times they spent with their teammates in the locker rooms. They miss the shared bond they had with their friends, with their brothers. Whether you only play sports in high school or get the chance to play again in college, a student-athlete's career in sports is over quickly. Take time to enjoy it.
Loyola Athletics also serves the school by supporting its mission; to help our students grow closer to God. To get the full experience, we want our student-athletes to practice the skills that Jesus taught us during his short time on earth. Jesus preached living your life for a purpose beyond yourself, living for the greater glory of God. We want our student-athletes to get to this point and just like every skill an athlete must learn, it is a step-by-step process. That first step should be to put the team’s needs above your individual needs. To understand that the team’s goals are greater and more important than your individual goals. This takes a selfless mentality and spirit.
I know our Dons are up to the task this spring. Please join me in supporting them and our mission.
Roll Dons Roll!
 Blake Henry '98
Director of Athletics
bhenry@loyolablakefield.org |
Upcoming Events & IMPORTANT INFORMATION |
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Middle School Spring Sports
Student Meeting
March 4, 2024 | 3:00 PM
All 7th and 8th grade students that want to try out for a spring sport should attend this meeting. 6th graders are invited to attend the meeting if they want to participate in track and field. The meeting will be on March 4 from 3:00-3:30pm in the dining hall.
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Upper School Spring Sports Mass
March 4, 2024 | 3:00 PM
On March 4 at 3:00pm, all upper school spring sports athletes will attend mass in the chapel.
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Virtual Spring Sports
Preseason Parent Meeting
March 4, 2024 | 7:00 PM
On March 4 at 7:00pm, all upper school and middle school parents that have a son that has either made a spring sports team (upper school) or plans on trying out for a spring sports team (middle school) should attend a virtual meeting.
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Middle School Spring Sports Begin
March 5, 2024
On March 5 after school, tryouts will be held for 7th grade lacrosse, 8th grade lacrosse, Middle School Baseball, Middle School Track and Field, and Middle School Tennis.
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Leadership Speaker
March 14, 2024 | 3:00 PM
On March 14 at 3:00, all upper school spring sports athletes will attend a presentation on leadership, conducted by Jamy Bechler. Please visit this website to learn more about Jamy and his philosophy on leadership.
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We have a tremendous coaching staff at Loyola Blakefield, comprised of talented men and women from a variety of backgrounds. Each month we'll highlight one of our coaches and share how they Form leaders to serve with and for others; Develop the mind, body and spirit of student-athletes; and Build programs that foster a culture of champions.
INTRODUCING COACH TRUITT
Head Coach Steve Truitt is now in his 21st year as a Middle School history teacher & Head Coach of the Loyola Wrestling team. In his time here, Coach Truitt has a 370-117 record and has been named the Maryland Coach of the Year three times and was selected as the National Coach of the Year in 2020. In his time at Loyola the wrestling team has enjoyed tremendous success on and off the mat, including a current 19 match win streak against rival Calvert Hall. In addition to wrestling, Coach Truitt has coached baseball at Loyola on the Varsity, JV, and Middle school teams. In 2022, Coach Truitt was awarded the prestigious Marcus Ryu (’91) Employee Excellence Award for excellence in teaching. Coach Truitt and his wife Annie have 2 boys, Jack and Tyler, who are in the 9th and 11th grades respectively.
How do you form leaders to serve with and for others on your team?
Wrestling is the oldest and greatest sport on Earth. There is a quote from Dan Gable that goes “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else is easy” and it couldn’t be more true. Sports teach us a lot about life and wrestling is the best teacher. You are out there all by yourself with no one to blame or get the credit. There are no politics – you’re either better or you’re not and there is nowhere to hide. In a lot of ways, this simulates life. Wrestling develops confidence, work ethic, dedication, and sacrifice. Wrestling is an individual sport with a team component. We work the guys hard but we also do a lot of team building activities and different types of workouts to build chemistry and help the guys realize that they need to be “all in” to get the best out of themselves and each other.
How do you develop the mind, body, and spirit of each student-athlete on your team?
Wrestling is a true program at Loyola. It’s not just Varsity, JV, or Middle School teams. We fight for and with each other from top to bottom. I am fortunate to co-labor with an amazing group of coaches from different backgrounds and experiences. We work hard on relationship building with our athletes and we hold them accountable. We have established an Academic Support Program led by Christian Anderson which monitors the academic progress of each wrestler. This way, we can advocate for our athletes if they are ever in any academic peril.
My hope is that all the wrestlers know that we care about them more than just as an athlete. We care about them as individuals who happen to wrestle and we want the best for them on and off the mat They know that sometimes we’re going to put our arm around them and sometimes we’re going to kick them in the butt. But, by being consistent, tough, and fair our wrestlers buy in to what we’re preaching. Boys are smart. They’re perceptive. And they can see a phony a mile away. The wrestling program is a close-knit family who pick each other up and build on the successes we accomplish as a team.
How is the wrestling program at Loyola being built to foster a culture of champions?
Loyola Wrestling is a consistent winner. Varsity Wrestling has produced 31 conference champions, 9 state champions, 20 prep All-Americans, and a National Champion, but the most important accomplishment of the program is that it instills and demands that our athletes are true Loyola Dons on and off the mat. Through good sportsmanship, hard work, dedication, and sacrifice, we hope that the young men that wrestle for us will be outstanding students and citizens when their time at Loyola is over.
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SPORTS Updates
Please note that the updates below from our coaches refLect status of teams as of publication deadline. Track all results on our website. |
VARSITY
The Varsity Dons head into the final week of the season after a great ending to the regular season reaching the 20-win mark. We had to beat McDonogh and Calvert Hall to make the playoffs and the Varsity Dons did just that. We concluded MIAA play on road at MSJ in the playoffs where we were up at halftime and lost in the 2nd half. The first round of the BCL playoffs is set for March 1 4:45pm at Goucher College against Mt. Carmel. The Varsity Dons are excited for this opportunity to keep our season going!
JUNIOR VARSITY
Our team has had a successful season so far BUT we are not done yet! We lost to Mount Saint Joseph in the semi-finals of the MIAA playoffs. Now we have a second chance in the BCL playoffs. The first round of our playoffs is Tuesday (2/27) at home against the other Towson school (Calvert Hall). The boys are still locked in and ready to go win this championship! It has been a pleasure being able to coach and work with these young men.
FROSH
The Frosh Dons worked on fundamentals and on learning to play with intensity this season. The best game of the season was the game at Calvert Hall, a 54-41 win. A highlight of the season was the home game against CHC where the Dons wore warm-ups from 50+ years ago and the National Anthem was sung by Freshman Carter Harrison.
All in all, with the ups and downs of a 4 month season, the Dons improved as players and people.
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VARSITY
The Dons finished a strong season 9-3-0 with a heartbreaking loss to Boy’s Latin in the MIAA Championship. They finished the season with a commanding 72 goals for and 31 against. We had MIAA league leaders in several categories this season. Goaltender, Tommy Bunte, was tied for 2nd in the league in shutouts and was 1st in the MIAA for total wins with 9. Jimmy Albanesi was 2nd in the MIAA for points with 27 (17 G, 10 A) and was 1st in the MIAA for short-handed goals with 7. Jesse D'Alonzo was 4th in the MIAA in points with 23 (11 G, 12 A). Ryder McClure was 6th in the league in points with 22 (12 G, 10 A). Ashton King was 11th in the league in points with 15 (7 G, 8 A). Brett Gately was 12th in the MIAA in points with 13 (8 G, 5 A). Josh Goloboski was 13th in the league in points with 13 (7 G, 6 A). The Dons look forward to growing the program and bringing championships back to Loyola.
SCHEDULES & MORE:
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VARSITY
The coaches are very proud of what the varsity indoor track and field team accomplished as a team. In a true team effort, the Dons took third place in the powerful MIAA conference and third place in the Maryland State Private Schools meet. Loyola is also currently ranked number four in the metro area by the Sunpapers.
Individually several Dons were MIAA champions and all-MIAA. Winners include senior Jack Wachter in the pole vault, sophomore Khary Adams in the 300 and junior Nick LaGreca, seniors Liam Lucas, Bryce Robinson and Andrew Rowan in the 4 x 800 relay. Additionally junior Will Coyne was named all-MIAA by a coaches vote.
Finally, it is always important for an institution to remember its history. Several Dons moved into the top five list of all time marks in their events this year highlighted by Jack Wachter setting a school record in the pole vault. Those athletes are Wachter, Will Coyne in the pole vault, Khary Adams in the 55 and 300, Matt Johnson in the shot put and Daniel McCormick in the long jump.
Junior Varsity
The coaching staff is very proud of how hard the JV indoor track and field athletes worked this year. It was a very young squad and the experience of competing against some bigger, faster athletes is only going to make them better in the future. There is no doubt in the mind of the coaches that this group of student-athletes will continue to grow and develop into varsity athletes. The future looks bright for Dons track and field.
SCHEDULES & MORE:
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Varsity
For the first time in a few years, Varsity Squash traveled to Philadelphia for the National High School championships. The team was in Division VI and ran into a buzzsaw in BBN from Boston. They were the eighth seed (yet finished third in the division) and the Dons the ninth. But from the outset, it was clear that they were far superior, winning 6-1. As the team has done all year, they played hard. We lost our first consolation match, 4-3 in a match that could’ve gone the other way. We won both our matches on Saturday and Sunday easily, finishing 2-2 and 13th place in our division.
What made the trip so special was seeing the improvement of all the top players from the beginning of the year to the end. Although we finished fourth in the MIAA, we were the most improved team in the league from beginning to end. The team has a nice core of players returning, and there’s always room for people who want to play a racquet sport and be part of a team.
JUNIOR VARSIty
JV squash finished in a tie for third place in the 2023-4 MIAA season, won the tiebreaker and played St. Paul’s in the semifinals. Although the Dons came out on the short end of that match, the gap between St. Paul’s talent and ours continues to narrow. We were a squad led by freshmen, with four of our top five players being ninth graders. This was a team that generally enjoyed each other’s presence at practice, worked hard, and still managed to make practices both fun and silly. A special shout out to Jake Smith who was the team’s most improved player, rising from near the bottom of the ladder to the top seven. Many of our players either started in Loyola’s middle school or as ninth graders. There’s room in the future for inexperienced players who are athletic and willing to work hard. Success for all teams should be measured by improvement and enjoyment. By that standard, this was one of the best JV seasons ever.
SCHEDULES & MORE:
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VARSITY
The Swimming and Diving Dons wrapped up their season in a huge way! The Dons went undefeated in the dual meet season, won three National Catholic Championships in a row, and won their first MIAA title in seven years. It was a very exciting year in the pool.
The Dons celebrated their season with their annual end of the season banquet. The team took time to honor the seniors: Ethan Daughtery, Andrew Tillman, Jack Holman, Teddy McQuaid, Bradin Norris, Jimmy Gwin, and Mattox Hibler. The team captains, Harry Belbot, Jack Holman, Teddy McQuaid, and Ethan Daughtery were honored with leadership awards. Matt Cattaneo won the Unsung Hero award, Oliver Black won MVP diver award, and Daniel Brannon won the MVP award.
Diver, Oliver Black, competed at Eastern Championship and won 7th place. Oliver was Loyola’s highest point scoring diver.
We are proud of the Swimming and Diving Dons and looking forward to the future!
Junior Varsity
The JV swim team had one of its better seasons in recent years. The young Aqua Dons finished 2nd in the MIAA Championships to McDonogh but have closed the gap. Our guys fought hard, swam well, and McDonogh knows who we are. Outstanding swimmers on the JV side were without a doubt Ian Durham, Sal Anello, Ben Farls, and Topher Mitchell. Ian showed up big at championships...real big. Sal dominated in his 200 I.M., Ben continued to be one of the best sprinters in the league, and Topher Mitchell broke the 100 best JV record. Add to this the depth of the team with almost every swimmer scoring points in the JV championship and wow what a good year. The young men (the entire team) listened, improved, and at times pushed the varsity to help propel the varsity to their first MIAA Championship since 2017.
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VARSITY
The Varsity team was again one of the top teams in the state. We were ranked #3 in Maryland and also #3 in the Baltimore Sun polls. The team finished with a record of 15-5. We finished 3rd in the Maryland Independent State Tournament, beating local rival MSJ but 21 points! The team had 3 finalists with one state champion – Senior, Judah Aybar @ 150lbs and qualified 10 wrestlers for National Preps! The team travelled to Lehigh University this past weekend where we finished 15th and brought home 2 All Americans - Junior Luke Randazzo (HWT) and Jayden Jackson (113lbs). This was Luke's 1st time as a Prep All-American and Jayden is now a 2-time All-American as a sophomore. He's still in line to become our program's 1st 4-time Prep All-American.
Philip Key - 4th @ 106lbs
Jayden Jackson – Runner Up @ 113
Cayden Farver – 6th @ 120
Judah Aybar – CHAMPION @ 150
Nevan McKneely – 6th @ 157
Luke Randazzo – Runner up @ HWT
Junior VARSITY
The JV wrestling team had another successful season on the mat. Led by JV Head Coach, Christian Anderson (’89), the team finished an impressive 3rd at the Maryland Independent State Tournament. The JV team boasts a record amount of talented young men who are dedicated to getting better every day. The team was led by a core of young wrestlers who will be working hard this offseason to make the Varsity next year.
JV State Tournament Winners and Placers:
SCHEDULES & MORE:
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BASKETBALL - 8th GRADE
The 8th grade basketball team proved to be resilient all year long. Starting the season 0-5 to then battle for back to back wins, showed the team that they can handle adversity. The boys played hard and learned a lot against some really, strong opponents this year. We practiced layups, shooting, foul shooting, passing, moving without the ball, moving the ball against the zone, setting screens and the importance of dribbling with your head up every day after school. I look at our season as a success! We built upon our strengths and learned how to improve our decision-making skills in the heat of the moment. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. lessons were learned every day. I loved how our guys battled with class and respect towards everyone. Even until the last second!
BASKETBALL - 7th GRADE
The 7th grade basketball Dons returned to action January 22nd against St Paul’s at home. The team got to play for the first time in the performance gym. This was the first game after a long break from winter break and exams. The Don’s fought hard but ended up losing 38-27. Kunmi Edmondson-Deigh lead the team with 11 points. James Hunter added 9 points. On February 1st Loyola returned to action in the four-court gym to take on Gilman. It was a rematch from the first game of the season. The Don’s came out strong and competed with a bigger Gilman team but ended up losing 36-31. Jame Hunter led the way with 9 points for the Don’s. February 8th Loyola took on Boy’s Latin at home. The Don’s came out on fire from the start and never looked back. This win took all 14 guys to win, and they came together for the best all-around game they played all season. Kunmi Edmonson-Deigh lead the way with 13 points while James Hunter adds 10 points. Luke Szeliga hit two big three points and foul shots to put the game away for a 45-40 victory. The last game of the season took place Feb 9th against Chapelgates 8th grade team. After taking a heart-breaking loss at Chapelgate, the Don’s had something to prove. The Don’s came out from the beginning playing hard and took home the victory 46-38. Luke Szeliga hit 4 three pointers in a row in the 4th quarter to finish with 12 points. James Hunter added 12 points as well. This win could not have happened if it wasn’t for Jake Aldridge who was task with guarding Chapelgates best player who dropped 30 on the Don’s in the first game. The Don’s decided to play a box in one and held their best player to 11 points. The Don’s finished 4-6 on the season. Coach Showe would like to thank all 14 players. (Jake Alridge, Kellan Alvery, Ryan Eck, Kunmi Edmonson-Deigh, George Fenhagen, James Hunter, Luke Marshall, Cole McKercher, Jack Rupp, Jack Schnorr, Luek Szeliga, Olsen Yetso, Bryce Glenn, and Will Bennett) for a GREAT FIRST SEASON as a head coach.
wrestling
The middle school wrestling Dons had another great season on the mat. The team boasted over 40 wrestlers who competed against several local schools and did so with flying colors. The team was led by state champions Tyler Verceles (8th) and his younger brother Dylan (6th). Additionally, 8th graders Carlos Spencer, Evan Socha, Sam Abbruzzese, and Robert Thomas showed tremendous potential along with many of their teammates. The team worked hard to get better every day and the future is very bright for the entire wrestling program.
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GET IN TOUCH
Blake Henry
Director of Athletics
Loyola Blakefield
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Loyola Blakefield
500 Chestnut Ave. Towson, MD 21204
Ph: 410-823-0601
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