Tim Moore Joins Montgomery Catholic as the Head Cross Country and Track Coach

Coach Tim Moore is entering his 9^th year of coaching. A native of Birmingham, Coach Moore has spent the last 23 years as a Track & Field fanatic. Coach started his track journey in high school, running the 400m sprint, 300m hurdles, and sprint relays. After high school, he attended Alabama State University (ASU) on an athletic scholarship. During his time at ASU, Coach Moore helped his teammates win the school’s first-ever Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Conference titles.

 

After college, Coach Moore couldn’t give up competing and started competing again. For the last 15 years, he has been competing in USATF and USATF Masters Track & Field meets; enjoying the sport and pushing his limits. In 2019, Coach Moore won the 2019 USATF Masters’ National Indoor 200m title for his 35–40-year-old age group. Coach Moore came back in the Outdoor season to win the 400m and 400m hurdle National titles.

 

Along with competing, Coach Moore has a strong passion to give back to the sport. He started his coaching career as a volunteer coach at his alma mater, ASU. Coach Moore spent 3 seasons with the Hornets and then took on a Head Coaching position at the High School level. Since 2016, Coach has trained several Alabama State Champions, taken several athletes to the National High School Indoor and Outdoor Championships, coached National High School All-Americans, and led teams to two AHSAA Championship titles.

 

Coach Moore is excited and proud to now lead the Knights! He is off to a great start in his first 2 races of the 2021 season. We can't wait to see what the future holds for our Racing Knights!

Montgomery Catholic Third Grader Sets National Accelerated Reading Record

Montgomery Catholic was proud to celebrate a third-grader at our Holy Spirit Campus awards assembly on Thursday, May 27. Justin Lee set a National point record for Renaissance Accelerated Reader during the 2020-21 school year.

After breaking the school’s AR point record, Justin set a personal goal to break the National AR record of 2,018 points in an 8 month period. He exceeded that point total and went on to reach a final total of 2,718.6 points within 9 months. When asked why he enjoys reading so much, Justin replied, “ Books are fun...I like the bible, science, history, even biography. At every moment, the best book I like is the one I started reading.” In honor of Justin’s amazing achievements, Montgomery Catholic has created a new AR award for students called the “Justin Lee Top Hat” award.

During the 2020-21 school year, Justin read and tested on a total of 333 books in order to get his final AR point total. According to Justin’s mother, Helen Lee, he actually read closer to 700-1000 books this school year, but the Accelerated Reader program does not contain tests for the rest of the books that he has read this year. Mrs. Lee explained that Justin has always had a strong interest in books. She says, “When I asked Justin what gift he would like on his 7th birthday, he replied, ‘I want to have a library at home.’ My husband and I laughed, but his grandfather, who heard the story, funded to make a library for Justin. The library contains more than 10,000 books now.”

Justin is not only a gifted reader, but he’s also a straight-A student, speaks several languages including English and Korean, is a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, and plays piano, trumpet, and guitar.

Spring Signing Day 2021

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School held a signing ceremony for seniors Mckenzie Norton, Allie Berg, Jalen Thomas, and Dean Johnson. The event was held at the Montgomery Catholic High School Campus at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 19, 2021.

 

All four Catholic Knight athletes signed to play their respective sport at the college level.

Allie Berg signed her letter of intent to cheer with the Spring Hill Badgers. She has been a member of Catholic’s varsity cheer team for two years. She is a four-time United Cheerleading and Dance Association All-American athlete. This year, she was the captain of the varsity cheerleading squad and was the recipient of the Leadership Award. She has attended Montgomery Catholic for 3 years and is the daughter of Cristopher and Sarah Berg of Pike Road, AL.

Dean Johnson signed his letter of intent to play baseball with the AUM Warhawks. He is a 3 year varsity starter and recipient of the Leadership Award. He has a .343 BA, 9 Doubles, and .607 OBP. He has been a student at Montgomery Catholic since Kindergarten and is the son of Bruce and Michelle Johnson of Prattville, AL.

Mckenzie Norton signed her letter of intent to play softball with the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes. She is a 3 time all CCC team and an all-metro honorable mention. She has a .391 batting avg, and is 2nd on the team in stolen bases with 33 and hits with 48. She has been a varsity player since 8th grade, led her team to regionals twice, and won the Leadership Award for her Senior season. She has attended Montgomery Catholic since 6th grade and is the daughter of Michael Norton and Glynn Brewer of Montgomery, AL.

Jalen Thomas signed his letter of intent to play basketball with the Mitchell College Mariners. He is a 3 time varsity athlete and a Coaches Award recipient. His Junior and Senior years he helped lead his team to the Final Four and the State Championship game respectively. He has been a student at Montgomery Catholic for six years and is the son of Anthony and Nakia Thomas of Montgomery, AL.

Montgomery Catholic President Justin Castanza, Principal Eileen Aaron, Athletic Director Daniel Veres, Head Softball Coach Whitney Toole, Head Cheerleading Coach Sarah Berg, Head Basketball Coach Mike Curry, and Head Baseball Coach Tony Hudson welcomed parents and families to our Campus Signing Day.

Montgomery Catholic is looking forward to following these students and their college careers over the next four years. GO KNIGHTS!

Montgomery Catholic Robotics Team Wins State Tournament Two Years in a Row

For the fifth year in a row, the Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School RoboKnights represented our school at the VEX Robotics State Competition. For the second year in a row, one high school team, “Happy Little Accidents” competed and won the title of State Tournament Champion.

Coach Vicki Petters credits their success to methodical building, testing, and programming. “This team has been focused on testing and adjusting all season long,” said Petters, of the team who won one of only two in-person tournaments in the River Region this year. “They began this season not knowing if there would be a State tournament, but prepared themselves for every opportunity to compete.”

Aidan Cochran and Hunter Dailey

The VEX Robotics challenge this year is called “Change Up,” and like in previous challenges, two alliances of two robots face each other on the playing field. The teams are tasked with using their robots to either shoot blue or red balls into the top of goals or pull balls out of the bottom of the goals to change which color ball is on top. Like in previous challenges, robots can score additional points by demonstrating autonomous programs in the first 15 seconds of each round. The remaining minute and 45 seconds are driver-controlled and allow the teams to demonstrate not only their designs but also their skills at operating their robots.

Unlike in previous years, the COVID pandemic challenged the Vex Game Design Committee to develop a way for teams to compete remotely. “Happy Little Accidents” quickly mastered this remote format, helping them win the State Tournament from their home field.

Happy Little Accidents is comprised of senior and VEX Worlds alumni Aidan Cochran, and 9th grader Hunter Dailey. The team will be competing in the Worlds tournament in this remote format from May 20-22, 2021.