Montgomery Catholic Cross Country Team Wins State Championship

On November 10, 2018, the Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School Cross Country team competed at the AHSAA State Championship at the Oakville Indian Mounds XC Course. For the first time together, both the Catholic Girls and Boys teams walked away as the state's 4A champion.

The Catholic girls were led by senior Amaris Tyynismaa.  Crossing the finish line first at 17:44.21, Tyynismaa finished nearly a minute and a half ahead of the second place finisher, Catholic freshman Lily Bachl, who crossed the finish line at 19:04:41. Senior Isabelle Cochran finished strong at 19:44.87, securing fourth place overall. Teammates Grace Leslie, Ann Cobb, Katie Galvin, Chloe Smith, Virginia Speirs, Samantha Day, and Kathleen Madden all finished the race and took Montgomery Catholic girls to the top, crowning them as the state champions. Amaris Tyymismaa also took home her fifth consecutive individual champion title.

For the Catholic boys, senior Grant Walker took fourth overall with a time of 16:34:48, and sophomore Hollis Johnson and senior Zachary Kroeger finished at 6^th and 7^th place, respectively. Strong finishes from teammates Sam Leslie, Manny Caceres, Chris Valencia, Cole Pierce, Joseph Schmidt, Austin Cleghorn, and Harrison Skala secured the boys’ place at the top and earned them the state championship.

It has been an outstanding season for the Racing Knights, making their coach Ed Wright very proud of the hard work by the 2018 Catholic Cross Country Team.

Congratulations Knights!

Veterans Day White Table Presentation

On the Friday before Veterans Day, the elementary students gathered for some very special presentations at their campuses. At the Holy Spirit campus, 6th grade teacher Mrs. Alana Steinlicht and Admissions Director Ms. Julie Lopez read aloud the book, “America's White Table”, by Margot Theis Raven. At the St. Bede campus, Mrs. Mary Pears' 6th grade students took turns setting items on the table while she read the book. Through the story of a family setting a table with an empty chair, the students learned about the symbolism behind a deeply important American military tradition: The Missing Man Table.

A table with one setting represents the isolation of the lost or captured soldier. The empty chair represents those who cannot be present. The white tablecloth represents the purity of the soldier’s call to serve his/her country. The inverted glass represents the inability of the lost soldier to partake in the gathering. The folded black napkin represents the sorrow of captivity. A single, red rose with a ribbon represents the blood shed in defense of our country and of the family who wait for the soldier’s safe return. The slice of lemon and plate of salt represent the lost soldier’s bitter tears. The lit candle is a light of hope from our hearts, and hopefully a beacon for lost soldiers to find their way back home.

After the reading, the students gave thanks to the service personnel and first responders present at the gathering.

Montgomery Catholic honors all of the military personnel, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and first responders in our MCPS family and in our community. We hope on this Veterans Day that you take a moment to pray for the men and women who have made a commitment to defend us and our way of life, and to pray for those who have given their lives in our defense.

Montgomery Catholic Senior to March In Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

“What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Usually the answer involves family, lots of food, and watching football. For Anna Catherine Barranco, the days leading up to Thanksgiving are going to be full of preparation, practice, and perfection. The Montgomery Catholic senior was chosen to be one of about 40 auxiliary members who will march alongside 185 musicians in the Macy’s Great American Marching Band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Led by Auburn University’s Dr. Richard Good, the band is comprised of the country’s most talented high school musicians, flag-bearers, and dancers.

Inspired by her favorite color guard YouTube channel, Anna Catherine submitted an application and a video audition where she demonstrated several skills and marching techniques that would be required for the parade routine. She will travel to New York City on Saturday, November 17 and rehearse with the rest of the band every day leading up to the parade on Thanksgiving Day. While there are a lot of fun activities built into the week, the practice schedule is demanding and requires a high level of dedication from each performer. The Great American Marching Band is the last band on the parade route and serves as a lead-in for Santa Claus.

Anna Catherine serves as the captain of the Montgomery Catholic Marching Knights color guard, which has won several “Best-In-Class” awards this season, and has been a member of the marching band for 5 years. She plans to study pre-law at Auburn University in the fall, and of course will try out for the flag line.

“I’ll probably be nervous the closer we get to Thanksgiving,” Anna Catherine said about her upcoming performance, “but for right now I am just really excited!”

You can watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on your local NBC affiliate station on November 22. More information on how to watch or stream it will be posted to the official website: www.macys.com/social/parade

Montgomery Catholic Hosts Vex Robotics Tournament

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School was proud to host the River Region Vex Robotics Competition Qualifying Tournament in the Dolly Barranco Activity Center at the Middle/High School campus on November 3. Led by the Montgomery Catholic robotics club faculty sponsor Vicki Petters and volunteer Rob Russell, the RoboKnights hosted their second ever Vex Robotics Competition. 26 teams from all over Alabama competed to qualify for the state tournament. Three RoboKnights teams—Starish, an all-girls high school team, Mamushi, an all-8th grade team, and The Sevies, an all-7th grade team—competed in the tournament. The Mamushi-Sevies alliance made it all the way to the final round, where they came second to Foley High School.

The VRC challenge this season, “Turning Point”, includes several complex tasks each robot can complete to earn points. Robots may turn two-colored caps over to their team color, place those caps onto poles of different heights, toggle low flags to their color, throw a ball at higher flags to toggle them to their color, and climb and park onto a platform for additional points. This challenge is unique in that robots may push competing robots off the platforms. The first 15 seconds of each round allow the robots to run an autonomous program for a chance to score points. The remaining minute and 45 seconds are driver-controlled. Each team demonstrated a complex understanding of the tasks, and each robot tackled the challenge in a unique way.

The whole Montgomery Catholic community came together with parents, students, and faculty serving as volunteer referees, announcers, event staff and concessions crew. The RoboKnights would like to thank the students and faculty of Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School for sharing their equipment and expertise to help make the event such a successful one.