Rockets celebrate successful fall sports season

Parents, coaches, and student athletes gathered in the Bogenschutz Gym on Monday, Nov. 8 to celebrate an exciting and successful fall sports season.

The football team, our final team competing in tournament play, hopes to continue that success in the Regional Finals this Friday, Nov. 19 at Princeton High School. Kickoff against Clinton-Massie is at 7 p.m. and tickets are available at www.ohsaa.org/tickets. A Rocket win will advance them to the state Final Four for the third time in school history.

During the Fall Sports Awards program, Athletic Director Drew Schmidt recognized the accomplishments of teams and individuals, applauded the spirit of the Launch Pad and Rocket fans, and thanked the seniors for four-year commitments to their school and their sport.

After the Covid-19 challenges of last year’s fall season, Mr. Schmidt said, “We are back and more Bonded Together now than we’ve ever been before. Our teams are thriving and we’ve got students coming out in droves to support each other.”

Mr. Schmidt added, “On top of the sports successes we’ve seen, our student athletes truly put the student in the name. Our 278 fall participants cumulatively had an overall GPA of 3.875.”

During the ceremony, Mr. Schmidt launched the Bonded Together Award and honored the inaugural nominees. This award recognizes student athletes who fit the following criteria:

• are exemplary teammates who care for academic success, progress, and integrity
• elicit pride at school events
• go above and beyond what is anticipated in their sport
• respect their peers and community members in a genuine manner
• provide service to the school and to the community
• support the sisterhood and brotherhood that make McNicholas so special

The nominees were junior Allie Plush for cheer, senior Aiden Burt for boys’ cross country, senior Skylar Kutcher for girls’ cross country, senior Jack Suttles for football, senior Camden Yards for boy’s golf, senior Mara Jones for girls’ golf, senior Owen Vaughn for boys’ soccer, junior Becca Rose for tennis, and senior Lauren Keith for volleyball. Special congratulations to Maddie Noone and Jack Suttles who won the award.

Mr. Schmidt also highlighted each team with a 2021 Fall Sports Recap:

Cheer

The Cheer squad stepped up their energy, presence, and excitement to engage the crowds this fall. The atmosphere and liveliness at football games is at an all-time high and a lot has to do with the cheer squad being louder and prouder. The girls have also taken a major step forward this year with a commitment to compete at cheer expos. They competed for the first time this year at Indian Hill this past Saturday, which is the program’s first competition in 6 school years.

Cross Country

Our Varsity Boys Cross Country Team battled and competed all year long. The boys were the first team this fall to continue our District Championship streak, giving McNicholas a District Champion in each season since the beginning of last school year. They ultimately fell one spot from advancing to the State Championship with a 5th place finish at the Regional Championship in Troy last weekend. Other big results included coming in 2^nd place at the GCL Championships and also a 2^nd place finish in the historic Midwest Catholic Cross Country Invitational.

The Varsity Girls Cross Country Team had a competitive season, finishing in 4^th place at their District Championship heat. There were impressive individual results throughout the year, including three top 21 individual finishes at the GCL Championships.

Football

The Varsity Football Team is our final team standing this fall, and the final fall sports team alive in Anderson Township and West Clermont. They are still competing and will play in the Regional Finals on Friday, Nov. 19 at Princeton High School. Kickoff against Clinton-Massie is at 7 p.m. and tickets are available at www.ohsaa.org/tickets. A Rocket win will advance them to the state Final Four for the third time in school history. They are currently 11-1. While the season is far from over, the Rockets have been making some history along the way, including being only the third team in school history to head into the last week of the season undefeated and a Rocket win against Clinton-Massie will advance them to the state Final Four for the third time in school history.

Golf

Boys Golf had an overall successful season. They concluded their season as the 7^th place team at the District Championships, after advancing from their fourth place finish at Sectionals. The Rockets came up three spots shy of advancing to the State Championships, and they had five golfers receive All League honors for their third place finish at the GCL Championships.

Girls Golf took enormous strides forward this fall while competing at higher levels. They decreased their overall average team strokes throughout the fall season and they finished in the top 10 of the Sectional Championships. Sophomore Carly Kent earned Honorable Mention Southwest Ohio for her efforts.

Soccer

The Varsity Boys Soccer Team finished the season with a 6-9-3 overall record. After the regular season, the boys earned the four seed in the State Tournament and advanced to the District Semifinals where they lost to Final 4 participant Wyoming. The boys hosted two tournament games where they beat Wilmington and CHCA.

The Varsity Girls Soccer Team had one of the most impressive turnarounds of the fall season from last year. Under a new coach, the girls delivered a season that was six results better than last year. They had an overall record of 6-8-3, earned an eight seed in the OHSAA Tournament, losing to Final 4 participant Wyoming in the State Playoffs.

Tennis

The Girls Tennis program has had consistent growth over the last few years. The girls fell one victory shy of 10 victories for the first time in school history. Senior Sammy Waterman won two matches in the Sectional Tournament, becoming the first player to do so in recent program history.

Volleyball

The Varsity Girls Volleyball Team is the second team this fall to capture a District Championship, earning them back-to-back District crowns. With an overall record of 17-9, the girls lost in the Regional Semifinals in a hard-fought battle against Versailles.