Ritenour High School
Cross Country (Boys/Girls):
The Husky cross country program had its largest roster in many years making for a really fun season. We completed our season at the District Championships on October 28th. There, Senior Elizabeth Weissler, set the school record for the St. Vincent Park course with her time of 22:41. Thus capping her final year of cross country with a bang including 3 medalist honors over the course of the season. The young team will return 5 of 7 varsity runner’s next season, including the one- two punch of Denisse Chaidez and Tori Beard, as well as the young core of Alina Millsapp, Julian Smith and Katrina Kesselring. In addition to Weissler the team will also be losing graduating senior, Mia Neeb.
On the men’s side, Junior Micah Weissler, led the boys with 5 straight medalist finishes to start the season before Senior, Pedro Garcia-Garcia, assumed the role of #1 runner at the District Championship with his lifetime best time of 18:56. In addition to Garcia the men’s team will also lose big impact Seniors Viktor Pingel and Tevin Jackson, who also ran a huge PR in his final meet, but have a big core of returning youth that should make next season interesting to watch including David Rose, Raphael Blevans and Kavi Draper who ended the season with the Varsity squad.
Football:
Varsity: The Varsity football team finished with a 5-5 record in 2023, we had taken another step to reaching one of our program goals which is playing past October. Two years in a row we finished third in the Suburban Conference Red Division with a 2-2 conference record. We had a few highlights this season and they were beating Ladue two years in a row, four game winning streak, and finishing second in district seeding. This season will be a springboard for next season with several returning starters in key positions. We had several individuals who were named to the all conference team. Our first team selections were: senior Cavion Brandon DB, junior Bryan Steiger OL, senior Billy Hall RB, senior Derrick Smith Jr, sophomore Yarmon Kirksey Jr. DE and senior Percy Childs IV TE. Our second team selections were: junior Trevion Fondren LB, junior Yehoshua Magwood DL, junior Joey Wood III. Honorable Mention: junior Mike Miller RB, senior Jayden Barnett QB, junior Tyler Hewitt OL, senior Tyson Robinson Punter, sophomore Laron Ramsey WR, senior Tyrell Whitfield OL, freshmen Jordan Watson OL. Next season will be exciting to watch as we keep building toward success.
JV: The JV season was filled with highs and lows. We started off the season with 3 straight wins and then faced some adversity and went 1 – 4 in the next 5 games played. The JV Huskies finished off the season with a big win over University City 40-0 and was highlighted by all of the athletes being able too get on to the field and compete in the game. As a whole the JV football team worked hard to come together and play as a team, which was the number 1 goal all year long. The message to them was to develop their skills as football players but also be good teammates to each other and work together to make the entire program better. They succeeded in those goals and played every game to the last snap. We look forward to seeing how these JV players can contribute on the Varsity level next season…GO HUSKIES!
Soccer (Boys):
After graduating a handful of stand-out players from the 2022 season, the boys soccer team had some big shoes to fill, but did so by committee. With 12 seniors on the team and a very deep bench, it allowed a variety of options as to what formation could be played and who would start each game. No two lineups were ever the same. Highlights included 2 wins over District and Conference rival Pattonville, as well as a 3-2 victory on Senior Night and a 7-0 victory over Conference foe Hazelwood West. Although the team’s record was only 6-15, 5 games easily could have gone the other direction with just a play or two changing the momentum. With a new head coach in the program, year one was a major learning curve, but it’s full steam ahead as the boys team will return a big group of quality players, including 8 players who started in the district match vs. Howell Central. The JV had a similar season with a 6-10-1 record, but developed in all the right ways, and sent a total of four players up to the varsity team towards the end of the season. The future is bright for the Ritenour Boys Soccer Program!!!
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Swimming (Boys):
This was a fun year for boys’ swimming. We had several new swimmers and several returning swimmers. We ended the season with a winning record of 15-4 and placed 3rd out of 9 schools at the conference swim meet. Almost everyone on the team made all-conference honors in one or more events. The guys really put in the work and it showed in the end. Although we don’t have official captains, this year senior, Anthony Finizia, and junior, Jackson Leong, stepped up and proved to be team leaders. We will be sad to lose the leadership of our seniors Anthony Finizia, Holden Myers, Nickolus Robinson, and Darren Sparks.
All Conference:
Sam Eyster: Honorable Mention 50 Yard Freestyle, Honorable Mention 100 Yard Backstroke , and 2nd Team 400 Freestyle Relay
Anthony Finizia: 2nd Team 200 Medley Relay, 2nd Team 200 Individual Medley, 2nd Team 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, and Honorable Mention 100 Yard Breaststroke
Vance Jost: 2nd Team 200 Medley Relay, Honorable Mention 50 Yard Freestyle, and 2nd Team 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
Jackson Leong: Honorable Mention 200 Yard Freestyle, Honorable Mention 100 Freestyle, and 2nd Team 400 Freestyle Relay
Holden Myers: 2nd Team 200 Medley Relay, Honorable Mention 200 Yard Freestyle, 2nd Team 500 Yard Freestyle, and 2nd Team 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.
Nickalus Robinson: Honorable Mention 5 Freestyle
Darren Sparks: 2nd Team 200 Medley Relay, Honorable Mention 100 Freestyle, 2nd Team 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, and Honorable Mention 100 Yard Backstroke
Trenton Thudium: Honorable Mention 200 Yard Freestyle, Honorable Mention 100 Yard Breaststroke, and 2nd Team 400 Freestyle Relay
Johnell Weeden: 2nd Team 400 Freestyle Relay
Softball:
The girls worked hard this year. We started our season a little differently this year by adding a tournament. We played in the Parkway tournament. We went 2-3. This was a lot of games in one week. The tournament we host was rained out so it was nice to have some games added. Like every team, we have our ups and downs. They always worked through the downs and came out on top. Our record this year was 17-6. That is a great year. We made it to the second round of districts this year by beating Hazelwood Central. Unfortunately, in the second round, we lost to Francis Howell North. We battled and never gave up. We are truly proud of these girls and will miss our seniors. The girls also came away with some great recognition.
All District:
1st team: Samantha Lohnes (catcher), Grace Key (Utility), and Leyla Payton (pitching)
2nd team: Kara Sampson (INF), Tyler Frost (INF), Jaycee (INF), Julia Lohnes (OF), Giana Fouche (OF)
All Conference:
1st Team: Tyler Frost and Grace Key
2nd Team: Julia Lohnes, Jaycee Durnin, Giana Fouche,
Player of the Year: Samantha Lohnes
Pitcher of the Year: Leyla Payton
Sportsmanship- Le’mia Payton
Tennis (Girls):
Ritenour’s tennis team had a winning season this year, which is a major improvement from last year. We finished with a record of 8-5-2. We improved on all fronts: offense, defense, sportsmanship, and team bonding. For the Blue Pool Girls Tennis All-Conference, we had several girls recognized. An Nguyen for singles, An Nguyen and Margret Susovica for doubles, and Margret Susovica for sportsmanship. They were recognition in the STL Post Dispatch.
Though we are losing five amazing seniors this year, we are hopeful for 2024.
Volleyball (Girls):
The girls volleyball program continued to make improvements over last year. All three teams improved their records and all three teams had winning records. All three teams finished above .500. The freshmen team had a 11-10-1 record, the JV team finished 11-9, and the varsity team finished 15-11-2.
We had huge success with our fundraiser and charity event with our Pink Out Game. We raised $4,600 to donate.
We had three players, earn All-Conference honors: Jada Bradley was 1st Team All-Conference, Jeryonna Simpson was 2nd Team All-Conference and D’Aera Host was our Sportsmanship winner for All-Conference.
For All-District we had three players recognized. Jada Bradley was 2nd Team All-District and Jeryonna Simpson & Sonya Nguyen earned Honorable Mention All-District.
Jada Bradley also crossed over 1,000 successful serve receives for a career this season.
Golf (Girls):
Ritenour Girls’ Golf improved in skill and score this year. The team had eight returning golfers from last year, all sophomores, and welcomed three new members. Led by Maggie Kunshek, Christina Vo, Hannah Cortez, Laiyana Norfleet, and freshman Haley Berri, the team finished with a winning record of 4-3 in the conference. At the Suburban North Green Pool Conference Tournament, the Husky golfers shot an average of 19 shots better than their scores last year. As a team, they improved by 85 shots! They finished in fourth place and Christina Vo medaled for the second straight year in the tournament. Finally, Hannah Cortez and Maggie Kunshek earned 2nd Team All-Conference honors on the season, while Christina Vo and Haley Berri received Honorable Mention. Still a young team, the future looks promising!
