Lafayette High School
The Spring season passed and we saw yet another great period for Lafayette Sports and Activities at both the team/group and individual levels. Lafayette recognitions are below as of June 2nd, 2023.
COLLEGE SIGNINGS
● Lafayette had the following student-athletes sign this spring to continue their athletic and academic careers at the collegiate level:
o Baylor Adamovsky – Men’s Lacrosse – Elmhurst University
o Elissa Barnard – Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country – University of Missouri
o Aiden Gjorgjievski – Men’s Soccer – Quincy University
o Michael Hemphill – Men’s Lacrosse – Missouri Baptist University
o Wesley Jennings – Esports – University of Missouri
o Blake Johnson – Men’s Wrestling – Missouri Baptist University
o Jayla Jones – Women’s Wrestling – University of Quincy
o Caitlyn Little – Women’s Volleyball – Illinois State University
o Blair Lobdell – Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country – University of Tampa
o Morgan O’Connell – Women’s Swimming – Rockhurst University
o Avery Oravetz – Men’s Baseball – Kansas City Community College
o Hunter Song – Men’s Wrestling – Missouri Baptist University
o Jackson Weidner – Men’s Baseball – Kansas City Community College
o Jacob Wipke – Men’s Soccer – East Central College
o Garret Wood – Men’s Lacrosse – Missouri Baptist University
● At our 3rd annual Fine Arts College Signing we celebrated the following students: o Lexi Balog – Music – Truman State University
o Cecelia Beckman – Theatre – Savannah College of Art and Design o Charles Berry – Orchestra – Truman State University
o Micah Bounds – Music Composition – Missouri State University
o Kyle Dean – Audio Engineering – Webster University
o Evelyn DiGenova – Music & Actuarial Science – University of Nebraska-Lincoln o Mackenna Glazer – Music Education – Southeast Missouri State University o Mya Martinez – Music Education- Lindenwood University
o Emma Nail – Music – Truman State University
o Sawyer Novack – Art – Savannah College of Art and Design
o Liesl Nowak – Music Education – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
o Jonathan Rattenborg – Marching Band – Missouri State University o Kaitlyn Southwick – Marching Band – University of Kansas
o Sophie Taylor – Music Business – Belmont University
NFHS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE WINNERS
For Exemplary Display of Sportsmanship, Ethics & Integrity Grace Ortman
NFHS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE WINNERS
For Exemplary Display of Sportsmanship, Ethics & Integrity Peter Dicarlo
BASEBALL: Team GPA: 3.73 & Record: 20-13-1
● Team Finished 3rd Place in the Yellow Pool Suburban Conference
○ 1st Team Suburban Yellow Pool All-Conference Players:
■ Xander Schmitt – Catcher
■ PJ Rogan – Pitcher
■ Paul Pratte – Infield
○ 2nd Team Suburban Yellow Pool All-Conference Players:
■ Tyson Oswald – Pitcher
■ Sam Williams – Pitcher
■ Tripp Johns – Infield
■ Will Gebhart – Infield
■ Michael Callahan – Outfield
○ Suburban Conference Yellow Pool Sportsmanship Award: Aiden Cizek
● Team was MSHSAA Class 6 District 2 Champions & reached the MSHSAA State Quartefinals
BOYS GOLF: Team GPA: 3.28 & Record: 7-1
● Team was 1st place at the Yellow Pool Suburban Conference Tournament ○ Braxton Lawhorn – 1st Place, Mack Freeman – 5th Place & Reid Fortel – 6th Place ○ Ryan Montgomery – 8th Place & Anders Thomas – 15th Place
● 1st Team Suburban Yellow Pool All-Conference: Reid Fortel & Mack Freeman ● 2nd Team Suburban Yellow Pool All-Conference: Anders Thomas
● Yellow Pool All-Conference Honorable Mention:
○ Jake Montgomery, Connor McCown & Braxton Lawhorn
● Suburban Conference Yellow Pool Sportsmanship Award: Ander Thomas ● Team Finished 5th Place at the District Tournament
○ State Qualifiers: Jake Montgomery & Anders Thomas
BOYS WATER POLO: Team GPA: 3.72
● 1st Team All-Conference: Noah Schott
● 3rd Team All-Conference: Owen Waeckerle
● 2nd Team All-District: Noah Schott
● Suburban Conference Sportsmanship Award: Peter Dicarlo
● Our Head Water Polo Coach, Jamie Waeckerle, received the Ted Newland Development Coach Award for the Midwest Zone – 2022 USA Water Polo Zone Award Winners Announced
GIRLS WATER POLO: Team GPA: 3.86
● 2nd Team All-Conference: Talia Ramsey & Ansley Lewis
● 1st Team All-District: Talia Ramsey
● 2nd Team All-District: Ansley Lewis
● 3rd Team All-District: Mckenna Budnick
● Honorable Mention All-District: Grace Ortman
● Suburban Conference Sportsmanship Award: Mera Flores
GIRLS SOCCER: Team GPA: 3.88 & Record: 19-4
● Team 2nd place in the Suburban Conference Yellow Pool
○ Suburban Yellow Pool Conference Goalkeeper of the Year: Gen Newell
○ 1st Team Suburban Yellow Pool All-Conference:
■ Addison Keen, Melissa White, Emily Derucki, Allie Kinner
○ 2nd Team Suburban Yellow Pool All-Conference:
■ Hadley Hendrickson, Carly Swan, Lauren Henry, Hailey Schiwinger
○ Suburban Conference Yellow Pool Sportsmanship Award: Ava Brown
○ Suburban Conference Yellow Pool Coach of the Year: Ryan Butchart
● Team was District Champions & Finished 3rd Place in State
BOYS TENNIS: Team GPA: 4.27
● 2nd Team Suburban Yellow Pool All-Conference: Bryce Davis & Akshat Gupta
● Suburban Conference Yellow Pool Sportsmanship Award: Akshat Gupta
GIRLS LACROSSE: Team GPA: 3.92 & Record: 12-8
● Team Finished 2nd Place in Conference
○ 1st team All-Conference: Natalie Tomljenovic, Kara Niewoehner & Adalia Romero
○ 2nd team All-Conference: Ameila Schaefer, Olivia Williams, Mary Hails & Norah Romero
○ 3rd team All-Conference: Lucia Stoynoff, Mei Han & Brianna Chong
● Team Finished Top 8 in state, making the state quarterfinals
○ 1st Team All-State: Natalie Tomljenovic, Kara Niewoehner & Adalia Romero
● USA Lacrosse All-American:
○ Natalie Tomljenovic (1st 2-Time Winner In LHS History) & Kara Niewoehner
● USA Lacrosse All Academic American: Kara Niewoehner (1st 2-time winner in LHS history)
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Team GPA: 4.11 & Record: 26-7
- Team was Conference Champs
- Conference Player of the Year: Matt Haefner
- Conference Coach of the Year: Whitney Ralph
- 1st Team All-Conference: Cooper Williams & Michael Isenberg
- 2nd Team All-Conference: Ethan Tran & Evan Halter
- Suburban Conference Sportsmanship Award: Cameron Marco
- Team was District Champs
- All District: Matt Haefner, Kyle Kubasta, Michael Isenberg & Cooper Williams
- Team Finished 2nd Place in the State Tournament
- 1st Team All-State: Matt Haefner, Kyle Kubasta, Michael Isenberg & Lucas Tran
- Academic All-State: Matt Haefner, Michael Isenberg, Evan Halter, Cameron Marco, Cooper Williams, Alex Griffon & Ethan Tran
BOYS TRACK & FIELD: Team GPA: 3.36
● Team Finished 1st Place at the Suburban Conference Meet
● Event Medallists
○ 4×800 Relay: 1st – Dillon Cronin, Kai Han, Sid Vuskmalla & Jack Robeson
○ 110 Hurdles: 3rd – Isaac Jovcevski & 100m: 3rd – David Marshall
○ 4x200m Relay: 3rd – Alec Smith, Marshall Ems, Matt Hoeft & Brycen Compton
○ 4x100m Relay: 3rd – Carl King, Matt Hoeft, David Marshall & Jeremy Lewis
○ 400m: 2nd – Brycen Compton & 200m: 1st – Brycen Compton
○ 800m: 1st – Colin Cronin & Pole Vault: 3rd – Natan Alho
○ 4x400m Relay: 1st – Dillon Cronin, Kai Han, Jack Robeson & Marshall Ems
○ Long Jump: 1st – Isaac Jovceski & 2nd – Matt Hoeft
○ Triple Jump: 2nd – Isaac Jovcevski & High Jump: 2nd – Matt Hoeft
○ Discus: 1st – Jeremy Lewis & 2nd – Robby Preckel
○ Javelin: 1st – Christian Erkert & 2nd – Robby Preckel
● Suburban Conference Yellow Pool Sportsmanship Award: Isaac Jovcevski
● Team Finished 3rd Place at the MSHSAA District Meet
● Event Placements (Sectional Qualifiers)
○ Discus: Jeremy Lewis – 1st place
○ Javelin: Robby Preckel -1st Place (School Record) & Christian Erkert-4th Place
○ Isaac Jovcevski – Long Jump – 3rd Place & 110 Hurdles – 4th Place
○ High Jump: Matt Hoeft – 4th Place & 200m: David Marshall – 4th Place
○ 400m: Brycen Compton – 3rd Place & 300m Hurdles: Santino Stith – 4th Place
○ 1600m: LJ Groenewald – 3rd Place
○ 3200m: Jack Robeson – 1st Place & Dillon Cronin – 2nd Place
○ 4x200m Relay: 3rd Place – Santino Stith, Marshall Ems, Matt Hoeft & Brycen Compton
○ 4x400m Relay: 4th Place – Brycen Compton, Marshall Ems, Rylan Retych & Jack Robeson
○ 4x800m Relay: 3rd Place – Dillon Cronin, Kai Han, LJ Groenewald & Jack Robeson
● Team Finished 2nd Place at the MSHSAA Sectional Meet Springfield, MO
● Event Placements (State Qualifiers)
○ Discus: Jeremy Lewis – 2nd Place
○ 400m: Brycen Compton – 3rd Place & 3200m: Jack Robeson – 4th Place
○ 4x200m Relay: 2nd Place – Marshall Ems, Matt Hoeft, Brycen Compton & David Marshall
○ 4x400m Relay: 3rd Place-Brycen Compton, Marshall Ems, Santino Stith & David Marshall
○ 4x800m Relay: 3rd Place – Dillon Cronin, Hongru Han, LJ Groenewald & Jack Robeson
● Individual MSHSAA All-State
● Discus: Jeremy Lewis – 6th Place
● 4x400m Relay: 6th Place – Brycen Compton, Marshall Ems, Santino Stith & David Marshall
● 4x800m Relay: 7th Place – Dillon Cronin,Brycen Compton, LJ Groenewald & Jack Robeson
GIRLS TRACK & FIELD: Team GPA: 3.73
● Team finished 2nd place in the Suburban yellow pool Conference Meet
○ 400m: 3rd – Shru Singh & 100 Hurdles: 4th – Makenna Weiss
○ 800m: 1st – Lauren Pauls & 4th – Mizelle Groenewald
○ 1600m: 1st – Natalie Barnard & 2nd – Elissa Barnard
○ 3200m: 1st – Blair Lobdell & 3rd – Ashley Rinkenberger
○ 300 Hurdles: 2nd – Layne Witherspoon & 4th – Makenna Weiss
○ 4x100m Relay: 4th – Ava Alvarez, Layne Witherspoon, Faith Halter & Lily Vellines ○ 4x200m Relay: 2nd – Layne Witherspoon, Kylie Nichols, Shru Singh & Chloe Tabb ○ 4x400m Relay: 2nd – Kylie Nichols, Chloe Tabb, Mizelle Gronewald, Shru Singh
○ 4x800m Relay: 1st – Avery Brown, Lauren Pauls, Mizelle Gronewald & Grace Tyson ○ High Jump: 1st – Makenna Weiss & Triple Jump: 1st – Chloe Tabb
○ Discus: 1st – Emma Durfee & 3rd – Riley Mulligan
○ Javelin: 1st – Emma Durfee & 3rd – Riley Mulligan
○ Shot Put: 2nd – Maya Whittington
● Suburban Conference Yellow Pool Sportsmanship Award: Elissa Barnard
● Team Finished 1st place at the District Meet
● Event Placements (Sectional Qualifiers)
○ 4x800m Relay – 1st Place – Natalie Barnard, Grace Tyson, Elissa Barnard & Avery Brown ○ 4x400m Relay – 1st Place – Shrutika Singh, Lauren Pauls, Avery Brown & Kylie Nichols ○ 400m – Avery Brown – 1st Place & 800m – Lauren Pauls – 1st Place
○ 3200m: Grace Tyson – 1st Place, Natalie Barnard – 2nd Place & Elissa Barnard – 3rd Place ○ 1600m – Grace Tyson – 1st Place, Natalie Barnard – 2nd Place & Elissa Barnard – 3rd Place ○ Javelin – Emma Durfee – 3rd Place & Pole Vault – Lilly Vellines – 3rd Place
○ 300m Hurdle – Layne Witherspoon – 4th Place & Triple Jump – Chloe Tabb – 1st Place ○ 4x200m Relay – 3rd Place – Melissa White, Chloe Tabb, Layne Witherspoon & Kylie Nichols ○ Triple Jump – Maya Witherspoon -3rd Place
● Team Finished 1st Place at the MSHSAA Sectional Meet Springfield, MO
● Event Placements (State Qualifiers)
○ 4x800m Relay – 1st Place-Natalie Barnard, Grace Tyson, Mizelle Groenewald & Avery Brown ○ 4x400m Relay-2nd Place- Shrutika Singh, Lauren Pauls, Avery Brown & Layne Witherspoon ○ 3200m – Natalie Barnard – 1st Place, Grace Tyson – 2nd Place & Elissa Barnard – 3rd Place ○ 1600m – Grace Tyson – 1st Place, Natalie Barnard – 2nd Place & Elissa Barnard – 3rd Place ○ 400m – Avery Brown – 1st Place & 300m Hurdle – Layne Witherspoon – 4th Place
○ Javelin – Emma Durfee – 4th Place – New school record
● Team Finished 3rd Place at the State Meet
● All-State Events:
○ 3200m: State Champion – Natalie Barnard
■ Set New State Meet & School Record Time
○ 3200m: 2nd Place – Grace Tyson & 4th Place – Elissa Barnard
○ 4x800m Relay – State Champions – Grace Tyson, Elissa Barnard, Natalie Barnard & Avery Brown ■ Set New State Meet & School Record Time
○ 400m: Avery Brown – 6th Place
○ 1600m: Grace Tyson – 2nd Place & Natalie Barnard – 4th Place
Grace Tyson earned a combined total of 22 individual & team medals in her time at LHS amongst Cross Country, Swimming & Track.
 |  |  |
| 3rd Place at State | Avery Brown 6th Place in 400m | Grace Tyson earned a combined total of 22 individual & team medals in her time at LHS amongst Cross Country, Swimming & Track. |
Group GPA: 3.86
- MSHSAA State Solo and Ensemble:
- Gold
- Lexi Balog – Flute Solo
- Lexi Balog, Lana Dauw, Abigail Stein – Mixed Woodwind Trio
- Mitchell Beckmann – Keyboard Mallet Solo, Snare Drum Solo & Timpani Solo
- Brendan Berger – Trumpet Solo
- Lucas Brown – Snare Drum Solo & Timpani Solo
- Gauri Kathula – Flute Solo
- Ezra Leslie – Trombone Solo
- Andres Moeller – Trombone Solo
- Owen Woody – Keyboard Mallet Solo & Snare Drum Solo
- Silver
- Lucas Brown, Cameron Eltoft, Jon Rattenborg – Percussion Ensemble
- Olivia Clark, Olivia Dresser, Maddie Anderson – Mixed Woodwind Trio
- Lana Dauw – Oboe Solo & Piano Solo
- Keira Makalintal – Keyboard Mallet Solo
- Emma Nail – Keyboard Mallet Solo
- Abigail Stein – Clarinet Solo
- Maya Walden, Mira Walden, Jiayi Zhang – Mixed Woodwind Trio
- Bronze
- Jessica Guan, Gracie Hagen, Gauri Kathula – Mixed Woodwind Trio
- Avery Holder – Trumpet Solo
- Gold
CHOIR: Group GPA: 3.65
- MSHSAA State Solo and Ensemble:
- Gold
- Katie Rattenborg – Vocal Solo
- Lizzie Rattenborg – Vocal Solo
- Chris Songco – Vocal Solo
- Silver
- Tommy Ferguson, Ryan Domsalla, Chris Songco, James Bodnar, Mira Walden, Sophia Panasci, Mackenna Glazer, Mya Martinez – SATB Vocal Ensemble
- Mackenna Glazer – Vocal Solo
- Annie Jones – Vocal Solo
- Bronze – Matthew Duncan – Vocal Solo
- Gold
ORCHESTRA: Group GPA: 4.01
- MSHSAA State Solo and Ensemble:
- Gold
- Yohann Lee – Cello Solo
- Sarah Mu – Violin Solo
- Gregory Shao – Violin Solo
- Silver
- Micah Bounds – Cello Solo
- Sarah Ebenezer, Angelina Hoang, Abigail Pedapudi, & Mikayla Pipes – Violin Quartet
- Declan Phipps – Cello Solo
- Bronze – Micah Bounds & Yohann Lee – Cello Duet
- Gold
SPEECH & DEBATE: Team GPA: 4.21
- MSHSAA State Competition Results
- Shreya Ramalingam – 3rd Place All-State – Original Oratory
- Samantha Zhang – 4th place All-State – Radio Broadcasting
- Sarah Ebenezer – STate Qualifier – Lincoln-Douglas Debate
FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS OF AMERICA
- Lafayette had 8 of the 12 students who qualified for the FBLA State Championship placed within the Top 10 in their specific event earning All-State Status. 4 of these students qualified to compete against the best from each state at the National Competition in June!
- Chiara Bouckaert – State Champion – Advertising & Qualify for Nationals
- Taha Shakeel, Cameron Eltoft, and Kedar Kulkarni
- 4th Place in International Business and qualify for Nationals
- Diya Gupta- 5th Place – Insurance & Risk Management
- Kedar Kulkarni- 7th Place – Securities & Investments
- Eshwar Murali & Ayur Manangi – 8th Place in Entrepreneurship
- Blake Klostermann – 9th Place – Accounting
STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
- LHS Journalism, publications & yearbook students attended Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Association’s J-Day at the University of Missouri.
- The keynote speaker was Channel 5 news director Art Holliday, and students met with other professional journalists in breakout sessions.
- The Taft Award was awarded to Lafayette High School journalism adviser Nancy Smith.
- The Taft Award is named for associate Dean William H. Taft of the Missouri School of Journalism and is designed to honor continuing and outstanding service to scholastic journalism.
- Overall Lafayette High School received Awards:
- All Missouri (Highest Rating) – Online Media – Juli Mejia and Eshwar Murali
- Superior Rating – Newspaper/News Magazine – Juli Mejia and Sonya Sud
- All-State Team: Juli Mejia (1 of 10 in the State)
- State Journalism Honor Roll:
- Molly Brim, Diya Gupta, Kaylee O’Dell, Juli Mejia, Shru Singh, Joey Weaver
- Individual awards included Best of Shows Awards:
- Juli Mejia for Editorial/Op-Ed Writing
- Amber Yin and Jude Thomas for Yearbook Sports Package
- Samantha Haney for Radio/Podcast Newscast/News Feature
- Kaylee O’Dell for Yearbook Portrait/People Package
- Samantha Haney for Newsmagazine Cover Page Design
- Molly Brim and Daniel Carrillo for Sports Reporting
- Samantha Haney for News Writing
- All Missouri Individual Ratings were awarded to the following:
- Juli Mejia for In Depth Feature Writing
- Lauren Blosser for Yearbook Portrait/People Package
- Sonya Sud for Sports Reporting
- Aidan Kelly for Broadcast Sports Feature Story
- Superior Individual Ratings were awarded to the following:
- Juli Mejia and Sonya Sud for News Writing
- Vedha Inampudi for Broadcast News Feature
- Joey Weaver for Broadcast Sports Feature
- Eshwar Murali for News Feature Writing
- Excellent Individual Ratings were awarded to the following:
- Ashleigh Biermann and Kate Viglione for Academic Photo
- Jack Robeson for Broadcast Sports Feature
- Madison Steuber for Sports Photo
- Katie Rattenborg for Sports Feature/Reaction Photo
- Kyler Messenger for Broadcast News Feature
- Honorable Mention Individual Ratings were awarded to the following:
- Avery Townsend and Kyler Messenger for Broadcast News Feature
- Lizzie Rattenborg and Jude Thomas for Student Life/Organization Photo
- At the Spring 2023 National High School Journalism Convention April 19-22 in San Francisco LHS student publications staff members/staffs earned the following recognitions:
- National Scholastic Press Association Best in Show (schools fewer than 1,800 students)
- Image Newsmagazine – 3rd Place
- 2023 Legend – 6th Place
- 2023 NSPA Leadership in Student Journalism Awards *among 1,300 students recognized for contributions to their school publications*
- Molly Brim, Juli Mejia, Kaylee O’Dell, Joseph Weaver & Jenna Wildt
- Journalism Education Association National Student Media Contest
- Lauren Blosser (sophomore) – Superior, Yearbook Copy/Caption Writing Sports
- Samantha Haney (junior) – Superior in Commentary Writing
- Morgan Stoermer (junior) – Superior- Yearbook Copy/Caption Writing Academics
- Jenna Wildt (senior) – Excellent in Yearbook Design Inside Pages
- Kaylee O’Dell (senior) – HM in Yearbook Copy/Caption Writing Student Life
- Sonya Sud (junior) – HM in News Editing and Headline Writing
- At the convention, seniors Juli Mejia and Kaylee O’Dell presented a session entitled “How to Deal with Pressure Like a Boss” where they shared tips with other student publications leaders about how to handle the stress that comes with filling the top positions on a publications staff. They shared their strategies for a leadership style that creates a healthy and collaborative staff.
FUTURE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS (HOSA):
- HOSA State Leadership Conference Results
- Our program was recognized for our donations and dedication to the National Service Project “Be the Match” for $375/375 volunteer hours or more.
- The following earned All-State status at the Missouri HOSA Future Health Professionals State Leadership Conference and qualified for the International Leadership Conference in June in Dallas, Texas!
- 1st Place – Jessica Guan – Epidemiology
- 1st Place – Medical Innovation – Pardhu Konakandla, Tarun Ravikumar & Suchir Ryali
- 1st Place – Public Health – Shreeya Basappa, Aayushi Bore & Chloe Kim
- 2nd Place – Medical Spelling – Lydia Lehmann
- 2nd Place – Pharmacy Science – Brianna Chong
- 2nd Place – Public Health – Kruthi Avula, Daniella Jayraj, Samika Kumbham & Pragnatha Galla
- 3rd Place – Family Medicine Physician – Sarrinah Sheikh
- 3rd Place – Cultural Diversities & Disparities in Healthcare – Vedika Kumar
- 3rd Place – Job Seeking Skills – Angelina Hoang
- Top 10 – Healthcare Issues Exam – Kyle Schwallie
- The following earned Recognition in the National Geographic Academic Testing program:
- 1st Place – ATC AAFP Family Medicine – Sonja Sud
- 2nd Place – ATC Anatomy & Physiology – Lydia Lehmann
- 2nd Place – ATC College Physics – Sarah Ebenezer
- 3rd Place – ATC Biology – Joel Ebenezer
- 3rd Place – ATC Math for Health Professionals – Suchir Ryali
- 5th Place – ATC Biology – Shreeya Basappa
- 5th Place – ATC Leadership – Angelina Hoang
- 5th Place – ATC College Physics – Gregory Shao
- Other Results:
- 4th Place – Medical Spelling – Vedha Inampudi
- 5th Place – Clinical Laboratory Science – Avalyn Long
- 5th Place – Public Health
- Anish Bore, Joel Ebenezer, Sachin Saravanan, Gregory Shao & Jude Thomas
- 5th Place – Medical Innovation-Masis Bagautdinov, Sreeram Manchikalapudi & Rishi Yella
- 5th Place – Health Care Display – Amyra Taneja & Sophia Wood
- 5th Place – Health Education – Ammu Lanka, Arhum Panchal, Dhruv Patel & Akil Rajan
- 5th Place – Health Education – Riuya Parikh, Jiayi Zhang, Samantha Zhang & Cathay Zou
