baseball
The Lancers defeated Seckman, 4-2, in the state quarterfinals on May 25.
Although Lafayette didn't have a lead through the first five innings, they still dominated and won the game.
“[The team] “We handled adversity well, which is something we do a lot,” coach Cole Dupont said.
Sophomore Landon Matthews said the Lancers came together and played as a team.
“We knew we could win no matter what. If we played as a team and everyone did their job, we had a good chance to win,” Matthews said.
Senior Daxton Shawk thought the quarterfinal match was great.
“We've been working all week on what we needed to do to beat Seckman and we did everything we needed to do,” Schork said.
The Lancers will face Liberty North in the state semifinals on May 31.
At this point, if the Lancers lose the game, their season is over.
“I've earned the right to play again. I'm a senior, so I get to play again. I'm really excited,” Schork said.
The semifinals will be held at Ozark Mountain Sports Complex in Ozark, Missouri.
“It's going to be a lot of fun for us all to go to the Ozarks and it's going to be a lot of fun playing in a big stadium,” Matthews said.
Lafayette is reaching the state semifinals for the first time in 24 years.
“To be in the Final Four for the first time since 2000 is pretty amazing. [the team] “Their performance has been very impressive and we're excited to have them ready to go next Friday,” Dupont said.
Men's Track and Field
On May 24-25, the Lancers competed in the state meet in Jefferson City. Lafayette placed 17th overall with 14 points. The team scored in the javelin and 300-meter hurdles.
“I'm proud of my performance at the state tournament. My goal was to be in the top eight, but I still have room to improve. The competition has been tough the past few weeks, and it's brought out the best in me.” Senior Christian Elkert said.
Junior Robbie Preckel took fourth place in the javelin with a throw of 52.42 meters. Elkert took seventh place in the javelin with a throw of 51.22 meters.
Junior Satinto Stith ran a time of 39.54 seconds in the 300 meter hurdles, finishing in fifth place, while junior Carl King also competed in the 300 meter hurdles, taking sixth place with a time of 40.11 seconds.
The tournament ended Lafayette's 2024 season. Lafayette won six tournaments this season and was crowned district and conference champion.
The team's top scorers were Preckel with 144 points, senior Isaac Jobczewski with 120.25 points and King with 113. Elkert believes the team can still be successful even with so many seniors graduating.
“Losing seniors always has an impact on a team, but we're proud of the culture we have left. The goal is for the underclassmen to play bigger roles and I believe they will,” he said.
Women's Athletics
The Lady Lancers earned 36 points and finished in fifth place at the state tournament, which was held May 24-25 in Jefferson City.
“I think the team did very well at the state tournament, and last year I wasn’t sure how the team would score points at the state tournament. [Class of 2023 graduates] Elisa [Barnard] And Grace [Tyson] We were going to lose a lot of points at long range so we had to leave the team but some of our field members stepped up and made a big difference to the team’s score.” said senior Natalie Bernard.
Lafayette earned points in the 4×800 meters, 1600 meters, 3200 meters, high jump, long jump and triple jump.
Bernard didn't expect the team to finish in the top five, but he quickly realized the potential once the season began.
“Initially I didn't think our team would finish in the top five because we lost a lot of good seniors from last year, but as soon as this season started to get going I started to feel like we had a great chance of finishing in the top five because our girls were faster and our field competition was better,” Bernard said.
In the 4×800-meter relay, Bernard, juniors Avery Brown and Lauren Paul and freshman Alexis Sandberg took second place with a time of 9:16.47.
Bernard also competed in the 1600m and 3200m, taking first place in both races, with times of 4 minutes 49.40 seconds in the 1600m and 10 minutes 32.66 seconds in the 3200m.
Freshman Shay Witherspoon took sixth place in the high jump with a jump of 1.60 meters. Sophomore Chloe Tabb took fifth place in the triple jump with a jump of 11.48 meters. Junior Maya Witherspoon took eighth place in the long jump with a jump of 5.41 meters.
“Overall, my final season of track and field has been bittersweet. I love practicing with my best friends every day and seeing them succeed. I'm excited for what college has in store for me, but I always feel like I should be starting practice with Pauls and Blau at 3:30 in the afternoon,” Bernard said.
Men's Volleyball
On Wednesday, May 22, the Lancers defeated Francis Howell Central, 3-0, to win the state championship.
“It was awesome to beat Francis Howell Central. We've worked hard this season and it's such a relief to know that all our hard work paid off by achieving our goal of winning the state championship,” said junior Alex Griffon.
The Griffon played as the team's middle blocker and recorded a team-high 109 blocks over the course of the season, helping the Lancers win the state championship.
The Lancers dominated Francis Howell, winning all three sets 25-16, 25-18, 25-11. This final win capped a dominant season for Lafayette, with the team only losing two matches each to Parkway West and Vianney throughout the season. They finished the season with an overall record of 30-2.
“I would say we're a hard-working team that's had a lot of fun throughout the season and relaxed at times, but at the end of the day we know what our job is and we start to focus on that to get the job done,” Griffon said.
Senior Lucas Tran was the team's leading attacker with 812 attempts and senior Kyle Kuvasta was the team's leading assister with 533 assists.
The team will lose several seniors next year, including Cubasta and Tran, and Gryphon said the team will have to work to fill the holes left behind.
“We're going to lose three starters that helped us win this state title, so we feel like we have to step up in every role next year and work harder to be a successful team next year,” he said.
