News

CAL Boys and Girls Swim Team Combine for 7^th Place Finish At State

This past weekend the Boys and Girls Swim Team competed in the KHSAA State Championships held at the University of Louisville. Highlights from the weekend include several top 8 finishes, personal best times, a new state record and a state champion in two events. The meet began with boys and girls preliminary events on Friday and concluded with finals events on Saturday evening.

Christian Academy was represented by 11 swimmers participating in 13 events. Members of the Boys State Team were Jake Burd, Broder Magnuson, John Marshall, and Henry Vandertoll. The Girls State Team included Gabi Albiero, Gentry Cheek, Catherine Eckerle, Avery Guilford, Alexis Nunn, Allie Rassenfoss, and Julia Roy.

Swimmer Jake Burd was the top scorer on the Boys Team finishing third in the 100 Yard Breastroke. Jake earned a personal best time in the event which qualifies him to compete at the Junior National level. Jake also teamed up with Broder, John, and Henry to finish 10^th in the 200 Yard Medley Relay and 12^th in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay. Broder also competed for CAL in the 100 Yard Freestyle and 200 Yard Freestyle.

On the girl’s side of the meet, Christian Academy finished 7^th overall. Swimmers Gabi Albiero and Allie Rassenfoss finished in the top 8 of their events. Allie finished 7^th in the 100 Yard Backstroke and also competed in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, while Gabi won the 50 Yard Freestyle and the 100 Yard Butterfly. Gabi’s time of 22.64 seconds in the 50 free broke the state record that she set in 2016 as an eighth grader. Gabi was also named to the All-State Team.

Other swimmers and events for the Girls Team were:
Gentry Cheek-100 Yard Freestyle-11th; 100 yard Backstroke-10th
Catherine Eckerle-200 Yard Individual Medley; 100 yard Backstroke
Avery Guilford-400 Yard Freestyle Relay
Alexis Nunn-400 Yard Freestyle Relay
Julia Roy-200 Yard Freestyle-10th; 500 Yard Freestyle-9th

The girls also posted strong performances in the relay events with 4^th and 6^th place finishes. The teams were:

200 Medley Relay-Gabi Albiero, Gentry Cheek, Catherine Eckerle and Allie Rassenfoss- 4^th place

200 Freestyle Relay-Gabi Albiero, Gentry Cheek, Catherine Eckerle and Julia Roy-6^th place.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Feb. 19-21 @ Eastern HS

BOYS BASKETBALL
Feb. 20-22 @ Eastern HS

CAL seniors, Ellen Joss, Nick Olsofka, and Steven Ott all signed letters of intent on Wednesday, February 7th to play at the collegiate level.

The signing ceremony was opened in prayer by High School Principal, Larry Wooldridge.

“Signing ceremonies are one my favorite parts of being an AD,” said CAL Director of Athletics, Brad Morgan. “It’s exciting to celebrate each of these athletes as individuals, but all three of them have been key contributors to their teams’ successes over the past four years.”

The athletes took the podium to thank parents, teammates, coaches and friends for their support.

Each athlete was recognized by their coach who shared stories and encouraged them in this next phase of life.

“Be sure to set an example for others to follow on your campus. I challenge you to remember your mission—to use athletics and the talents God has given you to advance His kingdom and influence others for Christ,” said, CAL head girls’ soccer coach, John Zutt.

“You are family,” said AD Morgan, “we want you to come back and share your experiences with our athletes. I encourage you to enjoy and use the gifts God has entrusted you with.”

The ceremony concluded with all 3 athletes officially signing letters of intent to the following schools:

Ellen Joss (soccer) – Lipscomb University 
Nick Olsofka (football) – College of the Holy Cross 
Steven Ott (cross country/track) – Indiana Wesleyan University

On Saturday, Steven Ott received his award for being named the Class 2A Cross Country Runner of the Year. The awards were given at the Kentucky Cross Country and Track Coaches Association clinic. Steven was the Class 2A State Champion last fall and enters the track season as one of the favorites in contending for a State title, in all three distance events. Congratulations Steven!

The CAL varsity bowlers extend their season record to 7-0 and their Region 4 record to 5-0. CAL defeated St. Francis and Waggener last week to continue their unblemished record. CAL also had a solid performance in the 7^th Annual Crimson Baker Classic tournament hosted by DuPont Manual High School.

In action early in the week, CAL defeated St. Francis 5-2. Freshman Drew Kilner rolled his best game of the season and an all-time personal high with a score of 198, leading his team to victory in their second regular game of the match. Junior Dalton Kilner put up his second highest game of the season with a 216, leading his team over St. Francis in their second regular game of the match. In his first regular game, Dalton threw a 170 to contribute to another win. In other regular game action, junior Matthew Derridinger bowled a personal season high game of 159. In the Baker games, Matthew Derridinger rolled strikes in both of the frames in which he bowled. Others contributing strikes in the Baker games were 8^th grader Peyton Smith and sophomore Elijah Cooper.

In the 7-0 match win against Waggener, Dalton Kilner led all bowlers with a 196 and a 170 in the 2 regular games, while brother Drew Kilner put up a 195, just missing topping his personal high from the previous match with St. Francis. Senior Lindsey Grass threw her personal high game of the season, a 169, then posted a 160 in the same match. Junior Austin Coleman bowled his season high game with a 154. Austin just joined the varsity bowling team last week. In the match Baker games, Dalton Kilner scored strikes in both frames he bowled; and, Matthew Derridinger, Elijah Cooper and Drew Kilner also contributed strikes.

Then, in weekend action, CAL made their first appearance in the Manual Baker game tournament. They bowled 3 Baker games against each of 3 opponents in the first round – PRP, St. Xavier and Covington Catholic. The CAL team put together their best Baker game of the season, a 200, against Covington. In that game, both junior Nick Romano and Elijah Cooper put up a pair of strikes to lead the team to victory. But, the highlight of the tournament for CAL was a Baker game victory over PRP, one of the 2 top teams in the Louisville area, 177-170, with both Dalton Kilner and Drew Kilner throwing key strikes at the end of the game. Before Saturday, the CAL bowlers had averaged 133 over 20 Baker games. However, in this tournament, CAL averaged 148, a full 15 pins per game above their average. CAL bowled 9 Baker games in the tournament. Dalton Kilner led the team with 9 strikes and 6 spares, followed by Elijah Cooper with 6 strikes and 3 spares, Drew Kilner with 5 strikes and 7 spares, and Matthew Derridinger with 5 strikes and 5 spares. Unfortunately, a few missed shots against their last opponent of the day, Covington, led to elimination in the first round. But, it was a great performance by the CAL bowlers!

Action continues this week with matches against St. Francis on Tuesday, 12/5, at Kingpin Lanes, and against Atherton on Thursday, 12/7, at Executive Strike and Spare. Both matches begin at 4:00pm.

The Centurion high school and middle school Archery teams competed in their first meet this past Saturday at the Ascension Reindeer Shoot held at Waggener HS. This is CAL’s first year to have an Archery team and the Centurions are led by head coach, Jacob Killion.

Congratulations to CAL seniors, Samantha Minrath, Sarah Ratterman, Claire Thomas, Hannah Wilhite, Jacquelyn Wilkins and Jamie Wright all signed letters of intent on Wednesday to play at the collegiate level.

The signing ceremony was opened in prayer by CAL Director of Athletics, Brad Morgan.

“Today is a day of great celebration but also a chance for us to reflect back on all the hard work and sacrifice of each of these athletes and their families,” said AD Morgan.

Each athlete was recognized by their coach, followed by one of their parents who shared stories about years of playing their sport. Each athlete took the podium to thank parents, teammates, coaches and friends for their support.

“I want to thank these parents for trusting Christian Academy to spend so much time with your child. We have been blessed to be a small part of their success,” said AD Morgan.

The ceremony concluded with all 6 athletes officially signing letters of intent to the following schools:

Hannah Wilhite, volleyball Bethel University
Sarah Ratterman, softball Butler University
Samantha Minrath, field hockey University of Louisville
Claire Thomas, field hockey Temple University
Jacquelyn Wilkins, field hockey University of Virginia
Jamie Wright, field hockey Longwood University