Baseball
The Lancers beat Seckman 4-2 May 25 for the State Quarterfinal game.
Although Lafayette wasn’t able to pull ahead for the first five innings, they still came out on top, winning the game.
“[The team] handled adversity well… that is something we work on a lot,” Head Coach Cole Dupont said.
Sophomore Landon Matthews said the Lancers came together and played as a team.
“I expected us to win no matter what. As long as we played as a team and everyone did their job, we had a good chance to win,” Matthews said.
Senior Daxton Shawke thought the Quarterfinal game was amazing.
“We were working all week on things we needed to do to beat Seckman, and we executed everything as we needed to,” Shawke said.
The Lancers will play Liberty North, May 31 for the State Semifinal game.
At this point, if the Lancers lose a game, their season is over.
“I just earned another game. I am a senior, so this is another game I get to play in,” Shawke said, “I am super excited.”
The Semifinal game will be played at the Ozark Mountain Sports Complex in Ozark, Missouri.
“Everyone going down to the Ozarks together will be pretty fun. Playing in a big stadium will be pretty fun,” Matthews said.
Lafayette will go to the State Semifinal for the first time in 24 years.
“It’s pretty cool for the first time since 2000 we are going to the Final Four. The fact that [the team] made it is very impressive, and I am excited that they will be ready to go next Friday,” Coach Dupont said.
Boy’s Track and Field
From May 24-25, Lancers competed at the State Meet in Jefferson City. Lafayette finished 17th overall and scored 14 points. The team scored in the javelin throw and the 300-meter hurdles.
“I’m proud of how we performed at State. The goal was top eight but there’s a lot of room to grow. The last few weeks were very competitive but that brings out the best,” Senior Christian Erkert said.
In the javelin throw, junior Robby Preckel placed 4th, throwing 52.42 meters. Erkert threw 51.22 meters in the javelin throw and placed 7th.
Junior Satinto Stith ran with a time of 39.54 seconds in 300-meter hurdles and finished 5th. Junior Carl King also ran in the 300-meter hurdles and placed 6th with a time of 40.11 seconds.
This meet concluded Lafayette’s 2024 season. Lafayette won six meets this season and were District and Conference champions.
The team’s top scorers were Preckel with 144 points, senior Isaac Jovcevski with 120.25 points, and King with 113 points. Erkert believes the team will still be successful despite many seniors graduating.
“Losing seniors always affects a team, but we’re proud of the culture left behind. The goal is that the underclassmen fill some bigger shoes, and I belive they will,” he said.
Girl’s Track and Field
The Lady Lancers finished 5th place at the State Meet after scoring 36 points. The meet took place from May 24-25 in Jefferson City.
“I think the team performed very well at State. Last year I wasn’t sure how our team was going to pick up points after [Class of 2023 graduates] Elissa [Barnard] and Grace [Tyson] left because we would lose a ton of points in the distance, however several of our field members stepped up and made a huge difference in the team score,” senior Natalie Barnard said.
Lafayette scored points in the 4×800-meter, 1600-meter, 3200-meter, high jump, long jump and triple jump.
Barnard didn’t expect a top-five finish from the team but immediately saw the potential when the season started.
“At first I did not expect our team to be in the top five after losing so many talented seniors last year but as soon as this season started I started to see a lot of potential for a top-five finish as the girls were getting faster and our field events were excelling,” Barnard said.
In the 4×800-meter relay, Barnard, juniors Avery Brown and Lauren Paul, and freshman Alexis Sandberg ran a 9:16.47 time and came 2nd place.
Barnard also ran the 1600-meter and 3200-meter, placing 1st in both races. In the 1600-meter she ran a 4:49.40 and in the 3200-meter she ran a 10.32.66.
Freshman Shaye Witherspoon jumped 1.60 meters in the high jump to place 6th. Sophomore Chloe Tabb came 5th in the triple jump, with a jump of 11.48 meters. Junior Maya Witherspoon jumped 5.41 meters in the long jump and placed 8th.
“Overall the last season of track has been bittersweet. I love training with my best friends every day and getting to watch them succeed. I am super excited about what college has in store but I will always feel like I should be starting practice with Pauls and Brow at 3:30 pm,” Barnard said.
Boy’s Volleyball
On Wednesday, May 22, the Lancers beat Francis Howell Central 3-0 to win the State Championship.
“The win against Francis Howell Central felt great. We worked hard this season and to accomplish the goal of winning state felt so relieving knowing our hard work paid off,” junior Alex Griffon said.
Griffon plays middle blocker for the team, and his 109 blocks across the season, the most on the team, helped the Lancers win State.
The Lancers swept Francis Howell, winning all three sets, 25-16, 25-18 and 25-11. This final win concluded a dominant season for Lafayette, with the team only losing two games all season to Parkway West and Vianney respectively. Their overall record for the season was 30-2.
“I would say that we are A hard-working team that had a lot of fun throughout the season and can relax sometimes but in the end, we know what our job is and we start focusing on that to get the work done,” Griffon said.
Senior Lucas Tran who was the team’s top attacker with 812 attacks and senior Kyle Kubasta the top assister with 533 assists.
The team will be losing their seniors next year, Kubasta and Tran included. Griffon said the team will have to work to work to fill the gaps left behind.
“We are losing three of our starters which helped us with winning this state title so next year I feel that we will have to step up in all roles and work even harder to be a successful team next year,” he said.
