St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Overland Park, Kansas)
| Saint Thomas Aquinas High School | |
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| File:St. Thomas Aquinas logo.png
Amor Vincit Omnia
Love Conquers All
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| Address | |
| 11411 Pflumm Road Overland Park, Kansas, (Johnson County) 66215 United States |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, Coeducational |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1988 |
| President | Bill Ford |
| Chaplain | Fr. Matthew Nagle |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 965 |
| Color(s) | Navy Blue and Old Gold |
| Athletics conference | Eastern Kansas League |
| Nickname | Saints |
| Rival | Bishop Miege High School St. James Academy |
| Accreditation | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[1] |
| Newspaper | The Shield |
| Yearbook | The Medallion |
| Website | http://www.stasaints.net |
St. Thomas Aquinas High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Overland Park, Kansas, United States, serving students in grades 9-12. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. The current chaplain is Fr. Daniel Schmitz, the president is Bill Ford, and the principals are Mr. Brian Schenck, Mr. Craig Moss, and Dr. Mike Sullivan. Saint Thomas Aquinas is one of several private high schools located in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The school colors are navy blue and old gold. The average annual enrollment is approximately 950 students.
The school was established in 1988 in order to accommodate for the growing Roman Catholic population in south Johnson County. It is the successor to Saint Joseph High School, which was originally located in the present-day Saint Joseph Early Education Center in Shawnee, Kansas.
Saint Thomas Aquinas is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 5A division and are known as the "Saints". The boys' soccer program has experienced considerable successes and has been named National Champions twice.[2][3] Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.
Contents
History
Saint Thomas Aquinas High School was established in 1988 by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas in order to accommodate for the growing Roman Catholic population in Overland Park. It is successor to Saint Joseph High School, which was originally located in the present-day Saint Joseph Early Education Center in Shawnee, Kansas.
Academics
Academically, Saint Thomas Aquinas ranks in the top 5% of Kansas high schools. In 2012, Aquinas was awarded the Blue Ribbon Award for excellence in education by the Department of Education. For the 2008-09 and 2009-2010 school years, St. Thomas Aquinas was recognized by the Kansas State Board of Education for achieving excellence in reading, writing and mathematics.[4]
For classes beginning in 2011, 93 credits are required for graduation.[5]
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
The Saints have experienced great success in athletics. Saint Thomas Aquinas is in the Eastern Kansas League and is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association. Throughout the schools' existence, the Saints have won two National Championships (boys' soccer, 1994 and 2009), 89 KSHSAA state championships, 52 state runner-up championships, and 265 league/district/regional/sub-state championships. That includes a record 10 state championships during the 2006-2007 school year.[6]
Soccer
As a two-time national championship program, soccer is widely considered the most successful sport at Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Saints have won a combined 27 state championships in boys' and girls' soccer, which includes eight straight state titles for boys from 2003-2010. Additionally, the boys' team won the National Championship in 1994 and 2009 according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.[2][3] After winning the National Championship in 2009, head coach Craig Ewing was honored as the NSCAA national boys coach of the year for private and parochial schools by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.[7] Ewing had twice previously been selected as the NSCAA’s girls soccer coach of the year.[7]
The program has been a pipeline to several collegiate programs such as Drake, Marquette University, Rockhurst University and Creighton.[8] In addition, Saint Thomas Aquinas has produced two athletes who have gone on to compete professionally including Michael Thomas and Kyle Miller, formerly of Sporting Kansas City.[9]
Cross country
The cross country program has been a state championship contender since the very first season. The girls team placed second at the 1988 4A championship under head coach Greg Wilson. The girls placed second in 5A in 1991, and Chris Ronan won the individual title for the boys team. Wilson coached for 18 years, winning three state titles and placing second six times. Justin Wrigley has been head coach since 2006 and has won eleven state titles and finished second seven times.
Wilson’s greater legacy may have been building the first extra-large cross country team in the KC Metro. The Saints routinely had more than 150 runners at the end of Wilson’s career, or about one in every nine Aquinas students. That legacy continues, with 110 runners on the 2013 team from a school with 905 students.
Wilson won a 6A state championship in his second-to-last year as coach in 2004.
In 2006, assistant coach Justin Wrigley became head coach and both teams won the state title. The Saints have repeated the state sweep in 2008, 2014 and 2015.
The 2013 Aquinas girls team set an unbreakable record at the championship with a perfect score of 15. Bailee Cofer, Emily Downey, Grace Geiger, Monica Sneed and Abbey Hopfinger finished in the top five spots for Aquinas.
In 2015 the boys set the state meet record with a score of 22 points with Michael Shanahan, Will Cole, Daniel Petracek and Alex Gill sweeping the top four spots.
The teams have been emerging as a national power as well. The girls team has finished as high as 3rd place at the Nike Cross Country Heartland Regionals. The boys best finish has been 7th.
Golf
The girls' golf team were the first Saints to win a KSHSAA championship, in the fall of 1992. They won again in 1996 and 1997.
Since Ryan Best took over as golf coach in 2002 until the present, the Saints have had incredible success in 6A and 5A golf. The Saints won in 2002, placed second in 2003 and 2004, then won six consecutive championships from 2007-2012. Gianna Misenhelter won 29 of 35 meets from 2006-2009 and was the Aquinas MVP all four years. She won the state championship her final three seasons. Ali Kruse won the state championship in 2010, followed by Baile Winslow in 2011 and Jordan Chael in 2012. The Saints placed third in 2013.
The boys' golf team placed second seven times from 1995-2006. The Saints finally won in 2007, repeated in 2008, and won again in 2011. Joe Winslow was a freshman on the 2008 championship team and a senior on the 2011 championship team. He won state championships all three years that he competed for Aquinas.
Exchange programs
The school has an exchange program with Yonaga High School in Yonaga, Japan.[10]
State Championships
| State Championships | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Sport | Number of Championships | Year |
| Fall | Soccer, Boys | 16 | 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 |
| Cross Country, Boys | 6 | 1994, 1996, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2015 | |
| Cross Country, Girls | 8 | 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 | |
| Golf, Girls | 10 | 1992, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 | |
| Volleyball, Girls | 5 | 1995, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2014 | |
| Tennis, Girls | 2 | 2008, 2009 | |
| Winter | Wrestling | 2 | 2005, 2007 |
| Basketball, Girls | 4 | 2001, 2004, 2011, 2013 | |
| Debate | 3 | 2006, 2008, 2011 | |
| Scholars' Bowl | 2 | 1992, 2003 | |
| Spring | Golf, Boys | 3 | 2007, 2008, 2011 |
| Soccer, Girls | 14 | 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 | |
| Track & Field, Boys | 1 | 2003 | |
| Track & Field, Girls | 4 | 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 | |
| Baseball | 2 | 2007, 2014 | |
| Softball | 2 | 1997, 2008 | |
| Tennis, Boys | 2 | 2011, 2012 | |
| Swim & Dive, Girls | 1 | 2010 | |
| Forensics | 1 | 2006 | |
| Total | 88 | ||
Notable alumni
- Kristine Covillo, dancer on NBC's "Smash," performer in the Broadway shows of "Evita" and "West Side Story"
- Drake Dunsmore, former NFL tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Kyle Miller, Former MLS player for Sporting Kansas City, Currently Plays For Oklahoma City FC
- Ryan Mueller, 2nd team All-American linebacker for Kansas State University
- Kyler Reed, former tight end for Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Brian Smith, former NFL linebacker
- Kristin Sudeikis, established choreographer and dancer in New York City and has appeared on 30 Rock
- Michael Thomas, Former Sporting Kansas City and Toronto FC player in MLS, Currently Plays For Oklahoma City FC
- Tyler Clement, Point Guard for Creighton Men's Basketball Team
- Dashawn Harden, LSU Women's Basketball Team
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Soccer Coaches Association of America June 13, 2006
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Esfeld, Jill Ragard. "The Japanese Connection" (Archive). The Leaven. Retrieved on April 6, 2015.
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