Summer 2015

Trinity Pride

Serving St. Teresa and Trinity Catholic High School Alumni

“Carpe Diem” 2015 Graduates

The Trinity Catholic Commencement ceremony was held on Saturday, May 16.

The Bishop’s Crest Award was presented to Joey Hale, son of Steve and Amy Hale.

Most Reverand Bishop Carl Kemme and Mr. Bob Voboril, Superintendent of Schools, presented the Bishop David Maloney Award to Kayla Mesh, daughter of Paul (‘83) and Mari Mesh.

Valedictorians of the class were Konner Brening, Tommy Fink, Kayla Mesh, Khoi Nguyen, Hannah Yackley. Jacinta Bergkamp was Salutatorian.

Visit our website at www.trinity-hutch.com

Principal’s Letter

Dear Trinity Catholic Alumni and Friends, It’s hard to believe that the 2014-15 school year has come and gone so quickly. The warm weather is upon us, the Lord has blessed us with some rain, and summer activities are in full swing. Even though students are on summer break, the school is busy with activities as we continue to prepare for the upcoming school year. We do have a few changes in personnel for next year. Mr. Zachary Day has been hired to teach English. He replaces Mrs. Leah Oswald, who has decided to stay home with her young children. Sister Maria Jacinta has been assigned to teach 3rd grade at St. Catherine of Sienna in the fall. She will be replaced by a Sister from the Immaculate Heart of Mary convent. Mr. Mark Robinson has taken a position with Burrton schools. We are currently interviewing for the music postion. Please help us welcome all of our new staff members to our Catholic community. The Campaign for Excellence has been very successful, raising over 3 million dollars for capital improvements to the building. We have already seen the benefits as we have renovated our main restrooms and our students enjoyed the brand new library and computer lab this school year. Work has begun on the football grandstands/press box and gymnasium bleachers. Thank you to everyone who has donated time and money for this worthwhile cause. These efforts will ensure that future generations will have an opportunity for a great Catholic education. Finally, I would like to say that we are so fortunate to have the continued support of our community, alumni, parents and friends. Our mission will continue to be strong and the energy from our volunteers and students allows us to offer an outstanding, exceptional Catholic education for Hutchinson, the surrounding area and several countries abroad. Thank you to everyone and it is my wish that everyone has a wonderful and relaxing summer. God Bless,

Joe Hammersmith, Principal

Trinity Pride is published by the Trinity Catholic High School Development Office. It is circulated to alumni, parents and friends as a way to share news about persons, programs, events and other opportunities in the Trinity community. Joe Hammersmith, Principal Sue Hall, Development Director Send address changes to: Trinity Catholic High School, 1400 E. 17th Hutchinson, KS 67501 Phone: (620) 662-5800 Fax: (620) 662-1233 Email address: [email protected]

The highlight of Catholic Schools Week was Trinity and Holy Cross students celebrating mass with Bishop Carl Kemme.

$100,000 MATCHING FUND IN MEMORY OF RICHARD AND MARY BLICK future construction at Trinity, including a new gymnasium.

The family of Richard and Mary Blick have announced a matching fund that will be given in honor of ‘Dick and Mary’. The financial goal of the fund is to receive a ‘match’ of the proposed 100,000 dollar gift before the 50th anniversary celebration - Summer of 2016. The purpose of the fund is to encourage and challenge giving for the continued renovation and

The Blick clan had seven children graduate from Trinity over an 11 year span. During those 11 years Richard and Mary befriended the entire Trinity community. Mary Blick often Back row L-R: Vivian, Gerry, David, Kathy. drove sports teams Front row L-R: Ned, Mary, Emily, Richard, Nancy The parenting philosophy of Mary and cheerleaders to games in and Richard is that one cannot the ‘baby blue’ LTD family staput a price tag on Catholic education wagon. Richard frequently tion. No sacrifice was too great donated keg beer from the family to ensure that their children would business to Booster Club events. According to Nancy Blick-Strawn: receive a moral foundation and “our parents’ social life seemed to quality education from Trinity Catholic school. The children of revolve around Trinity events and Richard and Mary are eternally Trinity people. . . we were truly grateful for the love and sacrifices part of one, big extended family.” of their mom and dad.

Vivian Sooter (‘71), Gerry (‘77), Nancy Strawn (‘82), Fr. Ned (‘82), Kathy McNeil (‘72), Emily Hanna (‘81), David (‘75)

Alumni News

Racette (‘11) Closes Falcon Career with National Championship From the Friends University Paper: WICHITA, Kan. - Derek Racette (SR/ Hutchinson, KS) came to Friends University as a freshman from Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School. He started his Falcon career as only a football player, but was convinced by a few teammates that he should also join the track and field team that spring. Racette was an above-average high school javelin thrower who had a best of around 175 feet. Racette proved to be a valuable asset to the Friends team right away, as he placed 3rd in the Javelin at the KCAC Meet as a freshman and ended the year with a season best of 179’. As a sophomore, Racette saw some improvements throughout the season and he ended up qualifying for his first National meet with a season best throw of 189’. He made the trip to Indiana with his teammates and ended up placing 8th in the NAIA as a sophomore earning his first All-American Honor. Racette would come back his junior season with some pressure on the line, he didn’t want to be the athlete who couldn’t repeat as an All-American. Racette improved his lifetime best to 193’ as a junior, qualified for the National Meet in Gulf Shores, Alabama and became a 2-Time All-American with another 8th place finish. Entering his senior season, Racette had big dreams: he wanted to place higher than 8th and he wanted the school record which

stood at 201’7”. He started the year off with a bang by hitting the national standard on his first throw of the season. He would continue to hit the standard at every meet save one. The end of the season was drawing near and the KCAC Outdoor Championships was the next meet on the schedule. Racette crossed off one of his goals for the season with a school record toss of 204’11”. He had forever engraved his name in the Friends University record books. That throw ranked Racette 2nd in the KCAC behind a massive attempt from Bethany College athlete Seth Derr (217’6”) who was ranked #1 in the country. Racette entered the National Meet with one goal; National Champion. He was sitting in 3rd place going into the meet and knew it was going to come down to him and rival conference thrower Derr who had won the KCAC Title. The men’s Javelin was supposed to take place Thursday night, but due to inclement weather, the competition was postponed to Friday afternoon at 4:30pm. Racette was quiet most of the day, and he had a focused look in his eyes and we knew that something special was about to happen. His warm-up throws were leaving his hand with ease and landing close to the 60m line (197’). On Racette’s 3rd throw of the prelims, he launched his javelin out to a new school record, and event leading mark of 64.54m (212’ 1.25”). At that point it was his championship to lose and we knew that Derr

was the only athlete that had a real shot to take the title from him. On Derr’s first throw of the finals our hearts sank as was watched his toss soar past the 60m line. We all knew that it was a massive throw close to 220 feet. We then heard a murmur among the crowd and looked back to see that a foot foul had been called on the throw. They measured the throw (In case of a protest) but did not announce it to the crowd as it was called a foul. Neither Racette nor Derr would throw farther on their final two throws and the competition would end with Racette in 1st place and Derr in 2nd. We headed to the awards stand with a heavy heart knowing that the Bethany coach was going to protest the call and we would have to wait close to an hour before knowing the final results. The Falcon team, coaches, and Derek’s family members were all present in the awards stand area when the final announcement was made. The protest had been denied, the mark stayed a foul, and Derek was the

Derek Racette’s 4 year Progression in the Javelin Freshman – Best of 179’6” – 3rd in KCAC, Did not qualify for Nationals Sophomore – Best of 189’4” –

1st in KCAC, 8th in the NAIA Junior – Best of 193’8” – 2nd in KCAC, 8th in the NAIA

Senior – Best of 212’1” – 2nd in KCAC, School Record, NAIA CHAMPION

first individual men’s National Champion in Friends University men’s track and field history. When asked how he was feeling post event, Racette had these words to say. “I just want to thank everyone for all of the love and support they have shown me during the last four years. None of this would have happened without everyone behind me. This year has been one to remember, not just for me but for the whole Falcon Family. So many great memories come to mind. I have to give a huge thank you to my family, coaches, and teammates. I love you guys and thank you for pushing me all year. I might be the first National Champion in Friends men’s history, but I know I won’t be the last. I am excited to see the direction that the program is heading and I wish the best of luck to all of my teammates still on the team. I know you all will be successful on and off the track.”

ALUMNI NEWS Amanda Gion (‘08) obtained her Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree from KU Medical Center in May. Amanda has accepted a position at the Atchison Hospital in Atchison, Kansas. Her fiance’, Abe Noll, is an athletic trainer at the Atchison Hospital. They are planning a June 27th wedding!

Taia Cordel (‘07) obtained her Doctor of Optometry Degree from the Illinois College of Optometry May 16. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and received the Eschenbach Low Vision Award. She was a member of the Tomb and Key Honor Society and Beta Sigma Kappa Honor Society. She will be doing a post-doctorate residency in Ocular Disease at the Hospital for Veteran’s Affairs in Kansas City, MO. Mary Duarte Thibault (‘06) has earned her doctorate degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. At the graduation ceremony she was recognized as a member of the gold Humanism Honor Society and of Phi Delta Epsilon. She and her husband, Eric, will be moving to Cleveland, Ohio where she will start her Obstetrics & Gynecology residency program at MacDonald Women’s Hospital at University Hospitals Case Western Medical Center.

Five Trinity Catholic Seniors Earn Eagle Scout

Christopher Maldonado’s project was a respectful retirement of over 150 U.S. flags. Darrick Baker’s project was the planting of 13 large trees at the Fairgrounds park. The trees planted included one flowering tree in honor of his grandfather, Fred Blick. Tommy Fink’s project was repainting the lines at the parking lot at St. Teresa Church. William Green’s project was to engineer and build a large sturdy yet movable bench-seated enclosure for the Hutchinson Zoo’s giant Sulcata tortoises. Charlie Garcia’s project was designing and constructing a Mars landscape at the Kansas Cosmosphere.

Grace Suter (‘13) was honored to be named Hutchinson Community College Ambassador of the Year Award. Grace also received the 2015 Young Kansan award. Grace said “It is such a rewarding feeling to receive this from a place and a program that have given me so much. I will never forget the relationships I was able to build along the way that made it so easy to be a proud, true Blue Dragon! Cordell Goering (‘13) set the Wichita State University 400 meter hurdles indoor track record with a time of 54.9 seconds! Alex Lesperance (‘11), along with two of his classmates, were presented The Steel Ring Award. The team was First Runnerup for the Best Open Class Display at the 2015 Kansas State University Engineering Open House. Lauren Rust (‘15) will be part of the Hutchinson Community College Forensics Team.

Wee Celtics

1996 Thomas, son of Michael Leiker Jackson, Maxwell and Hutchinson, triplet sons of Nick Rudman 1998 Felix, son of Charlie Rumback

1999 Benjamin, son Courtney Kurowski Phillips

2002 Jackson, son of Claire Collins Wukawitz joins sister Charlotte and brother Owen 2003 Isla Rose, daughter of Scott Biel

2004 Grace Lauren, daughter of Jared Bennett 2004 & 2006 Alexis, daughter Derrick and Katie Stoecklein Raya

2005 Maverick, son of Morgan Foss Schmidt Sawyer, son of Dustin Ketchum

2005 & 2006 Annsley, daughter of Tim and Kerry Mazur Dowsey joins sisters Brecken and Stella and brother Lawson 2007 Elijah, son of Gina Emel Urban, son of Madison Oberle joins brother River

2012 Bentley Ross, son of Ashley Zrubek

March for Life A full bus of 40 Trinity Catholic students and eight adult chaperones traveled to the March for life in Washington, D.C. There were at least 500,000 people involved in the march. Kristina Enslinger (‘15) stated, “I enjoyed the youth mass the most. It was amazing to see how many Catholic teens are involved. I go to defend those who cannot defend themselves.” Sarah Bergkamp (‘16) stated “I go every year to save the babies!” Morgan Cowles (‘16) (daughter Patrick Cowles ‘89) said her favorite part of the trip was Arlington National Cemetary and Gettysburg.

Signing on the Dotted Line

Bishop Kemme with TC students and the TC group below.

Dominic DeLuca signed a letter of intent to play football for McPherson College. “I chose McPherson College because of the atmosphere and image of the campus. I like what the football team is about and I like their defensive philosophies.” Joey Hale signed a letter of intent to play football for Hutchinson Community College. “I was impressed with the coaching staff. There are a lot of programs in place to help students succeed at HCC. I am very excited to be a Dragon football player.” Brooke Racette signed a letter of intent to play basketball at McPherson College. “When I met the team and coaches at McPherson College, I just knew it was right. My parents both went to school there and it is pretty cool to follow in their footsteps.” Baylee Reade signed a letter of intent to play tennis for Barton Community College. “Tennis is a big part of my life. Once I visited the Barton campus and the tennis program, I knew that is where I was meant to go.” Baylee and her partner Emma Lanham placed 3rd at State tennis. Ginger Gecho signed a letter of intent to row at Kansas State University

Winter Homecoming 2015

Alexandra Brown, daughter of Todd and Lisa Brown, was crowned as the 2015 Winter Homecoming Queen. Nathaniel Clennan, son of Brian and Courtney Clennan (‘88), was crowned as King. Members of the royal court included William Green, Jacinta Bergkamp, Christopher Maldonado, Shannon Galliher, Tommy Fink and Brooke Racette. Crown bearers were Claire Gust and Augustine Bell.

Debate at TC The debate season began September 20th and ended four months later on January 17th. The team competed at eight invitational tournaments and earned medals at seven tournaments. Overall, the combined efforts of the team earned first place in sweepstakes at Nickerson, Salina South, and Andover. State competition found the team earning the runner-up trophy in the 4-speaker division and the champion trophy in the 2-speaker division. Thirteen Trinity Catholic students completed in debate this year. Han Choi signed up for debate to improve his English language skills. His first language is South Korean. Dominik Strobel also debated in his second language. He is an exchange student from Germany. He brought a strong international participation to the class. Other members of the debate class were Darrick Baker (son of Tina Blick Baker ‘85), Greg Bird, Maggie Brown, Liam Brown, Rachel Eisenbarth, Shannon Galliher, Carlos Garcia (son of Lisa Wortman Garcia ‘83), Sofia Garcia (daughter of Lisa Wortman Garcia), Nolan Hughes, Andrew Nelson (son of Diana Banning Nelson ‘79), and William Green. The coach is Lisa Garcia. All of the students learned in-depth research skills as they studied the ocean and the impact that researching and developing the ocean will have on each of us. During many of the tournaments, Shannon Galliher drew inspiration from Dr. Sylvia Earle. Earle is in her seventies, but she still scuba dives and completes ocean research. After reading many articles by Earle and others, the TC debaters decided to write an affirmative case about ocean clean up. The research paid off, as both the 2-speaker and 4-speaker teams were undefeated on the affirmative side at the state tournament. Shannon, William, Darrick, and Rachel are members of the 4-speaker team. Sofia and Carlos are members of the 2-speaker team.

Overall the debaters agree that debate has positively impacted their academic success. Rachel Eisenbarth explains that “after three years of debate, taking notes, listening, understanding concepts, and critically thinking about the information is simple and almost a second nature for me.” Maggie Brown adds that she is more confident when presenting in front of the class and she shares her opinions more frequently in class discussions. Sofia Garcia adds that what she “didn’t expect from debate was the group of friends I’d make

not only from our squad but also from the other schools. I’ve met some really incredible people. Nothing could have been as spectacular as winning a state championship with my brother as my college, my mother as my coach, and the rest of my debate squad cheering us on!” The Trinity Catholic debaters are ready to argue that all of the hours of hard work were worth it!

Scholar’s Bowl at State On February 14th, the TC Scholars’ Bowl team and Coach Lori Bird traveled to Douglas High School for the 3A State Competition. The team took 4th place with members Daniel Bird, Charlie Garcia, Sofia Garcia, William Green, Abril Guerrero, Thomas Nelson (son of Rachel Arnold Nelson ‘90) and Jacinta Bergkamp

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Homecoming 2015 September 11

Preview of Events Friday, June 17, 2016 at 7:00p.m. • Family Gathering at Trinity for all the Trinity Catholic Family, Alumni and families, Past and Present Parents, Past and Present Faculty & Staff, Students, Parishioners and Friends • Tour the school • Fun for the whole family with games, face painting, watermelon feed and more! Saturday, June 18, 2016 • Plan a gathering for your class • Explore Hutchinson • Mass Saturday night or Sunday morning • Dinner and Dance at the Fairgrounds 6:30p.m. • More information to follow

Principals Letter Page 2

Alumni News Page 4

Challenge Page 3

TC News Page 6