Beyond the Books - May 2025
May 14, 2025
At Cretin-Derham Hall, students have important opportunities to grow, learn and thrive both in the classroom and 'beyond the books!' In fact, 98% of students participate in one or more sports or activities.
Beyond the Books is our brag book on all of your favorite co-curriculars at CDH: athletics, activities, JROTC, Campus Ministry, and the Arts. This can also be a place for occasional school-wide athletic department updates and current news on some of our activities.
ATHLETICS | ACTIVITIES | BAND | CHOIR | JROTC | THEATER
Athletics
Boys Baseball
By Buzz Hannahan ’94, Head Coach
The Raider Baseball team is having a successful start to the season; we currently sit at 13-3 for our overall record. We have 2 weeks until the Section Tournament and are continuing to make progress towards the big goal for the Spring. This has been a special group with great senior leadership as well as young impact players. The kids have worked all calendar year with one goal in mind.... get the Raiders back to the State Tournament.
There are two more chances to catch the Raiders at Shrode field:
- Wednesday, May 14 vs Woodbury (Senior Day)
- Monday, May 19 vs Stillwater
Boys Golf
By Bob Kinne '11, Head Coach
The Boys Golf team has had a season to remember, with our team undefeated in conference play and showing impressive form heading into the postseason.
Most recently, the team delivered a dominant performance at White Bear Lake, shooting a team total of 277 (11-under par) and finishing 23 strokes ahead of the next closest team. JV had a dominant performance at White Bear Lake as well shooting total 315 +27 finishing 15 strokes ahead of the next closest team. This remarkable round highlights the depth and talent across the roster.
Earlier this spring, the team also claimed a commanding win at their home event at Highland National, further establishing themselves as one of the top teams in the state.
As part of their playoff preparation, the team will travel to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, to compete in an invitational tournament against some of the best teams in the state. This experience will serve as valuable preparation ahead of the postseason.
Section playoffs will take place on May 27 and May 29 at Bunker Hills Golf Club. The players and coaches are excited for the opportunity and grateful for the support from the CDH community.
Girls Golf
By Megan Fee Smith ‘00, Varsity Head Coach
The CDH Girls Golf Team competed in the Mid-Conference match at Troy Burne Golf Club last week. The remaining two weeks of the season include conference matches at Midland Hills Country Club (May 12), Gross National golf course (May 15), Stillwater Country Club (May 19), and North Oaks Golf Club (May 21). Last week, the JV team competed at Gross National golf course and they will play at Midland Hills on Monday and Eagle Valley in Woodbury on Thursday. The season ends for Varsity and JV teams on May 22 with the Conference Championship at Oak Glen.
The Varsity team recently competed in the White Bear Lake Invitational at Oak Glen. They will also play at the Holy Family Catholic Schools Invite at Braemar Golf Course in Edina.
The Section Tournament will be on Wednesday, May 28 at Goodrich Golf Course in St. Paul.
All are welcome to come to the courses and cheer for the Raider golf team! The Varsity and JV conference schedules are posted on the CDH Girls Golf website. Go Raider Golf!
Boys Lacrosse
By Matt Hourigan, Head Coach
The Cretin-Derham Hall boys’ lacrosse team boasts a 7–2 record, demonstrating a potent offense led by Austin Novotny '27 (34 goals, 11 assists), Danny Runyon '27 (30 goals), and Nate Chorlton '26 (12 goals, 24 assists). All three scorers continue to sit in the top ten state wide charts for most goals, assists, and points. The Raiders have secured notable Suburban East Conference victories against Irondale, Woodbury, and White Bear Lake. With key upcoming matchups against East Ridge and St. Thomas Academy, CDH aims to maintain their strong performance and continue their push in the Section 3 playoffs.
Softball
By Carolyn Osdoba, Head Coach
Softball has 5 regular season games before section play starts on May 19. We expect to be a top seed and should contend for a section title again this year. We have been battle tested in our conference which will prepare us for section play. We have stayed competitive this season, battling through numerous injuries. We look forward to an exciting postseason!
Boys Tennis
By Randy Muetzel, Head Coach
The CDH Tennis team is coming off of a second place finish in the CDH Invitational. In the tournament our first doubles team of Garrett Poynter '25 and Will Bischoff '26 went 3-0. Will's and Garretts most exciting match was against Minnehaha. In that match they were behind 8-2 in the third set tie breaker and came back to win the tie breaker 12-10 and the match 5-7, 6-2 12-10. Luke Paar '25 at first singles, Max Redden '25 and James Hamel '28 at second doubles, and Joey Wicker '26 and Griffin Merritt '26 at third doubles all won two matches in the tournament. We are looking forward to sections starting next week.
Track and Field
By Chris Babcock, Head Coach
Boys' track and field: We started our championship phase of the season this week with the True Team section meet at St. Croix Lutheran. This year behind the strength of Michael Seifu '25 in the hurdles the boys elevated themselves to a third place finish after finishing in the middle of the team standings the last few years. The Raiders were also bolstered by performances from first time sprinter Cartier Russell Jr. ’27 who has entered the all time 9th and 10th grade performance for the Raiders in both the 100m and 200m. This being a True Team we relied on more than the performance of two of our outstanding individuals, both of whom lend their talents to relays. Our thrower had big days as well, reaching new distances in the shot and the discus to get us more points. High Jump saw more height than they had this season with Marshall Shoberg ’27 and Rayquon "RQ" Gary ’26 each having season or personal best jumps. First year pole vaulter Leo Kochevar ’27 had a season best vault as well. Showing his senior leadership, Keyon Archer ’25 hopped in the 110m hurdles, not having competed in the event for 3 seasons, to fill out the Raider lineup in that event.
Girls' track and field: The girls have been showing great improvement this season. We have picked up some new recruits like Becca Chestovich ’28 who is showing great grit and determination in the 300m hurdles and middle distance track events. She is being shown the ropes by fellow hurdlers Clare Lasure ’25 and Terenata James ’27 who are making great strides in the hurdles and sprint events as well. In the distance events, Abby Chestovich ’26 has been picking up speed and showing her strength in events ranging from the 800m to the 3200m. She has also been a contributor on the 4 x 400m relay. Triple jumper Grace McSherry ’25 has maintained a high level of performance as well this season.
Both teams have the JV conference meet on Wednesday, May 14, with the boys at East Ridge and the girls at Mounds View. They will be taking on JV squads from around the Suburban East. The following week both teams will be at White Bear Lake for the Suburban East Conference Championships. Then we will be on to the section and hopefully state meet the second week of June.
Boys Volleyball
By Dan Willaert, Head Coach
The Raiders Boys Volleyball team earned their first official Varsity win in school history last week in a thrilling 4 set victory over White Bear Lake! After losing the first set 21-25, the team showed gritty resolve to win the second set 27-25 and then never looked back as they won the next two sets to make history!
Captain outside hitter Andrew Green ’25 also made history this past weekend at the New Prague tournament where he earned his 100th kill! Fellow captain Gino Krejce ’25 leads the team in total blocks with 11. Ben Noha ’27 is the team leader in assists with 95, and fellow sophomore Nick Ahrednt ’27 is leading the team in digs with 70.
The Raiders are about to wrap up their regular season with home matches against East Ridge and Fridley (Senior NIght on Friday, May 16) and an away match at Rochester Mayo. They will head into the first official section tournament in the last week in May.
Activities
Debate
By Emma Denzen, Moderator
The Debate Club is working on our final debate of the year. We are hard at work researching, practicing different methods of persuasion, and building creative arguments. Our topic, chosen via a vote, is whether the legal drinking age in the U.S. should be lowered or not. We plan to debate in 2 weeks!
Art Club
By Suzanne Cranston, Moderator
Fine Arts Week is Monday, May 19 - Friday, May 23 2025. Here is the schedule of events. Should be a fun week.
Monday May 19
- Art Show SET UP and judging and Year Book Distribution during Flex in the Forum
Tuesday, May 20
- Art Show is open during school hours in the Black Box Theater. Guests may use the Albert street entrance and receive a guest pass. There will be signs throughout the school pointing the direction to the gallery on the other side of the building.
- Artist Reception 6:00-7:30 in the Black Box Theater - Awards announced about 6:30. Public is welcome, it's packed!
Wednesday, May 21
- Fine Arts Festival in the Forum during Flex (Karaoke, Caricatures, Mini Pots, Instrument "Petting Zoo", Photo Booth * Props-n-Costumes.
- Band Concert, 7:00 pm Lillian Theater
Thursday, May 22
- Choir Concert, 7:00,, Lillian Theater
Friday, May 23
- Last Day of Art Gallery - Black Box Theater - Closes at noon
Robotics
By Jeff Winsor ’09, Moderator
The last weekend of February the CDH Robotics team was in Duluth at the DECC, and the last weekend of March we were just up the street at the State Fair Coliseum. We learned a lot and broke a lot in Duluth, finishing the weekend with 5 wins and 4 losses. At the Coliseum we had a much more robust robot, making playoffs and finishing qualifying ranked 10th out of 51, we went 7 and 2 in qualifiers and finished with 8 wins and 4 losses.
Our big news is that 13 of our 25 students are seniors, many of whom have been on the team for four (and in one case the last five) years. We will miss them.
The build season next year starts January 3. We'll have pre-season and off-season events over the summer and next fall, including bringing this year's robot to the State Fair to do some demonstrations and march in the parade with it.
Our captains next year are Emma Mike and Jameson Downs, students should reach out to them for info on practice times and locations.
Band
By Teddy Williams, Band Director
The CDH Band is looking to finish strong for this 2024-25 school year. Many band members have been hard at work preparing for the spring musical, pep band games, and their spring concert.
The spring musical, The Addams Family, saw the return of a full student pit orchestra, something that hasn't been around at CDH since pre-Covid. The music was challenging, and the task was large, but the student musicians learned a lot and had wonderful performances!
NYC Trip
CDH Choir, Band and Theater are going to NYC in April 2026! Initial deposits for current students are encouraged to be submitted by the end of this school year.
MyBurger Fundraiser for NYC Trip
Tuesday May 20, 4-8pm. Want to eat a great meal and support the CDH Performing Arts in the process? Dine at MyBurger within the times listed above, and mention CDH Performing Arts (or promo code 'FUN' online) at checkout, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward our 2026 trip to NYC.
Spring Band Concert
The Band will have one final performance to wrap up the year! We hope to see you there!
Wednesday, May 21, 7 pm in the Lillian Theater
Choir
By Delilah Schuster, Choir Director
NYC Trip
CDH Choir, Band and Theater are going to NYC in April 2026! Initial deposits for current students are encouraged to be submitted by the end of this school year.
MyBurger Fundraiser for NYC Trip
Tuesday May 20, 4-8pm. Want to eat a great meal and support the CDH Performing Arts in the process? Dine at MyBurger within the times listed above, and mention CDH Performing Arts (or promo code 'FUN' online) at checkout, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward our 2026 trip to NYC.
Spring Choir Concert
May 22, 7pm in the Lillian Theater at CDH
Join us for our spring program, which is focused on the theme of Dreams and features a variety of styles and soloists. This will also be our send-off for our senior singers. This concert is free and open to the public!
We will also perform at Baccalaureate Mass on May 28, 9 am at Lumen Christi Church.
JROTC
By SGM David Berrisford '81, MSG Ken Peloski, COL Scrocca, and SFC Thingvold
The 107th Twilight Parade and Awards Ceremony was held on May 7 and we were happy to welcome several alumni for the occasion. In addition to saying farewell to our seniors this year, we also said our final farewell to MSG Ken Peloski, who will be retiring from teaching this summer after 17 years of instruction and mentorship to our JROTC cadets. His dedication and enthusiasm will be dearly missed by all, but the lessons he taught will remain with our cadets and shape their lives for years to come.
The annual Raider Brigade Army Cadet Command Inspection took place on Thursday, April 30. The formal Army inspection and evaluation was conducted by representatives of the Army Cadet Command 3rd Brigade from Chicago and active duty Soldiers and cadets from the University of Minnesota ROTC Department. In addition to the formal inspection of the Corps of Cadets, the evaluation included meetings with the school administration, an evaluation of JROTC and school facilities, a drill presentation, color guard presentation, knowledge examinations and cadet presentations on their Service Learning and Continuous Improvement Projects. The Raider Brigade once again earned recognition as a national Honor Unit of Distinction.
The final event of the school year – the JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge at Camp Wilderness in Park Rapids, will take place from May 27-31. In this CDH-led event, 12 Raider Brigade cadets will join approximately 50 other Army JROTC cadets from other Army JROTC programs throughout the region to participate in a host of individual leadership and team-building activities to include: rock wall climbing, rappelling, a high ropes course, archery, kayaking, and orienteering.
Theater
By Cullen Wiley '16, Theater Director
The Cretin-Derham Hall Theater Department wrapped up its season with a production of The Addams Family in the Lillian Theater. The show brought together students from theater, choir, and band. Read more about the production.
NYC Trip
CDH Choir, Band and Theater are going to NYC in April 2026! Initial deposits for current students are encouraged to be submitted by the end of this school year.
MyBurger Fundraiser for NYC Trip
Tuesday May 20, 4-8pm. Want to eat a great meal and support the CDH Performing Arts in the process? Dine at MyBurger within the times listed above, and mention CDH Performing Arts (or promo code 'FUN' online) at checkout, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward our 2026 trip to NYC.