Heard in the Halls - March 2023
March 7, 2023
We encourage you to read all the current blogs, or click below to quickly go to a section.
ATHLETICS | COUNSELING | THEATER | JROTC | CHOIR | BAND
Athletics
Boys Swimming and Diving
By Mike Steineman '92, Head Coach
Captain Matt Baumberger '24 had a great State Meet this past weekend! On Friday March 3, Matt swam a personal best in his first event, the 200 IM, with a time of 1:55.78 and qualified in 7th place for Saturday's Finals. In his second event, Matt again dropped time logging a 51.09 in the 100 Butterfly. In that event, he qualified 10th heading into the Finals.
On Saturday, night, Matt was back in the pool for State Finals. He finished in eighth place in a time of 1:56.29. His eighth place finish has earned him All-State Honors! In the 100 Fly, Matt finished in a time of 51.37 and 13th place. Overall, CDH finished in 30th place out of 37 teams that scored points.
The Boy's Swimming & Diving Team had a great Section Meet as well! Our team is small this year (we only have 11 guys, of which 9 competed) but they refused to let their size or the schedule changes affect how they were going to swim!
For the 18th year in a row, our team earned an Academic Section Award! We were named a Silver Team for earning a GPA of 3.72! Swimming and Diving teams with GPAs of 3.50-3.74 earn Silver Status. It is our 11th Silver Academic Award since the award program began during the 2004-2005 school year. The other seven awards we have earned were Gold Status for having a GPA of 3.75 or higher!
At the meet, our guys swam out of their minds! We had 21 total swims and 95% of those swims were lifetime or season bests! This is the best that we have ever done as a team at a championship meet! Individually, Matt finished in 2nd place in the 200 Individual Medley (IM) with a time of 1:56.64. His time beat the State Qualifying Time of 1:57.59. In addition, in the 100 Butterfly, he won the event in a time of 51.53, again beating the State qualifying time of 52.40. Swimmers that make the qualifying time or finish 1st or 2nd at Section Finals go to State. Matt was determined to make it to State and he made sure he did so by achieving two qualifying times!
Special congrats to Assistant Coach Hannah Zobitz '13 as she won Assistant Coach of the Year as voted by the Coaches in our Section!
Boys Basketball
By Tony Yazbeck, Assistant Coach
We are headed into sectional play this week. We will host a quarterfinal game on Wednesday night vs. an opponent to be determined.
Congratulations to Adam Tauer ’23 and Coach Jerry Kline who have been selected to play and coach in the MBCA All-Star Game on April 1 at Anoka Ramsey Community College.
Boys Hockey
By Matt Funk, Head Coach
The Boys Hockey team advanced to their second straight state tournament by defeating St. Thomas Academy 4-2 at Braemar Arena in Edina. We will play this week at the Minnesota State High School League State AA Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul.
Congratulations to Simon Houge ’23 on his commitment to play Division 1 hockey at the United States Air Force Academy.
Congratulations to Jake Fisher ’23 on being named a Minnesota Mr. Hockey Finalist.
Girls Hockey
The Raider Girls Hockey Team finished their season with a heart-breaking 3-2 double-overtime Section Final loss to Rosemount. The Championship Game in Section 3AA was played in front of a packed house at Veterans Memorial Community Center in Inver Grove Heights on February 15.
Captain Casey Coffey '24 got the Raiders on the scoreboard when she ripped a heavy slap shot from the left point and beat the Rosemount goalie clean to her glove side low. Coffey’s snipe was a power play goal in the second period with the assist going to her defensive partner Stella Hadac '25. Delaney Schwab '25 scored the Raiders second goal to tie the game up 2-2 with 4:29 left to play in the championship game. Schwab hustled to get in the shooting lane of the Rosemount defenseman and blocked her slap-shot. The puck bounced forward off of Schwab’s shin pad and she was off to the races on a breakaway. She moved in from left to right and made a forehand fake. She then unwound the netminder across the crease and tucked in a beautiful back-hand deke. Grace Kemp '26 was on fire in the net for the entire second half of the Raider season. She had 39 saves in the section final on 42 shots and many of the saves were spectacular fashion. Kemp has emerged as one of the top goaltenders in the state and the future looks extremely bright for this very young team.
The Raiders were the fourth seed in Section 3AA and had to travel to the one-seeded Apple Valley on Saturday, February 11. Apple Valley jumped out to a 2-0 lead on their home ice after two periods. The Raiders season was on the line against highly ranked Apple Valley being down 2-0 starting the third period. Goalie Grace Kemp '26 was amazing all night in the net for CDH. She stopped 21 out of 23 shots including many high-quality scoring chances from the net front area. Hope Hadac '25 scored two minutes into the third period from a bad angle shot. It was a rebound from Josie Vance '25’s quick shot from the point just as the Raider power play ended. Then in full flight, defenseman Casey Coffey '24 scored off an end-to-end rush to tie the game 2-2 with a heavy wrist shot as she drove in on the left side and cut hard to the net. The assists on Coffey’s goal went to Stella Hadac '25 and Abby Broz '25. Coffey was all over the ice as an impact player, defending and then jumping up to initiate the Raider offensive attack. Coffey’s goal sent the game into overtime. The Raider’s leading scorer Abby Broz '25 tallied the game winner one minute into the first overtime. Delaney Schwab '25 and Hope Hadac '25 had the assists on the goal. Hadac passed the puck to Schwab in the low slot. Schwab had multiple defenders draped all over her as she muscled a shot on goal that rebounded to Broz for the game winner.
The Raiders graduate their two senior captains Meredith Anfang '23 and Lily Anderson '23. Both Anderson and Anfang had stellar 4-year careers for the CDH girls’ hockey team. Their leadership and phenomenal play put the Raider’s one shot away from a State Tourney birth. The future looks extremely promising for the Raider Girls Hockey Team.
Boys Tennis
By Randy Muetzel, Head Coach
We start on March 27. We will have a meeting sometime the week before to let the guys know if we are inside or outside.
Track and Field
By Chris Babcock, Head Coach
The 2023 track and field season is going to kick off on Monday, March 13. We are a growing program since the pandemic. Returning this year, Abby Chestovich '26 is coming off her second State Cross Country Meet to contribute to the track and field team. The team will be led by captains Piper Lee '23, Katie Chestovich '24, and Isaac Koemptgen '23. The team will be practicing in the CDH fitness center at 3 pm Monday - Friday until we transfer to Macalester when the snow clears. Meets will start in April after Spring Break. If you are interested in getting faster, jumping further or higher, or throwing further this spring contact one of the captains or Coach Babcock.
Girls Lacrosse
By Jeff Rosga, Head Coach
First Team Practice: 4/03
- Practice Times: 3-5 pm Monday-Friday (excluding game days)
- Saturday: 8:30-10 am (as needed)
Location: CDH Turf
Softball
Carolyn Osdoba, Head Coach
Softball starts practice Monday, March 13. We will be practicing inside from 4-6 pm our first week.
College Counseling
By Joan O'Connell, College Counselor
Junior College Planning Meetings
If you have not already done so, please schedule a family appointment for post-high planning with your student and his or her college counselor. An email message was sent to parents with a link to your college counselor’s appointment schedule on Calendly. Gather your questions and we will look forward to seeing you soon!
Ms. O’Connell, Last names A-K: Meeting Sign Up
Mrs. Nelson, Last names L-Z: Meeting Sign Up
April ACT for Juniors
Juniors will be taking the ACT (no writing) on Tuesday, March 28. Students do not need to sign up for the test, as all juniors will be registered by CDH. Please check your emails for additional information from Katie Shead, CDH School Counselor.
CDH Education Fair
Our annual CDH Education Fair is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18 and we will be hosting college admissions representatives in the Joe Mauer Field House. Sophomore and junior students and families are invited to come explore college options, meet college representatives and get your questions answered. This open house event will be held from 6:30 to 8 pm and a list of attending colleges will be available prior to the event.
Theater
By Penelope Parsons-Lord, Theater Director
We have been busy as a bee at the Lillian Theater. We have just closed our wonderful production of Sense and Sensibility. Both cast and crew worked exceptionally hard on this production and were rewarded by rave reviews by all who attended. Spotlight evaluators watched our rehearsals and 3 of our performances. We eagerly anticipate their feedback.
Speaking of Spotlight, a number of our students are busy preparing for their Hennepin Theater trust auditions and applications for programs that are designed to advance students' theater educations in practical ways. We wish all that are applying the best of luck.
Mamma Mia! auditions will be held this week and by the time you read this, the show will be cast and rehearsals will be in full swing. We are thrilled to welcome Michael Haas to our theater team as our set designer and builder for this production. I look forward to giving thanks for the music with everyone in May!
JROTC
By SGM David Berrisford '91, MSG Ken Peloski, COL Scrocca, and SFC Thingvold
More than 230 cadets and their guests took part in a time honored military tradition last month as the annual JROTC Military Ball was held at TST Catering and Event Hall in Saint Paul. The cadets looked sharp in their full dress uniforms and evening gowns and farewelled the departing seniors with a saber arch before enjoying a great meal, dancing and building unit camaraderie and espirit-de-corps. What a blast! This event keeps getting bigger and bigger and we are so proud and appreciative of how well-mannered the cadets and their guests were. We are already looking forward to next year!
A number of cadets from the CDH JROTC Rifle Team took part in Eastside Rams Postal Air Rifle Match in February. Congratulations to Ella Keating '23 and Mallorie Taft '26, who were the top shooters for CDH and earned themselves Gold Medals to wear proudly on their uniforms.
To close out the 2nd Trimester, 11th graders took their Junior Officer Exam. Based on their scores, next Trimester approximately 15-20% of the class will be promoted to junior officer and be eligible to apply for a diamond officer position next year. For those who do not meet the cut off, the exam will be offered again at the end of the school year.
The Raider Brigade will now start preparing for the annual Army Cadet Command Inspection which will take place on April 13. The formal Army inspection and evaluation will be 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. The evaluation also includes 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.
Finally, this is the last call for permission slips for the final event of the school year – the JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge at Camp Wilderness in Park Rapids from May 30 - June 3. 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.
CHOIR
By Tyler Berg, Choir Director
Greetings from the Cretin-Derham Hall Choirs!
We have much to update you on since the last Communicator. In February, Calla Massari '24, Luna McLeod '24, and Joshua Ojo '23 did a brilliant job representing CDH as members of the ACDA National Honor Choirs in Cincinnati. We are so grateful they were all three able to make it, despite the weather!
We've begun working on repertoire for our next concert, which will be May 16. Our theme is space and the sky. Due to some of the recent weather events and scheduling conflicts, we've decided to cancel our March concert, in lieu of a longer May 16 concert. We are so excited to present to you what should be a more complete concert, featuring music from multiple era's and idioms.
Lastly, the choir is currently selling Butter Braids to help fundraise for our choir/band trip to San Diego next spring (approx. early March 2024). All orders are due by March 15. The order forms have been with students for almost a month now. If you are interested in purchasing some Butter Braids, find a choir student, or, email me at tberg@c-dh.org. Pick-up for Butter Braids will be at CDH on March 29.
BAND
By Nick Zahler, Band Director
Wow! Time flies when you’re having fun! Whether we like it or not, the year is rapidly coming to a close, and that is certainly evident in the world of high school music at CDH. We’ve just wrapped up Tri 2 finals, and all the while, students are getting ready for MSHSL Solo & Ensemble Contest, preparing auditions for the spring musical, maintaining a busy pep band schedule (including the upcoming hockey game(s), putting on several performances, fundraising for next year’s band trip, and traveling to other schools for music festivals and similar performances. In a couple weeks when we have a chance to catch our breath, the students will have a hard time figuring out where all the time went!
As we look forward into Tri 3, things start to wind down just a bit. The Spring Concert is being rescheduled at the moment, but will occur sometime in the next two weeks. We have the potential for more pep band performances at basketball games, which is always exciting! Especially when one of our own is a starter on the girls varsity team! We will also have our end-of-year Pops Concert and Senior Awards the third week in May.
If you or anyone you know is interested in instrumental music here at CDH, please send them the link to our digital flier for band. We’re looking forward to an amazing year next year, and want everyone involved!