Steward Athletics

Written by Zach Joachim, reprinted from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1/20/21

If a basketball team is willing to work through 57 practices only to play four games, it stands to reason that they share a goal greater than wins and losses.

That was the count as of Jan. 26 for the Steward girls basketball team (4-0, No. 3 in the T-D Top 10). The defending VISAA Division II champion Spartans have put in months of work in the gym without the assurance of a schedule or playoff in pursuit of a collective purpose which has eluded so many amid the pandemic — closure.

Head coach Kara Bacile coached the junior varsity team when the Spartans’ tight-knit core of six seniors were freshmen. She’s progressed alongside them, and staked her aspirations this year on providing them some sense of finality for their high school careers.

"That was my biggest mission to start this year, was we need to have some kind of closure for them,” Bacile said. “I don’t know what it looks like yet, no matter how many games we end up getting, if we can get something for those guys, that’s a victory in my mind for them to have some closure and be in the uniform one more time and get out there and play a last few games together.”

Steward held a ceremony last week for the class, which has gone 69-22 over the last four years. Each senior had two parents or guardians present to take pictures with. The student-athletes received school blankets and flowers, the parents got buttons with their children’s pictures on them. The parents couldn’t stay for the game, but it was livestreamed.

Bacile said this senior class is especially near and dear to her because they “started this journey together.”

“They were the ones that believed in the vision before anybody else could see it,” Bacile said. “So I feel like I owe them so much.”

Forward Sherese Pittman, a James Madison recruit, headlines a group which Bacile said has each carved out definitive roles and leads as a collective.

Pittman was the VISAA Division II player of the year and a first-team All-Metro honoree as a junior last season. She’s scored 1,513 career points (19.3 per game) to go along with 1,068 rebounds (13.9 rpg) and 250 blocks. Bacile thinks, with Pittman’s talent, she could average 30-plus points if she wanted to. But Pittman looks to create for her teammates before herself, Bacile said, and sets the tone in the locker room as a level-headed motivator that uplifts those around her.

“For all she does on the floor, what she brings off the floor to the community is huge for us and we’re going to miss her so much,” Bacile said.

Point guard Ameerah “Mimi” Traynham (14 ppg last season, 1,314 for her career) has been on varsity since her eighth grade year and “really set this whole thing in motion,” according to Bacile.

Bacile and Traynham used to have heated exchanges over Traynham losing confidence after making mistakes. Traynham is now Bacile’s trusted floor general.

“Finally, we were able to break through and break her out of that habit and give her that confidence to where she is now, she’s like an extension of me on the floor,” Bacile said.

Forward Grace Inge was on JV as a freshman when Bacile coached that level, and has been with her the entire time. Bacile said Inge does all the little things to help a team win. Her father is an assistant coach, and the pair are part of the fabric of the Steward program.

“Just a really, really sweet girl, one that works her butt off for you and is the ultimate teammate,” Bacile said.

Forward Eleanor Kuhn also played on Bacile’s JV team. She was the tallest player on the team, but hated doing the jump ball because she didn’t like the attention. She used to beg Bacile not to make her do it, but now the coach teases Kuhn about it.

”Because, looking at that girl in ninth grade who was so nervous, to really watch her grow and develop confidence has been really special,” Bacile said.

Forward Nicole Odibo is the Spartans’ lock-down defender who relishes matchups against the opposing team’s leading scorer. Bacile has a video from years back saved on her phone of Odibo shooting free throws in a game and sending them over the backboard.

Last season, she was sinking free throws confidently in the state title game, and now she’s averaging nearly 10 points.

“Her growth from year one to now has been leaps and bounds,” Bacile said. “She sparks our energy, she sparks our intensity on defense.”

Of the six Spartan seniors, Saara Qureshi has been there the longest. Starting at the school in kindergarten, she’s a “Steward lifer” who’s headed to Mercer to play Division I lacrosse.

Bacile said Qureshi couldn’t make a layup in stride as a freshman. Every time the Spartans threw the ball up the floor to her, she’d travel and get frustrated. Now, she’s a trusted contributor and essential rebounding presence.

”She’s gotten to the point where we completely trust her as a scoring threat,” Bacile said. “She’s super physical, really smart ... once again, just a kid that’s a super teammate to everyone else.”

The practices continue to come in at a higher clip than the games for the Spartans and their programdefining senior class. Bacile said they appreciate competition more than ever whilst it’s scarcely available.

If it’s in the cards, they hope for a chance to defend their state crown. But closure for their seniors has always been the Spartans’ higher calling in this most abnormal of high school basketball seasons.

“If it’s not that Cinderella ending that we’re looking for, then we’re certainly grateful just that we had this time together,” Bacile said. “Because it’s a really, really close group of kids and coaches and just being together is something we really appreciate.”

School: Franklin & Marshall College Sport: Field Hockey

School: University of Mary Washington Sport: Volleyball

School: FC Malaga City Academy Sport: Soccer

School: Oberlin College Sport: Tennis

School: James Madison University Sport: Basketball

School: Salisbury University Sport: Cross Country

School: Mercer University Sport: Lacrosse

School: Roanoke College Sport: Basketball

School: University of the South Sport: Lacrosse

School: Emory & Henry College Sport: Basketball

In a year when sports seasons were canceled, shortened, or heavily modified, Steward's student-athletes overcame incredible odds to bring home three more state titles.

Congratulations to junior swimmer Erin Langenburg, who clinched a first-place finish at this year's VISAA Swimming and Diving State Championship! Erin took the top spot at the virtual championship and earned an All-State distinction by posting a time of 56.68 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly event.

A week after becoming the TCIS regular season champions, Steward's varsity boys tennis program clinched its third straight #1 finish in the state. The Spartans entered the state tournament ranked #1 in the polls. They handily defeated Seton School 5-2 in the quarterfinals and Highland School 5-1 in the semifinals before clinching the championship game against North Cross School 5-4.

Finally, the Spartan varsity girls lacrosse team earned the program's first VISAA DII state championship in school history, defeating Cape Henry Collegiate 7-4 at St. Catherine’s Goochland fields. The team included eight seniors who played their hearts out all season long with persistence and teamwork.

The Ray Tate Student-Athlete Scholarship is awarded each year to seniors who have made outstanding contributions to Spartan athletics and school life. We caught up with this year's winners, seniors Mimi Traynham and Zach Rosenthal, to discuss their love of the game and their dreams for the future.

Mimi: "Basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and volleyball."

Zach: "Basketball and baseball."

What sport will you play in college?

Mimi: "I’m playing point guard with the Emory & Henry College Wasps."

Zach: "I’ll be a shooting guard with Roanoke College’s basketball team."

Mimi: "So much: making friends, learning leadership and communication skills, experiencing what can happen when you work hard, and gaining opportunities like my college scholarship."

Zach: "Basketball is a way to express yourself. The way I play says a lot about me — that I’m a confident, hardworking, goal-oriented person who wants the people around me to achieve their goals, too."

Mimi: "Winning the basketball state tournament the last two years."

Zach: "Being named MVP when we won the Richmond Times-Dispatch basketball tournament in December 2019."

Boys Basketball: Curtis Blair (first-team), Zach Rosenthal (honorable mention)

Girls Basketball: Sherese Pittman (first-team)

Boys Soccer: Sam Roberson (first-team)

Boys Tennis: Ryan Monroe (first-team)

Baseball: Michael Shamus (first-team), Mitch Larro (second-team)

Golf: Ian O’Hallaron (first-team)

Boys Lacrosse: Jonathan Creager (second-team)

Girls Lacrosse: Saara Qureshi (first-team, VISAA DII Player of the Year), Harper Jones (first-team), Lilly Jordan (first-team), Nicole Odibo (first-team), Claire Saverino (first-team), Grace Fass (secondteam), Ali Zadeh (VISAA DII Coach of the Year)

Boys Tennis: Ryan Monroe (first-team, VISAA DII Player of the Year), Dylan Chou (first-team), Kurt Hammerschmidt (VISAA DII Coach of the Year)

Baseball: Michael Shamus (first-team), Mitch Larro (second-team), Michael Lewis (secondteam), Andrew Schmeer (second-team), Bruce Secrest (Coach of the Year) Golf: Ian O’Hallaron (All-Conference)

Girls Lacrosse: Saara Qureshi (first-team), Claire Saverino (first-team), Harper Jones (second-team)

Girls Soccer: Lilly Caldwell (first-team), Erin Shaia (second-team), Logan Snyder (second-team), Betty Jean Riddick Sportsmanship Award

Boys Tennis: Ryan Monroe (first-team singles, TCIS Player of the Year), Dylan Chou (first-team singles), Ryan Monroe and Dylan Chou (first-team doubles), Ryan Monroe and Dylan Chou (doubles All-Tournament MVPs), Pierce Caldwell (singles All-Tournament Team), Dylan Chou (singles All-Tournament Team), Wit Moore (singles AllTournament Team)

The Ray Tate Spartan Club Scholarship: Mimi Traynham and Zach Rosenthal

The Steward School 110% Award Winner: Anna Pastore

Winner: Grace Inge

Winner: Sherese Pittman

Award Winners: Ethan Hopp and Saara Qureshi

Athlete Award Winner: Zach Rosenthal

Athlete Award Winner: Grace Fass

• MVP: Ian O’Hallaron • Most Improved: Reid Stanley • Rookie of the Year: Logan Haar

• Outstanding Defensive Player: Graydon

Patterson • Top Scorer: Jonathan Creager • Outstanding All-Around: Will Elles

• Offensive Player of the Year: Saara Qureshi • Defensive Player of the Year: Mimi Traynham • Unsung Hero of the Year: Lilly Jordan

• 1-2 Punch: Dylan Chou and Ryan Monroe • Most Improved: Pierce Caldwell