Saint Stephen’s continues to be an example of a school that successfully balances outstanding academics and championship-level athletics. On May 4, the Florida High School Athletic Association announced its Academic Team Champions in all classifications for the 2022-23 school year, and Saint Stephen’s ranks No. 1 overall in Class 2A. Schools receive points based on the cumulative grade point averages of each team they sponsor. SSES finished three points in front of second-place Naples St. John Neumann Catholic School and 23 points ahead of third-place Vero Beach St. Edwards School. In the spring alone, SSES had six teams rank in the top 10 academically in the state: baseball (1), boys lacrosse (2), boys track (2), boys weightlifting (2), girls track (5) and boys tennis (9). That success in the classroom was matched on the fields and courts. Of the 21 varsity teams fielded, Saint Stephen’s won nine district titles (girls weightlifting: traditional & olympic, boys golf, boys basketball, boys soccer, girls soccer, boys tennis, girls tennis, girls lacrosse) and four others were runners-up.

Twin brothers Sydney and Chase Brown have taken the next step on the way to their childhood dream of playing in the National Football League. The 2018 Saint Stephen’s graduates were selected in the three-day NFL Draft, held April 27-29 in Kansas City, Mo. Sydney, a defensive back, was chosen in the third round, 66th overall, by the Philadelphia Eagles. Chase, a running back, was the Cincinnati Bengals’ fifth-round selection, 163rd overall. They became the first brothers since Tiki and Ronde Barber in 1997 to be selected in the opening five rounds of the NFL Draft, and just the sixth set of twins ever chosen in the same draft. Natives of Canada, the Browns put together star-studded careers as student-athletes and graduates of the University of Illinois. They were members of back-to-back independent state championship teams at Saint Stephen’s in 2016 and 2017. The Falcons never lost a game during the time the twins were members of the football roster. Both were also key contributors on the SSES state championship boys’ track and field team in 2017.

One of the Browns’ former teammates, Josh Stevens, is also vying for a professional football career. The 2017 Saint Stephen’s graduate has been invited to participate as an undrafted free agent in the rookie minicamp of the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Stevens played four seasons on the offensive line at Georgetown University and then spent his final year of eligibility as a grad transfer at the University of Delaware.

Senior Bella Rosa is one of 24 student-athletes recently named to the Florida Dairy Farmers Academic All-State Team. One of the most prestigious recognition programs of the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), the team features 12 girls and 12 boys who each receive a $1,700 scholarship. To be eligible, student-athletes must have a minimum 3.5 unweighted grade point average, show a commitment to community service, and earn at least two varsity letters in two different sports during their junior and senior years. By being named to the team, Rosa is now eligible for the FHSAA’s Ronald N. Davis Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. One male and one female student-athlete from among the 24 already honored will be selected and each receive an additional $4,600 in scholarship money. Rosa boasts a 3.86 GPA, is an AP Scholar, a member of the National Hispanic Recognition program, and is a four-year letter winner in golf and lacrosse. She serves as treasurer of the senior class and Spirit Club president, and has accrued more than 200 community service hours.

Seven senior student-athletes made their college destinations official at a signing ceremony held in front of their peers in the Upper School Commons this morning. Representing five different sports, the Falcons will be attending universities throughout the nation that compete at the NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III levels. Moving on to play collegiate sports are: Mia Ferdinand (tennis/Belmont Abbey), Ben Long (golf/University of Kansas), Michael Konkol (football/Carnegie Mellon), Matt Vara (lacrosse/University of Tampa), Sophia Creneti (lacrosse/Swarthmore), Riley Schlick-Trask (soccer/Connecticut College), Taylor Vogt (soccer/Florida Atlantic). Saint Stephen’s has sent 32 graduates on to collegiate competition since 2020, an average of eight per graduating class. Signings during the past four years have included a wide cross-section of sports, including football, tennis, golf, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, sailing, swimming and track. This year’s signees represent nearly 10-percent of the senior class.

The Falcons proved it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, as they captured the Sunshine State Athletic Conference 5A Championship with a dominating 47-7 win over Ocoee Legacy Charter in Lakeland on Nov. 12. Following a 1-5 start to the season, Saint Stephen’s ripped off five consecutive victories to win their third SSAC crown in six years.

Senior quarterback Luke Donley saved one of his best performances for last, completing eight of 10 passes for 133 yards and four touchdowns at Lakeland High’s Bryant Stadium. Fellow senior Justin Millican made three of those TD grabs and had six catches in all on the afternoon for 101 yards. The Falcons scored 40 unanswered points after Legacy tied the score early at 7-7.

Running back Evan Brown, who had been the catalyst for the Falcons’ late-season offensive surge, rushed 18 times for 111 yards and one score. The junior finished his season with more than 1,300 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging nearly 120 yards per game on the ground.

The SSES defense allowed Legacy just 137 total yards and intercepted quarterback Liam Lamprect three times, including one returned for a score by senior captain Michael Konkol.

The victory marked the Falcons’ first SSAC title since 2017. The 2016 and 2017 Saint Stephen’s teams earned back-to-back all-division championships before the league broke its football post-season play into upper and lower classifications. The Falcons have now advanced to the SSAC finals five times in the past eight seasons.

Saint Stephen’s alums (Class of 2018) Chase and Sydney Brown, star student-athletes on the football team at the University of Illinois, were selected to throw out the honorary first pitch on Wednesday, May 25, at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago prior to the White Sox game against the Boston Red Sox.

The twin brothers were record-setters at SSES, leading the Falcons to back-to-back independent state football championships in 2016 and 2017, as well as the FHSAA Class 1A state track and field title in 2017. They have continued their success in Champaign, Ill.

Chase, a running back who transferred to Illinois after his freshman season at Western Michigan University, was an All-Big Ten Third Team selection as a sophomore in 2021. He ran for 1,005 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Illini, including a 233-yard rushing game against Penn State that was the most yards ever gained by a visiting player at Beaver Stadium. Sydney led Illinois in tackles in 2021 with 81, and added a quarterback sack, three pass breakups, and two forced fumbles from his safety position. He was named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. In addition to their on-field exploits, the affable Browns have also become the current face of Illinois football and are featured in the majority of the program’s marketing efforts in video, print, and social media.

Senior Jamie Springstead has rewritten the SSES basketball record book, as she became the school’s all-time leading scorer – regardless of gender – in a Jan. 6 home victory against Patel High. Springstead eclipsed the career scoring mark set by 1981 graduate Mack Barnes (1,361 points). She established the new record for girls’ basketball as a junior, surpassing 2001 graduate Amy Pullen’s 1,027 points.

Springstead, who has committed to play basketball at Lake Forest College in Illinois, broke into the Falcons’ varsity roster as a seventh grader. She averaged 6.1 points per game that season and 4.3 the next before becoming a starter and key performer (9 points, 5.5 rebounds per game) for SSES as a freshman. Over the past three seasons, Springstead has averaged nearly 17 points per outing.

More importantly, she has led the turnaround of a program that failed to post a winning record or reach any kind of postseason play from 1999 to 2017. Since Springstead’s seventh grade season in 2016-17, the Falcons have gone a combined 91-47 with five consecutive winning seasons. The 2019-20 team reached the state Final Four and produced the best record in school history at 26-5. This year, the Falcons are 15-6 and riding a 10-game winning streak as post-season play approaches.

Springstead is averaging 17.9 points and a team-best 2.7 rebounds per game. She scored a career-high 32 points in a Jan. 20 win over Venice High. The Falcons open district tournament play on Feb. 2, hosting Out-of-Door Academy.

“Two kids and a boat” was the theme uttered over and over as Saint Stephen’s contemplated starting its rowing program in 2015. Six years later, the dock on the McLewis Bayou is awash with activity that includes seven crew boats and more than 20 rowers.

Each October through December the SSES Learn to Row program is open to students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. There is no experience required and three afternoons a week, rowers learn the basics from Coach Amber Davis. Now in her fourth year as coach, Davis looks almost as youthful as her pupils, but she is an experienced and talented rower. During her own high school years, Davis was the four-year captain of the Manatee County Youth Rowing Association (MCYRA).

Her training program starts with two weeks of conditioning on land. The novice rowers need to be strong enough to carry the crew boats over their heads and they begin their training on stationary rowing machines. Next is some time immersed in the bayou, including a mandatory swim test. All of the rowers must be able to swim 50 yards, tread water for three minutes, and then swim 50 yards back to the dock.

When the boats are finally introduced, one of the first lessons again puts the rowers right back in the water. Under Davis’ supervision, the rowers must flip their boats and then successfully maneuver and get back in them. It’s a key part of the safety protocols of the sport.

Single, double, and quad sculls are all available and utilized to give the young rowers a taste of how the boats react and how they must work as a team in order to be successful on the water. Nearly half of the 21 current student rowers are now in their third year with the program. Although it is designed as a fun learning experience and not competitive, some of the SSES rowers have advanced to racing programs – two with the Sarasota Crew at Benderson Park and one with the MCYRA at Fort Hamer Park.

“Obviously, there is great visibility in this area for rowing because of the facility at Benderson, but it’s a growing sport in many places around the country,” SSES Athletic Director Lenny Paoletti said. “It was a natural for us to get involved because we’re the only location north of Cortez with our own dock on the water. And because we’re a college prep school, rowing can be a pathway to a university. We already have had two alumni who have rowed collegiately (Tatiana Esparza at Miami and Caitlin Lynch at Dartmouth).”

The next step in the program’s slow and steady growth will be to one day become part of local competition regattas at the high school level. Because Saint Stephen’s lacks a trailer to properly transport the crew boats, the rowers are now confined to just the small slip of water in the McLewis Bayou. Funding for a trailer is on the to-do list for the program.

Until then, the young Falcon rowers will take the beginning steps through practice on the fundamentals, honing their skills on campus with an eye toward the future.