Saint Stephen’s won the Manatee County Golf Tournament and placed three players on the five-person All-County team on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Buffalo Creek Golf Course. Led by individual champion Ryan Kinkead, the Falcons finished at 286, 13 strokes better than runner-up Lakewood Ranch. Kinkead shot a 3-under 69, two strokes better than any other golfer and three better than last year’s winning score. SSES’s Alan Klenor finished in a tie for second with 71, and Massimo Mbetse (pictured) shot even-par 72 to finish fourth. Kinkead’s day was marked by consistency. He only bogeyed once and dropped in four birdies. Considering wet conditions and an afternoon storm that ended some golfers’ day early, Kinkead was pleased mostly with his putting. He sunk a 25-footer on 16 with a putt that drifted three or four feet from left to right. It was the longest putt of the day for the junior and the cap on a historic day for the Falcons.

Senior Andrew Csubak demolished his own personal record by 90 seconds on Saturday, Sept. 17, to win the annual Venice Cross Country Invitational. Csubak toured the 5K course at Venice High School in a time of 16:39.6, nearly 12 seconds faster than Sarasota Military Academy sophomore Alan Romero in second place. Patrick Dougherty of IMG Academy was third in 16:56.3. “I knew it was a fast course, so I expected a little better time than usual,” Csubak said. “But not by this much. It was incredible. This is not what I expected at all. There are a lot of places here where the crowd is with you to cheer you on. So you have constant motivation.”

Read what the local media is saying about SSES teams and student-athletes in this collection of links from the Bradenton Herald, Sarasota Herald-Tribune and more . . .

Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Csubak Runs Away with Meet

Bradenton Herald: SSES/BCS Renew Dormant Rivalry

Bradenton Herald: SSES QB Fred Billy Visits USF

Bradenton Herald: Billy, Falcons Knock off Clearwater Calvary Christian

Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Vanessa Yan – Student First, Athlete Second

Bradenton Herald: New Wave of Manatee Sailors Shine at Regatta

Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Falcons Cruise Past Hawks, 41-6

Bradenton Herald: Saint Stephen’s Stifles Santa Fe Catholic

Bradenton Herald: Falcons Search for Redemption in Rematch

Bradenton Herald: Saint Stephen’s Football Preview

Floridahsfootball.com: Billy out to Prove he’s Worthy of Scholarship

Naples Daily News: Community School Pulls Away from SSES

After fantastic performances at the regional meet in Clearwater in April, 10 Falcons qualified to represent Saint Stephen’s at the State Track and Field Championships, May 6-7 at IMG Academy. Leading the pack were regional champions Katie Siegel in the high jump and the boys 800-meter relay team of Andrew Csubak, Henry Howell, Hayes Chatham, and Dawson Hamilton. Every Falcon who competed at the state meet placed in the top 10 to medal in their event: Siegel was fifth in the high jump and sixth in the triple jump; Letherio Jones, Fred Billy, Jordon Murrell, and Bobby Harrison placed fourth in the 4×100 relay; Jones, Demetrius Davis, Murrell, and Csubak were seventh in the 4×400 relay; Chatham, Howell, Luke Valadie, and Csubak placed eight in the 4×800 relay; Murrell was seventh in the 200 meters; Csubak was sixth in the 800 meters.

Winter/spring student-athletes had their efforts on the playing fields recognized with local and state awards. The Bradenton Herald named boys soccer star Antonio Colacci its Player of the Year and he was joined on the All-Area team by Falcons Chris Morrish, Jonathan Boyd, and Alex Virgilio. Four soccer Falcons were also chosen to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune All-Area first team – Colacci, Boyd, and Virgilio, along with girls star Lindsay Leskinen. The Florida Athletic Coaches Association named senior pitcher Nick Runde All-State in Class 3A, as well as All-Academic. Baylee Barker, Emily Hiebner, Katie Pierce, and Kendall Miller from the girls lacrosse team were chosen All-District 17.

Girls lacrosse won its first district championship in just its third season of competition, topping Sarasota Cardinal Mooney 13-8 on Friday, April 8. The Falcons (9-4) charged out to a 5-1 lead less than 10 minutes into the first half thanks primarily to the offensive play of sophomore Katie Pierce, who notched three of the Falcons’ first four goals. Cardinal Mooney (10-5) narrowed its deficit to within 8-6 at halftime, but Saint Stephen’s responded with a dominant second half to close out the game and the District 17 title. Pierce scored four times and junior Emily Hiebner added three goals as the Falcons advanced to host a state play-in game against Estero High School on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Moore Athletic Complex.

Saint Stephen’s has hired Scott Shields to serve as head coach of its defending state champion boys tennis team. He replaces James Flanigan, who had led the program since 2012 and relocated out of state following the last school year. Shields was one of the Sarasota-Bradenton area’s most decorated junior players during the 1980s, achieving a top 10 USTA ranking in all age divisions in Florida. A Bayshore High School alumnus, he participated in USTA National Tournaments and reached a junior ranking as high as No. 12 in the nation. Shields played collegiately at Florida State University and earned an NCAA ranking of No. 27 as the Seminoles’ No. 1 singles player during his sophomore and junior seasons. He was a four-year starter during his career at FSU and won two conference singles and doubles titles. Shields currently coaches professionally as a member of the staff at Celsius Junior Tennis Academy. He also works privately with several junior players, preparing them for college. Shields and his wife, Jodee, live in Sarasota with their two daughters, Riley and Bailey. Saint Stephen’s annually fields one of the state’s top boys tennis teams. The Falcons have won 13 district titles, five regional titles and four state championships. Read more about Coach Scott Shields.

The 2015 golf season culminated in state tournament berths for both the boys and girls teams and continued a run of dominance by the Falcons. Led by junior Vanessa Yan, the girls captured their fourth consecutive district and regional titles, then finished 11^th at state. The boys were runners-up at districts, but rebounded to defend their regional championship and placed seventh in the state tournament at Howey-in-the-Hills. Yan was a force for the Lady Falcons throughout the regular season and was just as impressive once post-season tournament play started. Her 71 at the Bradenton Country Club made her the district medalist. A week later, she shot 78 in blustery conditions to tie for the top spot at regionals. Yan then carded 72-76-148 at the state tournament to finish 14^th. Justin Wynen’s (pictured) individual efforts on the boys’ side nearly mirrored Yan’s. The senior placed third at both districts (74) and regionals (73), then was one shot off the pace after the first day of the state tournament before ultimately shooting 71-79-150 to finish eighth overall.

The girls and boys golf teams will make return trips to state, sweeping the 1A-Region 6 tournament on Monday, Oct. 19. After finishing second to Sarasota Christian at districts, the boys turned the tables, winning by six strokes on a windy afternoon at the Bradenton Country Club. Justin Wynen led the way for the Falcons with a 73. The boys will seek their first state title since 2004. The girls, who won the district championship a week earlier on the same course, edged past Fort Myers Bishop Verot by one stroke to qualify for their fourth straight state tournament trip and sixth overall. They will be chasing their first state crown. Vanessa Yan again led the way for SSES. The junior shot 78 to share the region individual championship with Naples St. John Neumann’s Sydnney Shrader. Both SSES teams will compete next Tuesday and Wednesday at Howey-in-the-Hills.

Volleyball is thinking pink and football’s regular-season home finale has been designated a “Green Out.” Thursday’s (Oct. 8) Falcons volleyball matches against St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut will be “Pink Night” in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Wear your pink and cheer on the freshman (5 p.m.), JV (6 p.m.) and varsity (7 p.m.) in important games against a district rival. There will be treats available for the kids and a bake sale. The Moore Athletic Complex should be a sea of green when the football Falcons take on Out-of-Door Academy on Friday night, Oct. 23. Game Changers, the annual SSES Athletics fund-raiser scheduled this school year for Jan. 30, is sponsoring special “Green Out” t-shirts that will be provided to all Saint Stephen’s students. We hope you’ll attend the game, proudly wear your green, and cheer on the Falcons as they build on what is shaping up to be a record-setting 2015 season!