Jesuit Swimming & Diving Battles Reigning SPC Champions St. Mark’s

Jesuit Swimming and Diving has had a successful season. After demolishing Bishop Lynch 149-11, the Rangers finished second at Ranger Relays, their highest finish since 2021.

After that, Jesuit routed both Coppell and Highland Park with scores of 136-49 and 141-45, respectively. Jesuit continued this run on Tuesday, November 19, with a 99-84 win over St. Mark’s School of Texas.

St. Mark’s is currently the reigning champions of the Southwest Preparatory Conference’s (SPC) 4A classification. While in a smaller league, they possess no shortage of talent, with multiple Sectional and National level qualifiers. This is a team who has set multiple SPC records and is set to repeat from last year’s championship. This team gave the Rangers the closest duel they’ve had within the past one and half seasons. This win, while hard-fought, proved Jesuit themselves has the talent to compete with elite teams. 

Early Struggles

Jesuit fell early to a 31-15 deficit to the Lions following the first three events. St. Mark’s would start the meet with a 1-2 finish in the 200 Medley Relay. Jesuit’s “A” Relay of Flyn Hughes ’25, Oliver Miller ’25, Drew Shippey ’27, and Jackson Addison-Jordan ’26 finished with a time of 1:44.28, matching their seeded time. However, the Lion’s “A” squad of Armaan Newaskar, Oliver Geheb, George Hoverman, and Judah Isaacs-Sodeye would take the win with a time of 1:39.21. Following the 200 Medley Relay, the Rangers’ Jonah Ruhl ’27 was outdone by St. Mark’s Miller Martin in the 200 Free. Martin touched at a time of 1:44.16, four tenths off a best time for him, while Ruhl finished with a time of 1:46.20. Jesuit’s one comfort was JP McCosker ’27 coming in third, swimming a 1:57.69 and picking up three points.

“This is the most competitive meet we’ve had in years and will hopefully lead to a great rivalry against our fellow north dallas brethren.” -Drew shippey ’27

Things did not get much better for Jesuit in the 200 IM. St. Mark’s Ethan Wang handily won the event with a 1:57.92. Sebastian Suwanda ’26 came in second with a time of 2:03.33, but he almost lost to the Lion’s Richard Wang, giving the Lions a 1-3 finish. The two were neck-and-neck the entire race until the freestyle, where Suwanda out-split Wang by eight tenths.

Momentum Shifts

Despite the early struggles, momentum began to shift for the Rangers. The Rangers junior trio of Sam Kennington (21.73), Luke Lary (21.90), and Jackson Addison-Jordan (23.32) responded with finishes of first, second, and fifth, respectively. Jesuit proceeded to sweep the 1-meter diving event with Wills Blosser ’26, Koby Broad ’28, and Mateo Foramiglio ’28 taking first, second, third, respectively. Building off this newfound momentum, Luke Lary took the win in the 100 Fly, touching the wall with a personal best of 50.97. The Lions’ Ethan Wang would take second, but the Rangers’ Flyn Hughes took third. Drew Shippey stepped up big time, finishing fourth with a time of 54.95 and out touching St. Mark’s George Hoverman by four tenths.

St. Mark’s responded to this string of wins with one of their own. Miller Martin picked up the win for the Lions in the 100 Free, doing so with a time of 47.53. He out touched Jesuit’s Sam Kennington by four tenths. Following Kennington, Jackson Addison-Jordan took fourth with a time of 51.53. Up next was the 500 Free. Jesuit has traditionally dominated the 500 Free in dual meets, and this time was no exception. Jesuit took four of the five scoring positions. Sebastian Suwanda took the win for the Rangers with a time of 5:05.16. Grant Wilton ’27 and JP McCosker finished second and third with times of 5:13.79 and 5:17.88, respectively. Peter Hasik ’27 stepped up big time, stealing fifth place and crucial points.

Following the lone distance event, Jesuit took the win in the 200 Freestyle Relay. The “A” team of Jonah Ruhl, Luke Lary, Sebastian Suwanda, and Sam Kennington finished with a time of 1:28.35. They out-touched the St. Mark’s squad of Martin, Hoverman, Isaacs-Sodeye, and E. Wang by a half-second. However, the “B” Relay from St. Mark’s would take third, snatching away two points.

Jesuit Seals the Win

Before Jesuit could get comfortable, they had to get through the 100 Back and 100 Breast, by far the Rangers’ two weakest events. In the 100 Back, Jesuit would take second and fourth. Jonah Ruhl, who finished with a 53.89, was out touched by the the Lions’ Armaan Newaskar by sixth tenths. Senior Captain Flyn Hughes finished fourth with a time of 58.67. In the 100 Breast, St. Mark’s swimmers Oliver Geheb and George Hoverman would go 1-2 on the Rangers. Scoring for the Rangers was Oliver Miller (1:06.79) and Grant Wilton (1:07.35), taking third and fourth, respectively.

The final event of the night was the 400 Freestyle Relay. St. Mark’s once again relied on the strategy of splitting their swimmers, instead of opting to stack one relay. This strategy is done with the objective of finishing second and third, outscoring your opponent. While it may have worked in the 200 Medley Relay, it would backfire in the 400 Free Relay. Like expected, the Rangers’ “A” relay of Luke Lary, Sam Kennington, Sebastian Suwanda, and Jonah Ruhl won the event with a time of 3:18.09. St. Mark’s took second, but the Rangers’ “B” relay came in clutch with a third-place finish. The “B” relay of Flyn Hughes, Drew Shippey, JP McCosker, and Jackson Addison-Jordan would finish with a time of 3:31.85, taking third and sealing the win. 

Looking Ahead

Following this hard-fought win, Jesuit faces a tough schedule ahead. Just a few days after the St. Mark’s dual meet, the Rangers travelled to the LISD Westside Aquatic Center in Lewisville for their mid-season invite, the North Zone TISCA Invitational on November 22-23 (which will be covered in a separate article). Right after Thanksgiving Break, the Rangers welcome Greenhill, Parish, and Cistercian to the Gull for a senior night quad meet. This December 3 matchup has diving start time of 4:30, with the swimming beginning at 5:30. Afterwards, the Rangers will head into Winter Training. After Winter Training, Jesuit hosts the first annual Jesuit Invitational, welcoming SPC Powerhouse St. Stephen’s, along with UIL 6A’s Strake Jesuit and 5A Powerhouse Frisco Wakeland. This meet will close out the regular season.

Stay tuned to The Roundup for more Swimming and Diving coverage!