This is the last Sentinels in Motion for the 2023/24 school year. The year in activities has been full of “firsts” and so many memories that are now a part of Stella Maris Academy history. Just a few examples include our first varsity teams: girls swimming, boys and girls track, boys tennis, clay target, and an One Act Play. We had our first Sentinel, Eleanor Enslin, make it to state competition in two swimming events. We started a girls basketball team, cheer, spring musical, golf, and a baseball program.

Every “first” is another opportunity to give more students the chance to connect with each other in a new and exciting way. If done correctly, every new team, club, or group brings another layer of community that can give our students a sense of belonging, a sense of community, and a sense of just what it is that God has in mind for them. In the end, God has already crowned these students as His chosen sons and daughters. My prayer is that these Sentinels can discover this holy identity through the connectedness that activities provide and get just a sense of what it feels like to be a part of a holy family. Stella Maris, guide us to this holy state.

Chris Lemke - Activities Director & Principal Jr/Sr High Campus

Tennis - Meet the Coach

Reier Sjomeling, a newly confirmed Catholic, teaches 4th grade at the SMA St. John’s campus and coaches both the girls’ and boys’ tennis teams. He says, “I wanted to coach tennis because I’ve been playing tennis my whole life and I have a genuine love for the game. I love helping others learn something new, whether it is on the tennis court or in the classroom.”

This year’s team is made up of over 40 players in 4th - 9th grades. From this group SMA was able to start a varsity program this spring! Coach Sjomeling explains the challenge and blessings that brings: “We are a really young varsity team. At all of our matches, our opponents were much older and more experienced. Nevertheless, our boys continued to battle the entire season, didn’t let the disadvantage get to them, and fought hard no matter who the opponent was in front of them. It has been awesome to face other varsity teams and still be competitive with them. We have even managed to pick up some varsity individual wins! We also get to compete in the Section 7A tournament this year.”

Between the girls’ and boys’ tennis teams, Coach Sjomeling is coaching 90+ SMA tennis players! He says, “SMA extracurriculars are a great way for students to develop important virtues while growing closer to God. There is an exciting future ahead for SMA sports!

Track - Meet the Coach

Coach Elizabeth Nygaard teaches history and Latin at SMA and coaches Cross Country and Track and Field. She decided to coach because, “I wanted the opportunity for our students to run for SMA. I think running brings another opportunity for kids and athletes to discover themselves in a new way. A lot of students have tried soccer, baseball, or hockey, but haven’t had the opportunity to run and compete on a team. Both Cross Country and Track and Field gives kids the chance to compete and push himself or herself as an individual and for his or her team.”

Track faces several challenges in these beginning years: not having a track for one and no jumping equipment for another. Spring weather further complicates practices because all spring teams need to share gym space when they can’t be outdoors. Nygaard explains how they overcome these challenges, “Our challenges are always met with creativity. We have great coaches: Nick Nygaard, Anna Torchia, Ryan Morris, Adam Long, and Mary Holterman have all been creative with the circumstances in crafting effective workouts for our athletes. We’ve even used our outdoor sand volleyball pit for long jump and triple jump practice.”

This creativity is paying off with the establishment of a varsity team and new personal records. Nygaard reflects further on records: “Every [score/time] right now is establishing our school records! It’s fun to be a part of that school history and will be fun in the future to look back at where we started.”

Golf

The golf team has been meeting regularly and improving their skills. We have had several members competing in local meets that have been lots of fun with great weather.

Little Flowers

We have wrapped up a wonderful year with the SMA Little Flowers group! After spending the last eight months learning about some powerhouse saints and important virtues, the group enjoyed a wonderful mother-daughter tea party on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The party afforded all the Little Flowers and their guests the opportunity to have some prayer time together, enjoy some tasty treats, and work on a craft together to remember the afternoon. We are so appreciative of Ms. Jenny Boran and her age-appropriate martyr stories. This summer our leaders will take some time to start preparing for a new group of saints for the next school year. As we continue to grow, consider helping lead a grade level group next year!

Martial Arts

For the martial arts team, this month we had three students, Sammy Obaid, Lucy Obaid, and Maddie Hoxie, have their first belt promotion test. They performed well and all successfully earned their gold belts.

On June 8th SMA Martial Arts will be hosting a couple other martial arts schools from the area for a small tournament. It will be open to the public, so spectators are encouraged.

We are working on the schedule for the summer session as well. More info to come.

Trap - Clay Pigeon

The Stella Maris Trap team is midway through the season and is preparing to shoot at the state tournament in Alexandria next month. The team has been practicing with a local expert after their weekly league nights on Wednesdays! Scores continue to improve for each shooter!

Recently, the team participated in the two-day Spring Extravaganza held between Old Vermilion Trail and Northwest Gun Club. The Extravaganza introduced the team to different shooting disciplines and was capped off by a fantastic ribeye steak BBQ! Needless to say, the team is learning and shooting a lot and having lots of fun.

7-on-7 Tournament

Three SMA boys competed at the 7-on-7 tournament. Their team did very well. They lost their first game, but rallied back to make it to the championship. They had one chance at the end to win, but fell just short with seconds left. They had a great day.

Mateo Watson

I [Mateo Watson] am a seventh grader at the SMA High School Campus, and I play on the varsity tennis team as the 3rd singles position. I decided to play tennis for SMA because I have always played tennis, and I want to support SMA sports. One highlight from my season was winning our first varsity match against Hermantown. I was playing 2nd singles at that match because our first singles player was gone. A challenge this season was not having a lot of players on our team. We just barely have a varsity team and are not even close to having a JV team. Our team right now is made up of eight seventh graders and five ninth graders, which is just over the ten players needed for a varsity team. Our coach is Mr. Sjomeling, the fourth grade teacher at St. John's, and his assistant coach is Coach Wald. I am really proud of the progress our team made this year, and I think in a couple years we will have an amazing team. Although we aren't playing in team sections this year, it has been a great season, and I hope we can have another great one next year.

Elisa Lushine

My name is Elisa Lushine, and I am a current ninth grader finishing my second track season at SMA high school. Outside of running, my hobbies include reading, playing my instruments, and listening to music (especially country and Taylor Swift). During the fall season, I am on the SMA swim team. My mom encouraged me to join the track team in the 2022-2023 school year because I like to run. A few of my friends joined as well, which made it really fun for me. I really enjoyed going to practices and found a few distances I particularly enjoyed, like the 400 m. I was excited to join again this year.

Some highlights of this season include running at varsity meets and practicing and bonding as a team. Even though we are a young and relatively small team, we score individual points in specific races. Our team has worked hard this year, and we have a good base to build upon in the upcoming seasons. Challenges include relative inexperience and team size. However, we have great coaches and are improving steadily. I am really proud of our team for putting in so much effort and having such a great attitude. We never give up, and everyone is kind to each other.

I encourage anyone who is thinking about running with us to join the team next year! Every experience level is welcome, and we have a variety of running and field events, including long-distance, sprinting, jumping, and throwing. Overall, we have an awesome team! Everyone is really nice to each other, and we make sure to cheer each other on at meets. We are lucky to have seven supportive coaches who are always willing to help us better understand the sport and lend us their experience. Go team!

Stay tuned for more information on these summer activities:

Tennis - One week tennis camp in mid-July. There will be more information out soon!

Cross Country and Track - 7th-11th grade summer running and captain's practices will meet twice a week over the from the week of June 10 to July 31 with a one week break from June 29-July 5.

Basketball - Girls’ and Boys’ basketball open gym will be this on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-3 pm.

Sentinels in Motion (May 23, 2024)