Volleyball
The Eagles volleyball team finished their season on October 1st in the semifinals of the AA playoffs of the Harpeth Valley Athletic Conference. After going 4-4 in the regular season with victories over Poplar Grove, St. Paul, Oak Hill, and USN, the Eagles traveled to Lipscomb Academy on September 30th for the first round of the playoffs. Having won 4 of their last 5 games, the Eagles came ready to play! After an all-out battle, our Eagles earned a 3-set victory (2-1) and advanced to the semifinals. Waiting for them was the top seed, Harpeth Hall, against whom OCS started off the season. Playing in the semifinals at Ensworth, the Eagles battled well but fell to the eventual AA playoff winner in 2 sets.
Congratulations to our Eagles who grew so much this year and represented OCS well! Our sixth graders were: Mia D., Mary Margaret K., Clara Elizabeth L., Kinsley T., and Vita W. Our fifth graders were: Eliana C., Ruthie C., Nora C., Caroline L., and Finley S. We look forward to the DAC season in the spring for more volleyball excellence!
DAC Cross Country Championships & Nashville Area Regional Meet Results
With the remnants of Hurricane Helene soaking Nashville, the DAC Championship Meet was moved from Sunday, September 29th, to Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. Our Eagle runners adapted well and put up an impressive final race to cap a great season.
Our 85 runners in kindergarten through third grade raced their final meet on Tuesday evening, October 1st, and had a blast. An awesome 37 Eagle runners posted their best times of the year—showing that their hard work and belief helped them fly. Our goal is always for our Eagles to have fun, learn daily, and do their best, and our runners exemplified this throughout the season. The DAC awards honors to the Top 20 in each race, and we had plenty of Eagles flying to earn those honors. In total, 11 Eagles earned Top 20 honors in the four races on Tuesday, with one Champion and two other top-3 finishers. Each race had at least 170 runners, with up to 205 registered in their age groups, so our Eagles did an outstanding job.
Congratulations to our Top 20 placers:
- K-1st Girls: Alice A. – 8th, and Scarlett L. – 11th
- K-1st Boys: Howard S. – 2nd, and Ren B. – 12th
- 2nd-3rd Girls: Margaret G. – 3rd, Jada A. – 8th, and Grace R. – 19th
- 2nd-3rd Boys: Cassian B. – Champion, Jon G. – 9th, George S. – 10th, and Tom C. – 11th
On Wednesday, October 2nd, the older grades' championship races were ready for the spotlight. The 6th graders prepared for their race against all of the 6th-8th grade runners in the DAC and showed how excellently our sixth graders can compete.
For the girls, Paige S. led the way with a Top 5 finish, coming in 5th, while Mary Margaret K. and Anna A. both posted season-best times in their 2-mile race. JP B. held down the boys' 2-mile race and posted a great time of 16 minutes for his final DAC race.
The 4th and 5th graders were ready for the final race of the season and to shine. The first year of the 1.5-mile race has been a hit, and our Eagles were ready to send it off in style. Ruthie C. was a favorite to place highly in the race and came home with OCS’s second runner-up position of the championships. Audrey G. posted a top-10 finish (8th) to help the Eagles showcase their talents, and an additional five Eagles ran their best times of the season in this race as well!
For the boys' 1.5-mile race, the 4th and 5th grade Eagles had shown well all season, and the final race was no different. Ben S. came through the line first, securing our second boys' Champion of the season, and Grant E. was close behind with our third runner-up honor of the meet. Andrew C. added a top-5 finish, and Wilson S., Noble C., Ethan H., and Brook M. all placed in the top 20, giving OCS over 1/3 of the Top 20 award winners!
The DAC Championship meet races were a blast, and a big thanks to all our parent volunteers who made things work with the adjusted schedule to finish off a great cross-country season hosted by Overbrook Catholic.
Nashville Area Regional Meet Results
Even after a great DAC season, we had an army of Eagles race on Saturday, October 5th, in the Knoxville Youth Athletics State Meet qualifier for the Nashville region, hosted at The Hermitage in Donelson. This regional meet had age groups where 3rd-5th graders ran the elementary 1-mile course, and the 6th-8th graders ran the middle school 2-mile course. OCS had 23 elementary runners and six middle schoolers racing as well. All 31 Eagles hoped to earn their ticket to the state meet in Knoxville by either earning a Top 5 team finish or by being individual qualifiers.
Our 3rd-5th girls set the standard first with a great race. Ruthie C. posted a podium finish, taking 3rd place with a sub-6:30 mile, and Audrey G. came in the top 10 as well. Our other five runners battled hard, with three more in the top 50, helping earn the team a 5th place position and the OCS girls a berth in the state meet!
Next came our 18-strong 3rd-5th boys team, looking to fly past the competition after a great showing at the DAC Championships. The boys went all out and charged into history as the boys' Regional Champions. Team scores are calculated by adding up the top 5 team positions to get the final score. OCS posted a great score of 47, while the 2nd place team posted a score of 89. Ben S. added a top 5 spot in the region to his DAC Champion mantle, and Andrew C. and Grant E. scored in the top 15, while Ethan H., Wilson S., and Noble C. all added top 30 finishes in the region to their season resumes. Brooks M. and Luke N. were also in the top 50 runners in the region.
Our middle school teams again fought as the youngest competitors in the field, going up against 6th-8th graders in the 2-mile race, and showed why OCS is a force to be reckoned with in any race. We had two middle school boys race regionals, and both George S. and JP B. posted sub-16-minute times to finish off the year strong. Paige S. came away with a top 20 time in the region, and Perpetua B., Anna A., and Mary Margaret K. all posted times to qualify for the state meet.
In total, we have 29 Eagles who have qualified for the state meet on October 26th in Knoxville. While not all our runners may be able to take the opportunity to travel and run, we are incredibly proud of the honors they have earned and of the full 128-person OCS Cross Country team as we have pushed each other to FLY.
A special thanks to all of our parent coach volunteers who helped at practices and meets all season. Your time, effort, and energy have been appreciated and showcase what a great community OCS is. Thank you to Coach Kierlin, Coach Henderson, Coach Habibian, Coach Stempel, Coach Rodrigues, Coach Gates, Coach Folk, Coach Cressman, Coach Krupka, Coach Head, Coach Huang, and more who gave their time to help during the season.
We are thankful for our fall sports and are looking forward to the late fall and winter offerings that are on the way!
Fly Eagles, Fly!
Coach Miller