West Newsmagazine 5-20-20

24 I SPORTS I
May 20, 2020
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Jack Larrigan
Sports
Briefs
By WARREN MAYES
High school hockey
[Source: St. Mary’s School]
Jason Getz, in his second season leading
the Priory Rebels, was named the Midstates
Club Hockey Association’s coach of
the year.
Priory finished with a 19-5-2 record. The
Rebels were seeded 10th in the Challenge
Cup.
Priory played well and advanced out of
pool play. However, Vianney eliminated
Priory from the Challenge Cup by sweeping
the quarterfinal series before ultimately
winning the championship.
Despite the good season, Getz said he
was surprised to be named as the coach of
the year.
“My coaching staff and I have been so
focused on building our program that we
did not know anyone outside of Priory was
paying attention,” Getz said. “This is an
award that is voted on by the coaches in the
league so to be recognized in this way is very
humbling and special. Just five years ago, we
were a Founder’s Cup team and a very low
seed at that. This year is the third year in a
row we’ve competed in the Challenge Cup.
“The award is not just mine but validation
of the tireless work my assistant coaches have
put in, my mentor and former head coach Jeff
Smith in getting this program moving in the
right direction, and the hard work our players
have put in proving you don’t have to be full
of AAA players to be successful.”
Getz is proud of what the Rebels accomplished
this past season.
“We had an amazing season. We swept
the Central Division and played well
against top tier competition outside of our
division,” Getz said. “In the round robin
play of the tournament, we went 2-0-1 with
victories against Francis Howell, the top
team in the St. Charles Division, perennial
power Kirkwood, and tied the defending
state champs in SLUH. We felt we missed
some opportunities against Vianney in the
quarterfinals.
“However, since they are state champs
this year, we feel good about where we are
as a program. Finishing seventh in the state
is a new personal best for us and we’re
hungry for more.”
Getz made a point to thank his wife,
Emily, “for all the single parenting required
while I’m out late nights with hockey.”
Other Midstates award recipients were
Don Arias, Referee of the Year; Sean
Hazelton, The Ray Harrison Award; Blake
Boatright, Kriegshauser scholarship recipient;
and Erin Drummond, Wickenheiser
scholarship recipient.
• • •
St. Louis’ Jack Larrigan, a 5-foot-10,
160-pound forward, was drafted this month
by the Youngstown Phantoms of the United
States Hockey League.
Larrigan, who turned 16 on April 4,
played for CBC as a freshman as well as the
St. Louis AAA Blues. He played this past
season with Shattuck St. Mary’s School, a
U15 Midget team, in Faribault, Minnesota.
He played in 46 games and scored 40 goals
with 35 assists.
Larrigan has committed to playing in
college at Notre Dame in 2022.
College basketball
When Dashien Nix announced recently
that he would skip a season at UCLA and
instead sign on to the G-League’s new
preps-to-pros initiative, he made headlines
far beyond Los Angeles.
According to the 247Sports Composite,
Nix’s departure makes CBC graduate
and North Carolina signee Caleb Love the
highest-rated point guard entering college
basketball this fall. Love, a 6-foot-3 native
of St. Louis, signed with the University of
North Carolina in November. He picked
the Tar Heels over offers from Arizona,
Indiana, Kansas and Missouri.
Love also was contacted by a G-League
representative.
“But we’re committed to the college path
and Caleb is very excited to start his career
at North Carolina,” his father, Dennis, told
Inside Carolina. “He’s really excited to get
to Chapel Hill and play for Roy Williams
as well as experience the Carolina family
culture.”
Love is among UNC’s six-man incoming
freshman class that is rated No. 3 in the
country.
• • •
Missouri women’s basketball freshmen
Aijha Blackwell, who attended Whitfield,
was named to the All-SEC freshman team.
Blackwell became the eighth freshman in
program history to average double figures.
Blackwell led Mizzou in many statistical
categories this past season, including
points [437], points per game [15.1],
rebounds [210], rebounds per game [7.2],
assists [77] and free throws made [210].
Blackwell is one of three SEC players to be
ranked in the top 10 in both scoring [15.1]
and rebounding [7.2]. The Tiger freshman
ranks fourth in scoring [17.9] and fifth in
rebounding [8.8] during SEC play.
Blackwell produced eight 20-point games
and seven double-doubles. She put together
one of the most prolific freshman seasons in
program history. Among freshmen program
records, she currently ranks second in free
throws made [113], second in rebounding
average [7.2], third in scoring [447], third
in field goals made [146], fourth in scoring
average [15.1], fourth in rebounds [210], fifth
in three-pointers [32] and fifth in assists [77].
Basketball stars help food banks
Chaminade graduates Jayson Tatum, of
the Boston Celtics, and Bradley Beal, of
the Washington Wizards, have partnered to
donate $500,000 to St. Louis and Boston
area food banks.
Tatum made the announcement on Instagram,
revealing an initiative with Feeding
America and Lineage Logistics called
“Share a Meal.”
Tatum and Beal each pledged to match
$250,000 in donations to the St. Louis Area
Food Bank and Greater Boston Food Bank
as the coronavirus pandemic threatens
food security in both cities.
Major League Baseball
Andrea Hayden did not set out to be a
trailblazer. It just worked out that way.
Hayden, 32, a native of St. Charles
County, is the first female strength and
conditioning coach in the history of Major
League Baseball.
Last November, Hayden was hired as
the Minnesota Twins’ assistant strength
and conditioning coach. She is the first
female to hold that job in MLB history.
Hayden also became the first female
coach in MLB.
Although she is unique in being the first
woman to hold a job like hers, Hayden does
not think of herself as a pioneer in any way.
“I get asked a lot what it is like working
in a male-dominated industry,” Hayden
said. “I kindly ask them: ‘Do you know the
definition of dominate?’ [It’s] commanding,
superior, overpowering … I do not
work in an environment like that. I am not
around men who behave that way. I work
in a male-majority environment. There are
just more of them than me. That’s it.
“If I am to be a pioneer, it would be to
spread this message - I want women to
continue to feel like they have a seat at
the table because they have taken pride in
being great at their craft. I am thankful to
have been around amazing men who have
always made me feel valued and appreciated,
never less than, or inferior because I
am a female.”
[Editor’s note: To read Hayden’s full
story, visit westnewsmagazine.com.]