2000s New Millennium, Continuing Tradition - John Burroughs School

The Bombers of 2001–02 reached the semifinals of the Wickenheiser Cup, a tournament of the Mid-States High School League.
The Cup is named for Doug Wickenheiser of the St. Louis Blues, who died prematurely in 1999. The competition is viewed as the
equivalent of a state championship in the sport. The Governor reported that the team “made a strong run into the semifinals of
state playoffs on the play of our great senior goaltender Geoff King (’02). Our explosive offense was led by the senior captains
Andy Kantrovitz and Curran Clark, as well as seniors Ryan Walsh and Ralph Dacey (all ’02). Senior Captain Pete La Pierre (’02)
led the defense in stopping the offensive power of our opponents.”
In 2004–05 the Bombers brought home the Wickenheiser Cup for display in the Cissel Center in their strongest finish in a decade. Coach
Leonard chronicled the playoff run in detail:
254 JOHN BURROUGHS /
The team was led through a wild playoff run by senior captains Brian Bowers ’05 and Alex Hubb ’05 and the sensational
play of sophomore star Jimmy Martin ’07 and goalies David Bosner ’07 and Alec Rosen ’06. A key quarterfinal
game against Eureka was tied by Hubb in the final seconds with a baseball-swing goal on the final faceoff.
Senior assistant captains Matt Elitt ’05 and Will Chapman ’05, along with freshmen Justin Westfall ’08 and Zach
Weisenfelds ’08, combined for clutch goals to complement the high-scoring Bowers and Martin. In the semifinals
against St. Mary’s, freshman Andrew Hubb ’08 chipped a perfect lead pass to Bowers for the winning breakaway
goal. The final game at Savvis against St. Charles West was the best game of the season. Bowers, Martin, and Hubb
rotated in a wheel at defense and center, each double shifting until the game was won. Chapman put a perfect feed
from Martin into the top corner for the first goal. Elitt scored in the second period on a penalty kill. Bowers stole a
pass on another penality kill and gave the Bombers a three-goal lead. Bowers later added the fourth goal on a laser
from the blue line.
Leonard received the Ray Hanson Memorial award in 2006 for his contributions to youth ice hockey. Jimmy Martin pursued hockey at
Yale as captain of the team, and David Bosner became an Air Force Academy recruit in the sport.
volleYBall’s three aces
Girls’ volleyball at Burroughs served up three powerful aces in the decade—the seasons of 2000 through 2002 in which they
compiled combined regular-season records of 71–13 and forged deep into post-season play each year.
The “Volley-Bombers” of the fall of 2000 spiked to a 26–3 season led by seniors from the Class of 2001: Amy Argetsinger, Stephanie
Ackerman, Erica Chapman, Jen Leving, and Meredith Deal. They became the first volleyball team to win a district championship.
At the sectional level, they overpowered Crystal City to advance to the quarterfinals, where they fell to the Hermann Bearcats.
The 2001 group fell off only slightly to 21–7 and again bowed
in the sectionals to Hermann. “It was an awesome season,”
Mary Younger ’02 said in the World. “We started out with
three losses in a row, and this was disheartening. We were
determined to win, however, and after that we had a sixteengame
winning streak.” Kate Sauerhoff ’02 added: “The Lutheran-St.
Charles game was certainly our best one, but our
whole season was great, and we ended it with no regrets.
Everyone gave 110 percent, and that’s all we can ask.”
The girls of 2002 powered to a 24–3 season—and then came
face-to-face with the multiplier. Moved up a class under the state system, the Lady Bombers fell in the district finals to
Visitation, who had beaten them in the regular season as well. Courtney Bishop ’03 and Heather Blake ’04 were firstteam
All-Conference, Alex Blake ’06 was second-team, and Stacey Maurer ’03 was honorable mention.
“The past three years have been an incredible experience for the Burroughs Volleyball program,” proclaimed Jennifer
Smith, the assistant coach, in the World. True enough. And hopes were high for the future, despite the multiplier, an
imposing opponent in itself.
golF Meets stiFF coMpetition
The Bombers achieved lesser results in golf in the 2000s than in earlier decades, but they were a factor in state competition
nonetheless. Charlie Felker ’02 finished thirteenth at state in the spring of 2001, while Lanny Benson ’03 finished
third in 2002 and tenth in 2003. As a team, Burroughs shot 619 for third place at state in 2004, behind Mount Vernon and
Pembroke. Russell Murphy ’04 led the Bombers with scores of 75 and 77 in the two-day event. He was followed by Matt
Ruck ’06 (78,76), Phil Wyse ’05 (78,76), Mark Zimmer ’04 (83,76), and Spencer Gordon ’07 (86,80).
“Next year we expect to make it back to state, and I for one feel good about the chances of victory,” Wyse told the World.
He was partially correct. The strokers of 2005 and 2006 did at least qualify for the state tournament. The teams of 2009
and 2010 sent individuals to state, but neither the team nor any individuals reached the elusive trophy or medal stage.
For the girls, some history was made. Lindsey Jubel ’04 and Rebeca Davila ’01 in 2000, and Jubel and Jeanne Trulaske
’03 in 2001, became the first women to qualify for the state meet, but no team qualified in the decade.
the cheerleaders.
First row from
left: Fort, Selke,
Smith, Bassman,
Schmid; second
row: Barnell,
Fowler, O’Connell,
Albus, Wright,
Fleming; third row:
Edwards, Finnerty,
Sky, Barenholtz,
Plegge, Murphy,
Renner.
/ THE 2000s: NEw MillENNiUM, CONTiNUiNG TRadiTiON 255