Athletics
Football, Tennis, and Crew Highlight Successful Athletics Season
2020-21 will go down as one of the most unusual athletics years in school history. Truncated seasons, games without fans, schedules altered on the fly were just some of the issues facing student-athletes and coaches. That plus the added health and safety measures made it especially challenging.
However, there were great successes in all of our sports, with some providing major highlights.
Football
Football State Champs
Prep Football finished the season ranked third in the nation, according to USA Today and MaxPreps, after going 6-0 and winning the PIAA 6A State Championship, the program’s sixth in eight years and first three-peat Pennsylvania large school state champion since 1999. Head Coach Tim Roken, who has been with the team for all six state titles, won his second as head coach.
“We had games cancelled, we had things delayed, we had to constantly move practices around because we weren’t allowed to practice in the city, and there were a whole lot of different challenges we had never faced before,” says Kyle McCord ’21, the team quarterback who has moved on to play at Ohio State University. “But we came out of it with the state championship. We have something that I’ll always remember, because of the guys I did it with, from the staff to each player on this team.”
Tennis
Tennis PCL District Champs
This year, for the first time since 2006, Prep Tennis won the Catholic League title. Under the direction of Bob Boyle ’87, The championship squad was comprised of Matt Bae ’21 (1st Singles), Luke Gallagher ’23 (2nd Singles), Conor Kryst ’24 (3rd Singles), Krish Chawla ’21/Peter Bae ’24 (1st Doubles), and Dwyer Barrett ’22/Jordan Sztejman ’23 (2nd Doubles).
The Prep defeated Devon Prep to win the PCL and then beat Central High School to take the PIAA District 12 Championship, the first in program history.
“Last year was fantastic to be able to bring back the PCL title and to win our first ever Philadelphia District 12 Championship,” says Boyle. “More importantly, we solidified the importance of looking to improve every day you step on the tennis court! We are very excited about this year’s team and the process that started over summer.”
Crew
Crew Wins National Championship
Competes at Prestigious Henley Royal Regatta
Prep Crew had one of its most successful seasons, winning the Catholic League title, sweeping the prestigious Stotesbury Regatta, winning the National Championship in Varsity 8 and a National Silver Medal in U17 8+, and going to the Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames, advancing to the quarterfinals at the world’s oldest regatta.
“From the tenacity and grit of our pair, the toughness of our fours, the growth and rapid improvement of our U17 boats, to the history-making national championship of our Varsity 8, I could not be prouder of all of Prep Crew,” says Head Coach John Fife ’98.
