Home of the Cadets

Marmion encourages both school spirit and a healthy balance between mind and body. With these goals in mind, students are encouraged to participate in multiple sports throughout the school year.

Athletic facilities include an indoor swimming pool, weight room, gymnasium, rifle range, football stadium, all-weather track, six tennis courts, two baseball diamonds, and several practice fields.

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Cross Country

Stein Leads Stellar Championship Season
Finishes 11th in State

With five of the top eight runners from last year’s team returning, the Cross Country season began with a first place finish in the Yorkville Invitational.

This superb effort was followed by total domination in the Aurora City Meet. Senior Josh Stein won by 56 seconds in a time of 15:09. Stein, a pre-season pick as a top area athlete, was followed home by teammates in 3rd through 8th places. Freshman Ben Kanute finished in first place at the frosh-soph level.

Josh Stein skillfully handled the 3.1-mile Marmion course in 16:17.1 as he won top honors for the second consecutive year in the Royal-Cadet Invitational.

With Josh injured, freshman Chris Hebert stepped up to finish first out of 214 runners in the Minooka Open.

In late September, the Illinois Prep Times, ranked the Cadets 22nd in the state.

At the Charger Classic Invitational, Marmion led the way with a first place finish having five runners in the top 19. Josh Stein returned to remain undefeated in 2007 leading the field by almost 38 seconds with a time of 14:33.4 for the three-mile course.

At the Conference Meet a victorious Josh Stein establish a new Marmion course record with a time of 15:30. All seven Marmion runners earned All-SCC honors with finishes in the top 10. T.J. Hefferman (3rd), Oscar Aguinaga (6th), and Matt Wenzel (7th) earned first-team honors and earning second-team honors were Bennett Marsh (8th), Ben Kanute (9th), and Zach Young (10th).

Dating back to the 2000 Season, Marmion has an incredible record of 75-2 in dual meets.

Football

A Rollercoaster Season, But Playoff Bound

Marmion’s multiple option offense was definitely too much for South Elgin in the season opener with Marmion amassing 356 yards. The final score, after the Cadets scored 38 unanswered points, was 45-12.

Coach Dan Thorpe, in his third season with an overall record of 9-9, knew that Kaneland would prove to be a formidable non-conference opponent. The 42-38 victory featured junior quarterback Ricky Bird completing 21 of 39 passes for 317 yards, one a 78-yard touchdown pass to senior Manny Juarez, and he also rushed for two TD’s.

Juarez is viewed as a Division I prospect and plays wide receiver, running back and is a stalwart on defense as one of the defensive backs. Cadet Nick Zuccarini accounted for 6 solo tackles and 10 assists and was named the Walter Payton SCC Player of the Week for his impressive performance.

Home fans also witnessed the stellar kicking of senior Alex Picini who finished 2nd out of 100 kickers this past summer at the Auburn University Kicking Camp. The Cadets team motto this year is “Finish” and by averaging 43.5 points in their first two games they seemed poised for an incredibly difficult three games set against the following conference opponents: 6-time defending state champion Driscoll Catholic, 5A state runner-up Marian Central Catholic, and 2004 4A state champ Montini.

Marmion’s game against Marian Central was the first night game (under temporary lights) on the Butterfield campus. The atmosphere was electric and all in attendance also enjoyed the cheerleaders’ cheers and the performance of the band. This series of mega-opponents proved too much for the Cadets and resulted in three defeats. They added a third victory to their record with a Homecoming win against St. Francis. Down 0-3, the Cadets score came on a 64-yard drive late in the fourth quarter. An interception in the end zone by Sean Fichtel with 56 seconds remaining in the game came up huge as Marmion finished on the right end of a 7-5 final score. The uncommon score occurred when the Cadets decided to take an intentional safety with 3.7 seconds remaining to ensure their victory.

Fresh off this Homecoming success, the Cadets then caused six turnovers and rolled over Immaculate Conception by a score of 33-7.

The Cadet's regular season ended with a 24-14 victory against St. Edward. Their 5-4 record was enough to get them in the State Play-offs (Class 6-A) for the first time since 1998.

Golf

Consistent Play Leads to Golf Championship

In pre-season articles, Marmion’s Varsity Golf team was being described as an elite group. Coach Jen Konen commented that “I think we are deeper than we have ever been. I’m thrilled with our prospects and potential for the season.” Junior Bryce Emory had been a state qualifier as a freshman and last year was selected as the Kane County Chronicle Player of the Year. Senior Luke Kolquist is a 4-year varsity player and Senior Robby Whitehead is possibly the best #3 golfer in the area.

The Cadets wasted no time in capturing the Larkin Invitational for the second year in a row. Marmion followed up by edging Batavia by 6 strokes as junior David Brouch earned top honors for the first time at the varsity level.

They defeated Wheaton Warrenville South by 10 strokes before achieving a second place finish in the 16-team Geneva Invitational that was highlighted by Kolquist and Emory finishing 4th and 5th respectively. Kolquist birdied 3 of the last 5 holes to capture fourth.

Victories over Driscoll Catholic and Marian Central Catholic preceded an impressive victory over 34 teams in the Fenton Invitational.

Following a 23-stroke victory over Montini in a dual meet, Kolquist then shot a 71 while leading the Cadets to a 4th place finish out of 30 teams in the Batavia Invitational.

The best-ball format of the Oswego Panther Scramble couldn’t slow down the Marmion machine as they had 5 eagles and won first place with a 20 under-par score of 52.

In the SCC Championship, undefeated Marmion came out on top for the second consecutive year. Sophomore Timmy Johnson earning top honors with a score of 73 highlighted this exciting victory. Contributing to the team victory were Bryce Emory (74), Bobby Whitehead (75) and Luke Kolquist (78).

In the IHSA Regional, conducted on the Mill Creek Golf Course, the Cadets finished 9th with Junior Bryce Emory advancing to Sectionals.

Soccer

Soccer Reclaims Conference Title

Often you will hear coaches profess that many life lessons are to be learned by being a competitor in their sport. This past summer Marmion Soccer under the direction of Coach Kevin O’Connor took this premise to the next level.

Coach O’Connor and his players began the 2007 season with a 10-day trip to Brazil. The team agreed that the trip was about so much more than soccer, as the team visited two orphanages, donating school supplies, shoes and even a washing machine.

Coach O’Connor commented, “The soccer training was fabulous and the competition we played was very strong. Certainly what the players saw on their trip and the generosity they displayed while there will stay with them for a lifetime. The group came home knowing how fortunate we all are to have the conveniences we have.”

The soccer team returned to the States determined to improve on last year’s 11-9-4 record. This year’s varsity team anchored by 9 returning starters and 12 varsity lettermen benefitted from the addition of top newcomers juniors Alex Rindone and Mike Shay and sophomore Max Rosenfelder. The Cadets began the season by defeating Willowbrook and then faced very stiff competition in the Barrington Invite and Pepsi Shootout.

It was apparent that their approach to the season prepared them to play their best ball-control soccer against conference opponents. The team dominated the conference with their defense anchored by the play of three-year varsity captains Taylor Weis, Luke Friedman, and Doug Conroy. They ended their regular season by soundly defeating St. Francis to clinch the Suburban Catholic Conference championship with an undefeated 6-0 record.

The Cadets advanced to the Class AA Regional Final at Naperville Central by defeating Oswego 3-2. With a record of 15-7-2, Marmion’s season ended with a loss to Naperville Central.

Basketball

Rashon Burno has completed his first season as Head Basketball Coach at Marmion Academy. Rashon is a New Jersey native who starred for the DePaul Blue Demons from 1998-2001. Coach Burno played for the legendary high school basketball coach Bob Hurley at St. Anthony’s in Jersey City. He was a 3-year starter on three State championship teams.

The Rashon Burno era began with the first 4 games producing 4 exciting victories, which included a sweep of Marmion’s Thanksgiving Tournament and a 13-point victory over Marian Central. A loss to Driscoll ended the winning streak before Marmion defeated Montini by 14. Two more losses preceded the Cadets finishing with a 1-2 record in the Waubonsie Valley-Matt Laurich Christmas Classic.

An up-and-down season continued. Losses to ACC and IC preceded 4 consecutive victories. Without a disappointing loss to H-BR, the streak would have hit seven in a row. The Cadets hosted East Aurora in the first regular-season meeting between the two schools. East Aurora used a big run in the second half to come out on top 67-55.

Marmion’s season came to an end with a 56-52 loss to Glenbard South in the Class 3A Regional semifinal. The IHSA went to a four class system this year. Juniors Sean Fichtel and Bryce Emory scored 16 and 15 points respectively and senior Tyler Smith added 14 for the cadets. Marmion finished with a 12-14 record.

Rifle

Christian and Brandt Make All-State Team

The Rifle Team’s season began with the 70th Annual Illinois State Rifle Association Conventional Prone Championship in Kankakee. Marmion won first-place trophies in 7 of the 10 events. Senior Ian Christian qualified as an Intermediate Junior Sharpshooter.

Following this dominant performance, the Cadets earned third place in the National Standard 3 Position Air competition at Iroquois West High School. The junior varsity squad compiled a 4-4 Twin State League record. It is significant to note that the junior varsity shot against conference varsity teams all season.

Marmion placed 6th in the conference championship competition held at Zion Benton High School. The team traveled to Chebanse for the CMP State Champ Open National Qualifier. Henry Carlson. Jacob Strickland, Jeffrey Voss, and Joseph Munder placed 4th, and the second team placed 5th in the competition. Christian (586) and Voss (578) surpassed the automatic qualification mark (575) for the Nationals.

At the Illinois High School Rifle League State meet held in Chillicothe, for the first time both of the Cadet squads finished above 1,100 points (third and fifth place). Both Christian and Lucas Brandt made the All-State team.

Swimming

Cadets Make State Top Ten

After finishing 17th last season, hopes were high for Marmion Academy to crack the state’s top 10. Earlier in this exciting season, loaded with lopsided scores in dual meets, the Cadets won their own Randy Block Memorial Relays for the 3rd year in a row and broke a 13-year old pool record in the 400-freestyle relay. Marmion then finished 3rd out of 17 schools in the Evanston Invitational and also took 1st in the Sandburg Invitational.

The Metro Catholic Aquatics Conference Championship was yet another first place finish and Marmion’s 400-meter freestyle relay team set the Fenwick pool record with a time of 3:12.64. The Cadets swam below IHSA qualifying marks in 9 of the 11 events which was encouraging heading into sectional competition.

The team went on to qualify for the State meet and finished in 8th place. Sophomore Matt Pircon placed 10th in the 50-yard freestyle after a 19th place finish last year. Junior Thomas Delves finished 11th in the 100-freestyle. Senior Luke Martinez finished 6th in the 500-freestyle and 10th in the 200-freestyle. Junior Matt Lifka finished 12th in the 100-breaststroke. Both Marmion’s 200 and 400-freestyle relays finished in 8th place. The highlight of Marmion’s team performance was the 3rd place finish in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:36.61. Relay team members were Delves, Junior Tyler Capen, Pircon and Martinez. All of Marmion’s individual finalists were first-time State finalists.

Wrestling

“Marmion is a program worth watching; the Cadets have been infused with talent…,” stated an area newspaper. In the 6th year of the wrestling program and after finishing 2nd in the conference last year, the Cadets, led by 14 returning letter winners, posted a 20-3 dual-meet record and had 6 All-Suburban Catholic Conference wrestlers.

At the Bloom Trail Invitational, Marmion took first place while earning championships in six weight classes. Marmion then finished third in the Plano Reaper Wrestling Classic. The Cadets also placed 4th in the Jim Newbill Wrestling Invitational in Geneva and were again led by Pat Greco’s exciting 8-6 overtime victory to seal the 135-pound championship. Marmion went 4-1 at the SCC Mega-Duals losing only to Montini.

The Cadets finished fifth in the West Aurora regional. Matt Grange (125) was the first Marmion wrestler to reach 100 wins. Near season’s end another area paper listed the following Marmion grapplers on their Wrestling Honor Roll: Eddie Breen (103), Robert Cesario (125), Matt Grange (125), Pat Greco (130), Dan Deufel (135), Andrew Konovodoff (145), Tim Benoit (152), Elliott Guerrero (189), Andy Hernandez (215) and Connor English (285).

Sophomore Pat Greco had been optimistic and confident that he would be the first Cadet wrestler to reach the state meet. He accomplished his goal, but suffered a heartbreaking 7-6 decision and did not make his way through the consolation action.

Baseball

Marmion’s Varsity baseball team, under the direction of first year varsity coach Dave Rakow, finished the 2008 season with a 19-10 record. The previous school record was 18 wins.

After a 2-5 start, Marmion ran off a string of 11 consecutive wins. The Cadets tied for 2nd in the SCC with a 10-3 record. Coach Rakow was named “Top Baseball Coach” by the Daily Herald after leading Marmion to its first Regional Championship since 1969.

Tim Milroy ‘08, Robert Reder ‘08, Matt Milroy ‘09 and C. J. Foster ‘09 were named to the All-Conference team. The conference also honored Marmion with the Team Sportsmanship Award. Both Tim and Matt Milroy were placed on the Daily Herald’s All-Area team.

Coach Rakow was selected as the Kane County Chronicle’s Baseball Coach of the Year. The sophomore team also finished second in the conference (10-4) with a 16-8 overall record.

Highlights of the varsity season included a nail biting 16-15 win over St. Francis after St. Francis scored 15 unanswered runs to tie the score and also Tim Milroy’s no-hitter against Aurora Central. In this stellar 3-0 victory, Tim struck out eight and walked one. Additionally, his brother Matt broke the school home run record with 7 (the previous record was 6).

This year’s baseball team did not have the benefit of playing home games on the Marmion campus due to their new varsity diamond not being ready for play, but they certainly played with emotion up to and including their heartbreaking loss to Rock Falls in the IHSA Sectional Championship game. This was further than any Marmion team has gone in the state playoffs.

Tennis

The 2008 Marmion Varsity Tennis Team finished the season in second place in the SCC with a 13-4 record with 7 of their matches rained out. The young team, with three sophomores and one freshman, went on to finish 3rd in the Sectional behind Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley. Tom Weiler ‘08, the third place finisher in the IHSA Sectional, was named Kane County Chronicle All-Area.

To qualify for state, Weiler had to rally from a 5-1 deficit in the third set and then win a tiebreaker against Neuqua Valley’s Jose Cadena. Weiler won his first match in the State tournament, but lost his second to finish 63rd. Mike Rios ‘08 and Taylor Weis ‘08 were named SCC All-Conference and eleven athletes were named SCC Academic All-Conference. Weiler was the recipient of Marmion’s Fr. Columban Reed Achievement Award.

Track

Coach Dan Thorpe was drenched with 10 gallons of Gatorade and the Cadets amassed 177 points in securing their third straight conference championship in track and field. The team was also undefeated in dual meets.

T.J. Heffernan ‘09 and Josh Stein ‘08 finished 1-2 in the 1600 meter run. Joe Weber ‘09 and Peter Tate ‘08 went 1-2 in both the shot put and discuss events. Alex Rindone ‘09 led the way with personal bests of 10.7 and 22.1 in the 100 and 200 meters, respectively. Rindone’s mark in the 100 meters eclipsed the converted school record time (set at 100 yards) by Kevin Killough ’77 back in 1977. Alex tied the oldest Marmion track and field record in the 200 meters. The converted record (set at 220 yards) was set back in 1957 by Gary “Ach” Miller ’57.

Eleven Marmion athletes were named to the All-Conference team and Rindone was chosen as the SCC Runner of the Year.

Josh Stein, who finished in 11th place in the 1600 at the state meet, was the recipient of the Glenn Gilbert Achievement Award and will be continuing his career at Loyola University next year.

Joe Weber also went down state in the shot put event.