Monthly Archives: February 2019

Swimming Belles Finish in Top 10 at State Championship

The Swimming Belles ended their season on a high note, finishing 10^th overall in the 6A State Swimming Championship held in Bentonville February 22-23. A total of six swimmers from the Belles swim team competed in individual and/or relay events at the meet.

Kate Goldtrap ’21 medaled in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, finishing sixth in the state with a time of 1:10. She also finished eighth in the 500 Yard Freestyle. Teammates Victoria Chan ’21 and Mia Patella ’22 competed in individual events, as well. Victoria finished 14^th in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, and Mia finished ninth in the 100 Yard Butterfly and 12^th in the 50 Yard Freestyle.

The Swimming Belles also competed in all three of the state tournament’s relay events. Kate G., Victoria, Mia and Kate Moellers ’20 finished 11^th in the 200 Yard Medley Relay and eighth in the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. Kate M., Victoria, Cecelia Rech ’20 and Katelynn Parker ’22 finished 11^th in the 200 Yard Freestyle.

Prior to competing in the state championship, the team also had a strong showing at the 6A Central Conference Championship in Conway on Thursday, February 7. The Belles finished sixth overall, and Kate G. placed third in the 500 Yard Freestyle.

The team’s coaches acknowledged the girls’ hard work and progress over the course of the season. “I’m so proud of everyone on the team this year,” coach Marissa Blair said. “There were swimmers of various skill levels who pushed themselves to achieve and surpass their goals. Many of them accomplished things they never thought possible.”

“We have had a lot of fun this year,” coach Lindann Blair Day added. “I’ve enjoyed watching these girls flourish, and was thrilled to bring 6 swimmers to the state meet for competition. We will miss everyone!”

This season represents the last one for Coaches Blair and Day. The two, who both attended Mount St. Mary and swam for the Belles, have served as volunteer coaches for the program for the past 12 seasons. Until she retired a few years ago, their mother had also been helping coach the swim team since 2001, and their oldest sister swam with the Belles, too. “We calculated it the other day, and I am pretty sure a Blair has been involved in MSM Swimming for 25 seasons, and coaching for 18 seasons,” Coach Day said.

Congrats to the Belles, and a big thanks to the Blair family for their years of participation in, and service to, Mount St. Mary Academy’s swimming program.

Mount St. Mary Academy, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, develops young women with a moral and intellectual foundation rooted in Catholic tradition. Mercy-minded and college-prepared, our students meet the future with wisdom, compassion and integrity.

MSM Honors Senior Basketball Belles at Season’s End

On Friday, Feb. 22, the Basketball Belles honored their senior members before the team’s final game of the season. Though the Belles ended up losing to the Central Tigers, the effort the girls displayed during the game – and all season long – is worth celebrating.

“Basketball is an extremely long season, and these girls did a great job of working hard for the duration of the season,” head coach Lauren Lawrence said. “Each year we are trying to improve on the previous one in order to build up our basketball program, and these girls did just that. Our seniors played a huge role in our progress through their leadership and dedication.”

The Belles finished seventh in the 6A Central conference after nearly four months of play. A highlight of the season was a hard-fought conference win against Cabot in early February. “Our defense did a great job of containing [Cabot’s] better players and not giving up a lot of offensive rebounds,” Coach Lawrence said.

Congratulations to Coaches Lawrence, Henry and Brumley, and the Basketball Belles!

Left photo credit: Lizzy Yates Photography

Mount St. Mary Celebrates Bowling Belles’ Season

Mount St. Mary is proud of its Bowling Belles on their successful season, which included postseason action! Coached by MSM science teacher Lauren Naeyeart, the team competed in nine matches during the regular season and finished fourth at the 6A Central Conference Tournament in Cabot on Wednesday, Feb. 6. The top-four finish earned them a spot in the 6A State Tournament in Jonesboro on Friday, Feb. 15, where the team finished seventh overall.

Congrats to Coach Naeyeart and this year’s Bowling Belles!

Career Day 2019 Celebrates Fifth Year, Welcomes Back 50 Alumnae

Approximately 50 MSM alumnae returned to their alma mater on Friday, Feb. 22, to share details about their career paths with current students, and provide helpful advice, at Career Day 2019. Students attended up to two sessions, where they were invited to hear from and ask questions of panels of alumnae representing a variety of different fields, including the arts, business, communications, education, engineering, healthcare, law, non-profit, public service and religious life.

First organized in 2015, Career Day is held each February as a collaborative effort of the Alumnae Office and Counseling staff. It represents one of the many ways that Mount St. Mary Academy encourages its students to explore their interests and passions as an extension of their academic program and, in the process, better understand themselves, their community and the world.

We appreciate all of the talented alumnae who volunteered their time as panel speakers this year, traveling from as far away as New York and conducting one session from Washington, D.C., via Google Meet. You were an inspiration to our young women, and we enjoyed having you back at the Mount!

View some of the highlights of Career Day 2019 at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmvSYFQu.

Two MSM Juniors Chosen for All-State Choir

At the beginning of February, hundreds of the best singers in Arkansas gathered in Conway to audition to earn spots in this year’s All-State Choirs. Juniors Anne Lashbrook and Amelia Ochoa were selected for All-State and spent February 14-16 in Hot Springs at the All-State Clinic. During the two-day event, Anne and Amelia participated in intense rehearsals alongside the state’s other top singers under the direction of some of the most prestigious choir directors in the country. The All-State Clinic concluded with a public concert on Saturday afternoon showcasing the music the students had learned.

“It is a great honor to make it into All-State, and I am always so proud of my choir girls,” Chelsea Frazier, MSM choral director, said. “Anne and Amelia put in loads of extra work outside of class to make it happen, which is a testament to their awesome work ethic and dedication to choral performance.”

The Concert Belles, along with the Harmony Belles, will perform at the regional Choral Performance Assessment in early March with the hopes of becoming eligible to participate in the Arkansas Choral Directors Association’s State Festival in April. Under the direction of Ms. Frazier, the Concert Belles have received superior ratings at both the regional and state level for four consecutive years. In 2017 and 2018, they earned Best in Class awards for Best Medium Female Chorus and Best Medium Chorus Overall.

Congratulations, Anne and Amelia, and best of luck to the Concert Belles and Harmony Belles in next month’s Choral Performance Assessment!

MSM Senior Signs with Rhodes Soccer

Finding a college that is a great academic fit and provides the opportunity to continue playing the sport you love at the next level isn’t always an easy task for high school student-athletes. Fortunately for Anya Ranaraja, she found her perfect match. On Thursday, Feb. 21, the senior soccer player, and one of this year’s team captains, was cheered on by family, teammates, friends and coaches as she officially committed to joining the Rhodes College Lynx in Memphis, Tenn., this fall.

According to Anya, who is also a member of the Belles basketball team, she starting kicking a ball as soon as she was able to walk and joined her first team, the Purple Dragons, at age 4. “We were the only all-girls team at the time, but that didn’t stop us from being undefeated the majority of our seasons,” she joked.

Anya has since competed at the club level with Arkansas United, formerly Little Rock Futbol Club, for the past 10 years, and began playing for the Soccer Belles her freshmen year. Her hard work leading up to high school earned her a spot on the varsity team that year as well as All Conference Team honors. As a sophomore, she was named to the All State Team after helping the Belles finish in second place in their conference. Though an injury prevented Anya from playing in 2018, she remained a dedicated and supportive teammate. This commitment earned her the Mary Drake Award, which honors a Mount St. Mary student-athlete each year for her perseverance in being a leader, an unselfish team player, encouraging and optimistic.

The fact that Anya was recruited by colleges comes as no surprise to MSM soccer coach Stephanie Boccarossa. “Anya is an absolute pleasure to watch and to coach,” she said “From the moment she steps on the field, she sets the pace of the game through her attitude, skill and speed of play. Beyond her incredible athletic ability, her passion, work ethic and love of the game are unmatched. She is a one-of-a-kind athlete.”

Anya, who admits to wanting to be a doctor for as long as she’s been playing soccer, plans on majoring in biology and attending medical school after college. She said Rhodes met all the requirements she was seeking, including a strong pre-med program, wonderful internship and study abroad opportunities, and a successful soccer program that fit her style of play. “In my college search, I had to make sure that the college I chose was the perfect fit academically as well as for soccer, and Rhodes does both,” she said. “I am so excited about the opportunities I am going to have and the experiences to come. I have seen the relationships and team unity of the Rhodes soccer team, and I can wait to be a part of that!”

As for the ways Mount St. Mary has prepared her for success after graduation, Anya credits the excellent academic opportunities and her involvement with Belles athletics. “MSM has taught me how to think analytically through the AP courses I have taken,” she said. “Mount has also taught me how to manage my time between sports and classes, as well as given me leadership skills and experience working with others as a team. I feel beyond prepared for my years at Rhodes.”

MSM Students Visit Nine Campuses During College Trip 2019

Six Mount St. Mary students, along with MSM counseling staff, spent nearly a week in February touring a handful of nearby college campuses. The five-day road trip included stops at eight universities in Texas and a college in Louisiana. The experience gave students the opportunity to explore a variety of campuses, speak with school representatives and learn more about some of the different college options that are available.

“When planning the college trip, I selected a variety of schools so the students could learn what they do and do not like about colleges,” Emily Coffey, MSM college counselor, said. “The colleges we saw varied from small to large, public to private, Catholic to non-Catholic, and rural to urban.”

The trip’s agenda included visits at the following schools: Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, the University of Dallas, the University of Texas at Dallas, Southwestern University, Baylor University, St. Edward’s University, the University of Texas at Austin and Centenary College of Louisiana.

The annual college trip ultimately aims to help Mount St. Mary students find success during the college search and application process by introducing them to the process before their senior year. “Visiting different types of colleges and universities during a student’s sophomore or junior year helps them narrow their college search, prepare for the application process, and understand the importance of their GPA and extracurricular commitments in high school,” Mrs. Coffey said.

Junior Mimi Palecek, who participated in this year’s trip, agreed that the experience was a worthwhile one. “Having the chance to go on the college trip was a great experience and gave me the opportunity to get a firsthand view of college,” she said. “I learned a lot about the different kinds of colleges and universities, which helped me to discover what I want and don’t want in my future school.”

An exciting part of the experience was getting the opportunity to enjoy campus tours led by MSM alumnae at several of the colleges the group visited. Mount St. Mary Academy thanks Caroline McCormick ’11 at SMU, Valerie Kauffman ’17 and Sarah Rech ’17 at St. Edward’s, and Grace James ’16 at UT Austin for their hospitality. Their warm welcome and VIP treatment helped make the trip a memorable one for the participating students and counseling staff.

“We had a wonderful time visiting nine colleges together, eating TexMex food, catching up with Mount alums, and exploring new towns,” Mrs. Coffey said.

MSM Thespians Compete in State Festival

Congratulations to the MSM Thespians on great weekend in Russellville at the Arkansas State Thespian Festival held February 7-9. The troupe competed in individual events, applied for scholarships, participated in workshops and performed its advancing one-act play, Alan Haehnel’s Wendy’s Tale.

Anna F. ’19 (solo acting), Holly M. ’20 (stage management), Cabe P. ’21 (solo musical) and Karina S. ’19 (solo acting) all received Excellent ratings in their individual competitions. Additionally, Anna F. and Holly M. were offered scholarships totaling more than $15,000.

Those involved with the one-act performance did a fantastic job, as well, with Anna F., Anna P. ’20, Amalie S. ’19 and Robin S. ’20 making the All State Cast, and Claire R. ’19 making All State Crew. Amalie S. was honored as the troupe’s Honor Thespian.

MSM Theology Teacher Selected for Border Immersion Experience

Mount St. Mary Academy is pleased to announce that theology teacher Buff Easterly has been selected to serve on an immigration delegation that will travel to the U.S.-Mexico border later this spring. The Sisters of Mercy Institute Justice Team is organizing the trip in collaboration with ARISE, a community-based and Mercy co-sponsored program that works in colonias in South Texas to strengthen communities.

During the Mercy Border Immersion, which will take place March 31 through April 5, the group of Mercy leaders, associates and ministry partners will learn more about the growing humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border and the root causes of migration. The itinerary includes a trip to the border wall and meeting with Border Patrol agents as well as visits to a detention center for children, a church-based refugee center and ARISE Community Organizing Centers. The experience is designed to strengthen the participants’ capacity to advocate and educate others in their communities about immigration and its root causes upon returning home.

“As every good teacher, I work hard to present factual information to my students. In addition, I use my life experiences to give context to topics such as poverty, prejudice, intolerance, and racism – all of which I unfortunately have firsthand experience with. It is not the same for immigration,” Ms. Easterly said. “Though I’ve known people who have come across the southern border, I want to see for myself. I want to speak to ‘immigrants,’ aid workers and government officials, and then frame my own opinions. I want to speak to my students with authority about this issue that has become so contentious.”

The Sisters of Mercy, which founded Mount St. Mary Academy in 1851 and still sponsors the school today, commit to serving, advocating for and praying with those in need around the world. Its Institute Justice Team was formed in 1993 to spearhead the international community’s collective social justice efforts focused on addressing the following five Critical Concerns: protecting the earth, opposing racism, promoting nonviolence, working for the equality of women and ensuring the dignity of immigrants. Inspired by its founders’ commitment to social justice, Mount St. Mary Academy has proudly embraced and integrated these critical concerns into its ethos and educational experience.

MSM Celebrates 168th Birthday, Hosts First-Ever Day of Giving

Mount St. Mary Academy celebrated Founders Day on Tuesday, February 5. The special day marked 168 years since the Sisters of Mercy first opened the doors to what was originally known as St. Mary’s Academy in 1851, at the request of Arkansas’ first Catholic bishop, Andrew Byrne. Recognized as the state’s oldest educational institution in continuous operation, and the second oldest of the secondary schools operated by the Sisters of Mercy worldwide, Mount St. Mary Academy has been providing Mercy education to young women in Arkansas ever since.

As part of the celebration, the Mount St. Mary Academy community gathered in the McAuley Center for its annual Founders Day and Sophomore Pin Mass. As students entered the gymnasium, the “Angelus Bell” rang out 168 times in honor of the school’s 168-year history. The bell was given to the Sisters of Mercy by Bishop Byrne at the school’s first location in downtown Little Rock. During the special all-school Mass, the members of the Class of 2021 participated in the tradition of receiving their Mercy pins, which serve as reminders to the students to live the Mercy values in their everyday lives.

In addition to the Founders Day and Sophomore Pin Mass, Mount St. Mary Academy hosted its first-ever Day of Giving in honor of the school’s birthday. More than $22,000 in donations was received during the 12-hour fundraising event on February 5, which more than doubled the day’s original $10,000 goal. The gifts support Mount St. Mary Academy’s educational programs and services, and assist with continuing to make quality Mercy education available to young women in Arkansas.

The celebration will continue next Friday, February 15, when the school hosts its second annual Belles Birthday Bingo. Parents, alumnae, faculty and staff, volunteers and friends are invited to an evening of fun benefiting the Belle Booster Club, which supports student programs and activities at Mount St. Mary Academy. The event will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the MSM cafeteria. Additional details and ticket information may be found here.

Happy birthday to the best school we know of!