Latest news with #Aquinas
Miami Herald
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
St. Thomas Aquinas' Dave Palm is the Broward Beach Volleyball Coach of the Year
St. Thomas Aquinas beach volleyball has been inching closer and closer to a state championship in recent years. In the meantime, the Raiders continue to be the most consistent and dominant program in Broward and one of the best in the state. Their coach, Dave Palm, is a major reason for this success. And he's once again, the Miami Herald's Broward County Beach Volleyball Coach of the Year. Palm guided the Raiders back to the state final four for the second consecutive season this year after a 19-5 season. Aquinas went unbeaten against Broward County teams and lost to eventual Class 3A state champion Jupiter in the state semifinals in Tallahassee. Even after graduating its top two players from last season, the Raiders remained on top in the county with sophomores Emma Bear and Alexa Raymond, the Miami Herald's Players of the Year, leading the way. Bear and Raymond formed a strong tandem at the top of Aquinas' lineup, leading it to its fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament overall. Even after the state expanded the sport's format to three classifications with more teams participating statewide, Aquinas remained strong and overcame a tough stretch just before the playoffs. The Raiders won their first 12 matches this season before mid-April when they lost four of five matches, including three in a row against three of the best teams in the state in Miami Westminster Christian, West Palm Beach Kings Academy and Vero Beach. Aquinas then course-corrected itself with six consecutive wins, capped by a regional championship win over previously unbeaten Weston Cypress Bay. With only two seniors graduating, expect the Raiders to reload for another run at that elusive state title in 2026.
Miami Herald
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Heritage's Banister and Aquinas' Baucom are the Broward Softball Coaches of the Year
It wasn't that long ago that winning state softball championships was the norm at St. Thomas Aquinas and American Heritage. Both prestigious programs made it back to the state final four this season, and could be close to restoring those traditions in the near future. Under the direction of veteran coach Bryan Baucom, St. Thomas Aquinas advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 2017. And under coach Sam Banister, who finished her third season as Heritage's head coach, the Patriots advanced to the state final for the first time since winning the most recent of their eight state titles in 2018. Baucom and Banister are this year's Miami Herald Softball Coaches of the Year for Broward County. Baucom wins the Class 7A-5A honors after guiding the Raiders to state in Class 5A after going 16-13 and navigating through the second-toughest rated schedule in the state. The Aquinas program found itself struggling after the 2020 COVID-shortened season. But since 2022, when the Raiders broke a three-year drought of not making it to regionals, they have advanced one round further in the playoffs. Moving down to 5A this season meant Aquinas would not have to deal with nationally-ranked Doral Academy, which eliminated the Raiders in the regional finals last season. Aquinas crushed Stuart South Fork 10-1 in this year's regional final after surviving an 8-7 thriller against Pembroke Pines Charter in the semifinal. The Raiders' season ended with a 7-2 loss to Niceville in the state semifinals. But Baucom, who has led Aquinas to all four of its state championships, graduates only three senior starters. Banister's team has also continually moved a step closer to the mountaintop since she took over following legendary coach Marty Cooper's retirement before the 2023 season. Banister led Heritage to an impressive 23-3 record this season and to the Class 4A state final before the Patriots suffered a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to Fort Walton Beach. But Heritage also returns a strong core since they graduated only one starter.
Miami Herald
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
St. Thomas Aquinas barrels its way into the Class 6A state baseball final
Teams can sometimes succumb to jitters when it's their first time playing at the state final four. Not St. Thomas Aquinas' baseball team. The Raiders were itching to get on the field Friday at Hammond Stadium. And when they did, they barely stopped hitting. Aquinas unleashed an offensive barrage in its first trip to state since last winning a championship in 2018, and routed Valrico Bloomingdale 15-0 in four innings in a Class 6A semifinal. The Raiders (28-6-1) will next take on Gainesville Buchholz in the 6A state championship game on Saturday at 2. Aquinas is seeking its fourth state title all-time. 'We looked to this game with anticipation,' Aquinas coach Joey Wardlow said. 'We had a long last week after that regional final and during the week as we ramped up, we could feel the adrenaline. 'When we stepped out in that first inning, it went well on defense and well on offense and it took away any jitters we might have had.' Junior center fielder Nico Sabatino was the tone-setter for the onslaught, roping a leadoff double to left off Bloomingdale starter Hayden Porter to start a five-run first inning. Sabatino would later hit his eighth home run of the season on a solo blast to right field. 'My job is to get the team going,' Sabatino said. 'I saw that fastball and I took it. I was just in that flow state and now the offense is ready to go.' Aquinas' power was a major reason it made it to Fort Myers this season as it hit 67 home runs entering the state final four. 'We kind of look at baserunners and barrels,' Wardlow said. 'If we get baserunners, somebody is gonna barrel up a ball. If they stay in the middle, they'll open it up. If we can get out front and just stack up one and another, we can hold teams down.' Cole Lasher, who has seven homers this season, went 2 for 2 with a double and three RBI. Andrew Alvarez, who has 13 home runs, went 3 for 3 with two doubles and two RBI. And Zack Malvasio, who has hit a team-high 16 home runs, went 2 for 4 with two RBI. 'We just had to put it on them early and not let up,' Alvarez said. 'We had to keep that type of energy and not let up.' Senior Thomas Giltner did the rest as he gave up two hits over four shutout innings and struck out two, sparing Aquinas from having to use any more pitchers before Saturday's final.
Newsroom
11-05-2025
- Newsroom
The bra-stealing rascals of Aquinas
In 1956 Aquinas students raided Knox College and stole the cutlery and cooking utensils before dumping them at Selwyn and Arana halls. The police were called and the culprits eventually confessed. James Ng, a resident from 1954 to 1958, described a recurring prank that involved fishing line to pull the chapel bell in the middle of the night; and in the winter of 1955 the students poured water on the flat roof to create a skating rink. Dominican Friar, Father Tom Fitzgerald, arrived at Aquinas in December 1957. He came to Dunedin to take over as superior at Aquinas and parish priest at Sacred Heart. He worked hard to create a spiritually uplifting atmosphere at Aquinas and to foster the hall's reputation as a 'house of study'. The residents were not always obliging He had little tolerance for disorderly behaviour. In conference with the dean of students and committee of the Students Association at the start of the 1958 academic year, he announced: 'Aquinas Hall is the property of the Dominican Fathers. Inmates of the Hall may do only those things which they are permitted to do by the owners of the Hall.' His warning fell on deaf ears. Just a few weeks later students from Aquinas raided Dominican Hall. Fitzgerald interviewed every member of the hall personally to find out who was responsible. He charged the Students' Committee with the bill for damage and wrote a furious letter to the ring leaders: 'Be good enough to present yourself at my office today, to show cause why [you] should not be dismissed from residence at Aquinas Hall, in view of the fact that, being responsible for the behaviour of students on the premises of Dominican Hall, 44 Park St, Dunedin on the 18th inst., you did allow them to enter by night the private apartments including bathrooms and dormitories, of the women proprietors and residents there, in the course of which entering, roof tiles and windows were broken, accessory soiling and inconvenience were caused, and later the building was exteriorly bespattered with mud, the ornamental pond was flooded, and metalwork and flower pots in the same were broken…' Really great photograph of Dominican Brother Martin Keogh wearing the traditional black scapular of a co-operator brother, taken from the newly published Preachers, Pastors, Prophets: The Dominican Friars of Aotearoa New Zealand by Susannah Grant * He was succeeded by Father Paul Jackson, dean of students at Aquinas from 1960 to 1975. Jackson, known variously as 'Jacko', set the tone. He ran the hostel with a light hand but was serious about study and spirituality and considered Aquinas 'a university community of scholars and Christian gentlemen'. The students at Aquinas enjoyed an active social life. The initiation of freshers usually involved early morning wake-ups; in 1968, freshmen were woken at 5:30am and mustered on the grass beside the chapel for a 'vigorous drill' of press-ups and knees-ups in their pyjamas. The day's initiation ended with a party in the television room. In 1970 the wake-up came at 4am. Freshers started the day 'very cold, very wet and very dirty, not the best time for a bath in flour and mud in the bush above the convent'. The students usually marked April Fools' Day, too. In 1966 they tied a goat to the chapel bell, which delivered a solitary mournful toll every time the animal reached the end of its tether. Aquinas entered some memorably shocking floats in the university capping processions. That of 1967 took the form of a church with a flaming cross and an effigy of Martin Luther King being hanged. The students dressed as Klu Klux Klansmen under a banner that read 'The Clueless Clots'. In 1969, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that the police objected to and banned many of their signs, Aquinas won a prize for their float titled 'Piggy Muldoon Smothers Otago University'. Hostel raids were still common in the sixties. In 1964 the Dominican Hall girls penetrated as far as Jacko's bedroom, tossing confetti everywhere and pasting newspaper on the windows. The Aquinas boys stole bras from Dominican Hall and strung them up like flags. A month or two later, when the residents at Aquinas had let their guard down, the girls broke in and put molasses on the stair rails and black nugget on the toilet seats. * By the end of the 1970s Aquinas was in serious financial difficulty. In 1978 a Board of Governors was established to assist the Dominicans with the administration of Aquinas. They needed a radical plan to get the college out of debt. In August 1978 the board voted to accept female students for the coming year. But even with more students paying higher fees (up 20 percent from 1978) the college still struggled. Food and power costs had increased, and the college had to borrow more for urgent repairs. In February 1980, with support from the College Board of Governors, it was recommended that Aquinas be closed at the end of the first term. The existing debt combined with rising running costs was insurmountable. With support from Otago University Chancellor Jack Somerville and ex-Aquinas residents they managed to battle on until the end of the year, but on October 5, 1980 the college celebrated its last formal dinner. Within a few weeks exams were over and the college began to empty out. The house chronicle recorded 'emotional scenes as some of our lady students left today. Tears and hugs for our lucky members of the community who were home.' Aquinas was sold to the Elim Church, who sold it on to the university. In 1988 the university reopened a student hostel on the site under the name Dalmore House, and later restored the original name. At time of writing, Aquinas College houses 152 students; the chapel has become a gymnasium. A mildly abbreviated chapter taken from the newly published history Preachers, Pastors, Prophets: The Dominican Friars of Aotearoa New Zealand by Susannah Grant (Otago University Press, $60) is available in bookstores nationwide. As heirs to a spiritual tradition dating back to the early thirteenth century, the friars have served in New Zealand as university and hospital chaplains, parish priests, liturgists, itinerant retreat leaders and theologians. Although no longer involved in active ministry the New Zealand friars continue to fund and facilitate Aaiotanga – the Peace Place – a community space in downtown Auckland focused on peace and social justice issues.
Miami Herald
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
St. Thomas Aquinas baseball tops Doral Academy to punch ticket to Fort Myers
The task in front of the St. Thomas Aquinas baseball team when the Raiders traveled south into Miami-Dade County on Saturday was a big one. After splitting the first two games of their Region 4-6A final best-of-3 series, the last thing the Raiders wanted was to have to play a winner-take-all contest on Doral's home field, a place they refer to as 'the birdcage' because of its match-box style unusual dimensions that have given opponents fits for years. But the Raiders never blinked. St. Thomas wrapped out 13 hits including three long home runs and brought an end to Doral's long home postseason win streak with a 12-6 victory before a standing-room-only crowd. Doral, the No. 2 seed, entered Saturday having won 13 consecutive regional playoff games on its home field dating back to a 4-1 regional semifinal loss to Belen Jesuit in 2017. Aquinas knew it would have to bring its big bats with them to beat the Firebirds at their own game and that's exactly what happened. The win clinched the program's 10th trip to the state final four and first since 2018 when the Raiders won their last of three state championships. Aquinas (27-6) will be the No. 2 seed and take on No. 3 Valrico Bloomingdale at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers on Friday in a Class 6A state semifinal. 'We just had to get back to business today,' said center fielder Nico Sabatino who went three-for-five with a double and two RBI and also hit a grand slam home run in the first game of the series to propel the Raiders to a 8-4 win. 'We didn't let Thursday's loss effect us too much. It happens, that's why it's a best-of-three, a chance to come back and make things right. We came in here today, trusted each other, did our job and this was the result.' Doral (27-7) had Jadyn Nunez, a North Carolina commit, on the mound but the Raiders were unimpressed. After retiring the side in order in the first, Nunez struggled in the second, putting two batters on by hitting them. Cole Lasher then hit a ground ball up the middle that shortstop Kobe Carrion got to but couldn't handle. He then tried to fire back to third to double back the runner but threw wild into the stands, scoring two runs when each runner was awarded two bases. Shortstop Jayden Doverspike, the No. 8 hitter in the lineup then stepped up and launched the first of three Aquinas home runs over the high net in left field and just like that, the Raiders led 4-0. The Firebirds quickly answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, a solo homer by George Pardo Jr. being the big hit, but the Raiders had an answer to that when they plated five more runs in the top of the fourth to open up a 9-4 lead. Lasher opened the inning with a base hit, was sacrificed to second before C.J. Pangello drew a walk and Sabatino followed with an RBI single which would be Nunez's last batter. Matthew Paez took over on the mound for Doral but things got no better. He gave up a walk, an RBI sacrifice fly by Zack Malvasio and then the big blow when first baseman Brady Buxbaum stepped up and blasted a three-run shot over the fence in left center to finish off the big inning. 'I just tried to change my approach today,' Buxbaum said. 'This entire series I was going up there a little too anxious trying to do too much so it was just a matter of trusting myself and trusting my guys behind me. I got a curve ball, middle, got under it and lifted it up and out. That was a big inning for us because it gave us a big cushion.' With a 10-4 lead, Aquinas starter Jonathan Lopez, normally the team's shortstop, had hung in there, battling the searing mid-afternoon heat for five innings. But when Jaivyn Francois, Gavin Ruvalcaba, Tyler Rodriguez and leadoff hitter Gabriel Milano led off the inning with four consecutive singles to make it 10-5, Lopez came out. With the bases loaded, no outs and Doral's No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters headed to the plate, reliever A.J. Lopez (no relation) induced a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Leonardo Hernandez and then struck out Caleb Hernandez and Nunez to end the inning. St. Thomas' Andrew Alvarez then finished things off in the seventh with his team's third home run of the game, a two-run shot, again over the high net in left and the Firebirds were done, going down in order in the bottom of the inning to end the contest. The win ended years of frustrating regional losses for Aquinas coach Joey Wardlow, who took over the program a year after Troy Cameron delivered that state title in 2018. 'I don't look at things like that,' Wardlow said shurgging his shoulders. 'The way I approach things is the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror. I'm always looking forward and that's the way we do things with our kids. We're going to go back to work on Monday doing the same things we've done, not changing anything. Today was great but we've got two more to go and I made sure our guys knew that.'
