Loyola Blakefield

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Loyola Blakefield's Wheeler Hall from the Charles Street lawn

Loyola Blakefield is a Catholic, college preparatory school established by the Jesuits and imbued with the spirit of Ignatius Loyola to educate men to serve others. The ideal Loyola graduate is a man of integrity who, because he strives "to find God in all things," is open to growth, dedicated to academic excellence, religious, committed to diversity, loving and dedicated to work for a just world. Loyola Blakefield is located in Towson, Maryland.

1 History
2 Academics
3 Athletics at Loyola Blakefield
4 Notable alumni
5 External link

[edit] History

Upon reaching Maryland in 1634, the Jesuits carried out the objectives of their forefathers. They wanted to build new men, men who were conscious of a religious purpose. The Jesuits accomplished this in the way they knew best – through education. In 1851, Archbishop Francis Kenric asked the Jesuits to oversee the formation of a school for laymen that would incorporate the Jesuit standards of excellence and build new men conscious of a religious purpose. The construction of Loyola High School began on Calvert Street in Baltimore City, Maryland in early 1852, and on September 15, 1852, the doors opened.

In the early 1930s the growing and cramped high school began to look toward moving north of the city. In 1933, with the support of the Blake family, Loyola purchased the land known today as Blakefield in Towson, Maryland. In 1941, the students moved to the new campus. Between 1981 and 1988, a Middle School was gradually introduced, and in recognition of the two levels of education, Loyola High School officially became known as Loyola Blakefield.

Loyola Blakefield has seen many changes and enhancements these past few years, some of them striking, such as the construction of Knott Hall which houses the student commons and dining hall, athletic center, and alumni areas, the Burk Hall academic wing, and the renovations to the 60-year-old science laboratories in Wheeler Hall.

The mission and philosophy remain the hallmarks of the Jesuit education at Blakefield, the benchmarks by which true educational success can be measured. There are nearly 1,000 students today at Loyola Blakefield in grades six through twelve.

[edit] Academics

Loyola Blakefield maintains a strong academic program, in keeping with Jesuit tradition. Among the Catholic schools in Baltimore it is the best in terms of its average graduating SAT scores, number of National Merit Finalists and other standard metrics of success.

While the curriculum is standard for all students there is increasing flexibility in course selection as one moves from the sixth through the twelfth grades. Popular electives include Greek, Latin and a wide variety of AP courses.

The Loyola Forensics team is a standout club and team at the school. The team, which is led by English instructor Tom Durkin, was the champion of the National Forensics League in 2005.

[edit] Athletics at Loyola Blakefield

Loyola Blakefield participates in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) for most sports, and the Baltimore Catholic League for basketball

The athletics at Loyola Blakefield are historically successful, most notably in Football, Swimming, and Lacrosse. The Lacrosse program has produced many collegiate athletes, including Bucknell University Midfielder Patrick Keeney '04, University of Virginia Attackman Ben Rubeor '04, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Defenseman Tim Kaiser '04, Hamilton College Defenseman Ned Gilliss '04, and Johns Hopkins University Defenseman Matt Pinto '02.

The soccer program has produced Division I talent in All-American goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald '06 Wake Forest, Defender Matt Reichenbach '06 Lafayette College, and Mike Lookingland '01 Bucknell who went on to play for the MLS Real Salt Lake club, and currently plays for the Baltimore Blast of the MISL. Second in the league in number of championships, only behind Calvert Hall, the local high school rival. This intense rivaly produces hundreds of fans every year, however. While the Dons were defeated by Calvert Hall twice in the 2006 season, they hope to fight back in 2007. Mike Potempa '97 was named the Gatorade Maryland High School Player of the Year in 1996. He played on several Youth National Teams while attending Loyola. He went on to become an All-ACC player from 98-00 while playing at Clemson University. He was drafted 69th overall in the 2001 MLS Superdraft by the Los Angeles Galaxy, but retired due to injuries. He is currently an assistant coach at his college alma mater.

The basketball program during the 1970's was regionally recognized as one of prominent status. Led by head coach Jerry Savage, he accumulated 600+ career wins from 1969 to 2003. He produced several D1 athletes, most notably Anthony Guy '78 and Pete Budko '77 who went on to the University of Kansas and University of North Carolina to play basketball. Loyola has been in the most Baltimore Catholic League finals with 13 total, and 6 championships. Savage also coached the 1997 MIAA Championship team, the last championship of any sort for the Dons basketball program. The program faced several disappointing seasons and also had a period of four years in which there were four head coaches. Josh Davalli, a former All-Metro player at Cardinal Gibbons in the mid-90's serves now as the current Varsity head coach, while also teaching in the Middle School.

The Swimming and Diving team, led by legendary coach Keith Schertle, completed its 14th straight MIAA Championship season and top 25 national ranking in 2007. The program has produced hundreds of All Americans (including 7 in 2007), multiple Olympians and hundreds of NCAA division I competitors, most notable are Patrick Kennedy of the 1984 US Olympic team and former University of Southern California captain Joe Curreri.

The rest of the athletic program has earned many championships in recent years as well. In 2001 the impressive sport of Rugby was introduced to Loyola Blakefield. The inaugural team was founded by Coach Robert "Bob-O" Schlictig.

Loyola Blakefield squares off every Thanksgiving Day, in the oldest continual national Catholic high school football rivalry against cross-town rival Calvert Hall College. The game, known as the Turkey Bowl is held at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The game is broadcast on television and radio courtesy of WMAR News.