Track & Field Season Recap 2017 // Video

The 2017 track & field season will forever be seen as one of the best in school history. No other group of athletes have embraced the team aspect of a very individual sport quite like this year's squad. Since the first year of the track & field program in 2007, Woodward Academy has a long tradition of excellence in the sport with a couple state champions ('07 and '14) and team district championships ('11 and '14). Neither of those things happened this season, but this year's team rewrote the school record book in more ways than one. 

"Overall, this was a really fun group to coach. What makes this team different than past years to me is their attention to detail in perfecting what they did. Whether it was a handoff, a hurdle, warming up for a race, or how they come out of the blocks, this team was very specific with how they trained and prepared for events," said Head Coach Shaun Mohon. This team adopted the theme of "meet the standard," and the team really pushed themselves and their coaching staff to embrace it every day. "This group ran with the theme and you could see it throughout their workouts, meets, and in day to day life as track athletes."

By mid-April, the hard work in practice was starting to show dividends in meets. The team got their first win of four, which tied a school record, at Central Decatur on April 11. They followed that meet up a week later with their second win at Van Meter. The winning pushed this team even harder in practice and they rallied around each other. They knew their end goal was to compete with the best in the state. 

Powerlifting Nationals 2017

The 2016-2017 powerlifting season began in November like nearly every other season of the past decade: with the majority of the students attending tryouts to make their mark in Woodward Academy’s most accomplished sport. The history of Woodward Academy powerlifting goes back to 2003 when it was simply an organized extracurricular activity. Today, the team annually travels to the USAPL High School National Championships that rotates venues every year. To date, Woodward Academy teams have traveled across the United States and lifted in eight different states.
   
After a couple months of training, the team competed at their first sanctioned meet of the season at the Des Moines Invitational. All nine lifters who competed at the event qualified for Nationals during that meet. In order to compete at Nationals, all lifters must qualify, meaning they must lift the designated amount for their weight class in a sanctioned event. Their second meet of the second was held at Peru State in Nebraska, which allowed for the lifters to get good competition repetitions, but it was a non-sanctioned event. The final event prior to Nationals was the Woodward Academy Open, the Knights home meet in March. During that meet, 6 additional lifters qualified forNationals, bringing the team total to 15 lifters.
   
Everything centers around the team competition for the Knights, and at Nationals a team consists of 10 lifters who were selected from the pool of 15 qualifiers. The Knights had won the Nationals team competition since 2006 when they competed in Omaha, Nebraska, and this group of lifters looked to continue that streak. On March 29, the team boarded a plane for Scranton, Pennsylvania, this year’s home of the USAPL High School National Championships. After a day of rest, the team competed
on March 31.

Basketball Season 2016-2017

The 2016-2017 Knights basketball season was one of the most fluid in recently memory. The team started with a lot of solid athletes and potential, but the season is long and this year’s team saw more roster changes compared to other seasons. As a result, the team ended with a 10-12 overall record, but that only tells part of the story. By the end of the season, the Knights were much more competitive than their record represented, and that resulted in a great first round playoff win and some post-season honors for some of the players.

Reflecting on the season, Head Coach Dustin Sperling said “We dealt with probably the most moving pieces we ever have. We had a lot of kids in and out during the season and it was hard to build consistency. But different players stepped up in different games and that was fun to watch.” A lot of players were able to contribute this season, which paid dividends toward the end of the season. More players got good minutes in the middle of the season, which allowed different combinations of players to work together.
   
According to the coaching staff, how the team improved on fundamentals visibly improved throughout the season. According to Sperling, the team was always open to learning in practice, and this dedication allowed the Knights to beat a really solid Clarke Osceola team in the first round of the District playoffs.

Junior Ammari Johnson led the team in most offensive stats for the second year in a row. His 17.0 points per game was a slight improvement from last year’s number, but his name is now all over the Woodward Academy record book. He is now the career leader in five scoring categories. Armman Johnson and Jay’Quise Norton also got some post-season honors when they received honorable mention within the conference.

Ammari Johnson’s 2016-2017 basketball campaign was always going to be a race into the Woodward Academy record books. He led the team in scoring a year ago and looked to do the same this season as the only returning varsity starter from that year’s squad. With the season now over, Ammari’s legacy has been cemented as one of the best basketball players the Knights has ever produced. He currently owns school career records in total points, field goal attempts, field goal percentage, as well as 3-point attempts and 3-pointers made. Beyond that, he ranks second in free throw percentage and rebounds.
   
Basketball is not Ammari’s only sport. Earlier this year, he earned All-District football honors as a wide receiver, and has already transitioned to track & field. He was a state qualifier a year ago in the high jump, and in the second meet of this season, broke the school record with a 6’4” jump.

Winter Sports Posters 2016-2017 // Basketball and Powerlifting

The winter sports posters for the 2016-2017 season are out and both can be picked up on campus. Basketball is currently entering the post season and have looked solid throughout the year. The poster shows the team in action with a retro font feel and muted color scheme.

The powerlifters are just getting their competition season rolling. They performed well at the Des Moines Metro Classic in January where 9 lifters qualified for Nationals. Their next events are in Nebraska in February, and a home meet in March, with the end of the season happening at the USAPL High School National Championships at the end of March. This year, Nationals will be held in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

We have produced sports posters for each one of our teams since the 2008-2009 basketball season and often get asked how they get made. Each one is different and unique and is produced and printed on campus. For these two posters, individual pictures were taken of each athlete and composited together for the final poster. For the most recent updates, follow our Facebook page to get updates throughout the season and be sure to get a poster for your office next time you're on campus. After the break, you can view full images of each poster.

Fall Sports Recap

The 2016 fall sports seasons saw some great talent on the field and some outstanding individual performances. Both the football and cross country teams kicked off practice in August. The football team attended a fundamentals camp at Grandview College, while the cross country team started racking up the miles. Both squads were led by veteran coaching staffs. Lorenzo White has coached the football team since 2010, and this was his fourth season as head coach. Jason Anderson has led 4 teams to state as the coach of the cross country team, most recently last year along with his assistant coach, Aric Rush.

The football team changed their approach this season, emphasizing a STATS program. The coaching staff pushed Speed, Technique, Attitude, Temp, and Standard. That eventually transitioned to E+R=O, the Event (football) plus Reaction equals Outcome. At the end of the season, the team became more of a family and fought hard every Friday night. This team had a whole lot of talent and with the system in place, White saw that one of the biggest improvements was "the relationships they made with each other and the coaches." That attitude was felt across campus and generated a huge amount of school pride among the entire student body. At the end of the season, two Knights earned All-District honors because of their work on the field. Shabaka Thurman earned first team recognition, while Mike Solo earned second team honors.

This year's cross country squad was one of the youngest in recent memory, but they grew over the course of the season. Coach Rush saw "a lot of competition [during practice] to be the fastest on the team. Each runner truly found out where their strengths were to ultimately run their fastest race." In many ways, the team got smart in how they ran each race, and this effort paid off on the course. The highlight of the team's season was when they won the Carroll Kuemper Invitational in September.

The true standout of this year's team was Jakob Estermann. The senior runner was the fastest Knight all season and pushed the rest of the team to keep up with him. "I can't say enough about Jakob's work ethic. He came to practice wanting to win and often would not let anyone finish in front of him without a fight," said Coach Rush. That season long work ethic paid off at the District meet when he finished 10th and qualified for the Iowa High School State Cross Country Meet, annually held in Fort Dodge. At the meet, he ran 17:50 and finished in the top half of all runners. Jakob became only the 30th runner in school history to run at the state meet. 

World's Coach // Guthrey Fritz

Guthrey Fritz, Admissions Director and former Knights powerlifting coach, recently returned from Szczyrk, Poland, after a week of representing the United States team as a coach at the IPF Sub-Junior (high school) and Junior (collegiate) World Powerlifting Championships. The U.S. delegation brought four teams with 36 of the best lifters in the country to compete at the international competition.

Fritz’s history with elite powerlifting goes back more than a decade. He started the Woodward Academy powerlifting program 2003 and over the course of his tenure as head coach, won 10 consecutive USAPL High School National Championships, crowned 24 individual National Champions, and brought a total of 116 lifters to the national competition. The bookend of his coaching career at Woodward Academy occurred in the fall of 2015 when he travelled to this same competition in Prague, Czech Republic. He coached WA lifter, Julious Walker, to a runner-up World Championship.

After his experience with the team last season, U.S. Head Coach, Curt St. Romain, offered Guthrey a spot as a coach on this year’s team. He was assigned specific lifters and worked with them throughout the competition in getting checked in, setting rack heights, during weigh-ins, and calling squats for the lifters. At the end of competition, the U.S. team performed exceptionally well. The sub-junior boys were crowned World Champions, with the junior boys earning a bronze metal. Both the sub-junior and junior girls teams won silver.

Guthrey has already been asked to coach on next year’s team, with the 2017 international competition taking place in Orlando, Florida.

Fall Sports Posters // Football and Cross Country 2016

The fall sports posters for the 2016 season are out and can be picked up on campus. Both sports have begun competition and are getting a good early start to their seasons. Both posters showcase the team, with captains and key athletes playing a predominant role in the images. As always, the 2016 schedule is on there as well. If you have an opportunity to cheer on the Knights for some Friday, gridiron action, or on a golf course near you, I highly encourage you to do so. In the meantime, follow our Facebook page to get updates throughout the season.

Baseball Poster 2016 // Video

Now that the baseball season is in full swing, here is the official poster of the 2016 Woodward Academy Knights team. This year's squad has been performing well this season and there is still time to catch a game at Knights Field. The poster is a composite image of each individual player and a sweet aerial shot of the home field. Be sure to pick up yours today on campus to add to your collection.

If you would like to see additional pictures of the baseball team in action, you can visit our Knight Pics website and after the break, we have embedded a highlight video from one of the team's home games.

State Track & Field Meet 2016 // Video

The 2016 track & field season came to a close May 19-21 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines at the Iowa High School State Track & Field Meet. It was an end cap to a remarkable season where the Knights won 4 team titles, numerous individual events, and broke 2 school records.

Head Coach Shaun Mohon pushed the phrase "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard" all season. He reflected that this year's team, from a pure talent standpoint, was not where previous WA teams had been. "We did not have the top end speed that we have had in the past. The reason this team was so successful was due to hard work, practicing well, and the work of all the coaches."

Read more about how the season progressed and the state meet after the break.

Powerlifting Nationals 2016 // Video

Watch the Knights of Iron powerlifting team as they traveled to Orlando, Florida and won an 11th consecutive USAPL High School National Championship.

Powerlifting Nationals 2016 // Universal Studios

The day after competition, the team spent an entire day at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, and Marvel Super Hero Island. The entire team took in the amazing sights and pulse-pounding rides that the park had to offer. For a three-hour stretch during the day, central Florida got drenched with rain, but it didn’t stop the team. With many of the attractions and waiting lines indoors, the rain did not slow anyone down. The team took in the Dragon Challenge rollercoaster three times, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man twice, and one of the big highlights was the spectacular Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The day was a great celebration to a hard-fought season.

Powerlifting Nationals 2016 // Competition

Last November, the powerlifting team held tryouts and began the long season of training and preparation. After three qualifying events, the road to the USAPL High School National Championships ended in Orlando, Florida on April 1. The team kicked practice into high gear in the final weeks of practice, and every ounce of that effort may have been necessary for what turned out to be the toughest Nationals ever for the Knights.

At 2 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the team left campus for a flight out of the Des Moines International Airport. They made a stop through Chicago O’Hare, and arrived in Orlando at 3:30 in the afternoon. Over the next day and a half, the team took in the pool, caught a movie, and for some, actively watched their weight.

On Friday, April 1st, after the athlete’s weights were finalized, the lifting began and the competition was stiff. A powerlifting meet consists of three individual events: the squat, benchpress, and deadlift. Each lifter has three attempts to record the biggest lift they can. They are then added together for a total weight to determine the winner in each weight class. The common strategy is to record an opening lift that is nearly guaranteed for the lifter and progress upward from there. The coaches know that athletes will miss lifts, it is a part of competition. How this team responded is what distinguishes them from other teams.

Read about how lifters competed after the break.

Track & Field Poster 2016

The track and field season is officially underway for the Knights and this is the first look at the team. The poster is a composite image of all of the athletes (captains up top), with Drake Stadium, home of the Iowa High School State Track & Field Meet, serving as the background. Iowa has had a fairly mild spring, which has allowed the team to spend more time on the track and less time in the gymnasium. Head Coach Shaun Mohon is feeling good about the season so far and feels as though it can be a special year for the Knights. "Right now, they are about 2 weeks ahead of where we were last year."

More indoor meets were added to this season's early schedule. The team has already competed at the Wartburg Indoor meet in Waverly, Iowa and at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, in addition to the Iowa State meet that the team has traditionally run at. These meets are always good tests for the team as they often compete against larger schools on non-traditional ovals. Now that the season is underway, the coaches are prepping the team to peak mid-May, just in time for Districts and the State Meet, which is scheduled for May 19-21. Go Knights!

Knights Basketball 2015-2016

Every season starts the same: teaching the offensive and defensive fundamentals that the coaches want to see, and then letting the players respond to the coaching. The goal is that by the middle part of the season, things start to register with the players and the team peaks at the end to make a run in the post season.

Head coach Dustin Sperling was really proud of this team. “They had a good work ethic, and that made the coaching effective every practice. At the beginning of the year, it wasn’t possible to play man [defense], zone is generally the safer route. But the last two weeks of the year, we were switching back and forth and everything was sinking in.”

Sperling was fortunate to have two returning players from last year’s State team, and he placed a lot of expectations on them. Delonquay Richardson and Marcus Riley were the pulse of the team. As co-captains, they had a lot already invested in the team and knew they would be called upon to led the other athletes. “I think I was the hardest on Marcus all season. He responded and would always fix it and be a leader on the team. Delonquay naturally has a strong work ethic, but he was perhaps the most selfless person on the team. He never concerned himself with points and other stats. He wanted to play defense, set screens, and get rebounds all game.” And that is exactly what he did, leading the conference in rebounds with 11.1 RPG. Other statistical highlights include Marcus’ 103 assists, 2nd in the conference. Sophomore Ammari Johnson led the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game.
   
The Knight’s season came to a close in the second round of the district playoffs. After an impressive win against Ogden in the first round, the Knights had to travel to Des Moines Christian’s home court, where they were defeated. Sperling’s lasting image of this team is not the wins and losses, but rather how they grew. “More than anything else, this team’s character grew just as much as their basketball  knowledge.”

Athlete of the First 20 Years

This month, Julious Walker returned home after an illustrious athletic career at Woodward Academy. Throughout his stay, he participated in football, track & field, but powerlifting was the sport he dominated. He did things that had never been done before at Woodward Academy, and honestly may never happen again. He was a member of two USAPL National Championship teams (2014-15), and became an individual National Champion when he destroyed the competition in 2015.

The unprecedented part of his powerlifting career came last fall when he became runner-up World Champion as a member of the U.S. National Team at the IPF Sub-Juniors World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. He has 5 American records, and 11 Woodward Academy school records to his credit, and this year was on track to earn more accolades. One of his last meets, he squatted a personal best 750 pounds in competition. To label him a world-class athlete sounds a little cliche, but as a 16 year old with these credits, it is certainly within reason that he could become just that. He was recently given an honor that no Woodward Academy athlete has ever received: Athlete of the First 20 Years. Congrats Julious, and good luck.

The Sixth Man on the Court

Woodward Academy's student body section is big and loud, and they certainly make an impact on the basketball court every game. With chants like K-N-I-G-H-T-S and D-Fence!, the cheering section is the sixth man on the floor, often propelling the Knights to better play and being a distraction for our opponents.

From a student's perspective, attending basketball games is an escape from the routine. It is time away from campus that offers a sense of normalcy. For most regular season games, a handful of students from each dorm get to attend, which often adds up to about 40-50 students. During this week's first round district playoff game, over 200 students and staff attended the game, outnumbering the other team's cheering section 20 to 1. And they made a significant impact on the outcome!

From a staff's perspective, it is fun to watch the students. They love to be loud and cheer for the players that they know, walk the halls of school with, and in some cases share a dorm with. Our student body makes their presence felt in the best way possible. Every season, we get letters from parents and members of the community of the opposing team, and every letter touches on our sportsmanship and school pride. Here is an example from a couple weeks ago from a parent from the opposing team:

As a parent and also an educator, I want to commend your players and your entire cheering section on their fantastic performance last night. 

Your student section was amazing. They were "loud and proud" and cheering for their team. They used positive cheers and never did I hear a negative comment or cheer. 

The young men on your team exhibited great sportsmanship and restraint, even when they may have felt a call was not a good call. My son commented when he got home that they exhibited the best sportsmanship of all the teams he has played this year. 

I just wanted to share a positive with you and your staff! Thank you for all you do to work with these young men!

As a basketball team and athletic program, we practice and compete to win. But this is an example of winning in life and that is what it means to be a Woodward Academy Knight.

Winter Sports Posters 2015-2016 // Basketball and Powerlifting

Both of the winter sports posters for the 2015-2016 seasons are out and can be picked up on campus. The basketball team is entering the post-season with a first round game against CMB, while the powerlifting team is preparing for the USAPL High School National Championships at the end of March. The posters are composite images with each athlete taking individual picture, which were later assembled for the final product. Both teams are looking to have a strong end to the season and we will provide updates on our Facebook page. So "like" us and stay in tuned with Knights athletics. 

State Cross Country // Video

At Woodward Academy, cross country is a team sport. Since 2006, the Knights have qualified for the Iowa High School State Meet three times ('06, '07, '12) and the runners from this year's team were looking to add to that legacy. Head Coach Jason Anderson has led each of those teams to State and knew this team had the potential to be very special early in the season. "This team never quit. They came to practice every day and wanted to work. They never gave up and they kept their eyes on the goal." That goal was to make it to State.

Like all sports at Woodward Academy, most of this year's runners were new to cross country, and they would need to be coached. Anderson and his assistant coach, Aric Rush, have worked together since 2012 and they have a similar philosophy when it comes to cross country. They are both positively idealistic, and this leadership is reflected in the team. It has to be. Cross country is hard work. Coach Rush was joking when he said "our sport is other sport's punishment," but he is kind of right.

Both coaches stressed that the most difficult aspect of cross country is building the mental determination in the runners. Rush commented that "cross country is always a good idea to most students… until it gets hard. Top runners overcome that and motivated runners excel." That was the kind of team the Knights had this year. Desmond Edwards was the top runner for the team much of the season, but he was surrounded by a lot of inspired runners. Even on easy days, practice often turned competitive because the runners wanted to log quicker times or beat their teammates. That level of grit was an instinct in this team and perhaps the most determining factor to their success.

All season, the Knights competed against top schools, many of which were larger than Woodward Academy and who had an established cross country program. Although they did not win meets, the Knights used the competition to increase their 3.1 mile times and they peaked at the right time. When it came to districts, the hard work paid off. Desmond Edwards and Ricky Gabbard finished 6th and 14th, qualifying themselves for State individually. But it was the second wave of runners who made the difference and pushed the team to State. Each position, and each runner counts. Many cross country teams undervalue the 6th and 7th runners on the team, but for the Knights, they are who made the difference. After edging out a couple runners at the end, the Knights placed 3rd at Districts after beating Des Moines Christian by 2 points.

On October 31, the Knights represented Woodward Academy at the Iowa High School State Cross Country meet, annually held in Fort Dodge. You can see highlights from the meet in the video above. 

The End of an Era // Guthrey Fritz

The Woodward Academy athletic program officially began in 2003 when Guthrey Fritz turned an extracurricular strong man competition between dorms into a structured weight lifting club. Two years later (’05), he brought three powerlifters to Texas where they competed in the USAPL High School National Championships for the first time and Corey Noring (SHW) became Woodward Academy’s first powerlifting National Champion.

Ten years later, Guthrey has built a pretty impressive resume with 10 consecutive team
National Championships, 24 individual National Champions, and has travelled across the country (and the world) representing Woodward Academy. More than anyone else, and any other sport, Guthrey showed what athletics could do at Woodward Academy and he gave many students an experience they will never forget.

Guthrey initially planned to step away at the conclusion of the high school season in March. But when the call came to represent the United States, he stayed on for one final competition. The IPF Sub-Juniors World Championships in Prague turned out to be the best bookend to a career that any coach could ask for. Next year, he will be passing the torch to assistant coach, Glen Miller. Although he is stepping away from coaching powerlifting, he will remain active on campus as Admissions Director and a member of the management team.

Powerlifting in the News // World Championships

When Julious and his coaches returned from Prague, Czech Republic after the IPF Sub-Juniors World Championships earlier this month, the local news media wanted to get their story. They went on a mini press tour with KCCI Channel 8 and The Des Moines Register both coming to campus for the story. The KCCI video is embedded above and the Register article can be read here.

We want to thank both Mark Tauscheck (KCCI) and John Naughton (Register) for picking up the story and sharing it with central Iowa. Earlier this year, Mark came to campus to cover the Knights basketball team when they qualified for state. John is also familiar with Woodward Academy and ran a front page article in 2010 when we started our football program.