The Crusaders of First Assembly Christian School made the Owls work hard last night to earn Coach Jerry Peters’ 1,000th win. MUS faculty, alumni, and students filled Ross Lynn Arena last night and cheered Peters and the varsity team to a 47-36 win. According to the National High School Sports Record Book, Peters is now a member of an elite group of boys coaches – one of only 11 in history to reach 1,000 victories.

The varsity swimming team won the Shelby County Championship for the fourth straight year, defeating 14 other area teams. Senior Crews Wellford won the 200-meter freestyle and the 100-meter individual medley, junior Pace Clark won the 200-meter individual medley and the 100-meter butterfly, and the team of Wellford, Clark, and sophomores Thornton Brooksbank and Reed Harrison took first place in the 400-yard freestyle. As a result of their performance at the tournament, 13 Owls have qualified for the state competition in Nashville on Friday, February 10.

The Lower School swimming team won the Shelby County Middle School Championship on Saturday, January 21. The team was undefeated throughout the season and took the boy’s division of the championship by more than 100 points.

The MUS community is invited to attend the upcoming photography event at Joysmith Gallery. Alumnus and recent chapel speaker Al Newberry will be displaying photography taken during recent protests on Peace Island in South Korea. More information about Mr. Newberry’s work may be found on his website.

Date	Time
Friday, January 13	6:30-9:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 14	3:00-7:00 p.m.
Friday, January 20	5:30-9:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 21	3:00-7:00 p.m.
Friday, January 27	5:30-9:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 28	3:00-7:00 p.m.

The United States Tennis Association Boys 16 Winter National Championship ended on Monday, January 2, in Scottsdale, AZ. Junior Marshall Sharp, winner of the last two Division 2-AA individual state titles, blasted through the quarterfinals and semifinals, then forced a third set in the finals before falling to the No. 2 seed Paul Oosterbaan of Kalamazoo, MI. Sharp was presented the tournament’s Sportmanship Award and is reported to be only the third Memphis-area junior to reach a USTA boys’ national final in 25 years.

During the holiday break, the varsity basketball team traveled to Illinois for the 2011 Carbondale Holiday Tournament. The Owls played four games in three days. On Thursday, December 29, the Owls defeated Bartlett High School, 69-57, for the championship. Senior Danny Galvin was given the tournament MVP award, and junior Nourse Fox was named to the All-Tournament 2nd Team.

The Tennessee Sports Writers Association has named three Memphis University School seniors to the Division 2-AA All-State Team. Punter Toby Baker, offensive lineman Ben Still, and defensive back Alex Dale earned all-state recognition for their performances this past season.

Approximately 680 of the state’s best high school math students competed in the 2011 Pro2Serve competition held on the campus of University of Tennessee Knoxville in October. Of the 50 mathletes who advanced to the second stage of testing, seven Owls held seats: senior Mark Sorensen; juniors Walker Bussey-Spencer and William Hoehn; sophomores Matthew Gayoso and Garret Sullivan; and freshmen Baty Daniel and Richard Ouyang. Sullivan placed in the top five and Ouyang finished in the top ten, thereby naming them state winners and scholarship recipients. Go, Owls!

The varsity swimming team placed second on Saturday, December 10, at the Germantown Invitational. Junior Chip Ogles qualified for the state competition in the 100-meter butterfly event.

Senior Britt Colcolough was awarded the 2011 National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Award in Writing. A total of 1,649 U.S. students were nominated, but only 520 were recognized as outstanding writers. Both high school and college English teachers evaluated each nominee’s essay. Within Tennessee, Colcolough was one of only 16 students who were presented this award.

Senior Crews Wellford announced that he will swim for the University of Alabama as he signed his letter of intent on Tuesday, November 15. Wellford is the captain of the 2011-12 swimming team and the first MUS athlete to sign a letter of intent to swim at the collegiate level.

Senior Victor Cole gave a verbal agreement this summer to play baseball for the University of Memphis, but on Friday, November 11, he made it official by signing a letter of intent. Cole is a 2011 Best of the Preps Player of the Year finalist and the Owls’ starting pitcher this year.

Two seniors, Anthony Hodges and Jazz Singh, have been named National Achievement Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Hodges and Singh are two of 1,600 semifinalists who are competing for National Achievement Scholarships.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has recognized Charles Belina, Charlie Freeburg, Scott Freeburg, Edward Good, John Grayson, Michael Green, William Hammond, Wil Hergenrader, Morgan Hunt, Mark Sorensen, Nate Utkov, Henry Valk, Alex Weinstein, and Andrew Wilensky as National Merit Commended Students. These students received Letters of Commendation for their strong academic performance. These Owls, together with the school’s 15 National Merit Semifinalists and two National Achievement Semifinalists, make up 36 percent of the Class of 2012.

The College Board has released scores from its most recent Advanced Placement exams. More than 90 percent of the MUS students who took AP exams scored a three or higher. Even more noteworthy are the results from the Calculus BC exam. Every Owl that took the exam made a perfect five.

Bubones (Owls) had another fantastic showing this year at the TN Junior Classical League Convention and competition. Freshman Salman Haque was the highest individual scorer in the state. Junior Eli Goldstein had the only perfect score in the vocabulary competition and junior Nicholas Rouse won the Warren Taylor Watkins Award for Upper Level Heptathlon, which included a $450 prize. Mrs. Reinhardt’s Level II Certamen team won the tournament.

The West Tennessee Historical Society recognized MUS with the Paul R. Coppock Award on August 10 for the school’s outstanding commitment to advancing the study of local history. The school has long hosted WTHS events and the campus’ Hyde Library houses a large archive of local history.

Last spring, five families competed for Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital’s fifth annual Memphis Miracle Maker Family of the Year award. On May 3, Mr. Hamilton Eggers ’85 and his family received top honors in the competition by raising $29,100 for the hospital. Eggers is a history instructor and a football and trapshooting coach. The event, part of an eight-week fundraising drive, brings together families that support the hospital’s mission.