Campus News 

Over 5,000 people are anticipated to attend the upcoming MUS vs. South Panola game, so overflow parking has been arranged.  Please park in the office parking lots west of the campus on the south side of Primacy Parkway, across from McDonalds.

To avoid the lines, buy your tickets in advance at the MUS Business Office. Entrance is free for students with their U-cards. The ticket gates open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, September 3.  Owl fans are encouraged to wear all black to the game.

Sophomores and their parents have a meeting on college admissions with Mr. Brian K. Smith and Ms. Katie Parr on Thursday, September 2, at 7:00 p.m. in Hyde Chapel. Headmaster Ellis Haguewood will also be available to answer parents' questions on other topics. Mr. Smith and Ms. Parr will discuss preparing for college and the benefits of getting involved, diversifying extracurricular activities, and increasing the rigor of coursework. A portion of the meeting is devoted to discussing Naviance Family Connection.

MUS director of theater Tim Greer won an award for "Leading Actor in a Musical" at the Memphis Theatre Awards, for his performance in Hank Williams: Lost Highway, at Circuit Playhouse. Known as the Ostrander Awards, the presentations honor local theater excellence. Before making their award selections, the judges attended approximately 50 productions in the Memphis area during the 2009-10 season. Hundreds attended the ceremony, held at the Memphis Botanic Garden, and sponsored by ArtsMemphis and Memphis Magazine.

Friday, September 10, is the registration deadline for the October 9 SAT test. Students may register online for the SAT and subject tests at the College Board's website.

The MUS varsity football team will host the Tigers of South Panola High School on Friday, September 3, at Hull-Dobbs Field at Stokes Stadium. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7.00 (entrance is free with a U-card) and may be purchased during office hours in the Business Office or at the gates on game night, beginning at 5:30 p.m. To avoid the lines, buy your tickets in advance!

The deadline to sign up for the Chicago College Tour has been extended. Sign up by Friday, September 3, to accompany Mr. Brian K. Smith and Ms. Katie Parr on a fall break tour of several colleges and universities in the Chicago area. For more information, visit the College Counseling Office.

MUS college counselors will begin their Morning Joe College Chats on Monday, September 20, from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. in the Wiener Hospitality Room. Parents may ask questions and get answers about all things related to the college selection process. Each "chat" is limited to the first 25 parents, so please register by contacting Marge Roosa in College Counseling at (901) 260-1320.

MUS 2010 ACT scores are the highest average in five years, at 28.32. The average state score was 19.5. Congratulations to the MUS Class of 2010!

The Shakespeare Readers Group, designed for adults interested in becoming more familiar with Shakespearean language by reading his plays aloud, meets most Tuesdays from 5:30 until 7:00 p.m. in the Loeb Room of the MUS Campus Center. 

Prior to each Tuesday, participants must RSVP to the facilitator, Margaret Tabor, via e-mail or phone (901) 767-0987.  Participants should bring a copy of the text being read.  There is no fee for participating.

The plays completed are The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, and Much Ado About Nothing.  The group is currently reading Othello in preparation for the Tennessee Shakespeare Company production in October.  There will be no meetings in September.

Sophomore and medalist Zach Olsen led the MUS golf team to victory at the Chattanooga Baylor Preview. The Owls finished 21 strokes ahead of the second place team, Ensworth High School, with a final score of MUS 588, Ensworth 609. Completing the team were seniors Clifton Jordan and Jerry B. Martin, junior Daniel McLeod, and eighth grader Hays Moreland.

MUS has partnered with the Princeton Review to offer discounted rates for ACT and SAT test prep classes on our campus. 

The first SAT prep class begins August 8 and the ACT prep class begins August 14. The fee for each 10-week course is $450. To register, please visit the Princeton Review Test Preparation website for SAT and ACT classes. Enter the school’s Zip code of 38119 in the search field at the top. The SAT course number is 110800017 and the ACT is 810800005.

MUS is also offering a four-week PSAT test prep class for juniors beginning Sunday, September 19.  To register, please visit the Princeton Review PSAT Test Preparation website. 

More information may be found on the MUS College Counseling page.

The members of the 2010 varsity golf team are seniors Clifton Jordan, Jonathan Kim, and Jerry B. Martin; juniors Lee Marshall and Daniel McLeod; sophomores Richard Hoffsommer, Zachary Olsen, Jake Rudesill, and Van Putman; and eighth grader Hays Moreland. Good luck to Coach Cliff Frisby and his team on their upcoming season, which begins next week when the top five players compete in the Baylor Preview in Chattanooga, TN.

Seventh grader Paul Lahue and eighth grader Davis Owen teamed up to win second place for boys’ doubles in the Southern Open Championships in Pelham, AL. This annual competition for boys and girls up to age 14 is a United States Tennis Association (USTA) southern section level II tournament.

Junior Victor Cole was named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) All-State baseball team for pitching. He is one of only five area players to be named to the team.

Seniors Mathieu Baker and George Utkov and junior Matt Montsinger were named to the Tennessee High School Soccer Coaches Association 2010 Division II-AA Boys All-State Soccer Team. Baker was recognized as a midfielder, and Montsinger and Utkov were named to the team as defenders.

Five MUS students were recognized as 2009-10 outstanding athletes at The Commercial Appeal's Best of the Preps awards ceremony on Friday, June 11. Senior Barry Brunetti, for the second year in a row, won for football offense, and senior Harrison Martin won for football defense. Senior Franklin Martin won the boys lacrosse category, and freshman Marshall Sharp won the boys tennis category. Also honored was senior Stephond Allmond, who was named Athlete of the Year in the private schools' division.

In addition, The Commercial Appeal recognized four coaches at the awards ceremony. Coach Bobby Alston won Football Coach of the Year, Coach Laurie Clark won Boys Swimming Coach of the Year, Coach Elliott Dent won Lacrosse Coach of the Year, and Coach Johnny Beard won Baseball Coach of the Year.

MUS won the BOP Boys Division Team Award.

The Drowsy Chaperone runs November 4, 6 - 8, 2010
Neovox: A Musical Revue runs February 3, 5, and 7, 2011
Treasure Island runs April 8-11, 2011

Auditions for the new season will be held in the Hyde Chapel May 10 - 12 at 4:00 p.m.

Nine students, seniors Stephond Allmond, Elliott Bryant, Hank Hill, Keith McBride, and Colin Thomas, juniors Sam Cox and Shea Gabrielleschi, and sophomores Eli Goldstein and Carlton McCord, were named to The Commercial Appeal's Best of the Preps private schools' track and field team.

Best of the Preps also recognized the 4-by-100-meter relay team of sophomore Alex Dale, junior Michael Glenn, Hill, and McBride; the 4-by-200-meter relay team also of Dale, Glenn, Hill, and McBride; and the 4-by-400-meter relay team of Glenn, freshman Jak Kinney, sophomore Trip Underwood, and Thomas.

The Commercial Appeal announced its Best of the Preps list for baseball and soccer, and seven MUS students and Coach Johnny Beard were recognized.

In baseball, senior Jake Rudolph, junior Jason Manis, and sophomore Victor Cole were named to the private schools' boys team. Beard, MUS varsity baseball head coach, was selected as a finalist for Coach of the Year.

In soccer, seniors Matt Baker and George Utkov, junior Matt Montsinger, and sophomore Toby Baker were selected for the private schools' boys team. Toby Baker was further honored as an individual finalist for boys' soccer.

Fifteen athletes and Coach Elliott Dent have been honored in The Commercial Appeal's Best of the Preps competition.

Seniors Norfleet Abston, Sam Harris, Franklin Martin, juniors Henry Dickinson, Rob Dickinson, Blake Hennessy, Russell Scott, and Quay Stallworth, and freshman Peyton Klawinski were named to the all-metro lacrosse team. In addition, Rob Dickinson, Martin, and Scott received individual honors and were named individual boys' lacrosse finalists. Dent was selected as a finalist for Coach of the Year.

In tennis, seniors Will Carruthers and Cliff Guyton, junior J.P. DeVincenzo, sophomore William George, freshman Marshall Sharp, and eighth-grader Walker Sims made the private schools' boys team. Further recognition was given to Carruthers, Guyton, and Sharp, who were named as individual boys' tennis finalists.

Seniors Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman and junior Kevin Szymkowicz received honorable mentions in PARADE magazine's first annual All-America High School Service Team. The award recognizes high school students who have made exceptional contributions in various areas of service. Gatliff and Kauffman were honored in the health category for their project, the Water Cycle, a month-long, cross-country bike ride benefitting Haiti. Szymkowicz was honored in the education category for his work with the Rossville Tutoring Program. In total, 50 students were recognized by PARADE magazine, and Gatliff, Kauffman, and Szymkowicz were the only nominees from Tennessee who were acknowledged.

Senior Christian Kauffman was honored for his athletic and academic achievement by the Memphis Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame on May 10 at their annual black-tie dinner honoring Memphis scholar-athletes. Kauffman, a Tennessee Titans Mr. Football finalist for Kicker of the Year, begins football practice with the University of Alabama on June 1.

Freshman Marshall Sharp defeated an MBA senior, 6-0, 6-4, to become the Division II-AA boys’ singles champion.

The varsity tennis team went into an all-MUS final on Wednesday, May 12. Freshman Marshall Sharp was the overall individual winner, and seniors Will Carruthers and Cliff Guyton won overall in doubles. The team advances to the sub-state match held on Tuesday, May 18, at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center. The winner advances to the state tournament held May 25-28 in Murfreesboro, TN.

Volunteer Mid-South named junior Clifton Jordan its Youth Volunteer of the Year for his work with United Way of the Mid-South. He has been an active member of the Youth United Way Leadership Program for more than two years, and, in May of 2009, he was elected executive board chairman of Youth United Way.

Seniors Andrew Chinn, Will Taylor, and Colin Thomas were recognized as the finalists for three categories in The Commercial Appeal's Academic All-Stars competition. Chinn won the mathematics category and competed against 13 other weekly winners. Taylor won the social sciences and history category and competed against 11 other weekly winners. Thomas won the science category and competed against 12 other weekly winners. 

Congratulations also to the eight MUS students, including Cliff Guyton, Wade Laycook, Michael Lewandowski, Emmett Montgomery, and Matt Williams, who were named Academic All-Star weekly winners this year.

The varsity fencing team competed in the state championship held at MUS on April 24 and 25. The epee team beat CBHS in the finals, 13-12, to bring home the title, while the saber team went undefeated and retained the trophy for another year. Congratulations to Coach Brad Kroeker and the varsity fencers.

The Commercial Appeal announced its Best of the Preps list for swimming and basketball, and six MUS students were on the lists. In swimming, seniors Alexander Kaltenborn and Peterson Wellford, junior Andrew Kennedy, and sophomore Crews Wellford made the boys team. In basketball, senior Joseph Amagliani and sophomore Carlton McCord made the private schools’ boys team.

Congratulations to Coach Laurie Clark, head varsity swim coach, for being named The Commercial Appeal’s Best of the Preps Boys Coach of the Year. Clark led the Aquatic Owls to their second consecutive county swim title this past February.

The Lower School MathCounts team of Matthew Gayoso, William Lamb, Richard Ouyang, and Garret Sullivan placed first in the state in the Tennessee MathCounts Competition.

For the third consecutive year, the Latin Club won state at the Tennessee Junior Classical League convention. Fifty-five MUS students scored a record number of points to clinch the school’s 13th state title in 20 years.

Senior Will Taylor and junior Clint Montgomery won awards from CAMWS (The Classical Association of the Middle West and South) for their entries in this year's translation contest. Both students did an exceptional job rendering a Tibullus poem into the best English they could in one hour.

We have just launched an official Memphis University School Facebook Fan Page. After you’ve already logged in to Facebook, please click here to be directed to the page or type “Memphis University School” into a search. Please be aware that the page named “Memphis University School – MUS Owls” is NOT the school’s official page. The official page will be updated frequently with lots of photos. Also, be sure to check back often and become a fan of our Admissions, Alumni, and Fine Arts pages.

Celebrate the visual arts at Memphis University School through our virtual Night of the Arts exhibition. Parents, students, alumni, and friends can view incredible student art including mosaic sculpture, drawing, dry point intaglio, prints, photography, and digital design through an online photo gallery available now on the MUS Web site.

The University of Tennessee posted an article on their Web site about senior Cort Gatliff, who will be attending the University of Tennessee in the fall. Click here to read the article.

Beg To Differ won Best Men’s Choir in the New York City Heritage Music Festival’s men’s choir division. Competing against schools from all over the country, Beg To Differ wowed the three nationally-known judges to gain an overall gold (or superior) rating, and soloist Jake Rudolph was given the Maestro Award for his solo work on “It’s All Right.”

The Commercial Appeal recognized senior Matt Williams as an Academic All-Star for music. Williams is an exceptional musician who plays seven instruments – violin, viola, electric violin, piano, keyboards, rhythm guitar, and bass guitar. He is a member of the Memphis Youth Symphony and the MUS Studio Band. A National Merit Finalist and an AP Scholar with Honor, Williams is a member of the National Honor Society, National Latin Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta. He was the recipient of the Jefferson Book Award for his scholarship, leadership, and citizenship.

Chris Peck of The Commercial Appeal wrote an editorial about the Water Cycle and MUS. Click here for the full editorial from the March 21, 2010, issue. For more information on the Water Cycle, visit their Web site to read their blog and track their progress.

The Tennessee High School Press Association awarded The Owls’ Hoot the All-Tennessee Rating, the highest overall evaluation rating given to a high school student publication. All-Tennessee publications demonstrate excellence in all areas of production and effectively integrate writing, design, and visuals.

Tuesday, May 4
Soccer: MUS at CBHS, 6:00 p.m.
Tennis: MUS vs. White Station, 4:00 p.m.
Track: MUS Home Meet, 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, May 6
Soccer: MUS at SBA, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 8
Lacrosse: State Semi-Finals (D1), 4:00 p.m.
Lacrosse: State Semi-Finals (D2), 7:00 p.m.
Tennis: MUS vs. St. Xavier (KY), 12:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 9
Lacrosse: State Finals (D1), 1:00 p.m.
Lacrosse: State Finals (D2), 3:00 p.m.

For a listing of all athletic events, please visit the online MUS Athletics Calendar.

Seniors Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman are on day 12 of the Water Cycle. They have ridden their bikes through California and Arizona, and departed from Albuquerque, NM, on Monday, March 15. They will end the day in Santa Rosa, NM, after biking 136 miles, the longest distance ridden in one day throughout their entire cross-country trip. Track their progress and read their blog on the Water Cycle Web site.

Senior Cliff Guyton is a recipient of the Morehead-Cain Scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Morehead-Cain provides a full four-year scholarship covering tuition and all other normal expenses, a laptop computer, a fully funded, four-year Summer Enrichment Program, and Discovery Fund grants of up to $8,000 total to be used for additional educational opportunities. The value of the scholarship over the four years is approximately $140,000 for out-of-state residents. This is just one of many prestigious scholarships awarded to Guyton, who is considering his options and is happy to have received the Morehead-Cain.

Senior Barry Brunetti was honored in a House Joint Resolution in the chambers of the Tennessee House of Representatives followed by a presentation in the Senate chambers. State Representative G.A. Hardaway, Sr., sponsored a House Joint Resolution that recognizes the talents and successes of Brunetti.

Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman began the fifth day of their month-long, cross-country bike ride to benefit Haiti. Read their blog and track their progress through their Water Cycle Web site.

Memphis Parent featured Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman in its March issue. Click here to read the article on the Memphis Parent Web site.

Seniors Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman officially began their 2,700-mile coast-to-coast Water Cycle ride. They departed from Santa Monica, CA, and will ride through 314 intersections and travel 77 miles to end their first day in Bernardino, CA. By Monday, March 8, they will have traveled an additional 216 miles. For more information on the Water Cycle, including daily updates, please visit their Web site.

During Spring Break, the Joseph R. Hyde, Jr. Library Learning Center encourages students and parents to participate in the Parents magazine Raise a Reader School Challenge, sponsored by Parents and the International Reading Association. Sign up online at the official contest Web site. The contest runs from March 8 through May 31, and, during this time, you track your son’s reading. Be sure to review the rules and regulations. If the school wins, our library will receive a prize of $5,000.  Students who log at least 60 minutes of reading each week will be entered for individual prizes. As an added benefit, we’ll have an idea of how much time our students have devoted to reading during a three-month period.

Whit Carr, Shea Gabrielleschi, Michael Lewandowski, Austin Magruder, Drew Karban, Wilson Orr, Philip Overton, Peterson Wellford, and Eli Wilder will have art exhibited at the Jewish Community Center. The show opens Thursday, March 4, and runs through Thursday, March 25. The art exhibited by each MUS student was inspired by a song of their choice. Mr. Grant Burke challenged his students to capture the rhythms, emotions, and the lyrics from a song and to paint it. To view all of the song paintings, click here.

Senior Ian Turner placed first in the saber competition in the Bluff City Open, an annual fencing event held at the University of Memphis. Freshman Drew Hutson placed fourth in the saber competition.

Seniors Andrew Chinn, Josh Feler, Trip Freeburg, Cliff Guyton, Chase Harriman, Wade Laycook, Michael Lewandowski, Patrick Massey, Reid Sanders, Will Taylor, and Matt Williams were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as National Merit Finalists. These students represent 11 of the 15,000 students who will compete for 8,200 merit scholarships. They will be judged on their academic record, the school’s curriculum, two sets of test scores, written recommendations, extracurricular activities, and a written essay.

Senior Wade Laycook was selected as a weekly winner for English in The Commercial Appeal’s Academic All-Star competition. Laycook is an outstanding English, literature, and writing student. He is the editor of The Owls’ Hoot and is a member of the National Honor Society, the Cum Laude Society, the National Latin Honor Society, the National History Honor Society, and Quill and Scroll. Laycook is the seventh MUS student recognized as an Academic All-Star during the 2009-10 school year.

Seniors James Arnold, Will Carruthers, Brian Davidoff, Conner Davis, Trip Freeburg, Louis Jackson, Jon Kastan, Emmett Montgomery, Jake Rudolph, Colin Thomas, and Matt Williams and juniors Alex Jarratt, Jack Klug, Ethan Landau, Clint Montgomery, Chase Schoelkopf, Mason Soun, Kevin Szymkowicz, Richard Twardzik, and Jian Yin were inducted into the Cum Laude Society, the highest academic honor a high school student can receive.

Captained by senior Colin Thomas, seniors Andrew Chinn and Will Taylor and sophomore Nicholas Rouse came in third place out of 50 teams in the Tennessee Science Bowl competition. The MUS team dominated the morning competition and easily advanced to the afternoon’s round. They lost to eventual state champion Oak Ridge High School, but beat the Webb School of Knoxville to come in third.

In case you missed seniors Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman, along with Headmaster Ellis Haguewood, on Fox 13 during the 5:00 p.m. news, click here to view a replay and learn more about the Water Cycle.

In case you missed freshman Jesse Wilcox’s band, The Doorknobs, performing their first single on WREG’s Live at 9, click here to watch a replay.

The Regional Science Olympiad Competition was held on Saturday, February 20, and the three MUS teams came away with a combined 21 first-place medals. The Lower School A team won first place in the region, with the B team coming in second. Together, the teams won 18 events, came in second in ten events, and won third place in eight events. The Upper School team won second place in the region, walking away with three first-place medals, five second-place medals, and five third-place medals.

Seniors Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman appeared on Good Morning Memphis, WHBQ Fox 13’s morning program, to discuss the Water Cycle. Click here to watch a replay of the interview.

MUS Art Instructor Grant Burke is the January 2010 Grizzlies Educator of the Month. Senior Joseph Amagliani submitted an essay to the Grizzlies explaining why his teacher should be given the honor. Both Amagliani and Burke received recognition at the Grizzlies game on Monday, January 18, and Burke was presented with a $1,000 gift card from Ashley Furniture HomeStore.

Coach Bobby Alston was named the 2009 Sportsman of the Year by The Commercial Appeal. This honor was bestowed upon Alston not only for his back-to-back undefeated varsity football seasons and state championships, but for his lifetime of accomplishments as a football, track, and basketball coach.

Thirteen athletes and Coach Bobby Alston have been recognized by The Commercial Appeal’s Best of the Preps competition.

Seniors Stephond Allmond, Barry Brunetti, Bryan Crenshaw, Andrew Gardella, Hank Hill, Drew Karban, Christian Kauffman, Harrison Martin, and Jake Rudolph were named to the all-metro private schools football team. Brunetti was further honored as an individual offense finalist, and Martin was named an individual defense finalist. Coach Alston was selected as a finalist for Coach of the Year.

Seniors Jerry B. Martin, Holman Moores, and Wilson Orr and freshman Zach Olsen were selected to the all-metro private schools golf team. Further individual honors went to Martin and Olsen, who were selected as individual boys’ golf finalists.

The all-metro teams are selected based on performance, coaches nominations, input from The Commercial Appeal prep sports staff, and statistical data. The Best of the Preps awards ceremony will be held Friday, June 11, 2010, at the Germantown Performing Arts Center.

The Civic Service Organization’s (CSO) annual holiday food drive will have an impact this holiday season. MUS students donated 6,657 canned and other non-perishable food items to help the Mid-South Food Bank. In addition to the food drive, the CSO, along with organizations at St. Mary’s Episcopal School and Hutchison School, raised $3,450 for the food bank through Gobble Gala, a semi-formal dance held Thanksgiving week.

The Commercial Appeal recognized senior Will Taylor as a First Tennessee Academic All-Star in the history competition. Taylor is a National Merit Semifinalist and member of the National Honor Society, Cum Laude Society, History Honor Society, and Latin Honor Society. He is president of the History Club and co-captain of both the Knowledge Bowl and Knowledge Masters teams.

Senior Kelly Myers signed his official letter of intent to play baseball for Davidson College. Myers, a 2009 All-Region selection, will begin his fourth year as an outfielder with the Owls in the spring.

The Science Bowl team won the 30th Annual High School Science Bowl competition at the University of Tennessee at Martin on Saturday, November 14. Led by captain Colin Thomas, members of the team included seniors Andrew Chinn and Will Taylor; junior Howard Choi; and sophomores Michael Green, Nicholas Rouse, and Mark Sorensen.

Senior Barry Brunetti was selected as a U.S. Army All-American. He was one of 90 high school football players invited to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. The game aired live on NBC, from the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX, on Saturday, January 9, 2010.

Senior Barry Brunetti was recognized as the top Division II-AA back and one of Tennessee’s best high school football players for 2009 at the Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Awards luncheon on Monday, November 30. High school head coaches and members of the media nominated the finalists, and a committee of sports writers from across the state selected the winners based on performance in the 2009 regular season. Academics and character were also taken into consideration.

To view the academic dates and school holidays for the 2010-2011 school year, please click here.

At the Tennessee State High School Swim Championships in Nashville, MUS records were broken in the eight events. The relay team of seniors Alexander Kaltenborn and Peterson Wellford, junior Andrew Kennedy, and sophomore Crews Wellford broke records in both the 200-yard medley and the 400-yard free relays. Kaltenborn reset records in the 50-yard breaststroke, 100-yard breaststroke, and the 200-yard IM, while Crews Wellford broke records in the 200-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke, and 100-yard backstroke. MUS placed 15th out of almost 100 boys’ teams competing, which is the best finish ever for the varsity swim team at the state meet.

WMCTV featured the Water Cycle on their February 15 morning broadcast. To watch the video, click here. Visit the Water Cycle Web site to learn more about the project started by seniors Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman.

Senior Colin Thomas was selected as a weekly winner for science in The Commercial Appeal’s Academic All-Star competition. Thomas is a top student and exceptional science scholar. He is the captain of the Science Bowl Team, a founding member of the Upper School Science Olympiad Team, and a past president of ChemClub. Thomas has been working with the University of Memphis Ground Water Institute (GWI) helping scientists study the aquifer that runs underneath Memphis. He is a member of the National Honor Society, the National Latin Honor Society, the National History Honor Society, and the Quill and Scroll. Thomas runs the high hurdles (110-meter) and the intermediate hurdles (300-meter) for the varsity track team and is also a member of the varsity bowling team.

Six MUS students and one alumnus qualified for the Junior Olympics in fencing at the Junior Olympic Qualifiers at Vanderbilt University on January 9. 

Junior Chase Schoelkopf won in junior (U20) epee, with Skip Aymett ’08 coming in second, and senior Trip Freeburg coming in fifth. Senior Ben Smith won in junior saber, and junior J.P. Wheeler came in second in cadet (U17) epee. Freshman Alden Henderson came in fourth in cadet foil, and freshman Drew Hutson qualified in cadet saber.

These students will compete in the Junior Olympics on February 12-15 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.

Senior Michael Lewandowski was recognized by The Commercial Appeal as a First Tennessee Academic All-Stars in the art competition. Lewandowski is a National Merit Semifinalist, National Honor Society member, and co-captain of the varsity fencing team. The Student Council and other school organizations regularly depend on Lewandowski to design T-shirts and posters for school events. He recently submitted a portfolio of his artwork to Memphis College of Art and was selected to enroll in their AP Art class for high school students.

In case you missed it, click here to watch ABC 24 Eyewitness News’ coverage of the Water Cycle or visit the Water Cycle Web site to learn more about seniors Cort Gatliff’s and Christian Kauffman’s cross-country charity bike ride.

The Lower School MathCounts team of eighth graders Matthew Gayoso, William Lamb, and Garret Sullivan and seventh grader Richard Ouyang placed first in the regional MathCounts competition at the University of Memphis on Saturday, February 6. Overall, Ouyang was the top-ranked individual, and Sullivan finished second. In the countdown round, seventh grader Yunhua Zhao won first, and Sullivan finished in third place.

The United States Fencing Association (USFA) announced its 2010 Fencing All-Academic Team, and five MUS students were among those honored. Senior Trip Freeburg and juniors Howard Choi, Chase Schoelkopf, and J.P. Wheeler made the First Team, and junior Matthias Leung made the Honorable Mention Team.

The Lower School swim team won the Shelby County Swim Championship for the second consecutive year. Congratulations to Coach Whitney Clark and the team.

Five seniors signed commitment letters to play football in the fall. Barry Brunetti committed to West Virginia University, Hank Hill and Mitchell Thompson committed to Washington and Lee University, Christian Kauffman committed to the University of Alabama, and Keith McBride committed to the United States Naval Academy.

Congratulations to the varsity swim team for winning the boys' division of the Shelby County Swim Championships for the second consecutive year.

The 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays set new school records in their events. Both teams were composed of seniors Alexander Kaltenborn and Peterson Wellford, junior Andrew Kennedy, and sophomore Crews Wellford. Kaltenborn also won the 200-yard individual medley and set a county record in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Senior Andrew Chinn is the sixth senior to be recognized by The Commercial Appeal’s Academic All-Stars competition. Chinn, who was the weekly winner in the mathematics category, is a National Merit Semifinalist and an AP Scholar with Distinction. He currently is one of only two students enrolled in Honors Accelerated Advanced Topics in Mathematics, a course equivalent to a third-semester college calculus class. Chinn is a member of the math team, the varsity football team, the Cum Laude Society, National Latin Honor Society, National History Honor Society, and co-president of Mu Alpha Theta.

Freshman Nathan Vogt just became a six-time Memphis Junior High Chess Champion. Vogt competed in the tournament on Saturday, January 23, and helped the MUS team win the team Junior High City Championship that same day. Eighth grader Andy Sorensen came in second place, and freshman Amit Shah came in eighth.

Evan Baker, Kameron Bradley, Austin Magruder, Tate Solberg, and Avery Tosi had art on display at the Brooks Museum as part of an exhibition sponsored by Scholastic Magazine. At the awards ceremony on January 30, Solberg and Tosi receiveed Gold Keys and Baker, Bradley, and Magruder received Silver Keys. As Gold Key winners, Solberg and Tosi’s work will be photographed and digital images will be sent to the national judging in New York City.

With the threat of severe weather later in the week, keep in mind that MUS follows the Memphis City Schools for closings. Parents will receive an Owls Alert instant message with any additional information.

Representatives from the MaxPreps Tour of Champions and the Army National Guard presented MUS with a trophy, which recognized the varsity football team as the 17th best team in the nation out of 16,000 for the 2009 high school football season. According to MaxPreps, the high school arm of CBS Sports, MUS is the only high school in the region, which includes Tennessee and Kentucky, to be honored by the Tour of Champions for both the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Senior Barry Brunetti has been named today to PARADE magazine’s 47th annual All-America High School Football Team. Brunetti is the second Memphis-area prep football player since 2000 to be named a PARADE All-American and 14th overall since 1971. The team is selected by coaches, journalists, scouts, and recruiters.

Freshman Ben Taylor’s poem “Thank You and Goodbye” was published in Inspired, a compilation of poems published by The American Library of Poetry. The book was released in December. Taylor submitted his poem after learning about the opportunity from his English instructor, Jim Russell.

The varsity swim team came in first in every event in which they competed on January 21 and won the meet. Senior Alexander Kaltenborn won the 50-yard fly and the 100-yard breast, and senior Peterson Wellford came in first in the 100-yard free and 100-yard back events. Senior Chase Harriman came in first in the 500-yard free, and sophomore Crews Wellford won the 100-yard IM. The 400-yard relay team of Kaltenborn, Peterson Wellford, and seniors Emmett Montgomery and Steven Bell also won their event

Athletic Director Bobby Alston was named Athletic Director of the Year by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) as part of the 2008-09 A.F. Bridges Awards. The A.F. Bridges Awards are given annually to individuals who represent the best in high school athletics.

MUS received an A.F. Bridges Divisional Award, given to schools that have had no reported unsportsmanlike conduct incidents during the previous school year and have displayed an overall positive effort to teach, expect, and demand a positive atmosphere of sportsmanship at their particular contests. The schools that received this prestigious award were nominated by local officials associations, other TSSAA member schools, and the Tennessee Observers Program for Sports (TOPS).

Payment for the second semester’s meal plan is due on December 7. Please click here for the meal plan form and pricing information. If paying by check, be sure to make it out to Sodexo.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has selected senior Cliff Guyton as a semifinalist for the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholars Program Scholarship. Only 16 percent of program applicants become semifinalists. The Morehead-Cain provides a full four-year scholarship for recipients to UNC that includes an annual stipend covering full tuition and other educational expenses, totaling about $140,000. Other benefits include a laptop computer, summer enrichment programs, and Discovery Fund grants.

Twelve MUS students competed in the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s Pro2Serve Mathematics Contest on October 27. Almost 600 high school students from across the state took the Fermat I exam, and the highest scorers, which included six MUS students, advanced to compete in Fermat II. Junior Daniel Garrett earned one of the top scores in the state on the Fermat II test and was one of several students who received a standing offer of a $16,000 scholarship to UT.

Sixteen MUS students and teams placed in 11 divisions at the second annual Octoberfestivus Latin convention. Jared Ashkenaz, Wade Laycook, Samuel Ostrow, and Sam Shankman all won first place in various competitions, including the academic pentathlons and cinema Romana. MUS teams also won the chariot race and the upper level certamen. Second-place wins went to Salman Haque, Andrew Raves, Will Taylor, the skit team, and the lower level certamen team. Third-place wins went to James Belina, Charlie Goodfellow, Haque, Shankman, and Mason Soun. This year’s competition was held at St. Mary’s Episcopal School and included several schools in west Tennessee.

Senior Emmett Montgomery is the second MUS student honored this school year by The Commercial Appeal’s Academic All-Stars Competition. Montgomery won the week for foreign languages. He is a National Merit Commended Student and an AP Scholar with Honor. Montgomery has taken the National Spanish Exam every year and has ranked as high as third in the state. He attended MUS in Guatemala in 2008 and, soon after returning, volunteered for President Barack Obama’s campaign in Chicago and Miami, where he spent his school breaks and weekends communicating with Spanish-speaking constituents. He is an accomplished classical pianist and is working on a recital that includes pieces by Spanish, Latin, and Mexican composers.

Senior Andrew Chinn was honored with the U.S. Air Force Great American Rivalry Series Scholar-Athlete Award and a $500 scholarship to the college of his choice. The award, presented at halftime during the MUS vs. CBHS game on Friday, October 23, recognized the senior letterman with the highest GPA.

Celebrate the visual arts through our virtual art exhibition. For the first time, parents, students, alumni, and friends can view incredible student art including mosaic sculpture, drawing, dry point intaglio, prints, photography, and digital design through an online photo gallery.

First quarter grade reports are available online. Please click here to log in to NetMUS. Thank you for your patience while we cleared up the majority of incomplete grades. If you have a question about a grade, please contact the teacher. If you have questions about NetMUS, please e-mail Laurie Clark.

The varsity golf team came in second in the Division II-AA state championship match, trailing the winners by only eight strokes. Freshman Zach Olsen led the Owls with a score of 145 and came in second individually in the match. Following Olsen was junior Jerry B. Martin, who shot a 147; senior Holman Moores, who shot a 152; senior Wilson Orr, who shot a 154; and sophomore Daniel McLeod, who shot a 160. Congratulations to the team and to Coach Cliff Frisby on an outstanding season.

Seniors Louis Jackson and Nigel Isom were named National Merit Achievement Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The National Achievement Scholarship Program is an academic competition that recognizes outstanding African-American high school students. Jackson and Isom are two of about 1,600 semifinalists and move on to compete for National Achievement Scholarships.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation also recognized senior Gab Oigbokie as an Outstanding Participant. Oigbokie is one of about 3,100 outstanding National Achievement Program participants who had his name sent to about 1,500 U.S. colleges and universities.

The bowling team won its match yesterday afternoon against Briarcrest with a score of 21.5 to 5.5. Top bowlers were senior Reid Sanders and sophomore David Lee, who both won their matches 3-0. Lee had a high game of 198.

Congratulations to senior Cliff Guyton, the general scholarship winner from MUS in the First Tennessee Academic All-Stars competition. Guyton is a National Merit Semifinalist, a National Hispanic Scholar, and the yearbook editor. He has been inducted into five honor societies and won gold medals each of the last three years on the National Spanish Exam. Guyton, who aspires to become a doctor, has spent the last two summers working in healthcare. During the summer of 2008, he helped start the Como Cuidar Su Corazon Program, which educates the Hispanic community about preventive heart health. This past summer, he worked at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in the infectious disease lab conducting research on bordetella pertussis. He co-authored a research paper on his findings and presented the paper at Le Bonheur Research Day.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has recognized Joseph Amagliani, James Arnold, Barnes Chism, Brian Davidoff, Conner Davis, Sam Ferguson, Sam Harris, Louis Jackson, Jon Kastan, Evans McCaul, Emmett Montgomery, Wilson Orr, Brad Ringel, Jake Rudolph, Ryan Saharovich, and Mitchell Thompson as Commended Students. These 16 students, along with our previously named 13 National Merit Semifinalists and one National Achievement Semifinalist, make up 27 percent of the Class of 2010.

Congratulations to the varsity golf team for winning the Division II-AA Regional Golf Tournament at Quail Ridge Golf Course, besting CBHS, Briarcrest, and St. Benedict. Junior Jerry B. Martin came in first place after a three-way tie-breaker. Freshman Zach Olsen came in second.

The National Council of Teachers of English has awarded senior Sam Ferguson one of its Achievement Awards for writing, a national award announced at the council’s September 19 conference.

The English Department selected Ferguson as its nominee from the junior class for the award. To be judged, he prepared a portfolio of his best writing, which included prose narratives about his rock band performing in a colorful dive and a two-hour impromptu essay affirming America’s economic and cultural ascendancy against suggestions of the nation’s decline.

Thirteen seniors have been named National Merit Semifinalists, distinguishing MUS as the school with the highest number of semifinalists in Tennessee for the 2009-10 school year.

Andrew Chinn, Cameron Crawford, Will Evans, Josh Feler, Trip Freeburg, Cliff Guyton, Chase Harriman, Wade Laycook, Michael Lewandowski, Patrick Massey, Reid Sanders, Will Taylor, and Matt Williams are part of an elite group of 16,000 students nationwide who are competing for more than 2,500 scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

After seeing a posting on English instructor Norman Thompson’s bulletin board, sophomore Morgan Hunt entered a poetry contest in the spring of 2009. His submission, “Happiness,” was selected for publication in Inspired, a compilation of poems published by The American Library of Poetry. The book will be released toward the end of December.

MUS is closely monitoring the H1NI influenza recommendations from the Shelby County Health Department and the Tennessee Department of Health. Le Bonheur has posted information for parents or you can visit the CDC Web site.

Senior Sam Harris, a strong safety on the varsity football team, was honored by the U.S. Marine Corps, one of the sponsors of the ESPN High School Football Showcase, with the Honor, Courage, and Commitment Award. Harris, who was nominated by the Owls’ coaching staff, exemplifies the spirit of the Marines Corps through leadership and service to his school and community and is an outstanding student and role model. The award was announced during the MUS vs. South Panola football game that aired on ESPN U Friday, September 4.

Congratulations to seniors George Curran, Matthew Harriman, Patrick Nenon, Reid Sanders, Paul Stephens, and Colin Thomas; juniors Alex Jarratt, Hunter Krauch, and Kevin Szymkowicz; sophomores David Lee and Lee Marshall; and freshman Noah Thomas. These 12 students will represent MUS as the varsity bowling team, coached by Dr. David Jackson and Dr. Michael Schwartz.

Chatterbox Audio Theater, a non-profit Web-based community theater group, has several ties to MUS. Not only are some of the episodes being recorded in the Bloodworth Studio, but John Hiltonsmith, acting chairman of the Fine Arts Department, produced several episodes, and Tim Greer, director of theater, and Justin Willingham ’01 lend their voices to a variety of roles. To listen to a recent episode recorded at MUS that involved both Hiltonsmith and Greer, please click here.

Our own Director of Theater Tim Greer begins his starring role on September 11 as Hank in Circuit Playhouse’s production of Hank Williams: Lost Highway. The play, which is a moving musical biography of legendary singer-songwriter Hank Williams, runs through October 11. For more information or ticket information, please visit the play’s Web site.

MUS Archivist Dr. John Harkins participated in the “Downtown” installment of the WKNO series Memphis Memoirs. The program, which originally aired on August 3, will re-air on Comcast channel 910 on Thursday, August 13, beginning at 8:30 p.m. The program will also re-air on WKNO channel 10 on Tuesday, August 11, at 8:30 p.m., as a two-part series in conjunction with the “Beyond the Parkways” installment.

Keep up with all the events at MUS with the new and improved calendar system. Created by our in-house technology team, the calendar loads quickly and is user-friendly. This launch brings us one step closer toward our goal of unveiling our new, personalized Web site.

Four MUS students were recognized as 2008-2009 champions at the Commercial Appeal's Best of the Preps awards dinner on Friday, June 5. Senior Barry Hillyer won the boys lacrosse category while fellow senior Will Carter won for boys tennis. Junior Barry Brunetti won for football offense and eighth-grader Zach Olsen won the boys golf category.

Coaches were also recognized at the awards dinner. Coach Bobby Alston won Football Coach of the Year, Coach Laurie Clark won Boys Swimming Coach of the Year, and Coach Elliott Dent won Boys Lacrosse Coach of the Year. Coach Greg King, former head golf coach, won Boys Golf Coach of the Year, and the varsity tennis team's assistant coach, Coach Phil Chamberlain, won Girls Tennis Coach of the Year for his work with the Hutchison varsity team.

Seniors Jared Davis, Virgil Deanes, Barret Folk, Matt Grisham, and Taylor Reed and juniors Stephond Allmond, Elliott Bryant, and Keith McBride were all named to the Commercial Appeal's Best of the Preps Private School Track and Field Team. In addition, Barret Folk was named a boys finalist for track and field.

Best of the Preps also recognized the 4-by-100-meter relay team of Bryant, McBride, Hank Hill, and Michael Folk; the 4-by-200-meter relay team of McBride, Folk, Michael Glenn, and James Rantzow; and the 4-by-400-meter relay team of Bryant, Davis, Glenn, and Wilson Luttrell.

Six more students were named to Best of the Preps teams. Sophomores Forrest Baty and Jake Deason, and junior Kelly Myers were named to the Best of the Preps Private School Baseball Team. Senior Matt Shelton and juniors Mathieu Baker and Evan Elmore were named to the Best of the Preps Private School Soccer Team.

Seniors Will Carter and Cliff Guyton and junior Will Carruthers were named the Commercial Appeal's Best of the Preps Boys Tennis finalists. Six students, seniors Will Carter, Cliff Guyton, Grant Hopkins, Jackson Knight, and Walt Wepfer, and junior Will Carruthers, were named to the Private School Tennis Team. Also, Coach Phil Chamberlain, MUS varsity tennis assistant coach, was named Best of the Preps Girls Tennis Coach of the Year for his work with Hutchison. The finalists will find out if they won at the awards dinner on Friday, June 5.

Two students were singled out as finalists in the Commercial Appeal's Best of the Preps awards. Senior Will Benton is a finalist for Scholar Athlete of the Year, and senior Taylor Reed was named an Athlete of the Year finalist. The winners will be announced on Friday, June 5.

Unofficial transcripts for Grades 9-12 are now online in NetMUS. Both grades and transcripts can be found under the "Student" tab. If you have questions about NetMUS, please e-mail Laurie Clark.

The varsity track team won the Division II-AA state championship on Friday, May 22, which is something no other Memphis-area track and field team has been able to accomplish since the divisions were reorganized. The team earned eight gold medals. The Owls swept the triple jump event with Taylor Reed, Stephond Allmond, and Jared Davis winning first, second, and third place, respectively. Barret Folk, who won the decathlon earlier in the week, won the pole vault. In the running events, Keith McBride came in first in the 200-meter dash, and Elliott Bryant won the 400-meter dash. The Owls' relay team also won both the 400 and the 1,600-meter dashes.

Will Carter and Cliff Guyton are the new Division II-AA state champions in doubles tennis after defeating McCallie, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4. This win marks the 13th time the Owls have brought home the doubles tennis title, which is a new state record. Carter, who has played in the doubles state final all four years of high school, also won in 2007.

MUS students were the top three finishers in the Division II state decathlon on May 20. Senior Barret Folk came in first with a total of 5,950, followed by junior Stephond Allmond and senior Jared Davis winning second and third place, respectively. The track team will enter Friday's meet with the lead in team points.

The directors for the 2009-2010 MUS Theater season have decided on their casts. Please view Mr. Greer's Web site for complete cast lists.

Three MUS students placed in the top five in the Regional Decathlon. Junior Stephond Allmond finished second, sophomore Barret Folk came in third, and senior Jared Davis finished fourth. The regional meet continues with field events on Tuesday, May 12.

The varsity tennis team beat CBHS in a straight sweep of all five singles matches on Wednesday, May 6, to win the Regional Championship. The regional title also marks the 30th straight win for the Owls over CBHS. The Owls compete in the state tournament May 19-22.

Eight MUS students were named to the Commercial Appeal's Best of the Preps teams. Senior William Alexander made this year's Best of the Preps Private Schools Wrestling Team. Seniors Robert Counce and Taylor Reed were named to the Best of the Preps Private Schools Basketball Team. Five students, senior Johnny Dillon, juniors Alexander Kaltenborn and Peterson Wellford, sophomore Tony Bui, and freshman Crews Wellford, were named to the Best of the Preps Private School Swimming Team.

Coach Laurie Clark was recognized by the Commercial Appeal as the Boys Swim Coach of the Year. Clark led the MUS swim team to win the Shelby County Swim Championship earlier this year.

Two MUS juniors are ranked in the top seven in Tennessee based on their National Spanish Exam results. Josh Feler placed second and Emmett Montgomery placed seventh in the state.

MUS freshmen George Ormseth and Britt Colcolough and were two of three citywide winners in the Memphis In May Chile PowerPoint Competition. Ormseth (right) came in first place, and Colcolough won third. The competition promoted design creativity and allowed students to incorporate what they have learned about the country of Chile through overall presentation, graphic design, and written word.

Senior Rahul Kumar scored a perfect score on all four tests that make up the Continental Mathematics League (CML) Calculus Competition.

Junior Will Taylor made a perfect score of 36 on the ACT, putting him in the top 1 percent of high school students who took the ACT exam.

Senior Harrison Rea won the science category in the Commercial Appeal's First Tennessee Academic All-Stars competition. Rea competed against 11 other weekly winners. As the winner, Rea, who will be attending Washington University in St. Louis this fall, won a $750 scholarship savings account with First Tennessee.

MUS entered players in both the A and B Divisions at the Carter Invitational in Nashville. In the A Division, two tennis doubles teams won their respective flights. The team of Will Carter and Cliff Guyton defeated the McCallie team, 8-3, to capture the No. 1 flight doubles win, and the team of Walt Wepfer and Grant Hopkins defeated St. Xavier from Kentucky to capture the No. 3 flight win. Overall, the Owls' A Team were runners-up in the tournament.

Of the six players competing in the B Division, Alex Weinstein, William George, and Colin Donoghue all won their singles matches. The doubles team of William George and Healy Fuess won the No. 2 doubles flight, and Jake Greenstein and Colin Donoghue won the No. 3 doubles flight.

Barrett Folk and Matt Grisham recently set two new school records in track and field events. Folk set a new pole vault record when he cleared a 14'9" jump, and Grisham broke the record in the 2000-meter steeple chase. Congratulations to these two athletes.

Walsworth Publishing Company has selected the 2008-09 Memphis University School yearbook for an Award of Excellence. Only 2 percent of schools get this distinction.

The fencing team competed in the state championships held on campus on April 17-18. The saber team, consisting of Eric Catmur, Barnes Chism, Drew Hutson, Michael Lewandowski, Ben Smith, and Ian Turner, swept the tournament with Smith, Turner, and Lewandowski winning first through third place.

The epee team of Trip Freeburg, Matthias Leung, Colin McDonald, Chase Schoelkopf, Mark Sorensen, and J.P. Wheeler defeated David Brainerd Christian School by 13 points. Next, against Christian Brothers, the team came back from being down by 11 points to tie in the last bout and force CBHS into sudden death overtime. The team lost by one point.

Two fencers scored individual wins. McDonald and Wheeler tied for third place.

MUS garnered an impressive 141 awards based on the results of the 2009 National Latin Awards. Jared Ashkenaz, John Christman, Eli Goldstein, Carson House, Wells Prather, Mason Soun, and Andrew Chinn each all made a perfect score on the exam.

Several students have consistently performed well on the exam for several a number of years. Chinn, James Arnold, Conner Davis, Reid Sanders, and Matthew Shelton have won four consecutive gold medals, and seniors Robert Duffley and Rahul Kumar have won five consecutive gold metals.

Ninety-nine percent of all Upper School Latin students scored above the national average, and nearly 70 percent of them earned Summa cum laude distinction. In total, MUS students were awarded 79 Summa cum laude gold medals, 38 Maxima cum laude silver medals, 14 Magna cum laude medals, and nine cum laude medals.

The National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) has named senior Robert Vestal an Academic All-American. He is one of only two percent of high school swimmers being recognized this year. To qualify for this award, a student must have a minimum GPA of 3.75 on a 4-point scale, be a graduating senior, and have lettered in the sport. Vestal joins two alumni, Cody Mayer '05 and Jack Montgomery '08, as the only three students in MUS history to be recognized by the NISCA as an Academic All-American.

MUS is committed to the success of the Safe Home Program, and now we've made it even easier this year for parents to commit to the program by creating an online Safe Home sign up. The MUS Parents' Association strongly endorses the Safe Home Program as an important part of the school's goal to address the problem of drug and tobacco use and teenage drinking. We actively oppose the attitudes of any who accept teenage drinking, drug, or tobacco use. We ask parents of students who are attending MUS for the 2009-2010 school year to support this program by clicking here and adding your electronic signature to the Safe Home pledge. Thank you for making your home safe for our teenagers.

The Knowledge Bowl team beat Cordova High School 195-95, securing their spot in the Knowledge Bowl "final four." During the match, the team jumped out to an impressive 80-10 lead in the first round, increased their lead to 155-55 in the second round, and maintained the 100-point lead in the third round. The match will air on WREG Channel 3 at 9:30 a.m. on April 18. On April 13, the Knowledge Bowl team will play the winner of the ECS vs. Collierville match. The team that wins the April 13 match will advance to the finals.

Team members Robert Duffley, Rahul Kumar, Brandon Parrish, and Harrison Rea and alternates Jon Kastan and Will Taylor have each already won a $1,000 scholarship and will compete for an additional $3,000 in upcoming matches. The team is coached by instructors Mr. Darin Clifft, Mr. Jonathan Large, and Mr. Doug Perkins.

The Science Olympiad team brought home 14 medals from the state tournament in Knoxville, TN, making their first season competing after a long absence a successful one.

Medals were awarded to the top six teams in each event. Ben Taylor and Francis Carlota won first place in state in the Scrambler event. Two third-place medals were awarded, one to Carlota and William Lamb in the Ecology event and the other to Michael Green and Taylor for their work in the Trajectory event. Three fifth-place medals were awarded, one to Green and Drew Hutson for their work in the Bio-Process Lab event, one to Srujan Jampana and Andrew Renshaw in the Dynamic Planet event, and one to Jake Eissler and Taylor in the Bridge Building event. Renshaw and Thornton Brooksbank won a sixth-place medal for their work in the Road Scholar event.

The MUS chapter of the National Honor Society inducted 34 new members on March 27. The inductees are seniors Mark Beanblossom, Coleman Kimbrough, Carl Krausnick, Jim Moore, Mustafa Motiwala, Brandon Parrish, and David Ruben and juniors Joseph Amagliani, James Arnold, Evan Baker, Will Carruthers, Cameron Crawford, Bryan Crenshaw, Brian Davidoff, Josh Feler, Ted Fockler, Cliff Guyton, Sam Harris, Hank Hill, Palmer Hunt, Louis Jackson, Jon Kastan, Wade Laycook, Michael Lewandowski, Evans McCaul, Holman Moores, Gab Oigbokie, Wilson Orr, Brad Ringel, Jake Rudolph, Will Taylor, Colin Thomas, George Utkov, and Matt Williams.

Membership in the National Honor Society is one of the highest honors attained by an Upper School student. Juniors and seniors who have at least a 3.75 cumulative GPA are reviewed by a selection committee for strong evidence of scholarship, character, leadership, and service while at MUS.

Jim Moore is the eighth MUS student to be recognized this year by the Commercial Appeal's Academic All-Stars competition. Moore, the Outstanding Student of American History Award-winner, is the second student from MUS to win in the history and social sciences category.

Dave Wottle, dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Rhodes College, spoke with parents from all grades about the college admissions. His presentation, titled "College Admissions 101," provided a wealth of knowledge on how to navigate the college admissions and financial aid process and how to succeed in life and accomplish goals.

The varsity track team came in first place in the Bonner Relays at Harding Academy on March 20-21. All of the meet events were relays with three athletes competing as a team in each field event and four athletes competing as a team in each running event. The individual scores were added together to determine the event winners. MUS won eight out of the 13 events and placed second in two events.

The relay team of Stephond Allmond, Virgil Deanes, and Barret Folk set a meet record in the triple jump, and Allmond won the Most Outstanding Male Athlete Award for his individual first place wins in the triple jump and the long jump. This is the second year in a row that an MUS junior won the award; team captain Jared Davis won last year.

Beginning April 7, Coaches Phil Chamberlain and Dean Petty are having cardio tennis clinics for all MUS moms every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.. Those with all levels of tennis experience are welcome to attend the workouts. The cost is $15. Please contact Coach Chamberlain via e-mail or Coach Petty at (901) 270-3863.

The Lower School and Upper School chess teams competed in the 2009 State Team Chess Finals, and each placed in the top three in their division. The Upper School team of Evan Mah, Shiven Samant, Andy Sorensen, Nathan Vogt, and Parker Wilson won second place after winning a speed chess playoff that broke a tie against Hume-Fogg High School. The Lower School Team of Corey Clay, William Lamb, Ashish Nathani, Amit Shah, and Sorensen won third place after a tie-breaker round.

The Joseph R. Hyde, Jr. Library Learning Center welcomed author Jonathan Rogers on Wednesday, March 25, for a Q and A session in the Wunderlich Auditorium followed by a book signing during Lower and Upper School lunch. Rogers wrote the Wilderking trilogy, and his books have been compared to C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.

The varsity soccer team is one of four local teams participating in the second annual Battle for Le Bonheur Tuesday, March 24, at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. The Owls will play Collierville High School at 5:00 p.m. Admission is $5 and benefits the John Talley Pediatric Neurological Research Fund for advanced research in pediatric tumors at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Hospital.

On Saturday, March 21, the varsity players will meet the children the game benefits by visiting patients at Le Bonheur, touring the hospital, and hosting a televised game show.

Junior Will Taylor and sophomore Mason Soun won Book Awards from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS) annual Latin translation contest. This year, students had 45 minutes to translate a passage from the Roman historian Livy. Participants were not allowed to know the passage beforehand or use a dictionary during the translation. Taylor and Soun are the only winners from the Mid-South region and two of four winners from Tennessee.

The Lower School and the Upper School chess teams both won second place in their respective divisions in the Regional Qualifying Chess Tournament March 7. The Lower School team, consisting of freshmen Corey Clay and Ashish Nathani, eighth-grader Amit Shah, and seventh-graders William Lamb and Andy Sorensen, and the Upper School team, consisting of senior Evan Mah, junior Parker Wilson, sophomore Forest Baty, and eighth-grader Nathan Vogt, will all compete in the state finals in Cookeville, TN.

The Tennessee High School Press Association has honored "The Owl's Hoot" with six awards. Senior Robert Duffley, who is also "The Owl's Hoot" editor in chief, came in first out of 83 entries in the Best News Story Category for his article entitled "MUS Senior Contracts Rare Blood Disorder." The article chronicled fellow senior Kimbrough Taylor's summertime struggle with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). Duffley also received two honorable mention awards for Best Inside Page Design.

Sophomore Forrest Baty's article "Undefeated Owls Capture State Title" beat out 74 other entries to win Best Sports Story. Junior Wade Laycook took second place in the Best Review category with his movie review entitled "Quantum of Disappointment."

"The Owl's Hoot" won in the Best Overall Newspaper category and garnered an evaluation rating of "superior," second highest of four possible ratings and one tier higher than the publication received last year.

The varsity lacrosse team's upcoming game versus McCallie is already producing positive Internet buzz. The computer program that generates the computer ratings for college and high school teams, www.laxpower.com, has named the March 10 MUS vs. McCallie game as one of the 2009 Mid-Atlantic/Southern Region Boys' High School Games to Watch. To read the entire LaxPower article, click here. The game will be in Chattanooga, TN, at 6:00 p.m.

Senior Robert Vestal earned second place in the English-Speaking Union's Shakespeare Monologue Contest Monday, February 23, at Theatre Memphis. Vestal performed a soliloquy as Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing and Sonnet 14. Students from fourteen schools participated in the competition.

Congratulations to the Science Bowl teams and their coaches, Dr. Michael Schwartz and Mrs. Analice Sowell, for their strong performances Saturday, February 21, at the Tennessee Science Bowl in Oak Ridge, TN. The JV team, consisting of Howard Choi, Anand Patel, Joe Hoffsommer, Nicholas Rouse, and Mark Sorensen, competed for the first time at Science Bowl and won the Civility Award and a $100 prize for their outstanding sportsmanship. The varsity team consisted of Rahul Kumar, Harrison Rea, Colin Thomas, Will Taylor, and Aaditya Malhotra. They went undefeated in the morning rounds, and finished in the top eight out of 52 teams, losing to Oak Ridge Team A, which won first place in the competition.

The Civic Service Organization's annual Talent Show is Friday, February 20, at 7:00 p.m. in Hyde Chapel. Tickets are $10 and are sold at the door. All proceeds from the show go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The varsity basketball team beat CBHS 64-55 in overtime and will now compete in the Division II AA Sub-State Basketball Tournament. The Owls play Ensworth High School Saturday, February 21, at 7:00 p.m. in the Ensworth Athletic Center at their Devon Farm Campus in Nashville. Go, Owls!

The Lower School swim team won the Shelby County Middle School Championship Saturday, February 7, with a score of 405. The 100-yard medley relay team of Thornton Brooksbank, Nedas Jakstas, Daniel McGowen, and Chip Ogles placed first and set a new Shelby County middle school record. Congratulations to the entire team and to Coach Whitney Clark.

Seniors Johnny Carson, Robert Duffley, Michael Edwards, Lowell Hays, Mathew Jehl, Harrison Rea, John Riggins, Matthew Shelton, and Robert Vestal were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as National Merit Finalists. These students represent nine of the 15,000 students who will compete for 8,200 merit scholarships. They will be judged on their academic record, the school's curriculum, two sets of test scores, written recommendations, extracurricular activities, and a written essay.

Radio personality Ben Ferguson presented "Leadership with Purpose" to the entire MUS student body on Friday, February 13, as this year's Rogers Leadership Forum speaker. Ferguson is the youngest nationally-syndicated talk show host in the country. He blends a mix of pop culture, politics, and current events in an entertaining and informative way, debating the news of the week from a college-age perspective, while incorporating prominent guests from the political, entertainment, and business worlds. The Rogers Leadership Forum is sponsored by the King and Judy Rogers Endowment for Leadership Development at Memphis University School.

On Thursday, February 5, the seventh-grade basketball team beat ECS in the finals of the Shelby League Tournament with a score of 48-20. The team finished the season 22-0, marking the first time in Owls' history that the seventh-grade basketball team finished a season undefeated. Congratulations to the players and their coaches.

Senior Colin McDonald successfully defended the St. Michael's Cup after defeating a Christian Brothers High School fencer during halftime of the MUS vs. CBHS basketball game Tuesday, February 3. After scoring the first touch, the CBHS fencer scored three straight points. McDonald came from behind to tie his opponent 4 to 4 and then made his winning touch.

Eighty students, alumni, and faculty, in addition to numerous spectators, came together Saturday, January 31, for the Civic Service Organization's Wish Bowl competition. The first-time event raised more than $1,700 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. To view photos of this event, click here.

Congratulations to senior William Alexander for winning third place at the Southeastern Prep School Slam in Atlanta. The wrestling tournament featured 28 independent school teams from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Alexander and the varsity wrestling team compete in the State Duels tournament February 6-7.

On Saturday, January 31, the varsity swim team won the Shelby County Boys Swimming Championship with a score of 623, beating 14 other area schools.

Freshman Crews Wellford placed first in the 100-yard individual medley and the 200-yard freestyle, where he broke the MUS record. Junior Alexander Kaltenborn placed first in the 200-yard individual medley and broke his own record. The 200-yard medley relay team of Kaltenborn, seniors Johnny Dillon and Forrest Wortham, and junior Peterson Wellford broke the MUS record as well.

Fourteen swimmers will go on to compete in the state championship meet on February 13 and 14 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Eighth-grader Nathan Vogt is the new Memphis City Chess Champion for the junior high school division. Vogt, the top-rated junior high player in Tennessee, went undefeated in all six rounds of the competition. The tournament was held Saturday, January 31, in the MUS Campus Center Dining Hall and sponsored by the Memphis Scholastic Chess Club. Vogt competes in the Tennessee Scholastic State Championship next week in Cookeville, TN.

Five other MUS students did well in the tournament and received Honorable Mention. Freshman Ashish Nathani placed ninth, and freshman Corey Clay, eighth-grader Amit Shah, and seventh-graders William Lamb and Andy Sorenson all won three of their six rounds, tying for tenth through 19th place.

The Freshman City Wrestling Championship was held this past Saturday, and the Owls scored three champions and three fourth place finishes. Carson House, Eli Goldstein, and River Morris all were first-place finishers. Both House and Morris pinned all of their opponents, and Goldstein pinned his last two opponents. The fourth-place finishers were Chris Morgan, Markus Williams, and Jack Shawkey. Congratulations to the freshman wrestlers.

The swim team won their last meet of the regular season on Saturday. The Owls scored 121 points, besting four other area teams.

Sophomore Richard Twardzik won the 200-yard freestyle, junior Adam Crow won the 50-yard backstroke, and junior Alexander Kaltenborn won the 200-yard individual medley. Kaltenborn broke the school record in the 50-yard breaststroke, swimming the event in 28.80 seconds.

The County Championships will be held Saturday, January 31, at the University of Memphis pool at 9:00 a.m. Go, Owls!

Evan Mah is the seventh MUS student to be recognized by the Commercial Appeal's Academic All-Stars competition. Mah, the chairman of the History Club and editor-in-chief of the yearbook, is the first student from MUS to win in the history and social sciences category.

An overwhelming majority of students and faculty gathered in Hyde Chapel Tuesday morning to watch Barack Obama be sworn in as the 44th president. The IT and Theater teams broadcast the live video from the inauguration so students could witness what Headmaster Ellis Haguewood called a "historic, momentous, and significant day."

Joseph Amagliani, John Battle, Spencer Fong, Sam Harris, Louis Jackson, Marshall Sharp, and Eli Wilder will have art on display at the Brooks Museum from January 24 to February 8 as part of an exhibition sponsored by Scholastic Magazine.

The awards ceremony is on January 31, 2009, where Battle and Amagliani will receive Gold Keys in printmaking, Fong, Harris, Wilder, and Jackson will get Silver Keys in printmaking, and Sharp won a Silver Key in sculpture. Walt Wepfer will receive two honorable mentions, but will not have art on display.

The varsity swim team came in second out of 22 teams at the Excel Invitational Saturday, January 10, in Nashville, TN. MUS students had outstanding individual victories. Junior Alexander Kaltenborn placed second in the 500-yard freestyle and third in the 200-yard individual medley, freshman Crews Wellford came in third in the 100-yard backstroke, and sophomore Tony Bui came in fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke and fifth in the 100-yard freestyle. MUS had success in the relay team events: the 400-yard freestyle team of Bui, Kaltenborn, and seniors Johnny Dillon, and Tucker Witte placed fourth, the 200-yard medley relay team of Dillon, Bui, Wellford, and senior Forrest Wortham placed fifth, and the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Kaltenborn, junior Peterson Wellford, Witte, and Wortham placed fifth.

Several boys received state cuts, meaning they can swim specific events at the state championship tournament in February. Wortham will swim in the 100-yard breaststroke, junior Daniel Clark in the 100-yard backstroke, junior John Straton in the 200-yard individual medley, junior Chase Harriman in the 500-yard freestyle, and Aaditya Malhotra in the 100-yard backstroke.

Congratulations to the aquatic Owls!

Upper School students and parents can view unofficial transcripts online by logging into NetMUS. If you have questions about NetMUS, please e-mail Laurie Clark.

Representatives from the MaxPreps Tour of Champions sponsored by the Army National Guard presented MUS with a trophy honoring the Owls as the 25th best team in the nation for the 2008 high school football season. After the presentation, each member of the team received a championship t-shirt from the Army National Guard.

According to MaxPreps, only 30 high schools out of more than 16,000 are honored by the Tour of Champions. In order to qualify, honored teams must be highly ranked nationally and win their state championship.

The Commercial Appeal named senior Matt Grisham to their Best of the Preps All-Metro private school cross country team.

Grisham is the 13th MUS student named to an all-metro team this school year. The teams are selected based on performance, coaches nominations, input from The Commercial Appeal prep sports staff, and statistical data.

The Commercial Appeal named Walter Barnett, Barry Brunetti, Lowell Hays, Cliff Jones, Graham Jones, Taylor Reed, Will Stokes, and Walt Wepfer to their Best of the Preps All-Metro football team. The students are part of the private school team category where MUS dominated with eight players, three more than any other private school.

Brunetti is also named one of five area offense finalists. Winners will be announced at the Best of the Preps awards ceremony in June. The all-metro teams are selected based on performance, coaches nominations, input from The Commercial Appeal prep sports staff, and statistical data.

The Commercial Appeal recognized two MUS coaches as Best of the Preps Coach of the Year. Congratulations to Coach Bobby Alston for his recognition as Football Coach of the Year and to Coach Greg King for being named Boys Golf Coach of the Year.