Westminister: Small-school sports program of year

On May 18, the Westminster Academy boys golf team won the school’s first state team championship, beating Warrensburg by 26 strokes to win the Class 3 title at Island Green Golf Club in Republic.

The Wildcats, who finished third in 2009, were paced by a pair of champions, as senior Kevin Bell and unheralded sophomore Kevin VandeKamp finished the two-day event with scores of 145 to share medalist honors. Bell, the Post-Dispatch golfer of the year, won the Class 3 individual title in 2008; VandeKamp came on strong after spending much of the season as Westminster’s No. 4 or No. 5 player.

Other squad members included second-team All-Metro performer Alex Cusumano, Ryan Haxel and Timothy Reed.

The championship capped another solid year for Westminster, the Post-Dispatch small-school program of the year.

Some other Wildcat highlights:

• Christine Schlafly and Lauren DeRousse won the Class 1 doubles title, becoming the school’s first state tennis champions. Led by Jimmy Meyers, Cameron Smith and Nick O’Neal, the Wildcats took third in boys tennis.

• The boys soccer team finished 16-5-2 and gave eventual Class 2 state champion St. Dominic all it could handle in a 2-1 overtime game in the quarterfinals. Top players were Matt Hudnut, Jake Grimes and Connor Hunsicker.

• Junior David Everett finished third in cross country in the fall and placed third (1,600 meters) and fifth (800 meters) at state in track and field in the spring.

• Senior Kristin Kilpatrick placed third in Class 1 golf, becoming just the 23rd girl to earn all-state honors four times. As a team, the Wildcats placed third.

• The Westminster football team finished 8-3 and won its district, knocking off previously unbeaten MICDS in the process.

• The girls volleyball team went 26-9-2; the Wildcats fell in a three-set match in sectionals to Villa Duchesne, the eventual state runner-up.

• The baseball team finished 21-10 and came within a game of a trip to state, losing 12-7 to eventual Class 3 runner-up Winfield in the quarterfinals. Sophomore Tate Matheny, son of former Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny, batted .551 and was a first-team All-Metro selection.