Month: May 2020

OLLU held its Fifth Annual Saints Golf Classic at the Republic Golf Course in February with proceeds benefitting the OLLU Athletic Fund. The fundraising event this year was held for the first time as part of OLLU’s Homecoming festivities. Aside from the golf tournament, alumni were treated to a variety of events including a casino night, barbecue picnic, Hoppy Saints Craft Beer and Wine Tasting, a Cheer Clinic for youngsters along with opportunities to cheer on Saints baseball, basketball, softball and volleyball teams during scheduled games.

The Saints Golf Classic featured more than 100 participants in four-person teams. Gold sponsors included Alamo Sign Solutions and Christus Santa Rosa. Fast Signs South San Antonio, Four Seasons Promotions LLC and Mount Sacred Heart School contributed as silver sponsors. Contest sponsorships were provided by VARA Chevrolet and Star Shuttle.

Contributing as food sponsors were Holy Cross High School for breakfast, Taco Cabana for lunch and Glazer’s Beer & Beverage.

In addition, HEB, Silver Eagle Distributors and Screwball were the raffle sponsors.

More than 20 silent auction items were offered including San Antonio Spurs collectibles, hotel stays and more. Although no one won, VARA Chevrolet sponsored the vehicle hole-in-one contest with a 2020 truck as the prize.

Members of each of the 13 athletic teams at OLLU, as well as those from Saints Cheer and Dance, were on hand to greet and assist throughout the day and thank supporters.

Andrew Moczygemba received multiple honors throughout his time at OLLU and optimized what it meant to be a Saint. His honors included scholar-athlete recognition for three years and Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) 10k and 5k championships, to name a few. He competed in the Trinity Invitational outdoor event before the season was cut short. Moczygemba ran in the 5k and placed 20th with a time of 17:42.80. Moczygemba held the school record with a first-place finish at the RRAC meet in 2017.

At the RRAC Cross Country Championship this season, Moczygemba helped the Saints earn a first-place finish. He ran the 8k in 28:39.0 for seventh overall out of 33 runners.

He was able to compete in his second NAIA Cross Country Championship in November. He competed in the 8k and finished with a time of 28:59.2.

Moczygemba commented on the season ending abruptly, “For my final season of running to end out of the blue without having any type of control over it hurts a lot. My teammates and I were going to make a lot of noise this year, and because of the unfortunate circumstances of all of this, that won’t happen. I just want to thank every teammate I’ve had over the years of my career. I also want to thank all my coaches, especially Coach Stephen Sherman since he’s coached me during all my personal records. I want to thank OLLU, the staff, students and supporters of our athletics. We thrive from your support, and our success over the years has shown it. Thank you for an unbelievable run, no pun intended.”

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) recently announced the 2019-2020 Division I Women’s Basketball All-America Teams. Kasey Saldana was selected to the Third Team, while Dezeree White was selected to the Honorable Mention Team.

This marks the second time Saldana has made the All-America Team – last season, she was named an Honorable Mention selection.

Jose Diaz was continuing his illustrious career before the baseball season was cut short. He led the Saints with a .405 batting average and 11 stolen bases. He also led the team with eight saves, which was ranked second in the NAIA. He limited batters to a .135 batting average and struck out 15 over the course of the short season. In the final game of the season, Diaz put up an amazing stat line. He went 3-for-4 at the plate, scored two runs and hit two doubles. The Saints were 5-1 in conference and 15-10 overall. He has a career batting average of .325 and averaged more than 50 hits in each of his first three seasons.

Diaz’s stats include Saints’ career-best most games played – 178, at-bats-600, total runs-106, hits-195, doubles-38, home runs-12, RBIs-118, total bases-279 and stolen bases-59; season-best batting average – .405; and game-best four runs scored. Diaz was named a Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Scholar-Athlete from 2017-2019 and All-Conference First Team in 2019.

Diaz reflected on the season ending short by saying, “I strongly believe that we had a chance to do some great things. We had the right pieces and we were all pulling on the same side of the rope.”