NCAA Women's March Madness

If there was ever a year for a perfect bracket in the Women’s NCAA Tournament, this was the year.  Entering the second round, there was only one upset!  Middle Tennessee beating Louisville was the only game where the higher seed did not advance to the second round, out of the first thirty-two games.  Entering the Sweet 16, the highest seeds were one 7 and two 5s.  Outside of that, there were all four 1s, three 2s, all 3s, and two 4s.  In the Elite Eight, every match-up was a 1 v 3 battle.  The Final Four survivors were (1) South Carolina, (1) Iowa, (3) NC State, and (3) UConn.

The Championship game featured Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes versus Kamilla Cardoso’s South Carolina Gamecocks.  South Carolina was able to outlast the sharpshooting Hawkeyes for an 87-75 win to complete their unblemished 38-0 season.  Although Clark had an sad end to her collegiate career, she has a LOT of bright moments ahead in the WNBA.  Congrats to every team that made the Tournament, but especially to South Carolina on an undefeated season!

Men's March Madness

This year’s Men’s NCAA Tournament had very few upsets and Cinderellas, but was still a tourney to remember for several teams.  Probably the top story line of the tourney was UConn winning back to back NCAA Tournament championships.  En route to winning back to back titles, the Huskies also broke a historic record in an uncommon statistical category.  UConn won each tourney game by a combined total of 140 points!  The next closest was Duke, who was over 10 points off the Huskies' total.  Another major story line was NC State, who had to win five games in five days to win the ACC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.  After accomplishing this incredible feat in a tough ACC, the Wolfpack went on to the Final Four where they fell to Purdue.  Speaking of Purdue, they shattered their performance in the tournament from the previous year!  After losing to 16-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson, the Boilermakers were able to make a miracle run to the National Championship, where they fell to the unstoppable UConn Huskies.

A minor, yet significant story line in the tournament was Oakland winning their first ever NCAA Tournament game.  This came as their head coach Greg Kampe was in his 40th year with the program.  After beating the dreaded Kentucky Wildcats, in by far the biggest upset in the tournament, Oakland was on to the second round for the first time in the school’s history.  The unfortunately for Oakland in the second round they played the eventual Regional Champion, NC State.  If they didn’t draw this tough squad so early in the tournament they could have made the run that NC State was fortunate enough to experience.  All in all, this was an excellent tourney to remember for many programs, whether for the better or for the worse.

Archbishop's Visit

Last Wednesday, on April 2nd, Archbishop Thompson visited Seton Catholic! When he first arrived, he had a long conversation with the Junior and Senior class. He spoke about how he found his path, and encouraged the two classes to live their life through Christ even when both classes graduate. He also spread this word to the rest of the school. He spoke of how hard it has been to visit high schools since COVID-19. Archbishop Thompson is dedicated to visiting every Catholic school in the area at least once every year! Everyone enjoyed the Archbishop's presence and his inspiring words! Thank you Archbishop Thompson for visiting us and spreading the Word of the Lord!