Mention a transatlantic cruise and thoughts come to mind of Champagne and caviar, white-gloved service and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The old adage use it or lose it still applies today. So, local caregivers are working to promote active lifestyles for seniors who are homebound or just need a little extra help.

Larry and Lesley Patey of Chesterfield are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Ashley Elizabeth Patey, to Benjamin David Geiger, son of Kevin and Anna Geiger of Ft. Wayne, Ind.

Haley Pryor is a pole vaulter, but she knows all about clearing hurdles. The recent MICDS graduate claimed the Class 3 pole vaulting state championship the first Saturday in June at Dwight T. Reed Stadium in Jefferson City. She did it despite competing on a balky left leg that, at one point, made it hard for her to walk, much less run. “She looked terrible at practice,” MICDS coach Jim Lohr says of Pryor’s workout the day before the state championship. “She was struggling.”

Tom Beckmann couldn’t take his eyes away. With his hands on his head, a runner-up medal between his fingers, Beckmann looked through the net as the Francis Howell Central boys’ volleyball team celebrated with its fans. They hoisted the championship trophy high in the air, cheered and then cheered some more.

If the 10-foot line on the volleyball court at De Smet High needs to be repainted over the summer, the person who gets that chore can thank Drew Steiner. The senior has been wearing that stripe out this spring with missile after missile in practices and games. He credits weight training, which has strengthened his upper body and lower body in making him a more dominating attacker capable of hitting the ball explosively and on a vertical plane. “In the past, I always hit through the block instead of hitting over the block,” Steiner says. “Now I’m doing more of (the latter).”

FRIDAY, APRIL 27

FRIDAY, APRIL 20

FRIDAY, APRIL 6

FRIDAY, MARCH 30

Sadie Stipanovich doesn’t have butterflies in her belly before big games. She has pterodactyls flapping around in there. The junior center for the Westminster girls’ basketball team, Stipanovich gets so nervous her friends can see it on her face. “They’ll say, Look at Sadie—she looks like she’s going to throw up,” Stipanovich says with a laugh.

The scene was the Clayton Center: There was always a little boy on the basketball court. Sometimes, he was alone. Sometimes, he was with his father. But he always was with his basketball. Perhaps nobody in our town has shot more basketballs than Blake Ahearn over the last 15 years.

Alyssa Jensen might have microchips in her mind. The standout setter for St. Joseph’s Academy’s volleyball team processes such a vast amount of information in such a short amount of time it’s staggering. “In a split second, I think about a million things,” Jensen, 16, says.

Steve Stipanovich is one of the most decorated basketball players our town has ever had. At De Smet, he won back-to-back state titles and was a part of a team that won 60 games in a row. He was recruited by almost every college basketball power in America. The most famous coaches in the country—Richard ‘Digger’ Phelps, Joe B. Hall, Norm Stewart—would come to Ballas Road every Wednesday just to watch Stipo practice. He went to Mizzou and won four Big 8 titles and 100 games. Stipanovich was the second pick in the 1983 NBA draft, and he enjoyed a successful 5-year NBA career. He had a triple-double one night against the Boston Celtics, and scored 30 one evening against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Even as she slept the medal stayed around her neck. Bridget Boyle wasn’t taking that bauble off for anything or anyone. So what if she was dead tired? She worked too hard and too long to have that medal looped over her head to just pull if off. No, even as she dreamed the dreams of a champion it stayed right there, resting on her chest.

Gray gets a bad rap. Millions of dollars are spent every year turning hair any other color but gray. Gray days are overcast and dreary. Who gets excited about gray? The Villa Duchesne volleyball team, that’s who. For the Saints, gray is great, gray is gorgeous, gray is right where Faith Rowles wants to be.

FRIDAY, NOV. 4

Carly Ochs walked this path before. A standout outside hitter for St. Joseph’s Academy, Ochs and her fellow Angels are in the final stages of an impressive regular season that has them the No. 1 ranked large school in the area. The defending Class 4 champions, the Angels have won two of the last three state titles and sandwiched a fourthplace finish between them. They have the look of a team bent on making its fourth consecutive appearance at the final four and rolling the dice for another banner.