St. Mary's Ryken High School

🏈🏈 CAVALIER KICKOFF CLASSIC GAME 1 🆚 St.Mary’s Ryken vs. Severn School Varsity Football. MFV of MFVAllSportsNetwork heads down to Archbishop Bishop Spalding High School for their annual season opener games, first one being the St. Mary’s Ryken Knights vs Severn School Admirals. 

In the first quarter, St. Mary’s moved the ball with east down the field. Them threw a dot of a pass to the receiver in the right corner of the end zone: TOUCHDOWN. Now, it was time for the Admirals to answer back. They unfortunately were unsuccessful. 

Second quarter, Ryker’s RB was making some good gaining ground off the run. He punched one in adding to the Knights lead. However, with determination and grit, the Admiral’s put their first points on the board just before the half.

Third and fourth quarters were basically scoring shootouts. Especially in the fourth quarter where both teams scored a combined 28 points. It was the St. Mary’s Ryken Knights who came out on top holding well to their lead. Overall, this was exciting game. Both teams had excellent run games. Passing was top notch as well. Defensively, the Knights were a bit stronger in the first half enabling them to manage their lead in the second. However, the Severn School has a very impressive defense. Wishing the best to each of these schools. Hope to see you all make a good run to the championships in your divisions. FINAL SCORE KNIGHTS - 42 ADMIRALS - 28

 MFV
 MFVAllSportsNetwork 👀 MFV U📺🔗⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05AxBt7UzRI

Ice hockey is not the most popular sport in Southern Maryland; however, within the past 15 years, St. Mary's Ryken has developed its boys' and girls' ice hockey teams to be one of a kind. St. Mary's Ryken began its ice hockey program in 2003, founded by Jan de Regt and Jim Buckingham. This was a co-op program, as students from not only St. Mary's Ryken but also other schools, such as Thomas Stone High School, Northern High School, and Leonardtown High School, participated. It was not until 2007 that St. Mary's Ryken had enough students to form a full team, making it an official team. Two years later, that's when current head coach Chris Palombi took over the boys ice hockey program. "Playing hockey was my place to go and forget everything, and it provided a lot of comfort for me to play and enjoy something I like so much," stated Palombi. Palombi grew up playing roller hockey down in Waldorf, Maryland. Although the sport was not the most popular at the time, he did not transition into ice hockey during his senior year of high school and later on walked on to play at Michigan State University, where he suffered a shoulder injury. After taking some time away from the sport, his wife came across a job posting for the ice hockey position at St. Mary's Ryken, and he thought it would be a good idea to give back to the sport that had given him so much. During his first coaching stint at St. Mary's Ryken, he has not only developed the boys' program and helped recruit national players, but also played in key games such as States and the Southern Conference Championship. In 2016, he stepped down from coaching but decided to help with the operations side of things for a few years. It was not until Palombi helped develop the girls' ice hockey team that he stepped back into coaching. In 2018, 11 girls came to his office, asking to become managers of the boys' team. However, Palombi noticed that they had the numbers to start their own team, and the girls wanted to form one. Within the beginning stages of the team, he had 21 of 23 girls who had never played ice hockey. "About half of the girls played hockey maybe one or two years," said Palombi. "It's a new sport for them so to really get them to buy into a sport that's new." After their first year, the girls' ice hockey team was able to bring home the Mid-Atlantic Girls Hockey League Blue Championship in 2020 and 2022. "It's always fun to win the championships," said Palombi. However, for the boys, that was not the case during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the ice hockey program took a hit. Coming back from the pandemic, the program on the boys' side saw a significant number of players leave, as they were juniors and seniors, with only around five to seven players returning. That was when the program decided to become a co-op program with other schools, as well as trying to get their friends to play so that they wouldn't lose the program. During the rebuilding stage within the boys program, the current coach at the time decided to step down. So with an open position looming, Palombi decided to step back in and become the head coach. "The guys coach could not commit to their schedule, and that's when the athletic director said it would be a good opportunity to switch back to the guys," Palombi stated. Within his second stint as head coach, Palombi had to rebuild the program. Within the beginning stages of his second stint, the boys were losing games 0-20 and only gaining two shots on goal. But, he was able to give the team their first win in over three years. In the 2024-2025 season, the boys' ice hockey team experienced significant improvement. The Knights got their first win against a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference school, and their goal differential improved. With the 2025-2026 season looming ahead, Palombi hopes to bring back the same motivation and power of belief on the ice for another season.

Four St. Mary's Ryken coaches - Jon Lombardo, Chris Palombi, Gary Wynn, and OJ Lewis were honored with Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) Coaches of the Year awards in the 2024-2025 school year. "I always get really excited when we do have a Coach of the Year," said Lombardo, who serves as the boys varsity lacrosse head coach and athletic director. "You understand how much work is done in the dark, and it's one of those few opportunities where it does get to come to light." Lombardo has been the head coach of the boys' varsity lacrosse team since 2020. This season, the Knights advanced to the WCAC championship for the first time since 2009, but fell short against DeMatha. Lombardo stated that this year's playoff run was a surprising one for many, but even though the Knights fell short, the brotherhood that this team formed was even stronger. "We beat St. John's in overtime in the quarterfinals, and one of our senior leader captains is in the huddle yelling three more days, which meant we got three more days together, and that's all they wanted, more time together," stated Lombardo. For Palombi, this was the second consecutive year that he had won Coach of the Year for the boys' varsity ice hockey team. He started up the ice hockey program in 2009 and has developed it for the past 16 years. "To be able to coach at the same school for so many years has been great," said Palombi. There were many positives for Palombi's team this season. They were able to grab their first WCAC win in years against Bishop Ireton, as well as see improvements in their goal differential. Wynn was an associate head coach and offensive coordinator for St. Mary’s Ryken before being named head coach in 2022. This year, Wynn added his second WCAC Coach of the Year Award. The Knights finished with a 9-3 record and a 4-0 conference record, an improvement from the 2023-2024 season. Lewis has been the varsity softball coach since 2022. This season, the Knights have been stellar from beginning to end. Before entering the WCAC playoffs, they were on a nine-game win streak. They made it to the WCAC championship, but fell short to Bishop O'Connell. Lewis credits the accomplishments of this season to the players, including utility player Mikaela Guy, who was also named WCAC Player of the Year. "The success comes from those nine girls who are on the softball field," stated Lewis. "They're just an outstanding group." When asked about what makes St. Mary's Ryken different from any other WCAC school or athletic program in general, Lombardo emphasized that some of the coaching staff not only coach, but also teach full-time. "Credit to our leadership, that's what makes it special is we pour into and invest and live. And embody that mission of believing in that experience and what you learn," stated Lombardo. "It makes it a very special community because we're developing relationships far beyond two hours at practice."