Saturday, Burroughs and MICDS Sports Teams All Take Center Stage

Tennis, soccer, volleyball, field hockey, football games will be played on both campuses.

The athletic complex at Mary Institute Country Day School will be a beehive of activity come Saturday. One Saturday, each year, the focal point of the Ladue universe focuses on the competition between the Bombers of John Burroughs and the Rams of MICDS. Two gentlemen who will have special interest are retired football coaches Ron Holtman from MICDS and Jim Lemen from Burroughs. Read their story here from last year. Parking will be at a premium on the North Warson Road campus. Tailgate revelers will arrive early. Construction on the new MICDS Math-Science Center has reduced parking spaces on the north lot somewhat. If there is no rain, cars will be able to park near the stadium on adjacent athletic fields. The competition begins early with …

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James Baer

9:36 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012

A wonderful and friendly rivalry. One I relish covering each year. Keep it going forever. A moment of silence once more for our friend Tommy James.   more ›

Burroughs Peter Tasker: Jack of All Trades, Master of All

51-year-old teaches, coaches and runs the school's athletic program.

John Burroughs’ Athletic Director Peter Tasker estimates during the school year, he puts in a 75-80 hour work week. By any measure, JBS is getting their money’s worth and more. Tasker brings many talents to the table at this high-performing private school in Ladue. His career path has had more zigs and zags than star running back Ezekiel Elliott, sailing for yet another opponent’s goal line. Sign up for the Ladue-Frontenac Patch Facebook Page. Tasker has a busy day each day on campus. He teaches math and an introductory 9th grade Spanish class. In addition to that, he coaches middle school lacrosse and is athletic director the rest of the week. Why athletics? “Athletics is a classroom without walls. This is where we teach students lessons …

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John Burroughs Alumni Celebrate Golf in Style

21st Annual golf tournament held in Forest Park.

For the 21st time, family, friends, alumni and school members gathered for a glorious day of golf, this time at the Norman K. Probstein Golf Course in Forest Park. Guests enjoyed a box lunch, 18 holes of scramble golf and a cocktail and networking reception after a beautiful sunny day on the course. This is not a fundraising event for John Burroughs. Rather, it is a social event which allows alumni from various years to get together in a casual environment and tell old war stories. Jim Lemen, long time Bombers football coach and former star Jud Calkins, an attorney signed copies of their book "Teammates for Life" at this event. Here are a variety of photos from a perfect day on the course.

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Burroughs releases book documenting 
88 years of athletic history

Jim Leman and Jud Calkins retell the entire history of athletics at the powerhouse in Ladue.

information is provided by the Public Relations staff at John Burroughs School. Burroughs had a writing dream team in former coach and athletic director Jim Lemen and Jud Calkins ’59, co-authors of the school’s athletic history, Teammates for Life, which was released at the school’s groundbreaking for a new athletic center and performing arts/assembly center on April 12. Lemen, who had been involved in Burroughs athletics for half the life of the school, brought an encyclopedic knowledge of the school’s athletic past. Calkins — a four-sport JBS athlete, a lawyer and former writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch — brought masterful research skills and a knack for telling a story. The result of their collaboration is a 266-page, full-color, …

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MICDS-Burroughs Football Game Special to Two Coaching Legends

Ron Holtman, from MICDS, and Jim Lemen, from John Burroughs, met on the turf for more than three decades.

When a bunch of 16 and 17-year-old kids tee it up on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at John Burroughs, a couple of gentlemen will likely have more than a passing interest in the football slugfest between the Rams of MICDS and the Bombers of Burroughs. That would be Jim Lemen, 71, and Ron Holtman, 82. They are two local prep coaching legends. Lemen certainly will. His grandson, sophomore Trevor Bain, will suit up for the Bombers as a wide receiver and outside linebacker. Think that pressure comes with coaching football? Holtman explained it this way. He began his coaching career at Marquette High School in Alton, Illinois in the old ABC League. “I was the only male in the school. The rest of the staff was comprised of nuns. I coached the team by …

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The Baer Facts

MICDS and Burroughs to Battle All Day Long

On Saturday, the Bombers' campus will be the location of volleyball, field hockey, football and soccer showdowns.

Everyone who follows sports has a favorite annual event. For some, it's the Super Bowl. For others, it’s the NCAA basketball Final Four. Local sports fans love the World Series, especially when the Cardinals are playing. But bar none, my all-time favorite event is anytime MICDS plays John Burroughs in any sporting event. Well, everything is on the proverbial table this weekend as the Rams invade the Bombers’ campus. It will be a day-long run of sports events on Saturday. At 11:30 a.m., the two teams tangle indoors in volleyball. At 1:30 p.m., the field hockey teams collide in a rematch of the Midwest championship from last November. At 2:30 p.m. on Leland Field, it will be the battle of area titans as the two unbeaten football teams clash…

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James Baer

7:40 am on Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Even historians get it wrong sometimes. It was Pop Hughes at Codasco; not Pop Myles. Thanks to MICDS AD Don Maurer for knowing.   more ›