Eleven seminarians from Old College and Moreau Seminary took a trip this weekend to Mundelein Seminary, north of Chicago, to compete in the eigth annual basketball tournament between nine Midwest seminaries called the "Mundelein Seminary Shootout."
The team won three out of four games, and ended up winning the consolation bracket of the tournament.
Sophomore and seminarian candidate Mike Palmer said the weekend is not just about basketball, but is also a chance to get to know other seminarians.
"All the seminaries we play against are from the Midwest region ... and it's really great to have meals and socials together with other seminarians," Palmer said. "It's great to have brotherhood with other [seminarians] and just fun to play some basketball. We are there to compete but to have fun as well."
The 11 seminarians along with their supporters left for the tournament Friday and competed Friday and Saturday.
Palmer said the team usually includes seminarians both from Old College and Moreau Seminary, but this year there were 10 players from Old College and only one from Moreau Seminary.
"...this year we had lost many of our older players to ordination or ministry, so every player except one on this year's team was from Old College," he said.
The team's only loss was its second game against St. Meinrad Seminary from St. Meinrad, Ind., which bumped the Moreau Seminary team to the consolation bracket.
Palmer said that having a young team this year made it more difficult to compete against other teams in the tournament.
"This year we knew it was going to be hard because our team was pretty much all undergrads, and a lot of the teams had graduate seminarians," Palmer said.
The Moreau Seminary Team defeated the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary from Peoria, Ill. in its final round, winning the consolation bracket.
Last year, the Moreau Seminary team placed second in the Seminary Shootout overall, Palmer said.
"Next year we definitely hope to improve our standings, and bring a few more seminarians on the team. Our overall goal is to play better, but still have fun," he said.
The Moreau Seminary team has competed in the tournament since it began eight years ago, and won the tournament in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
The host of the tournament, the Mundelein Seminary Lakers, won this year's shootout overall.
Palmer said the seminarians practiced in preparation for the tournament in the months leading up to the competition.
"Usually we start practicing a couple months in advance ... we practice at Moreau Seminary gym," he said.
Palmer said the team's starting lineup included junior Kevin Wack, senior Thomas Haan, junior Tim Mouton, sophomore Bob Dunsmuir and graduate seminarian Nick Senz.
Moreau seminarian Mike Seidl coached this year's team.
