Athletics
St. Mark's has historically been strong at ice hockey, and a number of its alumni have gone on to careers in the National Hockey League. The school fields 48 interscholastic sports teams, with 22 team sports and 7 recreational activities. In addition to a seasonal outdoor swimming pool, an enclosed hockey rink, a cage, gymnasiums, and squash and tennis courts, St. Mark's has a nine hole golf course on campus. St. Mark's has a tradition of letting as many of its students as possible play interscholastic sports.
During the 2007-2008 academic year, St. Mark's Boys Cross Country was the New England Prep School Division IV Champions, while the Girls Cross Country were the Runner's Up in the same division. After an undefeated season, the Boys Cross Country Team went on to win the ISL Championships and became the New England Prep School Division II Champions in the fall of the 2011-2012 academic year. St. Mark's Boys Basketball was the New England Prep School Class "C" Champions. Three St. Mark's wrestlers qualified for the National Prep School Tournament; Boys Crew, for the third consecutive year, won the Henry B. DuPont III cup. During the 2008-2009 winter season, St. Mark's Boys Varsity Squash put together a remarkable season, going 13-3, 4 wins better than the previous best season in school history. Finishing a disappointing 9th in New England, the squash team also placed 9th at the High School Nationals tournament at Yale, placing them in an elite group of schools.
Over the past decade St. Mark's has had a very successful basketball program. Sending many players to play at the Division 1 level. Notables include Erik Murphy (Florida University), Nate Lubick (Georgetown University), Melsahn Basabe (The University of Iowa), Alex Murphy (Duke University). Also current players have committed to play Division 1 basketball, Eric Green (Holy Cross), Kaleb Tarczewski (University of Arizona), Nik Stauskas (University of Michigan).
St. Mark's traditional athletic rival is the younger Groton School. St. Mark's high school football rivalry since 1886 with Groton School is one of the oldest athletic rivalries in the United States, following the Andover-Exeter rivalry. The two schools have met in regularly scheduled athletic contests for more than a century. (See the List of high school football rivalries for more information.) St. Mark's traditionally has a "Groton Day" celebrating this rivalry with athletic games against the Groton teams, and celebrates the night before the games as "Groton Night".
School legend has it that Baseball's catcher's mask was invented in 1875 by a St. Marks School catcher. It was originally a fencing helmet he modified so as to protect his broken nose. A Harvard baseball player Fred Thayer was playing on the opposing team that day and by 1878 Thayer had gotten a patent on it.
During the ice hockey season, St. Mark's boasts some of the best fans in the ISL. The small rink is jammed with almost the entire school body every game to cheer and root for the Lions. Visiting teams must not only face the Lions themselves on the ice, but the fans as well, as they do chirp quite severely.
From the dawn of the Twentieth Century St. Mark's has hosted a number of Olympic athletes, including Truxtun Hare in track and field, and Suzanne King, in cross country skiing.
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