The Mercy Girl Experience
Athletics

The Classic

The Classic 2026

We can’t wait to take on the Maryvale Lions this year in The Classic!
Be sure to join us for the Fathers’ Club Game, Alumnae Game, Alumnae Giving Challenge, the JV Game, and the main event! The Varsity Game will take place on Friday, January 30 at TU Arena. Tickets will go on sale later this fall!

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  • About The Classic

    The Mercy Magic and the Maryvale Lions meet each other on the basketball court in “The Classic,” which builds on a friendly 50-year rivalry between the two girls’ schools spanning multiple sports. The Classic is the culmination of a week of spirited activities between the two schools, including JV and alumnae games, pep rallies, and a fundraising challenge among each school’s graduates.

    Alumnae of both schools make it a homecoming, and the athletes and coaches have a college-level athletic experience, playing in front of thousands of spectators on a university campus. The players follow in the footsteps of decades of athletes who are proud to represent their schools and be part of an athletic legacy in Baltimore.

    This match-up has roots stretching to 1964, the first year Mercy High School competed against the former Seton High School in what became a three-year series at the Civic Center. In 1967, a new rivalry formed between Mercy and the Institute of Notre Dame. For 54 years, “The Big Game” between Mercy and IND was the largest girls’ athletic event in Maryland.

    To honor the Institute of Notre Dame and its long history in building this tradition, the winner of The Classic is presented with The Rita Sloan Berndt Memorial Trophy. The trophy is named after a distinguished 1962 IND graduate who played varsity basketball at IND and became an accomplished neuroscientist and a community activist, wife, mother, and grandmother.
If you are interested in sponsoring this year’s matchup, please contact Melissa Turning, annual fund and events manager, at 410.433.8880 ext. 260.
Mercy High School Baltimore is a sponsored ministry of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and is a member of Mercy Education.

Mercy High School proudly partners with eCampus for textbooks and other materials for our Mercy Girls.

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