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STORM CENTER COLUMN: Give it a fair start

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The University Interscholastic League state track and field meet is one week away, and the anticipating is building.
Forestburg’s Skyler Sandusky will be Montague County’s first athlete to compete – on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the high jump.
Sandusky will compete again on Friday in the long jump and the 400-meter dash finals.
Bowie’s entrants are Addy Cook and Kamryn Cantwell, and those Lady Rabbits will hit the stage at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Saturday in the triple jump and 400 dash respectively.
There’s more than meets the eye what happens at a track and field meet, and there are many interlocking parts in this well-oiled machine.
And perhaps the most important role belongs to the starter.
“The starter has two roles,” said Jacksboro head track and field coach Joel Hood, who served in the same capacity at Bowie for the entire course of the 1990s.
“They can dictate that pace of a meet,” Hood said. “If they are active and on the ball, they’ll make sure the runners are ready to go.”
Hood said the other role is to make sure rules are adhered to.
“Athletes can feed off the attitude of the starter,” he said.
Starters must command a presence, and they need to speak from an authoritative position.
For the past few years, Hood has employed Fairfield-based Thomas Baxter as the starter. Baxter filled the role at Jacksboro’s regular-season meet as well as the District 3A-8 and Area 3A-7/8 meets.
Baxter brings along with himself his own public address system, which helps add clout to his official capacity.
“His experience as a starter makes him an invaluable part of the meet,” Hood said. “Another reason why I use him is he doesn’t have any local ties.”
That means the starter will have an unbiased, qualified, professional interpretation of the rules. Read more from this column in the May 6 edition.

Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.

Thomas Baxter has worked as a starter at the Jacksboro Invitational, District 3A-8 and Area 3A-7/8 meets this year in Jacksboro. Baxter is certified through U.S.A. Track and Field. (News photo by Eric Viccaro) 

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Bowie Baseball Interview

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Interview with Bowie baseball players Seth Mann (left) and Tucker Jones following their win against Vernon on April 12, 2024.
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Bowie Softball Interview

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Interview with Bowie softball players Kaylie Kinney (left) and Victoria Cox following their win against Vernon on senior night April 12, 2024.
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Softball Roundup

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The Nocona Lady Indians beat Saint Jo at home on Saturday morning.
The Lady Indians won 16-1 after four innings due to run-rule against the smaller school.
Nocona was coming off a competitive loss at Collinsville earlier in the week while the Lady Panthers were hoping to compete after a busy week of their athletes doing everything else besides just softball.
The Lady Indians easily won the first matchup between the teams in March, 19-2 and it was more of the same on Saturday.
Saint Jo struck first to start the game off well. Jordyn O’Neal hit a one out single. Krista Reeves followed with a walk after O’Neal had stolen second base and had advanced to third thanks to an error trying to throw her out. A wild pitch then allowed her to score to put the Lady Panthers up 1-0.
The lead did not last long. Nocona’s first two batters drew walks which set up Abby Hill to drive them both in with a single to right field.
Despite giving up a single and a walk later in the inning, Saint Jo’s defense did not allow another run. A line out and groundout to the shortstop while picking off a runner attempting to steal got the Lady Panthers out of the inning unscarred.
The Lady Indians led 2-1.
That was about as competitive as it got. In the second inning, Nocona’s bats got going. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases up with no outs.
Reagan Phipps drew a walk that drove in a run. Hill hit another two RBI single. Skye Kirby followed with a two RBI double.
After the first out, Allie Sutton drove in one run with a single. There was a fly out for out two, before a runner came in to score after a passed ball. Finally, an error allowed two more runs to score on the base paths.
Nocona had scored nine runs and led 11-1 to break the game open heading into the third inning.
Taylor Patrick hit a double, with O’Neal and Reeves following with singles. Unfortunately for Saint Jo, Patrick was thrown out before the hits attempting to steal a base so the Lady Panthers scored no runs from this.
The Lady Indians kept pouring on the runs. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases up with no outs. Tinley Cable then hit an RBI single. Shelby Swell was hit by a pitch that drove in another run.
After two strikeouts, Evelyn Marquez drove in two more runs on a double to put Nocona up 15-1, coming up one run short of ending the game early.
The Lady Indians scored that one run in the fourth inning. After Phipps drew a leadoff walk, Hill hit a triple that drove her in to end the game.
Nocona won 16-1.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.

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