SPORTS
County athletes compete at state
County athletes made their way to compete at the UIL state track meet at the University of Texas in Austin this past weekend, with most competing on Friday.
All together, five athletes competed in six events, with Bowie’s Kamryn Cantwell bringing home a silver medal in the girl’s 3A 400-meter dash on Friday night.
Cantwell also competed in the girl’s long jump event first thing Friday morning. She finished fifth with a jump of 17-06 1/4. It was a bit of a disappointment for her, as she had jumped over 18 feet in her previous two meets, which would have at least gotten her a bronze medal.
“I’m sure there was some weight on their minds with the tragedy that happened at school with Trent,” Coach Chuck Hall said. “I’m sure that factors into it. We might all deny it, but we have all been thinking about it and thinking about their family and what they’re going through.”
With one last chance at a medal, Cantwell knew she would have to run her best. A runner from La Marque had a faster start than the rest of the field and was able to hold on in the end for first, while Cantwell battled her regional nemesis Shiean Walters from Coleman and just beat her in a personal record time of 57.09 seconds, only .17 of a second faster.
“It brings a great conclusion to her career as an athlete at Bowie High School,” Hall said.
Bowie’s Kason Spikes had a rough day in the 3A boy’s high jump. Facing a stiff field that included the winner setting a 3A record, Spikes failed to make the opening height of 6-0.
This is higher than every other meet, with most regular meets having jumpers start at 5-6 or 5-8, letting some jumpers get into a groove. The stiff opening height along with the big stage of state leads to many high jumpers underperforming. Combine that with a breeze that was strong enough to blow the bar off by itself a couple times, it was a nerve wracking environment for anyone.
Still, Spikes had conquered pressure before. In the basketball state championship game in March, Spikes sunk the game clinching free throws down the stretch to win it for the Jackrabbits. He was dealing with a different kind of pressure on Friday.
“With everything that went on in the last day and half and just trying to stay focused and trying to get your head right, that’s hard for anyone to do,” Coach Justin Prescott said. “I’m proud of him for even coming down and putting in the time and effort. I know he didn’t get anywhere near where he wanted to get, but its just one of those things in life you learn from.”
Another high jumper, Prairie Valley’s Chase Edwards, also had a tough day in the boy’s 1A division. The opening height was 5-10 and Edwards, being the first jumper, cleared it on his first try no problem.
However, he failed to make the next height at 6-00. Three other jumpers failed the height as well, but with Edwards making the opening height in less attempts, he ended up ahead of them in sixth place.
Still, Edwards was disappointed, but was proud he got to represent his community.
“They have shown me a lot of support and stuff,” Edwards said. “Just helping me get here was a big part of it. I feel like there are going to be a lot more kids in our school area that is going to attempt to try to get here. It is an honor.”
The cousins from Forestburg, Zach Bradley and Lexi Britain, both competed in the 1A shot put event on the boys and girls side.
Britain competed first thing Saturday morning. Her best throw came in at 34-01.50, more than two feet farther than she threw at the regional meet. While it was not a personal record for her, it was good enough to place her in fifth place as she closed out her high school career that included her staring on both the volleyball and basketball teams.
“Personally, I think it’s pretty great,” Britain said. “I mean it’s state. Not many people get to come here, but I think I enjoyed team sports better.”
Bradley competed during the heat of the day on Friday and finished in eighth place, throwing 42-02 1/2. There was only one other sophomore in the field besides Bradley. Bradley did well to beat him and gained valuable experience for hopeful future visits to the state meet.
“Just the experience of being here,” Coach Cori Hayes said. “You come here for the first time. You are jittery and nervous. You don’t know what to expect with schedules and stuff like that. That prepares you for the future so that at least you know what to expect. A little easier to get in the groove.”
To read more, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians wrapped up their first playoff berth since 2005 with a dominant win against Chico on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 10-0 in four and half innings due to run-rule to earn the district’s final playoff spot and break a nearly two decade drought.
Nocona was in a similar situation last year after beating Chico in the first game before losing twice more to the Dragons, once in the regular season finale and then in the play-in series.
The Indians won the first game earlier in the week 9-4, but knew they could play better. On Thursday they then proved it.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nocona got the scoring going as Wesley Murphey hit an RBI double. Two batters later, Landon Fatheree drove in two runs with a double.
Konnor Harrington followed with a groundout that scored another run as the Indians led 4-0.
In the second inning, Nocona kept up the pressure. Brody Langford drove in a run with a single. Later with the bases loaded, Caden Belcher was hit by a pitch that scored a run. A later passed ball allowed one more run to score as the Indians extended their lead to 7-0.
Nocona got one more run in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Wesley Murphey grounded into a fielder’s choice out that scored one run to make it 8-0.
The Indians got the final two runs they needed in the fourth inning. Walker Murphey and RJ Walker hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Nocona up 10-0.
Chico needed to score at least one run to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule. Instead Walker Murphey completed the shutout performance by retiring the next three batters to end the game and the Dragon’s season.
The Indians won 10-0 and earned the district’s final playoff spot.
Wesley Murphey and Fatheree drove in two runs each to lead the team. Walker Murphey led the team with three hits. The team finished with 11 hits and drew six walks.
Walker Murphey also allowed zero runs and one hit while striking out five batters and walking none. The defense behind him committed only one fielding error.
Coach Zach Denson was beyond proud of this team for breaking the playoff drought.
“The amount of growth that they have shown throughout the year has been the most incredible I’ve seen in 13 years of coaching,” Denson said. “We went on a little skid in the middle of the year and that could have derailed our young team, but it actually brought us closer together as a unit.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits were able to clinch the final playoff spot on Thursday with a senior night home win against Henrietta.
The Jackrabbits won 6-1 in a game where all of the offensive action happened in the first three innings for both teams.
Bowie came into the game needing to win. Failing to do so would mean setting up a series with the Bearcats for the final playoff spot. If the Jackrabbits just took care of business against a team they had already beaten once pretty easily then they could avoid that whole situation.
Henrietta knew it was playing for the future of its season and struck first. A one out double followed by a single two batters later put the Bearcats up 1-0 against Bowie’s top pitcher Edmond De Leon on the mound.
The offense responded in the same inning with a two-out rally. Troy Kesey hit a single and Hayden Rodriguez drew a walk. De Leon then hit a double to drive one run in.
Cooper Hammer was then hit a by a pitch to load the bases up. Rayder Mann then drew a walk that scored one run and the Jackrabbits led 2-1 before the next batter popped up for out three.
Bowie added to that lead in the second inning. Boston Farris led off with a triple. Tucker Jones then hit a groundball to second base that resulted in an error that allowed Farris to score and make it 3-1 for the Jackrabbits.
Bowie then extended the lead in the third inning. Hammer hit a one-out single. Mann and Cy Egenbacher followed with hits that resulted in fielding errors for the Bearcats. The Jackrabbits scored one run on the second error.
Farris then hit a single that drove in another run. After a strikeout, a wild pitch then allowed another runner to score as Bowie was up 6-1. Another strikeout ended the scoring for the Jackrabbits.
The next three and half innings saw neither team score runs, though both had several chances with two runners getting on at times.
Henrietta’s best chance came in the fifth inning with two singles, but De Leon and Bowie’s defense shut that down. De Leon retired the final seven batters he faced as the Jackrabbits won 6-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Last week all of the area schools competed in their district’s tennis tournament and several schools had athletes qualify for the regional tournament.
In the end, 10 athletes finished second or better at district to move on for a chance to qualify for state.
Unfortunately, no players from Bowie were able to break through and qualify.
Many faced early seeding opponents from tennis power Vernon that ended their tournament.
The highest finish for a Bowie player was Lily Hodges who placed fourth in girls singles.
From Nocona, one girl was able to break through as Kaygan Stone finished second in girls singles to qualify for regionals.
Stone has had a tough year, dealing with shoulder problems that shortened both her volleyball and basketball seasons, but she bounced back this spring to qualify for regionals in tennis.
Her teammate Melissa Segura was not so lucky, as she finished third in girls singles and just missed the cut, having to settle for an alternate spot
At the 1A tournament, several schools had multiple athletes in one division qualify.
From Saint Jo, last year’s state qualifying girl’s doubles team of Kyler Dunn and Taylor Patrick won the division.
They beat out the second place finisher and their teammates, the girl’s doubles team of Maxey Johnson and Bailey Nobile, who also qualified for regionals.
From Gold-Burg, Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles to move on to the regional tournament.
Other schools only had one team or individual.
From Forestburg, the mixed doubles team of Jesse Wadsworth and Alli Cisneros finished second as they qualified for regionals.
From Prairie Valley, Case Carpenter finished second in the boys singles division.
To read the full story and see pictures of all of the qualifiers, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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