SPORTS
STORM CENTER: Vaughn picks up lacrosse at Tarleton
At the start of the semester at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, there’s a program called Rec Fest.
As the Tarleton website describes, Rec Fest is a “chance to come see what all Tarleton Rec Sports has to offer.”
There was a wide variety of events, and one of those programs was a lacrosse demonstration.
Tarleton State student Jesse Vaughn, who graduated from Bowie High School last May, saw the sport of lacrosse firsthand, and it was love at first sight.
“I found I was pretty good at it,” said Vaughn in a telephone interview with The Bowie News on Wednesday. “It’s the first sport I’ve played where I’m connected to an object (the stick).”
Vaughn, a former Bowie defensive back and sprinter on the Jackrabbit track and field team, has been learning the concepts of the game through practices this fall.
Lacrosse may have been played as early as 1100 A.D., according to a 2002 book by Thomas Vennum called: “American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War.” The book can be found at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
The sport was developed by the Iroquois Indians, especially in New York and Pennsylvania.
According to Wikipedia.org, lacrosse is a contact team sport played between two teams using a small, rubberized ball and a stick. The head of the stick is made of mesh, designed to cradle the ball like a parent does her baby.
Vaughn is one of 25 players on the roster, and he’s slated to play a midfield position.
“I get to use my speed and create mismatches,” said Vaughn, whose studying kinesiology at Tarleton State. He took 15 credits this semester.
Lacrosse isn’t the typical sport, especially for those living here in north Texas.
Vaughn said when he’s told people he now plays lacrosse; a look of surprise has been the biggest response in conversation. Read more in the weekend Bowie News.
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
Former Bowie High School athlete Jesse Vaughn, who graduated last May, has picked up a new sport at Tarleton State University. He’s playing midfielder on the lacrosse team and is considered ‘a natural’ for it. (Courtesy photo from Jesse Vaughn)
Bellevue’s girl’s basketball team led at halftime but a quick 9-0 Jacksboro run in the opening moments of the second half would prove the difference in a 28-25 Lady Eagle loss June 15 in a Nocona Summer League game.
Leading 12-9 at the half, Bellevue continued to shut down the inside game of the Tigerettes. Jacksboro switched tactics and began firing from outside. Three 3-pointers in the span of just under two minutes gave Jacksboro an 18-12 lead.
Bellevue kept things close, however, getting on the second half scoreboard with Mattie Broussard’s basket and free throws cutting the deficit to two, 18-16. A Haven Jones 3-pointer put the Lady Eagles up 19-18 midway through the second half.
The Tigerettes had just one 3 -pointer the rest of the way but got inside for a pair of buckets to take a 25-21 lead with 4:50 to go. Both offenses shut down late.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Most school-age athletes start off playing everything. By the time they graduate, they whittle it down to just one or two.
New Bowie girl’s track and overall cross country coach Shawnda Childers is no exception. While at Iowa Park she competed in volleyball, cross country and track before cutting out volleyball and focusing on track and cross country to close out high school.
Childers did not stay with athletics while moving on to Midwestern State University, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s Degrees. After graduation, shestarted coaching in Electra. She came to Bowie for one year, then went back to her old stomping grounds in Iowa Park where she spent the next four years.
The return home also put her in contact with now-Bowie Coach Griffin Fields, who was a coach there at the time. From Iowa Park, she spent the next three years at City View.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
New Saint Jo Girl’s Basketball Coach Grant Gooch isn’t completely unfamiliar with the area.
“We went to Muenster quite a bit when I was a kid,” Gooch, who will be going into his 20th year as a coach, said. “We’d load up the cooler from the meat markets. It’s good to be back.”
Gooch worked with Saint Jo Athletic Director CJ Hantz when the pair were in Throckmorton. Gooch comes to town from Menard where he spent three years at the West Texas school.
Gooch says coaching and education kind of come naturally to him.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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