SPORTS
2022 Year in HS Sports Review
Bowie
The Bowie athletic program continued its success in powerlifting by sending several lifters to the state meet.
The girl’s program sent seven girls to the state meet, including Traycee Stewart, Laisha Johnson, Kinley Russell, Ashley Aguirre, Kerstin Wolfe, Katie Boyles and Jordan Vaught.
The boy’s program sent three lifters to the state meet in Cooper McShan, Bryan Arellano and Coleton Price. While at the state meet, both Arellano and Price would finish second in their weight classes to earn a silver medal. Price even set the division III state record by squatting 805 pounds.
Also at the beginning of the year, both Bowie basketball teams had a successful season. Both finished third in the district to qualify for the playoffs, but both fell in the bi-district round to area power Brock.
For the Jackrabbit team, the highlight was the buzzer-beating shot Brody Armstrong made to beat Holliday at home during the regular season. For the Lady Rabbits, the team stopped a furious comeback attempt at City View and was able to win in overtime to keep their spot in the standings at the time.
In the spring season there was even more success. Both golf teams made it back to the regional meet. To make it there, the boy’s team won the district title while the girl’s team finished second.
The boys fell one place short of returning to state, finishing fifth overall. The girl’s team finished 11th overall at the regional meet.
In tennis, the program had two players qualify for the regional tournament. Addi Eichler in girl’s singles and Braden Case in boy’s singles both finished second at the district meet in order to qualify.
In track and field, the school had three athletes qualify for the regional meet. Tucker Jones made the finals in both hurdle races, Samantha Clarke competed in both the 3200 and 1600 meter races and Anahi Perez ran in the 100 meter hurdles.
Earlier in the season, as a team, the Lady Rabbits finished third at the district meet while the boy’s team finished fifth.
Still a part of the spring season, but stretching into the beginning of June, the Bowie baseball team had the best run of any team this year.
The Jackrabbits finished third in district, but would go on to win four straight playoff rounds, with three of them going to three games.
On the way, the team beat highly ranked teams Wall and Shallowater before playing eventual state-runners up Brock in the regional final. The Eagles won in two low-scoring, highly contested games. It was the farthest the baseball program has gone since 1981.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians started out the year with a lifter competing at the state meet in powerlifting. Miguel Olivares made it to the state meet, competing in the 132 pound weight class where he finished 10th overall.
Next in winter was basketball where the program had great success. The Lady Indian team won their fourth straight district title, going undefeated in the process. The state-ranked Nocona team then won two playoff games against Eastland and Merkel before playing Peaster in the regional quarterfinals for the second straight year.
Unfortunately, Nocona could not get past the Lady Greyhounds as it lost in overtime by two baskets.
The boy’s team competed well in district, but ultimately finished fourth in the district which meant a tough opponent in the first round of the playoffs. That also meant playing a highly ranked Peaster team which ended the Indians season.
In the spring, the Nocona boy’s golf team finished fourth at the district meet.
The highlight of the spring came in track and field. After the girl’s team finished fifth at district and the boy’s team sixth, Graci Brown ended up qualifying all the way until the regional final in both the 200 and 400 meter races. She came up one spot short of qualifying for state in the 400 meter race, losing by .18 of a second. She would finish seventh in the 200 meter race.
Saint Jo
The start to the year saw the boy’s basketball team finish third in district to qualify for the playoffs, but unfortunately it fell in the first round to Perrin-Whitt.
During the spring season there was success for every program. In golf, the boy’s team won the district title to qualify for the regional tournament. At the district tennis tournament, the girl’s team had Taylor Patrick finish third and the double’s team of Kyler Dunn and Kate Sherwin get second to qualify for regionals.
The softball program did not see a ton of success in terms of wins and losses, but was able to complete its first season after COVID-19 ended the run two years previously. The Lady Panthers won multiple games and competed in the playoffs to set the groundwork for future teams to build on.
In baseball, the Panthers kept up their good history of success, beating Vernon Northside in the bi-district round of the playoffs before ultimately losing to state-ranked Dodd City in the area round.
To close out the spring season, the Saint Jo program had several athletes compete in the state track meet. Collin Thomas qualified individually in the 800 meter race where he finished ninth at state. He was also a part of the 4×400 meter relay team, along with Dylan Brockman, Devin Stewart and Kile Thurman that finished eighth at the state meet.
On the girl’s side, the Lady Panthers won the district title.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley program saw both basketball teams start 2022 by taking advantage of the new rule that expanded the playoffs to four teams from a district making the playoffs. The Lady Bulldogs had to beat Gold-Burg in a play-in to get the final spot before losing to Throckmorton in the bi-district.
The Bulldogs’ team finished fourth comfortably to make the playoffs, but unfortunately were matched up against eventual state champions Graford in the bi-district round.
The program saw great success during the spring season. In golf, the Lady Bulldogs won the district title while on the boy’s side Tyler Winkler qualified for the regional meet individually. The girl’s team would end up finishing seventh overall at regionals while Winkler shot 139 and 124 during his two days.
In tennis, the senior mixed doubles team of Isaac Yeargin and Veronica Gutierrez was able to make it all the way to the state meet. During district play, Eli Croxton and Winkler were able to finish first and second in the boy’s singles to qualify for the regional meet.
In track and field, the program had several athletes qualify for the regional meet. Tyler Winkler finished sixth in the pole vault, Linzie Priddy finished 10th in the 3200 meters and Emily Carpenter finished 8th in the discus. Emma Stout also qualified in the pole vault but did not complete a vault.
Gold-Burg
The beginning of the year started with some heartbreak on the court as the Lady Bears basketball team lost their play-in game against Prairie Valley to qualify for the playoffs.
It got better from there in tennis. Gold-Burg saw the girl’s doubles team of Kelly Contreras and Shadie Whitaker return to the state meet.
In track and field, the program had a slew of athletes make it all the way to the regional meet. Kani Grace made it in both the 100 meters and shot put. Sergio Andrade made it in the 110 meter hurdles. Jayon Grace made it in the long jump. Isaac Renteria made it in the 3200 meter race. Both Grace brothers along with Ian Grissom and Jayton Epperson were a part of the 4×100 meter relay team that made it as well.
Forestburg
The Forestburg program had some small successes throughout its year. The girl’s basketball program had some district wins to start the year.
The biggest success came in the track program as a lot athletes made it all the way to the regional meet. On the girl’s side Justynne Roller made it in the 800 meters, Madisen Deason competed in the high jump while Reagan Ladewig did both the 100 meter hurdles and the shot put.
The boy’s team had all four relay teams compete at regionals. Individually Tye Reid ran the 110 meter hurdles while Braxton Osteen competed in the shot put and discus.
Bellevue
The Bellevue school district saw its girls basketball team fight through adversity that was its low depth, playing most games with no substitute and somehow finishing third in the district.
That lack of depth hurt the Lady Eagles in their playoff matchup against Newcastle, but the team showed they were not going to lay down just because its numbers were not ideal for a season.
During the spring season, the school had two players qualify for the regional golf tournament. Cirstin Allen shot 146,138 and Rosalie Christianson shot 135, 144.
In track and field, the program had Terrence Perry qualify for the regional meet competing in the shot put and discus. For the girls, Grace Martin qualified in the 1600 meters.
To read about the successes each school had in the fall season, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
By Luke Clayton
This past week, Cedar Creek guide Chris Webb, Jeff Rice and I met at the boat ramp just as the sun was beginning to light up the eastern sky. Our goal was to film a segment of our weekly TV show, “A Sportsmans Life” and glean information on catching summer crappie to share with you here. Our plan was to get in on a very dependable early morning bite and then get off the water before the Texas sun got too high overhead, and this we did. Let me tell you all about how we boated a cooler full of nice size crappie that were on a dependable bite that Chris expects to hold throughout the summer.
On the phone the evening before, Chris said with confidence that we should have no trouble catching a nice box of crappie during the first few hours of daylight. “We should have our fish caught and be heading to the dock by nine”, said Chris. “We will be in the shade cleaning fish before the temperature begins to soar.”
Regardless the lake one fishes, crappie patterns remain much the same. During the spring, there is the shallow water bite that everyone gets excited about. Granted, it is great fun catching shallow water fish under a floater but as every crappie angler knows, catching is often feast or famine especially during early spring when fish are moving in and out of the shallows. Once the spawners lock down in shallow water to procreate, fishing can be very dependable. This past spring I joined Chris for some shallow water creek fishing on a feeder creek above Cedar Creek and catching was about as good as it gets. Once the fish transition from shallow to deep, usually around the end of May, fishing becomes as dependable as the Polar Star.
The trick now is fishing brush piles or lay down logs in water fifteen to twenty feet deep and the bite is usually best within a couple feet of bottom. This heavy cover attracts all sorts of baitfish and crappie move in for easy picking, bridge columns can also be productive, the algae on the columns attract the bait and you will find crappie where their food source is most plentiful.
Our first spot to fish was a big, submerged tree with plenty of fish attracting limbs in water 17 foot deep, the tree marked clearly on the forward-facing sonar. There was a cloud of baitfish, probably shad all around the limbs and below the bait, the screen plotted several bigger inverted V’s, these Chris pointed out were the barndoor crappie we were targeting, all were very close to bottom.
Technique is very important in summertime crappie fishing. We were using medium action spinning rods with very sensitive tips, gold crappie hooks and live minnows.
“If you wait for a definitive “strike”, you won’t catch a single fish. These fish will simply suck the bait in. You might feel a very gentle tug but more than likely, there will just be a heavy feel as the fish grabs the bait and loads up your line. It’s important to keep in constant contact with your bait, even on the fall. If your line goes slack, lift up quickly and set the hook. “Instructed our guide as we lowered our baits to bottom.
This finesse fishing requires a bit of getting used to but once you learn to set the hook when anything feels different or when the line goes slack, you are well on your way to becoming a finesse fisherman! I’ll be the first to admit, I am much more experienced in a catfish hammering my bait hard or the ‘thump’ of a white bass as he nails my slab on a hot summer day but I soon adjusted to the soft bite and began getting the hook set. My buddy Jeff was quick to pick up on the subtle crappie bites and after about thirty minutes of fishing, the bottom of the cooler was filled with tasty crappie. It was then time to take our training wheels off! We were fully trained, locked and loaded and began hooking crappie with regularity.
There is no way to determine what size crappie that grabs your minnow by the bite. I had some undersize crappie hit the bait harder than some of the bigger slabs that I landed. The drill is to keep the rod tip low, about a foot up from the water and pop the rod up hard the instance you feel a bite or see your line go slack. Not only crappie enjoy chowing down on a lively minnow and we caught several catfish and tasty yellow bass. Our goal was a couple of big fish fries and we weren’t the lease bit opposed to adding a few more fillets to our skillets of crispy crappie fillets.
Choosing the right tackle is most important when fishing these soft biting fish. I would shy away from short ultra-light rods. You need the leverage of a longer rod to get that hook set on a long upward swing. It’s important to use just enough weight to keep your minnow somewhat anchored in place rather than allowing it to swim around and tangle your line in the heavy cover. The gold Aberdeen hooks bend easily. I don’t remember us losing one to the tangle of limbs and brush below the boat. We did become snagged in the cover occasionally but a steady pull on the line was all it took to pull the hook free.
Chris, like most every guide I’ve fished with the past couple years, uses a forward facing sonar but mostly as a way to pin point fish. Granted, with this state-of-the-art sonar, it’s possible to put the bait right in front of the fishes mouth but I simply detest this type of fishing. Catching fish in this manner is much like playing a video game and to be honest, it takes away from my concentration.
Oh, I have been taught the concept of first seeing the fish on sonar and then watching my bait fall to just above, but it seems the millisecond between me watching the fish hit the bait on the screen and then reacting and setting the hook always causes me to loose more fish than I catch. I like the way Chris used the advanced sonar to see the fish and then advise as to how deep to place baits. I get it, it’s possible to target individual fish when one keeps glued to the screen but for me, it’s much more fun and productive to keep an index finger under that line just above the reel and ‘feel’ the bite.
Chris expects this summer pattern to continue until the first cool fronts blow in, usually in late September or October. There will then be a transition period as crappie move from their summer haunts in deep water to mid-range depths until finally they move back to deep water where the winter bite is much like the summer pattern. But for now, brush, deep water and live minnows is the ticket to a big cooler of tasty crappie and oh yes, a quick hook set, often on a slack line!
Listen to Guide Chris Webb talk crappie catching on Luke’s radio show/podcast “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends. Chris can be reached at 903-275-3253. Email Luke through his website www.catfishradio.org
Ben West, an assistant on the Bowie High School baseball team last year, will move into the head coach’s position next Spring.
West, whose father retired as head coach in Breckenridge and whose older brother is head coach in Gordon, obviously has the coaching pedigree. He coached a pair of travel youth baseball teams while he was in college in both San Angelo and Stephenville.
West worked at places in both cities which offered baseball lessons and offered to coach teams of 10U and 11U players to better their skills.
The Albany High graduate thought his first year of coaching went pretty well. Bowie is his first coaching stop after graduating from Tarleton State in May 2024.
It’s about time to enter rodeo events for Jim Bowie Days.
A youth rodeo speed event is set for June 23 at 7 p.m. at the rodeo arena. Young contestants will compete in poles, barrel racing, goat tying and mutton busting battling for payout, buckles and the hometown bragging rights.
Pole bending and barrel racing will be broken down into ages six and under 7-10, 11-14 and 15-19. Ribbon goats are for ages six and under with goat tying set for ages 7-10, 11-14, and 15-19.
Entries are available through the Rodeo Ready app. Registration begins June 17 at 3 p.m. through June 23 at 5:54 p.m. also at rodeoready.com.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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