SPORTS
UIL releases cutoff numbers for realignment
Released on Friday, the University Interscholastic League put out the official cutoff numbers for conference realignment for the 2024-2026 school years.
Even with a few schools worried about possibly moving up, no area schools changed classification now with the numbers out.
Bowie was never worried about moving up from 3A to 4A, reporting 493 kids and the cutoff for 4A classification being 545. The school was even farther away from dropping down to division II in football, with the 3A division I cutoff number at 369.
Almost as big of news is the departure of state powerhouse Brock, which ended Bowie playoff runs in several sports over the years as the Eagles move up to 4A.
Nocona was ecstatic this time two years ago when it dropped down from 3A to 2A by one student. The Indians have reaped the benefits in almost every sport last year and already this year. Surely Nocona would not get so lucky again.
Well, the school turned in even less than it did two years ago and will stay in 2A for another two years. The cutoff number for 3A was 254 this time and Nocona turned in 234.
Saint Jo was another school that was worried about moving up. The Panthers have been the biggest 1A school in the area and have used that advantage to post great results in recent years in almost every sport.
Moving up to 2A would not just be an increase in competition, but also would mean Saint Jo football players and coaches would be transitioning from six-man football to traditional 11-man for the first time in many years.
Luckily, the Panthers were a few kids under the cutoff number once again. Saint Jo turned in 100.5 and the 2A cutoff was 105.
With the Panthers’ athletic director Mark Stevens retiring at the end of the school year, the next hire will have the benefit of utilizing Saint Jo’s number advantage for at least two more years before people have to worry again about the possibility of moving up.
Every other area school was not worried about moving up from 1A to 2A. However, for Gold-Burg and Forestburg, the two schools were worried about moving up in the football classification from division II to division I.
Forestburg was close, reporting 57 and the cutoff number being 61.5. Gold-Burg was well under reporting 49.
For area schools Bellevue and Prairie Valley that don’t play football, neither were worried about having to move up from 1A to 2A. Both would have to nearly double its enrollment numbers just to start to worry about the possibility as Bellevue turned in 52 and Prairie Valley turned in 45.
The final stage in realignment won’t come until Feb. 1, 2024, when the UIL releases district alignments for 2024-2026.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. To see enrollment numbers for all schools in the state, go to this link https://www.uiltexas.org/press-releases/detail/uil-conference-cutoff-numbers-for-2024-2026-reclassification-realignment.
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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