SPORTS
Sports district realignment released
On Thursday morning, the University Interscholastic League released the district realignment for the 2024-2026 school years.
When the cutoff numbers came out during December, there were no big splashes for any area school moving up or down from the current status quo, but that does not mean there were no big changes.
Bowie is in an almost brand new football district, with only Iowa Park and Vernon returning. The other schools are familiar, but have not recently been in the Jackrabbits district.
The teams are Boyd, Paradise, Peaster, Ponder, Iowa Park and Vernon. While more than half the teams made the playoffs last year, only Paradise threatened for the district title.
The big news is there is no blue-blooded state-ranked every year opponent sitting at the top of the district that Bowie will have to endure like Brock or Jim Ned were expected to be.
Bowie had no other changes to its district layout in other sports. Holliday, Henrietta, Jacksboro, City View, Iowa Park and Vernon return to compete in every other sport.
Outside of district play is the news state power Brock is not just removed from the region, but out of the conference as the Eagles move up to 4A. Playoff runs will no longer die at the hands of Brock like so many Bowie teams have in the past.
For Nocona, the Indians staying in 2A was the biggest news back in December. Looking at the new football district, there is only one difference. Alvord, Tioga, Tom Bean, Trenton and Whitewright are all back. The district added one new team, Wolfe City. The Wolves finished in third place in their district the previous three seasons.
The basketball district stays the same except for the addition of Electra. Nocona will stay be in a district with Archer City, Olney, Petrolia, Seymour and Windthorst.
The biggest change is the Lady Indians volleyball district. Nocona moves from region II to region I and has a whole new district. Archer City, Olney and Petrolia are in it, but the big news is the inclusion of volleyball state power Windthorst.
For the 1A programs, some big changes came in the football districts. Gold-Burg and Forestburg moved out of region II to region III and will again be in a district with only Fannindel.
After two tough seasons sharing a district with Newcastle and Strawn, going back to a familiar opponent and a scenario where one win can get a team into the playoffs is welcomed.
For Saint Jo, the only change to its football district comes with the inclusion of Leverett’s Chapel, a team that won its district with ease the past two seasons. The Panthers will again have a long trip and tough team to play for the district title with Union Hill returning as well.
Campbell and Savoy have not been challenging for Saint Jo the past several seasons, so the addition of another playoff team will make the district schedule tougher.
The basketball district stays almost the same as Bellevue, Gold-Burg, Saint Jo, Forestburg, Prairie Valley and Midway return. The big news is the departure of district power Slidell as the Greyhounds moved up to 2A. With both boy’s and girl’s teams having won the district title almost every year for the past decade, it’s a big deal for the rest of the schools.
Also included in the good news is the departure of state-power Graford, which moved up to 2A, and Gordon moving out of the region.
In volleyball, the district stays the same as only area schools Bellevue, Forestburg, Saint Jo, Gold-Burg and Prairie Valley return.
The biggest change comes with two-time defending state champs Blum moving out of the region. Saint Jo has fallen each of the last two seasons to the Lady Cats in the regional final. Still, Harrold is coming off a state tournament appearance and will prove tough for the Lady Panthers in the upcoming season, according to volleyball Coach Kelly Skidmore.
This is just the district alignment for football, basketball and volleyball high school sports. Alignments for all other events will be releases in the spring of 2024.
To see the full breakdown of all of the new districts across the state in those three sports, you can go to the UIL website at https://www.uiltexas.org/alignments.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The 19th annual Bullfest came to the county on May 4, hosted at the Saint Jo Rodeo Arena. With bulls provided Big L Rodeo Company, Locke Bucking Bulls and more, it attracted many great riders, both local and farther away. In the end, it was Colby Deel from Jacksboro who won the the senior division round. The junior division winner was Ringo Stummer from Mountain Springs.
To see more photos, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
With the track season firmly over this year, one school went out of its way to encourage its athletes to not only improve on their totals, but set some school records this season.
Brenna Briles set the school record in the girl’s high jump (5-4), triple jump (33 feet), 100 meters (13.11) and the 200 meters (27.87).
Kayden Dill set the school record boy’s 100 meters (11.08) and 200 meters (23.47). Tye Reid set the boy’s 110 meter hurdles record at 18.7 seconds. Jesse Wadsworth set the boy’s 800 meters record with a time of 2:06.
Some relay teams also set some records. The boy’s 4×100 meter team of Jeremiah Perez, Kyler Willett, Will Johnson and Dill set the record with the time of 45.29 seconds.
The 4×400 meter relay team with Christian Binanti, Johnson, Willett and Wadsworth ran a time of 3:40.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs will be seeing a new face around the gym and fields next fall with the hiring of a new Athletic Director and Head Coach, Kent Caruthers.
Caruthers will be replacing Coach Seth Stephens, who has accepted a coaching job in LaPoynor, moving closer to his family and hometown. Although Coach Stephens will be missed after six years of being a part of the Prairie Valley family, Coach Caruthers will step into his new role with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Coach Caruthers has coached basketball, football, volleyball, cross country, track and golf.
He has a well-rounded background, which makes him the perfect candidate for a 1A coaching position.
He comes, most recently, from Matagorda where he was the athletic director, boys basketball, volleyball, and track coach.
He spent the majority of his coaching career at Tolar, where he was the head boys basketball coach, defensive coordinator for the varsity football team and head golf coach.
His record and experience speak for themselves, but when asked why he felt led to apply for this position, he said that the move north is all about coaching good kids.
His coaching philosophy revolves around hard work, stating “A winner is someone who recognizes their God-given talents, works their tail off developing the talents into skills and uses these skills to accomplish their goals.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
-
NEWS1 year ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS6 months agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS1 year agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS1 year agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS9 months agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS1 year ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS1 year agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS1 year ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint