SPORTS
Forestburg coach retiring
Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo’s Firecracker 5K welcomed 100 runners for its 16th year on July 4th.
According to runsignup.com, Old Jo’s Firecracker 5K saw 100 runners of all ages register to kick off in downtown Saint Jo.
Brayden Willett, 14, Nocona, was the top male finisher with a time of 19:02.6. Sarah Rainey, 35, Saint Jo, was the top female finisher with 21:47.1.
In the male nine and under division, I. Miller, nine, Muenster, repeated his first place win from 2023 with at time of 34:52.8. E. Thomas, eight, no town listed, also repeated her win with a time of 31:58.5.
Emry Raney-Cavnar, 14, Ardmore, OK, won the male 10-14 group and E. Christensen, 11, Decatur, took the female race. In the male 15-19 division Luke Gehrig, 17, Muenster, won, while Sophia Christensen, 15, Decatur, took the ladies’ title.
See all the results and more photos in the weekend Bowie News.
Special appreciation to Jennifer Gaston Panther Photography for use of her photos.
Major League Baseball and the Texas Rangers have planned a full week of activities for 2024 All-Star Week taking place in Arlington, Fort Worth and the North Texas region from July 12-16.
The 94th Midsummer Classic will be played at Globe Life Field on July 16, marking the second All-Star Game to be hosted by the Rangers following the 1995 All-Star Game at The Ballpark in Arlington.
HBCU Swingman Classic: July 12
All-Star Commissioner’s Cup: July 12- July 15
Jennie Finch Classic: July 12-15.
All-Star Village: July 13-16
All-Star Futures Game: July 13
All-Star Celebrity Softball: July 13
MLB Draft Opening Night: July 14
Home Run Derby: July 15
All-Star Red Carpet Show:July 16
MLB All-Star Game presented: July 16
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
By JORDAN NEAL
[email protected]
When most young kids get into rodeo, the craziest ones might be lucky enough to ride small bucking horses and maybe bulls in their late teens.
Then there is 12-year-old Riggin Garrett, who is already pursuing what he hopes is his future career as a bullfighter. It is a dream he began trying out several years ago at rodeos in and around this county.
This is not the Spanish variation of bullfighting where they end up killing the bull, this is “freestyle bullfighting” which is more popular in America. Here bullfighters attempt to make the bull look a fool, using their athleticism to barely dodge them, put their hats on their heads, leap over them and sometimes use a barrel as a prop. They also work as protection for the cowboys during the bull riding to help save bucked off riders.
In competition, both the bullfighter and the bull are judged after a 60-70 second encounter with points scored due to the various maneuvers pulled off.
Garrett is the son of Keysha Avens and Shane Garrett, and will be going into seventh grade at Saint Jo. As long as he can remember, Garrett has always been interested in bullfighting.
Read the full feature in the mid-week Bowie News.
Top Photo by J. Kelley Photography.
CORRECTION – In the mid-week Bowie News, the photographer for the picture on the top of page 1B was misidentified. The photo came from J. Kelley Photography, not Andre Silva as stated. We apologize for this error.
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