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UIL changes playoff format

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The University Interscholastic League announced on Tuesday changes for the upcoming school year when it comes to playoff formatting.
For 2A-5A schools, playoff formatting for volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball and soccer will now be split up into two divisions that will model itself like the 6A football playoffs. For 1A schools, this will only be applied for basketball. In all, there will be 12 state champions in those sports now.
This means there will be two playoff divisions within every classification. Districts will stay the same and not be affected. Four teams from every district will still make the playoffs, but now the two biggest schools of the four will play in the bracket with the other bigger schools while the two smaller schools will play in the other bracket.
This will not be like 1A-5A football, where divisions are hard cut by enrollment numbers and district alignments are set up with this in mind. Some districts that feature schools with low enrollment numbers within a classification will have to send two schools to compete in the big school bracket.
At lower levels, it might still set up a scenario where a team faces a school with twice the enrollment numbers. The thought process is it should happen less.
With fewer teams in the playoff bracket, certain parts of the playoffs like the area round and the regional tournament will not be featured as there will be less games to play on the way to the state tournament.
While the announcement was surprising to some, other coaches said they first heard about it at the basketball state tournament. UIL polled coaches, who were reportedly all for the change according to Nocona athletic director Blake Crutsinger.
For some schools, the changes will not mean much besides fewer games. Bowie is in that spot. With an enrollment number of 493, only Vernon and Iowa Park are the schools in its district that are bigger and would have to finish at the top two spots in the standings in order for Bowie teams to play in the smaller bracket.
For other schools, the change could be a big deal. Nocona’s enrollment of 234 is only 20 short of the 2A limit. The Indians will most likely play in the bigger bracket in every sport.
The Lady Indians basketball team finished as runners-up at state this year and will return four of their five starters. The teams that have beaten them the last two years, Martin’s Mill and Lipan along with several other 2A basketball powers have low enrollment numbers and would probably be in the smaller school bracket.
For 1A schools, the change is welcome but the fact volleyball was not included was sad to see for some coaches. From a numbers perspective, there are almost twice as many schools that offer basketball (213) than volleyball (123) in 1A.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

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Girls compete in school rodeo

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Courtesy photo

Tess Egenbacher (above), a Bowie High School sophomore, competed at the Texas High School Rodeo Region 3 last weekend in Graham.  She placed eighth on Oct. 19 with 22.351 seconds and sixth place on Oct. 20 running 22.866. Also competing was senior Kiley McCracken from Prairie Valley who finished 19th with a run of 18.037 in rodeo three and in rodeo four she was 21st with a run of 18.276. Kiley also ran Oct. 18 at NXHSRA in Saginaw with a run of 17.507. Her younger sister Kinsley McCracken, who is in fifth grade, competed in goats, barrels and poles. In Rodeo three she placed fourth in poles with 26.820. In rodeo four she got fourth in goats with a run of 14.450, barrels seventh with a run of 22.384 and fourth in poles with a run of 26.175.

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Volleyball Roundup

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Prairie Valley’s Kailie Cearley looks to spike the ball hard past Gold-Burg’s blocker at the net.

Prairie Valley vs Gold-Burg
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs were able to bounce back with a win against Gold-Burg at home on Wednesday night.
The Lady Bulldogs won in straight sets 3-0 against the Lady Bears.
Prairie Valley was coming off a disappointing loss against first place Saint Jo, which would prevent the Lady Bulldogs of having a shot at the district title.
Gold-Burg was hoping it could catch a Prairie Valley team off guard as the young Lady Bears team is looking for its first district win.
It was the third time the teams have played this season and it went similar to the first two times.
The Lady Bulldogs won with the set scores being 25-13, 25-6 and 25-12.

Bowie
The Bowie Lady Rabbits lost a tough match at Holliday on Tuesday night.
The Lady Eagles won in straight sets 3-0 against the Lady Rabbits as the end of the season draws near.
Bowie was looking for its first district win and knew it would be tough to get it at Holliday on Tuesday. The Lady Eagles were ranked 11th in the state in 3A coming into the week.
The first two sets were similar scores. The Lady Rabbits fell behind, but at times competed well with Holliday. Unfortunately it was not enough to come back in either set as the Lady Eagles won 25-13 in both.
The final set Bowie could never get anything going. Holliday turned it up a level and the Lady Rabbits could not keep up. The Lady Eagles won the set 25-8 and the match 3-0.

Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians won on the road on Tuesday at Olney to set up a showdown in their next match.
The Lady Indians easily beat the Lady Cubs in straight sets 3-0.
Nocona came into the match confident, having previously beaten Olney on its own home floor a few weeks previously.
The Lady Indians won with the set scores being 25-13, 25-17 and 25-10.
Ava Johnson led the team with 12 kills and seven service aces. Jolie Rose, Paige Davis and Raylea Bowles each had five kills.
Leah Meekins had a team high 18 assists while Kasi Castro was second with nine. Kaygan Stone was second with three aces.
On defense, Aubree Kleinhans had a team high 10 digs while Johnson and Meekins each had five. Bowles had one block.

Forestburg vs Bellevue
The Forestburg Lady Horns won their biggest match of the season at home on Monday night against Bellevue to secure a playoff spot.
The Lady Horns won in straight sets 3-0, but each set was competitive and came down to the wire.
Forestburg came into the match with a bit more confidence, having won the first matchup at Bellevue a few weeks previously to sit in third place.
The Lady Eagles needed to win if they wanted a chance to possibly set up a play-in game against the Lady Horns for the final playoff spot.
Each set was competitive and point-to-point down to the final few serves. Forestburg came out on top in the first set 26-24, which set the tone for the match.
The second set was also close, but in the end the Lady Horns were able to get some breathing room on their way to winning 25-21 to go up 2-0.
With Bellevue’s back and against the wall, the Lady Eagles fought back and made sure they were not just going to lay down for Forestburg.
Back and forth it went and like the first set, it came down to executing the final few serves.
Also like the first set, the Lady Horns were able to come out on top 25-23 to earn the victory 3-0.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. To see more pictures from the Prairie Valley and Gold-Burg match, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6869975&T=1

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Several runners qualify for state cross country meet

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The regional cross country meets were on Monday and Tuesday and the area schools are sending a handful of athletes to the state meet.
Overall there is one team that qualified and five individuals who will be competing with the best of the best in Round Rock.
To qualify for state, the criteria are the top four teams in each race and the first 10 runners in each race who are not on one of those four teams.
The Bowie Jackrabbit boy’s team competed at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock in the 3A Region I race. It was heartbreaking as the Jackrabbits finished fifth overall and were only six points away from fourth place Lubbock Roosevelt, which would have sent the team to state.
Thankfully, senior top runner Isaac Renteria was able to qualify himself. He finished seventh overall with a time of 16:53. Brayden Willett almost qualified individually as well, but was just the second runner to be cut off. He finished in 23rd. Russell Anderson got 38th, Sebastian Martinez was not far behind at 41st and Jackson Frye got 64th.
Coach Ryan Dykes was crushed for his team, but was proud for Renteria.
“The Rabbits ran exceptionally well on this challenging course,” Dykes said. “Several runners had great days and rose to the occasion. We are so proud of Issac making it to state at the 3A level after running 1A the last three years. All the boy and girl runners have given their absolute best for their season.”
Nocona and all of the 1A schools ran at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie.
Nocona runners ran in the 2A region II races at the end of the first day.
The Lady Indians only had one runner compete, but she made it count. Junior Bayler Smith was able to qualify individually, finishing 16th overall with a time of 12:54.
Coach Kyle Spitzer was proud of her, knowing Smith had experience being on two teams that qualified for state, but did it almost alone this year.
“I am very proud of the work and the sacrifices she has made to get to this point,” Spitzer said. “Also I need to give Reagan Phipps a shoutout as well. She is the manager, but she also works out with Bayler at every practice. So it’s good to have her there to push her and keep her motivated.”
Unfortunately, she will be the only Nocona runner at state this year. The Indians team finished 15th overall.
The Indians top runner was Freddy Duran who got 41st with a time of 19:02. Nocona’s top five runners were Andrew Perez (52nd), Omar Salinas (63rd), Emilio Rocha (115th) and Corbyn Patton (125th).
Coach Brody Wilson lamented it being his team’s final race, but was proud of how they did against tough competition.
“I thought the boys competed hard and did their best,” Wilson said. “Our region is very tough with very fast runners. I am proud of what they accomplished this year, especially getting back to regionals as a team.”
The area 1A schools competed on the final day in the 1A region III race.
Saint Jo almost pulled off the feat of sending both of its teams to state, but its girls team just missed the cut by four points.
The Panther boy’s team qualified for the second time in three years, earning third place overall and was only five points from second place Saltillo.
Barrett Johnson was the team’s top runner as he got 12th place with a time of 19:05. His next three teammates were not far behind with Jayden Curry getting 13th, Elijah Young earning 15th and Julian Luna getting 18th. Ayden Giambruno got 46th to round out the scoring.
The Lady Panthers were trying to make it back to state for the second straight year, but were four points away from fourth place Newcastle and seven from third place Woodson.
Still, the team’s top runner, sophomore Savannah Hill, was able to qualify individually. She finished ninth overall with a time of 13:28. The team’s top five runners included Taylor Patrick (20th), Abby Carter (45th), Jordyn O’Neal (51st) and Mercedes Diaz (56th).
Coach Daniel Lindenborn was hoping both teams would qualify, but knows his runners gave their all and is happy for those that are advancing to state.
“At the end of the day you either have the race you hope for or you don’t,” Lindenborn said. “We had some runners who ran their hardest and got the results they wanted. We had some runners who ran their hardest and didn’t get the results they wanted. Our entire cross country team is excited for the runners who advanced to state and proud of the effort given by each member throughout this season.”
Bellevue had both of its teams compete, but neither were able to advance. The Lady Eagles got 11th place and the boy’s team earned 18th place. However, one runner did break through to qualify for state.
Freshman Mattie Broussard finished first overall with a time of 12:36, which was nearly 20 seconds faster than second place. The Bellevue girl’s top five runners also included Brittany Gill (67th), Tristin Shook (83rd), Brooklyn Shook (88th) and Mary Grace Broussard (99th).
The boy’s team top runner was River Trail who got 47th with a time of 21:55. The Eagle’s top five runners also included Brycen Bancroft (96th), Ryan Jones (112th), Evan Chavez (119th) and Cowyn Langford (125th).
Prairie Valley only sent two runners to the regional meet, but both were able to qualify for state again. Senior Linzie Priddy got 11th place while running 13:37. It was her third time to qualify for state in cross country and the second time in a row.
Sophomore Josh Stout got 22nd with a time of 20:05. It is the second year in a row he qualified for state in cross country.
Coach Kent Caruthers thought both athletes got what they deserved after putting in the work all season.
“I am not now or ever been a distance runner so I respect these athletes greatly to train and compete in cross country,” Caruthers said. “Both made it to state last year also so they know what they have to do to be successful. Both are great students as well as athletes and I am very proud of them.”
Forestburg had one runner compete. Jesse Wadsworth got 36th with a time of 21:03.

To see results from all of the area school’s runners, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

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