SPORTS
16 athletes qualify for state track meet
After competing at the regional track meet this past weekend, five area schools are sending athletes to the state meet.
The highlight was Saint Jo as the program had 11 athletes qualify for state, with the boy’s team winning the overall team title and the girl’s team finishing second at regionals. Other schools saw Bowie qualify two athletes in the wildcard position while Nocona, Forestburg and Bellevue each qualified one athlete.
Bowie competed in the 3A Region I meet at Abilene Christian University. Tyler Richey finished third in the pole vault jumping 14-6. Usually only the top two finishers qualify for state, but the third place athlete who posts the best time, jump, ect is offered a wildcard spot at state, which is what Richey got.
His teammate Russell Anderson also got it as he finished third in the 400 meters. His career best time of 49 seconds was good enough to earn him the wildcard spot as well.
Nocona competed at Springtown High School in the 2A Region II meet. Graci Brown, who had made appearances the previous two seasons at state, was trying to make it back for her final attempt.
Brown made it look easy in the 400 meters, getting first with a time that is fastest in her classification at 57.86 seconds. Unfortunately, her attempts to qualify in the 200 meters and in the 4×400 meter relay came up just short, finishing fourth in both races.
The rest of the schools competed at the 1A Region III meet at Waco Midway High School.
Saint Jo had a big day. The boy’s team qualified its 4×200 and 4×400 meter relays which included Devin Stewart, Damon Byrd, Barrett Johnson, Lee Yeley and Trent Gaston.
Individually, Stewart qualified in the 300 meter hurdles as well where he finished first. Gaston got second in the 110 meter hurdles and qualified for state as well. Yeley got second in the high jump to qualify individually.
Byrd, who won a bronze medal at state the previous year in the triple jump, finished third in both the triple and long jump events. Thankfully, his jumps were good enough to earn him the wildcard position to return to state in both events.
The girl’s team qualified both its 4×100 and 4×200 meter relay teams consisting of Abby Carter, Aubrey Morman, Jordyn O’Neal, Taylor Patrick and Savannah Hill. Hill also qualified in the 300 meter hurdles where she finished second. The final qualifier was Maxey Johnson who finished second in the discus.
For Bellevue, Mattie Broussard swept the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter races to finish as regional champ in each race and qualify for state.
For Forestburg, defending state champion in the high jump Brenna Briles was able to qualify for state in the event as she finished second. She also qualified in the triple jump where she finished second as well.
The state track meet is scheduled for May 1-3 at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin.
Results for all area athletes are in the weekly edition of the Bowie News. Pictures of all state qualifiers are in the paper as well.
Bellevue’s girl’s basketball team led at halftime but a quick 9-0 Jacksboro run in the opening moments of the second half would prove the difference in a 28-25 Lady Eagle loss June 15 in a Nocona Summer League game.
Leading 12-9 at the half, Bellevue continued to shut down the inside game of the Tigerettes. Jacksboro switched tactics and began firing from outside. Three 3-pointers in the span of just under two minutes gave Jacksboro an 18-12 lead.
Bellevue kept things close, however, getting on the second half scoreboard with Mattie Broussard’s basket and free throws cutting the deficit to two, 18-16. A Haven Jones 3-pointer put the Lady Eagles up 19-18 midway through the second half.
The Tigerettes had just one 3 -pointer the rest of the way but got inside for a pair of buckets to take a 25-21 lead with 4:50 to go. Both offenses shut down late.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Most school-age athletes start off playing everything. By the time they graduate, they whittle it down to just one or two.
New Bowie girl’s track and overall cross country coach Shawnda Childers is no exception. While at Iowa Park she competed in volleyball, cross country and track before cutting out volleyball and focusing on track and cross country to close out high school.
Childers did not stay with athletics while moving on to Midwestern State University, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s Degrees. After graduation, shestarted coaching in Electra. She came to Bowie for one year, then went back to her old stomping grounds in Iowa Park where she spent the next four years.
The return home also put her in contact with now-Bowie Coach Griffin Fields, who was a coach there at the time. From Iowa Park, she spent the next three years at City View.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
New Saint Jo Girl’s Basketball Coach Grant Gooch isn’t completely unfamiliar with the area.
“We went to Muenster quite a bit when I was a kid,” Gooch, who will be going into his 20th year as a coach, said. “We’d load up the cooler from the meat markets. It’s good to be back.”
Gooch worked with Saint Jo Athletic Director CJ Hantz when the pair were in Throckmorton. Gooch comes to town from Menard where he spent three years at the West Texas school.
Gooch says coaching and education kind of come naturally to him.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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