SPORTS
2014: Year of triumph, tragedy
By ERIC VICCARO
bnewssports@sbcglobal.net
Both triumph and tragedy surfaced here in the north Texas sports scene during the 2014 calendar year.
On the positive side, now second-year Bowie High School head boys’ basketball coach Doug Boxell earned his 700th win of the season and Forestburg made only its second playoff appearance in school history.
There was also melancholy as we heard about the four North Central Texas College softball players who lost their lives in a tragic vehicular accident north of Ardmore, Okla.
The former Top O’ The Lake Golf Course was sold and transformed into Twisted Oaks Golf Club.
There were other changes throughout the county, most notably former Nocona boys’ basketball coach J.D. Mayo took a job with Joshua and former Lady Indian volleyball coach Sandy Langford left Nocona for Glen Rose.
Bowie had a college signing of spectacular note when Lady Rabbit center Jordan Brightwell put pen to paper on a National Letter of Intent to play basketball for NCAA Division I Tennessee State in Nashville.
No. 1 sports story of the year: NCTC softball accident
There was plenty of shock when the news spread on Sept. 26 that four North Central Texas College softball players were killed in an auto accident on Interstate-35 in Oklahoma.
Fifteen players and coaches were injured in the wreck. The team was returning from a scrimmage against Southern Nazarene University of Bethany, Okla.
The four players killed were Brooke Deckard, Jaiden Pelton, Meagan Richardson and Katelyn Woodlee. The four were deemed, “The Angels In The Infield.”
A scholarship has been started in honor of those who perished, and there’s also an NCTC Softball Benefit Fund.
There was a prayer vigil on campus on Sept. 29, and it became a national story carried on all four major network outlets.
In the month of November, softball dignitaries such as Jennie Finch came to Gainesville as more than $19,000 was raised from a pair of alumni softball games, and live and silent auctions.
Editor’s Note: Read more, and see a photo page, in the mid-week Bowie News in print and with your electronic subscription.
North Central Texas College softball players Meagan Richardson, Brooke Deckard, Katelynn Woodlee and Jaiden Pelton all lost their lives in a vehicular accident back in late September. The story received national attention on college athletics and travel. (Photo graphic provided by North Central Texas College)
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.
The Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl is this week on June 6-7 and graduating athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo are confirmed to be playing.
In total, seven athletes from Bowie, five from Nocona and three from Saint Jo are planning to play in the all-star games this week. Nocona also will have a pair of coaches participating as well.
The girl’s basketball game kicks off events on June 6, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita Falls Memorial High School. In the game, the east team will have Nocona players Avery Crutsinger, Meg Meekins and Reagan Phipps playing while Kyler Spitzer and Clayton Brown coach them one last time.
On the west team, Saint Jo’s Payzlie Cervantes is confirmed to be playing.
The boy’s basketball game is scheduled to follow at 7:30 p.m. On the east team, Bowie’s Boston Farris and Nocona’s Jose Gomez Jr. will be playing.
On June 7, the volleyball games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with the small school game. On the west team, Nocona’s Kaygan Stone and Saint Jo’s Taylor Patrick are confirmed to play. On the east team, Saint Jo’s Aubrey Morman will get to play her teammate.
There are no local athletes confirmed to be playing in the big school volleyball game.
The final event is the football game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. It is an all Bowie affair with six players confirmed to be playing for the east team: Justin Clark, Jorge De Leon, Hunter Fluitt and Braden Rhyne, Preacher Chambers and Moh Azouak.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona Independent School District officials looked inward for a new athletic director/head football coach, selecting Jeff Hill for the position.
Hill, who served last year as Nocona football’s offensive coordinator and also led the softball program to the playoffs for the first time in a while as its head coach, was upgraded to the role.
This came on the heels of former Athletic Director Blake Crutsinger, who served in the role the last four years, resigned in May.
For Hill, the choice to apply for the position was a no brainer. His one year in Nocona had impressed upon him and his wife that it was the place they would like to be long term.
“I’m looking for a town to raise my kids in and Nocona has treated my family really well,” Hill said. “There are some really good people. The kids work hard. Everything I am looking for in a hometown is right here in Nocona and I want to try and make it as best as it can be, especially through athletics.”
Before Nocona, Hill served as the athletic director at S&S Consolidated while also spending time at Hebron and Whitewright in his coaching career.
Hill expresses great respect for the departing Crutsinger and besides changing a few small things in how he personally wants to do things, he is not trying to come in with a sweeping restructuring of the whole athletic department.
The program had five of its six team sports make the playoffs, with volleyball playing in the regional final and the girl’s basketball team winning the state championship.
That along with two athletes competing at the state championship in cross country and track with one earning a gold medal, it was one of the more successful school years in athletic program history.
“Coach Crutsinger was awesome and did a great job so honestly just little tweaks, a little bit of structure and cohesion amongst the coaching staff between boys and girls,” Hill said. “I hope to keep the winning tradition going overall in the athletic department.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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