SPORTS
County sending 8 to state
After taking part in windy regional track meets this weekend, the area schools are sending eight athletes to the state meet in Austin in three different classifications.
Athletes from Bowie, Nocona, Saint Jo and Gold-Burg will be competing against the best athletes in the state in their events.
For several athletes this year was redemption for last year. Bowie junior Tucker Jones made it to the regional final in last year’s 110 meter hurdles, but unfortunately a tough fall at the beginning of the race did not allow him to finish.
This year Jones barely made it to the final as the last seed, but in the final he put together a clean race. It was close at the finish with the top four finishing within .13 seconds of each other. In the end, it was Jones who finished second, running 15 seconds flat and qualifying for state in the 3A classification.
With everything coming full circle, Jones was appreciative he was able to overcome last year’s failure.
“It shows anything can happen at any given moment,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without moments like those.”
Jones dedicated his achievement to the memory of his late friend Colby Price, who died in December in a car wreck.
Another athlete looking for redemption was Nocona’s Graci Brown. The sophomore was only a hair short of qualifying for state last year in the 400 meters as a freshman in 3A. In 2A this year and motivated by last year’s disappointment, she redoubled her commitment to training.
It paid off as she not only qualified in the 400 meters this year, but won it as well as the 800 meter race as well.
Brown also finished second in the long jump and anchored the 4×400 relay team that included Ava Johnson, Ayden Patton and Megyn Meekins to second place to qualify in those events as well. Overall, that performance and several others helped the Lady Indians team finish tied for fourth.
“Last year losing that wildcard by .002 really pushed me this year,” Brown said. “Every time I get in those blocks or just racing that 4×400 for my team, I don’t want that to ever be me again and I won’t let that be me. The training I did this year compared to last year is unlike any other so I am just thankful for that.”
For other athletes in the 1A classification it was a return to state in a way for all three. Saint Jo senior Collin Thomas has qualified for state all four years in cross country. He qualified for the first time last year in track running the 800 meters and was a part of the 4×400 relay team. This year he is heading back by finishing second in both the 800 meters and 1600 meters.
“I am very excited,” Thomas said. “I think I will not be as nervous this year after experiencing it last year. I want to make it in the top three this year so I can get a medal.
He won’t be alone as he is joined by fellow Saint Jo athlete, sophomore Devin Stewart, who finished second in the high jump as he jumped six feet flat. Stewart also will be making a return to state after being a part of last year’s 4×400 relay team that qualified.
“I’m pretty excited,” Stewart said. “I’m not sure last year’s experience will help much. Last year I ran and this year I am in a field event so it will be different. I just hope I can improve on my results from regionals and see what happens.”
The final athlete who qualified is not unfamiliar to the state stage. Gold-Burg sophomore Isaac Renteria has already run in the state cross country meet twice. This year he parlayed his success running long distances in the fall to the spring. Renteria finished first in both the 3200 meter race and was just ahead of Thomas in the 1600 meter race.
“I think my experience at the next level will help me prepare for this competition,” Renteria said. “While I won’t be shocked, I expect that the experience will still be different. However, I am fully aware that I will have to give it my all just to be able to compete.”
The state meet is scheduled for May 11-13 at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin.
Results for all of the athletes from area schools who competed at the regional meet are in the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians wrapped up their first playoff berth since 2005 with a dominant win against Chico on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 10-0 in four and half innings due to run-rule to earn the district’s final playoff spot and break a nearly two decade drought.
Nocona was in a similar situation last year after beating Chico in the first game before losing twice more to the Dragons, once in the regular season finale and then in the play-in series.
The Indians won the first game earlier in the week 9-4, but knew they could play better. On Thursday they then proved it.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nocona got the scoring going as Wesley Murphey hit an RBI double. Two batters later, Landon Fatheree drove in two runs with a double.
Konnor Harrington followed with a groundout that scored another run as the Indians led 4-0.
In the second inning, Nocona kept up the pressure. Brody Langford drove in a run with a single. Later with the bases loaded, Caden Belcher was hit by a pitch that scored a run. A later passed ball allowed one more run to score as the Indians extended their lead to 7-0.
Nocona got one more run in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Wesley Murphey grounded into a fielder’s choice out that scored one run to make it 8-0.
The Indians got the final two runs they needed in the fourth inning. Walker Murphey and RJ Walker hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Nocona up 10-0.
Chico needed to score at least one run to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule. Instead Walker Murphey completed the shutout performance by retiring the next three batters to end the game and the Dragon’s season.
The Indians won 10-0 and earned the district’s final playoff spot.
Wesley Murphey and Fatheree drove in two runs each to lead the team. Walker Murphey led the team with three hits. The team finished with 11 hits and drew six walks.
Walker Murphey also allowed zero runs and one hit while striking out five batters and walking none. The defense behind him committed only one fielding error.
Coach Zach Denson was beyond proud of this team for breaking the playoff drought.
“The amount of growth that they have shown throughout the year has been the most incredible I’ve seen in 13 years of coaching,” Denson said. “We went on a little skid in the middle of the year and that could have derailed our young team, but it actually brought us closer together as a unit.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits were able to clinch the final playoff spot on Thursday with a senior night home win against Henrietta.
The Jackrabbits won 6-1 in a game where all of the offensive action happened in the first three innings for both teams.
Bowie came into the game needing to win. Failing to do so would mean setting up a series with the Bearcats for the final playoff spot. If the Jackrabbits just took care of business against a team they had already beaten once pretty easily then they could avoid that whole situation.
Henrietta knew it was playing for the future of its season and struck first. A one out double followed by a single two batters later put the Bearcats up 1-0 against Bowie’s top pitcher Edmond De Leon on the mound.
The offense responded in the same inning with a two-out rally. Troy Kesey hit a single and Hayden Rodriguez drew a walk. De Leon then hit a double to drive one run in.
Cooper Hammer was then hit a by a pitch to load the bases up. Rayder Mann then drew a walk that scored one run and the Jackrabbits led 2-1 before the next batter popped up for out three.
Bowie added to that lead in the second inning. Boston Farris led off with a triple. Tucker Jones then hit a groundball to second base that resulted in an error that allowed Farris to score and make it 3-1 for the Jackrabbits.
Bowie then extended the lead in the third inning. Hammer hit a one-out single. Mann and Cy Egenbacher followed with hits that resulted in fielding errors for the Bearcats. The Jackrabbits scored one run on the second error.
Farris then hit a single that drove in another run. After a strikeout, a wild pitch then allowed another runner to score as Bowie was up 6-1. Another strikeout ended the scoring for the Jackrabbits.
The next three and half innings saw neither team score runs, though both had several chances with two runners getting on at times.
Henrietta’s best chance came in the fifth inning with two singles, but De Leon and Bowie’s defense shut that down. De Leon retired the final seven batters he faced as the Jackrabbits won 6-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Last week all of the area schools competed in their district’s tennis tournament and several schools had athletes qualify for the regional tournament.
In the end, 10 athletes finished second or better at district to move on for a chance to qualify for state.
Unfortunately, no players from Bowie were able to break through and qualify.
Many faced early seeding opponents from tennis power Vernon that ended their tournament.
The highest finish for a Bowie player was Lily Hodges who placed fourth in girls singles.
From Nocona, one girl was able to break through as Kaygan Stone finished second in girls singles to qualify for regionals.
Stone has had a tough year, dealing with shoulder problems that shortened both her volleyball and basketball seasons, but she bounced back this spring to qualify for regionals in tennis.
Her teammate Melissa Segura was not so lucky, as she finished third in girls singles and just missed the cut, having to settle for an alternate spot
At the 1A tournament, several schools had multiple athletes in one division qualify.
From Saint Jo, last year’s state qualifying girl’s doubles team of Kyler Dunn and Taylor Patrick won the division.
They beat out the second place finisher and their teammates, the girl’s doubles team of Maxey Johnson and Bailey Nobile, who also qualified for regionals.
From Gold-Burg, Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles to move on to the regional tournament.
Other schools only had one team or individual.
From Forestburg, the mixed doubles team of Jesse Wadsworth and Alli Cisneros finished second as they qualified for regionals.
From Prairie Valley, Case Carpenter finished second in the boys singles division.
To read the full story and see pictures of all of the qualifiers, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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