SPORTS
Bowie sending two girls to the state powerlifting meet
Girls from Bowie and Nocona competed at the regional powerlifting tournament on Friday and Saturday at Bells High School hoping to punch their tickets to the state meet.
In the end two lifters from Bowie, Kinley Russell and Jordan Vaught, are both making return trips to the state meet after winning their weight classes.
Russell competed in the 148 class and put up a season high total of 800 total pounds, improving by 35 pounds from her previous high this year. It was how much she won by compared to second place as she qualified for state for the second straight season.
Vaught competed in the 242 class. Her 930 pound total was also a season high, improving by 60 pounds. She out lifted second place by five pounds.
Coach Quinn Wilson was happy for his two top lifters who have put in the work this season.
“I am beyond proud of them,” Wilson said. “This was the expectation going in for them. Our goal this year was to automatically qualify for state, and then do their best after that, and that led to them both to getting first place. They worked their tails off in the weight room and it showed on their totals. They were the first girls in and the last ones to leave every day and now they are looking to increase their lifts at state. We are right back to work with our eyes on state medals.”
Their teammates were not as lucky. Alleson Aguirre and Trently Brewer both finished in eighth place in their weight classes though both also set season highs. Aguirre also competed in the 148 class and finished with a 645 pound total. Brewer competed in the 123 class and lifted 535 total pounds.
Mira Anderson competed in th1 165 class, completed her squat at 270 pounds before missing on bench and busting out, or not completing the rest of her lifts.
Still, with two first place medalists, Bowie finished in fifth place out of 14 teams at regionals.
For Nocona, the team had no state qualifiers though three of the team’s five lifters finished in the top five in their weight classes.
Savannah Wade finished third in the 123 class with a total of 600 pounds. She was 45 pounds behind second place.
Caris Johnson finished in fourth place in the 132 class, lifting 595 total pounds which was 15 pounds better than her previous best this season.
Jacie Pirkey finished in fifth place in the 148 class as she lifted 625 total pounds. Yazmin Ibarra missed out on scoring points as she finished in sixth place in the 132 class with a total of 525 pounds.
Kaitlyn Tiffner, who was a state qualifier last year in the 97 class, unfortunately did not complete a lift and busted out.
To see results for all of the lifters from Bowie and Nocona, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.
Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal
Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue
Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo
Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo
To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
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.
The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.
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