63.3 F
Waurika
Monday, May 6, 2024
Advertisement
Home Sports Page 5

Sports

7 days popular

Ryan Softball Squad Eyes Second Half of Season for Improvement

By
Trey Smart
-
0

 After a slow start to the fast-pitch softball season, the Ryan Cowgirls have shown some improvement and they hope the trend continues through the second half of the season.

The Cowgirls have had an extended layoff thanks to the schedule and to the weather which forced the postponement of a scheduled game with Waurika on Tuesday.

Photo by Shelley Villarreal

Ryan is slated to return to action today when the Cowgirls play host to conference rival Temple on Larry Ninman Field at the Bob Givens Sports Complex.

On Monday, the Cowgirls will host Wilson and next weekend will compete in the Temple Invitational Tournament.

Photo by Shelley Villarreal

The remainder of the regular season schedule will feature teams the Cowgirls have already seen during the first half of the schedule.

If the Cowgirls can continue to improve, a few more wins might be possible.

The Cowgirls have one scheduled game with Big Pasture and the two teams have split their two meetings.

The remainder of the schedule will prepare the Cowgirls for the Class B District Tournament that begins on September 24 and the site and pairings will be announced soon.

Photo by Shelley Villarreal
Photo by Shelley Villarreal
Photo by Shelley Villarreal

Waurika’s Aaron Torrez Wins State in Power Lifting

By
Curtis Plant
-
0

Aaron Torrez recently achieved something that no junior high student in recent history has done.

Torrez won the State Championship in power lifting. 

He competed in squats, bench and deadlifting this past week in El Reno. 

Torrez is just in the seventh grade and this is his second year to compete on the weight lifting team. 

Last year he competed at the state level and finished in 5th place. 

He now would like to win the state title every year until he graduates. 

Torrez has been a Waurika Eagle since Kindergarten.

In his spare time he loves to fish. 

Waurika Boys Capture Geronimo Title; Lady Eagles Earn Second

By
Trey Smart
-
0

It was a banner day last Saturday for the Waurika cross country teams as they competed in the first Geronimo Invitational cross country meet.

The meet was a relatively small one, but the Eagles and Lady Eagles left their mark on the rest of the field.

Waurika won the boys’ title with a total of 35 points – just in front of runner up Geronimo that had 41 points. Munday, Texas finished third with 53 points.

The Lady Eagles were runner up to Munday in the high school girls division. The Lady Moguls had 26 points, while Waurika finished with 36 points. Ryan was third with 71 points.

The Eagles had eight competitors in the meet and seven of them won medals.

Leading the way for the Eagles was Cache Dunn who earned top honors in the race with a tie of 19:26.3.

Kevin Garcia finished 11th with a time of 21:36.8 in the five kilometer race.

Gustavio Gomez earned 13th place with a time of 21:46.2 and he was followed closely by the Eagles’ Alex Gomez, who recorded a time of 21:47.0. Right behind was Octavio Gomez who was 15th with a time of 22:54.0.

Rounding out the medal winners were Trent Arellano and Isaac Camarillo. Arellano finished 17th with a tiem of 23:19.3, while Camarillo was 18th with a mark of 23:32.4.

Malachi Dodson also competed at Geronimo and was 27th with a time of 29:37.3.

Eight of the 11 runners for the Lady Eagles came home with hardware.

The top competitor at Geronimo for the Lady Eagles was Tallin Mora. Mora finished fifth with a time of 14:17.7.

Asia Smith also had a top 10 finish with a time of 14:32.8. Her time was good for seventh place.

Lexie Streeter finished 12th with a time of 15:08.4 over the 3,200-meter course.

Aubree Showalter was right behind with a time of 15:09.5, which gave her 13th place.

Jaci Gholson, who participated in her first meet of the season, was 18th with a time of 16:01.0.

Skylar Garrett earned a medal with a 19th-place finish. Her time for the day was 16:01.0.

Rounding out the medalists for the Lady Eagles was Brooklyn Barnes and Faith Roberson.

Barnes was 24th with a time of 17:18.4, while Roberson was right behind in 25th place with a time of 17:30.9.

Also competing for the Lady Eagles were Kaci Reynolds (30th, 20:29.7), Hope Cummings (32nd, 21:14.3) and Savana Ritter (33rd, 21:14.4).

Waurika’s junior high and elementary cross country squads did not compete at Geronimo.

The Eagles and Lady Eagles will be in action again tomorrow (Friday) when they will run at the Big Green soccer complex in the Cameron University Invitational in Lawton.

Cowboy Gridders Face Battle With Grandfield Needing A Win

By
Trey Smart
-
0

Every game matters at this point in the season.

For the Ryan Cowboys, tonight’s contest with Grandfield on the Bearcats’ home field, will have an impact on the post-season hopes for the Cowboys.

Kickoff tonight is set for 7 o’clock.

The Cowboys need a win to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.

District C-2 is not complicated at the top, but the battle for the final two playoff positions could be.

Geary needs to win one of its last two games to be assured of third place in the district.

If Ryan can pick up a victory over Grandfield, the Cowboys should be in a good place to earn fourth in the district race.

A loss by the Cowboys would all but eliminate Ryan from playoff consideration.

But, the positioning for the post season could get muddled if Geary were to fall in its final game with Corn Bible Academy.

The Cowboys must enter tonight’s game with Grandfield focused solely on the Bearcats.

After a forfeiting last week’s game with Destiny Christian, the Cowboys have had time to heal up from a number of injuries.

All but one of the injured Cowboys are expected to be available for tonight’s game with the Bearcats.

This series has been an interesting one over the years. The Bearcats hold a 36-28-5 advantage over Ryan, but the Cowboys have won 10 of the last 14 meetings including the last five consecutive meetings.

But, the series prior to that time has had some interesting outcomes.

In 2007, the teams battled through four overtimes with the Bearcats prevailing, 28-35.

Ryan won games in 2004 and 2006 but the games were decided by one and two points, respectively.

Ryan lost to Grandfield, 39-38, in a 2003 battle and also fell in overtime games in 2007 and 1992.

Maybe the wildest game in the series came in 1997 when Grandfield captured a 78-60 loss in a game that had several individual performances by the Cowboys that are among the best in school history.

Grandfield will bring a 3-5 mark into tonight’s game and a 1-3 mark in district play. Ryan is 4-4 on the year and 1-3 in district competition.

Game in Figures

                                    RHS           GHS

First Downs                 13              20

Yards Rushing             353-196   44-383

Yards Passing               120           16

Passes                           6-15          1-3

Passes Int. by               0                1

Fumbles, Lost              3-3            3-1

Punts                           1-30          1-27

Penalties                      4-45          4-40

                  SCORE BY QUARTERS

Ryan                0            8             0            14—22

Geary              0           16            8            14—38

                  SCORING SUMMARY

                  SECOND QUARTER

GEARY – Kale Smith fumble recovery in end zone (Jaiden Woods run), 6:33

GEARY – Woods 47 run (Woods pass from Jose Briseno), :57

RYAN – Larry Sewell 1 pass from Racen Williams (Williams run), :00

                  THIRD QUARTER

GEARY – Sergio Pineda 2 run (Woods run), 1:23

                  FOURTH QUARTER

RYAN – Williams 48 run (Foreman Casebolt pass from Williams), 6:02

GEARY – Elijah Pollard 50 kickoff return (pass failed), 5:50

RYAN – Julian Rodriguez 48 pass from Williams (pass failed), 4:42

GEARY – Landon Holt 2 run (Pollard pass from Woods), 1:55

                  INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RYAN: Rushing – Racen Williams 16-131, Carsen Rodriguez 10-45, Xavier Guzman 3-14, Julian Rodriguez 1-8, Foreman Casebolt 3-7, Maddox Dabbs 1-1, Team 1-(-10); Passes – Williams 6-15-1-120; Receiving – J. Rodriguez 3-74, Guzman 2-45, Larry Sewell 1-1; Tackles – Kyson Tomberlin 12, J. Rodriguez 7, Andrew Scott 6, Williams 4, Casebolt 2, C. Rodriguez 1, Dabbs 1, Guzman 1, Mason Adsit 1.

GEARY: Rushing – Sergio Pineda 27-251; Jaiden Woods 11-131, Kale Smith 2-12, Landon Holt 2-6, Team 2-(-17); Passes – Woods 1-1-0-16, Smith 0-2-0-0; Receiving – Henry Brown 1-16.

Ryan Senior Night

By
Curtis Plant
-
0

Recently, Ryan honored their senior basketball players. They include:

(Player far left) Holland Carter,

Holland’s parents John and Cheryl Carter.

(Center) Travis Fristoe, parents Charles and Jaunita Fristoe (not pictured) His other parents, Clint and Christa Rollins, are in the picture.

(Far right) Laken DeBoard, Laken’s parents, Regina Reimer Darwin DeBoard.

Photo by Sheree hanson

Waurika Set To Host Regional Cross Country Competition Saturday

By
Trey Smart
-
0

Waurika will play host to the regional cross country meets for Classes 2A, 3A and 4A at Harmon Park on Saturday.

The competition begins at 10 a.m. with the Class 4A girls race. The Class 4A boys race will follow at 10:45 a.m. There are 14 schools that have been assigned to the Waurika regional.

The Class 4A girls race will feature three top ten teams and second-ranked Madill and fourth-ranked Pauls Valley are expected to battle for the team title.

The Class 4A boys grouping will feature third-ranked Madill and fourth-ranked Byng along with seventh-ranked Cache.

The Class 2A portion of the competition which will feature teams from Waurika and Ryan and the girls competition begins at 12 noon, while the boys race will follow at 12:45. Runners from 33 different schools are expected to compete.

The Ryan and Waurika girls, along with Merritt, are the top ranked teams entered in the Waurika regional. The Cowgirls and Eagles have battled on near even terms in a number of meets this season, but the Cowgirls come into the regional ranked fourth, while Waurika is ranked fifth.

Ryan has won a total of five meet titles during the regular season. The Merritt girls are ranked sixth so the Class 2A girls race may be the one to watch throughout the day.

The Class 2A boys will have a total of seven top twenty teams. Carnegie, ranked fourth, and Merritt, ranked fifth, are expected to battle for the team title. Waurika will also be running on its home course and while the Eagles are ranked just outside the top 20, they could contend for the team title.

The Class 3A girls and boys will run at 2 and 2:45 p.m., respectively. There are 16 schools expected for the Class 3A part of the meet.

Marietta is the top-ranked Class 3A girls team in the state, while the Marietta boys hold down the number two spot in the state rankings.

Plainview will feature to be the threat to Marietta. Plainview girls are ranked second, while the Plainview boys are ranked fifth.

This will be an excellent opportunity to witness some of the top cross country teams and individuals in the state as they compete to advance into next week’s state cross country competition.

The top seven teams in each class will advance to the state cross country meet, while the top seven individuals not on a qualifying team will also earn spots in the state meet.

The Class 2A, 3A and 4A state meets will be conducted at Shawnee’s Gordon Cooper Technology Center on October 26. The Class 2A portion of the meet will begin at 12:30 with the girls competition and the boys will follow at 1:15.

Waurika Roundballers Have Tough Outing At Tourney

By
Trey Smart
-
0

The Waurika girls’ and boys’ basketball squads traveled to Velma-Alma last week to compete in the 87th annual Stephens County Tournament.

It was a tough week in what has become a tough season for the Eagles and Lady Eagles.

The Eagles finished sixth in the tournament after falling to Davis, 70-38, in the consolation finals last Saturday.

The Wolves jumped out in front of the Eagles, 14-3, after one quarter and extended the lead to 27-10 at the intermission.

The two squads played on even terms through the second half of play, but Waurika was unable to cut into the deficit.

The Eagles did have an advantage in scoring inside with 20 points, but suffered 18 turnovers in the contest.

Waurika shot only 27% from the field and was only 13 of 26 from the free throw line.

Turner Mora led the Eagles with eight points, while Gatlin Black and Edwin Garcia each added seven tallies.

Waurika earned the right to play for the consolation title with a come-from-behind 43-41 win over Central High last Friday in the consolation semifinals.

Central High dominated the first quarter as the Bronchos jumped out to a 17-10 advantage.

The Eagles still trailed at the half, 26-19, but were able to cut into the lead in the third quarter by outscoring Central High, 10-6, to trail 32-29 heading into the final frame.

The Bronchos held the Eagles at bay until the final moments but Coach Joe Masoner’s crew outscored Central High, 14-9, to secure the win.

The Eagles got the win despite shooting only 41% from the field and hitting only 43% of their charity tosses.

Waurika was able to stay in the contest by getting 19 points over turnovers and holding a 24-0 advantage on scoring inside.

The Eagles pounded the boards throughout the game resulting in a 30-15 advantage in rebounds.

Aaron Nitka shot 60% from the field and led the Eagles in scoring with 15 points.

In the first-round game on January 16, the Eagles fell to eventual tourney runner up Comanche, 59-31.

The Eagles suffered another dismal shooting night as they connected on only 28% of their field goals and converted only four of nine free throw attempts.

Comanche jumped out to an 18-9 first quarter lead and then extended the margin to 32-18 at the half.

The Indians continued the onslaught with a 16-5 scoring advantage in the third quarter to lead 48-23 heading to the final frame.

Comanche took advantage of 23 Waurika turnovers during the contest and held a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Nitka set the pace for the Eagles in scoring with eight points.

The Lady Eagles dropped both of their games during the tournament.

Waurika fell in the consolation semifinals to Empire, 70-37, and lost to eventual tourney champion, Comanche, 68-20, in the first round.

In the first round contest with the Lady Indians, Waurika fell behind, 25-0, after the first quarter.

Madison Roberson managed a single free throw early in the second quarter, but the Lady Eagles had too big a hole to climb out of and trailed 45-11 at the half.

No other details on the two games were available.

The Waurika squads were to have traveled to Walters last Tuesday.

Waurika returns home Friday to battle rival Ringling and then will travel to Cyril on Saturday. Waurika stays on the road Tuesday as they will travel back to Velma-Alma.

Game time is 6:30 p.m.

The Waurika girls took a 5-9 mark into the meeting with Walters, while the Eagles are 4-11 on the year before the matchup with the Blue Devils.

Roberson Wins State Title, Waurika Places at State

By
Trey Smart
-
0

Roberson becomes first girl thinclad to win a state title in the shot put.

Madison Roberson added to the rich heritage of Waurika track and field by claiming the state title in the shot put at last weekend’s Class A State Track Meet held at Western Heights High School in Oklahoma City.

 Roberson is the first girl to win a state title in the shot put for Waurika and only the second girl to win a title in a field event.

 The multi-sport athlete for the Lady Eagles is only the second Waurika athlete to win a title in the shot put. The only other person to win a title in the event is the late Bob Bodenhamer who claimed a title in 1945 – the second year a state track meet was conducted.

 Her title-winning toss was 35-2.5 and oddly enough was only her fifth best mark of the 2019 season. Her best toss was 38-3 at a meet in Wynnewood a few weeks ago.

 Roberson competed in the shot put last Saturday after having placed sixth in the discus on Friday before the rest of the meet was delayed until Saturday because of rain.

 Roberson’s throw in the discus was 104-6 and was her second best throw of the season for the Lady Eagles.

 The Lady Eagles finished tied for 14th among the Class A schools in the annual track and field championships. The Lady Eagles racked up 16 points and finished in a tie with Empire, Weleetka and Davenport.

 Boise City-Keyes won the meet with 125 points, while Thomas finished second with 75. Oil Field Conference member Velma-Alma finished third at the state meet with 68 points.

 This year’s meet featured a new scoring format and it meant 54 different schools scored points. Points were earned by individuals and relays from places one to eight. The top six places earned medals.

 The Lady Eagles had only one other competitor place at the state track meet. Asia Smith finished sixth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:45.37.

 Smith’s time at the state meet was her best time of the season and was 15 seconds better than her second best time posted at the regional meet the week before. She sliced over a minute off her time posted at the first meet of the season.

 Lexie Streeter competed in the 3,200 meters but managed only to finish 11th among the 16 individuals in the event. However, her time of 13:41.20 was her best time of the season.

 The 3,200 meter relay team of Smith, Streeter, Faith Roberson and Tallin Mora also competed at state and just missed scoring by finishing ninth with a time of 11:06.32 – the team’s second best time of the season.

 The Waurika boys finished in a tie for 14th in the team race at the state meet. The Eagles accumulated 18 points and finished tied with Cyril.

 Thomas won the state team title with 120 points, while Boise City-Keyes finished well behind with 58 points. Southern Eight Conference rival Grandfield finished just ahead of the Eagles with 20 points.

 Leading the way for the Eagles was a fifth-place finish by Turner Mora in the 400 meters. His time of 52.68 was his best time of the season. Like Streeter, Tu. Mora improved throughout the season in the event.

 The other individual that scored for the Eagles was senior Aaron Nitka. He finished seventh in the discus with a toss of 122-6, which was his second best throw of the season behind his performance of 128-3 at the regional track meet.

 Waurika had three relay teams that competed in the meet, but only two of the teams placed.

 The 800 meter relay team of Tucker Mora, Colton Bryant, Nick Alvarado and Kevin Garcia put together a sixth place finish with a time of 1:37.38. The time was the fifth best of the season for the Eagles.

 The 1600 meter relay team also finished sixth and recorded a time of 3:35.13 – the best time of the season. Garcia, Tu. Mora, Bryant and Cache Arellano represented the Eagles on the team.

 The 3,200 meter relay team finished 10th in a tough field. Arellano, Bryson Hernandez, Gustavo Gomez and Octavio Gomez recorded a time of 9:05.85 and it was their best time of the year.

 Nitka and Alvarado also competed in events at the state meet, but did not place. Nitka’s toss of 39-7.5 in the shot put was his second best mark of the season. Alvarado’s time in the 200 meters was 24.62 and it was his second best time of the season.

TRACK TIDBITS: The Lady Eagles’ tie for 14th place is the best finish at the state meet since finishing 12th in 2014….The Lady Eagles also finished 14th in 2016….The 16 points scored is the most for the Lady Eagles at state since scoring 21 points in 2012…Waurika’s girls also scored 16 points in 2014….The best finish for a Waurika girls’ track squad at state is fourth during the 2000 event at Putnam City… The Lady Eagles have had seven top 10 finishes at the state meet since the first meet was held in 1972….M. Roberson’s state title is the 25th by a Waurika athlete in school history….She is the 12th Waurika Lady Eagle to claim an individual title at a state track meet….The Eagles’ 18 points scored at state is the most since Waurika scored 30 points in 2017….The 30 points scored equals the total scored in 2005 and is the most by a Eagle squad at the state meet in school history….The Eagles have eight top ten team finishes since the initial state track meet was held in 1944….The Eagles have finished fourth in the state meet twice and those came the first two years of the meet – 1944 and 1945….The Eagles have finished no better than eighth at the state meet since finishing fifth in the 1950 event.


Cowgirl Softballers Struggle to Find Opponents

By
Trey Smart
-
0

Ryan’s slow-pitch softball team has faced a couple of hurdles in getting the 2018 season into full swing.

The Cowgirls of coach Stan Mueggenborg have inherited quite a bit of extra practice time from having scheduled opponents back out of games because they did not have enough players.

The Cowgirls are slated to get back in action Monday with a game against Comanche on Larry Ninman Field at the Bob Givens Sports Complex.

Ryan’s first game was cancelled because of previously schedule school conflicts.

And, Temple and Big Pasture, who were both on the Cowgirl slate for last week, do not have enough players to field a slow-pitch softball team.

That means the Cowgirls have only played one game – an 11-10 loss to Grandfield.

In addition to the contest with Comanche, the Cowgirls are scheduled to take on Geronimo at home one week from today.

More About the Decline in High School Football Participation

By
Trey Smart
-
0

Participation in 11-man football is on a multi-year decline according to studies done by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

This was mentioned in an earlier article but the issue was mainly looking at what is happening to the sport in relation to population shifts.

Participation in 11-player football was down 25,901 from 2015 to 2016. Just over one million high school students participate in 11-man football.

When you add the other types of high school football – six, eight and nine-player football – participation is still down 25,503.

With 14,099 high schools offering 11-man football, the decrease amounts to fewer than two individuals per school or a 2.5 percent decrease.

Football remains the top participatory sport for boys at the high school level by a large margin – even with the decline. Sports that follow include track and field, basketball, baseball and soccer.

The peak of participation with 11-man football came in 2009. Since that time participation has dropped 4.6 percent, which hardly seems like a big problem.

But, the small decline over a long period of time is not a good sign.

In 2009, 25 percent of boys who played sports were on the football team. Now that number is 23.2 in 2016, which was six-tenths of a percent drop from 2015. That is the sharpest decline in recent memory.

The recent finding of the impact of concussions has both parents and students thinking about participating in football.

But, there are other reasons for the trend of decreased participation in football. Increasing sports specialization has an impact as well as bench players deciding that football requires too much work for so little time on the field.

Some teens are distracted by other things our culture has introduced (social media being the main thing) that cause teens not to want to put forth effort required to be a participant at the high school level.

The decline of football could certainly have an impact on Ryan and Waurika schools. Just visit schools in communities such as Duke and Forgan (former eight-man schools with the latter having had great success) and Velma-Alma (an 11-man school that had to forfeit much of its schedule this past year).

A slow decline may keep football looking healthy on the surface, but there is some rotting underneath.

It is a reminder of a quote from noted author Ernest Hemingway, “How do you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

Hopefully, students in Ryan and Waurika schools will continue to participate in football driven by not only a love of the sport, but also the desire to learn life lessons that participation in sports affords.

1...456...25Page 5 of 25

FOLLOW US

2,900FansLike
630FollowersFollow
264FollowersFollow
66SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -

RECENT POSTS

The Waurika News Journal
Serving the citizens of Jefferson County, Oklahoma, and readers around the world.
Contact us: waurikanewsjournal@gmail.com
© Copyright 2017-2023 Waurika News Journal & The Ryan Leader