Ten Highland Lakes Sports Insights

Welcome to this weekly column where readers will find a summary of sports across the region and the impressions left on this writer.

1. This weekend is the first of several state track meets beginning with the Class 2A meet of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. The Faith Academy of Marble Falls boys team is looking to successfully defend its state title. Head coach Steve McCannon, who is a numbers whiz as well as a great coach, told me his projections showed the team title will come down to the 4×400-meter relay. That relay is the last one of the meet The two-day affair is Friday and Saturday, May 6-7, at Waco Midway’s Panther Stadium, 800 Hewitt Drive in Hewitt.
2. Burnet, Llano and Marble Falls each have one track and field athlete representing the region at University Interscholastic League state meets. Burnet junior middle-distance runner Hudson Bennett is looking to successfully defend his state title in the 3,200 meters and improve on the state bronze medal he earned last year in the 1,600 meters. Bennett arrives with Class 4A’s fastest time in the 1,600 in 4 minutes 21.21 seconds and the sixth fastest in the 3,200 in 9:44.42. Llano sophomore Gwyn Burnett has the fastest 300-meter hurdle time in that classification, clocking 43.95 at the Class 3A Region IV meet. Burnett won that race by a hundredth of a second. Marble Falls’ Django Segovia is competing in the pole vault of the Class 5A meet and has the sixth highest vault at 15 feet. He was awarded the wild card, which means he had the highest vault of the four regional bronze medalists across the state. He was a hair from clearing 15-3, according to coach Chris Schrader. The Classes 3A and 4A state meets are Thursday, May 12, while the Class 5A meet is Friday, May 13. All three are at Mike Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus, 707 Clyde Littlefield Drive in Austin.
3. Mother Nature continues to show she should not be ignored. She played a factor in two playoff games being postponed to later today. The first was the Burnet High School baseball team’s game one against La Grange in a bi-district series that was moved to a 5 p.m. first pitch on Friday, May 6. Game two will be played 30 minutes after the first contest ends. The series will be played at Hutto High School, 101 FM 685 in Hutto. The other was the Faith Academy of Marble Falls softball game against Coram Deo, which was moved to a 6 p.m. first pitch Friday, May 6, at a new location: the Z-Plex Texas Sports Village, 4220 E Melissa Road in Melissa.
4. Also impressive are the region’s golfers led by the Llano High School Yellow Jackets, who won District 25-3A district championship and then finished second at the Class 3A Region IV tournament. The regional champion is Lago Vista, which is in the same district as Llano. The state tournament is May 9-10 at the Jimmy Clay Golf Course, 5400 Jimmy Clay Drive in Austin. Faith Academy senior Libby Ross also is a state qualifier thanks to finishing second at the district tournament by shooting an 89, one stroke behind the district champion. The Marble Falls High School golf season has finished. Lady Mustang Maddie DeBerard finished 15th in the girls division of the Class 5A Region IV tournament thanks to scoring 80-83–163, good enough for all-region honorable mention. In the boys regional tournament, Blake Turner shot an 83-76–159 to finish tied for 24th, while teammate Coby Holley had an 86-82–168 to tie for 43rd.
5. Max Copeland Gym on the Marble Falls High School campus is the site of a fundraiser for the volleyball team. Head coach Kait Goertz created a tournament where the players are boys and the coaches and officials are the Lady Mustangs. It’s been very positive, Goertz said, and the tournament is open to the public to watch. Because it’s a fundraiser, there is a $2 admission.
6. Goertz also created a May league for area volleyball programs that is played on Mondays at 5 p.m. at Marble Falls Middle School, 1511 Pony Circle Drive. The teams include Burnet, Killeen Harker Heights, Llano and Marble Falls. Both courts are used and four matches are being played at once with each squad playing two matches. There is no admission, so fans are welcome to attend.
7. Burnet tennis player Zaida Freeman represented the area at the Class 4A state tournament where she lost in the quarterfinals to Masyn McKinley of Comal Davenport 2-6, 2-6. Couldn’t be prouder of Freeman.
8. The Llano High School coaching staff has two head coaches who passed away this school year: running coach Steve Golemon and girls coordinator, head basketball and assistant softball coach Todd Lange. Athletics director Matt Green said that he couldn’t recall being a member of a staff that had one coach lost during the school year. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve written about losing a coach during a school year either. All of that leads me to my point. Students show a great deal of resiliency and the coaches who guide them witness it firsthand. I commend everyone at Llano for dedicating their performances to these coaches and performing at a high level during these difficult times. Also my prayers and deepest sympathy to both families.
9. Football fans are rejoicing. That’s because the start of May means opportunities to watch some football beginning with 7-on-7 and linemen’s challenges. Burnet High School is hosting a 7-on-7 state qualifying tournament and a linemen’s challenge at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 28, at Bulldog Field, 1400 Bulldog Stadium Drive. Spots for teams are still open. Before that, the Bulldogs are playing Llano at 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 9 and 23, in 7-on-7. In June, Burnet will play in the Georgetown league, while Llano will host its own league.
10. Can’t end this week’s Insights without extending a hearty congratulations to Faith Academy graduate Grayson Poage for his latest high honor — being named Reveille X’s mascot corporal at Texas A&M University. Poage is responsible for her care and well-being though there is a dog chain of command to help. The Faith graduate said he wanted this position and was willing to go through the process of being selected. And to say it’s easy isn’t accurate. It’s not lost on him the awesome responsibility of caring for Reveille. And that’s what makes him the right choice.

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