Overview: why Burnet athletics enjoys record-breaking year
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series. Read part one here.
Winning nine district titles in a single school year doesn’t happen just because of incredible talent and tremendous coaches.
That’s the word from Kurt Jones, who retired as the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District athletic director after the 2023-24 school year. Jones had been on staff for two decades as an assistant football coach on former head coach Bob Shipley’s staff before being promoted to defensive coordinator and head coach.
Jones stepped down as football head coach in December 2018 to go into full-time sports administration. During those years the Bulldogs and Lady Dawgs won numerous district and playoff titles highlighted by the girls basketball team finishing as a Class 4A state semifinalist in 2018-19. In 2024, the girls doubles team of Tatum Salinas and Aly Van Zandt earned the Class 4A state silver medal.
Under Jones’ watch, the school produced perhaps the greatest middle-distance runner in north Burnet County history in Hudson Bennett, who won state gold medals in the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters. He is now a runner for the University of Texas. Victor Aviles captured the 2023 state gold medal in the 800 meters as a sophomore.
The nine district titles during the 2023-24 school year set a new school record for the most in a year thanks to wins in football, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls track and field, girls soccer and baseball.
“If you go back through the entire history of Burnet High School, it’s never happened before,” Jones said.
He acknowledges there may be cases where people could argue Burnet had to contend with circumstances out of their control — realignment and district opponents — that paved the way for endings few wanted.
“Maybe the district they were placed in was so stout and competitive,” he said. “You have to go compete where they place you.”
No game illustrated that more and the aftermath of what followed than the 41-40 loss to Taylor Nov. 4, 2022. The winner of the contest finished fourth in District 13-4A Division I and advanced to the playoffs, while the loser went home. A two-hour weather delay didn’t allow the game to kick off on time and a missed extra point after the first touchdown forced the Bulldogs to chase that point all night long.
In the end, the Ducks made one more play to win.
Jones smiled when a theory was shared. That loss drove the Bulldogs for months, that it was the first thought the boys had every morning and the last they had at night before they fell asleep.
The result was a 2023 co-district title where Burnet beat Fischer Canyon Lake 45-20 and San Antonio Davenport 41-34 on the road and Taylor 13-7 at home. The Bulldogs’ only district blemish was a 35-14 loss to Lampasas to begin district play. Meanwhile, Burnet defeated Somerset 42-17 for a bi-district crown before losing to Calhoun 42-14 in the second round of the playoffs.
What happened to football was similar to what to the Bulldogs basketball team experienced in 2022-23.
The Bulldogs were in the thick of the District 24-4A race and needed to win at Lampasas in the last game of the regular season to snag the final playoff spot. But the Badgers prevailed on their home court by finally outlasting Burnet in several overtimes to get in. Georgetown Gateway, Lampasas and Marble Falls each shared the district crown with Jarrell finishing fourth with a 5-5 record. But the Cougars advanced to the playoffs instead of the Bulldogs because they swept the season series.
As district play began last season, head coach Roy Kiser was revealing in how the 2022-23 season impacted the program.
“Last year, we had two buzzer-beating losses to Jarrell,” he said following the 59-38 thumping of the Mustangs in the first round. “I show (my players) the video and postgame celebrations. I want them to see it and feel it all over again. When you’re reminded of stuff like that, you want to resolve it. I remind them every game about what happened last year. I’m going to (say), ‘Remember what it feels like.’ I want them to remember what it feels like.”
It worked. The Bulldogs won the 2023-24 district title with an 8-2 record with season sweeps of Gateway, Jarrell and Lago Vista.
As the calendar turned to March, the theme for the spring sports teams was to keep the district titles coming. In addition, baseball head coach Russell Houston said, the time had come for the Bulldogs to win a playoff series.
They did more than that by earning a 13-2 district record to win the district title and reached the third round of the Class 4A playoffs.
With two hours left before he officially retired, Jones reflected on why the Bulldogs and Lady Dawgs — who won four district titles and obtained numerous postseason wins, too — were so successful.
“There’s a lot of ingredients that have to be in place,” he said. “I was fortunate as a parent to come through here at a time when we have great coaches. That’s huge. This whole senior class (of 2024) led the culture and the vibe we have going on. I think that happened across the board in all sports. They were being mentors and leaders for the younger kiddos.”
Jones added the 2024 class was filled with athletes who believed in encouraging and passing on compliments.
“The Addie Houstons and Reagan Shipleys were huge in that of leadership and being inclusive,” he said. “You have to have role players who might not be starters or first team all-district players, but they’re about the team and the program. A lot of kids are needed that way and understand — the kids who understand the team, the program, the school, the community are way bigger than them individually. This senior class understood that and had a lot of success. They were willing to put the greater good ahead of their goals. They were unselfish.”
While Jones credited the players and coaches for their outstanding seasons, he noted other factors played a role.
One are facilities where artificial turf is at Bulldog Field, the baseball and softball fields of Bulldog Diamonds, and the football practice field behind Burnet Middle School. That middle school field has a track around the football field, and event pits for field events were updated. The Doghouse varsity gym and the auxiliary gym with a weight room remained important pieces. But the crown jewel is the student activity center that has a place for every outdoor sport in the athletic department and can be used by the marching band and Highlandettes to practice their football half-time shows.
“We’ve made tremendous upgrades in facilities the last two or three years,” Jones said. “I’d put ours up against anybody in Class 4A. If you want (sports) to be important to (athletes), you have to invest in facilities.”
Jones said the student activity center has been open about a year, so it’s too early to tell how much of it is a draw for students to become athletes. But he believes it can only help bring in more and up the number of Bulldogs and Lady Dawgs.
“They want to go play in there and lift in there,” he said. “I think it can have an impact. Our current kiddos have been fired up about it. I think it’ll take another two or three years to pan out.”
But coaches and facilities won’t help deliver titles if the department lacks natural talent, desire and commitment from those who have the biggest say in the outcome of every game.
“You have to have some really good athletes to win,” the former athletic said. “That might be the most important ingredient. When I look up and down the stands, I see a bunch of good families — really good moms and dads. That’s really the main ingredient that makes them go. They have kiddos in your program that have them do things the right way. It’s been huge for us the last few years. It’s refreshing as an athletic director to have a lot less parent issues in a calendar year. This (past) year it seemed like we had minor parent distractions and issues. Their kiddo might not be a starter. But their kiddo plays a valuable role. They’re great teammates on the sideline. That’s huge.”
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