Sports

 Austin King, a senior at Hughes Springs High School, has signed to play basketball at Ottawa University, located in Ottawa, KS., for the 2016-17 school year.

King was a multi-sport star for the Mustangs, earning multiple letters in basketball, football, and track. He was a two-time All-District selection in basketball, and earned first-team All-district honors in football. King also was the District and Area Champion in the 400 meter dash. The 6 foot, 4 inch forward averaged 16.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, and two blocks per game in his senior season with the Mustangs.

“Austin is another great addition to our program,” said Ottawa University’s head men’s basketball coach Aaron Siebenthall, adding “Austin is a great athlete that can impact the game in numerous ways. We are expecting big things from Austin on and off the court, and we are very happy he will be a Brave.”

By Rick Colegrove

It is said that in the playoffs that the good teams tend to separate themselves from the pack. Well it can also be said that a great team can take a good team’s best punch and get right back up.

The Hughes Springs Lady Mustangs took a couple shots Friday night, but delivered their own knockout punch Saturday afternoon and left no doubt, advancing to the regional quarterfinals, winning, Friday 13-10 and Saturday 12-0.

Friday night, the lady Mustangs found themselves down on three different occasions, but kept fighting and pulled off a thrilling victory in front of a capacity crowd. Zoe Lanier took to the mound, and was pitching a solid game until she was caught with a line drive shot on the hip. Lanier was relieved by Abbye McKinney.

By: Toni Walker

Editor

news@steelcountrybee.com

From being a three-time Texas State Champion, to being the leading receiver in all of college football is where Keyarris Garrett’s football career has gone. No, he is set to take the next step, pending the outcome of the National Football League’s annual draft.

Garrett, a graduate of Daingerfield High School, played for Coach Barry Bowman on the Tiger’s football teams that won three consecutive State Championships in 2008, 2009, and 2010. After his graduation from Daingerfield, Garrett attended Tulsa University on a football scholarship.

The Daingerfield Lady Tigers are the Region 11- 3A team runner up, and have qualified two events for the State Track meet in Austin.

The 4x100m Relay finished in second place with a time of 48.13 seconds. That relay team consists of Chablis Barber, Denver Mims, Alexis Porter, Layla Johnston, Kahleyia Johnson, and Unique Walker. Denver Mims is the Region II-3A 200 meter champion with a time of 25.01 seconds. Mims also set a new Region II-3A stadium record. “I could not be more proud of these young ladies. It was a long weekend with all the weather delays, but they took it all in stride like true champions,” said head coach Dana Carter.

The first round of the playoffs started for the Hughes Springs Lady Mustangs this past weekend, with a series against the New Boston Lady Lions.

They started off the series with a Thursday night game in Mt. Pleasant at the Northeast Texas Community College campus. The stands were packed, with everyone that was in attendance seemingly a Hughes Springs fan. Many had to sit in “enemy” territory. Those in attendance were treated to an interesting game, with Hughes Springs coming out on top 7-4, taking a 1-0 game lead in the best of 3 series.

The Daingerfield High School Varsity girls participated in the District 16-3A Track Meet Thursday, April 14, at Pewitt High School. The Lady Tigers were crowned District Champions for the second year in a row. In the long jump, Denver Mims placed first, while Unique Walker placed third in the high jump. Layla Johnston placed third in pole vault, followed by Ivy Banks in sixth. Meme Black placed third in shot put, and first in discus, while Denibria Hall placed sixth in discus.

The 400 meter relay team of Chablis Barber, Denver Mims, Alexis Porter, and Layla Johnston placed first, as did the 800 meter relay team of Kahleyia Johnson, Porter, Mims, and Barber. The 1600m relay team, consisting of Johnston, Johnson, Alexius Williams, and Porter also placed first, giving the Lady Tigers a sweep of the three relay events.

The Daingerfield Varsity boys track team has qualified three individuals and two relays for the Regional Meet in Whitehouse on April 29 and 30. This was after beginning last week as the district runner up, but entering the Area meet as the District champions.

Following the district meet at Pewitt on April 14, the Tigers were edged out of the championship by Hughes Springs, who scored half a point more than the Daingerfield team. However, a discrepancy was noticed between the running results from the field, and the videotaped results. After recalculating and correcting the discrepancy, Daingerfield was named the first place team in District 16-AAA on Monday, April 18.

The Killyon School of Isshin Ryu recently participated in a Martial Arts tournament in Shreveport, LA. The team brought home nine first place trophies, 10 second place awards, seven thirds, and three fourths.

Competing in the tournament were, on the back row, from left, were Lisa O’Dell, Jordan Welchel, Seth Burnaman, Trenton Hurley, Kassity Connor, Ruston Crocker, and Teresa Henderson. On the second row, from left, is Dylan Baxter, Celeste O’Dell, Miguel Gonzalez, Kayla White, and Scott O’Dell. The front row is Ian O’Dell, Shane Burnaman, and Eli Heard.

The school dedicated their wins to Sensei Paula Killyon, who has been battling illness.

The last two regular season games for the Lady Mustangs seemed to have served as an appetizer for what many hope to be a long run in the post season. The Hughes Springs softball team is going to start the post-season on a 12 game winning streak, having swept through district play, never really being challenged.

Tuesday, the ladies squared off against the Pewitt Lady Brahmas. Freshmen Zoe Lanier and Heven Brock combined to throw a ho-hitter, leading the Hughes Springs squad to a 12-0 win. Lanier threw four strong innings, with five strikeouts, while Brock was efficient in one inning of work, needing only four pitches to seal the win for the Lady Mustangs.

The Wildflower Trail 5k, held annually the weekend before the Wildflower Trails Festival, was held on Saturday, April 16. The race saw 115 participants finish the race, and saw a new record for the men.

Alfred Kiplagat was the overall winner, setting the new men’s course record at 14 minutes and 55 seconds. Kiplagat broke the previous men’s course record of 15 minutes, 10 seconds and won a $1,000 prize. The previous record had been set in 2005 by Gannon White.

The women’s overall winner was Shandra Moore, from Henderson. Moore’s time of 18 minutes and 45 seconds was 45 seconds off the current course record of 18 minutes. Moore has already planned to attempt to break the women’s course record next year.

From children five years of age, to runners above 70, the race featured all ranges age ranges and ability levels. There were runners with strollers, and those who ran with their dogs, even though the dog seemed to not enjoy it as much as his runner did.