SportzBuzz - July 2023 | The Buzz Magazines

By Todd Freed, Staff writer | June 25, 2023

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TRACK & FIELD DYNASTY For the seventh consecutive season, St. Agnes Academy is a state champion in girls Track & Field. The Tigers won this year’s TAPPS 6A State Track & Field Championship by a dominating 43-point margin.

The St. Agnes Academy Tigers dominated the field to bring home a remarkable seventh consecutive state championship in Track and Field. The Tigers outscored second place John Paul II by a lofty 43-point margin to capture this year’s TAPPS 6A state title. “Honestly, it was a total team effort,” said Tigers head track and field coach Chris Warren. “The team unity and bond are so strong. Also, about 80 percent of our team are only freshmen or sophomores, so it was an impressive effort.”

Youth was served well with the freshmen trio of Kaitlyn Elackatt, Michaela Grimes, and Isabella Rohrig along with sophomore Zara Chinwuba teaming up to win state in the 1600-meter relay. In addition, Elackatt captured a second gold medal by winning the 300-meter hurdles.

“We had so many outstanding performers,” said Warren. “Michaela might have been our strongest overall runner. Along with running the anchor leg on the winning mile relay team, she also finished second in the 400 meters and fifth in the 200 meters.”

The Tigers were also a powerful force in the field events with senior Kinsey Schwartje winning gold in the discus throw, Chi Chi Umeh taking the silver medal in the shot put, and sophomore Grace Sanders winning her second state championship in the pole vault. Sanders also ran the anchor leg on the Tigers second place 4x200 meter relay team and she finished fifth in the 100 hurdles.

Clayton Brady, Austin Le, David Martinez, Charlie Wylie, Turner Chiles, Gray Gammill, Gus Montgomery

GREAT AT STATE Led by a sensational opening round 6-under 66 from junior Charlie Wylie, the Memorial Mustangs boys golf team finished third overall at the UIL 6A State Golf Tournament. Pictured, from left: Coach Clayton Brady, Austin Le, David Martinez, Charlie Wylie, Turner Chiles, Gray Gammill, and Gus Montgomery.

The Memorial Mustangs boys golf team capped off a sensational season by finishing third at the UIL 6A State Golf Tournament. “It was super exciting,” said Mustangs golf coach Clayton Brady. “It was a goal of ours at the beginning of the year to medal at the state tournament. As the year progressed, we got better and better and by February realized we had a team that could seriously contend for a state title.”

At the state tournament, the Mustangs finished just five strokes behind second place behind Austin Travis and ten strokes in back of state champion Austin Westlake. “We had a great first round, and then played extremely well on the back nine of the second day to hold off Johnson High School by a single stroke to finish third,” said Brady.

Leading the way for Memorial at state was junior Charlie Wylie, who fired a spectacular six-under 66 in the opening round of the state tournament. Wylie ultimately finished third individually with a seven-under par score for the 36 holes. “Charlie’s put our team on his back and delivered when it mattered most,” said Brady. “He’s been a rock for us all year with about 15 of his 24 rounds of golf played under-par. Charlie and fellow junior captain David Martinez have led by example the entire season.”

Joining Wylie and Martinez in the Mustangs state tournament lineup were junior Austin Le, freshman Turner Chiles, and junior Gray Gammill. “The exceptional thing is that all five of these terrific players will be back with us next season,” added Brady.

STATE RUNNER-UP For the eleventh time since the 2010 season, the St. Thomas Eagles advanced to the TAPPS State Baseball Tournament. The Eagles came within one victory of a state championship before falling to Trinity Christian Academy in the TAPPS Division 1 State Final.

The St. Thomas Eagles came within one victory of the TAPPS Division 1 State Baseball Championship before dropping a 7-6 heartbreaker to Trinity Christian Academy in the TAPPS Division 1 state final. “We were pretty much overlooked to start the season after a tough season last year, so the guys kind of had a chip on their shoulder,” said Eagles head baseball coach Adam Massiatte. “We started playing well once district started and got really hot by the time the playoffs rolled around.”

As for the playoffs, the Eagles staged a series of big wins including a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Plano John Paul II in the regional finals. Senior shortstop Anthony Equale connected on a sixth-inning two-run homer to propel the Eagles to a 4-3 victory. Senior pitcher Jack Clinton then closed out the game to send St. Thomas to the state tournament for the third time in the last four seasons and 11th appearance since 2010.

In the state semifinals, the Eagles then shut out Antonian High School 6-0 with starting junior pitcher Donte Lewis and reliever Jack Ward combining for the shutout victory. Lewis, who also plays third base for the Eagles, hit .350 for the season with a staggering 40 stolen bases.

Other top hitters for the Eagles this season included junior centerfielder Luke Edgecomb with a .355 batting average, senior second baseman Braydan Salinas (.340), junior third baseman Billy Theroux (.311) and sophomore utility infielder Evan Wisnoski (.300).

Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on CW39 and Monday-Thursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email [email protected].