Sports

By Richard Zowie

Highlander Sports Editor

Goodbye, purple, gold, and Mustangs. Hello, navy blue, green, and Snappers.

Marble Falls High School senior softball player Jaden DeLeon’s next step will take her to Spoon River College in Canton, Illinois.

Canton is almost 200 miles southwest of Chicago.

Shy in public, DeLeon said little as she signed her letter of intent with her family and softball coach, Timothy Richter present.

“I’ll have to learn how to drive in the snow,” she said, which made many in the room laugh.

Richter believes DeLeon will be in good hands. Her head coach at SRC will be John Bassett, who previously coached at Division I’s Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne.

“SRC has a Division I facility,” Richter said. “Jaden will have the luxury of playing at a nice place. It’s a very competitive team. That school has talent. They have a great coach she can learn from.”

By Richard Zowie

Highlander Sports Editor

Going into a big race, some athletes prefer to stay within themselves and relax rather than fret over how they’ll do.

Marble Falls High School freshman track athlete Bailey Goggans, despite a season of breaking several records and being recognized nationwide as a top athlete, still preferred that approach as she prepared to run in the 400 meter run and 800 meters May 11.

“My expectations for the meet were to just to have fun and do my best,” said Goggans, who competed in the University Interscholastic League Class 5A Track Finals at the University of Texas at Austin’s Michael A. Myers Stadium.

In her first year of competing in the high school level, Goggans finished with two medals. She took first place in the 800 meters, and then later took third in the 400 meters.

“It’s unbelievable!” the freshman said. “I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity.”

Faith Academy announced its partnership with Hellas Construction, Inc. to construct phase one of its athletic complex, called “Fields of Faith.” 

Officials will break ground on the Faith Academy campus at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15 to celebrate the launch of construction on the football field and track. The public is invited to this special event.

“We are thrilled to kick off this phase of our athletic complex,” said Dr. Stuart Nunnally, Faith Academy Trustee and Board Chairman. “It has been a wonderful experience getting to this point, and we anticipate being ready for the 2018 football season and having a brand new track and field for all of our students to run and play on this fall.”

Field construction

Hellas Construction will be installing its Matrix Turf with Helix Technology, the same turf the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, and Miami Dolphins use.

Eight members of the Marble Falls Girls Soccer Team earned awards for their performances this past soccer season.

The Lady Mustangs finished with an overall 8-12-3 and tied for fifth place, narrowly missing the playoffs.

Forward Jessica De La Hoya was Offensive Player of the Year, and she also made First Team All District.

Megan Matcek, a midfielder, also made First Team All District.

Defender Alyssa Collazo and midfielder Meghan Corely made Second Team All District.

Four Lady Mustangs made Honorable Mention: midfielder Leslie Salgado and defenders Maribel Enriquiez, Hailey Pounds, Karina Garay.

“I’m very proud of these kids, and they’ve made major improvements throughout the year,” said Lady Mustangs Coach Cory Maxwell.

The future looks bright for Faith Academy freshman Tyler Kwan after last week's the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) state track meet.

Kwan advanced to a “jump off” for the state title in the high jump Friday, May 4. While he didn't win the jump off, his best leap of 5 feet, 10 inches was good enough to win the silver medal and take his place on the winner's podium as the only Faith athlete to medal.

By Richard Zowie

Highlander Sports Editor

In their March 29 bi-district soccer playoff game, both Marble Falls and Austin Lanier each received at least one yellow card (a warning, as opposed to a red card, which means ejection).

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” said Mustangs Soccer Coach Rick Hoover. “That is what you expect in the playoffs. Both teams were fighting for their season to not end.”

After the Vikings scored in the first half to take a 1-0 lead, the Mustangs scored about halfway through the second half to tie the game at 1.

It stayed that way through several near-misses by both teams in two, 10-minute overtime periods, before Marble Falls ultimately won in a penalty shootout, 4-3.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Teamwork, hard work and sacrifice in the face of adversity are qualities which great athletes and great first responders both share, Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach noted as keynote speaker for the 15th annual Hill Country 100 Club Awards Banquet Thursday.

By Richard Zowie

The Highlander

A financial gift from a benefactor will help Faith Academy begin the first phase of the school’s athletic complex project.

A gift from Ray and Rebeca Britton of Horseshoe Bay will serve as a “cornerstone” lead gift that will fund the first phase of the $5.9 million athletic complex expansion program.

“We are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for Ray and Rebeca sharing their resources and making such a significant investment in Christian education for our community,” said Stuart Nunnally, Faith Academy trustee and board chairman.

By Richard Zowie

The Highlander

Kenneth Don Gray, a lifelong Hill Country resident whose career included NFL football, teaching and then coaching at both the high school and professional levels, died Nov. 25 in Round Rock.

The former St. Louis Cardinal football player was 81.

Gray was born March 10, 1936 to Lewis and Estelle Gray in San Saba. In 1954, he graduated from Llano High School in 1954 and married Shirley Jean Barber in Cherokee on May 24, 1952.

At Howard Payne University, where he went from 1954-1957, Gray played football and earned All Lone Star Conference accolades and was named to the Little All-American Team.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history, Gray went on to be a sixth round draft pick in the NFL by the Green Bay Packers in 1958.

The Marble Falls Independent School District Pep Rally and Senior Bonfire have been rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9, in the field at the end of Colt Circle, behind the MFISD Central Administration Buildings.

“We would like to thank the City of Marble Falls, Marble Falls Fire Rescue, the Marble Falls Police Department, and the PEC for supporting the rescheduling of the MFISD Pep Rally and Bonfire,” said MFHS Student Council sponsor, Molly Heath. “The students appreciate the efforts to hold the Senior Bonfire, which is a long-running community tradition. It is appropriate that the Senior Bonfire has been rescheduled to Thursday Nov. 9, since the game the next evening is Senior Night and the last district game of the season.”

Everyone in the community is invited to the free MFISD Pep Rally and Senior Bonfire.

The Pep Rally will start at 5:30 p.m. with the Senior circle and lighting of the bonfire immediately following.