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Cross Country Honors
Bandera, Texas
● December 18, 2009
After a long
and sometimes difficult 2009 cross country season, wraps
were finally put on the what proved to be an extremely
good cross country season for the Bandera Bulldogs and
Lady Bulldogs. Because of computer problems at the
Texas High School Coaches Association office in Austin,
it was not until the second week of December that the
T.G.C.A. could release all Class 3A state level cross
country honors awarded by the T.G.C.A . Fortunately,
for the Bandera Lady Bulldogs, the wait was well worth
it.
Once the Texas
Girls Coaches Association was able to finalize and
release the list of Class 3A post-season honors, three
Bandera Lady Bulldogs were among those honored. Two
Lady Bulldog seniors earned 2009 T.G.C.A. Class 3A Cross
Country Academic All-State, while one sophomore was
selected to the 2009 T.G.C.A. Class 3A Cross Country
All-State Team.
Senior Bandera
Lady Bulldogs Holly Garwood and Lauren Lyssy were among
the twenty-four senior girls from Class 3A Texas high
schools who earned recognition on the 2009 T.G.C.A.
Class 3A Cross Country Academic All-State Team. To earn
a spot on a T.G.C.A. Academic All-State Team in any size
school in any sport in any year, the student-athlete
must be recommended by her coach, be a senior member of
her team who is in good standing with her team, be a
student-athlete of good moral character, and have
maintained an overall adjusted and weighted grade
average of 94.00 through her first three high school
years, as well as those six weeks of her senior year
that fall before and during the particular competitive
season and prior to the T.G.C.A. nomination deadline.
To earn a spot on a T.G.C.A. Academic All-State Team is
truly an honor, as evidence by the fact that Bandera
High School was the only school in District 30-AAA to
have a student-athlete earn this honor, and Bandera High
School can be extremely proud that it actually had two
student-athletes earn this honor. This is the fifth
year in a row for Bandera High School to have at least
one or more members of the Lady Bulldog cross country
team earn a spot on the T.G.C.A. Class 3A Cross Country
Academic All-District Team.
Selected to
the 2009 Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 3A Cross
Country All-State Team was sophomore Bandera Lady
Bulldog Alexis Torres. The T.G.C.A. Cross Country
All-State Teams for each classification school are
chosen by a statewide committee of cross country
coaches, and is limited to fifteen student-athletes in
each classification. Only three other student-athletes
from U.I.L. Region IV schools were selected to the team,
with only one of those student-athletes being from
another District 30-AAA school. Again, to be selected
to the T.G.C.A. Class 3A Cross Country All-State Team is
an exceptional honor, and something that has not
happened at Bandera High School in recent years.
Prior to the
T.G.C.A. notification of state level honors, Bandera
High School was already aware that the Bandera Lady
Bulldog and Bulldog cross country teams had accumulated
a total of eighteen District 30-AAA cross country
honors. Eleven Bandera Lady Bulldogs earned 2009
District 30-AAA Cross Country Academic All-District and
three Bandera Bulldogs achieved the same, while four
Lady Bulldogs also earned a spot on the 2009 District
30-AAA Cross Country All-District Team.
Earning a spot
on the District 30-AAA Cross Country All-District Team
for the Bandera Lady Bulldogs were junior Aimee Denham,
freshman Sara Herrera, freshman McKenna Mangold, and
sophomore Alexis Torres. Only four of the six schools
in District 30-AAA had girl team members who earned
District 30-AAA Cross Country All-District honors during
the 2009 season, and the Lady Bulldogs led the way by
having four team members earn District 30-AAA Cross
Country All-District honors. Fredericksburg earned the
second most spots, with three Lady Billies earning a
place on the 2009 District 30-AAA Cross Country
All-District Team. The Wimberley Lady Texans placed two
girls on the 2009 District 30-AAA Cross Country
All-District Team and Ingram Lady Warriors had one girl
who earned a spot on the 2009 District 30-AAA Cross
Country All-District Team.
Although the
Bandera Bulldog team did not have any team members earn
a spot on the 2009 District 30-AAA Cross Country
All-District Team, Bandera High School can be very proud
that three of the six Bulldog varsity team members did
earn 2009 District 30-AAA Cross Country Academic
All-District. For a student-athlete to earn District
30-AAA Cross Country Academic All-District, he or she
must maintain an overall average of 90 or above for the
first two six weeks of that school year. The Bandera
Bulldogs who earned District 30-AAA Cross Country
Academic All-District were senior Chris Mallory, junior
Antonio Morales, and sophomore Jeffrey Nelson.
Earning 2009
District 30-AAA Cross Country Academic All-District for
the Bandera Lady Bulldogs were seniors Holly Garwood and
Lauren Lyssy; juniors Aimee Denham, Cassidy Gase,
Shelbie Martin, and Kaylee Reeves; sophomores Elizabeth
Elizondo and Alexis Torres; and freshmen Kasandra Cruz,
Sara Herrera, and McKenna Mangold. These eleven Lady
Bulldogs, who are obviously dependable in the classroom,
also, proved to be dependable in cross country
competition, which allowed the Bandera Lady Bulldogs to
win the 2009 District 30-AAA Cross Country Title.
As a result of
the competitive efforts of these eleven Lady Bulldogs
and their junior varsity counter parts, the varsity
team was able to capture a second straight varsity
district cross country title and a fourth straight trip
to the U.I.L. Region IV Cross Country Meet, while the
Lady Bulldog junior varsity captured their fourth
straight district title and the Bandera Bulldogs placed
third at the 2009 District 30-AAA Cross Country Meet,
which qualified the Bandera Bulldog team to the U.I.L.
Region IV Cross Country Meet for the second time in
three years. In addition, team and individual effort
of the Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs during the latter part
of the 2009 invitational cross country season provided
Bandera with four team titles at invitational meets.
The Bandera Lady Bulldog varsity won the Mason Pride of
the Hill Country Cross Country Meet and the Uvalde Late
Season Invitational Cross Country Meet, while both the
Bandera Lady Bulldog and Bulldog junior varsity won the
Mason Pride of the Hill Country Cross Country Meet.
A number of
other individuals, not previously mentioned, made strong
a contribution to the Bandera Lady Bulldog and Bulldog
cross country teams during the 2009 cross country
season. At the varsity level, junior Matthew Mallory,
freshman Matthew Halloran, and freshman Cody Tuma were
major contributors to the regional qualifying Bulldog
team. At the junior varsity, transfer Bulldog Zach
Chelin was the individual junior varsity first place
finisher at the Llano Yellow Jacket Invitational Cross
Country Meet, the Mason Pride of the Hill Country
Invitational Cross Country Meet, and the Bandera Bulldog
Pre-District Invitational Cross Country Meet. Zach was
also the 2009 District 30-AAA Junior Varsity Cross
Country Meet individual champion. Lady Bulldog junior
varsity team members who contributed to the Lady
Bulldogs winning the 2009 District 30-AAA Junior Varsity
Cross Country Meet team title were junior Molly Frost,
junior Samantha Mitchell, junior Jeanne Muench,
sophomore Emilee Frerich, sophomore Micaela Keese,
sophomore Brandi Robinson, sophomore Jennifer Widner,
freshman Kati Fitzpatrick, freshmen Emily Frost,
freshman Bailee Hauck, freshman Crystal Moreland, and
freshmen Emma Williams.
Although every
cross country team in Texas each cross country season
has the goal of making it to the U.I.L. State Cross
Country Meet and then hopefully earning a spot on the
medal stand once at the state meet, only three teams and
10 individuals from each of the four U.I.L. regions
qualify for the U.I.L. State Cross Country Meet each
year. Although Bandera High School was not able advance
to a team to the 2009 U.I.L. State Class 3A Cross
Country Meet, the Bandera High School Lady Bulldogs did
advance an individual to the state meet. Sophomore
Alexis Torres became the first Lady Jacket to qualify to
the U.I.L. State Cross Country Meet in recent history.
Although the
2009 cross country season started somewhat slowly for
the Bandera Lady and Bulldogs Bulldogs, it proved to be
exceptional over the last half of the season. Over the
course of the three month season 2009 season, both teams
and the individual members of the teams made steady
progress. Though the 2009 senior Bandera Lady Bulldog
and Bulldog cross country team members will be missed
during the 2010 Cross Country Season, the 2010 Lady
Bulldog and Bulldog teams have a chance to be the
strongest cross country teams in the history of Bandera
High School.
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