Sports

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos scored in every inning in their 14-8 romp over Wellington last week to take them to 2-1 and 1-0 on the season.

Brooke Martin got the win pitching six innings, and Camra Smith came in and pitched in the seventh inning. Haley Ferguson was behind the plate.

Offense was the name of the game in the first inning for both teams as they each scored three runs. But the Lady Broncos flexed their muscles in the following three innings and were on target defensively as they held their opponent to no runs, but put up seven unanswered scores.

The big three innings sealed the deal for the ladies as they were able to coast to the seventh and did not need their at bat in the last inning. They had 14 hits and only three errors in the game.

The Lady Broncos will host Quanah Friday, March 14, in a double-header at noon, and on March 15 they will play an alumni game at home beginning at 1:00 p.m.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos competed in the Claude track meet last week and finished in third place with 80 points behind Wellington and Follet.

Abby Johnson won the 400-meter dash with a time of 1.04.62, and Sarah Luttrell won the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.84 and was second in the long jump with a leap of 15’8″. Johnson was second in the 200-meter dash behind Luttrell at 28.24.

Sarah Williams finished fifth in the 1600-meter run at 7.04:27 and Myra Castillo was fourth in the 400 with a time of 1:07.05. Bailey was sixth in the 400 at 1:09.85. Berkeley Alexander finished fifth in the shot put with a distance of 30’10″ and Karlee Adams was sixth in that event at 28’6½”.

The Broncos competed with limited athletes and finished fifth as a team. Caleb Cob finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57:93 and fourth in the 800-meter run at a tie of 17:27.

Cedrick McCampbell was third in the 100 at 16:48, fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.83, and fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 40’5″. Montana Hysinger was fourth in the discus with a throw of 106’6¼”.

The next track meet for the Broncos and Lady Broncos will participate in the Quanah track meet March 22.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Broncos hosted the annual Alumni game last week and the current Broncos came out on top of the former Broncos, 2-0.

According to CHS coach Brad Elam, the game turned into a pitching duel and both runs were scored in the fifth inning.

“Zack LaRoe and JoJo Cartwright walked and Israel Osburn singled in both runs for the only runs of the game,” Elam said. “The Alumni pitcher of Troy Chambless, Bradley Watson, and Brayden Phillips pitched outstanding giving up only those two runs while striking out twelve. The Broncos’ pitching of Chance McAnear and LaRoe pitched outstanding as well, throwing a shutout.”

Elam went on to say that the Alumni players, who have all been coached by Elam, hit the ball well, but ran themselves out of some innings by getting thrown out on the bases. Alumni got base hits from Gage Nelson, Stephen Fowler, Dalton Askew, Braden Phillips, Caleb Mitchell, and Billy Ceniceros. Elam was glad to see his former players and believed everyone had a great time.

“And like old times, JC Blackburn and David Roberts were hit by a pitch,” Elam said. “It was great seeing the ‘old guys’ and I believe fun was had by players and fans alike.”

Also playing for the Alumni was Stephen Fowler, Dusty Martindale, Rowdy Speed, Trevor Leeper, Tyler Drackley, John Levario, an Matt Henderson.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Broncos only needed one run to tie the Wellington Skyrockets, but could not put it on the scoreboard and took a 6-7 loss.

According to head coach Brad Elam; the Broncos committed a couple of mistakes early that put them in a hole.

“We started out slow on offense and had a couple of miscues that cost us,” he said. “We got down 0-4 after three innings, but battled back in the fourth to trail 3-4.”

Bryce Hatley got things rolling for the Broncos when he earned a walk and Caleb Cobb hit a single. JoJo Cartwright drove those two in before also scoring a run. Another error cost the Broncos some runs in the fifth and they trailed 3-7 going into the last inning.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” Elam said. “The first five batters reached base and Nick Shadle scored after he had a single. After Chance Lockhart scored, we had bases loaded with two outs.”

Elam noted that Zack LaRoe singled, which allowed Clay Koetting to score and cut the lead to only one run. The tying run was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the hit.

“(It was a) great comeback attempt,” Elam said. “Cobb and LaRoe pitched and threw really well.”

The Broncos will continue their regular schedule on Thursday, March 13, at Hale Center at 2:00 pm. They will play a double-header at home on Friday, March 14, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

By Sandy Anderberg

Clarendon High School senior Ryann Starnes has been a workhorse for the Lady Broncos during her high school basketball career, and this year she was rewarded for her outstanding play by being named the 2-1A All-District MVP.

Starnes’ stellar play helped the Lady Broncos to win their first game at the Regional tournament before losing to the eventual state champion Plains and was recognized by the participating coaches for the award.

Deborah Howard also received a great award by being named the District Defensive MVP. Howard also was instrumental in helping the Lady Broncos’ success this year and has been a constant on the team. Her dedication to the Lady Broncos and aggressive defensive play made her a great recipient for this award.

Starnes and Howard are joined by Taylor DeGrate and Taylor Gaines. Both DeGrate and Gaines were starters all year and played important roles for the Lady Broncos all season long. Camra Smith was named to the team as an Honorable Mention.

Completing the All-District team are Torri Chavez from Panhandle who was named the Offensive MVP, Aisia Bonner, Keylee Mayfield, and Macalle Melton from Panhandle, Cassidy Crutchfield from White Deer, Shelby Foster and Ashley Giles from Claude, and Madison Milligan and Nicole Rohrbach from Vega.

The All-District Academic team was also announced for the Lady Broncos. Deb Howard, Haley Ferguson, Ryann Starnes, Camra Smith, and Taylor Gaines were all named to that team.

With only three practices under their belt, the Lady Broncos are beginning their softball season with district games early in their schedule. According to head coach Gary Jack; the Lady Broncos have played two games already.

“We lost to Fritch on Thursday 10-12,” Jack said. “We really played pretty well considering the amount of time we’ve had to prepare. Brooke Martin, Sterling King, and Briley Chadwick pitched pretty good for a first game and Haley Ferguson caught for us. Audra Thomas hit the ball well and we made some good defensive plays.”

Last Friday, the Lady Broncos played Sand Jacinto and won 23-0. Camra Smith and Brooke Martin pitched with Haley catching again. Audra and Bailey hit well according to Jack.

“We will have two district games this week,” Jack said. “West Texas High will be here on Tuesday and we will travel to Booker on Friday.”

By Sandy Anderberg

Senior Chance McAnear and junior Charles Mason have been selected to the 2 1-A All-District Team according to head coach Brandt Lockhart. Both McAnear and Mason have been a huge part of the Bronco basketball team and were chosen to the team by the participating district coaches.

Zach Cornell, Cedrick McCampbell, and Chance Lockhart have also been selected to the All-District Academic Team. The academic team selections are determined from play during the basketball season and overall grades.

Tanner Barnett from Panhandle was the unanimous selection as District MVP, Cory Free and Brody Powers also from Panhandle were selected as offensive and defensive MVP’s respectively.

Bradley Cornell, Bailey Morrow, and Zack Johnson were selected from Claude, Tyler Hall and Josh Oliver were selected from Panhandle, Colton Luster and Justin Joyce were selected from Vega, and Dustin Thomas was selected from White Deer to finish the All-District Team.

The Clarendon College men’s cross-country program has been placed on one-year probation by the National Junior College Athletic Association following a random audit.

CC President Dr. Robert Riza informed the Board of Regents about the penalty during last Thursday’s regular board meeting and said the problem was simply that the college’s former athletic director had “sloppy paperwork.”

Riza said the college received notice by the NJCAA three weeks ago that it would audit CC’s indoor track and field program. During the course of the audit, CC officials and the NJCAA discovered some problems with letters of intent signed by members of the men’s cross-country team, athletes who also participate in indoor track and field competitions.

“You are allowed a certain number of letters of intent,” Riza later told the Enterprise, “and, if one of those athletes ends up not coming here, you are allowed to release them and add another one. We’re allowed letters for ten men and ten women to run cross-country, and we had one or two too many.”

Probation for the cross-country men means they cannot participate in regional or national playoffs next fall and the number of scholarship positions CC can offer for that program is reduced from ten to six.

“We broke the rule, and we’re going to take the punishment,” Riza said. “This is just a situation where paperwork was sloppy.”

CC is already taking steps to make sure this problem never happens again, Riza said. A new full time athletic director, Brad Vanden Boogaard, is already in place, and he will be attending NJCAA training this summer. In addition, new eligibility checklist procedures are being implemented, and CC coaches will be receiving training also.

On a positive note, Riza told the board that more than 90 student athletes from Clarendon had been listed on the athletic director’s fall honor roll for having a 3.0 or higher GPA, and 11 of those students had 4.0 GPAs.

Riza updated regents on an employee survey which found that “meeting students’ needs” is the college’s top priority and that the maintenance and housekeeping staff ranked the highest in terms of friendliness and teamwork. The survey also gave low ranking for communications and collaboration between the administration and the faculty and staff, which he said he expected.

The president also reported meeting with representatives of Cielo Wind Energy and said the company is inquiring about tax relief – not a tax abatement – for its proposed wind farm in northwestern Donley County.

Riza also briefed the board on his plan to use some S3 grant funds to offer TSI testing in area high schools as a way to help lower the number of students needing developmental classes in college.

In other college business, the Board of Regents: approved proposals from four vendors to purchase nursing equipment totaling $56,974 as part of a Title III grant; extended a food services contract with Great Western Dining for three years; renewed a lease with the Donley County Industrial Foundation for property on West First Street for storage and welding classes; and ratified the resignation of men’s basketball coach Tony Starnes, the retirements of Sharon Hannon and Gene Denney, and the hiring of Roger Schustereit as Interim Dean of Instruction, Melvin Balogh to coach volleyball, Emily Palmore for testing, and Meriem St. Laurent for an assistant at the Pampa Center.

By Sandy Anderberg

Friday night the Lady Broncos experienced a big high as they defeated Sundown in the Regional Semi-Final game at the Texas Dome in Levelland.

The ladies put together a great game and won 56-53, which put them in the Regional Final game against Plains on Saturday. The Plains Cowgirls proved to be a tough competitor and the Lady Broncos finished short of their goal at 41-49.

On Friday, the Lady Broncos flexed their muscles against Sundown jumping out to a four-point lead after the first eight minutes. The advantage the Lady Broncos gained in the first quarter proved to be the points they needed to get the win as Sundown matched the Lady Broncos nearly point for point in the final three quarters of play. The two Taylors, DeGrate and Gaines, finished in double figures with 18 and 17 points to lead the Lady Broncos.

DeGrate also added eleven defensive rebounds to record a double double. Camra Smith hit three three-pointers for nine, and Ryann Starnes added six. Deborah Howard, Brittney Braim, and Skyler White each helped with two.

The win put the Lady Broncos in the finals where they struggled with cold shooting against a good Plains team. Clarendon trailed Plains by eleven points at the break, but they were still very much in the game.

The Lady Broncos were able to come out in the third period and fight back to outscore the Cowgirls by five points in the third quarter of play. Foul trouble hit the Lady Broncos as Gaines and DeGrate went over the limit and time ran out on their comeback. But the Lady Broncos never quit until the final buzzer, which has been typical of their determination all season.

Starnes finished with twelve points and Gaines added ten. DeGrate and Smith had five, while Howard added four, Phara Berry put in three, and Haley Ferguson had two.

Coach Molly Weatherred was disappointed in the loss, but not how her girls played over the weekend.

“I was very proud of the Lady Broncos all weekend long at the Regional Tournament,” Weatherred said. “Friday night against Sundown, I thought we played really well and I thought the girls competed and hit big shots. Saturday was a little different. I thought the girls still really competed and played hard, but we got in foul trouble early and some girls had to sit for a while.

“We did not shoot the ball well, only shooting 23 percent. Overall, things just did not go our way. However, I am so very proud of these young ladies. They had an amazing season and they are such a wonderful group of girls. I thought they truly competed and fought till the very end, and as a coach that is all I could ever ask for.”

 

By Sandy Anderberg

In a total show of dominance over Wheeler, the Lady Broncos routed the Lady Mustangs Friday night, 63-22, at Amarillo High School in the Area game of the playoffs. The win earned the Lady Broncos the right to continue in post-season play on Tuesday night, February 18, against a tough Sunray team.

The Regional I-1A quarterfinal game was held at Caprock High School with the Lady Broncos claiming another win and advancing to play Sundown in the Regional Tournament this Friday in Levelland.

On their game from the tip-off last week, the Lady Broncos were determined to get the win. The ladies put up several unanswered points in the opening minutes of the game and set the tempo for the remaining play as they led 34-11 at the break. Great offensive execution coupled with aggressive defense, the Lady Broncos denied everything Wheeler tried, which left the Lady Mustangs totally frustrated.

Offensively, the Lady Broncos pumped in seven three-pointers with Camra Smith hitting three of those. Smith, Ryann Starnes, and Taylor Gaines all finished with 11 points each to lead the Lady Broncos on the scoreboard.

Because of the Lady Broncos’ huge lead, the junior varsity starters were able to come into the game and the five held their own with Briley Chadwick and Jensen Hatley putting up five points for the Lady Broncos.

“Getting this win against Wheeler was great,” head coach Molly Weatherred said. “The girls played aggressively from the beginning and played hard throughout. Several players stepped up and had a big part in our win.”

Also scoring: Phara Berry 8, Taylor DeGrate 7, Chadwick 4, Haley Ferguson 4, Deborah Howard 2, Brittney Braim 2, Skyler White 2, and Hatley 1.