A busy weekend on the Blacklands in the sports world. Let’s get to it.
Softball-
In a truly heartbreaking loss, a walk off home run in the bottom of the 7th inning gave Cameron a win in the Super Regional Championships over the Lions. The Lions gutted out tough wins over Tarleton State and Dixie State to get to the finals, only to lose to Cameron in the final game. Still, the Lions have a lot to be proud of and had another record season with a 40-14 record overall.
-Richie Bruister with Thoughts on the game: “I’m proud of how our team fought, and that’s been our team all year. I told our team at the end that some people counted us out this year. We lost some big guns last year but we reloaded. I’m proud of our team for who they are and what they’ve done this year. We weren’t planning on going out today but the cards weren’t in our hand tonight. I’m proud of how our team fought and kept their composure and took it down to the last out. ‘
– On the seniors: “I’m extremely proud of our senior class and them passing the torch. We have a great group of alumni now that will be out cheering future Lions on.”
– Looking ahead to next season: “I’m looking forward to next year. We have a ton of talent coming back and a lot of talent coming in. We will be competing for a national championship. This is going to be our motivation. This hurts but I know our team and they are going to be hungry. We are going to come our ready to go next year.”
Congrats to this group for another great season. A lot has happened in only 4 seasons of having program.
Golf-
After making their first trip to the Regional Championships in school history, the Women’s golf team took 11th. Meanwhile LSC Male Golfer of the Year Lucas McCubbin finished 19th at the Regional Championships. The Senior from Midland ended his career by shooting 1 under par. The Golf season is now concluded, but with the finish both teams had this year, they give a lot to look forward to next year.
Track-
In the final athletic event of the year, 23 Lions will head down to Javelina Stadium in Kingsville to compete in the NCAA Division II National Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 14 Lion Men and 9 Women will enter the field with the hopes of bringing home a National title in their respective events, or possibly even in a team setting.
Hat Tip Lionathletics.com for their previews and lists of who will be competing and in what events-
MEN’S SEEDING
In the men’s 100 meter dash, Stadrian Taylor (Lancaster) carries the fourth-best time in the nation into the event at 10.30 seconds. Devon Sanders(Clarksville) has the 21st-best time in the nation at 10.45 seconds.
Rashard Clark (Los Angeles, Calif.) has the third-fastest qualifying time in the 400 meter dash at 46.54 seconds and the fourth-fastest qualifying time in the 200 meter dash at 20.76 seconds.
Dorian Andrews (Dallas – Skyline) has the fourth-fastest time in the 110 meter hurdles at 14.01 seconds and Timon Kemboi (Eldoret, Kenya) has the seventh-fastest qualifying time in the 800 meter run at 1:49.62.
The 4×100 meter relay team of DeQuan Dudley (Harvey, Ill.), Reggie Kincade (Everman), Taylor, and Devon Sanders (Clarksville) has the fastest qualifying time in the nation at 39.99 seconds and the 4×400 meter relay squad of Taylor, D’Lance Sharp (Commerce), Sanders, and Clark ranks 13th nationally at 3:10.85.
The Lions load up in the pole vault, with Hudson Hall (Gregory-Portland) ranked 11th at 5.10 meters, Wesley Culbertson (Paris – North Lamar) ranked 14th at 5.05 meters, and Robert Wood (Wylie) ranked 18th at 5.00 meters.
Josh Boateng (St. George’s, Grenada) is the top seed in the discus throw at 61.00 meters and the fourth seed in the shot put at 18.70 meters. Joseph Brown (Mansfield) is the second seed in the discus throw at 58.31 meters.
WOMEN’S SEEDING
Eboni Coby (Lancaster) and Markaaisha Richardson (Amarillo – Tascosa) are slated for a busy meet with three and four entries in the meet respectively.
Coby is the top seed in the 200 meter dash at 23.10 seconds and the sixth seed in the 100 meter dash at 11.63 seconds. Richardson has the eighth-quickest time in the 100 meter hurdles at 13.69 seconds and the ninth-quickest time in the 400 meter hurdles at 59.14 seconds. Minna Svaerd(Karlstad, Sweden) ranks 12th in the 400 meter hurdles at 59.72 seconds.
The 4×100 meter relay team of Mackenzie Clark (Garland – Naaman Forest), Richardson, Ro’Nisha Simpson (Tatum), and Coby ranks third in the seeding at 45.54 seconds, while the 4×400 meter relay team of Atiana Alexander (San Antonio – Northside Taft), Richardson, Simpson, and Svaerd is the 10th seed at 3:43.37.
Chelsea Cheek (Baytown – Lee) carries the second seed into the national meet in the high jump at 1.78 meters and Tamara Susa (Novi Sad, Serbia) is the 10th seed in the javelin throw at 47.06 meters.
Finally, last but not least, congratulations to the 50 Lion Student Athletes who graduated this past Saturday and who accomplished quite a feat, getting a college degree. As our good friend Russell McLean says “Always A Lion!” Congrats and best of luck to you all! Below is a list of everyone who graduated by sport and degree type.
| Athletic Training | ||
| Pedro Mondragon-Lopez | Bachelor of Science | Kinesiology & Sports Studies |
| Jessica Moreno | Bachelor of Science | Human Performance |
| Bianca Savage | Bachelor of Science | Kinesiology & Sports Studies |
| Ai Ogata | Master of Science | Health, Kinesiology, & Sports Studies |
| Cheer | ||
| Chy-Anne Rose | Bachelor of Arts | English |
| Emily Saldivar | BS – Interdisciplinary Studies | Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Dlayne Sears | Bachelor of General Studies | General Studies |
| Dance | ||
| Kaylea Long | BS – Interdisciplinary Studies | Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Karria Thurmon | Bachelor of Science | Psychology |
| Men’s Basketball | ||
| Trey Conrod | Bachelor of General Studies | General Studies |
| Reggie Reid | Bachelor of Science | Learning & Technology |
| Tyree Robinson | Bachelor of General Studies | General Studies |
| Willie Rooks | Bachelor of General Studies | General Studies |
| Women’s Basketball | ||
| Princess Davis | Master of Education | Counseling |
| Ekaterina Zhibareva | Bachelor of Science | Learning & Technology |
| Football | ||
| Garrett Blubaugh | Bachelor of Science | Biological Science |
| Michael Coley | Bachelor of Science | Learning & Technology |
| Deionte Haywood | Bachelor of Science | Psychology |
| Vincent Hobbs | Bachelor of Science | Learning & Technology |
| Kendall Holmes | Bachelor of Science | Kinesiology & Sports Studies |
| Reggie Kincade | Bachelor of General Studies | General Studies |
| Kristov Martinez Garcia | Master of Science | Secondary Education |
| Ryan Peschka | Bachelor of Science | Mathematics |
| Abdul Shammaa | Bachelor of Science | Biological Science |
| Preston Wheeler | Bachelor of Science | Business Administration |
| Women’s Golf | ||
| Lauren Leslie | Bachelor of Business Admin | Management |
| Caitlin Duty | Bachelor of Science | Human Performance |
| Michelle Kotlik | Bachelor of Science | Sociology |
| Sabrina Munguia | Bachelor of Science | Kinesiology & Sports Studies |
| Volleyball | ||
| Jaryn Wacker | Bachelor of Business Admin | Finance |
| Jaslyn Wacker | Bachelor of Business Admin | Accounting |
| Chasiddy Hill | Bachelor of Business Admin | Accounting |
| Karli Thornton | Bachelor of Science | Industrial Engineering |
| Men’s Track and Field/Cross Country | ||
| Joseph Brown | Master of Business Admin | Business Administration |
| Hudson Hall | Bachelor of Science | Psychology |
| Reggie Kincade | Bachelor of General Studies | General Studies |
| Trevor Montgomery | Bachelor of Science | Human Performance |
| Devon Sanders | BS – Criminal Justice | Criminal Justice |
| D’Lance Sharp | Bachelor of General Studies | General Studies |
| Deantre Spencer | Bachelor of Science | Industrial Engineering |
| Austin Yaeger | Master of Science | Curriculum and Instruction |
| Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country | ||
| Shanecia Baker | BS – Interdisciplinary Studies | Interdisciplinary Studies |
| Mackenzie Clark | Bachelor of Science | Business Administration |
| Brandi Stalder | Bachelor of Science | Environmental Science |
| Maggie Waites | Bachelor of Science | Biological Science |
| Softball | ||
| Katie Dean | Bachelor of Business Admin | Marketing |
| Kayla Kilcrease | Bachelor of Science | Human Performance |
| Ciera Nunez | Bachelor of Science | Human Performance |
| Bri Sims | Bachelor of Science | Kinesiology & Sports Studies |
| Men’s Golf | ||
| Garrett Landers | Bachelor of General Studies | General Studies |
| Lucas McCubbin | Bachelor of Science | Learning & Technology |
The Lion Wire 