FFA places third at state

The FFA Ag issues team competed at the state competition Dec. 3 and placed third out of every chapter in the state. No distinction between size meant the team competed against chapters from 1-A to 5-A classifications. The Ag issues team at the state competition. From left: Collin Backus, Kevin Ruiz, Andrew Roder, Hannah Seiver, Jeffery Klose, Tyler Mogford, Landry Kieth, Darby Sullivan.

 

CX debate advances to state

As he stood at the podium he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. His rock solid argument bounced off his lips and hit the opposing team like a brick wall.different teams competed for the top three places.

By the time he finished speaking he glanced at the triumphant smile on his partner’s face and knew that this debate round had just been dominated.

Senior Colten Cowart and junior Brett Howard traveled to compete at the CX Debate state meet March 15-18. Juniors Connor Lawrence and Ephraim Lorenz qualified as the alternate team and attended the competition with Cowart and Howard.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Howard said. “But we did pretty good and defended our arguments well.”

The meet was held in Austin where 60

“There were a lot of teams but it wasn’t that bad,” Howard said, “Only eight out of sixty advanced.”

Although Cowart and Howard did not advance they expressed pride over what they accomplished at the competition.

“I think we did amazing for it being Brett’s first year to debate, my second year, and our first year to go to state,” Cowart said.

Debate coach Stefanie Suto had high praise for her team.

“The boys did a great job representing this area for the first time,” Suto said. “This was the first state trip in CX for me as the Canyon coach, and I couldn’t be any more proud.”

Girls take state title to end perfect season

All Coach Joe Lombard wanted for his 58th birthday was a gold medal. And he got it, along with his 15th state championship and his 1100th win to top off a 38-0 season, the third undefeated season in school history for the girls basketball team.

The team had high-scoring games until the semi-finals game against Plainview. The game came down to the wire with the Eagles trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter then catching up to the Bulldogs in last few minutes, sending the game into overtime. In the end, Canyon won by two points, 42-40.

“After the buzzer went off, I realized we had just won,” senior Ashton Pedigo said. “I ran to the bench and squeezed whoever was in front of me.”

To remain undefeated for the season and win the state championship, the girls had to beat Beaumont Ozen in the semi-finals and Austin Johnson in the state finals. In another set of games that went right down to the wire, Canyon bested Ozen 44-39 and then won the state game with the same score, 44-39.

The state final game featured a true team effort that included three-point shots from seniors Nicole Hampton, Macy Myrick and Madison Russ while injured junior Shayla Monreal sank two three-point balls.  A game-changing rebound score by junior Morgan Dean marked the turnaround in the game that headed the girls toward the title.

“We were just hoping to make the playoffs when this season started, and they’ve come together so well,” Lombard said. “Everyone plays their role. I’m so grateful to coach these guys—honored.”

For all the girls except Hampton, who helped earn gold her freshman year, this was the first trip to the state tournament.

“Nicole was only one who has even been here before, so it’s all new to the rest our team, and for them to have the kind of poise they had was pretty remarkable,” Lombard said.

Russ called Lombard’s program amazing and acknowledged the accomplishment of a long-term goal.

“We worked for this since we were little,” Russ said. “You just come through this school wanting to win a state championship.”

Hampton said she told her teammates have fun with the state experience.

“I told them to go out there, enjoy the atmosphere and play like it’s just any normal game,” Hampton said.

For her performance in the state tournament, Hampton was named the Ford Tough Player of the Game and MVP of the state 4A tournament.

“You always dream of going to the Drum and winning a state championship,” Hampton said. “Winning the MVP is just the cherry on top.”

Cross country girls earn bronze at state

 

 

 

The team went to state with a regional championship behind them and hopes to make it on the podium. The race started out with every girl striving to take the lead, something new to the Canyon runners.

As the 3000 meter race came to a close, sophomore Arin Rice headed to the front of the pack, battling for 11th place with a time of 11:32.

Freshmen Courtney Karr and Karah Diaz ran close together all the way to the finish line. Karr placed 27th with a time of 11:56 and Diaz placed 28th with a time of 11:57.

Junior C.J. Frizzell ran a 12:19 and placed 51st, closely followed by senior Leslie Brummett placing 52nd, with a time of 12:21.

Senior Kateland Maddox and sophomore Stephanie Guana brought up the back for Canyon and placed 56th and 72nd respectively.

Lady Eagles storm regional meet

The Lady Eagles cross country team qualified for the UIL State Cross Country Meet Nov. 13 in Round Rock, Texas.

The girls’ cross country team won the Regional meet w ith Canyon’s own Arin Rice, a sophomore, taking first place with a time of 11:08, outrunning Randall’s Karlee Kleiber by .4 seconds.

Next in was Leslie Brummett, placing ninth with a time of 11:41. Karah Diaz caught up with Brummett but was unable to pass her in the final leg of the race and placed tenth with a time of 11:42.

Courtney Karr and CJ Frizzell were next to come in placing 12 and 13 consecutively. Also, Stephanie Guana,  who placed 24th with a time of 12:08, and Kateland Maddox, 26th with a time of 12:09, helped bring in Canyon’s victory.

 The Lady Eagles had all 7 runners in the top 30 places and took first out of the 24 teams participating in the event.

Girls cross country team soars to state

The girls cross country team finished third at the regional meet Nov. 7 qualifying the team for the 4A state meet in Round rock Nov. 14.

The team finished third overall with a team total of 91, behind second place Hereford(84) and first place Saginaw Boswell (62).

Freshman Arin Rice finshed first for the team and third overall with a time of 11:52.

Senior Caitlin Gilmore finshed fourth at 11:53.

Junior Leslie Brummett finished 13th at 12:18.

Sophmore C.J. Frizzell finished 29th at 12:36.

Kimberly Davis finshed 46th at 12:51.

Junior Kateland Maddox finished 47th at 12:51.

Sophmore Candace Herrera finished 68th at 13:10.