Sydney Reibschlager waiting to become a Sophomore

It has been mentioned before, but as you look at these young ladies and their accomplishments across the board you will see some excellent athletes that will also be interesting to see them continue to improve.

Examples: Abby Andress in Tennis lost in the District Meet to a Senior and almost pulled out her game in the match. That player that beat Andress continued in the tournament and that draw of playing the champion early did not do Andress any justice.

Next year will get a resolve from Andress as you can see the passion for tennis in her face and mannerisms.

Prediction: A Freshman Lady that will be the first to win a Tennis District Title before she graduates.

Softball: Alexis Robinson was in the circle and you already know what happens with another year of experience. The Hawks started with another freshman pitcher four years ago and that turned out pretty good for Canyon Lake.

The Lady Hawks also had their first JV Softball team and that will help as girls get more playing time to hone their skills.

Prediction: With a hopefully improving Robinson, then next year’s team will be knocking on that playoff door, especially as you add several key players that have more years ahead of them.

Basketball: Wow….did they lose? This team was a dominant force all season long and this was a group of freshman that were not fragmented with other freshman girls being moved up for a JV or Varsity team.

Prediction: You will see some freshman girls make a jump to Varsity this coming year and hopefully help in realizing a chance for more games via a playoff. This team might still be a year away, but with each passing year this will be a fun team to watch.

Speaking of being on every team, the Volleyball team had one freshman on the Varsity and three on the Junior Varsity and then they still fielded a decent freshman team with four would be starters on older teams.

Prediction: This group of freshman will be very instrumental and can also have several players that have a chance of playing for the Varsity.

Track and Field: Triple Jump sweep and everything else in between….this Freshman group of girls scored 138 points in District 27-3A play and finished with their highest finish ever with that 2nd Place finish on the podium.

The JV Track Relay team will many times have other classifications competing but of that 138 points the majority was scored by the Freshman.

Just take the Relays and how much those times improved over previous years:

Girls JV Relays   2009     2010      2011      2012      2013
100 Meter         61.27    56.99     55.44     54.16     53.71
200 Meter         2:13.95  2:01.96   2:00.01   1:57.00   1:55.14
400 Meter         DNP      4:50.20   4:31.42   4:26.42   4:24.83

The 4×100 M Relay would of beat CL’s ’09, ’10 and ’11Varsity district teams.
The 4×200 M Relay would of beat CL’s 2009 Varsity district team.
The 4×400 M Relay would of beat CL’s 2009 Varsity district team. Their time would of beaten Wimberley’s Varsity.

Prediction: Track and Field has had two years of good young classes, but this past year’s group of girls had Head Girls Track Coach Lacey Lambert smiling from ear to ear.

Bailey Drum will be ready with her Freshman Teammates to take CL by storm.

Several of this year’s girls could of scored points for the Varsity so how can you think that would not be an even better chance of a bus load of freshman girls adding a lot of points for the Varsity next season.

Also, with Track season being the last major sport of the Spring, the freshman girls could very easily be classified as Juniors by the time the 2013-14 sporting season comes to a close.

The ReSporter had a chance to catch up with a couple of the Freshman Girls after the Spring Sports Banquet and would like to introduce you to these young ladies.

Bailey Drum and Sydney Reibschlager are two athletes (as well as the other Freshman) that have a chance to wreck havoc on opposing teams for the next three years.

The ReSporter: Tell me how competitive you girls are when working out? It seems that you would have a lot of times when you are in some heated battles in practice.

Sydney Reibschlager: “We are all close friends, but Bailey and I do have some competitions.”

Bailey Drum: “Yes, we have some friendly competition.”

The ReSporter: Bailey, what is your favorite sport?

Bailey Drum: “I like Volleyball…I grew up watching my sister play and that is why I like to play Volleyball.”

The ReSporter: Sydney, when you have so many other teammates that are good, how does that affect on how you well you do in games or track events?

Sydney Reibschlager: “It helps a lot…we (freshman) want to be the best and so practicing against each other helps make us better.”

The ReSporter: Bailey, you have had a good all-around year. How do you prepare from one sport to the other as the year goes through its seasons?

Bailey Drum: “I try to do my best in everything I do…so it is a mental thing and I just try to give it my best.”

The ReSporter: Sydney, you just finished a good track season, what are your goals in that sport?

Sydney Reibschlager: “I would like to get to the Varsity Track Team and then I want to go to Region Track Meet together with the others (freshman).”

The ReSporter: Bailey, what can you take from seeing someone like Marisa (Ellis) after being crowned a State Champion in the High Jump?

Bailey Drum: “I have the same wants and it inspires me to also wanting to become a State Champion, just like Marisa did.”

The ReSporter: These two girls as well as many in this freshman class will be a fun group of athletes to watch as each year matures.
The drought of District Championships not being realized, might be thwarted by these young ladies as they continue to improve on their skills.
Look forward to covering you next year…good luck.

Senior Football/Basketball/Track Doug Hubnik

night and The ReSporter did not find it as a shock when that student was announced.

First off, an award with a name that says All-Round would tell you that the person probably plays more than one sport.

The next thing to take in from that criteria would be, does he have to be the best in each of those fields.

The ReSporter is guessing the answer to that question is no, but you would think that they would be near the top with each game they were playing.

Other items that would go with an award like this goes with things that are not seen by an average fan.

Never late for practice and how they handle themselves around the team and coaches when Mr. or Mrs. Public is not watching.

Senior Doug Hubnik nabbed this accolade as he graciously sauntered down from the stands. But sauntering down is certainly not how he played.

Football—Basketball—Track and Field was those three arenas that Hubnik made his second home these past four years and since The ReSporter likes to expound stats for sports, then get ready to digest some tasty numbers.

Hubnik played defensive back for CL Varsity for three years and had an interception for a touchdown two years ago.

On special teams he had the first touchdown by running back a kick-off in that same game with Luling that his interception return was performed.

Offenively, Hubnik was a go to guy for QB Branson Belcher and finished his career as one of the Hawks all time best.

           rec     yards   ave per catch    longest catch     td's
 2011       6      149        24.9               43           1
 2012      20      505        25.3               65           7
 totals    26      654        25.2               65           8

Touchdown Kickoff
Touchdown Int. return
Touchdown receiving

 Receiving longest touchdowns:
 40 yards    vs. Bandera         '11
 40 yards    vs. Burnet          '12
 53 yards    vs. Boerne          '12
 54 yards    vs. Bandera         '12
 56 yards    vs. Fredericksburg  '12
 65 yards    vs. Navarro         '12

Hubnik’s name is mentioned six times for CL’s top 25 longest receiving and running TD’s.
Other Former Players and number of times they have made this list:

 name                 # of plays       Total Yards
 Doug Hubnik            6              308
 Matt Magness           5              353
 Daniel Camarillo       4              257
 Zach Henshaw           3              163
 Eduardo Covarrubias    2              133
 Richard Howell         2              119

Hubnik also has the best average per catch for a season passing Zach Henshaw for first

Doug Hubnik scores first Defensive Touchdown in CL History

with his 25.3 average during the 2012 season.

Also add his 7 touchdowns last year tying him for 3rd place for TD catches in a season.

Hubnik also finished the game with La Grange by calling the signals as quarterback. The man could literally do it all.

 Defense        tackles   int   cf    rf    pbu
 Doug Hubnik      113      4    3     1     6

cf: caused fumbles; rf: recovered fumbles; pub: pass break ups
=========================
Baskeball Numbers.

Hubnik will go down as the best point guard in distributing the ball for assists. When you put this stat together you have to realize that as a team, Canyon Lake was not that ‘dead’ eye from the floor last two seasons.

Shooting a lethargic 36 percent from the field last season you can only imagine how many assists would of been added to his record 151 for last season if a few more layups would of fallen.

Hubnik passed Matt Magness (136) last season ending with 187 total assists. Magness got his total playing three solid years and a smidgen for his freshman year.

Hubnik finished fourth in steals with 62, fourth in free throws made with 83, and a respectable 67 % from that charity stripe.

Two year total stats for Hubnik
              3pt               pt      rebounds
fga-fgm    fga-fgm   fta-ftm   total   or-dr  total   a  s  b  to
 64-232     10-59     83-124   221     34-125 159   187 64  9 154

Hubnik finished with the best free throw percentage this year while also having that incredible number of assists. Any time you have more assists than turnovers then that standard is what coaches are always looking for when chiseling out a point guard for their team.
===========================

Decent set of numbers but The ReSporter is only 2/3 through what still has a great career on track.

Hubnik was a Relay athlete when he got to Varsity competition but here are some of his times when he was a Freshman at the district track meet.

 100 Meter Dash     11.57       placed 2nd
 200 Meter Dash     24.63       placed 6th

With Hubnik, Daniel Camarillo, and Eduardo Covarrubias teaming up for all the Varsity Relays this team soon would rise to the top.

Below you see how each year was building as each of those years these Relay Teams would find themselves in the Region Meet.

                                 Doug Hubnik Years Boys Varsity

             2009        2010       2011      2012       2013 
100 Meter    45.95       44.64     43.98     43.73         DQ 
200 Meter    1:38.37   1:32.71   1:32.50   1:31.23    1:32.28 DQ 
400 Meter    3:41.09   3:36.08   3:30.81   3:26.55    3:33.03

In fact during that 2011 season all three Relay Teams were also district champions. No

Daniel Camarillo handing off to Doug Hubnik

wonder why Fredericksburg wanted to throw a flag on this years’ Relay teams. They were tired of getting beat by this upstart school in Canyon Lake.

All-Round Athlete does not fit this Student. He has been around so many times you would be dizzy just keeping up with his sports quest.

The ReSporter had some time with Doug after the banquet.

The ReSporter: Which sport do you like the best?

Doug Hubnik: “I like them all, but I guess it just depends….but I just like them all.”

The ReSporter: How did you prepare as you went from one sport to another?

Doug Hubnik: “Football was easy since I had all Summer to prepare for that, but I started playing basketball during the weekends before the end of the season to get ready for that. Track was the hardest since there was no time between them.”

The ReSporter: Talk about how you got into track with that being a sport more on just a few people, while you are part of a team with the other two.

Doug Hubnik: “When you run on relays you form a special bond with those guys and you rely on each other….that allows that team atmosphere to form. But it was a special bond.”

The ReSporter: Baskeball this year was a joy to watch as you dished out so many assists which is usually just half the battle, you still need the other player to make the shot…

Doug Hubnik: “I had confidence in all my teammates when I would find them on the court. I would just find the open guy and they did the rest.”

The ReSporter: You make it sound so easy….What are your plans as you prepare to walk across the stage?

Doug Hubnik: “I want to be a Mechanical Engineer and I will be going to Corpus Christi A&M.”

The ReSporter: Do you plan to walk on and play sports?

Doug Hubnik: “I don’t know…I might see what happens to their track team and see if I can walk on there. But, if I can compete and really do well then I might….there is really no way of knowing right now it just all depends.

The ReSporter: It has certainly been a pleasure getting to know you these past few years and you have done a wonderful job of representing this community. Thanks and good luck.

Bracken Christian Warriors in first practice.

Coach Lloyd Fields (55-8) as next year’s edition readies for another chance to reach the post season.

Reaching the playoffs has been a staple each season, but that first year had a 1-9 slate during that inaugural 2006 campaign.

Bracken has won at least 9 games since that first year and are presently on a four year 10 or more win season streak.

Will that streak continue? That is what the Coaches will be discerning as this week’s Spring practice heats up.

Head Coach Fields commented after leaving the field after practice, “I thought it (practice) was pretty good. Our defense was good and our tight offense was good.”

“Our spread offense is a work in progress,” Coach Fields continued. “That offense will be a trial and error thing, but I’m happy with the defense.”

This season will be a different type of team as the Warriors will be more of up the middle and bowl them over type of club.

Take Running Back Preston Koch as a prime example of a player that takes joy in running over an opponent and that will work best when Koch is going north and south instead of playing like a speed player trying tot make the corner to outrun the enemy.

“We were a lot better than I thought we would be and we had a lot of people show up,” Koch cooked up.

When asked what his goals for this year would be, Koch said, “Make the playoffs, we may not be like the teams of the past without (Eli) Achilles, but we have a core of guys that will be looking to put those extra pieces together.”

Koch had 101 carries last season for 815 yards and this senior back also produced the most receptions with 23 last season. Showing off those good hands will also come in ‘handy’ (pardon the pun) for this year’s offense.

Warriors taking a water break at Spring Football practice

Returning player Davis Scott who played several positions last year, can display several skill sets for BCS to employ if needed based on game situations.

Scott had the most receiving yards with 381 and carried the ball 28 times in amassing 250 yards for Bracken.

Scott will also be helping from the defensive side of that line with his All-State pedigree.

Another player that you will want to keep an eye on will be Mason Anthony, as he will have a chance to show off his quickness in the backfield. Anthony was a late entry on last year’s squad as Bracken was dealing with some injuries and needed some bodies for reinforcements.

You can call Anthony a diamond in the rough as he showed a ton of potential as he became more acclimated into the offense.

Coy Zunker had a good year on defense as his size did not deter this player in getting into the thick of the game. Some key interceptions last season and getting a repeat will also be a help as Bracken prepares for the upcoming season.

Quarterback Sam Hilgendorf might be the most important player for BCS as he will not only be called on for managing the game but this season will be called upon for passing the rock.

“I just want to be an all round quarterback,” Hilgendorf handed off flawlessly. “I definitely need some work (on passing), but I will be ready by fall.”

How that part of this year’s offense takes flight can easily give you an idea how the Warriors will be capable of reaching their goals of making those playoffs and reaching that 10 or more wins bar.

Two more players that will be key to this year’s Bracken team will be John Colby who will be in his second year of 6-Man football and so that newness will not be an issue as Colby brings a lot of braun and a don’t quit attitude for this defense.

How Colby can step up his game will certainly help with having a team that can be more rounded on both sides of the ball.

Sophomore Gunnar Stolhanske will play center and he also proved he could catch the ball last year which is so important when you have a quarterback that will need help from as many receivers as possible.

Confidence will be that intangible needed as this team starts to weave their armor so this Warrior team will be well equipped for a season that will hopefully surprise many opponents.

Caitlyn Gillum enjoying her Senior Day in 2012

ability was the best in each sport as Canyon Lake will be graduating it’s third class this May.

Basketball just had a player that was tops in several categories and has just signed a scholarship to play Volleyball and Basketball.

Katie Williams certainly has the numbers to stake a claim for being the best Hawk in Basketball, but let’s break down some numbers and also see what other players have accomplished throughout the past seven years to get a good grasp of who the pick might be.

Three years ago, CL shocked the Basketball world when they improved 18 games and missed going to the second round by one point and three seconds.

That team will certainly have some nominees for having some well deserving players.

Megan Browning would certainly rank high as she is now playing basketball in Arkansas for Hendrix.

Browning ranks fourth in points scored with 428 and also ranks third in assists with 83 dishes to teammates.

Another player that would be considered a good candidate is Tiffany Arredondo who had the ability to dribble through trouble and presses as well.

Arredondo ranks first in assists (125) which attests to what a point guard should be noted for. Add her 90 steals and 332 points also would tell you how hard it would be to guard a player that can make you pay if you play off to help other players on the court.

Arredondo numbers were cut short when she was hurt before her Senior season and missing several games that would certainly cement her even more for this title of best player.

Another Tiffany was also a good post player for Coach Steve Dements teams as Tschoepe has several areas where she was dominant.

Tschoepe places second in scoring (515), third in blocks (48), second in free throws (139), and first in rebounds which will be a hard to top 579 boards for her career.

There were also a couple of players that only had one year playing for Canyon Lake and one just graduated last season and helped the Hawks get to the edge of the cup in making the playoffs.

Caitlyn Gillum was a dish before shooting guard and had 63 assists in her one year at CL. Most of the Hawk players with the numbers had three and four years of piling up those impressive numbers.

Gillum with 63 assists would translate to at least 150 in a three year career if she would of had that opportunity.
She had the ability to make those players around her better, hence just missing the playoffs last season.

The ReSporter will nominate the other one year player as Canyon Lake’s best simply because she had all the tools that made her a hard person to guard.

Ashley Pfaff was a one year player that set one year marks that will not be easy to top.

Year Ashley Pfaff Played 2009
2nd   Three Point Shots   39       Olivia Flores has 42 in her last two years.
2nd   Assists             89       Arredondo is first in three years of playing.
4th   Steals              96       Williams, Ramsey and West are ahead of Pfaff.
5th   Rebounds           199       Tiffany Tschoepe leads in this category.
4th   Blocks              29       Katie Williams also leads in this stanza.
3rd   Career Field Goals 151       Tschoepe and Williams topped Pfaff.
3rd   Career Points      493       Impressive to place third in playing one year.
1st   Season Points      493       Tschoepe is 150 short of this mark.

To be in the top five of all those categories speaks for itself. Pfaff was deadly from outside and could also take her game inside and do just as much damage.

Foul her? You would pay as Pfaff was deadly from the charity stripe. Those numbers don’t lie…they are numbers of Canyon Lake’s best girls basketball player.

The spotlight for next year’s team is based on some players that showed a lot of improvement last season.

How about Olivia Flores? This three point machine can certainly help in a game by opening up a defense that will have to come out and guard those long bombs.

Flores will need to have another guard that can help in bringing up the ball so she has a chance to spot up and shoot or drive to the basket based on how she is defensed.

Amber Ramsey would certainly be a good choice. Ramsey is already pretty high up on a lot of Hawk all time records and her Senior year would do nothing but put an exclamation point on that career.

Several Freshman players have also given notice that they could help out and show that they are ready for the big stage.

The ReSporter will go for Kendall Drum as the spotlight player to watch and see what this team might be able to accomplish as this next year gets started.

Drum has the height and used those qualities for a very good field goal percentage of 44% from the floor.and she finished one rebound short of 100.

With another year of growing into her position, Drum can certainly have a chance of carrying the Hawks through some games and get this team back into a playoff hunt.

The Hawks did lose a good hard to replace senior in Katie Williams, but now that will give Drum and some other players a chance to rise to the top.

Besides Drum, Canyon Lake will rely on players that are not known yet, hence some freshman girls that had a good year last year. One year can have a lot of changes for those girls and it might take just a little confidence during this off season to give that star in their eyes to take the baton.

Now Drum go work on your free throws, I have a feeling you will have a lot of chances this coming season.

Canyon Lake’s Marisa Ellis Standing on Top of the Podium

The Canyon Lake Girls Track Team beat Fredericksburg at the State Track Meet held in Austin last weekend.

The Hawks finished with 10 points while the Billies garnered one point in this contest.

Fredericksburg had won every track meet they had entered during the regular season and also lapped CL during the District 27-3A Meet, 193 to 84 held over a month ago.

But Marisa Ellis had other thoughts as she jumped back over the 5’6 High Jump Bar and not only scored enough points to beat the invincible Billies, but Jumped right into the Canyon Lake’s record books with the first Team or Individual to place first in a State event.

That 5’6 jump was a personal best for Ellis that just so happened to be at the right time and just enough for a win and 10 points for the Hawks.

Ellis was in a zone as she made all her marks without a miss when the field was reduced to five students in this competition as the bar was raised to a 5’8 standard.

Recap: Ellis was at that height without a miss which gave her the championship if she finished tied with any of the other four girls without having any other person clearing the bar.

Each athlete would have three more tries at this new height and now you can see how nerves would be on edge as this event whittled down with each rotation.

“I tried to not be so nervous,” State Champion Ellis said calmly.

There were two girls that had reached heights over this mark so thinking that might happen again was certainly on the minds of all the participants no matter how many misses had occurred at this stage of the high jump event.

Heights Reached in Region Meets:

 Nina Sato         Anthony       5'2
 Marisa Ellis      HAWKS         5'4
 Reagan Luce       Hondo         5'5
 Morgan McKee      Greenwood     5'6
 Alexus Henry      Bridge City   5'6
 Kori Soignet      Silsbee       5'6
 Tracy Jander      Lorena        5'7
 Whitney Apari     Lone Star     5'8
 Kara Erickson     North Lamar   5'10

Ellis would of finished out of the point phase if those heights reached during Region Meets had been duplicated for this State Meet.

Kara Erickson from North Lamar had reached a full six inches more than Ellis and that

Ellis Clearing the High Jump Bar

will give you an idea of thinking that someone still in the hunt might hit on the 5’8 level.

Reaching that personal best of 5’6 was huge for Ellis and gave her a legitimate chance to finish in the top three.

Looking at the list above gives you an idea that only two of the girls had matched or beaten that 5’8 mark and Tracy Jander of Lorena had reached 5’7 but was already out when she did not make an earlier level.

Ellis was also seeded as the fist jumper and so that meant after each miss at that 5’8 mark all Ellis could do is wait as the next four jumpers tried to make it to their next level.

On that final round, Ellis had missed and with each girl coming next would tell her what place she might finish.

Now you can imagine as each girl would miss on that third round, that Ellis would move up a place.

Ellis started placed at 5th place and already higher than her finish last season in the Triple Jump in Austin.

Marisa Ellis getting some pointers from Track Coach Lacey Lambert at State

Next girl’s miss put Ellis in 4th place, 3rd place, 2nd place, and then with Erickson’s miss a Canyon Lake Champion was crowned.

Erickson would be that logical choice of any of the athletes that would put Ellis on the 2nd place podium with a 5’10 jump two weeks earlier to her credit.

A miss put Ellis on her shock the nation tour.

What were you thinking after that last girl missed the bar? “I was in shock,” Ellis said.

Tiffany Arredondo Stealing Home

All-District for 27-3A has been announced for Softball and the following players had a season worth mentioning.

 First Team All-District
 McKenna Beseda          Outfield

 Second Team All-District
 Vicky Henderson         Infield
 Kelsey Ahrens           Utility
 Brianna Young           Catcher

 Newcomer of the Year
 Alexis Robinson         Freshman

The ReSporter is also posting the Top Three for the All-Time Softball Records.

Here are a few of those highlights so you can reminisce about how the Hawks rank with their peers. Enjoy!!

Top Three All-Time CL Softball Records
 At Bats                 Runs                        Hits 
 Vicky Henderson   264   Missy Romero       77       Missy Romero        90
 Missy Romero      251   McKenna Beseda     74       McKenna Beseda      90
 McKenna Beseda    243   Tiffany Arredondo  53       Vicky Henderson     68

 Extra Base Hits         Base on Balls               Batting Average
 Missy Romero      35    Missy Romero       55       McKenna Beseda     .370
 Brianna Young     19    Brianna Young      27       Missy Romero       .359
 Katy Payne        14    Mary Jordan        24       Alexis Robinson    .359
 Kelsey Ahrens     14

 Wins                    Innings Pitched             Strikeouts
 Missy Romero      36    Missy Romero       498.1    Missy Romero        528
 Alexis Robinson    8    Alexis Robinson    130.2    Alexis Robinson     179
 Kelsey Ahrens      2    Megan Blackburn     42.2    Kelsey Ahrens        15

 Earned Run Ave.         Stolen Bases
 Missy Romero      2.77  Tiffany Arredondo    34
 Alexis Robinson   3.17  McKenna Beseda       34
 Megan Blackburn   6.97  Alex Henderson       25

 Top Ten Players All-Time based on Batting Average:
 name                 ab   r   h  bi  2b  3b  hr  bb  so  sb   Ave  
 McKenna Beseda      243  74  90  30  10   2   0  16  58  34  .370  
 Missy Romero        251  77  90  55  24   9   2  55  32  22  .359  
 Alexis Robinson      78  19  28   9   5   2   0   4   7   3  .359 
 Brianna Young       132  11  46  37  18   0   1  27  12   0  .348
 Katy Payne          210  25  63  40  11   2   1  10  35   8  .300 
 Tiffany Arredondo   190  53  55  12   2   1   0  18  51  34  .289 
 Ashley Magness      122  21  35   7   2   0   0  19  36  16  .287 
 Alex Henderson      180  39  50  17   3   0   0  19  43  25  .277 
 Kelsey Ahrens       141  24  37  21  14   0   0   9  34   1  .262
 Vicky Henderson     264  47  68  28   4   1   0  17  68  24  .258

Missy Romero: Offensive Player of the Year for Co-Lin

Softball.

Romero, you might say, had a great break out year at Copiah-Lincoln with a decent batting average and playing a pivotal part for the Wolfpack team.

Romero was CL’s, in the circle, player for four years and also finished her career with several Hawk records.

 Romero's Records for the Hawks: Played 2009-10-11-12
 Batting Stats         #'s          Place
 At Bats               251          2nd
 Runs                   77          1st
 Hits                   90          1st
 Doubles                24          1st
 Triples                 9          1st
 Home Runs               2          1st
 Base on Balls          35          1st
 Batting Ave.         .359          2nd
 Pitching
 Wins                   35          1st
 Innings Pitched     498.1          1st
 Strikeouts            528          1st
 ERA                  2.77          1st

After you rub your eyes taking all of those numbers in, then you will certainly get the idea that this young lady was a site for sore eyes for a team like Canyon Lake, especially when you have a pitcher that is so important for the Softball game.

The ReSporter had a chance to talk to this remarkable Hawk player to see how her first year of playing College ball went.

The ReSporter: Hello Missy, earlier this year I went to the  Copiah-Lincoln’s sports web site to check up on your season and the first thing I read was a write-up on your home run. You had two for CL, but both were inside the park homers…tell us what you were thinking when you hit your first home run over a fence?

Missy Romero: “I did not know I had hit it (home run) and when I got to first I started running to the dug out because I thought the outfielder had caught the ball.”

“Then everyone was yelling at me to run around the bases…even the first base coach thought it had been caught, but when the team started acting excited I knew that it had gone over.”

The ReSporter: What was the difference from last year for Canyon Lake and your first year of College softball?

Missy Romero: “I was more relaxed and coming to college I started seeing the ball better and that helped me in waiting for the ball.”

“In high school I would always pull the ball and was anxious and now by waiting on the ball longer I can get my right swing.”

The ReSporter: Tell us what games were like and what were some of the differences between high school and college game.

Missy Romero: “We are constantly talking in the field and at high school that was not happening as much.”

The ReSporter: I guess by talking it helped your softball I.Q.

Missy Romero: “Definitely, you know where to go with the ball when the team is telling you to go home if that runner did not get a good jump off the bat and things like that. By talking it allows better decisions on the field.”

The ReSporter: The Wolfpack started the season real well (12-0-1) and then fell off during Conference play, why do you think that happened?

Missy Romero: “First off, we had a lot of double headers and in the first game we came out hyped and ready to play and then after a win, we would come out sluggish in that second game. That happened quite a bit.”

“We had a game with LSU-Eunice and played them real well, but lost our first game of the year 2-1. We were undefeated going into the game and after those two losses we lost our confidence.”

“Eunice has a lot of players that did not make the LSU team and are playing at Eunice to make the jump back up…so they had a lot of good players. We kept up with them in that first game but after the loss our team attitude was hurt.”

The ReSporter: Tell us what positions you played for the Wolfpack.

Missy Romero: I ended the year playing DH (Disignated Hitter) but before that I played right field and I would also come in for relieving in the circle.”

The ReSporter: I bet that was hard playing in a position that you never had played in high school.

Missy Romero: “It was a change and it was hard to get used to.”

The ReSporter: This is a two year college so tell us about your teammates and how many Freshman and Sophomores that played.

Missy Romero: “The girls in college are a lot better and it is a lot faster pace. We had 33 players and it was about half and half between the two classes.”

The ReSporter: What are your plans this Summer?

Missy Romero: “I will be working a lot on my game, I really want to get more time pitching next year.”

“I also want to get with Brianna (Young) and Kelsey (Ahrens)….and I’m hoping to see Coach Gallagher at graduation and see about working with some of the team.”

The ReSporter: If you could give the Hawk players some wisdom about college ball what would that be?

Missy Romero: “Just communicate more, that will always help the I.Q. of the team and helps everyone know where to go.”

“It was a good year and I ended up getting Offensive player of the Year.”

The ReSporter: Your kidding me….we have been talking all this time and you just now tell me something like that? What was your batting average?

Missy Romero: “.366 batting average.”

The ReSporter: Now you have to go and work with the team and help them with their batting. You went from high school to college and had a break out year with the bat. No wonder your Coach wanted you in the batting order even if you weren’t playing in the field.

Why don’t we end with you telling The ReSporter how Coach John Gallagher helped in getting you where you are today.

Missy Romero: “Coach Gallagher helped prepare me for college, by encouraging me and telling me that I could do it. He said that I could hang with the competition. He was always there and telling me that I could do it.”

The ReSporter: Thanks Missy, The ReSporter hopes your Summer goes well and we will look forward to seeing how you continue your career. Thanks for talking with us.

A win in this event gives the Hawks there first individual team best and will certainly go down as a great honor for Ellis and makes this community proud.

There were five jumpers that reached the 5’8 standard but within that group of athletes, Ellis had no misses.

Ellis was also the first jumper in the field which certainly caused some tense moments for Coach Lacey Lambert and of course family members.

All the students missed at that standard and as each rotation would come around the fans knew that she had moved up in her placing as other jumpers missed knowing that Ellis, with no misses, would be going into that round still holding onto first place.

Congratulations and more on this extraordinary event will be forthcoming.

Finals High Jump
Name                School             Final    Points    Misses
MARISA ELLIS        CANYON LAKE        5'6      10        0 + 0
Kara Erickson       Paris N. Lamar     5'6       8        0 + 1
Kori Soignet        Silsbee            5'6       6        0 + 3
Whitney Apari       Frisco Lone Star   5'6       4        X0 + 1
Morgan McKee        Midland Greenwood  5'6       2        XX0 + 0
Alexus Henry        Bridge City        5'4       1        0 + 0

Eduardo Covarrubias on a run to 100 yards during first quarter of Boerne game

perspectives.

1. The all-time student athlete in that sport from a performance stand point. Do note that this would be just an opinion from the ReSporter Staff.

2. A spotlight player that The ReSporter thinks will be the athlete to watch as this next year will unfold.

This series will start with Fall Sports.

Please also note that The ReSporter does not have an opportunity to see every sport and will not have an article if that is the case.

Canyon Lake’s Special Teams have not been a humongous part of this school’s seasons as of yet.

There has been a good play here and there, but for the most part, the Hawks would not have a lot of medals to show for this part of their game.

Graduating senior Doug Hubnik certainly has had a good showing with a returned kick-off for a touchdown during the 2011 season against Luling.

Then you have Gene Williams during the 2009 season when he amassed 174 yards in kick-off returns in a game with Llano.

That is still far and away the best showing ever in CL’s history.

Richard Howell had one returned punt 36 yards for a touchdown in a game with La Vernia during the 2010 season. That touchdown was scored with a little over a minute in the third quarter giving the Hawks enough breathing room for a 24-19 win.

For the most part a punt return here or there has not put enough wood on a fire to keep it going through the night. Those memories just haven’t happened enough or given the– Wow– in them to put those returns to the forefront for consideration.

Canyon Lake has had some decent kickers and the Hawks just had Jake Robinson, who was a recipient of having enough touchdowns scored during that 2011 season to move his name up to the top of that leader chart.

Here are the kickers with their point after kicks as well as field goals.

name               epa  epm       fga  fgm     total pts
Jake Robinson      67   71        5    6          82
Juan Martinez      29   33        4    6          41
Jacob Crabb        34   38        0    0          34

epa: extra points attempted
epm: extra points made
fga: field goals attempted
fgm: field goals made

Punting is a part of the special teams that you hate to see happen, but know if it is done well then you can pin your opposition further from pay dirt.

name                 punts       ave.
Branson Belcher      33          40.5
Matt Magness         16          36.4
Matt Magness         42          37.5
Eric Nelson          40          33.7
Ross Wagliardo        1           3.0

Branson Belcher has the best punt average for Canyon Lake. Belcher averaged 40.5 yards per punt last season.

Matt Magness had the honor of punting for two years and as you can see from his number of punts during that 8-2 year he was not called upon that often.

Eric Nelson has been mentioned on each of these editions of recapping your Hawks through the short history of games.

You might get the feeling that this young man did not get much rest when a game started in earnest. He did have the best per game punt average in his game with Ingram when he finished with a 51 yard average.

Ross Wagilardo gets a lot of ribbing from his teammates for his 3 yard punt. It was a result of a snap going over his head on a fourth down play and he found himself on his own one or two yard line when he looked up and saw a defense coming in on him like a surfer in Hawaii during high tide.

Suffice to say, Wagliardo did save his rushing totals by getting a punt off, but that punt average will certainly be around for a long time.

The ReSporter will go with Jake Robinson as the Special Teams best for Canyon Lake.

Extra points are important and Robinson was true with a better percentage and he also had a great percentage with his field goals. Having doubled the number of points scored over Juan Martinez also helps in making this decision.

If Martinez would of made his last field goal try in his game with Somerset, then all bets would be off.

Another aspect was Robinson’s kick-offs being consistently having the opposition receiving the ball deep enough for a chance to wrap a returner up without much yardage.

The Spotlight for this coming year’s Hawk Special Team recipient is certainly a tough player to peg.

If The ReSporter knew if Gordon McCleary was going to make Varsity, then that would be our pick simply by watching him last year before his injury during his freshman year and also while he was playing as an 8th Grader..

This young man can kick the ball further than any player The ReSporter has seen play in a Hawk uniform up this point. And yes, he will be a Sophomore this next go round.

Since the Hawks graduated a punter with a 40 yard average and a kicker that was just picked as the best in CL’s history, then this ReSporter will be mum on trying to give credence on any of the players at this junction.

In other words, The ReSporter is going to wimp out and let the players decide on who might want to take this mantle and play themselves onto a starting spot on one of the many positions that will be open for Special Teams.

Time will tell who that Special Player will be, can hardly wait to see how it will unfold.

As you know, this site is free for those who would like to frequent these pages after a sporting event. The ReSporter would like to introduce you to a new ‘Ad’ that was added about 10 days ago.

First off, do know that many of the advertisers on this site services The ReSporter’s household and there is a great deal of comfort in knowing that these Companies and people would treat you as well as I am treated by their services.

The ReSporter needs the audience that relies on this coverage to help out by telling these companies/people that you saw their ‘Ad’ on this site.

That way The ReSporter can keep up this coverage as the fall season looms right around the corner.

The money that is raised through our Advertisers goes to gas money, cost for maintenance for this site, and hopefully enough to put away for just cost of living increases.

If this is not realized, then there is a chance that The ReSporter might close shop before the start of next school year.

Just making it known that letting the Advertisers know that they are seen on this site will certainly help with getting, by word of mouth, other companies to also think about advertising with The ReSporter.

This new company that has started Advertising is Digital Home-Audio-Video and has done awesome work at The ReSporter’s house recently.

Kevin Briers is well versed in this craft and has spent many years working on the road for performing bands that tour the country.

In other words, he knows what he is doing and The ReSporter knows this first hand.

Give Kevin a try if you are looking for this type of work for your home or business.
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The Hitman Pest Control was one of The Hilltop Reporter first advertisers and you could not find a nicer person to help get those pesky ants to scorpions.

How do we know, he has done impeccable work for The ReSporter.

Give him a try and let them know you saw his Ad on The ReSporter’s Web Site.
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The ReSporter, kids you not, when you are thinking of having the Best Pizza in the Canyon Lake area.

Parziale’s Pizzeria has the best sausage pizza ever…..once The ReSporter tasted the sausage, then there was no need to order any of the other toppings.

But The ReSporter’s wife does try many of their other specialties and I will tell you she is never disappointed.

Give Peter a call and let them know you saw their Ad on this Web Site.
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Lakeview Cafe has the best breakfast hot cakes, great hamburger’s, chicken fried steak, or whatever their special of the day might be.

The Lakeview Cafe on many a day has had The ReSporter eat there and afterwards going home to take an extra dose of insulin, since The ReSporter tends to eat more than needed. (it’s ok, The ReSporter is a diabetic)

If you haven’t been there then give Lakeview Cafe a try, you won’t be disappointed.
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North Shore UMC helps out during the football season in having a Friday morning football breakfast and many times you will see several of their Staff helping out at many sporting events.

The ReSporter was a Youth Minister in the Methodist Church back in the day and knows when a Church might have ‘it’.

Looking for a Church? Then give them a try…you will Be Blessed.
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Kathleen Banse State Farm Insurance was the first Advertiser for The Hilltop Reporter Newspaper when it was started six years ago.

Her Company helped with the Newspapers insurance needs throughout and was nothing but a Class Act in her help of meeting the needs for the Newspaper.

Her guessing on the Football Challenge this past fall season, was a fun way of seeing how her picks were decided upon.

Well, think about it, you don’t want to make anyone mad at what you pick, so the team that Kathleen felt had the most fans in her area usually got her football pick for that week.

Classic idea of not rocking the boat, which is always a good idea when you are near a Canyon Lake. (if you know what we mean)
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Bradford Door Works has not been a company The ReSporter has needed yet, but you know there is a love for Canyon Lake area fans since his space is all about supporting the schools.

Having a son that was on the Cross Country, Basketball, and Track Team didn’t hurt on how much he would like to support the area schools.
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Gordon The Plumber has been a frequent visitor to The ReSporter’s house….much more than The ReSporter would like.

But, his promptness and great detail work has made The ReSporter a staunch supporter for his services when needed.

This is another patron with a son on several teams, but Gordon was also on board with The ReSporter before his son was at Canyon Lake.

Call him with your next plumbing need and let them know that you got the idea from reading this Web Site.
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Granny D’s speaks for itself. Your greatest need when eating here would be the need to have a way to put another hole in your belt loop so you can enlarge that part of your body that expands after a great meal.

This Restaurant offers great meal deals during game day of Hawk games and you can’t go wrong in having a great meal before watching the game of your choice.
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Yes, we have a few more, but The ReSporter thinks by now you have the idea.

We need you to help let our Advertisers know that they are a great addition to the community in how they support the area teams and by doing that simple task might make it easier for The ReSporter to continue doing something that is a Passion.

The ReSporter Needs our Ads to keep ADding up and giving a shout to these and other companies on this site will certainly help.