The Sports Editor’s Corner
I was once told when you hit 23 years of age the years fly by faster than the years leading up to 23.
There’s no doubt in my mind whomever told me that was spot on.
When the last decade began in 2010 I was in my late 20s and hadn’t started working for the paper yet.
Now it’s 2020 and I’m praying the next 10 years are as good as the past 10 have been.
With the New Year and a new decade beginning last week we often think back on some enjoyable moments while trying to forget others.
While putting together the Year in Review section for the Journal last week I began to think back on the biggest sports stories of the 2010s.
Locally a few stories came to mind from school sports to individual accomplishments.
I didn’t begin working here until 2011 so I’ll begin there.
2011-2012
Not all sports articles are roses as Queen City lost an accomplished man and coach in Brandon Warren. Coach Warren’s legacy is still on display today not only through his family but in the school and community.
Coach Warren showed us all that giving up was not an option and the only way to go was up.
He also taught that there was not a goal you could not reach or dream you could not achieve, if you focused and gave it your all.
The Brandon Warren Courage Award was adopted for Queen City’s sports banquet in honor of Coach Brandon Warren and his uncompromising courage in the face of even the greatest adversity.
Linden-Kildare introduced the KICKSTART KIDS program which was created in 1992 and uses martial arts to teach character and life-long skills, self-esteem and confidence to students.
KickStart Kids is sponsored by a foundation established by Chuck and Gena Norris, and is a non-profit organization with a mission to build strong moral character in youth through martial arts.
2012-2013
A name that was almost as household as Lysol was Ibarra. Both Chris and his brother Carlos excelled in everything they put their minds to.
In 2012 Chris won gold medals in both the 800m run and the 1600m run at the state track meet. In winning the 800m he was a back-to-back champion.
That success brought him the honor of being named the Class 3A Male Track Athlete of the Year by the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association.
Who says you can’t snowboard successfully if you’re a Texan? Queen City’s Austin Nettleton lobbied and won for formation of Texas Tech’s first snowboarding team.
Nettleton had a few successful years as a boardercross snowboarder.
An Atlanta student by the name of Kristen Clayton won three gold medals at the AAU Junior Olympics. Kristen medaled in nine out of nine swimming events and along with gold medals she also won two silver medals and one bronze medal.
Queen City’s junior football team won the Super Bowl with a 14-6 win over DeKalb. That year QC finished first in their division and ended its season with a 9-1 record under head coach Jason Lance.
Bloomburg’s girls’ relay teams nearly punched a ticket to state but placed third at the regional level.
The girls 4 x 200m relay team placed third in the Region with a time of 1:56.41. The girls that ran that race for the Lady ’Cats were, Saleen Stephenson, Kayla Restelle, Kasi Whitaker and Shelby Stephenson.
The Girls 4 x 400m Relay team also placed third in the Region with a time of 4:40.43. The girls that ran that race are Shelby Stephenson, Ashley Hasha, Kayla Restelle and Kasi Whitaker.
Linden’s 10U All-Star team placed second in the Junior North State Championship Tournament.
McLeod’s Bradley Lambeth placed second in the 3200m run and third in the 1600m run at the district meet held at Honey Grove ISD which advanced him to the Area meet. His season ended at Regionals but the ride had just begun.
Savannah McClure, at the age of 15, competed in the Level 8 State Gymnastics Championship held at Stars Gymnastics Training Center in Houston.
Forty-five girls competed in her division and Savannah posted an eighth place finish overall which vaulted her to the Regional round.
2013-2014
Atlanta’s football team rolled into the Region II-3A area playoff game and had a very good chance of going further. Although the Rabbits lost to Gladewater by one point it was a sign of things to come.
Andrea Aaron, or Andrea “KGB” Lee to many here at home and on the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) scene, took a dream and turned it into a reality. After conquering the amateur level, the first-ever Muay Thai triple crown winner, signed a professional contract with the XFC (Xtreme Fighting Championships).
Bloomburg’s six man football team had its share of ups and downs but never was a day sweeter for the program when it won its first game. The Wildcats’ first-ever victory as a football program was a 47-26 win over the Karnack Indians.
Queen City ISD dedicated their baseball field to Coach Brandon Warren, with Coach Warren’s family and several people in attendance.
Queen City’s volleyball team reached the Region II-2A semifinals of the playoffs, but unfortunately QC was swept out of the round by a powerful Callisburg team.
TeShuna Sheppard, Atlanta’s talented triple jumper, not only broke a school record at regionals but paved her way to state much like many Atlanta athletes before her.
Sheppard broke the old school record of 36’ 3 1/2 at Regionals in Commerce with a leap of 36’ 7 3/4”.
McLeod’s Bradley Lambeth, a sophomore, made it to state in cross country after a solid showing at Regionals. Bradley placed fifth at the Region III Meet and punched a ticket to the state meet where he finished 36th.
Linden-Kildare’s Rashodrick ‘Shock’ Linwood put his name in Linden-Kildare’s football record book and caught the attention of several major college programs including Baylor where he played under Coach Art Briles. With both running backs ahead of him on the depth charts injured Shock rocked the game against Oklahoma.
Queen City’s Sidney Andrews ran his way to state although he had never participated in cross country before.
After winning 16 consecutive district championships, the Lady Rabbs’ golf team strolled into the state finals for the second straight year. The ladies’ golf squad earned several first place victories at competition meets throughout 2013 with good numbers and great finishes, and even claimed second at regionals for the second successive year.
Queen City’s Austin Nettleton competed in the Southwest Freeride Series of the United States of America Snowboard/Skier Association (USASA), which consisted of teams from Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. The year before Austin placed second in the Southern Freeride Series Snowboard Cross Regionals and had enough carryover points to get him to Nationals.
After it was all said and done the snowboarder from Texas was in the Top 25 which is impressive in itself considering most of the competitors grew up in places where snow is abundant.
2014-2015
Alvin Battle made sure to make his final powerlifting appearance of his high school career a memorable one.
Alvin came from behind in the dead lift event to overtake a lifter from Orangefield and win a 4A state championship in his weight class at the State Meet.
Atlanta prodigy runner Isaiah Chandler claimed a golden state medal at the TAAF championships after winning the 10U 200m dash.
Queen City junior powerlifter Jarrett Morgan qualified for the state power lifting meet after turning in another stellar performance at the Region 3 Division 3 meet.
Bloomburg’s track program was off and running and the general consensus of the group was “state or bust”. At district Jordan Clayton placed first in the 110m hurdles and Andrew Runnels placed second in the 100m dash. With the high finishes both Andrew and Jordan advanced to the area round.
The ladies’ team as a whole placed second overall with only five girls competing.
Senior Hailey Cressionnie placed first in the 100m dash and teammate Kinsey Kelly placed second. In the 200m dash Hailey placed second and and Kinsey placed fifth. Kinsey also turned in a third place finish in the 400m dash.
Trinity Mouser placed third in both the 800m and 1600m running events, Kim Restelle placed second in the 100m hurdles and fourth in the 300m hurdles and Hailey placed second in long jump and Trinity placed fourth in the same event.
Hailey, Kinsey, Trinity and Kim all advanced to Area as well. If that wasn’t enough each and every Bloomburg athlete advanced to the regional round.
At Area Jordan placed first in the 110m hurdles and Andrew placed fourth in the 100m dash and fourth in the 200m dash. Hailey placed third in the 100m dash, third in the 200m dash and third in the long jump. Kim placed second in the 100m hurdles and Trinity placed fourth in the 1600m run.
Atlanta’s football finished their district run at 4-1 and carried a state ranking the entire year. The Rabbit Express was unstoppable throughout most of the season with only two bumps in the way. Atlanta finished the year with a 12-2 record.
Bloomburg’s school board along with the combined brilliance of Superintendent Brian Stroman and Athletic Director Chad Sheffield came up with the idea to dedicate the basketball court after former Wildcat basketball coach Bill Bricker.
Linden-Kildare’s KickStart Kids program received a special treat as Mr. and Mrs. Chuck and Gena Norris showed up for a belt ceremony.
2015-2016
Queen City’s Bobby Howard worked his way from chopping trees in the woods of Bright Star; to batting against pitchers who could hit 104 mph or higher in most cases while playing in the Pacific Northwest fastpitch softball league during the 70’s and 80’s. Howard was enshrined in the 2015 Fastpitch Hall of Fame last May after cementing his legacy during a 10-year stretch that made him a fastpitch softball star.
Six McLeod track stars advanced to the regional round and after a tough day of competition at the Jesse Owens Track Complex in Dallas, two of those stars moved on to state.
Bradley Lambeth made his way back to the big stage after finishing second in the 1600m run, and J.R. Smith placed first in the in the discus event after tossing the dish 155 feet, 9 inches, which notched him the regional championship, a spot at the state meet and broke the school record of 144 feet, 10 inches; a record he set at the area meet a few weeks before.
Queen City senior lifter Ryan Fincher was at the top of the list in every meet he attended and finished that up with a state appearance.
Atlanta senior lifter Landon Simmons and junior strongman Nick Cooper burned a trail to the big show, and was able to take home some lasting memories from the State meet.
Atlanta’s softball team avenged a loss to Van the year prior by beating the Lady Vandals 12-2 in the Class 4A Area round.
The Lady Rabbs’ basketball team sealed a playoff spot for first time in 12 years. The last time Atlanta’s girls’ basketball team made the playoffs the current roster was in elementary.
Atlanta triple jumper TeShuna Sheppard placed second and earned a silver medal at the State meet and the boys’ group of junior Trin Taylor, senior Tyrell Phillips, junior Kelton Young and senior Jeremy Smith won silver in the 4x100m and a gold medal in the 4x200m.
This amazing feat was the first relay gold that Atlanta had won since 2004, and a more impressive stat is that the team, with only four competitors, achieved state-runner up for the first time since 2008 and only the third time in its storied history.
2016-2017
Atlanta’s boys’ track team won its coveted sixth state track championship in school history and
TeShuna Sheppard notched a second silver medal.
The championship is the track program’s sixth all-time and the first since 2004.
Queen City’s Lady Bulldogs’ basketball team won district for the first time in 40 years after beating Redwater.
Child prodigy, a 5-year-old, Alex Hammonds achieved historic status by sinking his first hole-in-one at the Texarkana Golf Ranch from 68 yards out. It also happened to be the same hole that his father Derek hit his first ace.
Fast forward a year and Alex set another historic feat for the record books of the Ark-La-Tex Golf Tour.
Alex was slotted in the 7 to 9 year-old co-ed division and by tour’s end was named Player of the Year.
Alex took home the honor after winning five of the seven tournaments he played in and finishing second in the two he didn’t win.
Four years ago Brandon Garner had a vision to form a football league here in Atlanta that didn’t cost the kids too much money and with that the Atlanta Bulldogs or Atlanta Bulldog Nation (ABN) was born.
Some 40 or so children ranging from ages six to 12 signed up to play ball that first year, and that number grew to more than 100. The 9-10-year old group ended up going 11-0 and winning the Super Bowl.
All-in-all the undefeated team scored 383 points while only giving up 40.
Atlanta’s Carlos Ibarra, with a regal résumé, fulfilled a life-long dream when he signed a pro club contract with 4th Division Visby AIK out of Sweden where he scored 15 goals in 20 career appearances.
Chris Ibarra won the 800m event at the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships for the Houston Cougars. Aside from the gold medal from a person standpoint, Ibarra’s win helped propel the Cougars to its third consecutive team championship. Ibarra also participated in the 4x400m relay which posted a third place finish.
L-K Tigers get a taste of the state meet. The Tigers’ track program had plenty of bright spots throughout the season, but the one which stood out most was the boys’ first district championship since 1982. That encouraging victory led to a state berth a few weeks later in which the Tigers finished ninth overall and brought home some shiny hardware.
Former Atlanta runner Lexie Mason decided to make the ride of a lifetime. After overcoming her own health issues and the loss of her grandmother Lexie took part in the Texas 4000 which is a 4,000-plus mile bike ride from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska.
McLeod’s cross country program had been near the top of the heap all season long, and after both the varsity boys’ and girls’ teams sealed state reservations.
Bass fishing competition comes to Queen City ISD. Queen City High School Assistant Principal Mike Dillinger and Texarkana Fire Department Captain Michael Benson hatched a plan to implement a Bass Fishing Club in Queen City.
Queen City’s Zach Worley earned top spot in world class DCI Blue Devils. While attending Queen City High School he excelled in his music at All-Region, All-Area and was All-State for two years. He won numerous first place awards in UIL State Solo and Ensemble contests for both solos and one ensemble. In auditioning for the Blue Devils, Worley auditioned in Dallas and made the cut to audition in Concord, Calif. The brass judges saw 400 Blue Devils’ hopefuls for less than 40 spots. From those hundreds they narrowed it down to less than 60 who all attended that first camp in Concord to rehearse with the returning and accepted members, as well as compete for the final spots in the line.
Students and employees of the Atlanta Independent School District (AISD) raised money to assist the town of Canton with its recovery efforts in the wake of several deadly tornadoes that touched down there. The AISD students and employees raised more than $3,700 to assist, which was presented during the baseball games between the Atlanta Rabbs and Canton Eagles.
2017-2018
Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame comes to life and five members highlight the first class. Reaching back more than a century the inductees are Major League baseball player Hub Northen , the Rabbits’ first coach for whom they were named, Ed Rabb, the football team’s first star, Bear Allday, New England Patriots’ hall of famer Jimmie Lee Hunt and four-time state distance champion Sarah Haydel Carter.
Bloomburg cross country runner Kailon Carnley finished 15th overall with a time of 13:18 and advanced to the state finals. Andrea “KGB” Lee made her UFC debut May 19, in Santiago, Chile as part of Ultimate Fight Night 129. The local fighter made it a debut to remember. Lee (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) took on Veronica Macedo in a flyweight bout which aired on FS1, and when it was over Lee had won by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Drew Stubbs was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor.
Queen City’s Lady Bulldogs opened the season with a 6-game winning streak before losing back-to-back games to solid teams in a tournament shortly after Thanksgiving week. The Lady Bulldogs had a (16-2, 5-0) record with a 2-year district record of 19-0.
Queen City’s National Archery in the Schools Program or NASP qualified at the state competition in Belton to advance to the 2018 Eastern Nationals competition in Louisville, Ky. The Bullseye Elementary Division Team consists of both fourth and fifth grade students from J. K. Hileman Elementary School and Morris Upchurch Middle School. Brenna Turbeville was the highest scoring archer on Queen City’s Elementary Division team qualifying her both as an individual and a team member. She ranked third out of 127 elementary division girls shooting at the state meet which qualified our team for nationals.
Atlanta alum Ravon Justice was named women’s basketball coach at Sam Houston State Justice is just the 10th women’s basketball head coach in the 48-year history of the program. Justice joins the Bearkats after two successful seasons as the head coach at Prairie View A&M, her first two years as a head coach.
Also a sign of things that was to come the L-K baseball team bolted into the Regional quarterfinals Linden-Kildare’s varsity baseball team earned three crowns en route to the regional Quarterfinal round. The Tigers were Co-District champs, Bi-District champs and Area champs and had a memorable year that ended sooner than wanted.
2018-2019
This story was in last week’s Journal so I’ll just add the highlights.
Atlanta’s girls’ track team won the state championship; Linden-Kildare’s varsity baseball team made it to state; Atlanta’s football team made it to the Quarterfinal round for the third time in five years; Queen City placed third and Atlanta fifth in the State Marching Contest; Bloomburg freshman Corinne Ray was selected by the Texas Sports Writers Association as a Second Team All-State Softball Pitcher.
As for the world of sports many things could be written but here are a few:
2010
The New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. After the city was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina the citizens of “The Big Easy” received a triumphant boost when the Saints won their first Super Bowl.
2011
The Dallas Mavericks won its first championship ever after topping the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals .
2012
Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, Kyla Ross, Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney struck gold for U.S. women’s gymnastics, not once faltering as they trounced runner-up Russia by five points.
2013
Auburn won the Iron Bowl over Alabama with the “Kick Six”. Tied at 28-28 with just seconds remaining a long field goal fell short of its mark and an Auburn player returned it 106 yards for a score.
2014
Derek Jeter hits a walk-off single in his final at-bat at Yankee Stadium.
2015
American Pharoah won the Triple Crown which was the first in more than 30 years.
2016
Simone Biles dominated the 2016 Olympics by essentially winning gold medals at will at every world championship and Olympics in which she competed.
Villanova won the national championship at the buzzer on a three-pointer by Kris Jenkins. The win lifted Villanova over North Carolina and gave the Wildcats their first title since 1985.
The Chicago Cubs broke the curse and won the World Series after waiting more than 100 years. It took seven dramatic games, including an extra-inning win in the decisive Game 7, but when it was all said and done, the Cubs were finally champions.
2017
Conor McGregor made his boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather eventually won with a 10thround TKO.
Jordan Spieth pulls off the shot of the decade at the British Open at No. 13 of the 2017 British Open. After a poor drive left him with an unplayable lie, Spieth eventually saved for bogey and won the tournament.
The Astros defeated the Dodgers, four games to three, to win their first World Series in franchise history, also becoming the first team from Texas to do so.
2018
The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33 and the University of British Columbia took down Virginia to become the first 16-seed to advance in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
The USA competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and some notable successes included gold medal firsts for the cross-country skiing women’s team; the men’s curling team and the women’s national ice hockey team.
2019
While the early side of the 2010s saw Tiger Woods fall from grace the talented golfer won the Masters in 2019.
The U.S. women’s soccer won the 2019 World Cup. The team opened with a 13-0 win over Thailand, but eventually had to run through European powerhouses Spain, France -- the home country -- and England to make the final. They wrapped it up with a never-in-doubt 2-0 win over the Netherlands.
I have to agree that one of the most dominating sports figures of the last 10 years was Simone Biles but from Atlanta’s girls winning its first track championship to Chris Ibarra winning multiple state championships to L-K’s baseball team plugging its way to state there is too much success here in Cass County for me to pick an overall winner. It does make me excited to see what the next 10 years holds in store for us in the sports realm.