A&M Consolidated set the tone for a tumultuous year of high school sports in Bryan-College Station when Jim Slaughter resigned as head football coach and athletics director in February.The departure of Slaughter, a Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor member, was the first of many major coaching changes among the local public and private high schools. Slaughter left to become athletic director of the San Angelo school district, returning to his West Texas roots after a successful 10-year run with the Tigers.Other coaches changed jobs on their own, taking jobs at larger schools to which they had ties. The local scene also saw the firing of a prominent coach when Bryan dismissed Bob Bellard after the Vikings missed the state playoffs in football.The coaching carousel spun often, with results that included Bryan boys basketball coach John Reese taking a job as an assistant coach at Texas A&M, Rudder girls basketball coach John Shelton going to Franklin, and Rud der boys basketball coach Chris Jones replacing Reese at Bryan.New faces in some of those places are David Raffield, who left Cypress Falls to replace Slaughter, former Bryan player Daryl Mason, who moved from Leggett to take over for Jones at Rudder, and Michael Stenseth, who succeeded Shelton with the Rudder girls.The Bryan football job opening has not been filled. College Station ISD officials soon will take on the task of hiring an athletic director and a head football coach for College Station High School, which will open next year.There has been so much transition that the longest-tenured head football coach among public schools in the community is Rudder's C.M. Pier, who has been with the Rangers since the school opened four years ago. In boys basketball, Consol's second-year boss Rick German has been in his position longer than his counterparts at Bryan and Rudder.Comings and goings in the coaching ranks constituted the biggest stories on the local scene in a year wh en many teams came up with state playoff berths, but few went very far in the postseason.The only University Interscholastic League state champion from B-CS was Consol junior Karis Jochen, who won the Class 5A girls title at the cross country meet in November. The twin cities came close to another individual state champion early in the year when Bryan freshman wrestler Jenna Goen went undefeated before losing the championship match.Rudder's boys gymnastics team also brought a state championship home, continuing the history of success established at Bryan before the program was consolidated at Rudder. Enoch Rodriguez led the way, earning the individual state crown in the all-around competition, as the Rangers won their first state sports championship and the seventh for former Bryan coach J.T. Fletcher.Change also swept through the local private schools, which are no longer affiliated with the same organization. Allen Academy officials had a dispute with the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, a league Allen Academy representatives helped establish and of which St. Joseph and Brazos Christian are members. Allen Academy left TAPPS to join the smaller Texas Christian Athletic League, where the Rams claimed a state title with the boys basketball program that had been at the heart of the squabble with TAPPS.Last spring included several seasons representative of how 2011 went for the local teams, starting with swimming and diving. Consol's boys and girls swept the District 12-5A titles and sent participants to state, but they did not bring home medals.Basketball was a mixed bag, with the Bryan boys and both teams from Consol and Rudder qualifying for the state playoffs but none making a regional tournament. Rudder's girls were the only member of the group to capture a district title and made the longest postseason run by reaching the third round in 4A.The area saw another team go three rounds into the playoffs in the Consol girls socc er team. The Tigers continued their domination of 12-5A in tennis and sent several players to regionals, but none to the state tournament.St. Joseph supplied the longest playoff run in softball, reaching the TAPPS Class 3A state championship game. The Lady Eagles were led by shortstop Hollie Chennault and pitcher Kelsey Dillard, both first-team selections on The Eagle's All-Brazos Valley Softball Team.The Bryan and Consol softball teams slipped in the district standings, with Consol taking third and Bryan fourth. However, the Lady Vikings surged at the end of the season with a surprise run to the fourth round of the playoffs.Consol's baseball team finished the school year by winning the 12-5A crown and advancing to the third round of postseason play.In the fall, the Tigers extended their ownership of the district volleyball title and reached the second round of the playoffs along with Bryan.Another move came in November when the UIL held its state team tennis tournament at T exas A&M's Mitchell Center, away from the Austin area where most of the organization's state championships are held.Neither Consol, Bryan nor Rudder had the same type of football success they enjoyed the previous season. The Tigers tied for second place in district, but dropped their last two regular-season games and were beaten 54-10 by DeSoto in bi-district to finish at 5-6. The Vikings went 4-6 and did not qualify for the postseason.Rudder's season took a scary turn in September when star lineman David Wilganowski collapsed during a game because of a heart ailment that ended his career. The Rangers went on to finish 1-8-1 in their second season at the 4A level.The last local team standing in the state football playoffs was Brazos Christian. The Eagles advanced to the TAPPS Class 2A semifinal round, where Brazos Christian dropped a tough 30-23 decision to eventual state champion Hallettsville Sacred Heart.
0
No comments:
Post a Comment