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John Cooper School XC wins SPC title
By Farrah Sheeran
Championship season in Texas private school sports came to a head this past week, and several Texas high schools had plenty of reasons to celebrate.
From the TAPPS State Volleyball Tournament in Waco to the SPC Fall Championships on the Bolivar Peninsula, the state's top private school programs settled things on the court and on the course. Providence Classical swept its way to a TAPPS 3A volleyball title, Cypress Christian pushed its way into a 5A state final, St. Thomas ran off with a 6A cross country crown, and The Woodlands' John Cooper delivered a pack-running clinic to claim SPC 4A gold.
Add in a retiring coach going out on top in Plano, a Fort Worth program finally breaking through after back-to-back title-match heartbreaks, and a San Antonio school announcing its return to the SPC with an individual sweep, and you have one of the deepest championship weeks the private school calendar has produced in years.
Here's how it all shook out.
TAPPS VOLLEYBALL — Prestonwood sends its coach out on top; Southwest Christian finally breaks through
6A — Prestonwood def. San Antonio Antonian, 25-19, 25-21, 25-10
Ryan Mitchell is walking away from the sideline, and he's doing it with one more trophy. The retiring Prestonwood Christian coach picked up his fourth state title in six seasons at PCA as the Lions swept defending champ Antonian at Robinson High School on Saturday — the program's eighth state crown overall. Prestonwood (42-4) closed the year on a 17-match win streak and didn't drop a set in district or playoff action.
Senior Taylor Johnson, an SMU pledge in her first and only season at Prestonwood after transferring from Hebron, was the closer. She finished with 19 kills and nine aces, six of them during a 12-0 third-set run that turned a 4-3 lead into a 16-3 rout. Antonian, which came in at 45-4 and riding a 52-match district win streak, had no answer.
5A — Fort Worth Southwest Christian def. Houston Cypress Christian, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22
Two straight years, Southwest Christian walked off the Waco floor as the runner-up to crosstown rival All Saints. This year the Lady Eagles took out All Saints in Friday's semifinal and then closed the deal for the program's first state volleyball championship. Memphis signee Keegan Flowers led the way with 18 kills, and senior middle Emmy Burton added 13 kills and 11 digs. Southwest Christian (35-1) trailed just three times all match and finished the year on a 20-match win streak. Burton summed it up afterward: "The third time's the charm."
The loss stings for Cypress Christian, but don't let it overshadow what the Lady Warriors built. CCS went undefeated in district without dropping a set, swept The Woodlands Christian in the area round, survived a five-set regional thriller against San Antonio Christian and then Fort Bend Christian in an all-Houston semifinal to reach the title match on an 11-match win streak. Back-to-back Final Fours, and a state final appearance. That's a program.
4A — Arlington Pantego Christian def. Bryan Brazos Christian, 3-0
Gonzaga commit Natalie Norton was a one-woman wrecking crew in Waco. She hammered 40 kills in a five-set semifinal escape over Plano Coram Deo on Friday, then came back Saturday with 28 kills, 12 digs and a block in the sweep of Brazos Christian. Setter Victoria Pyles added 23 assists and eight aces. It's Pantego's first state title since 1995 and an 18th straight win to close the year.
Brazos Christian earned its spot, knocking off Boerne Geneva 3-1 in the semis in Geneva's 10th state tournament trip.
3A — Providence Classical def. Abilene Christian, 3-0
The Houston area's title of the weekend came in Class 3A, where Providence Classical swept Abilene Christian in Saturday's final at Waco University High School. Abilene Christian had rolled past Lucas Christian 3-0 in the semifinal but ran into a Providence team that wasn't giving up a set. In a bracket the Dallas Morning News called wide open, the Paladins made it look anything but.
2A — Red Oak Ovilla Christian
The small-school dynasty is back on the throne. Ovilla Christian, which came to Waco on a 21-match win streak, claimed its seventh TAPPS 2A championship since 2018 after missing out a year ago. Jillian White (441 kills) and setters Sarah Fanning and Jaclyn White powered a group that has simply owned this classification for the better part of a decade.
1A — Kingwood Covenant Prep represents Houston
Kingwood Covenant Prep (18-3) carried the Houston flag into the 1A semifinals against San Marcos Hill Country Christian, the defending champ that ended Wichita Falls Christ Academy's five-year reign last fall. The other semifinal pitted Christ Academy against Amarillo Accelerate Christian.
Editor's note: final results for the 2A title match and the 1A bracket were not yet posted by the sources above at press time — confirm with TAPPS before publishing.
SPC VOLLEYBALL — Hockaday rallies for a fifth-set crown
4A — Hockaday def. Greenhill, 25-20, 20-25, 22-25, 25-11, 15-10
The SPC 4A final was a Dallas street fight, and Hockaday had the last swing. Down two sets to one at Greenhill's Phillips Family Activity Center, the Daisies flipped the match on the serve, with libero Siena Ebert sparking the comeback and Lily Haffar ripping off four straight service points in the fifth set, including an ace, to push the lead to 13-6. Annalisa Ryser's block-kill capped the run.
It's Hockaday's fourth SPC championship since 2021 and the second for head coach Curran, who has been on staff for all four. The Daisies (31-16) got there despite a monster night from Greenhill's Bree Carethers, who led all players with 20 kills and 13 digs.
Hockaday got to the final by beating Houston Christian in Thursday's semifinal, while Greenhill came through the Houston side of the bracket, where Awty and Duchesne opened the tournament against each other.
3A — Saint Mary's Hall the team to beat
San Antonio's Saint Mary's Hall entered the 3A tournament as the top seed after a perfect 7-0 run through conference play, sweeping St. Andrew's and Fort Worth Country Day along the way and outlasting TMI in five sets on Oct. 29 behind Jordynn Taylor's 15 kills and Abigail Murray's 26 assists. The Barons opened the bracket against Country Day on Thursday at Trinity Valley. Austin St. Andrew's closed its tournament with a 3-0 win over TMI on Saturday.
...
A LOOK BACK
TAPPS CROSS COUNTRY — St. Thomas runs away with 6A; Covenant and Providence keep the streaks alive
The TAPPS state meet went off two weeks earlier, on Oct. 26 at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, and Houston-area programs stacked the podium.
6A Boys — Houston St. Thomas (36 points)
Nobody was catching the Eagles. St. Thomas put four runners in the top 10, led by individual champ Isaac Knape in 15:21.7, with Shaun Benesch (third, 15:48.4), Bryce Farrell (seventh) and Carson Masters (10th) closing the door on runner-up San Antonio Antonian (71). Katy St. John XXIII tied Fort Worth Nolan for third at 106, with Martin El Fady leading the Lions in sixth. Tomball Concordia and Houston Lutheran South also scored.
6A Girls — San Antonio Antonian (85)
Antonian edged Nolan (97) and Katy St. John XXIII (101) in a tight team race, with Houston St. Agnes fourth (114). Nolan's Georgia Giesinger (11:10.3) and Haley Fernandez (11:12.0) went 1-2, and Tomball Concordia's Summer Morrissey took third in 12:10.1. St. Agnes' Marina Hart was fourth.
5A — Fort Worth Christian boys, Austin Regents girls
Fort Worth Christian's Kollin Green and Cade Lewis went 1-2 (16:30.1, 16:52.5) to carry the boys title with 51 points over San Antonio Christian (77). Spring Frassati was third and Fort Bend Christian's Gregorio Kennedy finished fourth individually in 17:11.4. On the girls side, Austin Regents (67) held off Tyler Grace Community (71) despite Grace's Emma Goetz winning in 11:28.4; The Woodlands Christian was third and Houston Second Baptist fifth, while Emery/Weiner's Anna Radwanski cracked the top five.
4A — Dallas Covenant sweeps
The Covenant School boys made it 11 straight state titles (63 points), and the Covenant girls took their sixth in a row (46). Waco Vanguard's Luke Scarborough won the boys race in 15:55.4; Pantego's Elizabeth Hamblin took the girls crown in 12:17.5. Bay Area Christian scored in both races, and Houston St. Francis' Hannah Barbouti was sixth among the girls.
3A — Spring Providence Classical doubles up
A week before its volleyball team cut down the nets, Providence Classical's cross country program owned Class 3A. The Paladin boys scored a meet-low 26 points behind Kaeden Beno (second, 16:23.6), Elijah Zuniga (third) and Caedmon Rose (fifth); McKinney Cornerstone's Nate Lugo took the individual win in 15:54.7. Houston Northland's Grant Rodges was fourth. The Providence girls extended their own championship streak with 37 points, with Savannah Ohmes (third) and Isabelle Eppers (seventh) leading the way; Waco Valor Prep's Clara Gibson won in 12:17.8.
2A — Lubbock Southcrest boys, Shiner St. Paul girls
Southcrest went 1-2-3 (Lucas Higgins, Xander Gonzales, Caleb Johnson) for a 23-point rout. Shiner St. Paul won the girls title with 40, while Houston Second Baptist's McKinley Rocco (second, 13:43.0) and Baytown Christian's Paityn Carrier (third) hit the podium individually behind Hallettsville Sacred Heart's Caroline Lemonds.
1A — Amarillo Holy Cross boys, Spring Founders girls
Amarillo Holy Cross won the boys title by 13 seconds over Ascension as the Panhandle put nine runners in the top 20. Spring Founders took third in the boys race and then won the girls championship outright (39 points), with Avery Dubeck in eighth. Cypress Second Baptist's Brielle Bryant won the girls individual title in 12:25.3, and Houston Lycee International's Sienna Monti was third.
SPC CROSS COUNTRY — John Cooper's pack rules 4A; TMI comes home with a sweep
St. John's hosted the SPC championship meet Saturday, and the Houston-area storylines came fast.
4A Girls — The John Cooper School (46 points)
This was a clinic. John Cooper put all five scorers inside the top 14 and under 20 minutes, with just 39.6 seconds separating its first and fifth runners. Sophomore Isabella FitzSullivan led the Dragons in fourth (19:16.0), followed by freshman Sofia Ortega (eighth), senior Lexie FitzSullivan (ninth), sophomore Sophie Murphy (11th) and junior Kareena Gill (14th). The Dragons, who moved up from 3A this year after winning that title in 2025, beat Episcopal by 14.
The individual race belonged to St. John's junior Taylor Synnott, who won her third straight SPC crown in 18:34.7 — the fastest girls time of the day — 32.7 seconds clear of Episcopal junior Amelia Davis. Behind them, Hockaday freshman Nora Petrikas, Isabella FitzSullivan and Hockaday's Natalie McLeroy finished within four-tenths of a second of each other for third through fifth.
Episcopal (60) was second behind Davis and Cecilia Bass (sixth), St. John's third (86), Kinkaid fourth (105) over Hockaday by four, and Duchesne, Houston Christian and Awty rounded out the field.
4A Boys — St. Mark's (36) over St. John's (43)
The tightest individual finish of the meet: Kinkaid junior Caden Haese crossed in 15:58.6, with St. Mark's sophomores George Brown (16:01.8) and Nicholas Cho (16:01.9) a step behind. Three runners, 3.3 seconds. St. Mark's and St. John's combined for 10 of the first 14 spots, with the Mavericks led by sophomore Asher Gurr (fourth, 16:09.8) and senior Brian Duffy (fifth). Greenhill was third (89), and Episcopal (132) edged John Cooper (136) and Kinkaid (139) in a three-way scrap for fourth. Four of St. Mark's five scorers are underclassmen, so file that away for 2027.
3A — TMI Episcopal announces its return
Back in the SPC for the first time in years, San Antonio's TMI Episcopal swept both individual titles. Senior Ethan Garza ran 15:15.2 — the fastest time on the day — to win the boys race by 55 seconds over Saint Mary's Hall sophomore Augie Cummings, and the Panthers put four in the top eight for a 39-point team win over Austin St. Andrew's (65), which edged Cistercian by two. Senior Natalia Sandoval completed the sweep in the girls race (18:58.0), holding off St. Andrew's freshman Ellie Hill, with TMI teammate Daniela Shelfo third.
Saint Mary's Hall took the 3A girls team title with 41 points on the strength of four top-10 finishers, led by Ellie Scott in fourth. Fort Worth Country Day and St. Andrew's tied at 83, with Country Day awarded third.
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Fort Worth Southwest's Davian Fields runs following a catch against Fort Worth Carter-Riverside on Friday night at Scarborough-Handley Field.
Cody Thorn
The numbers said that Fort Worth Carter-Riverside would be the favorite in Friday’s winner-take-all District 5-Class 4A Division I game.
However, history repeated itself for Fort Worth Southwest, and the Raiders left Scarobrough-Handley Field with a 28-21 win.
The season for them continues, while Carter-Riverside’s season came to an end with a 6-4 record.
Heading into the game, Carter-Riverside was coming off a win last year in the series and advanced to the postseason for the first time since 1995.
The Eagles had a better record than the Raiders, but four rushing touchdowns from Jeremiah Hogg were the difference.
Now, Southwest will play Dallas Lincoln (8-2) in the first round of the playoffs. It’s the second trip to the playoffs in three years for the Raiders, who lost a tiebreaker for the final spot last season.
Carter-Riverside held a 21-14 lead at halftime.
“At halftime, the coaches talked to us and emphasized all week, be together, be together; fight; don’t give up,” Hogg said. “And that’s what we did. We got the W.”
The Eagles got the ball first in the second half and marched down the field. Carter-Riverside got down to the 1-yard line before a penalty pushed the ball back 5 yards.On the next play, a pass to the end zone, Davian Fields stepped in front of it and intercepted it, returning it to the 25.
“That's what we preach about, man,” Southwest coach Joseph Turner said. “When the game is on the line, we emphasize those details in practice, those game situations. We work a lot on that stuff and I'm happy that the boys did what they needed to do.”
The offense responded by scoring and tying the game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Hogg scored on a 2-yard run.
The Raiders recovered and onside kick and then scored again. Only 24 seconds into the second half, Hogg scored his second touchdown of the second half.
That made it 28-21 and the lead held.
“Our boys have been second-half players all year,” Turner said. “That was the emphasis going into the locker room. All right, we made some mistakes in the first half, we did some bonehead things, but now it's time to lock in and play ball. And the boys did a great job; coaches too.”
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