• Home
  • Texas
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Mississippi
  • New England
  • Communities
  • Log in
SUBSCRIBE
LOG INSIGN UP
Markets:
  • Texas
    • Houston
    • DFW
    • Austin
    • San Antonio
    • West TX
    • Panhandle
    • The Valley
    • SETX
    • Deep East
    • Central TX
    • Private Schools
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
    • Public Schools
    • Private Schools
  • Mississippi
  • Oklahoma
  • VYPE Media
  • VYPE Live
  • VYPE U
  • Video
  • Magazine
  • Recruiting
  • Photos
  • Polls
  • Shop
  • Events
  • Scores
  • VYPE Campus
  • Home
  • State
  • City
  • Type

Shearer repeats as TAPPS State Champion, TWCA Boys win 5A team crown, Girls take 3rd

Joshua Koch
Nov 02, 2020

HOUSTON - The dynasty has another chapter written.

On Monday, The Woodlands Christian Academy boys team captured its fourth-straight TAPPS Cross Country Team State Championship with 70 points and three runners finishing inside the Top 10.

"It's awesome for seniors like Ben (Shearer), Caleb (Bigler) and Josh (Mueck) to get rings all four of their years," TWCA Cross Country coach Tom Earle, who now has 10 state titles rings between cross country and track, said. "That's pretty special."

Shearer added: "Each year we had such a strong team and it's really influenced the way I run personally and my work ethic. It's really cool being a part of a championship team that's been there for four years."


The Warriors did this after moving up from Class 4A to 5A prior to this season and with a shortened schedule, due to COVID-19, TWCA only ran in eight meets.

"They worked hard," Earle said. "This year with the COVID challenges, gave us an advantage because we were able to work through the summer and able to work together through a lot of that time. But what also made it challenging for how we would stack up in 5A was because a lot of the other schools weren't racing.

"We went into it a little bit blind with regards to competition, we knew we had prepared ourselves the best we could."

The group was led by Ben Shearer, who won his second-straight individual TAPPS State Championship, posting a time of 15:32. That is nearly a minute faster than last year's championship time of 16:20. Shearer also currently holds the nation's third-fastest time at 14:39.

This was the fourth-straight year Shearer has made it to state. He finished sixth and fourth as a freshman and a sophomore, respectively, but capped it with back-to-back individual titles.

"I'm pretty happy with how things turned out today individually," Shearer said. "Coming from a very uncertain time in track last year to cross country this year was a little shaky. Just coming into this final meet for me in cross country, it's nice to cap it off."

Ben Shearer is the top finisher at the TAPPS 5A Boys Cross Country Meet!
⁦@ConroeSports⁩ ⁦@vypehouston⁩ pic.twitter.com/2twWxUDG50
— Woodlands Christian (@twcasports) November 2, 2020


Shearer is verbally committed to run at the University of Arkansas, where his older brother Josh runs.

"The deep field that Arkansas has captured my interest," Shearer said. "The campus is beautiful and just what they do at Arkansas aligns with my beliefs and philosophies as a runner. I love everything about their program and their school."

Seniors Josh Mueck and Caleb Bigler followed him with fourth and seventh place finishes, respectively. Mueck posted a time of 16:13, while Bigler came in at 16:35. Zachary Bagnoli finished 12th (17:11.4) and Seth Culberson came in 46th (18:36).

"The seniors did a good job to model what it looks like to work hard and the success that comes from that," Earle said. "They were battling. It was a tough race, a lot of guys went out really fast and our guys had to respond to it within that first mile and they did. By mile two they had separated into the spots we felt comfortable with where we were."

We did it! Boys TAPPS 5A State Champions!! @twcasports @TappsXCountry @ConroeSports @vypehouston @LSCSN @TWCAStrength @TWCASportsMED pic.twitter.com/3fdIx90Lnb
— @TWCA XC/ T&F (@twcaxc) November 2, 2020

On the girls' side, The Woodlands Christian Academy finished third overall, marking the eighth-straight year they have stood atop the podium.

"Those girls year after year continue to reload," Earle said. "We've got two really awesome freshman girls. I like our chances again in the future to be strong."

The aforementioned freshmen were Zoe Calimani, who took 18th overall (13:03), and Camille Young, who took 25th overall (13:31).

"As you can imagine they were incredibly nervous going into this race," Earle said. "We used the senior girls with Fern (Shirley) and Megan (Hanigan) to set the right perspective for them and just race like they had trained. They came on strong, over the last 600 meters, Zoe passed six or more and Camille passed four. So, they stepped up right at the end."

Junior Lindsay Worthington led the pack with a 17th-place finish with a time of 13:02, while Shirley took 19th overall with a time of 13:04.


Girls State XC third place overall!!@twcasports @TWCAStrength @TWCASportsMED @LSCSN @vypehouston @ConroeSports @ pic.twitter.com/iZWkuvlcgv
— @TWCA XC/ T&F (@twcaxc) November 2, 2020
cross country houston high school cross country houston high school sports houston high school track tapps cross country tapps xc the woodlands christian the woodlands christian academy warriors vype houston high school sports texas private schools tapps sports ben shearer university of arkansas caleb bigler josh mueck tom earle the woodlands christian academy

VYPE 2021 Softball Preview:​ Public School #10 Bridgeland

Joshua Koch
07 Mar, 2021

Bridgeland was going to be one of "those teams" to watch in 2020. They were in just year two of being a varsity program and had the pieces to put it all together. With 10 returners back for the Bears, coach Candi Weige should be really excited with a veteran roster.

Read More... Read Less
bridgeland bears bridgeland high school bridgeland high school softball bridgeland softball brodie quinlan candi weige haylie stum high school softball houston high school sports jaelyn simmons kylee gibson lindsey polleschultz mackenzi jenkins shelby frazier softball trinity allen tyler scott vype houston high school sports bridgeland

VYPE 2021 Softball Preview:​ Public School #11 Dickinson

Joshua Koch
07 Mar, 2021

Dickinson is one of those teams that would have really liked to have 2020 continue. When everything stopped, the Gators were 20-2-1 and were rolling. They enter this year as one of the top-ranked programs in most preseason polls. Despite losing some big seniors, they have some firepower back.

Read More... Read Less
dickinson high school dickinson softball dickinson high school softball softball high school softball vype houston high school sports houston high school sports kayden henry jerzie pelham emily garcia kylie lee dickinson

VYPE 2021 Softball Preview:​ Public School #12 Cypress Creek

Joshua Koch
06 Mar, 2021

Cypress Creek has never been past the second round of the playoffs but that all could change in 2021. This team has the talent back to piece together a historic run.

Read More... Read Less
cypress creek softball cypress creek high school cypress creek high school softball cypress creek cougars softball high school softball vype houston high school sports houston high school sports ja'naiya thomas madison battle jordan peno delayne moreno cypress creek
TRENDING

VYPE Houston Defensive Back of the Year Fan Poll

VYPE Live Lineup - Saturday 3/6/21

VYPE 2021 Softball Preview:​ Public School #13 Crosby

No. 12 Atascocita downs No. 14 Summer Creek 52-51 to punch ticket to State Tournament in Instant Thriller

No. 11 Huffman continues historic season reaching UIL State Tournament for the first time

GAMES

VYPE Live Lineup - Saturday 3/6/21

VYPE Live - Freshmen Baseball: Episcopal Houston vs. Strake Jesuit

VYPE Live - Baseball: Episcopal Houston vs. Strake Jesuit

VYPE Live - 5A State Semifinal Girls Basketball: Cedar Park vs. Beaumont United​

VYPE Live - Track & Field: St. Andrew's

VYPE Live - Softball: St. John's vs. John Cooper

VYPE Live - Basketball: Second Baptist First Graders

VYPE Live - Baseball: McNeil vs. Hendrickson

VYPE Live - Baseball: McNeil vs. Lake Travis

VYPE Live Lineup - Friday 3/5/21

VYPE Live - Lacrosse: Episcopal Houston vs. Cy Woods

VYPE Live - Baseball: McNeil vs. Elgin

VYPE Live - Soccer: Lockhart vs. Navarro

VYPE Live - Boys Soccer: Elgin vs. Pflugerville Connally

VYPE Live - Baseball: Cedar Park vs. Vista Ridge

VYPE Live - Baseball: Cedar Park vs. Round Rock

VYPE Live - TAPPS Girls Basketball Regional Playoffs: Second Baptist School vs Incarnate Word Corpus Christi

VYPE Live Lineup - Thursday 3/4/2

VYPE Live - Track & Field: Dick Phillips Relays, Episcopal High School

VYPE Live - 7th Gr. Baseball: St. John's vs. Second Baptist

Join the #VYPETEAM

Get up to date news from all over the country! 

FROM THE WEB

VYPE Football 2020 Preview: Class 6A - No. 1 North Shore

Inside the Program: John Cooper School Girls Cross Country

Gatesville High football coach headed to join Art Briles at Mount Vernon

Michael Rose hired as Midland High boys' and girls' Tennis coach

Zachary High track star Sean Burrell overcomes injuries to win Louisiana Gatorade boys track award

CONNECT WITH US
Connect With Us
Copyright Ⓒ VYPE - All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - Board Directory