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Deer Park's Emerie Garcia
THE PLAYMAKERS: On The Upswing powered by UTMB Health
The South Houston area is loaded with talented athletes who give it there all in their respective fields of play.
Welcome to the VYPE Playmakers powered by UTMB Health, where we’re highlighting five standouts from this past week who stole the headlines.
Here are the UTMB Athletes of the Month, as we enter the closing stages of the Spring season.
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Friendswood Girls Golf
Photo acquired via Twitter (@FWoodGolf)
After yet another successful campaign this Spring, the Friendswood girls golf team is one of the few groups headed back to the UIL State Tournament.
The Mustangs return to Georgetown on the heels of placing first at the Region III-5A Tournament (total score of 628), which marks the first time the program has accomplished this feat in 34 years.
Coach Scott Smith should certainly be proud of the efforts made by his team, which includes Trinity Bosley, Margaret Kerr, Katherine Janda, Mary Scheschuk, and of course, senior Mary Kerr.
Kerr, in particular, was the top finisher for Friendswood in last month's Regional tourney, having shot for 152 in the two-day stretch, which made her the No. 5 overall golfer to emerge from the golf course at the Margaritaville Lake Resort.
Smith and company will now prepare to travel to Legacy Hills Golf Club this upcoming Monday, as they contend for a state championship.
Max McCloskey, Clear Creek Boys Golf
Photo acquired via Twitter (@ccwildcatgolf)
The Clear Creek golf program traveled White Wing Golf Club in Georgetown earlier this week to compete in the UIL Boys State Golf Tournament, following an exceptional performance at Regionals.
While things may not have quite panned out the way they would've hoped, the Wildcats still ended up within the Elite-12, which is a testament to the level of talent seen on the final course.
Furthermore, Clear Creek do still hold the distinction of having one of their own finish as in the top-5, individually.
Sophomore Max McCloskey concluded the two-day tourney by tying for fourth overall in Class 6A, with a final score of 141.
Despite the considerable youth on his roster, coach Daniel Brown's team displayed expertise beyond their years, which should indicate that the Wildcats may very well be back in Georgetown a year from now.
Emerie Garcia, Deer Park Softball
This Spring has seen more of what we've come to expect from the 2021 state champs -- Deer Park.
The Deer re-entered the postseason on the heels of claiming their fourth-consecutive undefeated district title, which they followed up by sweeping North Shore in the Bi-District round, bringing their current record to 27-7.
As one of the top teams in our pre-playoff rankings, it shouldn't come as a shock that the Deer would carry their momentum into the postseason. Coach Amy Vidal-Bush knows how to optimize the talent on her lineup on an annual basis, which is evidenced by the immense success the program has seen during her tenure.
This year's lineup has featured the talents of Hanna York (Houston Christian-signee), Payton Tullis (Southern Arkansas), Kylie Wilson (Prairie View-A&M), and Mia Montemayor, among others.
Although, one of the unsung heroes of the club, Emerie Garcia, has made some clutch performances in recent weeks.
The San Jac-signee racked up five RBIs to close the team's district schedule, which was followed up by similar outings against North Shore.
With their Area Round rematch against Alvin taking place this weekend, expect Garcia to have a starring role.
Wilson Klein, Lutheran South Academy Track & Field
Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
Following another prosperous endeavor this season, Lutheran South Academy will be returning to the TAPPS-5A State Track & Field championship this weekend.
That shouldn't come as a surprise, considering the success they've seen in years past.
With the prowess displayed by athletes such as Marcus Gaitan, Kris St. Clair, Elaine Ward, Matthew Gaitan, Cole Noack, Alma Martin, and not to mention their relays teams, the Pioneers should expect some top finishes at Midway ISD's Panther Stadium.
However, alongside the Gaitans, no LSA athlete has been more consistent in their respective event than Wilson Klein.
The Lutheran South senior recently took gold in the pole vault event at the TAPPS-5A Regional Meet, with an astounding height of 15 feet-7 inches.
The pole vault is, without question, Klein's bread-and-butter, which will be evidenced once the Pioneers take to the track to close the week.
Erianna Garcia, Clear Springs Softball
Photo acquired via Twitter (@garcia_erianna)
The Chargers made a statement to open the playoffs, by defeating a formidable Dawson team in a 2-1 series victory.
Alongside the considerable efforts made by Emma King, Logan Kieselhorst, and Alana Strever, Erianna Garcia has proven to be perhaps the most consistent weapon on coach Jennifer Knight's roster.
Garcia went 7-for-10 during the three-game series against Dawson, which included 7 RBIs to propel Clear Springs to the Area Round.
Furthermore, the uncommitted junior was recognized as the team's Offensive MVP to close April.
While Clear Springs may currently be one game down in their series against Kingwood, Garcia could easily be one of the many figures to change the tides.
The Memorial Mustangs Boys Golf team takes third at the UIL State Tournament
THE RECAP: Results of the UIL State Boys Golf Tourney; The Woodlands, Memorial excel
Following an intriguing series of events to begin the week, the UIL Boys State Golf Tournament has drawn to a close.
At the White Wing Golf Club in Georgetown, the Class 6A event saw The Woodlands teams claim silver with a total score of 575, and were just narrowly bested by five strokes to the UIL-6A champions Lake Travis.
However, the Highlanders do still hold the distinction of having individual state champ -- Cooper Paull -- among their ranks, after he shot for an astounding 138 over the two-day competition.
Houston Memorial was right behind them in the No. 3 spot (576), and featured four competitors who finished within the top-25.
In Class 5A, the Lake Creek Lions would be the top H-Town finisher, ending up fourth overall -- just one stroke shy of third -- with each of their golfers ending up in the top twenty spots, including Brody Knowlton who tied for third place, individually.
Additionally, Bellville and Livingston featured a slew of top competitors in Class 4A.
With all that being said, here is the full list of H-Town golfers who climbed the charts on the state-wide golf course.
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CLASS 6A BOYS GOLF
(Teams)
2nd Place (Total Score: 575): The Woodlands Highlanders (Daniel Zou, Cooper Paull, Abhay Duggal, Tripp Depoy, Caden Cox)
3rd Place (Total Score: 576): Memorial Mustangs (Charlie Wylie, David Martinez, Austin Le, Turner Chiles, Grant DeLorenzo)
7th Place (Total Score: 586): Stratford Spartans (Ben Potter, Andrew Molina, Caleb Lumpkin, Tyler Davis, Noah Bahrami)
11th Place (Total Score: 605): Clear Creek Wildcats (Blake Harwell, Max McCloskey, J.T. Waltzer, Carter McCaffrey, Clark Rangel)
12th Place (Total Score: 622): Klein Cain Hurricanes (Adrian Rodriguez, Joshua McGown, Keaton Blume, Jake Robinson, Jaxson Dittmer)
(Individual Finishers)
*Several golfers had the same final score, so there will be "T" before their placement to indicate the tie, and are placed according to the UIL Live Results
1st Place (138): Cooper Paull, The Woodlands (Individual Champion)*
T-4th Place (141): Max McCloskey, Clear Creek
T-9th Place (142): Blake Brown, Bridgeland
T-9th Place (142): David Martinez, Memorial
12th Place (143): Caleb Lumpkin, Stratford
T-13th Place (144): Daniel Zou, The Woodlands
T-13th Place (144): Charlie Wylie, Memorial
T-19th Place (145): Austin Le, Memorial
T-19th Place (145): Ben Potter, Stratford
T-24th Place (146): Grant DeLorenzo, Memorial
T-24th Place (146): Abhay Duggal, The Woodlands
T-28th Place (147): Blake Harwell, Clear Creek
T-31st Place (148): Tripp Depoy, The Woodlands
T-31st Place (148): Andrew Molina, Stratford
T-31st Place (148): Cole Pregler, Katy Jordan
T-39th Place (150): Noah Bahrami, Stratford
T-42nd Place (151): Turner Chiles, Memorial
T-42nd Place (151): Caden Cox, The Woodlands
T-42nd Place (151): Adrian Rodriguez, Klein Cain
T-47th Place (152): Bowen Ballis, College Park
T-47th Place (152): Keaton Blume, Klein Cain
T-47th Place (152): Joshua McGown, Klein Cain
T-61st Place (156): J.T. Waltzer, Clear Creek
T-63rd Place (157): Tyler Davis, Stratford
T-63rd Place (157): Alejandro Rojas, Clear Lake
T-67th Place (164): Carter McCaffrey, Clear Creek
T-67th Place (164): Isaac Voisinet, Ridge Point
69th Place (165): Clark Rangel, Clear Creek
70th Place (167): Jake Robinson, Klein Cain
72nd Place (174): Jaxson Dittmer, Klein Cain
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The No. 4 overall boys golf team in Class 5A -- The Lake Creek LionsPhoto acquired via Twitter (@LakeCreekgolf1)
CLASS 5A BOYS GOLF
(Teams)
4th Place (Total Score: 590): Lake Creek Lions Tyler Sanford, Brody Knowlton, Julian Worrell, Brady Bains, Brogan Smith)
(Individual Finishers)
*Several golfers had the same final score, so there will be "T" before their placement to indicate the tie, and are placed according to the UIL Live Results
T-3rd Place (141): Brody Knowlton, Lake Creek
T-14th Place (148): Jace Parsell, Fulshear
T-14th Place (148): Tyler Sanford, Lake Creek
T-18th Place (149): Brady Bains, Lake Creek
T-18th Place (149): Corrington Case, Kingwood Park
T-22nd Place (150): Daniel Rice, Magnolia
T-30th Place (152): Julian Worrell, Lake Creek
T-37th Place (154): Brogan Smith, Lake Creek
T-58th Place (161): Cole Mayon, Kingwood Park
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CLASS 4A BOYS GOLF
(Teams)
7th Place (Total Score: 626): Livingston Lions (Jackson New, Brandon Munson, Brayden Akers, Drew Davidson, Carson Pipes)
10th Place (Total Score: 634): Bellville Brahmas (Deacon Bauerschlag, Cooper Hollomon, Emil Kloss, Jason Wood, Dane King)
(Individual Finishers)
*Several golfers had the same final score, so there will be "T" before their placement to indicate the tie, and are placed according to the UIL Live Results
T-3rd Place (145): Deacon Bauerschlag, Bellville
T-14th Place (150): Brayden Akers, Livingston
T-26th Place (154): Brandon Munson, Livingston
T-32nd Place (156): Jackson New, Livingston
T-37th Place (157): Cooper Hollomon, Bellville
T-40th Place (159): Jason Wood, Bellville
58th Place (167): Drew Davidson, Livingston
T-62nd Place (170): Carson Pipes, Livingston
67th Place (178): Dane King, Bellville
68th Place (179): Emil Kloss, Bellville