Photo by VYPE Media's Bradley Collier.
Year In Review: Top VYPE Austin Fall Sports Athletes
It's been a hectic, but successful 2019-2020 high school athletic year. While we have a break in the action, let's highlight the top VYPE Austin area athletes from the fall sports season (football, volleyball and cross country).
No. 1: 2020 TCU commit Grayson Schirpik's dominance during the 2019 volleyball season included 640 kills, 619 digs, 61 aces and 22 blocks and helped guide Leander Rouse to the 2019 UIL 5A Region III Semifinal.
No. 2: Junior quarterback Ace Whitehead recorded 4,982 yards and 75 touchdowns in Lampasas football's run to the UIL 4A Division I state semifinal.
No. 3 Senior quarterback Cooper McCollum had 4,405 yards and 63 touchdowns in Wimberley's run to the UIL 4A Division II state title game.
No. 4: Senior Anthony Monte repped Austin Vandegrift at the UIL 6A boys cross country state meet and marched to a runner-up finish at the end of the season event.
No. 5: Senior Brynlee Hollas' 648 kills, 536 digs, 70 aces and 46 blocks led Schulenburg volleyball to the UIL 3A Region IV Semifinal.
No. 6: Senior Risa Olson recorded 683 kills, 387 digs, 120 aces and 47 blocks in Austin Waldorf School's volleyball run to the 2019 TAPPS 2A state championship match.
No. 7: 2020 Oregon commit Annie Stadthaus had 598 kills, 151 blocks, 118 digs and 48 aces in Austin Vandegrift volleyball's trek to the 2019 UIL 6A Region II Quarterfinal.
No. 8: Senior Edwin Zamudio's win at the UIL 3A boys cross country state meet paved the way to Luling's seventh place team finish.
No. 9: Junior Jaci McGregor's victory at the UIL 4A girls cross country state meet helped Salado earn a 10th place team finish.
No. 10: Round Rock Westwood junior RJ Martinez recorded 4,253 yards and 42 touchdowns during the 2019 high school football regular season, including a 10-touchdown and 790-yard performance in the finale.
For more sports coverage, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEATX) on Twitter.
Looking to get more involved? Check out ShopVYPE for fresh gear that supports local schools and the VYPE U Ambassador Program. To sign up for the VYPE U Program, apply at VYPEU.com.
Image by VYPE Media's Bradley Collier.
Washington Wins Race For 2021 Vista Ridge Hooper Marotte
If you've followed Austin area high school girls basketball since 2017, you are very familiar with Cedar Park Vista Ridge star A.J. Marotte. Fans and recruiting experts could only guess where the three-time first-team all-state talent would commit to for college basketball and the day that she would make the announcement. If you predicted the University of Washington on March 31st, 2020, you are awarded a ding, ding, ding. She wrote in a tweet on Tuesday morning that she would continue her basketball career there after her 2021 high school graduation.
"I've been talking to UW for a little less then a year," Marotte said in an interview with VYPE. "They first saw me when I was playing in Spain with one of their [2020] signees, Jayda Noble. [Head] coach Jody Wynn explained to me that she takes her time really evaluating the character of the girls she recruits, not just their skills on the court. So, she said it takes a while for them to offer, but they eventually offered around the beginning of this year."
Marotte knows her current school, Vista Ridge High School, is over 2,100 miles away from the university in Seattle, so she planned a campus visit. Unfortunately, like a lot of things over the last three weeks, it got cancelled because of COVID-19, which is also known as Coronavirus. She decided to go ahead and commit to the basketball program because she has important connections there.
"It is pretty far from Texas, but I didn't want distance to dictate my decision," she said. "UW's staff is just amazing. They recently came for a home visit and I got to sit down and chat with coach[es] Jody and Derek Wynn and I just loved them. They are amazing people, as are the assistants, Paul [Reed] and Michelle [Augustavo-Fisher]. And I just love the culture and environment they've created at Washington, with the girls they recruit and what not. Also playing in a Power Five conference was a goal of mine and, although I had offers from many other P5 schools, UW was just the perfect fit for me."
Marotte's recruiting resume includes 10 Division I offers, but she couldn't pass up the women's basketball program at Washington.
"I am very excited to get out to Seattle and experience the city and my soon to be home," she said. "Washington just fit everything I wanted in a school. Amazing coaches, [it] recruited great girls [and] had a playing style I knew I could fit into."
An out-of-state move may be on the horizon for Marotte, but she is currently preparing for another extravagant season in Texas and Cedar Park. She wants to add to her very accomplished high school career during the 2020-2021 school year and move her high school team closer to two goals it just fell short of in the 2019-2020 campaign: advancing to the UIL 6A state final four and winning a state title.
"Cedar Park is on the up and coming," she said. "There's definitely a lot of people who still sleep on girls here. I'm very thankful I got to play for Vista Ridge. I remember being in middle school [and] dreaming about wearing one of those red and black jerseys. My coaches at Vista have taught me so much, not just on the court. They've taught me how to be mentally strong through adversity and we have definitely faced a lot of adversity in my time there so far. They've taught me things I will remember throughout the rest of my career and I'm so thankful I get to play at Vista Ridge and be a Ranger."
For more sports coverage, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEATX) on Twitter.
Looking to get more involved? Check out ShopVYPE for fresh gear that supports local schools and the VYPE U Ambassador Program. To sign up for the VYPE U Program, apply at VYPEU.com.