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LACE UP: 5A Girls Soccer repping H-Town in Rd. 1 of UIL Playoffs
UIL Postseason Soccer is finally upon us.
Throughout the Winter season, several teams have shined on the pitch and now is the time for them to prove they have what it takes to go the distance and reach the State Tournament in Georgetown, TX within the next month.
Fortunately for Houston, there are numerous teams that show tremendous potential to reach that point.
Here are the clubs (5A-Girls) that will be representing H-Town between this Thursday and Saturday, in the opening round (Bi-District) of the UIL Playoffs.
5A Girls Soccer
*Record Format: W-L-T (Tournament games not included)
*List is ordered alphabetically
A&M Consolidated Tigers
2022-23: 14-0-1/District 21-5A Champions (14-0)
Head Coach: Caleb Blakley
Bi-District Matchup: v. Ellison
Angleton Wildcats:
2022-23: 13-3-1/Finished 2nd in District 18-5A
Head Coach: Jennifer Briggs
Bi-District Matchup: v. Crosby
Barbers Hill Eagles
2022-23: 12-2/District 17-5A Champions (10-1)
Head Coach: Bonnie Landry
Bi-District Matchup: v. Santa Fe
Crosby Cougars
2022-23: 9-3-2/Finished 3rd in District 17-5A
Head Coach: Trevor Burgess
Bi-District Matchup: v. Angleton
Fort Bend Kempner Cougars
2022-23: 11-6/Finished 3rd in District 20-5A
Head Coach: Kelly Baird
Bi-District Matchup: v. Waltrip
Foster Falcons
2022-23: 15-2/District 20-5A Champions (14-0)
Head Coach: Sabrina Wilmot
Bi-District Matchup: v. Galena Park
Friendswood Mustangs
2022-23: 13-3-1/District 18-5A Champions (12-0)
Head Coach: Laura Peter
Bi-District Matchup: v. Goose Creek Memorial
Fulshear Chargers
2022-23: 11-5/Finished 2nd in District 20-5A
Head Coach: Danny Engel
Bi-District Matchup: v. Sharpstown
Galena Park Yellowjackets
2022-23: 12-7/Finished 4th in District 19-5A
Head Coach: Alejandra Cruz
Bi-District Matchup: v. Foster
Goose Creek Memorial Patriots
2022-23: 9-4-1/Finished 3rd in District 17-5A
Head Coach: Roman Huizar
Bi-District Matchup: v. Friendswood
Kingwood Park Panthers
2022-23: 13-0-1/ District 16-5A Champions (10-0)
Head Coach: Jess White
Bi-District Matchup: v. Mt. Pleasant
Lake Creek Lions
2022-23: 7-4-3/Finished 3rd in District 21-5A
Head Coach: Brittney Burdick
Bi-District Matchup: v. Lake Belton
Lamar Consolidated Mustangs
2022-23: 8-6-1/Finished 4th in District 20-5A
Head Coach: JC Wright
Bi-District Matchup: v. Milby
Magnolia Bulldogs
2022-23: 10-3-1/Finished 2nd in District 21-5A
Head Coach: April Cleveland
Bi-District Matchup: v. Waco
Milby Buffs
2022-23: 17-1/District 19-5A Champions
Head Coach: Christina Collins
Bi-District Matchup: v. Lamar Consolidated
Porter Spartans
2022-23: 7-5-1/Finished 4th in District 16-5A
Head Coach: Margarita Saldana
Bi-District Matchup: v. Longview
Port Neches-Groves Indians
2022-23: 12-1-1/Finished 2nd in District 17-5A
Head Coach: Aimee Bates
Bi-District Matchup: v. Manvel
Sharpstown Apollos
2022-23: 15-3/Finished 3rd in District 19-5A
Head Coach: James Gorley
Bi-District Matchup: v. Fulshear
Waltrip Rams
2022-23: 15-2-1/Finished 2nd in District 19-5A
Head Coach: Adam Ramirez
Bi-District Matchup: v. Fort Bend Kempner
CLICK HERE TO KEEP UP WITH THE UIL 5A GIRLS BRACKETS (Regions 1 & 2)
CLICK HERE TO KEEP UP WITH THE UIL 5A GIRLS BRACKETS (Regions 3 & 4)
Carrying the Weight: Porter’s Garley wins Powerlifting State Championship
HOUSTON – Carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders can be a crushing feeling at times. It takes an insurmountable amount of strength to push through.
Bella Garley was faced with the weight as she stepped up to the weight rack at the 2022 Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association 5A Big School State Championships on March 19. Not just the discs placed on each end of the bar, but everything else.
Her father, Dale, was lying in a hospital bed in Houston, dealing with complications from a leg amputation surgery since December 2020. Her mother, Amy, had just come in from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Bella was born and raised until the seventh grade, as she works out of state. On top of all of that, the Porter High School senior had been home with the flu and unable to lift the previous week.
Despite all of that, all the adversity of the last week and the last year, Bella did what she does – carry it.
Bella, competing in the 259-pound division, squatted 395 pounds, benched 215 pounds and deadlifted 355 pounds. It gave her a total of 965 pounds for the state meet and the 2022 THSWPA State Championship in her division.
“I did have this anxiety, but I was able to channel it into my lifts and use it as motivation to give me the strength to life PRs that I hadn’t before,” Bella said. “It is very empowering, because it was just me. I worked by myself, and I was able to succeed at the highest level. It tells me I am a lot stronger than I think I am physically and mentally. It was an indescribable feeling.”
Once Bella secured the state title, winning by 65 pounds, she immediately ran over to Amy in the stands, and they embraced.
“We just hugged because of everything we’ve been through the past few years,” Bella said. “I was able to overcome it and come out on top.”
After making the trip back from Corpus Christi, Bella and Amy headed to the hospital. The senior walked into the room to see her dad. The next thing she did was show him her state championship medal.
“For me to win and come back, and for my dad seeing me succeed, I think is giving him something to look forward to,” Bella said.
Now, what you may be thinking is Bella has been a powerlifter her entire high school career and this was the culmination of years of work.
No.
In fact, Bella has played softball since she was three years old and plays for Porter. She is also signed to go play at the next level at Kilgore College.
So, where did powerlifting come from?
“I liked the individuality of it,” said Bella, who is in her first year of powerlifting. “Softball, I have been playing all of my life, which is a team-oriented sport. But with powerlifting, it is an individual thing, and it can be very empowering once you find your worth through it. I realized I was decent at it, and so I wanted to be incredible at it.”
It was also a chance for her to go outside the box of just playing softball, which Bella said is something her parents encouraged her to do.
What powerlifting also gave her, outside of being a state champion in her senior year, was empowerment.
“It has given me a tremendous amount of confidence,” Bella said. “As a female athlete, I struggled a lot with body image. I’ve always had that issue of feeling that I don’t belong in certain sports because I look a certain way. Going to powerlifting and, with it being this broad spectrum of girls who can all be good at it, but we’re all built differently, it gives a tremendous self confidence boost.”
As she plays her final season of softball for Porter this spring, Bella hopes that her stepping into the weight rack for powerlifting will give another girl the same feeling it gave her.
“For me coming into powerlifting this year, if I saw somebody that looked like me, I’d be like ‘Oh, I can do it’,” she said. “Hopefully, I can be that person for other girls.”