GAMES
RANKINGS
SPRING WRAP: Eagle's Soar High In 2021-2022 Seasons
BASEBALL
FORT BEND CHRISTIAN ACADEMY MADE THE PLAYOFFS IN 2022, REBOUNDING FROM A SUBPAR 2021 SEASON.
The Eagles were 19-14-1 overall in securing their postseason bid and buoyed by stellar performances from a number of players.
Senior Zane Councill hit .374 with 24 RBIs and a .468 on-base percentage. Junior Benji Elizondo hit .374 with 21 RBIs and a .508 on-base percentage to go with a team-high 25 walks. Junior Caleb Bratcher had 22 RBIs. Senior Blaine Baird had 21.
On the mound, junior Clay Krisch led the team in innings with 50 1/3 and had more than three times as many strikeouts (53) as walks (14). Senior Markos Romo led the team in appearances (16) and ERA (2.88), striking out 17 and walking only four in 24 1/3 innings of work.
SOFTBALL
FBCA SOFTBALL UNDERWENT SIGNIFICANT LEADERSHIP CHANGE IN 2022.
And the wins kept coming.
With Kelli Jacoby taking over for longtime leader Kelly Carroll, the Eagles went 11-1 in TAPPS 5A district play to earn a share of the District Championship and advanced to the State Tournament. FBCA did not skip a beat under Jacoby.
Though this is her first stint as head coach, she is a respected club coach who spent the previous 14 years as associate head coach for the Eagles.
FBCA was paced by senior and Oklahoma-signee Avery Hodge (.722 average, .767 onbase percentage, 14 RBIs; 1.87 ERA in 52 1/3 innings), senior and Nicholls State signee Reagan Heflin (.641 average, 26 RBIs), sophomore Hadley Hodge (.610 average, 15 RBIs), sophomore Jaelynn Lee (.475 average, 13 RBs) and senior Grace Payton (.317 average).
TENNIS
A FEW FRESHMEN MADE THE 2022 SPRING TENNIS SEASON ONE TO REMEMBER FOR FBCA.
Amber Hayes and Farrah Childs enjoyed an outstanding season on the courts as a doubles tandem, making it all the way to the TAPPS 5A State Tournament before falling 6-3, 6-2 to Austin Regents.
Freshmen Naomi Jones and Elizabeth Johnson also qualified as feed-in matches at State. FBCA enjoyed a strong freshman class overall. Sydney Batts and Kendall Dailey also performed admirably in their debut seasons.
On the boys’ side, freshman Austin Martinez is someone to keep an eye on down the road.
TRACK AND FIELD
IT WAS A BANNER YEAR FOR TRACK AND FIELD AT FBCA.
The girls won the Regional Championship and sent 10 qualifiers to the TAPPS State Meet in Waco, where they followed up by winning the TAPPS 5A State Championship.
Bayleigh Minor qualified in the long jump, triple jump, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash, and 4x400. She was the star in Waco, taking home five gold medals at State.
Angel Nwodu qualified in the shot put, triple jump, 200-meter dash, 4x100 and 4x200. Lani Brown qualified in the 300 hurdles, 4x200 and 4x400. Brooke Coleman qualified in the 100-meter dash, 4x100 and 4x200. Gabbie Washington qualified in the 400-meter dash, 4x100 and 4x400. Bailey Hanner qualified in the high jump, and in her first year competing in track and field won gold in the event at the State Meet.
Daniella Herrera qualified in the 4x200 and 4x400. Shea Bedminster qualified in the 4x100 and 4x200. Kyra Whitman qualified in the 4x400. Thea Longbottom qualified in the 4x200 and 4x400.
The boys also sent 10 to State and finished by placing third in Waco.
Cobey Sellers qualified in the 110 hurdles, 200-meter dash and 4x400. Noah Brooks qualified in the high jump, 400-meter dash, 4x100 and 4x400. Brooks won gold in the 400 meters.
Sam LeBlue qualified in the long jump and 4x200. Max Granville qualified in the shot put and 4x400. Bryce Grays qualified in the 100-meter dash, 4x100 and 4x200. Bryan Domino qualified in the long jump, 4x100 and 4x200. Matthew Brown qualified in the 100-meter dash, 4x100 and 4x200. Ben Longbottom and Ryan Welch each qualified in the 4x400. Tekena Williams qualified in the 4x200.
The Eagles’ dominance at State was no surprise. They set a plethora of school records during the season and postseason.
Minor set records in the triple jump (37’-0”), long jump (18’-3.2.5”), 200-meter dash (24.44 seconds) and 400-meter dash (56.31 seconds). Sellers set the record in the 200-meter dash (21.80 seconds). Brooks set the record in the 400-meter dash (49.58 seconds).
The boys 4x100 relay of Grays, Brooks, Domino and Brown set the record with 42.86 seconds, and the 4x200 of Grays, LeBlue, Domino and Brown set the record with 1:29.92.
The girls 4x800 of Minor, Washington, Sidney Arnold and Maddie Font set the record at 10:23.29, the 4x100 of Nwodu, Coleman, Washington and Minor set the record at 48.04, the 4x200 of Coleman, Nwodu, Washington and Minor set the record at 1:41.09 and the 4x400 of Washington, Coleman, Herrera and Minor set the record of 3:53.40.
If you lost count, that’s 12 school records set in one season.
GOLF
FBCA’S BOYS TEAM STARTED STRONG BY WINNING FOUR OF ITS FIRST FIVE TOURNAMENTS THIS SEASON, AND THEN WAS REWARDED BY QUALIFYING FOR THE TAPPS STATE TOURNAMENT.
The Eagles’ boys were led by Eli Walker Campbell (71 average) and Andrew Jammal (73). Chris Jammal (87), Brody Cowser (95) and James Donovan (99) also qualified for State due to the team’s strong standing at the Regional Tournament.
At the TAPPS 5A State Golf Tournament, Campbell finished ninth overall shooting a 142 (72, 70). The FBCA team finished seventh overall, shooting a 636.
Andrew Jammal shot a 159 (79, 80), Chris Jammal scored a 167 (80, 87), James Donovan scored a 168 (81, 87) and Brody Cowser hit a 194 (95, 99).
BEAST MODE: Tennis Coach Trepanier Found Passion in the Weight Room
LEIGH-ANN TREPANIER CHALKS HER HANDS AND APPROACHES A COMPETITION BAR.
It’s loaded with a weight that normal athletes, let alone humans, wouldn’t consider lifting above their heads, but Trepanier isn’t a normal athlete.
In her mind, she repeats the phrase “see a little, see a lot. See a lot, see nothing,” to help her focus on the task at hand. She bounces on her toes three times, kneels, sets her hands, moves the bar up and back to herself and then... everything goes silent except her coach’s voice.
He gives her a cue. Muscle memory takes over. She lifts.
Trepanier, the head tennis coach at TWCA, has a history of being in the foundation of Olympic Weightlifting that goes back to college. She started powerlifting — squats, bench, deadlifts, etc. — as a collegiate tennis player at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. At first, though she enjoyed it, it was more of a requirement.
After she graduated and moved to The Woodlands, she was immediately recruited by TWCA Strength Coach Tim Walker to enter into a brand new sport for her — Olympic Weightlifting — in December of 2019.
Then, Covid hit, and Trepanier’s journey took off.
She purchased a women’s competition bar — 35 pounds — and in June of 2020, she started Coach Walker’s program and began learning the “snatch” and “clean and jerk” lifts.
Her workout schedule included five days on, two days off. She did this for an entire year before her first competition.
In May 2021, Trepanier’s first competition arrived — online — through the United States Weightlifting Federation (USAW). She came in third overall in her weight class (59 KG ~ 130 lbs.) with a snatch of 68 KG (148 lbs.) and clean and jerk of 85 KG (187 lbs.).
These lifts qualified her for the U-25 US Nationals and the American Open Series 2. Her and Walker decided to not go to nationals with the goal in mind to compete in the US Nationals as a senior athlete, rather than a U-25 athlete.
At AO2 in September, Trepanier snatched 75 KG (165 lbs.) and clean and jerked 95 KG (209 lbs.). Again, she finished third overall, which qualified her for US Nationals as a senior athlete and the American Open Finals in December.
“It’s amazing how God designed our bodies to be able to handle such heavy weight under such grace,” Trepanier said. “I never had a female lifter to look up to and I think that’s something I love and I hope I can do here at TWCA.”
Once she started competing, Trepanier’s training schedule was upped to six days a week, with two or three two-a-days. The work paid off.
At the AO Finals, she totaled with a 175 KG lift — 75 KG snatch, 100 KG (220 lbs.) clean and jerk. This was good for a seventh-place overall finish against the top lifters in the nation.
“It’s okay to be strong,” she added. “It’s okay to want to lift heavy weights as a female, which is not common. I love that at TWCA I’ve had the opportunity to push specifically the female athletes by showing them that they can do this. That they can be confident and feel comfortable in the weight room.
“I love when they come up to me and tell me ‘I love this!’ or ‘I hit this number!’,” Trepanier said. “I love being able to be more of an example which wasn’t always the case. I’m more confident and I want to help athletes new to the sport.”
Up next for Trepanier will be the US Nationals held in Las Vegas in late June. She will be competing against hundreds of the best Olympic Weightlifters in the country.
Considering that when she started, Trepanier was lifting 22.7 KG (50 lbs.) in the snatch, and 37.7 (83 lbs) KG in the clean and jerk, it’s safe to say that no, she is not a normal athlete.