The Clarendon College athletic department announced last week that 94 student-athletes earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll recognition for the fall 2013 semester.
To make the Honor Roll, athletes must achieve a 3.0 grade-point average for the semester. The 94 athletes represent more than 40 percent of the school’s student-athlete population of over 200. This is the first year for the College to recognize students with this honor.
“We are proud of the individuals on the AD honor roll,” Clarendon College Athletic Director Brad Vanden Boogaard said. “It takes a lot of self-discipline and motivation to accomplish success in the classroom and compete for one of our programs.”
Eleven student-athletes achieved perfect 4.0 GPAs for the fall semester: women’s basketball players Sydney Parker (Snyder) and Clarissa Elizondo (Brownfield); volleyball players Paige Chambers (Gatesville) and Megan Chambers (Gatesville) ; softball player Korynna Lara (Allen); baseball players Thomas O’Brien (Austin) and Pablo Puerta (Barcelona, VE); rodeo team member Reese Clark (Morse); judging team members Connor McKowen (Clarendon) and Sara Peraza (Vai, AZ); and ranch horse team member Braiden Obermier (Henrietta).
“I am extremely proud of the success of our student-athletes in the classroom,” CC President Dr. Robert Riza said. “These notable accomplishments are an indication that our student-athletes are committed to academic excellence at Clarendon College.”
The individual sport breakdown for student-athletes that were named to the Director of Athletics Honor Roll for the fall is:
Women’s Basketball: Delany Burney (Amarillo), Amber Dubois (San Angelo), Jose Espinal (Knox City), Nicole Guthrie (Canadian), Allison Hancock (O’Donell), Jaylee Mays (Hardesty, OK), Danni Pisano (Australia), Esther Van Dijk (Hartley), Jae Carrasco (Amarillo), and Anissa Reyna (Lockney).
Men’s Basketball: Christian O’Neal (Lubbock) and Wyatt Sippy (Canyon).
Volleyball: Heather Brandenburg (Garland) , Rachel Heide (Apple Valley, CA), Penny Holdren (Snyder), and Stephanie Shears (Los Fresnos).
Cross Country: Tyler Biddle (Tuscola), Jared Hawthorne (Canyon), Walker Loyd (Stephenville), Ricardo Plancarte-Coria (Houston), Alberto Sandoval (Ft. Worth), Riley Wilson (Anahuac), and Isela Sandoval (Ft. Worth).
Golf: Austin Quiet (Cedar Park) and Houston Moore (Alvarado).
Softball: Whitney Lane (Amarillo), Hailey Forbes (Canyon), Paige Lafferty (Leander), Musu Ifopo (El Paso), Marissa Dominguez (Moreno Valley, CA), Cassidy Brumaghin (Denver, CO), Cearra Dulaney (Keller), Karina Juarez (Andrews), Abby Galarza (Lubbock), Cassie Kraft (Greenwood), and Briana Weigel (Lubbock).
Baseball: Jose Agosto (Gurabo, PR), Hayden Bach (Cleburne), Brian Epstein (Houston), Brandon Hillier (Toronto, ON), Devin Perez (Tulsa, OK), Nathan Menchaca (Burleson), Tyler Sanders (Houston), Victor Torres (San Antonio), Christian Zuniga (McAllen), Ryan Backus (Amarillo), Miguel Cintron (Guyama, PR), Sammy David (Guyama, PR), Paul Garcia (Plano), Alex Steadman (Arlington), and Brandon Turner (Arlington).
Rodeo: William Carpenter (Calhoun, GA), Cooper Kirkpatrick (Artesia, NM), and Tyler Taber (Collinsville, OK).
Judging: Austin Adams (Hedley), John Atteberry (Blue Ridge), Jonathan Carruth (League City), Christine Haddix (Ft. Worth), Lane Harrington (Frost), Jessica Humphrey (Okeechobee, FL), Kolbie Jordan (Amado, AZ), Haley Kinney (Santa Fe, TX), John Pigg (Clarendon), Joseph Purkins (Lavon), MaKayla Red (Sunray), Shannon Reeves (Munday), Kiersten Scott (Scott City, KS), Jared Timms (Lazbuddie), Courtney Wingate (Myakka City, FL), Haylee Bidegain (San Simon, AZ), Ben Raulston (Blum), Sabra Barnett (Clovis, NM), Morgan Boyer (Wallisville), Hailey Dimitroff (Ft. Sumner, NM), Kacy Drummond (Reserve, NM), Scotta Faulkenberry (Stephenville), Clayton Goodwin (Sunray), Travis Metzger (Estancia, NM), Cody Shannon (Royse City, TX), and Derick Shurr (Central Point, OR).
Ranch Horse: Kory Bateman (Spur), Flint Brownlee (Wayside), and Daly Welch (Electra).
News
Broncos drop game to Wellington Skyrockets
By Sandy Anderberg
The Broncos only needed one run to tie the Wellington Skyrockets, but could not put it on the scoreboard and took a 6-7 loss.
According to head coach Brad Elam; the Broncos committed a couple of mistakes early that put them in a hole.
“We started out slow on offense and had a couple of miscues that cost us,” he said. “We got down 0-4 after three innings, but battled back in the fourth to trail 3-4.”
Bryce Hatley got things rolling for the Broncos when he earned a walk and Caleb Cobb hit a single. JoJo Cartwright drove those two in before also scoring a run. Another error cost the Broncos some runs in the fifth and they trailed 3-7 going into the last inning.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” Elam said. “The first five batters reached base and Nick Shadle scored after he had a single. After Chance Lockhart scored, we had bases loaded with two outs.”
Elam noted that Zack LaRoe singled, which allowed Clay Koetting to score and cut the lead to only one run. The tying run was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the hit.
“(It was a) great comeback attempt,” Elam said. “Cobb and LaRoe pitched and threw really well.”
The Broncos will continue their regular schedule on Thursday, March 13, at Hale Center at 2:00 pm. They will play a double-header at home on Friday, March 14, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Starnes named to the 2-1A All-District MVP
By Sandy Anderberg
Clarendon High School senior Ryann Starnes has been a workhorse for the Lady Broncos during her high school basketball career, and this year she was rewarded for her outstanding play by being named the 2-1A All-District MVP.
Starnes’ stellar play helped the Lady Broncos to win their first game at the Regional tournament before losing to the eventual state champion Plains and was recognized by the participating coaches for the award.
Deborah Howard also received a great award by being named the District Defensive MVP. Howard also was instrumental in helping the Lady Broncos’ success this year and has been a constant on the team. Her dedication to the Lady Broncos and aggressive defensive play made her a great recipient for this award.
Starnes and Howard are joined by Taylor DeGrate and Taylor Gaines. Both DeGrate and Gaines were starters all year and played important roles for the Lady Broncos all season long. Camra Smith was named to the team as an Honorable Mention.
Completing the All-District team are Torri Chavez from Panhandle who was named the Offensive MVP, Aisia Bonner, Keylee Mayfield, and Macalle Melton from Panhandle, Cassidy Crutchfield from White Deer, Shelby Foster and Ashley Giles from Claude, and Madison Milligan and Nicole Rohrbach from Vega.
The All-District Academic team was also announced for the Lady Broncos. Deb Howard, Haley Ferguson, Ryann Starnes, Camra Smith, and Taylor Gaines were all named to that team.
Lady Broncos’ softball underway
With only three practices under their belt, the Lady Broncos are beginning their softball season with district games early in their schedule. According to head coach Gary Jack; the Lady Broncos have played two games already.
“We lost to Fritch on Thursday 10-12,” Jack said. “We really played pretty well considering the amount of time we’ve had to prepare. Brooke Martin, Sterling King, and Briley Chadwick pitched pretty good for a first game and Haley Ferguson caught for us. Audra Thomas hit the ball well and we made some good defensive plays.”
Last Friday, the Lady Broncos played Sand Jacinto and won 23-0. Camra Smith and Brooke Martin pitched with Haley catching again. Audra and Bailey hit well according to Jack.
“We will have two district games this week,” Jack said. “West Texas High will be here on Tuesday and we will travel to Booker on Friday.”
Two Broncos make All-District Team
By Sandy Anderberg
Senior Chance McAnear and junior Charles Mason have been selected to the 2 1-A All-District Team according to head coach Brandt Lockhart. Both McAnear and Mason have been a huge part of the Bronco basketball team and were chosen to the team by the participating district coaches.
Zach Cornell, Cedrick McCampbell, and Chance Lockhart have also been selected to the All-District Academic Team. The academic team selections are determined from play during the basketball season and overall grades.
Tanner Barnett from Panhandle was the unanimous selection as District MVP, Cory Free and Brody Powers also from Panhandle were selected as offensive and defensive MVP’s respectively.
Bradley Cornell, Bailey Morrow, and Zack Johnson were selected from Claude, Tyler Hall and Josh Oliver were selected from Panhandle, Colton Luster and Justin Joyce were selected from Vega, and Dustin Thomas was selected from White Deer to finish the All-District Team.
Beer now available at local stores
The natural drought still lingers, but Clarendon long “dry” spell came to an end last Thursday, February 13, with the first package sales of beer since 1902.
More than three months after Donley County voters approved a local option to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages, Budweiser trucks rolled up to Allsup’s convenience store and Lowe’s Family Center to stock coolers that had been running in anticipation for weeks.
Allsup’s sold the first beer in the city to Billy Curry and Danny Nugent at 11:25 Thursday morning, and sales since then have been brisk, the store says.
“It has been awesome,” said Allsup’s clerk Trish Voyles. “We have been busy every day, and there hasn’t been any problems. Our sales are definitely up, and that’s good for the town.”
Manager Haskell Sorrells said that Friday was Allsup’s busiest day so far and that while alcohol sales have been great, other merchandise is selling better also.
“I’m seeing deli items and lots of other stuff selling more,” Sorrells said. “Customers are excited and have come in whooping and hollering.”
Sorrells said alcohol sales are allowed between 7 a.m. and midnight Monday through Saturday and from noon to midnight on Sunday.
Lowe’s manager Buddy James said sales at his store have been steady and were about what the company expected. The supermarket had its first beer sale about 20 minutes after Allsup’s.
Lowe’s began stocking wine last Friday, and one clerk said she was surprised by how many local people drink wine.
CEFCO’s two Clarendon convenience stores have also applied for beer and wine permits, and state permit applications are pending for two Clarendon restaurants – Bar H BBQ & More and JD SteakOut. The Broken Road Café at Giles and the Bar H Dude Ranch have applied for state permits as well.
Candidate deadline is this Friday
With only a few days left before the sign-up period closes, the City of Hedley is the only one of seven local governments that has drawn enough candidates to have a competitive election.
As of Tuesday morning, four other local entities had drawn just enough candidates to fill the seats available in this spring’s election, and two more were still one candidate short.
In Hedley, the terms of Mayor Leon Ward and Aldermen Lonnie Roby and Carrie Butler are up this year. All three incumbents are running for reelection, and challenger Diana Postma has filed for the board, setting up the need for an election this May.
The City of Clarendon has three spots open and three candidates at press time. Aldermen Larry Jeffers and Beverly Burrow are seeking re-election and John Lockhart has also filed to run for the board.
The Clarendon College District has three seats available on the Board of Regents, and the positions are held by Dr. John Howard, Dr. Bill Sansing, and Jack Moreman, and all three have filed to run again.
Incumbent Ted Wright and challengers Troy Monroe and Michelle McCann have signed up to run for three positions on the Hedley ISD Board of Trustees.
The Donley County Hospital Board has four positions up this year. Those seats are held by Jan Farris, Jeannie Owens, Mark C. White, and Lori Howard. All four are signed up.
H.L. Baird and Sam Grider are running for the city board in Howardwick where three positions are open.
Clarendon ISD has two trustee positions up this year, and incumbent Weldon Sears has filed for re-election.
Filing for local positions runs through Friday, February 28. Elections will are scheduled for May 10.
Primary election Tuesday
Republican and Democratic voters will head to the polls next Tuesday, March 4, to determine who they want to see on the ballot this November.
As of this Tuesday morning, 205 people had early voted in the Republican Primary, and 14 voters had cast early ballots in the Democratic Primary. Early voting continues by personal appearance at the Donley County Courthouse Annex through this Friday, February 28.
Voting next Tuesday will take place at the locations listed below. Check your voter registration card for your precinct.
Republican Voters
: Precinct 101 – Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center, Precinct 102 – Howardwick City Hall, Precinct 201 – Donley County Courthouse, Precinct 301 – Assembly of God Fellowship Hall, Precinct 303 – Hedley First Baptist Church, and Precinct 401 – Church of Christ Family Life Center.
Democratic Voters
: Precincts 101, 102, 201, 301, and 401 – Donley County Courthouse Annex; and Precinct 303 – Hedley Lions Club Den.
Several candidates are running on the Republican ticket, which includes contested races for two offices.
The office of county judge has four Republican candidates – Randy Bond, Gary Campbell, Jack Craft, and Dr. John Howard; and three men are running as Republicans to be the next Commissioner of Precinct 2 – Daniel Ford, John Grady, and Mitchell Martin.
Other Republican candidates on the primary ballot are Pam Mason for Precinct 1&2 Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace Denise Bertrand, Precinct 1 Commissioner Dan Sawyer, and County Treasurer Wanda Smith. Katherine Williams is not on the ballot but is a write-in candidate for Republican County Chair.
In the Democratic primary, the following local candidates are running: Precinct 1&2 Justice of the Peace Connie Havens, Ricky Rattan for Precinct 4 Commissioner, and County/District Clerk Fay.
Early voting runs through February 28. The primaries will be on March 4.
NJCAA penalizes CC cross-country team
The Clarendon College men’s cross-country program has been placed on one-year probation by the National Junior College Athletic Association following a random audit.
CC President Dr. Robert Riza informed the Board of Regents about the penalty during last Thursday’s regular board meeting and said the problem was simply that the college’s former athletic director had “sloppy paperwork.”
Riza said the college received notice by the NJCAA three weeks ago that it would audit CC’s indoor track and field program. During the course of the audit, CC officials and the NJCAA discovered some problems with letters of intent signed by members of the men’s cross-country team, athletes who also participate in indoor track and field competitions.
“You are allowed a certain number of letters of intent,” Riza later told the Enterprise, “and, if one of those athletes ends up not coming here, you are allowed to release them and add another one. We’re allowed letters for ten men and ten women to run cross-country, and we had one or two too many.”
Probation for the cross-country men means they cannot participate in regional or national playoffs next fall and the number of scholarship positions CC can offer for that program is reduced from ten to six.
“We broke the rule, and we’re going to take the punishment,” Riza said. “This is just a situation where paperwork was sloppy.”
CC is already taking steps to make sure this problem never happens again, Riza said. A new full time athletic director, Brad Vanden Boogaard, is already in place, and he will be attending NJCAA training this summer. In addition, new eligibility checklist procedures are being implemented, and CC coaches will be receiving training also.
On a positive note, Riza told the board that more than 90 student athletes from Clarendon had been listed on the athletic director’s fall honor roll for having a 3.0 or higher GPA, and 11 of those students had 4.0 GPAs.
Riza updated regents on an employee survey which found that “meeting students’ needs” is the college’s top priority and that the maintenance and housekeeping staff ranked the highest in terms of friendliness and teamwork. The survey also gave low ranking for communications and collaboration between the administration and the faculty and staff, which he said he expected.
The president also reported meeting with representatives of Cielo Wind Energy and said the company is inquiring about tax relief – not a tax abatement – for its proposed wind farm in northwestern Donley County.
Riza also briefed the board on his plan to use some S3 grant funds to offer TSI testing in area high schools as a way to help lower the number of students needing developmental classes in college.
In other college business, the Board of Regents: approved proposals from four vendors to purchase nursing equipment totaling $56,974 as part of a Title III grant; extended a food services contract with Great Western Dining for three years; renewed a lease with the Donley County Industrial Foundation for property on West First Street for storage and welding classes; and ratified the resignation of men’s basketball coach Tony Starnes, the retirements of Sharon Hannon and Gene Denney, and the hiring of Roger Schustereit as Interim Dean of Instruction, Melvin Balogh to coach volleyball, Emily Palmore for testing, and Meriem St. Laurent for an assistant at the Pampa Center.
CC meats team wins in Ft. Worth
The Clarendon College Meats Judging team has done it again.
The team recently returned from Fort Worth where they won by 67 points.
Hailey Dimitroff was High Point Individual, Kiersten Scott placed 3rd high, and Jessica Humphrey placed 4th high. Lane Harrington also competed.
In the Alternate Division, Shelby Lee was High Point Individual; Derick Shurr, 2nd High; Sabra Barnett, 3rd High; Mitch Garvin, 6th High; and Augustus Holbein, 7th High.
The team will attempt an undefeated spring with their remaining contest March 5-7 at the Houston Livestock Show.
The Meats Judging team is coach by Tate Corliss.
The Clarendon College Livestock Judging team competed again last week, this time in San Antonio.
The team consisted of Brianna Peraza, Ben Raulston, Conner McKowen, Morgan Boyer, Scotta Faulkenberry, and Clayton Goodwin.
They ended up 11th overall in a very tight contest. Their team totaled 4000 points but they were only 60 points away from the winning team.
“I am proud of this group and feel like they have made a ton of progress this semester,” coach Johnny Treichel said.
The team will travel to Houston next so be sure to encourage them to do their best at that contest as well.
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