Meet the Preps | All about high school sports in El Paso

A high school sports renaissance?

The El Paso High School sports scene continues to grow each year. Many have taken dramatic steps to become more competitive across the state.
Every spring and winter sport has seen at least one team or individual reach a regional. Some have gone further.
Are we experiencing a renaissance in local high school sports?
It’s hard to say for sure. Success must be sustained over time.
But it’s getting better.
Perhaps the most drastic improvement came in girls sports. Americas reached the Sweet 16 in softball again, and the Trailblazers had to get by Hanks in the regional quarterfinals. Chapin also made it to the third round.
Horizon made history as the Scorpions became the first girls basketball team in recent memory to reach the Elite 8. Chapin, with Kristina Higgins signed to attend Baylor, the women’s national college champions, advanced to the third round.
In soccer, Canutillo, Chapin and Montwood all had record-setting years while Burges and El Paso came within one match of sending players to the state tournament in tennis.
Wrestling boasted two state champions (Montwood’s Natalia Hinojo and Jefferson’s Yvonne Galindo) while two more got silver medals. The Eastwood girls golf team continued its unprecedented run to a fourth straight state tournament, making a claim for one of Texas’ top programs.
Track had arguably the best year of any sport. El Paso boasted a whopping four state champions — Franklin’s Felix Obi (one of the best in the nation), Chapin’s Brandon Moss, Burges’ Danny Tarango (a top runner in the country) and the Burges relay team.. Two others took home bronze medals.
In boys basketball, Hanks reached the Sweet 16 while soccer continued its climb to state dominance. Del Valle and Bel Air both reached the Elite 8 while San Elizario and Americas made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time in either school’s history.
Baseball cemented its place as a state-wide force. Socorro opened the door, and this year three teams from District 1-5A reached the third round and Montwood went to regional semifinals.
It’s nice to see the area continue to flourish in high school sports. The playoff runs keep getting longer and the trips to state have become expected as local athletes make a name for themselves and El Paso beyond the city limits. Keep up the good work.

Area signings

Several area high school student-athletes will continue competing at the next level. 

•Alley Licon of Eastwood will play soccer at Western Texas Junior College in Snyder, Texas.•Andrea Prats of Eastwood will play soccer at Western Texas Junior College in Snyder, Texas. 

•Elias Leija-Garza of Eastwood will join the cross country and track and field teams at Colby College in Kansas. Leija-Garza was an El Paso Times’ All-City first-team selection as a senior. 

•Atziry Apodaca of Eastwood will run cross country and track at Western New Mexico. She was an El Paso Times’ All-City honorable mention selection last fall. 

•Carson Greathouse of Coronado will play golf for West Texas A&M. Greathouse led the Thunderbirds to a District 1-5A title this past year. 

•Ryan Powe of Franklin will play football for Baker College in Kansas. He will play on the offensive line. 

•Christian Haack of Franklin will play football for Benedictine College in Kansas. Haack, who was an El Paso Times' All-City honorable mention selection last fall, will play wide receiver. •Oscar Reyes of Andress will play soccer at UT-Permian Basin. Reyes was the District 1-4A MVP and had 22 goals. 

•Erwin Perez of Andress will play soccer at UT-Permian Basin. The defender/midfielder was a first-team All-District selection. 

•Javier Diaz De Leon of Andress will play soccer for UT-Permian Basin. He scored seven goals and had 13 assists.  

•Lorenzo Barraza of Andress will play soccer at Western Texas College in Snyder, Texas. The defender was a first-team All-District selection. •Stephanie Rey of Chapin will play basketball at Otero Junior College in Colorado. Rey helped lead Chapin to the District 1-4 championship this past season.

•Mike Hernandez of Montwood will play football for Concordia University of Nebraska. Hernandez was an El Paso Times’ first-team All-City selection. 

•Christian Thomas of Montwood will play football for Howard Payne University. Thomas played linebacker for the Rams. 

•Christian Schwantner of Montwood will play football for Sul Ross University. He played on the offensive line for the Rams. •Adam Perez of Montwood will play football at Western New Mexico University in Silver City. Perez was an El Paso Times’ second-team All-City selection on the defensive line. 

•Mitch Vechione of Franklin will play tennis for Seminole State College in Oklahoma.  

•Rebecca Guevara of Montwood will play volleyball for Hill Junior College. Guevara played libero for the Rams.

 

Class 5A baseball playoff region 1 matchups, results

Class 5A (x-if necessary)

REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

Arlington Martin (W4, 32-3-1) vs. Lubbock Coronado (W2, 23-10-2) Game 1: Martin 9, Coronado 3 Game 2: Martin 5, Coronado 1; Martin wins series 2-0.

Hurst L.D. Bell (T6, 21-11-1) vs. Plano East (T8, 22-16-1) Game 1: L.D. Bell 7, Plano East 4 Game 2: Plano East 5, L.D. Bell 0 Game 3: L.D. Bell 2, Plano East 1; L.D. Bell wins series 2-1.

El Paso Americas (T1, 25-8-1) vs. El Paso Montwood (W1, 34-2) Game 1: Montwood 4, Americas 1 (9) Game 2: Montwood 10, Americas 3; Montwood wins series 2-0.

Southlake Carroll (W7, 21-11-1) vs. Flower Mound (R8, 28-8) One-game playoff: Flower Mound 3, Carroll 1.

REGIONAL SEMIFINALS Arlington Martin (W4, 32-3-1) vs. Hurst L.D. Bell (T6, 21-11-1), TBA.

El Paso Montwood (W1, 34-2) vs. Southlake Carroll (W7, 21-11-1), TBA.

Southlake Carroll pitching coach

The pitching coach for Southlake Carroll is former Franklin head coach Larry Vucan. Southlake Carroll is the opponent for Montwood next week in the Class 5A baseball regional semifinals. 

Vucan guided Franklin from 2002-2010 and had five straight playoff appearances in the process. His best season with the Cougars came in 2007 when Franklin shared the District 1-5A title and reached the regional quarterfinals. 

Jackson signee caps strong year for high school girls basketball

Allison Jackson's signing with Division I program Nebraska-Omaha gives the city three players from Class 4A schools to sign with Division I schools this year. Chapin's Kristina Higgins signed with Baylor and Horizon's Janelle Perez signed with Northwestern State. It was a good year for girls basketball programs in the city and there were several other girls basketball players, who will go on to play basketball for non-Division I programs. 

Jackson, Higgins and Perez were three of the very best the city had to offer and all three have a very high skill level. Jackson was the latest one to sign on Wednesday and she's a player who has overcome injury to play Division I basketball. She missed her entire junior season due to a foot injury, but came back for her senior year and was healthy. She has plenty of upside in her game and it'll be interesting to see how well she does for a program that will be in the Summit League next year. 

Americas vs. Hebron softball series

The Class 5A softball regional semifinal series between Americas and Lewisville Hebron should be entertaining when the two teams face on Friday and Saturday in Lubbock in the best two of three series. 

Americas is 30-5 and reached the regional semis last year. The Trailblazers have been an offensive machine so far in the playoffs scoring 72 runs in seven games. Hebron is 26-10-1 and has allowed just seven runs in five playoff games this year. 

The Trailblazers are ranked No. 7 by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, while Hebron is No. 12. Both teams are playing some of their best softball right now. Americas will have to continue to find ways to score runs against a very good Hebron team and Hebron will also have to find a way to slow the Trailblazers offense. Americas nearly advance to the Elite 8 last year, losing in three games to Keller. 

I figure the series will go three and if Americas can find ways to keep the offense productive, it could very well be going to the school's first-ever regional final. 

All Region and All State soccer honors

Girls  

Emily Luth - Chapin (defender) 2nd team all region.  

Boys 

Justice Bradley - Del Valle (defender) 1st team all state

Eddie Hernandez - Burges (defender)

Fernie Montes - Burges (defender)

2nd team all region 

Allan Salcido - Del Valle (forward) 2nd team all state 

Kyle Ganfield - Burges (forward) 2nd team all region

Dominic Lopez - Del Valle (goalie) 2nd team all state 

Abel Barrios - Del Valle (midfielder) 1st team all state 

Jose Martinez - Burges (midfielder) 2nd team all region

Del Valle coach Bruce Reichman -Reigon 1 coach of the year. 

Del Valle assistant coach Ozzy Vasquez Region I Assistant Coach of the Year. 

 

Americas softball matchup with Lewisville Hebron

The Americas softball team will take on Lewisville Hebron on Friday and Saturday in a Class 5A regional semifinal matchup in Lubbock. Game 1 is at 5:30 p.m. at Rocky Johnson Field on the campus of Texas Tech. Game 2 is set for 10 a.m. Saturday with a third game to follow 30 minutes later if necessary. Americas is 30-5 on the year, while Hebron is 26-10-1.  The games will be broadcast on www.tsrnsports.com <http://www.tsrnsports.com>