SPORTS
THURSDAY APRIL 20, 2017
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H.S. TRACK | DISTRICT 11/12-6A AREA MEET
JT, Lee athletes aim to raise their level at area meet CHRIS PARRY AND TRAVIS YOESTING sports@tylerpaper.com
John Tyler boys track coach Torey Elder knew his team would be in for stiffer competition with the move from Class 5A to 6A, so he prepared his team with three meets in Dallas. With the District 11/12-6A area meet set for Thursday in Mesquite, Elder hopes the preparation pays off. “I think the biggest difference (in
6A) is going to the Metroplex, Dallas area,” Elder said. “The competition was a lot better. “I think our guys will be ready. They’re prepared and they just have to go out there and do their best and put their best foot forward.” A number of John Tyler and Robert E. Lee athletes will hope to qualify for the regional meet from Hanby Stadium on Wednesday. Track events begin at 11 a.m. with the running finals to start around 6:15 p.m. The top four finishers in each
event advance to the Class 6A Region II meet in Waco on April 28. The Lions have five athletes competing in seven events, including the 400- and 800-meter relays. Ke’Tavion Humber is running both hurdles races, while Caleb McMiller and Jerry Young are in both relays and the 100. Young is also the lone Lion in a field event, hoping to qualify in triple jump. Lee qualified for area in both boys and girls events. On the girls side, REL senior Mary Claire Neal will compete in the
1,600 and 800; junior Mah’Layzga Johnson will compete in shot put and freshman Sarah Niedrauer is running in the 3,200. On the boys side, REL’s 800 and 1,600 relay teams will be on display, along with distance runner Haftu Knight (3,200, 1,600), 300 hurdler Benjamin Dene and last year’s state runner-up in pole vault, Branson Ellis. Lee boys coach Aaron Babino said junior Nathan Niedrauer received a welcome surprise when he was informed that he would be able
MLB | TEXAS RANGERS
to compete in shot put after the fourth-place finisher couldn’t make it. ROBERT E. LEE BOYS Babino wants his athletes to understand the finality of Thursday’s competition. “There’s no more we are going to this meet next week (and we’ll improve), it’s you have to qualify for that meet next week,” Babino said. “It’s time to show up or go home.” AREA
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TAPPS TRACK
Grace, Gorman girls go 1-2, Grace boys 2nd at district meet Staff Reports
JEFF CHIU/AP
ABOVE, TEXAS RANGERS MANAGER JEFF BANISTER (28) argues with umpires Tim Welke (3) and Mike Everitt after being ejected during the third inning of a baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Rangers on Wednesday in Oakland, Calif. Below, Athletics’ Trevor Plouffe (left) and Rajai Davis celebrate after the game against the Rangers. The Athletics won 9-1.
‘Days Like Today’ Davis hits 7th home run as Oakland routs Rangers 9-1 MICHAEL WAGAMAN Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Khris Davis hit his seventh home run of the season, Yonder Alonso and Chad Pinder also went deep, and the Oakland Athletics routed the Texas Rangers 9-1 on Wednesday. Josh Phegley hit a two-run double in a four-run first that gave a quick lead to Jesse Hahn (1-1), who allowed one run and two hits over six innings, struck out four and walked four. Phegley made his second start since he was brought up from the on April 5; he allowed two runs over six innings of relief at the Rangers on April 7. Davis hit a two-run homer in the fifth, his third home run in six games. All three homers were hit off reliever Mike Hauschild. Joey Gallo homered in the fifth for Texas, a drive off the facade below a row of luxury suites in center field. It would have traveled 437 feet had it landed unimpeded, according to Major League Baseball’s Statcast system. Rangers manager Jeff Banister was ejected by plate umpire Bill Welke for arguing over a third-inning foul ball hit by Davis, who singled after Banister left the field. “It was just a situation where one umpire called a ball fair, another umpire called the ball foul,” Banister said. “I want some clarification. I didn’t quite get the
TAPPS
BOSTON (AP) — Hours before his former New England Patriots teammates were due to visit the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl victory, prison officials say, Aaron Hernandez tied one end of his bedsheet to a window and the
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UT Tyler men’s golf team grabs ASC 2nd place Staff Reports
clarification I was looking for.” Texas has lost five of six, dropping to last in the AL West at 5-10. Martin Perez (12) gave up four runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings, allowing all his runs with two outs. He had given up one run in his previous 10 1/3 innings. “I was just trying to stay in the game long to give the bullpen guys some rest, but that didn’t happen,” Perez said. “You have to fight when you have days like today.”
UP NEXT Rangers: RHP Andrew Cashner (0-1) is to start against Kansas City on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series in Arlington. Cashner gave up four runs over 5 1/3 innings in his last start. Athletics: Cesar Valdez (0-0) returns to the big leagues for the first time since 2010 to pitch against Seattle on Thursday. Valdez is making a spot outing in place of opening day starter Kendall Graveman, on the DL with a strained right shoulder.
Ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez hangs himself in prison cell AP Sports Writer
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COLLEGE GOLF
NFL | NEW ENGLAND
JIMMY GOLEN
CARROLLTON — Grace Community ended a three-year reign by Bishop Gorman by winning the TAPPS 2-5A track and field championship women’s competition on Tuesday at Prince of Peace Christian School. The Lady Cougars racked up 171 points to dethrone the Lady Crusaders, who finished second at 148. Bullard Brook Hill was fifth, while All Saints took seventh. On the boys side, Grace finished second behind Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill. The Tigers tallied 173 points to edge the Cougars’ 139. Gorman was third with 105.5, while Brook Hill finished sixth and All Saints eighth. The top three finishers in each event are guaranteed a spot in next week’s regional meet in Burleson on April 27. The state meet is slated for May 5 in Waco. Leading the way for the Lady Cougars were Johannon Murray and Jordan Tauscher, who both won a pair of gold medals. Tauscher threw 34 feet, 3 inches to win shot put and 105-2 to claim discus. Murray won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles races, going 16.08 seconds and 46.91 seconds, respectively. Murray was also on the gold-medal winning 1,600-meter relay team along with Caroline Brink, Addie Daughtry and Lexye Price. Price won gold herself in the 200, turning in a school-record time of 26.55. Lexi Dziedzic earned another first-place finish for the Lady Cougars, winning pole vault with a height of 8-0. The Lady Crusaders won four gold medals, including two by Anna Pritchard. The Gorman senior took first in the 1,600 (5:32.54) and 3,200 (12:24.37). Sydney Brunette won the 800 (2:33.27) and Lauren Fanning claimed gold in long jump (16-9 1/2) for Gorman.
other around his neck and hanged himself. In a maximum-security prison outside Boston, about an hour from the stadium where he played alongside stars like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowsi, Hernandez jammed the door to his oneman cell lest guards try to stop him and put an early end to the
life-without-parole sentence he received for a 2013 murder. He was 27. It was the last act in the downfall of an athlete who once seemed to have everything, including a five-year $40 million contract extension, and threw it all away. The former NFL star’s death left friends, family and his legal
team shocked and in disbelief, searching for an explanation. Just last Friday, Hernandez was acquitted in a separate murder case. “There were no conversations or correspondence from Aaron to his family or legal team that would have indicated DEATH
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KERRVILLE — UT Tyler’s George Toone delivered five birdies in his final round to card a 7under 209 and finish second overall at the American Southwest Conference Men’s Golf Championship. Toone bounced back from a 74 in Round 1 to deliver rounds of 67 and 68. Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Mats Heien was the conference champion, thanks to an ASC record 15-under 201. Heien scorched the Comanche Trace course with 16 birdies and an eagle over his three days. Toone’s efforts helped UT Tyler finish second as a team, combining to shoot 292-279-293–864. It is the fifth-straight year for the Patriots to finish as conference runner-up. UT Tyler’s Sam Hill finished sixth with a 1over 217 (69-74-74), Brandon Rougeau was ninth with a 2-over 218 (75-69-74). Rounding out the Patriots were Cody Gilbert (74-71-79–224) in 13th and Trystan Perkins (76-72-77–225) in 16th. UMHB, led by Heien, won the 54-hole event by 20 strokes, producing a three-day total of 276283-285–844. The Crusaders capture the automatic spot in the NCAA tournament with UT Tyler forced to wait until May 8 to see if the Patriots receive an at-large selection. The NCAA Division III men’s golf tournament will be played May 16-19 at Mission Inn in Howley-in-the-Hills, Florida. Defending conference champion Concordia was third overall with a 292-296-287–875. Hardin-Simmons (916) finished fourth with UT Dallas (917) fifth in the eight-team event.