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Leader News THE
Thursday, February 28, 2013
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Lytle track squad has strong showing at recent Panther Relays Cross country state champ Gonzalez dominates in long distance events Barrett House Staff Writer Fifteen schools descended upon Medina Valley High School on Saturday, gathering on green
grass and orange rubber. Among them was the Lytle High School track team, looking to set the tone for the season during its first meet. The day was highlighted by individual performances, culminating into a respectable day at Medina Valley. Leading the way to an overall fifth place spot with 52 points was none other than Cesar
Richard Ramirez takes off during his triple jump attempt at the Medina Valley track meet Saturday. Ramirez would end up placing second in the event, jumping for a distance of 40’ 8”. (Photo by Barrett House)
Gonzalez. After an initial delay, Gonzalez, along with several of his teammates, lined up for the 3,200-meter race. It didn’t take him long to find his pace and extend an incredible lead after only a couple of laps. In the end Gonzalez would win the race with a time of 9:44, a full 16 seconds faster than the closest finisher. In the 800m race, Landon Vasquez stepped up to take first with a time of 2:04.53. Only a few seconds behind him was Adrian Valdez, who took sixth with a time of 2:08.12. Gonzalez went on to win his next event, the 1,600m race, with a time of 4:33.56. Along with him were two of his teammates who finished in the top five. Valdez placed fourth with a time of 4:45 with Alex Herrera finishing right behind him with a time of 4:45.15, good enough for fifth place. The long distance events weren’t the only events the team did well in. Richard Ramirez placed in two events. In the triple jump, Ramirez was able to jump an impressive 40’ 8” only to be edged out by less than half a foot to get second place. Ramirez also placed fifth in the long jump with a distance of 18’ 8.75”. Among others who placed
Cesar Gonzalez pushes to the front of the pack in the 3200 m race during the Medina Valley track meet Saturday. Gonzalez won the race by a landslide with a time of 9:44, a whole 16 seconds faster than the closest racer. (Photo by Barrett House) were Miguel Guajardo and Juan Perez. Guajardo placed fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 39’ 6.5”. Perez placed sixth in discus, throwing for a distance of 116’ 1.5”. On the girls’ side, only one competitor placed. Julianna Flores
placed fourth in discus, throwing 91’ 7.25”. Overall, the entire team, including the junior varsity, showed up to compete. While there are areas the team can improve in, there are is some solid talent leading the way. And with an arsenal of
skilled long distance runners — on both the boys and girls side — setting the foundation, Lytle remains poised to do some serious damage this season. This weekend Lytle will host 15 schools for the team’s second meet.
Controversial call bounces Bulldogs from postseason in area round Maury Vasquez Special to the Leader News In football, it’s pass interference. In baseball, it’s the everchanging strike zone. But in basketball, no official’s call is more heavily debated than the block/ charge foul. It was a disputed call that went against the Somerset basketball team late in their 3A Area playoff game with Brookshire Royal that squashed a furious Bulldog rally. “It takes away our momentum. We are down three, they get their ball to their big man, who lowers his shoulder into our guy and drops him on his tail,” said a very frustrated Somerset head coach Bryan Penna. “It’s either a charge or a player control foul because he cleared his way to the basket. It’s a no-brainer.” That’s not how the officials
saw it, and instead of having the ball with a little over a minute left down by three, the Bulldogs’ center and leading scorer Justin Camarillo was whistled with his fifth foul. The Falcons would close out the game at the free throw line from there to eliminate the Bulldogs by the final score of 68-58 Friday night in Luling. “I don’t know why we came out as timid as we did in the first half,” said Penna. “I told the team at halftime that we’ve seen this caliber of competition all season.” Brookshire Royal (26-9) used their high-pressure, up-tempo game to open up a 17-point lead on the Bulldogs in the first half. Breakdowns on defense and lack of cohesion on offense led to the big deficit. The Falcons were paced by Kenton Sam’s 25 points and De’Shaven Flowers’ 20 points.
“We knew how they were going to attack our zone, yet we didn’t execute the game plan we worked on,” said Penna. “Offensively it was hard to get into any kind of rhythm early.” That all changed in the second half. Somerset (15-19) slowed down the Falcons highflying attack with gritty half-court defense and rabid full-court pressure. Once the defense opened up the Bulldogs’ running game, offensive confidence began to flow. Camarillo led Bulldogs scorers with 15 points. Jacob Gonzalez was next with 13 points, Koy Detmer scored 11 and Rocky Reyna added eight points to the Somerset total. “We did a good job of blocking out and shutting down their second chance opportunities and clearing the boards to get running,” said Penna. “Then we hit
a stretch where we hit a couple of threes back-to-back, and we were back in the thick of things.” Spotty Falcon free throw shooting in the fourth quarter helped Somerset trim that lead down to three before the blocking foul resulted in a Falcon threepoint play. If there could be a “Reset” button like the one used in video games, Somerset would have pressed it in hopes of not digging so deep a hole. “Considering we had four sophomores and one junior playing this year with no varsity experience, our record does not indicate we had a winning season, but that doesn’t tell our story,” said Penna. “Playing without a true big man, we still had our chances to win. And that’s what hurts. In my heart I know we should still be playing.”
Somerset’s Justin Camarillo shoots over De’Shaven Flowers of Brookshire Royal in their 3A area playoff game. (Photo by Maury Vasquez)
Powerlifting team looking for continued success at regional competition
Nine girls will be representing Lytle High School at regionals for powerlifting in Kingsville this weekend. Pictured (from left to right) are Abby Carrillo, Audrey Perez, Chastity Santos, Tamara Alvarado, Amber Flores and Lauren Center. Not in the picture but still competing are Paige Kruciak, Reann Silvas and Kirsten Wroblewski. (Courtesy Photo)
Barrett House Staff Writer While the powerlifting season might be over, the competition for the Lytle squad is just beginning. Up next are the regional tournaments, for which several of the girls and boys qualified. On the girls’ side, nine will be making the trip to Kingsville over the weekend to compete. For sophomores Paige Kruciak and Tamara Alvarado, this will be their second regional meet. The other seven include seniors Amber Flores and Audrey Perez; juniors Lauren Center, Reann Silvas and Kirsten Wroblewski; sophomore Chastity Santos and freshman Abby Carrillo. Several of the girls could potentially qualify automatically for the state meet, dependent on whether or not they
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hit a set total after three lifts. “Kruciak, Perez and Center have achieved this already, however the set total must be reached at the regional meet,” said head coach Mario Laque. “Alvarado is 10 pounds away from her totals.” Laque said the girls have already stepped up their preparations, and continue to help one another in order to be successful. “This is a close-knit team that enjoys being around each other, in and out of the weight room,” Laque said. “They have really stepped up the intensity in their workouts, and are feeling confident. They are hungry for success.” The boys finished their season last Wednesday, placing third at Southside. Laque said that many of the lifters finished with personal bests,
capping off the season with success. Two of the boys will be traveling to Kingsville on March 9 for their regional tournament. Senior Carlos Carrillo finished with a total of 1,425 lbs. making him first in the region. Joining him at regionals will be senior Joe Cantu, who is ranked tenth with a total of 1,275 lbs. Laque said the objective for both the boys and the girls is to qualify for the state meet for the third year in a row. But despite what happens, Laque said they have built upon tradition and should be proud of what they have accomplished. “The kids have really bought into the program and take pride in the traditions that those who have lifted before them have established,” Laque said. “It was a great season.”
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