Spring Branch ISD Featured News

 

Several Spring Branch ISD high school teams advanced to state finals competition this week after performing well in regional competition. Student teams in cross country and team tennis are among the district’s Texas UIL finalists.

Among highlights this week was Memorial High Team Tennis, which was a runner-up to Round Rock Westwood for the state title in a Thursday meeting of best teams. Earlier in the season, Memorial had claimed its 10^th consecutive regional title, an incredible feat.

This Saturday morning, Stratford and Memorial girls cross country teams are running for state championship titles. Go Spartan and Mustang Lady Runners!

 

 

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Cross Country

Five separate SBISD high school teams advanced to the recent 6A Region III Regional Championship. They were Memorial Girls and Boys, Spring Woods Girls, and Stratford Girls and Boys.

At the Oct. 22 Regional Meet, the Stratford Girls Cross Country Team finished first, the Memorial Girls Team finished third, and both qualified to advance to the UIL 6A State Cross Country Championship Meet. That meet is set Saturday, Nov. 3, in Round Rock.

“Winning the Regional Championship is a great reward for these young ladies, for their teammates, and for the Stratford community,” Stratford Girls Coach Tony Brillon said. “It is a direct reflection of work ethic, commitment, dedication, toughness, resiliency and the vision they chose to pursue. It is rare to find such discipline and such drive in high schoolers as I have witnessed every day with this group of runners.”

The Stratford girls began training 24 weeks ago, Coach Brillon said, and their focus on high achievement and winning has not been satisfied fully yet.

“As a coach,” he said, “it is truly enjoyable to train and develop such a great group of student-athletes. You have to remind yourself to enjoy these times as such a special type of ‘Alpha competitors’ with great leadership skills do not come around often.”

Stratford’s top seven runners compete in Round Rock. They are Marlene Soto, Jana Mahlich, Hope Sage, Olivia Hirst, Fay Gibb, Grace Custer and Ella Gibb.

Memorial’s Coaches Vicki Bevan and Kyla Moles were thrilled for the girls they trained to qualify for the state meet this weekend.

“They have all worked so hard, including summer workouts, early morning workouts, afternoon swim workouts, and in doing whatever it takes to be successes both in the classroom and on the cross country course,” Coach Bevan said.

“All year long, we said, ‘Why not us?’ The look on their faces when they found out we got third and were advancing to State was priceless!”

Memorial’s runners heading to Round Rock now include Apolline Brossard, Blakeley Buckingham, Anjali Patel, Makenna Dahmer, Chandler Gartner, Mary Kate Skrabanek and Fiona Bremner.

Good luck, Lady Spartans and Lady Mustangs!

 

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Team Tennis

Memorial High Team Tennis advanced to the UIL 6A State Team Tennis Championship, which was held on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at the George P. Mitchell and Omar Smith Tennis Center on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station.

On Thursday, Memorial fell short to Round Rock Westwood, 10-7, in state finals, taking runner-up honors after winning Memorial’s first team tennis title last fall. Round Rock’s win was that school’s first ever team tennis title.

The Mustangs had traveled to College Station after winning the team’s 10^th consecutive Regional Championship title by defeating Clements High, 10-3, on Oct. 26. The 10-year trip to state competition was not lost on Memorial coaches, players or tennis fans.

“With sports, that’s the way it goes,” Memorial’s head coach, Bud Booth, told reporters after Thursday’s semifinals and titles games. “You go out and battle and play and prepare and sometimes it doesn’t go your way. This morning they had a tough one and this evening was a battle. Our kids played hard the entire time and we’re extremely proud of them. This was our 10^th year going to state, not a lot of teams can do that.”

The team beat fourth-ranked Lake Travis in a semifinal matchup. Memorial entered final play with an impressive 33-match winning streak, which included their 16-0 team record in 2017. Memorial Coach Budd is assisted by Carol Andrews.

 

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Volleyball

In high school volleyball, Memorial finished second and Stratford third in 17-6A District play, advancing both teams to playoffs. After beating Bellaire on Monday, Stratford will play Seven Lakes High this Friday at 5 p.m. in the Don Coleman Coliseum.

Memorial beat Lamar High on Tuesday, advancing to a Thursday contest against Ridge Point, which resulted in a playoff loss.