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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Eagles move up on final day at state
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Pecos Eagles swimming coach Terri Morse was happier with the finish than with the start of the Class 4A Swimming and Diving Championships at the Jamail Swimming Center in Austin over the weekend.
The Eagles weren’t seeded in the Top 8 going into the meet in any event, and didn’t make it to the championship finals. But they did move up in the final finishes in most of their consolation finals races on Saturday and did pick up a Top 8 finish, by freshman Dustin Windham in the 1-meter diving competition.
Overall, the boys ended up in 21st place in the final standings with 38 points, while the girls placed 22nd overall with 27 points in the meet, which was won by Frisco’s boys and Highland Park’s girls.
“We did better today than yesterday,” Morse said near the end of Saturday’s finals. “The boys mostly swam better today, and the girls had a much better swim today than yesterday.
Windham was in eighth place out of 15 divers through the first day of competition, and moved up one spot after Saturday’s final three dives, finishing with 289.05 points. “Dustin’s having a really good meet,” Morse said before Saturday’s finals. “Even if he didn’t do good on his last dives, he still had a good meet, and we hope he cam come back next year and do better.”
Andrews’ Matt Culberson, who placed ahead of Windham at both district and regionals, took second overall in the event after placing third a year ago. He finished with 406.25 points.
No District 4-3A swimmer made it to the finals this time around at state, and the Eagles had the best overall results of any of the 3-4A teams entered.
“The boys’ relay for sure improved today, and they finished significantly ahead of Monahans,” she said. The Eagles were beaten out by the Loboes in both the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays at the Region I-4A meet, but placed third in the consolation finals of the 200 medley at state with a 1:46.81 time, a second faster than on Friday and .01 second off their time at regionals.
The boys team of Kyle Winkles, Matt Elliott, Matt Oglesby and Matthew Florez had the 11th best time overall both days. Monahans ended up seventh wit a 1:48.34 time, while the other team to finish ahead of the Eagles, Fort Stockton, was disqualified during Friday’s prelims.
“For a young team, I think we’re doing pretty good,” Morse said of the boys’ squad. “You’re always wanting to do better, but I’m more pleased about today than I was about yesterday.”
The girls 200 medley relay team of Teddie Salcido, Catherine Minjarez, Susan Moore and Lindsey Shaw, actually had a better time by .2 second on Friday, but still moved up one spot in the final standings, from 13th to 12th and fifth in the consolation finals. In the 200 freestyle relay, the Eagles moved up one spot from Friday’s prelims, placing 14th overall, and cutting two seconds off their time, to finish with a 1:47.19.
Individually, Moore moved up from 15th on Friday to 12th on Saturday in the finals of the 50-yard freestyle, finishing with a 25.78 time. That was .4 seconds faster than on Friday and .14 second better than at regional, where she placed second to El Paso Chapin’s Lara Jackson, who won the state title with a new Class 4A record of 23.24 seconds.
Moore cut just under half a second off her Friday time in the 100 yard freestyle, coming in with a 57.53 time while finishing 15th both days. She did finish ahead of Jackson’s teammate Amanda Navarez, who edged Moore for the Region I-4A title two weeks earlier.
Shaw was the Eagles’ other individual state qualifier on the girls’ side and also placed 15th both on Friday and Saturday, in the 100-yard breaststroke. She had a 1:15.09 in the final, .04 behind her Friday time and .65 off her time at regionals, where she placed second to Big Spring’s Jessica Hughey, who was 10th overall.
Oglesby and Elliott were the boys’ two individual swimmers. Oglesby finished 13th after lacing 14th on Friday, and his 2:06.63 time was 1 1/2 second better than his prelim result.
“Matthew’s time was his lifetime best,” said Morse. The time was a half-second ahead of his time at regionals, where he placed first.
Elliott also ended up 13th in his race, the 100-yard butterfly, with a 56.48 time. That was a .35 second better than his Friday result, while .62 seconds behind his first place time at regionals.
The boys’ 200 freestyle relay team was made up of the same four swimmers as the medley and swam a 1:35.67 to place 14th. They were .15 seconds better than their prelim time and .36 behind their time at regionals.
Monahans finished 15th in that race both days, and after tying Pecos for the Region I-4A boys title two weeks earlier, ended up 33rd overall with 14 points. Andrews placed 30th with 17 points, thanks to Culberson’s second place finish, while among the other District 3-4A boys’ teams, Big Spring was 44th with 4 points and Fort Stockton 46th with 2 points.
Regional girls champion El Paso Chapin finished ninth overall with 108 points, the best finish at state by a I-4A girls team since the 4A state meet began in 2000. The Huskies’ Lara Jackson successfully defended her state title in the 50-yard freestyle and also took the Class 4A title in the 100-yard butterfly. Among Pecos’ district rivals, Big Spring was 37th with 6 points and Abilene Wylie was 44th with 2 points.
Frisco’s boys won the Class 4A state title over Texarkana Texas High by a 233-224 point margin, while Highland Park took first place on the girls’ side with 227 points, with Klein Oak second with 182.
Morse loses no swimmers on the boys’ side to graduation next year, as the Eagles look to climb back towards the top of the Class 4A rakings, after placing fourth and fifth at state he previous two years. On the girls’ side, the Eagles will have some rebuilding next year, with Shaw the only non-senior who swam for Pecos at the state meet.
”We’ve got some good boys coming up, so I’m looking forward to the next few years with the boys,” Morse said. “With the girls, we’ll have to rebuild next year, but we’re still going to have a few back, and we’ve got a good junior high group this year, so I’m hoping some of them will come out when they’re freshmen next year.”
Pecos qualifies two lifters for regional meet
Two members of the Pecos Eagles’ powerlifting team will be advancing to regional competition in Lubbock next week, following this past weekend’s final regular season competition in Kermit.
Ruben Salgado qualified in the 242-pound weight class after winning first in that division in Kermit, while coach Patrick Willis said Albert Lopez also qualified in that weight class despite not competing this past Saturday.
“Ruben qualified second in the region. If he does that at the regionals, he’ll go to state,” Willis said. “Albert didn’t lift this week, but he qualified at regionals based on his past results.”
Salgado lifted a combined 1,235 pounds on his dead life, squat thrust and bench press, and finished 45 pound ahead of runner-up David Browne of Seminole. The other Eagle lifter to place in the Top 5 in his division was Chris Navarette, who lifted 1,010 pounds and was fifth in the 275-pound weight class.
Willis said the regional qualifiers for the girls division were not available at press time. The girls’ regional will be back in Kermit this coming Saturday.
In this past Saturday’s results, Michelle Wein finished second, Ashley Orona was third and Jasmin Rodriguez was fifth in their weight classes at Kermit. Wein lifted 605 pounds to finish 10 pounds behind winner Mandy Gonzales of Crane in the 148-pound division. Orona was third in the 114-pound weight class with a combined lift total of 490 pounds, and Rodriguez lifted 550 pounds to place fifth in the 132-pound division.
Golfers fare better away from rainy weather
The Pecos Eagles’ boys golf team played through the rain over the weekend at the Tall City Invitational in Midland and Odessa, and coach Kim Anderson was happy to see his team get their second round in on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Pecos’ girls got in only half of their second round at the Fort Stockton Invitational, but despite slipping a bit in the wet weather over the final nine holes, the Eagles were able to hold onto third place in the team standings.
After shooting an opening round 355, Pecos’ boys 35 strokes off that score on Saturday and finished with a 320, while ending up 10th overall out of the 16 teams in Division III of the two-day tournament, with a 375 score.
The 320 score was the fifth best on Saturday, and just in front of district rivals Fort Stockton and Monahans, though the Panthers and Loboes ended up ahead of the Eagles overall thanks to better first rounds. Fort Stockton was seventh with a 333-323-656, while Monahans was ninth, with a 338-331-669.
“There was standing water on the greens and in the traps on Friday. The next day over at Ratliff Ranch there were a little better conditions,” Anderson said.
Senior Michael Nichols tied for fifth in the final medalist standings, shooting a 78-74-152, but it was the improved scores of senior Jake Weinacht and sophomore Joseph Tarin that helped dropped the Eagles’ team total. Tarin cut his score by 10 strokes, shooting a 73 on Saturday to finish with a 156 overall, while Weinacht bounced back from a 109 on Friday to shoot an 86 on Saturday to finish with a 195 total.
“I was real proud of that 73 Tarin shot on Saturday. He and Mikey were sitting at even par most of the day,” Anderson said. “That 73 tied for the lowest round of the day with those guns from Snyder and Canyon.”
The Tigers’ Jay Weaver shot 73s both days to win Medalist, while Nichols finished tied for fifth. Canyon’s Geoff Phemister and two other golfers also shot 73s on Saturday, while Snyder won the tournament with a 610 score and Canyon was second at 629.
For the Eagles’ other golfers, Zack Morton shot an 88-87-175, while Jesse Prieto had 124s both days to finish with a 248 score.
“Morton and Weinacht are both starting to come around. Jake finally started sinking his putts and chip shots. They all showed a lot better composure on the course,” Anderson said.
Pecos’ girls had worse weather the second day of their tournament than they did on the opening day, coach Tina Doan said.
“The first day it was damp and cold and windy, but we were able to play 18 holes because I wasn’t that wet,” she said. “Saturday it was raining from the moment we started at 8:30, and we only got in nine holes.”
“We were sitting in third place after Friday’s scores, and after the nine hold we got a little higher, but we held on,” she said. “Shelly (Martinez) got second place medalist, and Monahans got first and Andrews second.”
The Loboes won with a 338-170-508 score, while Andrews shot a 353-180-533. Pecos shot a 357-192-549 and finished 12 shots in front of Big Spring, though the Steers were eight strokes ahead of the Eagles in Saturday’s rain-shortened round.
Martinez shot an 80-140-120, while Eleanor Mason had an 88-48-136, Carolina Briones shot a 95-50-145, Rica Pino shot a 94-54-148, and Stephanie Galindo had a 102-57-159.
The Eagles also had their ‘B’ team in Fort Stockton, though since golfer Marissa Lyles didn’t make the trip on Saturday, Pecos didn’t have enough golfers for a team score. She shot a 115 on Friday, while Melissa Mendoza shot a 108-61-169, Evelyn Flores shot a 116-57-173, and Kayla Natividad shot a 122-61-183.
Doan said the Eagles’ JV would tee off at 9:30 a.m. on their own course Tuesday, in the Pecos JV Tournament. Six other teams are entered in the 18-hole tournament. “The ones who don’t play on Tuesday will go to Midland for the Tall City Tournament this weekend,” she said.
Rec dept. signing up for soccer, volleyball
The Reeves County Community Sports and Recreation Department is enrolling children for its spring soccer and volleyball programs between now and March 12.
The spring soccer league is open to boys and girls ages 4 1/2 to 7, with a cost of $10 per player. The spring volleyball league will be for children in grades 2 through 8 and also has a $10 per player enrollment fee.
Enrollment form for both leagues are available at the RCCRD office at the old Pecos High School gym during business hours, 4 to 9 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Returned forms must have the signatures of both parents, and a birth certificate must be provided when the form is returned.
For further information, call the RCCRD office during business hours, at 447-9776.
Eagle boys place second at Pecos Jr. Relays
It rained enough to cancel the Comanche Relays in Fort Stockton this weekend, and it rained enough in Pecos to scuttle the field events Friday afternoon at the West of the Pecos Junior Relays. But the rain would quit long enough for area junior high teams to get in their first running events of the 2005 track season.
Pecos’ seventh and eighth grade boys finished second to Monahans in both divisions. The Loboes scored 133 points to 111 for the Eagles to take the seventh grade title, while in the eighth grade division, Pecos finished with 97 points to 145 for Monahans.
The Loboes’ also won the seventh grade girls title, with Pecos finishing third, while Kermit took first in the eighth grade division, with the Eagles ended up sixth. The Loboes had 133 points to Kermit’s 108 and Pecos’ 90 in the seventh grader standings, while Kermit had a 125-84 advantage over Presidio in the eighth grade division, while the Eagles ended up with 16 points.
The seventh grade girls picked up most of their medals and points in the relays and hurdles, winning two of the three relays and both hurdle events. The 400-meter relay team won with a 59.59 time, while the 800-meter relay team won in 2:08.78. In the hurdles, Brittany Chavez won the 300-meter event with a time of 1:04.31, and in the 100-meter hurdles, Allyson Salcido won with a 19.92 time and Aileen Rayos was one second behind, in second place.
Brittany Quintana was fifth in that event, and the Eagles also picked up a second place finish from Trina Morales in the 1600 meter run and third place finishes from Kendra Villaneuva in the 400 meter dash and Adriana Roman in the 800 meter run.
The eighth grade girls picked up one medal on the day, a third place by Claire Weinacht in the 200-meter dash. The girls’ other points came from a fourth place by Gabriella Garcia in the 400 meter dash, fifth place finishes by Kristen Ikeler in the 100 meter dash and Weinacht in the 100 meter hurdles, and a sixth place finish by the 800 meter relay team.
The seventh grade boys had wins by Alex Dominguez in the 300-meter hurdles, with a 52.15 time, German Rodriguez in the 2400 meter run and Edgar Madrid in the 800 meter run, with a 2:37.48 time. Jake Lopez was second in the 300 hurdles. Rodriguez was also third in the 400 meters, where Zachary Carrasco placed fourth and Sammy Sandoval fifth.
Nicholas Granado was third in the 200 meters, while Sandoval was third and Edward Rodriguez fourth in the 2440 and Ernesto Herrera was fifth and Adam Garcia was sixth in the 1600 meter run. In the relays, Pecos’ 800-meter relay team was second and the 1600-meter team was third, after the 400 meter team was disqualified.
The eighth graders won the 800-meter relay with a 1:43.48 time and were second in the 400 and the 1600-meter relays. Their other wins came from Phillip Williams, who took the 200-meter dash with a 25.85 time, and Ariel Jimenez, who won the 800 meters with a 2:27.34 time.
Hector Ramirez was second in the 400-meter dash, and the Eagles also got third place medals from Jesse Juarez in the 2400-meter run and Joseph Rodriguez in the 300 meter hurdles. Jonathan Dominguez was fourth in the 100-meter dash, Adolfo Garcia was fifth in the 200 meters, and Brian Mora was fifth in the 800 meter run for the Eagles’ other points.
The junior high teams’ next meet is scheduled for this week in Alpine, while the Eagles’ varsity boys and girls teams will make their second attempt at starting their 2005 season on Friday, when they host nine other teams at the West of the Pecos Relays at Eagle Stadium.
Eagles split home openers after tournament washout
The Pecos Eagles’ baseball team ended up playing their 2005 home openers a few days ahead of schedule this weekend, after rains ended up canceling most of the West Texas Classic in Midland.
The Eagles only got in one game in Midland, on Thursday at Christensen Stadium, but did end up playing two other tournament teams in Pecos on Saturday, where field conditions were drier after rains hit Midland on Friday.
Pecos opened the season with a 12-5 loss to District 3-3A rival Monahans, then defeated another district rival, Fort Stockton, at home on Saturday, 11-3, before falling to former district rival Clint in their second game, by a 14-8 final score.
Pecos’ original home opener was to have been Tuesday night, when the Snyder Tigers come to town for a 7 p.m. game. Pecos’ then goes to Kermit for a 12 noon game to open the Sandhills Tournament on Thursday, against the Big Spring Steers.
The biggest question to come out of the opening weekend of play was the status of junior pitcher Josh Anchondo. The Eagles’ No. 1 pitcher from a year ago went only two innings in Thursday’s game against Monahans before leaving the game due to a sore knee.
“He goes to the doctor on Wednesday,” Eagles assistant coach Junior Williams said. “He didn’t play on Saturday, and probably won’t play until we see what the doctor says.”
Anchondo left the game with a 3-2 lead, and was replaced by freshman Geno Leos, who was touched for five runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth by Monahans. Pecos had scored three times in their first at-bat, but was shut out until pushing across single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
In the win over Fort Stockton, Williams said Eddie Vela went the distance to get the Eagles their first victory of 2005, while another freshman, Kenny Rayos, started and took the loss against Clint later on Saturday. He was relieved by Leos, while Chris Garnto finished up on the mound for Pecos.
Pecos took the lead in the second inning with three runs against the Panthers and pulled away after that, while Clint led from the outset of the second game, as Rayos left the mound before retiring a batter, though Williams said fielding problems also hurt the Eagles.
“At spots we started playing well, but we’ve just got to get better defense,” said Williams. We’re making too many errors right now and we’re having problems in the outfield dropping pop flies.”
“The big surprise has been Jose Chavez. He’s been hitting the ball real well,” Williams said. Chavez had two hits on Thursday against Monahans, and also hit the ball well on Saturday at home.
“We’ve been hitting decent in the 1-5 spots. We’ve just got to get better at the bottom of the order,” he added.
Pecos loses games to both Stockton, showers
The Pecos Eagles softball team may try and get in two extra games this week to close out pre-district play, after getting in only one game over the weekend at the Tall City Tournament.
Pecos lost to district rival Fort Stockton by a 7-1 score on Thursday in their opening tournament game. They were scheduled to play three more games on Friday, but the entire tournament schedule that day was cancelled due to rain. The Eagles didn’t go back to Midland on Saturday, when 21 games were played, though some ended up being shortened again due to showers.
“We had seven errors, and we didn’t hit on top of that, and it seemed to compound,” said Eagles’ coach Tammy Walls. She said the error problems began two batters into the game, and that the mistakes came on the infield and in the outfield.
“We definitely can beat them, but we didn’t play well at all,” Walls added. She said the Eagles’ lone run came on a double by Amalie Herrera and an RBI single by Danielle Garcia.
Herrera took the loss on the mound for Pecos and is 2-4 on the season, while Pecos fell to 2-5 overall. Fort Stockton defeated El Paso Americus on Saturday by a 4-3 score, and lost to Midland Lee’s gray team in a rain-shortened game, 5-3.
The Eagles are scheduled to close out their pre-district schedule with a pair of home-and-home games against Alpine, Tuesday on the Bucks’ home field and on Friday in Pecos, which will be the Eagles’ 2005 home opener. However, Walls said, “We may try to play two games both days.”
Alpine defeated El Paso Andress, 10-0, and lost to Greenwood, 5-1, in their two Saturday games at the Tall City Tournament. Greenwood also defeated Andress, 18-3, while Pecos’ other district rival in the tournament, Monahans, went through their three games undefeated, downing Greenwood on Thursday, 10-0, then beating Lubbock Coronado, 3-1, and El Paso Hanks, 5-1, on Saturday.
Pecos’ District 3-3A softball schedule opens on March 8 in Lamesa. Their home district opener is on March 11 against Seminole.
Pecos Enterprise
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