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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Friday, May 17, 2002
Eagle athletes honored at PHS sports banquet
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Pecos Eagle athletes were honored Thursday night at the annual All-Sports
Banquet at the Pecos High School gym, with a long list of players receiving
their all-district honors while coaches told those returning next year
that things will be tougher next year, when the Eagles move into District
4-3A.
"There are 116 names here," said Eagles boys track coach Jerry Parent,
referring to the placemats listing the names of this year's all-district
players. "I've been here 19 years and that's the most I've ever seen."
"Since I've been here, this is the most titles Pecos has ever won,"
said swimming coach Terri Morse. Her team too both the boys and girls district
and regional titles, while Pecos also won district titles in tennis, girls
track, boys and girls golf, softball and baseball during the 2001-2002
year, while Pecos teams also qualified for playoff competition is football
and volleyball.
"I want to say as athletic director that I appreciate the job you've
done the past four years in this district," Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD athletic
director Bubba Williams said. "It's going to be tough going into this other
district. But if you've got the will, you've got the heart you can go over
there and compete.
"I guarantee you they're going to be saying in that district `Man, we've
got Pecos in this district. Let's see what they're going to do," he said.
The Eagles are moving from the El Paso-based District 2-4A into District
4-3A, with Monahans, Fort Stockton, Midland Greenwood, Kermit and Presidio
beginning this August.
Williams also recognized superintendent Don Love and school board members
for improvements being made to the Pecos High School campus and its athletic
facilities, along with the Pecos High School FFA Land Judging team that
won the national title in Oklahoma earlier this month.
The banquet's ceremonies began with P-B-T school board member and Pecos
Police investigator Paul Deishler asking for a moment of silence for Trans
Pecos Drug Task Force officer Jaime Rodriguez, who died in Lubbock Thursday
afternoon after being shot earlier in the day by a Greyhound bus passenger
while conducting a drug intradiction in Pecos.
Rodriguez' daughter, Jessica was at the banquet, and was the recipient
of the Joe Shoemaker Award, one of the five major awards handed out at
the end of the evening's events.
The award goes to the Pecos High School senior girl who has participated
in the greatest number of sports during her four years in school. Rodriguez
was a member of the Eagles' volleyball, basketball, track and softball
teams, and also received all-district certificates for the past season
in three of those sports.
Another senior Kathy Maldonado, who played volleyball for the Eagles
this season before missing most of the basketball and softball seasons
with a knee injury, was the winner of the Norma Matta Fighting Heart Award.
For the boys, Mason Abila was the winner of the Doc Lunday Sportsmanship
Award, Peter Juarez was the winner of the Craig Woods Award for football
and track and Sammy Gonzales received the Joe Bob Kelton Award.
Guest speaker at the banquet, Abilene Christian University head football
coach Gary Gaines talked about his past experiences coaches against Pecos
while at Monahans High School, along with five characteristics of success
_ good work habits, determination, competitiveness, having the right friends
and spiritual soundness _ which he said go towards being successful both
in sports and in life.
"Everybody has the desire to success," Gaines said. "The difference
is very few people have the will to prepare." He cited several examples
of athletes, including those he had coached while at Odessa Permian High
School, to stress his points.
Along with the regular all-district awards, several coaches also gave
out special awards to their top athletes, including all-region and all-state
honors.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail newsdesk@nwol.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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