2008: The Year of the Bobcat

San Marcos December 27, 2008 06:15 pm

— The year 2008 really was the Year of the Bobcat when it comes to stealing the local sports headlines.
The Texas State football team came out of nowhere to win the Southland Conference championship to make an unforeseen appearance in the FCS Playoffs, while the Bobcat soccer, volleyball and women’s basketball teams also won conference titles.
But the Bobcats weren’t the only big news of 2008. Local stock car drive Cary Stapp had a dream come true with a tryout for Joe Gibbs racing, and San Marcos High School found itself in the midst of controversy after the UIL did its bi-annual district realignment.
Join us, as we take a walk back through 2008 with our Top 10 local sports stories.

Texas State football wins SLC championship
No one gave Texas State a chance going into the 2008 football season.
If anyone were to pick the Bobcats to win the SLC championship, they would be met with stares of disbelief before the 2008 season. Texas State was projected to finish sixth by both coaches and sports information directors.
The Bobcats went 2-2 in the first four games, including a sleeper against Southern Utah, which had many Bobcat faithful doubting any immediate success. But what Texas State did in the next eight games was nothing short of a marvel.
After soundly beating Texas Southern, the Bobcats opened SLC play by shocking then third-ranked McNeese State on the road and trounced Stephen F. Austin, 62-21.
Texas State needed to win its last three games to have a shot at the SLC title and did just that. The Bobcats put up an average of 40 points and once Karrington Bush waltzed into the end zone against Sam Houston State in overtime, the Bobcats walked into the playoffs.
Although Texas State lost to Montana in the first round of the FCS postseason, 2008 was the year of the Bobcats.

Cary Stapp tries out for Joe Gibbs Racing
Ever since Thunderhill Raceway in Kyle opened in the late 1990s, Cary Stapp has seen a lot of success at the 3/8-mile D-shaped asphalt track. He has won numerous titles in different classes, and according to those who race against him, has displayed more patience and courtesy than one would think a driver with his success would.
This year, his success and respect paid off in a big way. Not only did Stapp once again claim the track title in pro stocks, he finished the 2008 season as the top driver in the American Speed Association’s (ASA) national standings, which earned him an opportunity to try out with NASCAR’S Joe Gibbs Racing.
It was a dream come true for Stapp, who flew to Boston to drive Gibbs’ cars at South Boston Speedway. Driving in 20-degree weather, it only took Stapp a few laps to find his groove, as he turned in lap times between 16.00 and 16.20 seconds on the three-4/10-mile track.
According to Gibbs’ personnel, Marc Davis, who races for Gibbs Racing on in the NASCAR Camping World series, posted times between 16.20 and 16.40. Stapp’s times were on 20-lap intervals and on the same tires, driving in 24-degree weather.
Stapp ran two different cars, and said he felt like the second one felt better but ran slower.
The day before, Stapp met with officials from Joe Gibbs Racing, including Gibbs himself and got to take a detailed tour of the entire operation.
“Oh man, it was more than what I expected,” Stapp said. “Joe and J.D. Gibbs and their entire staff treated us so well. This is something I will never forget.”

Bobcat volleyball wins SLC title again
Advancing to the SLC postseason is pretty much expected from the Texas State volleyball team. The Bobcats went to the tournament as the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2004 after winning the regular season championship.
Led by players like Emily Jones Wilkes, A.J. Watlington and Amy Weigle, Texas State dominated the SLC throughout the 2008 season. The Bobcats went 14-2 and only lost to Texas-San Antonio and Lamar, the eventual tournament champions.
In the first two rounds of the SLC tournament, Texas State cruised, beating both Northwestern State and Sam Houston State, 3-1. But in the championship game, the Bobcats feel to Lamar in five sets, 3-2, ending the Bobcats’ season on a somewhat disappointing note, falling short of obtaining another NCAA Tournament berth.
But look out for next year, as Texas State returns 14 players to an already stacked team.

Bobcat soccer wins SLC championship
Southland Conference championship banners dot the chain-link fence at the Bobcat Soccer Complex. The last pennant read “2004,” but after 2008, it will have company.
The Texas State women’s soccer team continued the fall dominance by claiming the 2008 SLC soccer championship.
To say the Bobcats dominated the SLC would be an understatement. Texas State posted seven shut outs, including two seven-goal outings, both coming at home.
The Bobcats received a first-round bye in the conference tournament, won their games and advanced to the NCAA tournament, where they lost a hard-fought game at Texas A&M.
Fear not, Texas State fans, as the soccer team returns 24 players, including Britney Curry and Jessica Lewis.

San Marcos High’s district realignment
When the University Interscholastic League announced its bi-annual district realignment, officials at San Marcos High School figured two things would happen. One did, as the Rattlers dropped from Class 5A to 4A. But the district the Rattlers were placed in, geographically speaking, had officials at SMHS scratching their heads.
Instead of placing SMHS a district which included other area 4A schools such as Hays, Lehman and Lockhart, the Rattlers were placed in District 26-4A in Region IV with the likes of Kerrville-Tivy, Alamo Heights, Boerne Champion, Steele, Clemens, Canyon and Seguin.
The school appealed the UIL realignment and won part of the battle, as every sport but football was placed in District 17-4A with Hays, Lehman, Lockhart, Elgin, Del Valle and Manor. Also, District 17-4A was Region III, while 26-4A was in Region IV.
“We got what we were wanting for the most part, because we didn’t want our student-athletes having to go on two-hour road trips on a school night,” SMHS athletic director Steve Van Nest said in February. “But with football being a weekend sport, we weren’t too disappointed staying in District 26-4A even though the competition is going to be much tougher every week.”
Van Nest might have had a change of mind after the 2008 football season, as the Rattlers failed to win a district game for the first time since 1996.

SMHS tennis District 17-4A champs
High School tennis, generally speaking, hasn’t been a very strong program in year’s past at San Marcos High School.
Thanks to the help of SMHS head tennis coach Jack Hughes and local tennis professional Mark Gonzales, that’s starting to change.
A youth tennis program the two help create four years ago stared to pay dividends in 2008 as the SMHS tennis team won the District 17-4A title, becoming the first sports program to claim a district title since the school relocated to its new campus two years ago. It also gave the Rattlers a berth in the regional tournament, where the Rattlers won their opening match before falling to eventual regional champion Montgomery.
“The kids worked very hard this season and these students deserved their title,” Hughes said. “Twenty-four students spent nine weeks at tennis camp this past summer and I promised them that their hard work would pay off some day. That day arrived.”
The boys singles were led by Hunter Voyles, flowed by Juliano Hernandez at the No. 2 spot. Andres Gamboa played at the third spot, followed by Kai Maness, Jordan Ogletree and Jacob Lucas.
Stephanie Gonzales was the Rattlers’ No. 1 girls player, followed by Daniella Suarez, Maegan Key, Jayme Lucas, Madison Gribbon and Claire Dennis.
San Marcos’ No 1 boys’ doubles team was Voyles and Lucas, followed by the team of Maness and Hernandez, and the paring of Gamboa and Fernando Salas.
Suarez and Key were the Rattlers’ top girls’ doubles paring, followed by Effie Husbands and Gribbon, then Dennis and Lucas. Stephanie Gonzales and Robert Lee often teamed up in mixed doubles.

Hays football returns to the playoffs
It was a while since the Hays football team won a district championship — 2001 to be exact. The Rebels wanted a return to prominence after missing the playoffs in 2007.
Hays claimed its first district title in seven years after stomping through 17-4A.
The Rebels went undefeated in district with Trey Berry and Sam Breyfogle quarterbacking the team. Trace Gandy and Torrance Smith led Hays on the ground, as they combined for 30 touchdowns.
Next season will be bright for the Rebels, as Breyfogle, Gandy and Smith all return.

Bobcat women cagers win SLC title
No one dared to stand in Texas State’s way in 2007-08. The women’s basketball team romped through the SLC on its way to a 14-2 record.
The Bobcats were led by Joyce Ekworomadu, who averaged 18.7 points per game and led the team in 3-point field goal percentage. Texas State fed the ball into her hands and she devoured the opposition.
Ekworomadu had a huge game in the SLC tournament, but unfortunately, was the only Bobcat to do so. Texas State fell in the first round to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 106-88.
She scored 37 points, but six players put up double figures for the Islanders.

Big run for Lady Rebel volleyball
Hays’ volleyball program revived its winning tradition this season, running through District 17-4A undefeated and advancing to the regional quarterfinals where the Lady Rebels eventually lost to Magnolia.
The Lady Rebels knocked off Huntsville and Port Neches en route to the regional quarterfinal game, which they lost in four set sin Houston.
Senior Becky Swann was the main force driving the Lady Rebels. She averaged 4.1 kills per game and tallied 505 kills during the regular season. Her kill percentage was 40.8, four points higher than teammate Kellie Trinkaus. Swann also led Hays with 55 aces, as Trinkaus had 47 and Krista Koopmann had 41. Four players on the Lady Rebel squad finished with a serving percentage higher than 190 percent.

Construction at Texas State
Build it, and they will come.
At least that’s what Texas State’s athletic department is hoping as the university broke ground on a new baseball/softball complex that is expected to be finished in early February, just in time for both teams’ home openers.
The grandstands will be reconfigured at both facilities and raise seating capacity to 2,000 for baseball and 1,000 for softball There will also be new press box facilities for each field, centralized ticket operations, renovated restroom facilities, and luxury suites.
The improvements also include changes to the player holding area to a dugout style seen at most Major League ball parks and enclosing both ballparks to be one complex.
The Bobcat baseball team will open its portion of the complex March 3 against the University of Texas, while the softball team has its home opener scheduled for Feb. 18 against Texas A&M.
Also, the university plans to improve Bobcat Stadium, installing a new press box that will include a number of luxury seats. That project is schedule to be complete before the 2009 football season.

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