Austin Independent School District Athletic Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 8 Track Championships May 2015 April is the time for competition and during this past month our athletes were right in the middle of some exciting post-season events. Recently, both our 5A and 6A schools participated in their respective district and area track meets. The 14-6A district meet was held at our very own Burger Stadium while the 26-5A district championships were hosted by Bastrop ISD. During these meets, athletes from all of our schools competed in both individual and team track and field events. The top four finishers from each event advanced to the Area Track Meet which was held in Marble Falls on April 23. At the Area Track Meet, athletes from 4 different UIL Districts, 25/26 6A and 13/14 A, came together for a chance to make it to the Regional championship. Once again the top four finishers advanced to the Regional Championships with the hopes of ultimately making it to the state meet here in Austin.
PAGE 2 ATHLETIC NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1, ISSUE 8 Coach of the Year Austin ISD is proud to have a few of our coaches recognized as coach of the year! The Austin American Statesman has named Bowie Girls Basketball Head Coach Vickie Benson as Coach of the Year. Coach Benson and the Lady Dawgs never lost a game in District 14-6A and entered the playoffs ranked #5 in the state. The Lady Dawgs finished with a 31-3 record in the Regional Tournament. It was the first 30 win season in Bowie History. Two our AISD s very own were named the Captial Area Tennis Association (CATA) Coaches of the year. Coach James Dammann of Bowie was named the High School Coach of the Year and Debbie Hair of Gorzycki was named Middle School Coach of the year. Reagan Athlete Refuses to Let Dyslexia Hold Him Back Reagan Baseball Player Kellen Foyt was recently featured in an article in the Austin American Statesman. (You can find that article here.) As a young child, Kellen was diagnosed with Dyslexia after having trouble reading. Unknown to many people, individuals with dyslexia does not stem from lack of intelligence. Many great leaders including Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Thomas Edison have suffered from the neurological condition. Dyslexia is not a disease and there is currently no cure but many people such as Kellen have learned to thrive while having the condition through various learned and applied techniques. Kellen s mom, Anna Gonzales-Foyt says that he has built up his stamina and endurance. That endurance has definitely translated to the field where Kellen is also successful. At the time of the article, the Statesman reported that Kellen had a batting average of.304 on an on base average of.484. We are proud of athletes like Kellen Foyt that persevere through tough time and refused to let obstacles stand in the way of success. Dyslexia is not a Disease. Many, like Kellen, thrive through their condition. Photo Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell
PAGE 3 ATHLETIC NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Ben Crenshaw Lion s Club AISD Athletics would like to congratulate Golf Legend Ben Crenshaw on an incredible career. The Austin High graduate just completed over 40 years on tour with the PGA. He has 19 PGA wins including winning the Masters Tournament twice. As an Austin Native and University of Texas Graduate, Mr. Crenshaw has represented the state of Texas well. Congrats on such an illustrious career. Coach Anderson will be speaking at The Austin Downtown Founder Lions on May 7th as he presents the Lions/AISD Annual Sportsmanship Award. The Lions Club has been celebrating sportsmanship for in young athletes for over 50 years and invite all who wish to come to their celebration of these young athletes who will be presented with a scholarship award. You can register here. Swimming Austin High s Grant Reed recently competed in the UIL State Swim Meet. The talented athlete who has been dominating all season ended up taking 5th in the 200 m swim and 6th in the 100 m swim. Congrats Grant on a job well done! District Golf Congratulations to Ryan Mejia of Crockett High for winning the 26-5A District Golf Tournament and advancing to the Regional Tournament. Also advancing was Alec Gorsee from LBJ. Physicals Physical packets have been distributed by the campus to all students interested in athletics. Parents be aware that all students wishing to participate in athletics must have a physical before they can start practice. The physical must be dated after April 15, 2015. Please pick up needed packets from your campus. For more information go to http://www.austinisd.org/ athletics/forms
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 State Wrestling ATHLETIC NEWSLETTER PAGE 4 Congrats to our amazing wrestlers who recently competed and placed in the state meet. We are extremely #AISDProud State Wrestlers School McCallum LBJ Akins Bowie Girls Boys Weight Weight Name Class Place School Name Class Juliana Olivo 95lbs 2nd Bowie Shania Williams 165lbs 4th McCallum Anna Becerra 102lbs 5th Bowie Place Christian Moreno 106lbs 3rd Rondal Daniels 138lbs 4th Stephan Moreno 126lbs 5th Riley Gatley 128lbs 6th Lanier Steve Diaz 220lbs 5th District Tennis Our 26-5A District Tennis Tournament was held at the Austin Tennis Center and featured our best male and female athletes from AISD. The District champions and Runner-ups had the pleasure of advancing to the Regional Tournament. On the Boys side, Naveen Yarlagadda from LBJ was the District Champion while Alonso Fernandez from McCallum was the Runner up. In the doubles category, our LBJ team was the winner, consisting of Vijay Veeraraghavan and Shawn Tan. LBJ also had the 2nd place team of Jack Liu and Omari Henry. For the ladies, Mary Louise Gilburg is our District Champion and the LBJ Doubles team of Kisha Patel and Sally Jung finished as the Runner ups. For the Mixed Doubles portion LBJ took 1st and 2nd with the teams of Tom Gilburg and Aiden Evans-Strong and David Hamilton and Juhi Patel. With our 14-6A District Tournament Jackson Cobb of Bowie was the Runner-Up for the Boys Singles and advanced to the Regional Tournament. Also from Bowie, the team of Marlya Shkolnaya and Jolie Francis were the Girls Doubles District Champions. Anderson s Mixed Doubles Team of Faris Young and Jian Basravi took 2nd place and also advanced to the Regional Tournament. LBJ Captures both the Boys and Girls Singles 26-5A District Championship
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 8 ATHLETIC NEWSLETTER PAGE 5 Athlete Spotlight - Shania Williams, LBJ Periodically AISD Athletics wants to highlight athletes are doing extraordinary things in our community. These exceptional athletes not only represent themselves but are an extension of their coaches, schools and communities. This month we are proud to highlight LBJ Wrestler Shania Williams. Shania is a championship wrestler who has two District championships under her belt. In addition Shania boasts a Regional Championship and has qualified three times for the State Wrestling tournament, placing twice. This year Shania finished as the #4 wrestler in the state of Texas with an impressive record of 27-4. She finished her high school career with a record of 87 wins to 16 losses. Although her schedule is already jammed packed, Shania is also in the LBJ Band and was given the award of Outstanding Musician for 2015. In addition to making it to the UIL State Wrestling Tournament and being an outstanding Band student, Shania is a force to be reckoned with in class as well. Shania is currently 1 st in her class and on her way to becoming Valedictorian at LBJ. She has done all of this while taking Austin Community College classes and will Shania was awarded a Marine Corps Scholarship worth $250,000! graduate with an associate s degree as she finishes 62 hours of college credit. She is also a Texas High School Coaches Association Academic All State wrestler and 3 time All District wrestler. Finally, if all this wasn t amazing enough, Shania was awarded the AISD African American Heritage Scholarship and a $250,000 Marine Corps Scholarship. We are proud of all that Shania has done and how she has so wonderfully represented athletics for AISD. Photo Credit: Austin American Yellowjacket Stadium L.C. Anderson High School s Program Linking the Past to Enrich the Future revealed a memorial to honor the Yellowjackets of the old E.H. Anderson High School located in East Austin. Remembering the history of the school, the program included words from Superintendent Dr. Paul Cruz, Board President Gina Hinojosa, Dr. Charles Akins, the first principal of the new Anderson and Mrs Donna Houser, the current Anderson Principal. The school s namesake Laurine Cecil Anderson was principal of the school, originally named for his brother, for 32 years. Two days after his passing, the school board unanimously voted to rename the school in his honor. Anderson High School plans of remembering this connection to their past with various commemorative events such as holding the August scrimmage for their football team in Yellowjacket Stadium on August 15th.
AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT Austin ISD is here to serve you. Founded in 1881, AISD serves over 85,000 students in the Austin Area. The overall AISD Vision is to be nationally recognized as an outstanding school district, instilling a passion for life-long learning in all students. Vision Our vision within Athletics is to instill a passion for lifelong learning in all Student-Athletes through the development of the athletic programs at the High School, Middle School, and Elementary level. Mission Our mission is to create an environment that fosters mutual respect, integrity, quality, and a commitment to excellence, through competitive athletics that instill the lifelong values of teamwork, leadership, and sportsmanship in the Student-Athlete so that they may be productive members of society. WWW. AUSTINISD. ORG / ATHLETICS Teaching More Than The Game Job Openings AISD Athletics needs bus drivers and grounds equipment operators. Please apply using the address below. Thank you for your support! http://tinyurl.com/athleticdrivers http://tinyurl.com/aisdground Athletic Department Staff Leal Anderson Athle c Director Mike Szymarek Asst Athle c Director Lynn Pool Asst Athle c Director Mary Adams Athle c Secretary Denise Vanlandingham Area Athle c Coordinator Purchasing, Heath & Safety Ines Perez Swimming, Tennis David Seaborn Facili es Coordinator Delco Center Kevin Shevlin Scheduling Lou Mora Area Athle c Coordinator Cross Country, Golf, Track Wade Johnston Middle School Coordinator Shalanda Byers Special Olympics Coordinator Albert Chapa Special Olympics Keivon Liburd Area Athle c Coordinator PR & Communica ons Lesley Carter Accoun ng, Tickets, and Game Help Irene Fabian Security & Officials Teaching More than the Game