CISD Tennis Regional Team Tennis Championship - March 9, 2010
Submitted by Coach Leon Dykes

The Center Tennis Team competed in the Regional Team Tennis Championship this past weekend and will now advance to the State Team Tennis Championship this weekend in San Marcos due to their First Place finish.This is the Riders fifth trip to the State Team tournament but the first time they will be going as Regional Champions.

The Riders were the #1 seed going into the Regional tournament and had a fairly easy road to the finals defeating Athens 17 -2 and then Pleasant Grove 17 -2. The finals would be against Van who the Riders had faced twice earlier in the year losing once and winning the second match. In the deciding match, doubles would be played first and Van would sweep the three boys doubles while the Riders would do the same in the girls doubles. The match was tied up 3-3 with Mixed doubles and singles yet to play.

Center would win the mixed doubles and the first two out of three singles matches which gave the Riders a 6-4 lead with nine singles matches left to play. Center never lost the lead going up 8 match to 6, and then 9 - 8 with two matches left on the court. Center needed to pull out one more victory and had won the first set in both of those matches, but Van was gaining momentum in those matches. Van had won the second set in one of those matches and was leading 5-3 in the other. The match that had split sets would go to a deciding tie-breaker which Center pulled out and gained their first Regional Team Tennis championship.

The team will now travel to San Marcos this weekend and they are as follows:

Seniors:
Erika Cordray, Shelby Hudspeth, Casey Fountain, Cassie Cox, Whitney Burgay, Dustin Windham, Tommy Bierman, and John Singson.

Juniors:
Wesley Howard, Wil McFarland, and Mario Jimenez.
Sophomores: Caroline Chadwick, Sara Harkness, Seth Grant, Jesse Campbell, Jacy Clark, and Ross Reynolds.

Freshmen:
Amber Noble, Emily Howard, and Ashton Lucas.

CISD / Nacogdoches Tennis Tournament Results for 2/19 - February 22, 2010
Story courtesy of: Leon Dykes
Photographs courtesy of: Ashton Lucas

Nacogdoches hosted a tournament this past Friday with teams from Livingston, Lufkin, Latexo, Whitehouse, Jacksonville, Nacogdoches, and your Center Riders finished first overall.
Each participant was given points for how they finished in their division and when all divisions were added up Center took first, Jacksonville second, and Livingston third.

Girls Singles Division:

Erika Cordray – 2nd place
Shelby Hudspeth – consolation winner

Girls Doubles Division:

Amber Noble / Casey Fountian – 1st place
Caroline Chadwick / Sara Harkness – 2nd place
Emily Howard / Ashton Lucas – 4th place

Boys Singles Division:

Seth Grant – 4th place
Dustin Windham – consolation winner

Boys Doubles Division:

Jacy Clark / Tommy Bierman – 3rd place
Wil Mcfarland / John Singson – consolation finalist

Mixed Doubles:

Cassie Cox / Ross Reynolds – 1st place
Whitney Burgay / Mario Jimenez – 2nd place

Scoring By Quarters Tenaha vs. LaPoynor - March 2, 2010
Submitted by Brenda Lucas

LaPoynor 07 13 21 10 = 51
Tenaha 16 14 10 18 = 58

Tenaha will play Martin's Mill on Friday at 3 p.m. at Stephen F. Austin's William R. Johnson Coliseum in the Class 1A Division I Region III Semifinal.

Last Night’s Game:

Leading Scorers:
LaPoynor - Justin Hilton 28; Tanner Burch 8; Cory Brewer 6; James Cofer 4; Shaun Jones 3; Chris Johannes 2.
Tenaha - Reginald Davis 24; Jamon Moore 16; Jacobi Steadman 9; Victor Johnson 9; Shaquille Mitchell 4.

Leading Rebounders:
Tenaha - Davis 11; Johnson 8; Moore 6; Steadman 5; Griffith 5; Mitchell 4.

Turnovers:
LaPoynor 19
Tenaha 16.

Field Goal Shooting:
LaPoynor 16-of-54
Tenaha 16-of-50.

Free Throw Shooting:
LaPoynor 13-of-22
Tenaha 21-of-26.

Records:
LaPoynor 29-5
Tenaha 23-5

Chris "Triple Threat" Bell Signed with Shock MMA Agency - February 17, 2010
Submitted by Richard Roddy

Self Defense America is proud to aanounce that Chris "Triple Threat" Bell will be fighting on February 27th in Alexandria, Louisiana. Chris will walk into the cage with a record of 10-2. The fight will take place at the Rapides Parish Coliseum, Highway 28 West, Alexandria LA.

This will be Chris' last local fight as he has signed a contract with Shock MMA Agency. Chris will be leaving the first week of March, for Las Vegas Nevada. He will then start training for an upcoming fight in April. We are hopeful then that is just a small step to the UFC or even Strikeforce. Chris has worked hard for the last 4 years to get to this point. We expect great things for Chris, and the future of Matial Arts in Center, Texas

Center Softball Plays Against a Solid Corrigan Team - February 17, 2010
Submitted by Christie Benton

Center softball begins season with a 11-0 blow out against a solid Corrigan team .

The Lady riders pounded the ball to score 11 runs on 12 hits and 5 Corrigan errors to run rule them after 5 innings. Ashley Schulz pitched the first 4 innings allowing 0 runs, 3 hits and striking out 6. Cassidy Rainbolt closed out the 5th inning with 0 runs, and 0 hits. The Lady Riders scored 2 in the first, 4 in the second, 4 in the 4th and one in the 5th. Defensively the Lady Riders made some mistakes and allowed the Corrigan Lady Dawgs to reach the base pads more than Coach Benton likes but they got themselves out of each inning with no runs. A heads up play was made in the bottom of the third with 2 outs and bases loaded when catcher Kaley Nichols connected with Macie Bush to pick off the runner at 3rd base to get the Lady Riders out of a scoring threat by Corrigan.

Hitting standouts were as follows:
Kaley Nichols,3-3, one walk, 1 single, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs
Ashley Schulz, one walk, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs
Rachel Jacobs, 1 single, 1 triple, 2 RBIs
Destiny Russell, one walk, 1 double, 1 RBI
Kelsey Owens, one walk, 2 singles
Macie Bush, 1 single
Marnie Mize, 1 single, 1 RBI.

Coach Benton, Coach Weeks and Coach Parks are very proud of the Lady Riders performance at the plate, they were very aggressive against a pitcher they struggled against last season. Defensively they have some work to do but showed they could make the play when it counted to keep the Corrigan Lady Dawgs from scoring.

The girls showed a lot of character and chemistry which are just as important as performance in a team sport. Support the Lady Riders as they travel to the Hudson Tournament at Morris Frank Park in Lufkin this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Below is the tournament schedule:

Thursday
JV 12:50 Brookland / 2:50 Central Heights JV
Varsity 4:00 Garrison / 7:30 Sheperd

Friday
JV 11:20 Cleveland JV / 12:30 West Rusk
Varsity 4:00 West Sabine / 7:30 Hemphill

Saturday
JV 9:00 Lufkin JV / 1:40 Colmesneil JV
Varsity 2:15 Central Heights / 5:45 Alto

On Saturday, January 23, five Center High School students participated in mathematics at the Lindale UIL tournament. Five medals were brought home and two team championships. Competing were;

CALCULATOR
Taylor Reynolds --- third place
David Young ------ fifth place
David Bender ----- sixth place

TEAM CHAMPIONS --- Taylor Reynolds, David Young, David Bender

NUMBER SENSE
David Bender ----- eighth place

MATHEMATICS
David Bender ----- fourth place tie
Mario Jimenez ----- fourth place tie

TEAM CHAMPIONS --- David Bender, Mario Jimenez, Morgan McDonald

The math teams are coached by Leann Fenley.

*****

Three Timpson ISD Seniors Selected for TGCA Volleyball Acedemic All State Team - January 14, 2010
Composed by Leah Williams / J.J. Ford

The Texas Girls Coaches Association announced the selection of the 2009-2010 Volleyball Academic All State Team. TGCA All State Team included 69 players. Three seniors from Timpson ISD were among those honored: Shelby Bush, Tori Mosby, and Macy Nix. They are coached Head Coach: Ashley Hartwell.

These teams are composed of athletes of member’s coaches of TGCA.

Combat Hapkido Students Advance to Next Rank - January 8, 2010
Submitted by Tina Roddy

Combat Hapkido students at Self Defense America have tested for their next rank. Combat Hapkido is a realistic system of Self-Defense it doesn't have high kicks or fancy forms. It is based on joint locking, throws, and balance disruptions.

FRONT ROW: Sensei Richard Roddy, Raman Randhawa (Yellow), Kamren Bowden (Green), Destiny Chamberlain (Blue) and Seth Sanders (Yellow).
MIDDLE ROW: Matthew Chandler (Red), Nicholas Lambert (Green), Schree Parker (Yellow), Ryan Russell (Orange) and Christopher Whittley (Orange).
BACK ROW: Carol Chandler (Orange), Mickey Chandler (Purple), Dalton Williams (Yellow), Devin Dykes (Black/Red stripe), Sarah Manchack (Orange) and Master Instructor Tina Roddy.

Congratulations everyone!

SDA Competes at 2009 Texas Cup International - January 8, 2010
Submitted by Tina Roddy

On August 22 2009 Master Tina Roddy and two students Jessica Lee-Roddy and Kamren Bowden attended the 2009 Texas Cup International in Arlington TX. Kamren competed in Olympic Sparring receiving a Silver Medal, and for Forms Competition he received a Bronze Medal. Jessica competed in Olympic Sparring receiving a 6 ft. Trophy for 1st Place and in Forms competition she received a Bronze Medal. And Master T Roddy competed in Forms receiving 1st place Gold Medal. This was a fun and tough competition.