By LANCE FLEMING
Abilene ISD Communications
The Abilene High girls’ softball team begins the Class 5A state playoffs this weekend, while the baseball postseason in District 4-5A has cleared dramatically. The track and field teams from Abilene High and Cooper competed at the area meet last weekend, and each will send athletes to the Class 5A track field championship meet in Austin next week. The gymnastics teams from both schools are also sending athletes to next week’s state championship meet in El Paso.
Here’s a wrapup of the previous week in Abilene ISD athletics and a look at what’s coming up for district teams:
SOFTBALL
Abilene High finished fourth in District 4-5A (8-4 in district play), one game out of the three-way tie for first place between Wylie, Lubbock Monterey, and Lubbock Cooper. The Lady Eagles will carry a 19-12-1 overall record into this weekend’s best-of-three bi-district playoff series against District 3-5A champion Amarillo High (25-6).
The Lady Eagles and Lady Sandies will play on Friday at 2 p.m. at Lubbock Cooper with Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) starting at noon Saturday. The series winner will advance to the area round of the playoffs to take on the winner of the series between El Paso Ysleta (runner-up in District 2-5A) and El Paso High (third in District 1-5A).
The other playoff series from District 4-5A are league champion Wylie taking on Amarillo Tascosa, runner-up Lubbock Cooper facing Plainview, and third-place Lubbock Monterey playing Amarillo Caprock. If Abilene High and Wylie win their first two series, they will face each other in the regional quarterfinals in two weeks.
BASEBALL
The Abilene Eagles wrapped their regular season with two tough-luck losses in the last week: a 7-6 loss at Lubbock Coronado last Saturday and a rain-delayed 5-4 loss at home to Lubbock Cooper in a game that started Tuesday and was completed Wednesday at Blackburn Field. The Eagles led Coronado, 6-1, heading into the bottom of the seventh inning last Saturday before surrendering six runs in the loss. And they trailed Lubbock Cooper 3-0 before rallying and then falling to the Pirates, 5-4.
AHS finishes the regular season at 17-12-1 and 11-7 in district play and will be the No. 3 seed in the Class 5A playoffs. Lubbock Cooper and Wylie will play tonight (Friday) to determine the district champion. Both teams are tied at 13-4 in district play and will conclude the regular season at 7 p.m. at Lubbock Cooper. The loser will be the No. 2 seed in the district, and Lubbock Monterey – sitting at 8-9 and in fourth in the district – will likely be the No. 4 seed in the district. The Plainsmen host Lubbock High (1-16 in district play) tonight at 7 p.m., needing a win to get into the playoffs.
Cooper (13-15 overall and 7-10 in district play) won its rain-delayed contest, beating Lubbock High 4-0, but was eliminated from playoff contention with Wylie’s 7-0 win over Lubbock Coronado. The Coogs will close their season tonight at 7 p.m. at Lubbock Coronado. A win would push the Cougars to a 14-win season, the program’s best since a 19-win 2017 campaign.
TRACK AND FIELD
Cooper’s standout jumper, Jazlyn Hatcher, won the Region I-5A girls’ championship in the long jump last week in Lubbock to punch her ticket to next week’s Class 5A state track and field championship meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. Hatcher – who earlier this season set the school record with a mark of 19-5.0 – won the regional title with a jump of 19-3.25. She is enjoying a spectacular season with wins in the long jump in all eight meets in which she’s been entered in 2024. She won the District 4-5A championship with that school-record jump of 19-5.0 and the Area 3-4 championship on April 12 with a mark of 19-3.0. Hatcher will go into the state meet as the third-ranked jumper in Class 5A behind Ryhan Balous of McKinney North (19-6.50) and Alyssa Jones of Lamar Fulshear (19-4.00).
The Abilene High boys’ 4×100 relay team finished second at the Region I-5A championship meet last week in 42.17 seconds to capture a spot in the state championship meet. The Eagles’ quartet of Bryson Perez, Jaden Jackson, Brayden Henry, and Ryland Bradford – finished behind regional champion Mansfield Timberview, which finished first in 21.94.
The Class 5A meet will occur next Friday, May 3, with the field events starting at 9 a.m. and the running events at 5 p.m.
Complete results of the Region I-5A championship meet can be found here, and a link to the live results for the state track and field meet can be found here.
GYMNASTICS
Abilene High School hosted the Region III Gymnastics championship meet last weekend at Eagle Gym, and four Abilene ISD athletes earned trips to the state gymnastics meet, set for May 3-4 at El Paso Bel Air High School.
Senior Tristan Reyna was trying to defend his regional championship in the All-Around event but was second to Lubbock High standout Will Brackeen, who posted a first-place score of 113.800. Reyna finished second and captured a spot in the state meet in the All-Around with a score of 110.900. Reyna also won the parallel bars with a score of 18.60 to the mark of 18.30 posted by Brackeen, who finished second.
Cooper’s Evan Banks also qualified for the state meet in the All-Around as he finished ninth with a two-day score of 101.300.
Abilene High’s boys had two athletes – Korban Jackson and Aaron Grow – qualify for the state meet. Jackson won the regional championship in the pommel horse with a two-day score of 19.10, including a 10.0 on the first day of the competition. Jackson also qualified for the state meet in the rings (10th) and the vault (tied for seventh). Grow qualified for state in the vault after a third-place finish with a score of 19.0.
BRIEFLY
Congratulations to Cooper alum and former Cougar head football coach Randy Allen, who has been named the winner of this year’s Tom Landry Award by the Texas High School Coaches Association. Allen was a senior running back on Cooper’s 1967 Class 4A state runner-up team and was the Cougars’ head coach from 1991-98, compiling a record of 66-31-2 in those eight seasons. He led the Cougars to the Class 5A state championship game against Drew Brees and Austin Westlake in 1996.
He has been the head coach at Highland Park since 1999 and has led the Scots to state championships in 2005, 2016, 2017, and 2018. Allen has compiled a 446-96-6 career record in 43 years as a head coach at Ballinger, Brownwood, Cooper, and Highland Park.
The Tom Landry Award annually goes to a THSCA member who has made a significant contribution to the athletes and the game of football in Texas. Nominees should have served as positive role models for athletes and coaches. Abilene High head coach Mike Fullen won the award in 2023.
