Watson takes first step

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June 27, 2009

Hornet golfer signs scholarship offer from Jacksonville’s Lon Morris College

By Tom Waddill The Huntsville Item Sat Jun 27, 2009, 10:51 PM CDT

Nathan Watson is excited. Excited and relieved.

The recent Huntsville High School graduate is excited because he’s going to college this fall with a golf scholarship in hand. Watson is relieved because there was a day not too long ago when his dream of playing college golf looked rather bleak.

“This is a big stress reliever,” Watson said Saturday, a few days after signing his scholarship offer from Lon Morris College, a two-year school in Jacksonville that has a strong golf program. “It was a stressful time this spring. I didn’t know where I was going to go to school, and now it’s happening.”

The top medalist at the District 18-4A tournament this spring, Watson spent many hours fretting, trying to figure out where he was headed after concluding a successful high school golf career. A senior leader, Watson helped Huntsville return to the Class 4A State Golf Championships in May, but for some reason he did not attract much interest from four-year universities.

Frustrated, Watson did not know what to do next. His mother, Lucinda, did. She sent out letters and e-mails and told golf coaches about her son.

Suddenly, Watson began hearing from college coaches. He took three campus visits — to Florida Tech, a four-year NCAA Division II school, to Hill College, a junior college in Hillsboro and to Lon Morris. Immediately, he was sold on Lon Morris and the Bearcats’ winning program.

“Lon Morris has a lot of tradition, it’s the oldest junior college in the state of Texas, and their golf program is ranked number one in the state of Texas. So that was a hands-down pick,” Watson said. “They finished fifth in the national tournament, but their number one player broke his wrist right before the tournament.

“It’s really pretty in Jacksonville. The campus is kind of old-style, and it wasn’t in the desert somewhere like Hill College. The facilities they had there were good. Everything was clean, and everything was mainly new. I also liked the golf courses. They are similar in some aspects to the courses here in Huntsville, but they have more rolling hills and some of the holes are tighter.”

Watson’s parents are thrilled to see their youngest boy accomplish another goal. Starting at a junior college may not have been on the radar a few months ago, but his father believes Nathan can learn a lot and take the steps necessary toward his ultimate objective, which is getting an education and playing golf at a four-year university.

“Nathan wants to play Division I golf,” Eric Watson said. “Lon Morris has the kind of program that, in his mind, offered him the best chance of reaching his goal. Honestly, I didn’t want Nathan to be going off to school just to be playing golf. But hopefully, he will find a way to get an education and play a little golf along the way.”

Huntsville golf coach Marcus Evans believes Watson made a wise decision when he chose Lon Morris. If Watson continues the hard work that started back in middle school, the Hornets’ coach says the sky’s the limit.

“As Nathan goes to school, does his job in the classroom and continues working on his game, everything will work out like he wants it to,” Evans said. “I’ve talked to many Division I golf coaches, and they like recruiting successful junior college players. They’ll recruit both junior college and high school players and fill their rosters with a combination of players.

“If Nathan continues to develop he will have some options when the time comes. He’ll also have two years of college under his belt.”

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Hornet Sports

Back to work
Tick tick tick. Tick tick tick tick.
It won’t be long until the alarm goes off early Monday morning, signaling the start of high school football practice in Huntsville.
Freshmen hit the field at 8 a.m. Monday and Hornets head coach Shane Martin can’t wait. Huntsville’s defensive coordinator the past two years, Martin has been waiting seven long months for the first day of serious summer workouts.

July 31, 2010 1 Photo
Huntsville ISD hires new volleyball coach
On paper and in her head, Stephanie Branch quietly took notes while sitting in the stands at Bryan High School on Thursday night. She paid particular attention to the team from Huntsville, because in a little more than a month that bunch will be her’s.
The daughter of a teaching and coaching couple, Branch, 31, was hired this week as the Lady Hornets’ new head volleyball coach. She replaces Brittany Brumbelow, who stepped down from her position at the end of the school year to spend more time with her family.

June 17, 2010
High school notebook: Brenham boys edge Hornets at state track meet
Round one went to the Brenham boys. The Cubs won the District 18-4A boys track and field title last month in Willis.
The Huntsville boys took round two. Led by state qualifiers Justin Gilbert, Brodrick Hadnot, Henry Ford, Dimitri Collier and Cameron Simmons, the Hornets evened the score by outscoring the Cubs at the Region III track meet in Huntsville early this month.
In Austin last weekend, the Cubs edged the Hornets in the unofficial battle for track and field supremacy in District 18-4A.

May 18, 2010
Going for gold
It wasn’t that long ago. RaKira Turner stood in the shot put ring and with all of her might, flat-footed she heaved the heavy ball forward.
Her first throws from the discus ring were even more memorable. With no idea about how to hold the strangely shaped disc, Turner did her best but the results were far from pretty.

May 12, 2010 1 Photo
Hornets finish strong
They easily could have gone through the motions.
Sitting eighth in the team standings after a miserable first day at the UIL Boys Golf State Championships, the Hornets could have trudged around the Jimmy Clay Golf Course without a care.
They could have turned in another big score, gotten back on the bus and hit the highway headed home to Huntsville.
These Hornets had too much pride to mail in the second round of the tournament. On Tuesday, the Huntsville boys made a huge turnaround, shooting a team score of 307, which moved them up to sixth in the team standings.

May 11, 2010
Difficult district
The Lady Hornets played their best round of golf Monday at Raven Nest Golf Club. Unfortunately for the Huntsville girls, they are stuck in District 18-4A with two, and probably three, of the top teams in the state.
Led by junior Madison Ward, who shot a solid 79, Huntsville’s varsity team posted a 349 team score during the first round of the District 18-4A tournament. That total puts the Lady Hornets in fourth place behind Montgomery Gold (310), Montgomery Purple (313) and Magnolia A (319) heading into today’s final round.

April 12, 2010 1 Photo
Hornets finish first at Dayton track meet
The track teams from Huntsville High School did exactly what their head coach wanted them to do last week in the final tune-up before the all-important District 18-4A meet.
The Hornets finished first and the Lady Hornets placed third in the team standings at the Bronco Relays in Dayton.

April 12, 2010 2 Photos
Gilbert advances to 100-meter finals at Texas Relays
Huntsville senior Justin Gilbert booked a spot in the main event. With a sizzling showing in the prelims for the 100-meter dash, Gilbert earned a place in the finals of the Texas Relays this afternoon in Austin.
Hopefully, he will have some company as some of his teammates try this morning to advance to the finals at Mike Myers Stadium at the University of Texas.

April 2, 2010
‘I’m going to be nervous’
Austin’s Mike Myers Stadium is the place to be this weekend. The top track and field athletes not only in Texas, but from across the United States, will be competing inside a stadium full with the sport’s most passionate fans.
As a reward for weeks of hard work, and also to act as a possible tune-up for next month’s season-ending state meet, Huntsville High School is sending its best athletes to Austin, too.

April 1, 2010 2 Photos
Top-ranked Cubs bring big bats to Huntsville
On a night when Brenham’s Chase Wellbrock nearly threw a no-hitter, Huntsville head coach Jeff Brumbelow shook his head more about the Cubs’ impressive hit parade.
Brenham came to Kate Barr Ross Park on Wednesday and quickly took control on the District 18-4A baseball game against the Hornets. The top-ranked Cubs banged out 16 hits in the first three innings and scored 13 runs on their way to a commanding 18-1 win over Huntsville.

March 17, 2010
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Watson takes first step

Hornet golfer signs scholarship offer from Jacksonville’s Lon Morris College

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