Hornet Sports
Huntsville senior runs his way to state meet
LaDay turns in best time ever at Region III meet
Huntsville’s Jeremy LaDay can’t put his running shoes on the shelf yet. He’s got one more race to run before he can start playing basketball full-time.
On Saturday in Humble, the senior ran a personal-best time of 16:33 at the Class 4A Region III cross country meet and finished seventh in the boys race. That earned LaDay a spot in the Class 4A state meet, which will be held Saturday in Round Rock.
“Jeremy was excited, but he was more tired than anything,” Huntsville cross country coach Kathy Lehman said. “He was excited because he moved up a rank and finished seventh.”
LaDay, whose previous best time was a 16:35 turned in on the same course, kept a steady pace Saturday in the 5-kilometer race. He stayed in the hunt for a top 10 finish for most of the race.
“He ran between eighth and 11th place for most of the race. At the end of the race, he moved up to seventh,” Lehman said. “I’m excited for Jeremy. He’s a basketball player, that’s his passion. He does cross country because he’s good at it and he hopes colleges will see what an all-around athlete he is.”
LaDay, a starter for the Hornets’ varsity basketball team, has been pulling double duty the past couple of weeks. He’s been practicing with his basketball teammates in the gym after school. He has also been staying in shape for cross country on the track outside Huntsville High School.
“We’ll have one good workout this coming week,” Lehman said, “then we’ll taper down and get him ready for state. We’ll go over to Round Rock on Friday and run the course like we did at regionals today. On Saturday, he’ll be ready to go.”
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Trying to make history
The floor at Hornet Gym sure looked crowded Wednesday afternoon. That’s because there were 13 players running around like crazy — five on offense and eight on defense.
To get his team ready for Friday’s Region III semifinal game against Houston Yates, Huntsville coach Larry Carlson wisely devised a practice schedule that includes a hectic press-break drill complete with eight yellow-shirted defenders. -
Fish in the water
Huntsville freshmen Matthew Bitara and Sierra Wagner could hardly contain their excitement Thursday afternoon when talking about their upcoming meet.
The young Huntsville duo will be among the state’s top swimmers as they race in the UIL Swimming and Diving State Championships, which begin this morning at the Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin. - Hornets excited about area-round clash with No. 25 C.E. King
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Alive and kicking
HOUSTON — Kingwood Park hung around and hung around, but the Lady Hornets were just too strong down the stretch.
Huntsville finally wore down a feisty Lady Panthers squad in the fourth quarter to cruise to a 69-54 victory in the area round of the Class 4A girls basketball playoffs Friday night at the Campbell Center. -
Huntsville girls to put Panthers in pressure cooker
While the Lady Hornets were taking care of Elgin in the bi-district round of the playoffs Tuesday night, Huntsville assistant girls basketball coach Mike Ray was scouting Huntsville’s next opponent.
The Lady Hornets (23-7) are set to battle Kingwood Park in the area round today at 6 p.m. at the Campbell Center in Houston. -
Confident and ready
Huntsville girls basketball coach Jay Oliphant is not the least bit nervous about his first trip to the playoffs.
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Another Huntsville swimmer qualifies for state
Matthew Bitara already started making plans for Austin for the state swimming meet in nearly two weeks, but now he’ll have some company.
Monday morning, fellow Huntsville freshman Sierra Wagner received some good news when she was listed as a call-up in two events and will be joining Bitara at the state meet.
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Hornets blast Magnolia West 6-0
The Huntsville varsity boys bombed Magnolia West 6-0 last Saturday in a District 40-4A soccer game.
The Hornets got three goals from Mark Ortega, and one score each from Kevin Santos, Gerson Flores, and Nelson Privado. Miguel Moncada, Roberto Varela and Julio Blas all had assists in the game.
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Hornet freshman headed to state
Huntsville freshman Matthew Bitara is going to state and he may have a few of his teammates tagging along with him.
On Saturday at the Class 4A Region V swimming championships, Bitara won the boys 100-yard backstroke in a time of 53.98 seconds. That earned him a trip to the UIL State Swimming and Diving Championships, scheduled Feb. 26-27 at the Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin.
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Twenty wins and counting?
The Hornets set two goals prior to Friday’s final home game of the season. They wanted to notch their 20th win of the season, and they wanted to stay away from injuries while doing it.
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Trying to make history
