Sports

Jacket baseball aims for consistency

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After opening the 2024 Texas high school baseball season by winning three of their first four games, the Meridian Yellowjackets continued to build on a strong start in hopes of making back-toback trips to the Class 1A playoffs. Competing in the Jonesboro Tournament, the Jackets (4-3) opened with a solid 6-2 win over Gorman last Thursday before dropping a pair to Blum, 7-4, and Hico, 7-1, playing on turf in Blum on Saturday.

Raising The Bar For State

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With four powerlifters advancing to the regional championships last week, the Meridian boys and girls knew they would have to raise the bar. And why not.

Pumping Up To State

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After bringing home the bronze medal at state as a junior, Clifton senior powerlifter Riley Finney earned a return trip to the Texas High School Powerlifting Association’s Division 3 State Championship held March 22 at Taylor County Expo Center in Abilene. Competing in the THSPA’s Region 2, Division 3 Championships last Saturday at West High School, Finney captured the regional gold medal for the second consecutive year, winning the 220-pound weight class by setting the meet record in bench press with 530 pounds, as well as another meet standard with a total weight of 1,700 pounds.

Cubs baseball off to strong start

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By winning five of their first six games in the 2024 Texas high school baseball season, the Clifton Cubs only needed two weeks to surpass their entire win total from last season. And in the process, Clifton’s mix of returning experience and young newcomers took the first step of returning the Cubs baseball program to its winning ways.

Meridian baseball opens strong

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By sweeping to victory in each of their final three District 14-1A games last season, the Meridian Yellowjacket baseball team not only secured a berth into the Class 1A playoffs for the first time since 2017, the Jackets clinched a share of their first district title since 2010. Now under new head coach Roy Mozley, the Jackets hope six returning starters -- senior catcher/ pitcher Brayden Wehmeyer, senior infielder Ben Beaudin, junior pitcher/infielder Matty Jones, junior pitcher/infielder Ian Gomez, junior infielder Bradley Kihnel and sophomore outfielder Jesse Scott -- along with a host of newcomers can lead Meridian to back-to-back postseason appearances.

Drawing District Accolades

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Coming off their first district championship in 20 years proved to be a hard act to follow for the Meridian Yellowjacket boys basketball team, particularly in a rebuilding season after losing three starters to graduation. So, after winning three of their last four regular season games to earn their second straight trip to the Class 1A state playoffs, the Jackets were rewarded for their efforts when All-District 20-1A were announced with freshman Josh Nunez leading the way as the distrct’s Newcomer of the Year.

Power Through Regional

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After the Clifton girls powerlifting team qualified 19 lifters for the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association’s Small Class 3A Region 2 Championship held in Dublin last Saturday, the Lady Cubs advanced seven to the State Championship March 14 at Comerica Center in Frisco. Led by gold medalists senior Kate Humphreys, junior Kaitlyn Baker and junior Lenora Busby as well as silver medalists senior Alyssa Santillan, junior Cameron Ritz and junior Taryn Busby, the Lady Cubs won the overall team regional championship with 45 points, finishing ahead of runner- up Brady with 33 points and third place Comanche with 30.

Powerlifting to Regional

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After the Meridian boys and girls powerlifting teams improved throughout the season by setting new personal records meet after meet, the Lady Jackets will be represented by Raechel Ramirez at the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association’s Class 2A/1A Region 2 Championships, while the Meridian boys will be represented by Cesar Ramos, Zach Smith and John Wyatt at the Texas High School Powerlifting Association’s Division 4 Region 2 Championships. “The group I have this year is absolutely amazing,” Meridian powerlifting head coach Chaz Spivey said.

Meridian girls draw accolades

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To the victors goes the spoils. After advancing to the Class 1A postseason for the second straight season by sharing the District 201A title with the defending champion Blum Lady Bobcats, the Meridian Lady Jackets took with one step further with an impressive 31-24 Bi-District playoff victory over the Lingleville Lady Cardinals before the seventh-ranked Richland Springs Lady Coyotes eliminated Meridian in the Area Playoffs.

Rising To The Next Level

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After advancing to the Class 1A postseason for the second straight season by sharing the District 201A title with the defending champion Blum Lady Bobcats, the Meridian Lady Jackets took with one step further with an impressive 3124 Bi-District playoff victory over the Lingleville Lady Cardinals last Tuesday. Despite trailing 12-5 going into halftime, Meridian outscored Lingleville, 14-4, in the third period before putting the win away in the fourth as junior Journey Stauffer led the Lady Jackets with nine points, followed by Mariana Paniagua with eight as well as seniors Canyon Stauffer and Eve Dirkse with six apiece.