A look back at 2023 sports highlights

As we wrap up 2023 and venture into the new year, The Graham Leader is taking a look back at the sports news that happened during the 2023 calendar year.

This year saw playoff appearances in multiple sports, records broken, milestones achieved and new coaches and staff brought into the mix. It also included a change in sports writers at The Graham Leader midway through the year.

In the first installment of the two-part series, we look back at sports highlights from January through June.

January
• Following a 1-0 win over Springtown, the Lady Blues (6-1-1) were ranked 15th in 4A girl’s soccer by the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association. This marked the first time in program history the team had been state ranked.

February
• The Graham Leader introduced the Athletes of the Week feature to its sports section. Throughout the school year, The Leader highlights a male and female athlete for their performances as well as other accomplishments.
• The Lady Blues basketball team missed the playoffs in a close loss to Mineral Wells in the final game of the regular season. The Steers clinched a playoff spot with a win over the Rams.

March
• Graham High School’s powerlifting teams competed at regional powerlifting meets. Hannah Hollingsworth finished third in her weight division, Bella Hernandez finished fourth, Justin Frazier took third in his weight class and Talan Yowell earned fifth place.
• Pitcher Zoey Harrell of the Lady Blues softball team pitched a perfect game against Springtown in a tournament at Bowie High School. Harrell had eight strikeouts in the four-inning 11-0 win.

April
• The Graham Junior High School boys 4x200-meter relay team of Damian Nora, Brodie Martin, Parker Hale and Thomas Burkett broke a 17-year-old record with their time of 1:41.20. The previous record was 1:41.36 which was set back in 2006.
• Graham ISD announced Casey Weil as the new head coach of the Lady Blues soccer team. Weil coached in the college ranks, won state championships in Stephenville and was named Texas Girls Coaches Association and National Federation of High Schools coach of the year for Texas in 2019 before coming to Graham.
• The Lady Blues softball team received the District 6-4A championship trophy following a 14-0 win over Mineral Wells. The team had clinched the district championship the week before but were presented with the trophy following the completion of their 8-0 district schedule.

May
• Graham ISD approved the hire of Amy Arnzen as the high school’s assistant athletic trainer. Arnzen worked as head athletic trainer at Bridgeport High School before coming to Graham.
• The Lady Blues’ Emi Gordy placed second and earned a silver medal in the high jump at the UIL 2023 Track & Field State meet. Gordy finished with a final height of five feet, six inches.
• The Steers baseball team earned their second gold glove of the season as they claimed an area championship with a 2-1 series win over Decatur.
• Graham Youth Baseball and Softball ended its season and declared champions in each age group. Winners in baseball were the 6U Reds, the 8U Dodgers and the 10U Cubs. In softball, the winning teams were the 8U Vipers, the 10U Bryson Cowgirls and the 12/14U Lady Blues.

June
• Graham athletes Trinity Gregory, Owen Allen and Karson Kinney participated in the 86th annual Oil Bowl all-star games in Wichita Falls. All three athletes were on the winning West All-Star teams with Gregory competing in volleyball and Allen and Kinney in football.
• After a successful 7on7 season, the Graham Steers fell in the quarterfinals of the state tournament that took place at Veterans Park in College Station.

Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part series looking back at The Graham Leader sports highlights of 2023.