The Lady Blues and Steers golf teams continued their success at the Bluebonnet Invitational in Brownwood, scoring first and second place team scores in the tournament.
The tournament was held Tuesday, March 17 at the Brownwood Country Club. As a team, the Lady Blues scored first overall with 418 and the Steers scored second place with a score of 336.
A come-from-behind lead in the bottom of the fifth was not enough for the Steers to pull out a win against the Jim Ned Indians.
Before the game Tuesday, March 17, the community honored its senior Steers athletes for senior night.
Seniors were led out by family as members of the audience recognized their athletic careers in the baseball program.
Seniors honored were Jaden Neal, Tanner Hurford, Mike Garcia, Tripp Mahaney and Cason Roberts.
The Graham Steers and Lady Blues continued their track season in Springtown for the Brad Legan Friends and Family Invitational Meet.
The meet provided good training before the 78th annual PK Relays, scheduled for Saturday, March 21 in Graham.
Graham competed Thursday, March 12 against a dozen different teams. All four teams finished inside the top six at the meet off the backs of successful individual performances from their athletes.
Team Scores
Steers Varsity: 6. Graham, 36 points
Lady Blues Varsity: 3. Graham, 95 points
The Graham Steers traveled out to Godley for a weekend matchup against the Wildcats ahead of district play. While the Steers were not able to pick up the victory there were still notable plays to highlight in the contest.
The game took place Saturday, March 14 and while the bats for Godley gave them an early lead, the Graham pitching staff eventually settled in as the game went on.
After allowing five runs through the first four innings of play, The team only allowed two more runs the rest of the way to stay competitive.
Two Steers powerlifters represented Graham High School at the regional powerlifting meet in Abilene and one will be advancing to the state competition.
McCrae Reese and Brennen Strawbridge competed Saturday, March 14 in the Boys Region 1 Division 2 Championships at Abilene Wylie High School. Reese placed third in the 308-pound weight class with a total of 1,600 pounds, with 605 pounds on squat, 415 pounds on bench press and 580 pounds on deadlift.
With a total of 1,600 pounds across his three lifts, Reese qualified for the state competition.
One Ladycats athlete will be heading to state in powerlifting after her performance in the regional competition this month.
Ladycats Ava Wheeler, Kourtney Whitfield and Allison Youngblood competed Saturday, March 7 in the Region 6 1A-2A Regional Championship at Bells High School.
In just the program’s second year, they once again saw multiple athletes advance to the regional meet and Wheeler will now advance to the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association State Championships that are being held Wednesday, March 18 in Edinburg at the Bert Ogden Arena.
A slate of Graham Lady Blues and Steers basketball players recently received All-State and All-District nods.
For the Lady Blues, Briley Randall and Addyson Weaver both were selected First Team All-District. Honorable Mention All-District selections went to Ava Street and Katelyn McGehee.
Tara Dawson and Randall both earned Honorable Mention Academic All-State from the Texas High School Coaches Association.
The Graham Steers and Lady Blues both gained wins in their home tournaments last week, with the Lady Blues adding another in their final game before pre-season.
For their work in recent performances, The Graham Leader is recognizing Kylie Pruitt of the Lady Blues and Tanner Hurford of the Steers as Athletes of the Week.
Kylie Pruitt, Lady Blues Softball
Pruitt has been a steady presence for the Lady Blues over the course of this season behind the plate and in the batter’s box as the team’s starting catcher.
Last week, Steers and Lady Blues tennis players traveled to Arlington for a tournament, bringing home some big wins before district.
Head coach Matt Birdwell commented on the team’s growth over the course of this season.
“Week after week, they have been improving and getting better,” Birdwell said. “After spring break it’s a quick sprint to the district tournament. So keeping the kids improving and focused is what we will be working on.”
The Graham Lady Blues took the field one last time before the start of their district schedule, picking up a confidence-building 11-5 win over the Graford Lady Rabbits.
The game took place Monday, March 9 and right from the jump the Lady Blues offense was effective.
The team put up three runs combined through the first two innings of play but Graford fought back with a pair of runs in the top of the third to make it 3-2.
