Sports

It’s been a busy week for Graham athletics. The Lady Blues closed their schedule for soccer while the Steers held their annual senior day over the weekend. 

One team’s season came to an end this week while the other is just around the midpoint of their schedule. Both teams also have fine crops of talent with two particular athletes flying high and having great performances. 

The Graham Leader is recognizing Taylor Lauster of the Lady Blues and Mike Garcia of the Steers as this week's athletes of the week.

Taylor Lauster, Lady Blues soccer

The Lady Blues played near perfect defense in their match up against the Lubbock Liberty Lady Patriots. Despite their best efforts, it wasn’t enough as their season ended in a 1-0 heartbreaking defeat. 

In the first half, the Lady Blues had trouble establishing any kind of rhythm as Lubbock’s defense was playing like a brick wall. 

The Newcastle Bobcats and Ladycats broke new ground last Friday by hosting their first ever track and field meet in school history. 

The Newcastle Relays were held Friday, March 21 and had Saint Jo, Woodson, Throckmorton and Wichita Christian School participating.

Ladycats

100 Meter Dash: 1. Catherine Youngblood, 12.90; 6. Kourtney Whitfield, 15.06

200 Meter Dash: 1. Catherine Youngblood, 27.76; 5. Sophie Terrell, 31.37; 7. Kourtney Whitfield, 35.07; 9. Paisley Bullock, 36.67

The Graham Steers capped off their senior day in style, with a 8-7 win over the Iowa Park Hawks in their matchup Saturday. 

On a bright sunny day in Graham, the game began with a special ceremony honoring all of the student athletes who will be moving on this year to the next chapters of their life stories. 

One by one, each senior was called up to get an ovation from the crowd as the press box read what the next steps in their journeys would be. 

The Lady Blues secured a huge bi-district playoff win over the Borger Lady Bulldogs Thursday. 

Lady Blues Head Coach Casey Weil expressed pride in his team after the victory. 

“It was 3-1 but it was a pretty dominating win,” Weil said. “It was an extremely physical game. We took some punches and gave them back as well.”

The Lady Blues entered Bull Dog Stadium in Burkburnett on what was a perfect day for spring soccer. The team was looking at a bright sunny day with clear skies and a large crowd chanting “Let’s go Lady Blues.”

The Steers came back home with a win after beating the Perryton Rangers in their bi-district matchup Friday. 

The Steers made the long drive up to Perryton, determined to make their hometown community proud. In the first half, both teams struggled to find the inside of the net. It certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort, however. 

Both teams had several scoring opportunities, but both teams’ defenses held strong in the first half, ending things with a 0-0 tie. 

The district schedule for softball kicked off this week while athletes from around the state met in Graham for the annual PK Relays last weekend. 

Steers and Lady Blues’ athletes have been busy as the school year winds down and seasons hit the midway point. Both varsity teams had standouts this week in both track and field and softball.

The Graham Leader is recognizing Jansyn Louder of the Lady Blues and Jordan Alexander of the Steers for their recent performances.

Jansyn Louder, Lady Blues softball

It was a rough evening for the junior varsity Lady Blues softball team. The team fell 12-1 to the Stephenville Honeybees. 

There were several areas of flawed play throughout the game which contributed to the blowout loss. One of the most apparent from the start was pitching. From the start of the game things seemed a bit off for that unit. 

The Graham Lady Blues varsity softball team picked up a huge come from behind win to open up district play Tuesday. After struggling for much of the game at the plate, the Lady Blues erupted in the sixth inning to capture the victory. 

Lady Blues head coach Adam Arrington believed the teams coaching and practice for situations like these is what led to the explosion of runs. 

Graham hosted the 77th annual PK Relays this weekend and schools from around the state showed up to take part in the meet which had multiple events at Newton Field.

After being canceled last year, the event went off without a hitch Saturday, March 15 in Graham despite windy conditions the day before.