Sports

ORLANDO, FL – The Columbus High School volleyball team has been performing at a high level for the past several seasons with many deep postseason runs. Their success is the result of the hard work the Lady Cards apply toward their craft, especially during the offseason. This summer has been no different as a quartet of Lady Cards competed in the AAU Junior National Volleyball Tournament during their summer ball play with their respective AAU teams. Ally Tribe, Claire Klausmeyer, Gracie Schobel and Caylie Neisner all competed well in the national tournament as they each contributed to their respective teams claiming a top three placement in the competition.

The teams of Columbus Little League had varying levels of success this past week as they each neared the end of their district championship runs with hopes of moving on to the next level. Some teams realized their hopes by responding to adversity and claiming strong victories to seal the championship win. Other teams ran into some struggles as they faced some of the other top teams in the area. The result was a week of intense little league action that saw the major softball girls claim a championship while the major league boys and the minor teams for softball and baseball saw their seasons come to a close.

CATFISH TAKE ON MEET OF CHAMPS

The future of Lady Raider softball is in the hands of the players at the youth level, learning the skills and techniques needed to succeed at the next level, as well as developing the competitive spirit that will help them continue their rise as they get older. With more emphasis in the county on the success and progress of softball teams in the county, extra effort is spent on the youth softballers as they move through their earliest experiences of competition. One of the young players working through that system is Rice Little Leaguer Kamryn Downey who has been participating in youth leagues since she was eligible to compete.

The 2023 State Champion Ladycats received more plaudits for their spectacular season as a host of impact players were named to the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association’s All-State team for the 2A division. Several Ladycats received the honor as Weimar fought through a difficult district schedule and defeated some stout competition in the postseason. Several different players stepped up for Weimar when they were needed most as they climbed their way into the top of the state rankings and finishing the season as the final team standing in the state tournament.

A duo of Colorado County baseball players has been raking in statewide plaudits after raking all season for their respective schools. Brady Henke of the Weimar Wildcats and Ryan Lewis of the Columbus Cardinals have been well-rewarded for their impactful seasons this year. They both displayed true two-way ability with effective seasons at the plate and defensively as well. For their efforts this season, they were both selected to the THSBCA’s South All-Star team where both players manned second base in the annual All-Star game.

The Columbus Majors and Minors have been finding necessary wins when they need them in order to keep their summer seasons alive. Both the girls and boys competed over the last week as they try to win through their districts and move deeper into the bigger Little League tournaments. Several of the teams gave themselves good opportunities to escape with a district championship and move on to the next stage as they try to continue the trend of Little League success in Columbus.

Weimar softball senior Reagan Wick put a bow on a fantastic season by being named the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association’s Softball Athlete of the Year after helping to lead the Ladycats to one of their best regular seasons as well as their sixth State Championship. The recognition confirms what the numbers suggested by backing up Wick’s claim as the premiere softball player of the season for divisions 1A-4A.

YOUNG POLO PLAYER

The Weimar Vets hosted the Serbin Jackrabbits on Sunday, June 18 at Strickland Field.

WEIMAR FIFTH GRADER CLAIMS SILVER MEDAL AT ACADEMIC MEET

The Cards’ basebal l team created some history this season after notching one of their best seasons in two decades. It could arguably have been their best season in the last two decades after reaching the deepest round of the playoffs in that time frame this season. They also finished with their most total wins in a season after finding success in a tough district and holding on for the second- place spot in the district standings. The Cards would not have been able to achieve all of these goals without impressive seasons by some of the veteran players who make up the roster. Senior Ryan Lewis made himself stand out with his play this season. His outstanding season led to Lewis receiving statewide recognition after being named to All-State Elite Team by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association.

The UIL Lone Star Cup has released their final official rankings for the 2022-23 athletic school year. The Lone Star Cup is given to the school that has the highest amount of UIL success from different UIL programs and sports. Points were allocated based on a team’s placement in competition for arts and intellectual competitions, while points allocated to sports were based on playoff performance. After a strong year for Columbus with several teams getting deep runs in their respective postseasons, they finished the year tied for sixth place with Wall High School with a cup score of 59.

The Columbus CATfish swim team is hoping to have another good showing at this year’s Meet of Champs after having several swimmers qualify for the event in different competitive categories. When the competitors meet in El Campo on Saturday, June 24, they will be hoping to bring home several medals just as they did during last season’s competition.

The Rice Little League softballers had some difficulties against the Weimar All-Stars during their head-to-head matchup last week. While Rice was able to prevent a difficult shutout defeat, they could not put much more on the board to make the game closer. After a tough end to the game, the girls finished with a 13-1 defeat to end their summer season against Weimar.

The alumni of Rice High School athletics have been able to accomplish impressive things in their athletic careers following their graduation. Texas A&M’s Connor Schulman, a 2019 graduate of RHS, has continued this trend of collegiate excellence after his performance in the NCAA track postseason. His most recent accolades are some of the highest levels one can reach collegiately as he earned his spot to the NCAA D1 Nationals and made it all the way to the Finals to compete for an NCAA Championship. Not only did he get to compete in the final rounds, but he also made history for his college after a personal- best performance that placed amongst some of the best for A&M ever.

GANADO – The Rice Consolidated 7 on 7 football team nearly claimed their place State Tournament later this month after competing against the Three Rivers Bulldogs and falling in a close game in the qualifying game. The Raiders nearly came away with victory and a place in the state tournament after just falling behind in a 19--16 defeat. Unfortunately for the Raiders, that tournament was their last shot at potentially reaching the state tournament as there are no more state-qualifying tournaments on the schedule. The Raiders have just one more tournament that will be hosted on their homefield as they get one final tune up before the conclusion of summer football prior to summer camps closer to the fall season.

HENKE SELECTED TO ALL-STATE ELITE TEAM

The Weimar little league All-Stars 8U team had a strong performance against the little league girls from nearby Rice. The girls for Weimar got the jump on their local rivals after getting out to quick lead and holding onto it for the rest of game. Weimar ran out to a double-digit lead and eventually brought the game to an end with a 13-1 margin of victory.

High School athletics helped the next generation of Cardinal athletes make some progress in their athletic careers with camps focused on helping them develop the skills and attitudes they will need to succeed at the next level. With camps running all summer, Columbus has already hosted a few in some different sports.

A Columbus alum with a unique skillset has earned a chance at worldwide recognition with his abilities. Gaming speed runner Cameron Divin is a recent graduate of Columbus that holds the top five in several world records for his game of choice: Minecraft. His most recent speed run vaulted him up the ranks internationally after finishing with the second-fastest time in the world, just over 15 seconds slower than the all-time world record.