Craig Biggio Debuts as Head Coach
from Houston Chronicle
It’s a match made in baseball heaven — Craig Biggio, the legendary Astros ironman, and St. Thomas High School, winner of 20 state championships. Biggio kicked off his new gig as the Eagles’ head coach this week, and the Astros’ all-time leader in games, at-bats, runs and doubles couldn’t be more thrilled about the latest chapter in his career. More

Waco High Football Coach Applicants Lining Up
from Waco Tribune
The search for a replacement for Waco High football coach Johnny Tusa is moving ahead full force. Waco ISD athletic director Johanna Denson said that the school district has received about 30 applications for the Waco High head football coach and campus athletic director position. Although Waco High hasn’t exactly had a flood of résumés coming in relative to other high schools in the area, Denson said it’s a good number for the type of post the school is trying to fill. Waco ISD posted the job opening on its Web site and the Texas High School Coaches Association Web site. It will stay open until March 6. More

Prestonwood Senior’s Faith an Ally in Fight Against Rare Cancer
from Dallas Morning News HS Game Time
Cody Novak's pain playing in that last game – it was excruciating. A boy shouldn't be playing basketball with a bleeding, grapefruit-sized lump on his thigh a short time after being sliced open for surgery. But he desperately wanted to. It was senior night. The diagnosis hadn't come in yet. And so, with blood oozing from a popped stitch, he wobbled up and down the court for a few minutes until his coach had seen enough. More

Stunner Sends Steele to State
from San Antonio Express-News
It was an hour after their return to the Class 4A state tournament had been secured, and Steele players still were as numb as the instant Meighan Simmons’ game-winner dropped through the net. Amid a strangely quiet bus ride back home, the Knights didn’t know what to say or how to act after their stunning 57-55 victory over Corpus Christi Ray in the Region IV final at Greehey Arena. Much as they weren’t even sure how to celebrate the unlikely moment as it was happening. More

Eden Basketball Playing for Sick Teammate
from San Angelo Standard Times
The Eden boys basketball team has one of the best records in the state, and John Wesley Gierisch is one of the biggest reasons for that success. But when the Bulldogs put their 27-2 record on the line last week in their first playoff game, Gierisch wasn't in the starting lineup or even in the arena. The high school junior was lying in a hospital bed in San Antonio unable to move. More

For Walla, DeSantiago, It's About Homers, Not Touchdowns
from Austin American-Statesman
Instead of in the end zone, Cohl Walla and Nick DeSantiago spent a lot of their time in the dugout last fall. Walla and DeSantiago — both seniors — sat out their final high school football seasons to focus on their baseball careers. Walla, an outfielder and pitcher for Lake Travis, has signed with Texas. DeSantiago, Hays' catcher, will head to San Jacinto Junior College. In 2007, Walla caught 68 passes for 1,072 yards and 13 touchdowns, helping Lake Travis win its first Class 4A state championship. He had 511 receiving yards and caught a touchdown pass in the Cavaliers' six playoff games that season, earning third-team All-Central Texas honors. He would have been considered one of the area's top receivers last fall. DeSantiago, who was expected to be Hays' starting running back last season, rushed for 656 yards and seven touchdowns in 2007. But neither of them played a down in 2008. More

Oldham Steps Down as Mineral Wells Lady Rams' Coach
from Mineral Wells Index
The Mineral Wells Lady Rams were a team of surprises this past season. Big surprises. Last week, the Lady Rams surprised everyone by ending a 14-year basketball playoff drought by finishing third in the District 6-4A race. Mineral Wells advanced to the bi-district round, marking the first time since 1994 the MWHS girls' basketball program had enjoyed a postseason run. The biggest surprise of all came just three days after the end of the season when head coach Michael Oldham announced he was stepping down, effective the end of the school year, to enter private business. More

Highland Park Girls Swim Team Adds to Title Streak
from Dallas Morning News HS Game Time
State championship celebrations are becoming routine for the Highland Park girls swimming and diving team. But there was something special about clinching the ninth straight championship at Jamail Texas Swimming Center. No other athletic program in the 100-year history of the University Interscholastic League had ever done it. More