Let’s take one final look back on a 2010-2011 school year that will not soon be forgotten in the world of Hays High Sports.
The top three Rebels sports stories of the year were:
1. Shelton retires, Feldt hired
The only head coach Hays High School has ever known walked off the Clemens High football field after a mid-November playoff loss to Kerrville Tivy.
The tears that began welling up among Shelton’s family members and longtime assistant coaches weren’t the kind you’d normally expect, even after a season-ending defeat.
Then with five simple words, Shelton summed up the moment.
“This is it for me,” Shelton said.
After coaching football at the same school longer than anyone in Texas history, Shelton decided to call it a career.
He had coached at Hays since it opened in 1968, and at Buda High school four years before that.
“I knew this would be difficult, but it’s just time,” Shelton said at the time. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
Shelton, who led Hays to the Class 4A Division I state championship game in 1996, made the announcement to a locker room full of his varsity players shortly after the playoff loss to Tivy.
“I’ll still be there watching you play,” Shelton said. “I’ll always be a Rebel.”
Superintendent Jeremy Lyon said his goal was to bring in a new head football coach and athletic coordinator to Hays High School that would compete for state championships year in and year out.
The man who accepted the job in February has already accomplished that mission once during his career.
New Hays athletic coordinator Blake Feldt was named statewide coach of the year in 2009 after leading Pilot Point to the Class 2A Division I state championship.
Feldt beat out 85 other applicants for the job.
“I can’t tell you how excited my family and I are,” Feldt said when he was hired. “I’ve known about Hays High and the job Coach Shelton and his staff has done for a long time. We want to continue that winning tradition. Our goal is to win championships and we’ll do everything within our power to get that done. I don’t know if I can make it 43 years like Coach Shelton did. That is an unbelievable record. It says a lot about Coach Shelton as a man. It’s an honor to be the person who comes in after him.”
Hays senior Jared Herselman was named the district’s Most Valuable Player this season for the 22-2-1 Hays boys soccer team, which won the Rebel Cup and beat Manor in the playoffs before falling to Vista Ridge in the area round. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
2. Hays boys soccer team nearly perfect in regular season
The Hays boys soccer team rolled through its competition during the regular season, compiling a 21-1-1 record before knocking off Manor 5-1 in the opening round of the playoffs. During that impressive run, the Rebels, led by head coach Jason Burnett, went undefeated in district play and lost only to Class 5A Georgetown, which was ranked in the top-40 in a national poll.
“This is a very special group of hard working players,” Burnett said.
Unfortunately for the Rebs, their dream of making a first-ever appearance in the state tournament was dashed on a blustery night at Shelton Stadium in the area round of the playoffs when Vista Ridge beat Hays 2-1. Still, the Rebels ended the season with an impressive 22-2-1 record. “It’s disappointing because I know we were capable of going further,” Hays captain Jared Herselman said after the playoff loss. Herselman was named the district’s Most Valuable Player, while Rebel junior Parker Thornton was named Offensive Player of the Year. Other Hays players to make the first team were sophomore Omar Rangel and seniors Ian Allison, Jose Martinez and Chase Sparks. Rebel second teamers included senior Julian Salas-Porras, junior Billy Bolton and sophomores Christian Varela and Taylor Herselman.
“We’re going to miss all our seniors,” Burnett said. “They were a special group that accomplished a lot for us. We have a solid bunch coming back, though, so we’re not expecting the program to have a drop off.”
3. Four Hays athletes qualify for state in the spring season
Three Hays High pole vaulters and sophomore golfer Lindsey McCurdy qualified for UIL state competition. Despite blustery conditions that hindered golfers all tournament long, McCurdy parred the final 13 holes she played on the second day of competition at Jimmy Clay Golf Course in Austin to card a 2-over 74. That was an improvement on her first-round 78 and left the talented Lady Rebel, who came into the tournament ranked the top female golfer in Class 4A, tied for fifth in the event.
“Even though I knew I wasn’t leading I was going to do my best,” McCurdy said. “It felt real good to finish with 13 straight pars.”
McCurdy teed off on the back nine Tuesday and got her lone birdie after an 8-iron landed 30-feet left of the pin on the 133-yard par-3 12th hole. She made the bomb of a putt and that kick-started her impressive round.
“Some of the holes she parred down the stretch Lindsey really had to scramble,” said Hays golf coach Danny Preuss. “She got up and down from tough places several times then made the par putt. We’re very proud of her. I know she wanted to win it, but she’s always going to fight for the best score no matter what.”
At the UIL State Track and Field Meet at Myers Stadium in Austin, things didn’t go quite as planned for Hays High pole vaulters Chaney Turney, Meredith Driskell and Daryl Burrell, who all had medal aspirations going into the event. First, 2010 Class 4A state silver medalist Turney failed to clear her opening height of 10-feet, 6-inches and was immediately eliminated from the competition.
Then fellow Rebel and medal favorite Driskell had a pole snap in two while attempting to clear 12 feet.
She would go on to clear 12 feet on a later jump, but the clearly shaken Driskell missed her next three attempts at 12-6 and finished fifth in the competition.
Hays senior Daryl Burrell, who cleared 16 feet in setting a Rebel boys record at the Texas Relays in April, topped out at 15 feet later that evening and also finished fifth.
Turney, who will vault for Rice University next season, and Burrell, who will vault for the University of Texas-Arlington, ended their Hays careers at state.
Driskell, who will get a chance to return her senior year in 2012, said she will try learn from her experience this year.
“That’s pole vaulting,” she said. “You always end on a miss. It was disappointing but I think I have a good chance to get back to this level next year and win it or definitely medal.”
