The Dahlstrom Middle School Mustangs rolled to another district championship in UIL competition held shortly before the holidays at Simon Middle School. The Mustang medalists, seen here, and a host of ribbon-winning teammates, claimed both the eighth and seventh grade team titles, took second in sixth grade competition, and edged out San Marcos Goodnight, 548-538, for the overall meet championship. (Photos by Jim Cullen)
The Cougars of Chapa Middle School represented their campus with style and tenacity in this year’s District UIL Meet, the high-water mark being a third-place showing in eighth-grade overall competition. Twenty-four of the Cougars, seen here, scored high enough in the meet to earn one of the coveted medals.
by JIM CULLEN
Hosted on a pre-holiday Saturday by Simon Middle School, the annual University Interscholastic League Academic District Middle School Meet drew its usual array of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade competitors – and what has become a “usual” result.
The Dahlstrom Middle School Mustangs walked away with the overall meet trophy, having rolled to grade-level titles in both the seventh and eighth grades and a second place meet showing for the sixth grade.
The Mustangs narrowly edged San Marcos Goodnight, 548-538, in the final point standings for the meet championship.
The Chapa Cougars grabbed third place overall in eighth grade points and the Barton Bobcats took third in seventh grade competition.
Dahlstrom Mustangs
The meet champion Mustangs’ win was paced by fourteen first places, ten seconds, and nine thirds, accounting for thirty-seven student medalists to go with a host of ribbon winners. Dahlstrom medalists included eighth-graders Mary Fowler, Libby Schnautz, Reid Johnson, Luke Cooper and Kailani Pinon taking firsts, Jamie Wilkenson, Pinon, James Colins, Gabe Flores, and Elizabeth Bowne taking seconds, and Angela Tenney, Emily Yager and Nathaly Castro taking thirds.
Mustang seventh grade medalists included first –place winners Kaden Gray, Claire Gerlach, Ailee Pettingrew, Ryan Clark, Stephan Lewis, Austin Uresti and Lorelei Pierce; second-place winners Kaycee Armstrong (tie), Allison Scott, Pat Chida, Gracie Hough, Kristina Loza-Garcia, Noah Benedict and Chase Salazar (tie) and third-place Deveon Shoddy.
Dahlstrom sixth grade firsts went to Aaron Taylor, Susie Mena, Ashley Slovak and Ashlynn Hejek; second places went to Tyler Lewis and Kurt Johnson; third places went to Tori Flores, Sofia Martinez, Ryan Reed, Michael Neill and Hannah Malott.
Additional Mustang placers included eighth-graders Rachel Tenney, Ricky Stuart, Mitchell Borrel, Kailani Pinon, Katie Wenzel, Savanna Sepulveda, Lexa Mikulenka and Emil Yager (2); seventh-graders Lorelei Pierce, Christopher Raven, Nicolas Campbell, Lauren Vega, Jackson Gola, Lauren Cano, Aaron Leal, Jade Tgeingen-Young and Claudia Norman; sixth-graders Michaela McClanchan, Sean Moore, Jacob Moore and Susie Mena.
Chapa Cougars
Chapa Middle School’s solid showing included two dozen medalists, nine of those from the overall meet’s third place eighth-grade team. Those eighth-grade medalists included Jacob Greer, Starr Rivers and Chyenne Morgan with firsts, Thomas Day with a second, and Jesse Perez, Kayla Bryson, Ofelia Negrete, Julia Garcia, Aracil Rangel, Alexander Williams and Elizabeth Walters with thirds.
Additional medals went to Chapa seventh grader Savannah Bryson and sixth graders Andrew Lawrence, Mackenzie Botick and Michaela Jackson (tie) for firsts; seventh-graders Briana Davis, Daniel Arenas, Nariko Nekaeni and Taylor Musselman and sixth-graders Hailey Lopez, Kaela Watson, Kylee Bruner and Kaitlin McMullern for seconds; and seventh graders Andres Garza and Cody Richter and sixth-grader Landry Rohde for thirds.
Other placing Cougars included eighth-graders Damienn Alcala, Jacquelyn Foster, Judith Lima, Taylor Matthews, Ian McGrath, Breanna Higgins; seventh-graders Kyler McGehee, Essence Bryant, Katie Ramirez, Abdiel Rodriguez, Caitlyn Zuniga, Briana Davis; sixth-graders Toby Goss, Erika Coronado, Alejandra Ruga, Anahi Fajardo, Hector Lima, Amanda Garza.
Simon Wolverines
Competing in only their second meet ever, Simon Middle School’s hosting Wolverines pulled off some surprises, most notably an eighth-grade 1-2-3 sweep of Modern Oratory, those places going, respectively, to Cassandra Martinez, Brenda Uribe and Jayson Adams. Sixth-grader Sara Lunam had a first in Oral Reading, and additional medals went to Jaime Sifuentes, Victoria Mancias and Adriana Nuncio for seventh Team Math.
Other Wolverines placing for ribbons included eighth-graders Alejandra Gonzalez and Ana Posada; seventh-graders Joshua Hamill, Chloe Arana, Alexis Gossett; and eighth-graders Herman Santana, Dalton Clark and Keyanna Burkley.
Barton Bobcats
Twenty-eight medalists showed the way for Barton Middle School, eleven of those from the meet’s third place team in seventh-grade competition. Five firsts, nine seconds and ten thirds highlighted the full campus effort.
The pace-setting Bobcat seventh grade pulled firsts for Dylan Ramage and Kailey Bolworth, seconds for Cera Anderson, Ashlee Claggett, Karen Solis, Kate Mulligan and Mark Ramirez, and thirds for Ashley Thornton, Briana Garcia and Brooke Sjoberg (2). Barton eighth-grade firsts went to Nick Gonzales and Alyssa Kadjar (who also had a third). Ana Delgado, Brittany Esquieres and Anissa Garcia added seconds and Nathan Jackson, Diana Ruiz and Mackenzie Brown had eighth-grade thirds.
Barton sixth grade medalists included Nick Sanchez with a first, Julianna Sampson, Madilynn Thomason and Camille Brown with seconds and Michael Kanka, Gillian Maag, Cayley Koonce and Mackenzie Smith with thirds.
Also grabbing ribbons for the Bobcats were eighth-graders Grace Peterson, Benjamin Volker, Emma McNew and Trevor McCulley; seventh-graders Jacob Mendiola, Christine Brown, Brendon Trevetian, Marcolo Garner, Roxanna Rivera, Mark Ramirez, Sarah Costley; and sixth-graders Maomy Valenzuela, Jacqueline Portany, Kacy Cox, Mikko Havel, Cassidy McMahon and Carson Sjoberg.
Wallace Rangers
A dozen medals were in the offing for the Wallace Rangers, half of them firsts. Eighth-graders Adrian Castro, Jordan Perez, and Alice Valdez and sixth-graders Grace McCoy, Jose Vasquez and Aiden O’Keefe scored those firsts. O’Keefe added a second place medal and third-place medals went to eighth-grader Jessica Park, seventh-graders Brenda Cervantes and Lovar Pizzihi, and sixth-graders Steve Mireles and Grace McCoy.
The Rangers continue to score well in Spanish Oral Reading, with an eighth-grade first, a seventh-grade third, and a sixth-grade first among the 4 above medalists.
Additional Rangers scoring points and earning ribbons were eighth graders Alora Allen, Maddy McCloud, Antonio Portillo, Emily Vargas, Mariah Montoya; seventh-graders Nicole Leyva (tie), Tony Reyes, Cat Redd; and sixth-graders Alexis Ysla and Thala Chapa.
