The 2016-17 Tiger season at a glance

Success on the field wasn’t hard to find for Dripping Springs athletics in 2016-2017, as all team sports finished at or above the .500 mark during the season. The season began with the Tiger volleyball team’s undefeated district championship and ended with the softball team’s trip to the state tournament. The figures, however, don’t count many of the individual successes claimed by Dripping Springs Tigers during the course of the season. Highlighting the invidivudal highlights was Tiger tennis player Jayci Goldsmith, who in April secured the school’s first individual tennis state championship. Dripping Springs’ cross country team reached the UIL state meet for a second straight year. The Tiger wrestling team’s Chase Warden and Clayton Jetton both earned a trip to the state meet in 2017. The Tiger track and field team send several athletes to the UIL Region IV, 5A meet, with Sydney Cole and Hannah Biggs advancing to the state meet. Overall, Dripping Springs teams went 180-78-11 on the year.

• 180 - Wins scored by Dripping Springs team athletics


• 69.8% - Win percentage for all Dripping Springs team sports


• 76 - District 26-5A wins by Dripping Springs teams


• 76% - District winning percentage by Dripping Springs teams


• 4 - 26-5A district championships or co-championships won by Tiger athletics (softball,  girls golf, volleyball, football)


• 64 - Tiger athletes named as first or second team 26-5A All-District selections


• 2 - District Most Valuable Player awards won by Tiger athletes (Gracyen Tippens, volleyball; Kiele Miller, softball)


• 7 - Teams that reached the playoffs in 2016-17


• 5 - Teams reaching the regional quarterfinal round or better in the playoffs


• 2 - Teams finishing as regional finalists


• 2 - Teams reaching the state tournament or meet (softball, cross country)


• 1 - State champion - (Jayci Goldsmith, tennis)

Team records

• Volleyball: 33-15, 14-0 in district play


• Football: 12-2, 6-1 in district play


• Girls basketball: 24-11, 11-5 in district play


• Boys basketball: 25-14, 9-5 in district play


• Girls soccer: 15-6-4, 9-2-3 in district


• Boys soccer: 9-8-6, 6-6-3 in district


• Softball: 35-9, 11-1 in district


• Baseball: 27-13-1, 10-4 in district play

Click Next to see the top five moments in Tiger athletics.

1. Softball reaches state tournament

It wasn’t always an easy route, but the Dripping Springs Tigers softball team used teamwork and determination in forging the program’s first trip to the state tournament since 2011. Led by pitcher Kiele Miller, who was named 26-5A most valuable player and a selection to the Texas Girls Coaches Association All-State team, Dripping Springs powered past its district opponents en route to a district title. The Tigers are led by head coach Wade Womack, who this week was named as the TGCA softball coach of the year in Classes 5A and 6A.

2. Tiger football claims share of district championship

It took 20 years for the Dripping Springs Tiger football team to find its way back to a district title. With a 41-10 win over the Marble Falls Mustangs in what was the final game ever played at the old Tiger Stadium, Dripping Springs secured a three-way tie for the 26-5A crown. The Tigers, led by head coach Galen Zimmerman, used the district title as momentum for a historic playoff run that had the Tigers finish as regional finalists, which was the deepest made by a Tiger football team in school history. Numerous Tigers received post-season accolades, including quarterback Reese Johnson, who was district offensive MVP.

3. Jayci Goldsmith wins state tennis title

History was made in April when Tiger senior and Texas A&M commitment Jayci Goldsmith navigated her way to the school’s first individual state tennis championship. Goldsmith claimed the Girls 5A championship title after defeating McKinney North’s Anna Zhang in three sets. According to the Tennis Recuriting Network, Goldsmith is a 5-star recruit and is ranked 3rd in Texas and 23rd national. Goldsmith is also ranked 103rd out of 2,740 eligible players in the United States Tennis Association’s Girls 18 list.

4.Boys basketball’s stuns in playoff run

Few teams were as big a surprise as the Dripping Springs boys basketball team, which used a late-season push to complete a historic finish in the UIL Region IV, 5A Final. The run was the deepest made by a Dripping Springs basketball team in roughly two decades. The Tigers squeaked into the playoffs by finishing third in 26-5A play, but pushed ahead by ousting Austin Reagan, Lamar Consolidated, Angleton and Laredo Martin en route to the regional final. The Tigers were led by head coach Craig Swannack.

5. Cross country reaches state once again

A trip to Round Rock’s Old Settlers Park was in the cards once again for the Dripping Springs girls cross country team, as they reached the UIL 5A state meet in November 2016. The team, led by head coach Marisa Parks, took third place at the District 26-5A meet in Seguin in October, then followed with a second place team finish in the UIL Region IV, 5A meet in Corpus Christi later that month. The Tigers took 14th as a team at the UIL state meet, with Sydney Cole finishing in 25th place overall.