When the first day of preseason practices arrived Aug. 1, members of the Hays Rebel boys cross country team took stock of a trophy displayed in head coach Traci Hightower’s office. The item itself wasn’t the motivation behind the visit. What it took to earn that trophy, claimed by winning the 25-6A ...

ROUND ROCK – A strong start to Saturday’s UIL 6A girls state cross country meet turned into a record finish for Hays High freshman Abby Parra.  By maintaining a consistent pace after the first mile of the race, Parra not only secured 18th place out of 150 runners with a time of 17.52.46, but also se...

Fielding a group of 90 or more students running in the early morning hours was a common sight last month for Hays Rebel head cross country coach Traci Hightower. Those numbers, which have grown over the course of the past few seasons, can partially be attributed to the high volume of students on cam...

Sports and the culinary arts are two topics that rarely intertwine. For Hays High head cross country coach Traci Hightower, baking a cake is the analogy she uses to describe what makes a strong athlete in the sport. “There are those small ingredients that you don’t taste that are key in the baking p...

By Moses Leos III During her tenure as a coach at Dahlstrom Middle School, Traci Hightower always knew Gabby Bosquez’s raw ability and work ethic made her an athlete to beat at a track meet. Several years later, Hightower, who is now the head cross country coach at Hays High, helped guide Bosquez to...

Staff Report Several Hays High Rebel cross country runners excelled at the Brenham Hillacious Invitational in Brenham on Saturday.  Their efforts against a field of some of the best and brightest from the Houston area drew praise from first year Rebel cross country head coach Traci Hightower.  “We c...