Sports

Lady Cat Varsity The Lady Cat cross-country team had a great showing in Saturday’s Canadian Invitational, held at the Hemphill County Recreation Complex. Led by freshman runner Konnar McClendon in first, and Arionna Black in third, Canadian’s varsity girls claimed a narrow second-place finish overall, only 2 points behind Wellington’s Lady Rockets, who avenged a 1-point loss to Canadian on their home turf the week before.

WILDCAT JUNIOR VARSITY In their hometown debut, Canadian’s junior varsity Wildcats rebounded from their previous week’s loss to Bushland with a 28-14 win over the Perryton Rangers. The Rangers got on the board first in the opening quarter with a 40-yard scoring run and PAT, and a 3-yard TD run.

Winners in last weekend’s Two Gals and a Gal Golf Scramble were announced this week. Topping the championship flight were the first-place team of Bob Daniel, Kym Daniel, and Steve West with a score of 123. They were followed by Niels Sorensen, Hannah Anderson, and Tyler Ellison in second place with 126; and Drew Daniel, Kaitlyn Russ, and Chris Conner in third place with 127. In the first flight, the team of Derek Cooper, Martha Cooper, and Shawn Davis placed first with 128. Second and third places were determined by an on-the-course playoff with the team of Robert Cantu, Dallas Cantu, and Wes Hathaway placing second with 131; and Levi Huntress, Cheri Huntress, and Jacob Moss scoring 131 for third place. Second-flight winners were the first-place team of Lee Smith, Nikki Smith, and Coleman Bentley, who posted 142 overall; second-place team of Alan Witcher, Brittney Davis, and Matt Kruse with 143; and the third-place team of Quinncy Howard, Kassidy Kelton, and Twister Kelton finishing with 144.

In a contest that was, by definition, a tale of two halves, Canadian uncharacteristically saw a 28-point halftime lead vanish in the blink of a second half that resulted in a heartbreaking 49-42 overtime loss to Bushland.

Canadian’s Lady Cat cross-country runners kicked off their season well, winning the Wellington meet on Saturday on the legs of first- and second-place finishers Konnar McClendon and Arionna Black. Elizabeth Guerrero was seventh overall, followed by Payton Lee in ninth, Ella Walser in 12th, and Brooklyn Beedy in 14th.

Each year, the Canadian Education Foundation chooses a Canadian High School Honor Team to recognize during Homecoming. This year’s honor team was comprised of members of the 1975-76 football team, as well as their support team of coaches, cheerleaders, drum majors, and twirlers. Those who attended and were honored during pregame ceremonies on Friday night were Wildcat football team members Joe Anderson; Bill Barnard; Shaffer Baxter; Donald Hill; Bruce Pickens Sr.; Steve Schafer; Jim Shirey; Kevin Wilson; Marty Carr; Mike Schafer; Roy Lee Todd; Robert Wilson; Gary Bob Hutcheson; Doug Gaston (deceased), who was represented by sister, Cindy Talley and niece, Ashlee Salinas; Ken Adcock (deceased), who was represented by son, Miles Adcock, and family, and sister, Cindy Moore. Also honored were cheerleaders Neysia Peil Wilson and Cynthia Peil Donnell, and head twirler Angela Heusel Reasor. HOMECOMING PHOTOS BY ALAN HALE (ALAN79014.SMUGMUG.COM

In a tough week for Canadian football, the seventh-grade Cats escaped with a 26-6 win over the Bushland Falcons who pulled off a three-game upset against the Wildcats last week. The young Cats started the game with a fumble recovery at midfield that set up a trio of aerial attacks to get into the end zone.

Canadian avenged its only loss from last season, thanks to a second-half surge of 20 unanswered points that lifted the No. 2-ranked Wildcats past Iowa Park, 40-21, last Friday night at Wildcat Stadium.

The Wildcat cross-country teams competed in Borger on Saturday, in their first meet of the season. The varsity boys placed fifth out of 12 as a team, led by freshmen Juan Vargas, who finished 15 out of 100 in 18:27; Jose Vargas, who crossed the line 32nd in 19:26; and by junior Jaxtyn Valenzuela, who cleared the course in 19:08 to finish 28th.