Sports

Lady Cat Runner Ella Walser paces Parker Lee, Maddie Spence, and Emily Kauk.

The July 30 Thursday Night Scramble at the Canadian Golf Course ended in a carryover at 6 under par with 50 players. Chris Ford claimed the men’s longest drive, while Brooke McQuiddy claimed the women’s honor. Cary Priest won closest-to-the-pin on No. 2, and Jacob Moss hit his closest to the No. 8 pin.

Canadian riders were prominent in the national high school rodeo finals held at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, July 17-23. In an elite competition against over 1,500 contestants from around the country, many of these athletes finished the weeklong event ranked among the top performers in the national standings.

Texas high school coaches and athletes—and their eager fans—are hoping for the best these days, and bracing for whatever comes next. Having already faced the disappointment of a year disrupted by school closings—in the midst of the state championship basketball games and a spring sports season that had barely gotten rolling—they wait, now, for the latest gubernatorial mandate or TEA ruling, or UIL announcement, wondering whether the 2020-21 sports season will again be upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

Canadian High School Lady Cat Basketball standout Mattie Boyd (in photo above) was among three Texas high school girls to receive offers from Abilene Christian University. Mattie is entering her junior year at CHS, and has already made a name for herself after being named to the TGCA’s All-State basketball team following her sophomore season.

On Wednesday, July 8, the UIL released revisions to the COVID-19 risk-mitigation guidelines for summer strength and conditioning and marching band activities, effective immediately until the first day of instruction or the start of in-season activities, whichever is earlier. According to the newest guidelines, students may now access locker rooms and engage in drills “that involve one or more students on offense against one or more students on defense” beginning Monday, July 13.

In what may be a sign of things to come, both the Texas Girls Coaches Association (TGCA) and the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) announced the cancellation of in-person coaching schools scheduled for this summer.

Canadian’s 132nd Fourth of July rodeo, held July 2-4, was one of six stops for the UPRA- KPRA Cowboy Christmas Rodeo. In total, the Canadian Rodeo Association hosted 415 contestants, who competed for over $36,000 in prize money.

The CCC kicked off its first year of summer tennis camp. Twelve participants learned the ropes with local tennis star Sawyer Landry (in photo above), who got his start in the CISD tennis program and is active in the tennis club at WTAMU. Campers ranging in age from third to eighth grades focused on the basics of tennis, learning the rules of the game, and how scoring works. “We appreciate Sawyer’s skills and enthusiasm,” said CCC Executive Director Ike Julian, “and we hope this is a skill participants can use for a lifetime. We also plan on making private sessions available for any age in the evenings.”

GUTHRIE, Okla.—Jordan Lovins of Canadian, Texas, had never been to the Bob Feist Invitational (BFI). But when he heard that Wrangler BFI Week, presented by Yeti, moved to his neighboring Oklahoma from Reno, Nevada, he “was all over it.”