Sanja Scales of Stevens High School crosses the finish line in first place in the girls’ 400 meters with a time of 1:00:1 in the meet at East Central this past weekend. Photo by John Albright

By Pat Turner
Contributing Writer

Two weeks remain in the District 28-5A soccer races, and playoff berths are still up for grabs.

In the girls’, Marshall (15-1-2, 11-0-1) was closing in on clinching its second straight 28-5A title.

The Lady Rams had a chance to reach that pinnacle this week in matches with Clark and Holmes.

“We’re playing well right now,” Marshall coach Stacey Reyes said. “We have to continue to stay focused. There are still a lot of matches left.”

Focus was no problem this past week as Marshall registered victories over Taft (2-0) and Jay (9-0).

Sammie Mechinus and Courtney Hutchinson came up with the goals against Taft. Machinus also led the scoring against Jay with two goals.

Clark (7-5-4, 7-1-3), which tied Marshall in the first meeting, remains a serious contender.

Despite starting the season with a younger look and learning a new system under first-year coach Walter Rule, the Lady Cougars have found their groove. This past week, Clark helped their cause.

The Lady Cougars used a pair of goals from Sara Klenke to register a 4-2 victory over Stevens. However, a bigger boost came against O’Connor as Lariza Pruneda’s goal paced the way for a 1-0 victory.

O’Connor (11-4-2, 8-3-1) sits in third after a 7-0 zapping of Jay. Courtney Reed and Anissa Munson led the way with two goals.

Taft (10-6-2, 7-4-1) also kept its playoff hopes in good standing after bouncing back from the loss to Marshall with a 1-0 victory over Warren.

Everything is up for grabs in the boys’ division as Clark (10-2-4, 7-0-4), Taft (7-6-1, 7-3-1), Warren (8-6-2, 6-3-2), O’Connor (11-5-1, 7-4-1) and Marshall (8-5-2, 7-3-1) are in the hunt.

Clark started the week by pulling out a 3-2 victory over Stevens on clutch goals from Jonathan Lawson, Oscar Barboza and Placide Buduri.

The Cougars followed with a 2-0 win over O’Connor.

Beating O’Connor was a huge win for us,” said Ashley, who was an assistant at O’Connor before becoming Clark’s head coach a year ago. “They have a great program and it’s been like a nemesis to us. They were determined to win this time. They came to the game confident they were going to win. They’re starting to feel the success, which is awesome.”

Taft suffered a 3-1 setback to Marshall, but came up with a 3-2 win over Marshall.

Softball

In softball, O’Connor had an impressive week in 28-5A.

The Panthers began with a 7-1 win over Taft and topped that with a 24-0 drilling of Jay.

Clark started district in dramatic fashion.

Against Stevens, Victoria Silva came up with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh seal a 4-2 victory.

Earlier in the week, Kat Hoover smacked two doubles and drove in two runs in a 5-3 win over Holmes.

Melissa Danessi hurled a three-hitter in leading Warren to a 4-1 victory over Del Rio.

Baseball

In baseball, Clark finished third in the Northeast Tournament, while O’Connor was third in the Judson Tournament.

Taft took consolation in the Northeast tourney.

Track and field

Northside schools also had their share of gold-medal performances this past week,

At the East Central Relays, Sonja Scales of Stevens won the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.01 and took third in the 100-meter dash (12.59). Courtney Miller took the gold in the 200-meter dash with a 26.02.

Warren’s girls won the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:48.20.

Darryl Morris of Warren was a double winner in the boys’ division, taking the gold in the 100-meter dash (10.93) and 200-meter dash (22.11).

Holmes also came away with gold-medal showings. Jonathan Polk won the triple jump (45-5) and Nathan Pineda topped the 1,600-meter run competition with a 4:28.27.

Stevens’ Jacob Benn won the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:55.45.

Clark’s boys finished second at the Matador Relays in Seguin.

The Cougars took the 800-meter relay (1:31.64) and 1,600-meter relay (3:27.93).

Winning showings also came from Avion Hughes in the triple jump (21-7) and Hayden Greenbauer in the 300-meter hurdles (40.93).

Marshall’s Alex Torres won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.91 and Derek Dryer claimed the 200-meter dash (22.07).

In the girls’ division, Clark finished third with Glynnis Meade winning a gold medal in the 3,200-meter run (12L38.44) and placing third in the 1,600-meter run (5:48.62).

Michaela Palu of Marshall won the long jump with a leap of 16-9.