Canyon Lake’s Four Biggest Fall Semester Surprises
James Garza goes through humongous hole left by the Offensive Line in Win over Taylor.
With the Fall Sports now in the rear-view mirror, The ReSporter would like to go over the biggest surprises from the past 5 months in Hawk Sports.
Congrats & Way to Go Hawks!!
This list is based on many conversations and studying mounds of stats with The ReSporter Staff and we know that you might have another entry or might disagree on the order of the sport. If so, then share those comments on comments below this article.
Also, with the opening of this past school year, The ReSporter, had lost all those previous articles that went back to the 2010 year. Those articles can be retrieved again by going to the find box on the homepage after punching in those key words for retrieval.
The ReSporter would like the Hawk readers to know that you can pull up past articles if your are a scrapbooker as well as just wanting to visit those past Canyon Lake Athlete’s accomplishments and events to settle a bet.
Now what would be those Top 4 Surprises be coming from this past Fall Semester in descending order.
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#4 LADIES BASKETBALL
Canyon Lake has been blessed with a talented Freshman group of ladies this year in round ball who have been playing in abundance for a team that has amassed a 15-5 record going into the New Year.
A team that is coming off a 5-16 record last year and now find themselves with a roster with one senior (Allysia Menchaca) who is one of 4 other players who played on last year’s team.
Mya Vorhis, Ayren Lighfoot, and Reece Coburn getting final instructions in win over Charlotte, 51-33.
Last year had no player reach 100 points scored and that compares to 3 players that have passed that milestone with one (Sofia George) with 200 points scored.
There are 6 freshman on the roster who are led by Reece Coburn (139 points) and Mya Vorhis (103 points & 132 rebounds) showing on their resume.
The sky is the limit with a legit chance of returning to a post-season berth this go-round.
Boerne and Fredericksburg are both ranked but that still leaves two more spots for the remaining District 28-4A schools to fight for.
Wimberley will be the biggest hurdle with their 15-8 record followed by Bandera who sports an 11-9 slate.
Davenport (3-7) is the only district school sporting a losing record but none of those games have a common opponent to compare apples.
Come and check out this, wet behind the ears, team as they will get to taste district play next Friday and have been one of the 4 best surprises during to start the school year.
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#3 JUNIOR VARSITY FOOTBALL
This year, Canyon Lake was able to win their 2nd Junior Varsity District 28-4A Championship in a row.
Caden Rodriguez (#5) takes off for his 2nd score in win over Blanco JV.
A football team that started the season with an embarrassing loss to Wimberrley and then losing 2 of their next three contests.
A 1-3 record would not give an average fan confidence that this team would or could finish their district schedule undefeated.
Something changed as that team that was shut-out against the Texans would end their year on a 6 game winning streak while averaging, 35 points per outing.
Couple that with a defense that allowed 11 points per game in district play would give the Hawk faithful that The Lake’s team will re-load when next year comes calling.
Yes, there were some players that were Juniors on this squad and that group would now have 5 consecutive Championships dating back to their 7th Grade Middle School days.
Pretty impressive. The good news is having that group looking to finish their careers on the Varsity with another chance of finishing on top.
Caden Rodriquez rushed for 700 yards and scored 10 touchdowns and Tyler Balderas finished the year with 574 combined rushing and receiving yardage.
CLJV’s allowed 213 total yards per game while the offense averaged 250 yards per outing.
A tip of the hat to Canyon Lake’s Junior Varsity as they look to add another Championship to next year’s Varsity Team.
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#2 FRESHMAN FOOTBALL
This was an incredible turn around for this group of players. A team that struggled through their middle school years.
CLJV players’ Justin Abbott & Jayden Huth team up for demolition of Taylor Ducks.
How Much? How bout needing just one hand to count the number of wins with some fingers left over.
Starting the year losing a one possession game to Wimberley after spotting the Texans several points before finally answering the bell and coming within an eyelash of a win.
This team then spring boarded to six wins in their next seven contests with the only set-back coming against a 5A Alamo Heights.
The Freshman finished the season in 2nd place in district play which would not seem possible in years past.
James Garza was a welcome addition to this season’s team as this young man came within 80 yards of reaching the 1000 yard rushing and was injured to start the last game which could have this bruising rusher with that prestigious trophy.
Carter Williams almost reached ‘Eric Nelson’ territory with interceptions. Nelson finished with 9 INT’s his Senior Year and Williams was two off from that mark. Williams was just as accomplished on the offensive side of the ball with 725 yards rushing with an astonishing 10.5 yards per carry. Williams had 886 total yards when adding his receiving yardage.
Now the taste of victory will hopefully have this team working to becoming the 3rd Junior Varsity team to win a District Championship in a row.
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#1 CROSS COUNTRY
Yes, Cross Country was the most surprising sport this past Fall Semester when two Students reached State and will look to get higher up the food chain next season.
Alek Villavicencio and Cadence Patterson finished strong in the district meet.
Alek Villavicencio, a Junior was the first boy to make this rung on the ladder as he qualified by finishing in 8th place in District running in a time of 18:16.
Villavicencio finished 63rd at the State Meet with a time of 17:10.7 which is an astonishing feat as that was over 1 minute better than his district race. There was 150 in this race as Alek has plenty of room to keep improving with each upcoming race.
Some Hawk faithful will need to encourage Mr. Villavicencio to come aboard the Track & Field team and help garner more points for this year’s track team.
Cadence Patterson, a Sophomore finished 2nd during the District race clocking a 12:18 run. Patterson then finished 3rd in her Region IV Meet with a time 12:06.54. A good run by improving her time with another PR in a little more than 11 seconds.
Way to Go Hawks!
At State, Patterson finished 17th with a time 11:57.8 which had 152 runners going for the gold. Now compare this time with her track runs below. Cadence has improved right at 19 seconds from her track days last Spring.
Now take this stat at face value in knowing that Cross Country is much different than running track in the Spring. CC has different venues that vary in terrain while Track & Field just has the runners going round and round but they have an added advantage with spikes.
Patterson beat her Hawk track record for the 1600 by a whopping 22 seconds as she clocked a 5:23 during her State Cross Country run. That translates into a stratosphere improvement based on her 1600 run was just that…1600 run. While in the State Cross Country race Patterson still had another 1600 meters to finish.
TOP 5 LONG DISTANCE HAWKS 1600 Meter Run 3200 Meter Run 1) Cadence Patterson 5:45.26 2021 1) Cadence Patterson 12:16.89 2021 2) Kaitlyn Yuill 5:51.57 2017 2) Mariah Ellis 12:45.43 2015 3) Hannah Graves 5:59.10 2011 3) Kaitlyn Yuill 12:47.05 2017 4) Olivia Flores 6:05.22 2012 4) Jenna MacConnell 13:48.30 2014 5) Christi Fowler 6:05.59 2013 5) Alyssa Sanchez. 14:06.04 2019
“Competing in the State competition was awesome,” Patterson remembered. “It was really inspiring and rewarding to run with so many amazing athletes as we all channeled our hard work from the season into one race….This season I’ve learned so much and I am applying every piece into my daily training on order to keep evolving. I’m really happy with my PR of 5:23 for the first mile of state and I’m working on lowering my second mile time in this race as well.”
Cadence Patterson will be ready to obliterate more records this Spring.
Patterson continued as she now starts to concentrate on this coming track season.
“I’m excited to see what times I’m capable of running for my 1600 and 3200 when spiked up and on the track this upcoming season,” Patterson stretched. “My goal is to stay healthy, strong, and to have many more PR’s and fun times as I keep participating in this amazing sport.”
It would certainly be the price of your ticket to be in attendance when Canyon Lake Relays come to town in a couple of months.
Thanks Alek and Cadence for your hard work and giving the Hawk Nation goose bumps as you finished your race in style as we look forward to more amazing feats from your endeavor.
Congrats and Way to Go Hawks!!
