Chargers Shine at State Meet: Freshman Jenna Dodge made her first trip to the TAPPS State Meet with good results. After surprising the field at The District Meet and winning the Singles Championship, Jenna won her first and second round matches. Her first match was an easy 6-2, 6-3 victory, followed by a come from behind 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 effort that put her into the semifinals. At that point Jenna had met he match losing to the eventual State Champion 6-2, 6-0 and came in third place. To that point in the tournament, that was the only two game won against the champion. Way to go Jenna. Our Duchesne Doubles Team also participated and faced tough competition from the beginning. Lisa Haapaniemi and Nicole Pantoja ran into the eventual State Runner-up Doubles Team in the first round and were defeated 0-6, 4-6. Overall, our Charger "Net-girls" represent our school very well. Congrats to Coach Carman and Coach Shirley for guiding our team to a second place finish at District's and a 6th place finish at State, placing higher than St. Agnes and all of the other teams in our District. Go Chargers.
Shannon Shines with other Chargers at State Track Meet: Freshman Shannon Klenke ran the strategic race of her life and won the 3200M Run at the TAPPS State Track Meet in Waco last weekend. Sitting directly off the of the pace setter's shoulder, Shannon surged into the lead on the last lap around the Baylor University track. Shannon also placed 2nd the next day in the 1600M Run. Joining Shannon were 8 other Charger Runners and jumpers trying to score points for our Team and the Coach Jacksons, Coach Baker, and Coach Voytas. Achieving that goal was Dolores Lozano with a 5th place finish in the 400M Run, Mary Witte's 6th place finish in the High Jump, and Brianna Shay's 5th place finish in the Triple Jump. Getting double point rewards for their efforts was the 5th place finish for our 4x200 Relay composed of Cristina Calderon, Kim Horrell, Brianna Shay, and Allie Burks, and the 4x400M Relay which placed 4th composed of Meredith Chavez, Dolores Lozano, Brianna Shay and Kim Horrell. Overall, Duchesne's Track Team place 6th, ahead of St. Agnes and all of the other teams in our District. Thank you for an exciting season.
US Softball wins Seven in a Season: Upper School Softball is continuing to shine and improve this year under the guidance of Coach Ernie and Coach Steve. They finished the year with a 7-16 record, a marked improvement over the past two years. More importantly, they were competitive against every team they played by using great defense and better hitting. The highlights of the year had to be Lauren Mercado's "no-hitter" she pitched against IWA, and Kat Lyles home run against St. Agnes (heard it might be on You Tube?). In talking with Coach Ernie he said "that while 7 wins is a definite improvement, I am disappointed. We should have had more. We let a few slip away as the girls were learning how to play together." Things definitely are looking up for next year, but the challenge will even be more daunting. In this year's State Softball Finals are three District 3-6A teams out of the four semi-finalists: St. Agnes, St. Pius X and Beaumont Kelly. An over .500% winning season is a real possibility as our Chargers continue their climb to the play-offs. Go Chargers.
A Great Year for State Champions: 2007-2008 has been a very good year for State Champions at Duchesne. In reviewing the TAPPS Record Books and our Trophy Case, there has only been 3 recorded Duchesne State Champions in the past 29 years. This year, Duchesne has doubled that number with the addition of 3 more State Champions in 2007-2008. As previously noted, Shannon Klenke became a TAPPS State Champion last weekend and joins Diver Katie Hetherington and the Swimming Team's 200 Freestyle Relay of Kendall Williams, Nicole Hjorteset, Ashley Hartung and Maria Edmundson in this exclusive Honor Roll for Duchesne Academy. Add to that our annual object to "Win Wood" (translated to place in the Top 4 Places at a TAPPS State event) and we were successful in doing so in Swimming this year. Of note, this year's 2007-2008 Graduating Class may be the all-time "Winning Wood" class in the history of our school. The record says that during the period that this class has been at Duchesne, our school has won 12 TAPPS plaques, 7 in athletics and 5 in academics. Congratulations to our graduating seniors. You have set a standard for the other classes to measure themselves against.
