Wildcat Marching Band Places Fourth at Prairiland
Wildcats Marching Band Director Spencer Emmert said Saturday was a great day at a Prairiland contest because the band didn’t get rained on and they were able to perform during prelims and finals. The Wildcats finished fourth at the contest.
Emmert said the Wildcats Band received the top scores of straight ones and they also got lots of good comments from judges. Emmert said he challenged the band to step up during their finals performance and he said they did. He said the contest employed a different rating system than most and Emmert said the Wildcats band would have been second or third under the usual rating system. He said the Wildcats Marching Band also tied for first in Outstanding General Effect but then lost out on a UIL tiebreaker. The band was able to use their grid tarp during both performances. Emmert called the contest a fantastic experience for his kids, especially the freshmen.
He said the contest wrapped up a great competition season. Emmert said he expects the band to do its contest show at Greenville and at the last Wildcats’ football game. Then he said they would probably put together a spirit show for a little change. At the last Wildcats home football game on senior night, Emmert said eighth grade band members would be joining varsity band members. He said the Band Beau and Band Sweetheart would also be announced.
Last Friday at The Prim in the rain, the Wildcats Marching Band, in rain gear, did a brief non-marching show with no woodwinds. Emmert said the show was put together at the 10 minute mark of the second half of the football game. He praised band members for being flexible.
Wildcat Thornton Qualifies for State Meet
Wildcat cross country runner Landon Thornton qualified for the state meet at the Regional Cross Country Meet in Dallas Monday. Thornton finished 22nd in the race and grabbed the final spot for state. Wildcat Christian Palomino finished 23rd and just missed qualifying.
Thornton will compete at the state cross country meet at Old Settlers’ Park in Round Rock on November 3.
The Wildcats finished in 8th place out of 26 teams. Cross Country Coach Ross Hicks said the 8th place finish was the best finish for one of his team’s since he’s been coach the past three years. Other Wildcats in order of their finish were Eli Sellers, Andrew Escobar and Jose Mejia.
The Lady Cats finished in 19th place. They were led by Sydney Washburn. Coach Hicks said she collapsed at the finish line after giving it all she had. She recovered with no injury after the collapse. Other finishers for the Lady Cats were Maurie Flecker, Kaitlyn Ferrill, Jessica Yanez, Landri McKinney, Ashley Noe and Hailey Ricks. Baylie Arrington had a foot injury and could not compete.
Game Day: Lady Cats at Texas High
Expect some fantastic finishes as the District 15-5A volleyball district race comes to a conclusion Tuesday night with five of the six teams contending for playoff spots. Someone will end up being left out.
The Lady Cats’ volleyball team is 4-5 in district play and they are tied for third place with Greenville and Royse City. The Lady Cats close out district play against first place Texas High in Texarkana. The Lady Tigers need a win to guarantee a district championship. They have a one game lead over Lindale as play begins Tuesday night. The Lady Cats are 3-1 in the second half of district play after a 1-4 record in the first half. In the first half, the
Lady Cats lost in five sets at home to Texas High. Also Tuesday, Greenville hosts Lindale and Royse City is playing Mount Pleasant.
Saltillo Lions, Lady Lions Qualify for State Meet
Saltillo Lady Lions Cross Country Coach Colton Smith and Saltillo Lions Coach Bill Giles are proud of their teams and rightly so. Both teams qualified for the state meet at the Regional Cross Country Meet Monday in Dallas.
Christy Marquez, Sienna Collins, Raegan Speir, Kristina Wade, Jocelyn Ochoa, Ofelia Cabrera, Danielle Ross, Chandler Bain, Brianna Tawil & Coach Colton Smith.
Photo courtesy of
Francis Mowat teacher at Saltillo ISD
Smith says the Lady Lions placed fourth overall to advance to the state meet for the fifth year in a row. Lady Lion Sienna Collins won the race with a time of 12:42. Raegan Speir was 13th, Kristina Wade was 26th, Ofelia Cabrera was 51st, Jocelyn Ochoa was 64th, Chandler Bain was 88th and Danielle Ross was 89th. Coach Smith says conditions were not optimal for the race noting that the weather felt nice but the course was very muddy and wet. He says he was proud of the way the girls pushed through it and competed.
Brancen Cupp, Matthew Gurley, Jayden Holloway, Coach Bill Giles, Ben Moore, Edi Olayo, Andrew Redburn, Garret Tarver & Dillon Beadle. Photo courtesy of
Francis Mowat teacher at Saltillo ISD
Coach Giles said his Lions finished third and qualified for state for the eighth year out of the last nine. Saltillo won state in 2016 and was runner up in 2015 and 2017. The Lions were led by Garrett Tarver who was second in the race with a time of 16:31:51. Jayden Holloway was 5th, Dillon Beadle was 14th, Matthew Gurley was 30th, Edi Olayo was 40th, Ben Moore was 66th and Andrew Wellburn was 70th. Coach Giles notes he had only two runners return for the varsity from last year’s team. He says it was the first regional race for five of his guys and they ran really well. The Saltillo teams will compete at the state meet in Round Rock on November 3.
PJC Men’s Soccer Bound for Region XIV Tournament in Sulphur Springs
Emiliano Leal, freshman from Monterrey, Mexico, races a Murray State College defender for possession in a game earlier in the season. Leal is PJC’s lead scorer.
The men’s soccer team from Paris Junior College has made the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region XIV Tournament, taking on Coastal Bend College at 4 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, at Sulphur Springs High School.
“It’s been a really good season for the men’s team,” said PJC Head Soccer Coach Evan Michael Camperell, “we’re a very entertaining team to watch, very offensive and scoring a lot of goals. We play Coastal Bend College tomorrow and we have a good shot; we’ll see how it goes.”
Coach Camperell pointed to several players to watch for during the game. In the back field, freshman Raymond Kennedy of Waxahachie provides an anchor as a solid defender. Sophomore goalkeeper Ervin Rocha from Brownsville is fantastic, providing a few winning results largely due to his work. Offensively, freshman Emiliano Leal of Monterrey, Mexico, leads the team in scoring and has also been heavily involved with assists.
“Region XIV is perennially one of the toughest in the nation,” said Coach Camperell. “This game will be well worth watching.”
Currently PJC is 8-9 for the season and 7-7 in conference. The team that advances after tomorrow’s game will face either Seed 1, Tyler Junior College (ranked sixth nationally) or Seed 2, Northeast Texas Community College (ranked fifth nationally).
Brown and Gray to Appear at Hopkins County Stew Contest
The 49th Annual Hopkins County Stew Contest will be held on Saturday, October 27th, at Buford Park in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Stew service will begin at 10:45 a.m. This year marks the largest ever number of contestants in the World Champion Stew Contest, with over 165 pots competing in four categories: Chicken, Beef, Super Stew Chicken, and Super Stew Beef. Those competing in the Super Stew Categories have earned that right by winning first place in the Chicken or Beef categories in previous years. All stew is prepared on site over open wood fires. Tickets are $6.00 each for all-you-can-eat-while-it-lasts. The Stew Contest is hosted by the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce and sponsored generously by local businesses.
The Chamber is excited to announce that Brown & Gray will be participating in this year’s Stew Contest, with an acoustic music set from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. on the main Stew stage. Brown & Gray is a brand-new country duo composed of Kaci Brown and Sam Gray. Their Hit Single, “Top Down”, has earned strong support from Apple music, with major placements across multiple Apple-curated playlists. The song has also received substantial support from Radio Disney Country and is currently a featured Highway Find on Sirius XM – The Highway. The Track has passed 3.5 million streams and is now firmly ensconced in the Top 75 US iTunes Country singles chart with over 250,000 downloads sold. On Spotify, where Brown & Gray have earned over 72.5k monthly listeners, “Top Down” reached #1 on the Spotify-curated, “Wild Country” playlist and was featured on the “Very Nearly Nashville” playlist.
Kaci Brown was born in Sulphur Springs and started writing music at age 11 when she signed with Barbara Orbison’s Nashville-based, Still Working Music. At 17, she released her debut album, “Instigator” on Interscope Records. She also was an opening act for the Backstreet Boys.
Hailing from the UK, Sam Gray is a profoundly talented singer-songwriter, producer and musician who has over 95 million streams on Spotify across 7 current single releases with Hardwell, Julian Perretta, DJ Katch, Tobtok, Manovski, Allie Farben, and Solano.
The Chamber is happy to welcome Sam & Kaci to the Stew Contest. Brown & Gray will be serving as celebrity judges for the Stew Contest and will then be available for meet-and-greets throughout the park. They will also have merchandise available for sale that day. Tickets are available at all local banks and the Chamber of Commerce office. The theme for this year’s stew contest is “May the Stew Be With You”. T-shirts are also available for purchase at the Chamber this week and at the event on Saturday for $10 each.
Early Votes Cast Monday; 796 in Person Votes Cast
With mid-term election campaigning showing little sign of slowing, early voting places are now open across Texas and in Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County 796 voted in person and six limited ballots were cast at the Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 Courtroom Monday. The courtroom serves as the early voting place for the county and Monday was the first day to vote.
Early voting continues through November 2nd from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. each weekday with the exception of Tuesday, October 30th and Thursday, November 1st when early ballots may be cast from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Early voting will also be available Saturday, October 27th from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday, October 28th from noon until 5 p.m.
Senior citizen voters who applied may also mail in their ballot.
This year the U S Senate race between incumbent Republican Rafael “Ted” Cruz and Democrat challenger Robert “Beto” O’Rourke has drawn national attention thanks to O’Rourke’s fund raising ability. Much of his $38-million raised has been spent in television advertising and signage. In Hopkins County only the County Clerk position is contested. Within the District 2 state house race and the state senate race, the issue of education is driving campaigns for Democratic challengers Bill Brannon, who is challenging Dan Flynn for state representative, and Kendall Scudder, who is challenging Bob Hall for the state senate seat. Issues surrounding education are also primary factors in the race for Lt. Governor.
Winnsboro Police Report October 15-21, 2018
Winnsboro police arrested two, responded a two vehicle accident, answered 108 calls for service, issued 21 citations, and wrote 36 warnings during the October 15-21 report period.
Jason Goines, 37, of Gilmer was arrested October 17th for Possession of a Controlled Substance in a Drug Free Zone.
Sheri Colon, 44, of Winnsboro, was arrested October 18th on three Winnsboro Municipal Warrants.
A two vehicle accident at South Walnut and East Carnegie was investigated. There were no injuries.
Lady Cats Face Texas High in Final 2018 District Game Tuesday
After the Lady Cats’ volleyball team defeated Mount Pleasant Friday (October 19), 3-0, Lady Cats Coach Justin Maness said the Lady Cats first and third sets were very clean adding they were some of the cleanest sets they have had all season long. He said the Lady Cats needed a win and they got it.
Friday was Senior Night and Coach Maness said all seven played solid volleyball passing, setting and hitting. He said they wanted to finish out their careers on the home floor in fine fashion and they did. With the win, the Lady Cats moved back into a three-way tie for third place with Greenville and Royse City. All are 4-5 in district play.
The Lady Cats have a tough assignment to finish district play. They go to Texarkana to face district leader Texas High Tuesday night (October 23). The Lady Tigers need a win to wrap up the district championship. Coach Maness said the match will be a doozy.
He said despite the loss of seven seniors off of his twelve member varsity team, he called the future of volleyball bright here. Coach Maness said he has been shocked with how competitive volleyball has been in the new district this year.
Wildcats Begin Practice Wednesday
Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta can hardly wait until Wednesday (October 24), the first day the Wildcats can practice. Coach Cipoletta said he’s been ready to get started again since the playoff loss to Prosper ended the Wildcats’ season last year. Since that game, three Division I athletes left the program due to a family move.
Coach Cipoletta said the departure gives opportunities for the guys left. He said they are ready to step up and he added he has faith in them. Senior Keaston Willis returns. He’s been on the varsity since his freshmen year. Coach Cipolleta expects Willis to do even more this season to lead the team. Coach Cipoletta said he is also counting on the senior leadership of big center Xavier Cork. He said two of his seniors have been overlooked: Jeremiah Roland and Cedric Berry. Coach Cipoletta said Roland is athletic and is perhaps the team’s best defender. He said Berry can shoot the lights out. Coach Cipoletta also expects big things from Day Day Hall and Cameron Kahn. He said the tall players will allow the Wildcats to continue to field tall lineups. He added both players are a nightmare to guard. Coach Cipoletta said Grayson McClure and Kai Taylor are two of the hardest working players in the gym. McClure attempted an astronomical number of shots during the off season. Coach Cipoletta also expects to add a couple of sophomores to the roster that played JV ball as freshman last year: Lamondric Johnson and Boo Wilkerson.
The Wildcats will face another very difficult schedule according to Coach Cip. He said he likes to challenge his team. Coach Cipoletta said good teams expose your weaknesses so you can work on them. He said he played basketball with a chip on his shoulder and he added he coaches the same way. Coach Cipoletta said he loves to hear people express doubts about his team so the team can prove them wrong. He actually believes this year’s team might end up going further than last year’s star-studded team.
This year’s scheduled is filled with monsters such as #1 ranked 6A team Denton Guyer and #6 ranked 6A team Rockwall. There is also 6A Plano East and 6A Dallas Jesuit. The teams first scrimmage is at a showcase at Wichita Falls Hirschi on November 3 that features Texas teams, Oklahoma teams and teams from all across the country.
