Athletic Banquet (Part One) (4-26-2016)

Athletic Banquet (Part One) (4-26-2016)

The Muleshoe Athletic Boosters honored and celebrated with the Lady Mule and Mule athletes Tuesday evening in both the Commons Area and Kerry Moore Auditorium of Muleshoe High School. River Smiths served those in attendance with all the catfish, chicken, beans along with all the trimmings.

Following the meal the festivities was moved to the auditorium for the presentation of awards.

Coach Wes Wood did the Senior Spotlight with each MHS athlete stepping into the spotlight and Coach W. Wood read the highlights along with the memorable moment for each athlete.

The Legends Award was presented by Coach Jody Wood.

“I ask Coach Wood who qualifies for our Legends Award,” said Coach J. Wood. “he said it is someone who is a very well-known, loyal Muleshoe Mule fan and supporter. This year’s winner is that and more.”

“For her 10 years of life, she was a notorious, loyal Muleshoe Mule fan and cheerleader. She is probably leading everyone in heaven right now with the chant, We love the Mules, We love the Mules.” She probably has the angels singing “Arise Ye Men of Muleshoe High School.” I wouldn’t doubt if she has already convinced God that the Muleshoe Mules can’t be beat.”

“She has been a huge blessing to all of us. It was said at her service last week that she thought she was a coaches’ kid. And she was, she was everyone’s kid. Everyone loved her and thought they were her favorite.”

“Tonight let us honor and remember our favorite Muleshoe Mule fan and cheerleader.”

“Our 2016 Legends Award goes to Hanna Simmons.”

Hanna Simmons’ Mom, Dad, Grandparents and Uncle accepted the Legends Award for her.

The Varsity and Junior Varsity cheerleaders were invited to the stage and their sponsor Kit Diaz said, “The MHS cheerleaders had a great year. I am proud of these girls and their hard work and dedication in supporting the Mules and Lady Mules.”

“The Varsity this year had two seniors; Shyanne Carpenter and Marissa Reyes. The juniors on the squad were; Brylee Beall, Brittany Mendoza, Reagan Reynolds and Erika Arzola and the mascot was Conley Niblett.”

The Junior Varsity cheerleaders this year were; Natalie Diaz, Kayla Torres, Kensey Parker, Kyndal Miller, Brianna Barron and Melody Moran.”

The student athletic trainers for the year were the next to the stage along with Coach Crystal Miller.

“The Student Athletic Trainers for the 2015-2016 school year were; Zoey Apodaca, Randy Lieurance, Samantha Cortez, Gaby Gonzalez, Daisy Montejano, Brendon Rodriguez, Haili Gardner, Kaley Herrera and Valentina Platas,” said Coach C. Miller.

“We cannot begin to thank you all enough for the countless hours you have given to the sports teams of Muleshoe High School. You have worked diligently to ensure the safety of our athletes and I could not have done my job without you. Thank you for everything and your contributions do not go unnoticed.”

“At this time, I would like to recognize the Student Athletic Trainer of the Year. This young lady has worked hard all year taking care of the athletes. She is always wanting and willing to learn. She has been a great asset to this program. The Student Athletic Trainer of the Year Award goes to Gaby Gonzalez.”

The Varsity football team was the next group invited to the stage along with Coach David Wood.

As the Varsity Mules joined him on the stage the Freshman team was asked to stand and be recognized.

“The Freshman Football team had an excellent year,” said Coach D. Wood. “They were coached by Coach Clay White and Coach Bryan Loera. They had a record of 6-2-1. These guys just love to play the game. We have not seen a group of boys who get so excited about the everyday grind like this guys.”

“They show up ready to work every single day. Not only did it show on Thursday nights during the football season but throughout the whole year. These guys are hungry and will carry the torch in coming years. You will see some of these guys in a varsity uniform next year.”

The JV Mules were the next group to be asked to stand and be recognized.

“This team is coached by Coach John Jay and Coach David Sturdivant,” continued Coach D. Wood. “This team ended their season with a 6-4 record and a district record of 4-1. They overcome many obstacles as the year went along. They started four different quarterbacks in one year and that is difficult to do but this didn’t keep them from giving the varsity a great look on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.”

“The Varsity coaches robbed them of a number of players as the season progressed but that didn’t slow them down on Thursday nights. Their work ethic has risen to a higher level for the last few months and this will help fill many varsity spots next year. These guys had a little taste of that already, remember the three touchdown they scored at the end of our first playoff game this year.”

“Entering the 2015 season we had to find some lineman and find them fast. We only had one returning lineman coming back from the previous year. In our opener against a powerful Levelland team that was picked to win their 4-A district we quickly discovered we had found our lineman and cruised to a 46-15 victory.”

“The following week we found ourselves in a dogfight against a 2A powerhouse, Seagraves. At the end of regulation we found our new field goal kicker, Bryce Mauricio. He, in his first ever game situation booted a game winning 26-yard field goal with no time left on the clock.”

“Our momentum and confidence grew as we beat a very good Perryton team 52-37 and Kermit 58-7 to finish out our non-district schedule.”

“Our level of play continued to rise in district as we beat River Road 59-0, Friona 43-0, Childress 47-13 and Dimmitt 47-6. The season had continued to build for the ’War on 84’ with the Littlefield Wildcats.”

We had beaten Littlefield the previous year in the waning moments of the game and knew they would be our for revenge. But at the end of the day the 42-25 victory would belong to the Mules and we ended the regular season with a 9-1 record.

The first Playoff game was against an insurgent Slaton team who had not seen the playoffs in several years. But how would you like it if you finally make the playoffs only to find out you have to play the Mules. We won the game 76-25.”

“The victory ensured a rematch between us and Breckenridge. The Buckaroos had knocked us out of the Playoffs last season. A hard fought first three quarters of play made us feel like the season was slowly drawing to a close.”

“We just couldn’t put points on the board as they would run time off the clock with their time efficient running attack. It wasn’t until Tony Castillo recovered a muffed punt and gave us new life. Momentum had swung to our side as we gained confidence.”

“The tide had turned and now they were the ones who couldn’t do anything right. When the final horn blew we embraced a 31-20 victory and reached the third round of the State Playoffs.”

Unfortunately we found ourselves pretty beaten up at this point of the season and even though we fought tooth and nail against Shallowater. We just didn’t have enough gas in the tank to go the four quarters and our season ended with a 35-21 loss with a record of 11-2.”

“When the season was over these guys found their way into the Muleshoe record book. They set a new record for Yards per Game in a single season by averaging 516 yards per game. Great job Mules.”

“I would like to thank all the coaches for their time and effort this season. Wes Boatmun, Wes Wood, John Jay, David Sturdivant, Clay White, Bryan Loera, Steven Brown, Albert Lopez and Ryan Miller. I want to also than Crystal Miller and the student trainers for the countless hours they put in during the season. Our accomplishments would not be possible without all of their efforts.”

The first set of awards presented by Coach D. Wood were the Wall of Fame presentation.

“We have four inductees to the Wall of Fame this year,” said Coach D. Wood.

“Our first recipient is a gentleman who enjoyed playing varsity football for three years. He was a player that filled many rolls for us. He was selected to the All-District First Team for two consecutive years. Please congratulate Antonio Vasquez.”

“The second inductee is another young man that played varsity football for three years and was selected to the All-District First Team for the last two years. He had a major knee injury last year but was determined to make it back to the playing field for his senior year. Please congratulate Josh Lopez.”

“Our third inductee is another three-year starter and three-year captain. He was named to the First Team Texas Sports Writers Association All-State Team. He will be attending Simpson College in Iowa this fall to play football. Please give a big hand to Jaxon Lee.”

“Our final inductee to be honored is a young man who blossomed this year. He is also a three-year starter and a three-year captain. He was name the District I 3A Most Valuable Player. He was the Built Ford Tough Player of the Week. Named the All South Plains Super Team Quarterback. An he was the TSWA First Team All-State Quarterback. He will attend Wayland Baptist University this fall and play football. Please give Danny Campos a huge round of applause.”

Coach D. Wood next recognized the Mule captains.

“I want to recognize the captains of the year’s football team. These guys were voted on by their teammates and are the backbone of the team. They did a great job of carrying out and maintaining the duties of Team Captain. Thank you for your leadership and character.”

“Our captains for 2015 were Beto Diaz, Matt Flores and Dagen Dunham. We also had two three-year captains Jaxon Lee and Danny Campos.”

“The Most Improved Player Award goes to a guy that has no regard for his body. This years’ Most Improved Player Award goes to Tony Castillo.”

“This year there are two Offensive Player Award recipients. Unfortunately they were both injured at the end of the season. Who knows where we would have ended up at the end had they both stayed healthy. This years Offensive Player Award goes to Jason Florez and Josh Lopez.”

“The Defensive Player Award goes to a junior. Please congratulate this year’s Defensive Player Award recipient, Dagen Dunham.”

“The Most Outstanding Player Award goes to a player that has played every offensive and defensive line position in his career at Muleshoe. This years’ Most Outstanding Player Award goes to Jaxon Lee.”

“The Football Most Valuable Player-Fighting Heart Award goes to a young man that you would think that nothing ever bothers him as he always has a smile on his face. This years’ Most Valuable Player-Fighting Heart Award goes to Danny Campos.”

Cross Country coach Edie Niblett invited all the boys and girls that participated in Cross Country to come to the stage.

“The JV girls placed first at the district meet with seven of them placing in the top 10,” said Coach Niblett. “Citlalli Vargas finished third with a time of 15 minutes and 21 seconds and Kyndal Miller placed fifth with a time of 15:54.00. Other members of the JV District Champions are Blanca Ramirez, Jennifer Cervantes, Kayla Torres, Brianna Barron, Cassidy Cage, Sophie Reyna, Lillie Barrera and Denisse Ramirez.”

“The JV boys won district as well with Jesse Leal leading the JV by placing third. Other members of the team are Malachi Rodriquez, Mario DeHoyos, Luke Leal, Izaiah Perez, Fabian Valadez and Ean Hasley.”

“The Varsity girls placed first at the District Meet with the help of freshmen, Liliana Martinez being the gold medalist with a time of 13:07.00. Two other freshmen placed in the top ten. They are Alyssa Wheeler and Dellany Martinez. Other members of the district winning team are Mireya Ruvulcaba, Reina Regalado, Jasmine Garza and Ricarda Elizalde. It was great having a complete team compete at regional and they ran very well but were unable to advance to the Texas State Meet.”

“The Varsity boys team consisted of Evan Paez, Edyy Elizalde, Jacob Kettner, Ethan Gonzales, Jose Nava, Kevin Gonzales and Eduardo Pantoja. Paez was the silver medalist at district with a time of 17:59.00 earning him a trip back to Lubbock for the Region I Meet. He had another great time of 17:25.00 and qualified to attend the Texas State Meet in Round Rock for the second straight year.”

“This has been another successful season for Cross Country. Our numbers show we will be successful for several years to come with 21 freshmen coming into the program and we are only graduating four seniors. A special thanks goes to Jasmine Garza, Denisse Ramirez, Blanca Ramirez and Edyy Elizalde for being great leaders of our team.”

“I want to thank Coach Sudduth, Coach Veazy, Coach King and Coach Lowery for all their help and support to the Cross Country program.”

“The Mule Cross Country Newcomer of the Year Award goes to Eduardo Pantoja. The Lady Mule Cross Country Newcomer of the Year Award goes to Citalli Vargas. The Mule pride Awards goes to Edyy Elizalde, Jacob Kettner, Mireya Ruvulcaba and Blanca Ramirez.”

“The Lady Mule MVP Award is presented to Liliana Martinez and the Mule MVP Award goes to Evan Paez.”