Sports Roundup for Aug. 12

Sports Roundup for Aug. 12

Dolan has sights on another record; Brawner leads SEALS at state

BY RICK MAUCH

Special to the Hood County News

A couple of weeks after bringing home a silver medal, Granbury runner Gannon Dolan has his sights set on something bigger - another national record.

Dolan set a national record of 8 minutes, 59 seconds in winning a gold medal in the 3000-meter run in the Boys 13-14 division in 2022. He followed that up by capturing second place this year in the Boys 15-16 division at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics in Eugene, Oregon in late July.

In taking the silver medal, however, he also bested his previous best time in clocking a time of 8:49.76. That has him thinking the 15-16 national record of 8:27 is within his reach.

"Absolutely. If it's something I want enough and put the work in I can achieve that," Dolan said. "If I listen to my coaches and do what I know I can do I can get it."

Then, year after next, when he will be competing in the 17-18 division, the record in that category is 8:41.

"Had I run the race I should have in Oregon I could have beat that time," Dolan said.

Dolan was competing at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. It's the same track on which heralded long distance runner, the late Steve Prefontaine, ran.

"It was great going there to arguably the greatest track stadium in the world," Dolan said. "He did what it took to be great, things like running on the track after dark after everybody else had left. My dad reminds me of that when he picks me up at night (from the Acton Middle School track). It was pretty surreal. You see the pictures and videos and say, 'I want to run there,' and I got to."

Dolan said he also had a chance to visit Pre's Rock, a site to honor the school's legend. He said visitors often leave items such as running bibs and shoes at the site.

"I want to be like him, but when it comes down to it, I want to be the one - someone people look up to," Dolan said. "I want them to want to be like Gannon."

SEALS SWIMMING

Led by the performance of Kyle Brawner, a dozen members of the Granbury SEALS swim team competed at the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Games of Texas in Brownsville July 27-30.

Brawner, competing in the Boys 11-12 division, won a pair of gold medals in the 50-yard backstroke and 100 individual medley, along with capturing a bronze medal in the 50 breaststroke.

Brawner joined Adler Snow, Connor Spence and Cameron Brinkman to win a silver medal as runners-up in the 200-medley relay.

Also finishing in the top three in an event were Camille Vazquez and Mason Prince. Vazquez claimed a silver in the 25 back in the Girls 6-Under division and Prince captured a bronze in the Boys 9-10 25 butterfly.

In all, SEALS swimmers won six medals in the competition, including two gold, two silver and two bronze. In addition, they narrowly missed a medal with three fourth-place finishes and three fifth-place finishes.

TAAF State Games of Texas

in Brownsville

Granbury SEALS results

Distances in yards

Boys

9-10

25 Back: 4. Mason Prince, 18.84.

25 Breast: 9. Asher Beatty, 22.45.

25 Fly: 3. Prince, 15.58.

100 Yard Individual Medley: 4. Prince, 1:26.75.

11-12

200 Medley Relay: 2. Kyle Brawner, Adler Snow, Connor Spence, Cameron Brinkman, 2:31.27.

100 Free: 11. Snow, 1:08.54.

50 Back: 1. Brawner, 32.59.

50 Breast: 3. Brawner, 37.82; 13. Snow, 42.74.

50 Fly: 5. Snow, 35.38.

50 Free: 5. Brawner, 28.36; 18. Snow, 32.37.

100 Individual Medley: 1. Brawner, 1:12.27.

200 Free Relay: 4. Spence, Brinkman, Snow, Brawner, 2:11.85.

Girls

6-Under

25 Back: 2. Camille Vazquez, 24.93; 10. Eliana Sanchez, 28.88.

25 Free: 5. Sanchez, 23.79; 7. Vazquez, 23.97.

11-12

100 Free: 16. Harper Fox, 1:10.56; 17. Charlotte Sorrells, 1:10.80.

50 Back: 17. Sorrells, 39.16.

50 Breast: 16. Fox, 44.36.

50 Fly: 12. Annabel Ross, 36.74; 15. Sorrells, 38.72.

50 Free: 20. Sorrells, 33.10.

100 Individual Medley: 12. Fox, 1:23.22; 16. Ross, 1:28.09.

13-14

50 Back: 10. Abigail Beatty, 36.52.

50 Breast: 14. Beatty, 41.81.

50 Fly: 12. Beatty, 33.77.

100 Individual Medley: 16. Beatty, 1:20.85.

GRANBURY VOLLEYBALL

The Granbury Lady Pirates began the 2023 volleyball season with a 3-0 loss at Mansfield Lake Ridge on Tuesday, Aug. 8 that was closer than the score indicates. The Lady Pirates dropped the first game 25-17 before falling 25-22 and 27-25 in the other two games.

Leaders for Granbury were junior Sienna Watts, 8 kills; junior Blakely Bleeker, .176 hitting percentage, 17 digs; senior Rachael Poirer, 2 blocks; and senior Kylie Moody, 1 ace served.

The junior varsity won 2-0, freshmen Purple won 2-1 and freshmen Gold fell 2-0. 

The Lady Pirates varsity are competing in the John Turner Classic Tournament in Pearland this weekend and will travel to Waxahachie for a tri-match against the hosts and Joshua, with matches at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15.

They are hosting the Granbury Classic Tournament Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 17-19.

TOLAR VOLLEYBALL

The Lady Rattlers got the season underway with a home sweep of Whitney (26-19, 25-11, 25-21) on Tuesday, Aug. 8. No standout players or stats were reported.

The Lady Rattlers are competing in the Brock Tournament this weekend and will host Peaster Tuesday, Aug. 15 with a 6 p.m. varsity start. They follow that by traveling to the Glen Rose Tournament Thursday and Saturday, Aug. 17 and 19.

GRANBURY TENNIS

The Athan Laskaris era gets underway this season as he enters his first year as the head coach of the Granbury High tennis program. He is in his fifth school year at GHS, however, he has coached football and basketball for the past four years as an assist.

Prior to Granbury, he was at Riverdale High School in Fort Myers, Florida as the head basketball, golf, and tennis coach for four years.

Coach Laskaris is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he received his bachelor’s degree in sports management and was president of the tennis club team. He attended Marion Harding High School in Marion, Ohio, where he was a district tennis champion and the No. 1 singles player for three years (lettering all four).

He and his wife Jessica, have two children, Niko (age 6) and Eliana (4). He enjoys fishing, golfing, tennis, and spending time with his family.

GHS tennis also has a new assistant coach this season with Debbie Hiler. She has been helping with the program at Acton Middle School for the past three years.

The Pirates/Lady Pirates began the season at Keller Fossil Ridge on Friday, Aug. 4, falling 14-5. Highlights included:

Senior Katie Childs, ranked No. 1 on the team among girls, won 8-5 in singles, as did senior and No. 2 player Molly Grossman, 8-6, along with senior and No. 3 Ava Hamrick, 8-3. Sophomores Joselin Briones and Kyleigh Ledesma each lost a close match, 8-5 and 8-6, respectively.

In boys singles, junior and No. player Roland Krause battled back after being down 1-4 for the comeback 8-6 victory. Also, sophomore No. 2 Colten Whitefield in his first tennis match lost a close 8-6 contest, as did senior and No. 3 Justin Rios. Sophomore No. 6 Tyler St. Don dropped a 9-8 tiebreaker and freshman Chase Bohney, No. 7, fell in his first varsity match, 8-5.

That was followed by a 15-4 loss at Burleson on Tuesday, Aug. 8. Granbury winners were Childs and McKenna, 8-5, in girls doubles, along with Briones and Ledesma, 8-2. Childs also won in girls singles, 8-2, as did sophomore Paloma Sandoval, 8-4, for her first varsity win.

Senior Kaden Bohney and soph Ava Hamrick lost a close 9-8 in a tiebreaker in mixed doubles. K. Bohney also lost a close 8-6 singles match.

“We are going to use this as a learning opportunity and move forward,” Laskaris said.

GHS hosts Peaster Tuesday (Aug. 15) and Glen Rose Friday, both matches at 4:30 p.m.

JUNIOR GOLF

Henry Ballew of Granbury tied for fourth in the 13-14 Boys division in a Northern Texas PGA Junior Tour tournament at Cross Timbers Golf Course in Azle on Aug. 3. He shot an 86.

Also competing in that age group at the same tournament was Granbury's Lincoln Sherrill. He placed sixth after shooting a 90.

Granbury had three boys competing in the 15-18 age group. Landon Womack finished seventh after shooting an 85, while Drake Montoya tied for eighth with an 87 and Quinn Bradley tied for 18th with a 97.