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Part Two
There is only one scenario where a sports team walks away from their last game, tournament or event with a victory. State championships, whether as a team or as an individual are extremely rare and so, then are the celebrations that follow such accomplishments.
It is a fact then, and so it is with all Seminole teams this year – that their teams and individual competitors all ended their seasons with a loss or at best, with not winning, coming in second or third place in the state of Texas.
With that said, there was still much to celebrate this past school year in the realm of sports. It all began in August of 2021 in what is known as the “fall” sports.
All of the fall sports officially began around the first of August. Three of the five sports teams that would be competing (UIL competition) in the fall had new head coaches and there was indeed a lot of adjusting and learning going on. This is part two of the fall review.
VOLLEYBALL
In the spring of 2021, at about the same time that Poynor came on board as the Indian’s athletic director and head football coach, Bailey McFerren was hired and named the new head coach of the Maiden volleyball team.
McFerren brought a few years of high school coaching experience along with the experience of playing at the collegiate level. This past spring, McFerren got married and from now on will be referred to as coach Bailey Faught.
“It’s nice to have those experiences,” she said. “Not only can I tell the girls what I want done, I can show them as well.”
While the Maidens had graduated a few key seniors the year before, they returned some key players as well. The team had a good balance of upper and lower classmen. The one thing they lacked was height (for girls’ sports, that means over six foot).
The Maidens had a good season and finished with an overall record of 21-14. They got to go back to a traditional volleyball schedule and early in the season, participated in a few tournaments.
By the time District 2-4A play began, the Tribe had a 13-11 record. The Maidens went 7-3 in district play and the highlight victories came late in the season.
The first came against Monahans in their second meeting, which was played at Seminole. The Maidens beat Monahans 3-0. It was the first time in decades a Seminole varsity volleyball team had done that. The second was a barn-burning come-from-behind bidistrict victory against Clint.
The Maidens’ season came to an end in the area round of the playoffs when they lost to Pampa 3-1.
“I was very proud of those girls,” Faught said. “They worked hard and did everything I asked of them. I am excited about the girls’ coming up next year.”
CROSS COUNTRY The Maiden crosscountry team finished in second place at the district meet and as a team went on to compete at the regional meet, where their season came to an end.
“While no one qualified for state they ran well,” Allyson Contreras, Maiden head crosscountry coach said. “Four of the seven girls ran their personal best at the district meet.”
The Indian’s season as a team came to a close at the district meet. The one highlight of the season was Landon Elder. He, alone, qualified for the regional meet by placing in the top 10 at the district meet with a 7th place finish. He finished 76 out of 175 runners at the regional meet.
“He (Elder) had a great season,” Eldon Smith, Indian head cross-country coach said. “We were young this year but look for good things to come in the coming years.
