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The PLAYMAKERS powered by UTMB Health (5/11/22)
The Greater Houston area is loaded with elite talent in every sport. Welcome to the VYPE Playmakers, powered by UTMB Health, where we take a look at five student-athletes making a difference on the field or track.
Caden Ferraro, Pearland
>> Caden Ferraro, Pearland, baseball
Ferraro has been stellar for the Oilers this season. The junior is hitting .312 and leads Pearland in RBIs (28), walks (19), doubles (7) and home runs (4). He has a .427 on-base percentage and has only struck out nine times in 90 at-bats. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder is a Texas A&M commit.
Chloe Riassetto, Friendswood
>> Chloe Riassetto, Friendswood, softball
Riassetto is making the most of her senior year with an outstanding campaign for the Mustangs. The University of Louisiana commit is hitting .434 and leads Friendswood in RBIs (40) and home runs (nine). She has a .468 on-base percentage and has struck out just seven times in 99 at-bats. Riassetto is also just as dominant in the circle with 14-2 record and 1.20 ERA, striking out 188 and walking 32 over 128 1/3 innings.
Camryn Dickson, Clear Brook
>> Camryn Dickson, Clear Brook, track and field
The Texas A&M commit has one final hurrah of her illustrious high school career with the state meet approaching this weekend. Odds are the young lady will not disappoint. Dickson qualified for state in the 200-meter dash after winning the event in the Region III-6A meet with a time of 23.39 seconds.
Joel Hutchins, Lutheran South Academy
>> Joel Hutchins, Lutheran South Academy, track and field
Hutchins won the 100-meter dash state championship with a school record time of 10.67, took bronze in the 200-meter dash (22.71) and then anchored the bronze-medal-winning 4x100-meter relay (43.00) at the TAPPS 5A track and field meet this month. His big day helped the Pioneers beat out TMI-Episcopal by 21 points and capture their first team state title since 2002.
>> Hailey Golden, Pearland, softball
Golden has been big-time for the Oilers this year, hitting .a team-best .664 with 24 RBIs, 36 stolen bases and seven doubles this season. The Texas A&M commit has only struck out four times and has an unreal .704 on-base percentage. The junior outfielder helped Pearland to a district championship this season.
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TAPPS State Track: Lutheran South Academy boys win first team title in 20 years
HOUSTON – It all came down to one race – the 4x400-meter relay.
At any track & field meet, the 4x400 is always the final race of the weekend and heading into it Lutheran South Academy track & field coach Gene Benson knew his boys team needed to do well to secure something they hadn’t won in 20 years.
As Jaylin Lowery raced down the final stretch and crossed the finish line, the clock for LSA stopped at 3:24.92. Lowery pumped his fist in excitement. They were State Champions.
“Everybody was out there hooping and hollering,” Benson said. “Everybody was ecstatic in the win.”
Winning the 4x400-meter relay (Jaylin Lowery, Max McGee, Marcus Gaitan and Matthew Gaitan) gave LSA a final total of 103 points, enough to beat out TMI-Episcopal by 21 points to capture the 2022 TAPPS 5A Men’s Track & Field State Championship, the first since 2002 for the Pioneers.
“It’s been a while,” Benson said with a laugh. “It’s always good to win the title like this. It’s exciting for everybody. We knew we had a chance and went in there and the athletes performed. Which is what they were there to do.”
Benson is in his 31st year leading the LSA track & field program.
As the veteran coach reached back into his memory to 2002, the similarity to that run to a title and the one in 2022 was they on the final day they just kept scoring.
The Pioneers also walked into the final day with points already on the board.
Wilson Klein cleared 14 feet in the pole vault to take silver, while Adan Rivas finished fourth clearing 10-feet-6-inches. In the high jump, Kaden Harvey finished as the state runner-up clearing 6-feet-4-inches. In the triple jump, Lowery finished fifth with a leap of 41-feet-11-inches.
With those, LSA had 25 points already on the board heading into Saturday. Then, the points piled up event after event.
Joel Hutchins brought home the 100-meter dash State Championship with a school record time of 10.67, took bronze in the 200-meter dash (22.71) and then anchored the bronze-medal-winning 4x100-meter relay (43.00).
“He had a big meet,” Benson said of Hutchins. “At the State meet everybody is good, so you must be ready to go. He was rearing to go, met that competition and met the challenge to what was happening.”
The rest of the 4x100-meter relay team was Ethan Savell, Lowery, John LeBlanc and Hutchins.
In the distance races, the Pioneers also garnered points. In the 400-meter, Marcus Gaitan took silver (50.33) and Lowery placed fourth with a time of 50.70. In the 800-meter, it was Matthew Gaitan taking bronze (1:58.90), besting his brother Marcus who took fourth (1:59.25).
Alec Salerno placed seventh in the 300-meter hurdles (46.07) and the 4x200-meter relay (Max McGee, Jonah Weber, LeBlanc, Matthew Savala) placed seventh (1:33.33).
In the end, the points were enough to push LSA to the top of the mountain, which Benson hopes excites other athletes walking the halls for years to come.
“You always hope a State Championship will excite athletes in the school who maybe haven’t thought about running track,” Benson said. “We also have a good group of athletes coming back for next year and that’s always exciting knowing that many coming back participated in the State Championship and would like to have another one.”