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Returner Allen-Taylor & Signee Coleman Surprised By UT Coaching Change; Plan To Play For Schaefer
One of the biggest news announcements of the past week was The University of Texas vice president and athletic director Chris Del Conte's decision to not extend eight-year women's basketball coach Karen Aston's contract past its current August 31, 2020 end date.
Whenever a coaching change happens, there's immediately the question about who will succeed the previous leader. By Sunday, that person had been identified and hired. It was former Mississippi State and Sam Houston State head coach Vic Schaefer. The Austin native graduated from Houston Lutheran High School and later Texas A&M University before leading Mississippi State to the 2017 and 2018 NCAA championship games in his best coaching seasons to date.
A change at the head coaching position of a program usually affects the current lineup for years to come. Heading into the 2020-2021 season, seven of Texas' 12 players from the 2019-2020 campaign are eligible to come back. That includes guard Joanne Allen-Taylor, who graduated from Cypress Falls High School in 2018. She grew as a basketball player during Coach Aston's Texas tenure and will miss her because of that.
"She helped me grow by pushing me to not only work and better my game, but she challenged me to strive for the best on and off the court," Allen-Taylor said of Aston. "We had so much fun as a team together. The moment that sits with me the most...is how proud she was of us when we beat [nation No. 1] Stanford in December."
That's why it was hard to hear the news of Aston's departure. Allen-Taylor was at home when she received the call about it.
"Obviously, I was shocked and devastated," said Allen-Taylor. "Everything was running through my mind. I was hurt about it [and] it's still sad to think about."
Texas women's basketball recruits are other affected athletes. That includes the 2020 class, which signed before Aston's exit was announced. If nothing changes, the incoming talent will include Atascocita's Elyssa Coleman, Baytown Sterling's Precious Johnson, Westlake's Shay Holle, [Chatsworth, California] Sierra Canyon School's Ashley Chevalier and Harvard University graduate transfer Katie Benzan.
Coleman enjoyed her time with Aston during the recruiting process, including the day Aston saw one of Coleman's games in Virginia and offered her a spot on Texas' team.
"Being locked in my house, I've been on my phone way more," said Coleman. "I was scrolling on my timeline on Twitter and saw the article about her contract not being renewed. I was in complete shock since I've been talking to the staff all week."
But, the change to the program hasn't halted Coleman's excitement for the program or interest in being a Longhorn.
"Of course, I'm staying," said Coleman. "Mainly because I've made my decision on not only the coaching staff, but on how amazing The University of Texas is all the way around. I'm super excited for what the future has to hold for our program with such an accomplished coach like Vic Schaefer."
Along with Coleman, the Longhorns' women's basketball roster will feature a dedicated returner in Allen-Taylor.
"I'm definitely going to finish my college career at Texas," said Allen-Taylor. "I chose this school because I believed I can be [a] part of the best of both worlds, competing at a high level on the court and getting an engineering degree."
"I think everybody who plays for Texas wants to leave their mark," she continued. "I want to finish where I started and leave something behind that I can be proud of. I'm excited to get to know the new coaching staff. I know Coach Schaefer has plans to compete for championships, as well as I do, so I'm ready to get to work."
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Southlake Carroll Girls Repeat As State Champs; Kingwood Boys End Title Drought
If you've been around Texas high school swimming, you know that one of the most storied programs in the state is found at Southlake Carroll High School. On Saturday at The University of Texas at Austin's Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, its girls team won four of the first five UIL 6A swimming and diving state championship meet events to set up a 284-point day and its fourth UIL state championship since 2012.
Southlake Carroll kicked off the classification's action with a win in the Girls 200-yard Medley Relay. Ohio State commit Kit Kat Zenick earned her first of four wins of the day by earning a 1:42.55 time with Corbyn Cormack, Hailey Heldenbrand and Madelyn Clem.
"This year's run was different, especially for me," Zenick said in comparison to her team's 2019 state championship season. "Just because I was a senior and a lot of our state team was freshmen. And it was really great to be a role model for them and be able to help lead the team to their second state title in a row."
Senior Kit Kat Zenick helped Southlake Carroll girls swimming extend its UIL state championship dynasty & talked Oh… https://t.co/zlqOENBnyP— VYPE DFW (@VYPE DFW) 1581825967.0
Riley Francis followed with a Girls 200-yard Freestyle runner-up finish and a 1:47.00 time, and the Dragons added Cormack's 200-yard Individual Medley victory and Zenick's 50-yard Freestyle win.
At this point, Southlake Carroll led second-place Kingwood by 41 points. But, that wasn't good enough for the Dragons. They immediately powered up the jet skis and continued to expand their lead. Hailey Hernandez won the Girls 1-meter Diving event with a 553.70 score and Bridget O'Neil's 532.70 score allowed her to finish in second. Then, Zenick won the Girls 100-yard Freestyle with a 49.05 time and Francis finished right behind her with a 49.51 time.
And a final push of the gas allowed Southlake Carroll to wrap up its latest state title. The Dragons' 200-yard Freestyle Relay Team, which included Francis, Clem, Cormack and Ashley Zettle, recorded a third-place time of 1:34.66 and the 400-yard Freestyle Relay made up of Zenick, Francis, Zettle and Kate Heintz won the final event of the season with a 3:23.42 time.
Another community with a lot of state swimming success is Kingwood and that continued on Saturday. It had a strong day on the boys' side, which was headlined by Kingwood Park's UIL 5A win and Kingwood's UIL 6A title. Both programs leaned heavily on their relay teams and that resulted in the Panthers' fifth UIL state boys swimming championship and the Mustangs' seventh UIL boys crown for the sport.
Photo by VYPE Media's Thomas Bingham.
Kingwood High School may not have won any boys state championship meet events on Saturday, but its relay teams medaled enough to give its swimming and diving program a winning point total of 189.5.
Texas commit Victor Tremblay played a major role in the Mustangs' success by recording a second-place time of 1:31.58 with Garret Green, Owen Pickering and Luke Langley in the Boys 200-yard Medley Relay. He later added a third-place time of 1:23.77 with Green, Connor Little and Gabe Roberts in the Boys 200-yard Freestyle Relay. The swimmers' combined effort helped the Mustangs top fellow North Houston program and UIL state runner-up The Woodlands (186 points) for its first UIL state swim championship since 2009.
"It's been 11 years since we've had the state title and I can't be any more happy with the guys than I am right now," said Tremblay. "I've seen all the hard work they put in through these last four years I've swam with them and all the grinding they put in. It's paid off, so I'm just really happy to be a Kingwood swimmer."
It’s a Kingwood boys sweep at UIL State Swimming! Kingwood Park grabbed 5A title to start the day & Victor Tremblay… https://t.co/mQVBDZB5pf— VYPE Houston (@VYPE Houston) 1581819727.0
For more sports coverage, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEHouston/@VYPEDFW) on Twitter.
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