Abilene ISD -

The state softball playoffs will begin later this week, and Abilene High and Cooper are in the tournament. While the Lady Cougars know their bi-district opponent, the Lady Eagles are still waiting to find out who they'll start the playoffs against.

Meanwhile, the District 4-5A baseball regular season will end this week, with a pair of Crosstown Showdowns affecting playoff seeding and opponents. And seasons ended for AHS and Cooper boys’ and girls’ track and field and golf teams last week at the regional championship competition.

This week’s Athletics Roundup will cover those stories and upcoming district and state competitions for other Abilene ISD athletes.

BASEBALL
The four playoff teams from District 4-5A are determined, and all that remains for Cooper, Abilene High, Wylie, and Wichita Falls Memorial is to determine seeding for the postseason. Abilene High and Cooper will represent the district in the Class 5A Division I playoffs, while Wylie and Memorial will participate in the Class 5A Division II playoffs. However, that’s the only certainty with two games left on the district schedule.

Wylie is in first place in the district at 8-2 and has already won the league title based on its season sweep of Wichita Falls Memorial (3-0) and series wins over AHS and Cooper by 2-1 counts. Wylie has two games remaining this week against Wichita Falls Legacy and can claim the title without using the tiebreaker edge with just one win over Legacy, 0-10, and outscored 112-6 in district games. Memorial is 8-4, in second place, and only has a non-district matchup against Duncan, Oklahoma, left on its schedule. The Mavericks hold the tie-breaker over Abilene High, securing no worse than a second-place finish. 

Abilene High and Cooper will determine the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds on Tuesday and possibly Friday in the final two games of the regular season. AHS needs to win just one of the two to clinch third in the district (and the league’s top seed in the Division I bracket), while Cooper must win both games to finish tied with the Eagles at 6-6 in the district. If that happens, the Cougars will win the season series 2-1, finish third in the district (dropping AHS to fourth), and claim the top seed from the district in the Division I playoffs.

SOFTBALL
Abilene High closed a perfect District 4-5A season last week with a 3-1 win over Wylie to finish the district schedule at 8-0. The district championship is the first for the Lady Eagles’ softball team since 2019. AHS (16-8 overall) must wait until late Monday to learn its bi-district playoff opponent. Three teams in District 3-5A – Lubbock High, Amarillo Caprock, and Lubbock Monterey – are all tied with 9-7 records and are having a mini-tournament Monday to determine the district’s final two playoff teams. Lubbock Cooper won the district with Amarillo High finishing second.

Cooper, which finished third in the District 4-5A race, will play Amarillo High in the bi-district round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs. Amarillo High (23-8-2) finished second in District 3-5A behind Lubbock Cooper. Still, Lubbock Cooper will be the No. 1 seed in the Division II playoffs, meaning Amarillo High is the No. 1 seed in the Division I playoffs. The Lady Coogs (15-12) and Sandies will play the best-of-three series at Frenship beginning with the first game at 6 p.m. Friday. The second game is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, with the third game – if necessary – following 30 minutes after the completion of Game Two.

GOLF
Abilene High sophomore Grant Duwe, who won the District 4-5A individual championship, came within two strokes of reaching the Class 5A state tournament as a medalist last week as he finished tied for sixth, one stroke out of a playoff for the final spot and two strokes from claiming the final spot. He fired rounds of 76-77 for a two-round total of 153 at LakeRidge Country Club in Lubbock to claim a top-10 finish.

Cooper senior Branson King tied for 15th in the medalist race after carding rounds of 77-82 for a two-round total of 159. The Abilene High girls, who finished second at the District 4-5A tournament, finished ninth in the team race at the regional tournament. Amarillo High won the tournament, followed by Colleyville Heritage, and those two teams will represent the region at next month’s Class 5A state tournament.

TRACK AND FIELD
The Abilene High and Cooper boys’ and girls’ track seasons ended last Saturday at the Region I-5A championship meet at Plains Capital Park/Lowrey Field in Lubbock. None of Abilene High’s five athletes, the 4x400 girls’ relay team, or Cooper’s three athletes advanced to the Class 5A state meet in Austin, but the AHS girls had two athletes finish in the top four in their events. Here’s how Abilene ISD athletes fared at the Region I-5A championship meet (all results are finals unless noted):

Boys
400 meters (prelims) – 16. Jeramiah Appel, Cooper, 51.63
1600 meters – 8. John Alcantar, Abilene HIgh, 4:33.96
3200 meters – 9. John Alcantar, Abilene High, 10:04.70
Long jump – 14. Peyton Ewing, Cooper, 20-1.50; 16. Jaden Jackson, Abilene High, 19-7.00

Girls
800 meters – 13. Zoe Vann, Abilene High, 2:24.96
1600 meters – 4.  Zoe Vann, Abilene High, 5:10.64; 6. Mason Murray, Abilene High, 5:19.56
3200 meters – 4. Mason Murray, Abilene High, 11:36.52
4x400 relay – 6. Abilene High (Elizah Willis, Aubrey Duran, Abigail Johnson, Zoe Vann), 4:04.87
Long jump – 9. Asharee Davis, Cooper, 17-1.75
Triple jump – 11. Asharee Davis, Cooper, 35-1.50

GYMNASTICS
Two Abilene High standouts – Korban Jackson and Perielle Dalbert – advanced from the Region III-6A championship meet to the state championship meet this weekend – April 25-26 – in Odessa. Jackson will compete in the all-around competition, while Dalbert will compete on rings.

Jackson finished fifth in the all-around competition at the region championship meet with a score of 49.500, while Dalbert was ninth with a score of 41.550. Dalbert was seventh in the rings, scoring 8.000 to qualify for the state championship meet.

Odessa Permian won the boys' competition in the team standings, followed by San Angelo Central and Abilene High, with Cooper in eighth. Five-time defending state champion San Angelo Central won the team title on the girls’ side, with Abilene High finishing seventh.

TENNIS
The District 4-5A individual championship tournament will be played April 24-25 at the Rose Park Tennis Center in Abilene. The top two finishers in boys’ and girls’ singles, doubles, and mixed doubles will advance to the Region I-5A championship tournament, to be played May 7-8 at the McLeod Tennis Center in Lubbock. The top two finishers in boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles and mixed doubles will advance to the Class 5A championship tournament, to be played May 15-16 at three sites in San Antonio.