I just wrote that I thought the Llano loss to Taylor was a good game. What do I say about the one to Salado on the final night of March? How about, “It was even better” — the game, not the defeat. The Broncos registered a come-from-behind win.
“It’s been a while since we had a lead against a good team,” Head Coach Bobby Williams said.
AUSTIN — Ray Dixon took on a whirlwind of throwing, March 30-April 1 — one day in the Jacket Relays and two on one of the biggest Track & Field stages in the country: The 90th Texas Relays.
After two more victories on his home turf, Mike Myers Stadium on the UT campus presented him with a pair of huge challenges: the best high school discus and shot put throwers in the state.
Track & Field records are supposed to last about as long as a size-2 shoe. 40 years is a tad out of the norm, but that was the Llano High long-jump mark — until March 30. John Keeney flew 21 feet, seven-and-three-quarter inches, at the Jacket Relays, and David Clarno’s 1977 autograph was relegated to second place in school history.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Keeney told me.
I am not happy to admit I am a “Winning is everything” kind of guy too often — this despite the fact my dad tried to instill in me, “You can’t win ’em all.”
I was proud of myself, March 28, in Llano, when the softball Jackets put on a sensational offensive show, even though they lost to Taylor, 20-13.
When you beat someone badly, you’re supposed to act like you’ve been there before—and the Lady Jackets did just that, March 21—although I don’t know if I would have—after an 11-1, run-rule whipping of Burnet. Actually, they had been there before. In a tournament game in Johnson City, March 3, Llano belted the Bulldogs, 11-0.
“All through the lineup,” head coach Bobby Williams said, concerning the 19-4A triumph, “everybody contributed.”
This was the first district victor ...
It’s getting to be like Kentucky basketball: “One and Done.” Yes, that’s only the truth for the last two, but the Llano boys are about to get their fourth head basketball coach in four years.
Aaron Nuckles is leaving. You can’t blame him. Born and raised in Lampasas, he was a Badger player, graduate, and assistant coach.
Two nights resulted in two nasty losses for the baseball Jackets. The first one, March 21, was okay for a while, but visiting Burnet, with the score 2-2, got two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to erase the paraphrase, “The Tie is Cast.” The final was 7-2.
Three nights later at Liberty Hill, Llano fell—in painful fashion—to the Panthers, 16-1.
WIMBERLEY—It seemed like it took a while for some excitement to flower on the Llano High Track & Field team, March 23, but when the windy night came to a conclusion, the good outran the bad.
Ray Dixon’s day included a gold medal and his only loss of the year, and, oh, one other thing: an invitation to the prestigious Texas Relays on the UT campus, March 31 and April 1.
“Awesome,” Ray said of learning he had qualified for the Relays in the shot put and discus.
ABILENE—He overcame a Rocky start but avoided a knockout. He had family and the school principal in the Taylor County Expo Center stands, and they had been assured by the media the young man would be a strong representative of Llano High. The pressure/adversity list concluded with another Rocky reference— he ignored a nose bleed in the waning seconds of his final challenge.
And, yes, despite it all, Dakoda Trull scripted an excellent performance, finishing fifth in the 242-pound c ...
LEANDER — It was 2014, and The Wall was something you “hit” when you had run about as far as you should. Casey Affleck wasn’t as well-known as Casey at the Bat. Sugar free was still winning a race for importance with gluten free.
And, ‘14 was the last year the Llano High softball Jackets won a district game.
