AUSTIN — In each of the past two seasons, the Ryan Raiders’ boys 1,600 relay team found itself receiving a silver medal at the conclusion of the Class 4A state meet at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Since Ryan transitioned from the comfortable confines of Class 4A into the daunting areas of Class 5A, the success across all sports hasn’t come as easily as it has in previous years.
Throughout the track and field season, Ryan coach Janson Head has penciled in different names for the boys 1,600-meter relay.
Raiford Malone is hesitant to say he’s done coaching for good. If anything, Malone’s on a break, an extended halftime for a coach who’s well deserving of it. Malone, the only head coach the Ryan girls soccer program has ever known, has resigned after coaching at Ryan for the past 20 years.
After bringing home Guyer’s first state championship in a girls team sport, the Guyer Lady Wildcats were well represented when the all-district teams were released.
Following its 10-0 district loss to the Hebron Hawks on Tuesday night at Raider Field, Ryan’s players were silent in their dugout while head coach Bret Warnack leaned over the yellow rail at the edge of the first-base dugout.
Before Argyle’s game against Frisco Lone Star on March 26, Eagles coach Ricky Griffin could feel it coming. His team had been cruising through its schedule. And then it lost to Lone Star by one run.
After most of the Ryan Raiders had cleared out of the team’s dugout on Tuesday night, head coach Bret Warnack leaned across the low barrier to speak to his senior starting pitcher, Chris McKeehan.
After being hit in the head with a line drive on Friday, Ryan freshman pitcher Josh Mears has been released from the hospital and is back home, his father said on Monday.
Ryan freshman pitcher Josh Mears was in guarded condition Saturday after being hit in the head by a line drive during a Friday night game against Coppell.. Mears was pitching for Ryan’s freshman team when a line drive hit Mears just above his right eye, head coach Tim Rainey said.
The way the bottom of the seventh inning was going for Ryan against Coppell, it seemed the Lady Raiders were destined to pick up its first District 5-5A win of the season. But on a cool Thursday night, it was the Coppell Cowgirls who were destined to erase the gaping zero in its district win column.
When Coppell third baseman Cal Hernandez flied out to end the third inning, the Cowboys had inflicted enough damage in the inning to corral Ryan’s hopes of picking up its first win in District 5-5A play. Coppell scored five unearned runs off five Ryan errors in the inning, giving the visiting team the cushion it needed for an 11-4 victory on Friday night at Ryan.
Before his team had stepped onto the field for a district game, Ryan coach Raiford Malone knew he’d have his hands full in the team’s new Class 5A district.
When the 83rd Texas Legislature reconvenes at 2 p.m. Monday, one of the state’s most contentious bills will continue its journey toward becoming a law.
For all of its defensive shortcomings, Ryan still had a shot at picking up its first District 5-5A win on Friday night versus the visiting Hebron Hawks. The Raiders committed six errors on the evening, yet mercifully trailed by two runs in the seventh inning with the bases loaded. Hebron’s Jimmy Gallarda made sure none of those runs crossed the plate, retiring two of the three batters he faced to preserve the 6-4 victory.
When Ryan opened the seventh inning with back-to-back hits to put runners in scoring position against Allen, the Lady Raiders seemed poised to erase a two-run deficit on Wednesday.
By the time the seventh inning rolled around in Tuesday’s District 5-5A opener between Flower Mound Marcus and Ryan, the suspense regarding the final outcome had been all but removed.
In what was a historic year for the Guyer program, and the best one in recent memory for Denton, the District 5-4A all-district team had plenty of representation from both teams following successful 2012-13 campaigns.
The Krum Lady Cats were well-represented on the 9-3A all-district team after making their second state tournament appearance in school history.
Ryan had moments on Friday when it didn’t look anything like its record indicated.
Ryan alumnus and Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Javy Guerra will pitch for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. Guerra, who was drafted by the National League team out of Ryan in 2004, is one of six Dodgers who will join their respective teams in the WBC. Play in the Arizona bracket begins today.
After a one-year hiatus, Jarvis Moss isn’t ready to give up his chance at playing football at its highest level. Moss, a Ryan graduate and Denton native, tried out for the Cowboys on Wednesday, according to a news release on the team’s website.
The kids are all right, Ryan girls soccer coach Raiford Malone said, even though they are taking their lumps this season.
Denton was able to overcome being no-hit by Saginaw to pull out a 5-3 victory at the Russell Athletic Classic, capitalizing on four errors and numerous walks, including two by Terrance Lucas.
Running back Adam Taylor and defensive lineman Matt Dimon, who led Katy to a Class 5A state championship, top the Texas Sports Writers Association’s Class 5A all-state team announced Friday.
Ryan improved to 9-3 on the season after defeating Saginaw Boswell 8-0 at the Tina Minke Tournament.
On Tuesday afternoon, before the subvarsity games were set to begin at Ryan, the varsity baseball team trotted out on the field and milled around the dugout in their uniforms for picture day, the unofficial start of the regular season.
Denton High School will host the G. Thomas Swenson Memorial Scholarship Tournament at Denton Country Club on Monday.
IRVING — Before the Ryan Lady Raiders and the Hurst L.D. Bell Lady Raiders stepped onto the court for their Class 5A bi-district playoff game, it was apparent from their records that one team carried an advantage.
At times during Monday night’s season opener against crosstown rival Ryan, it seemed as though Guyer starting pitcher Suzette Palmer was on the diamond all by herself.
There are superstitions that abound in softball dugouts across the state and are built upon as the years go on. The evidence of another growing habit at Ryan was in the left hand of junior pitcher Carol Raabe last Friday afternoon. Raabe had a glob of glitter in her right hand, a glob she was ready to properly place over her eye-black, a union of decoration and purpose.
It was a banner day on Saturday for the Denton Broncos swim team, Denton swimmer DJ Lang and Denton ISD swim coach Chris Cullen.
Two area girls teams will start their postseason run tonight, while two more will open the UIL basketball playoffs on Tuesday.
The second quarter of Friday night’s District 5-5A game between Ryan and Flower Mound Marcus was a microcosm of the Raiders’ season.
Over the last couple of years, the routine for the first week of February has been well documented. Media members flock to high schools in the morning to watch athletes sign the last page of their national letters of the intent, solidifying their choice of college.
The weight of the Ryan girls team rested unsteadily on the shoulders of Teana Ogden when she drove toward the basket in a Class 4A playoff game last year against Amarillo Palo Duro.
Seniors Teana Ogden and Danielle Richardson did what they have done for many nights in their time at Ryan. It’s a routine that Lady Raiders head coach Monesha Allen is very familiar with — Ogden the guard leading the offense from the outside, Richardson the post from deep underneath the basket. And like the first time Ryan played the Lewisville Lady Farmers this year, Ryan jumped out to a quick lead and held on for a 46-35 District 5-5A victory on Tuesday night at Billy Ryan Gym.
LEWISVILLE — Ryan remained winless in District 5-5A after losing to Hebron 59-31 on Friday night.
The turning point for Ryan point guard Gilbert Jackson came in eighth grade when the rosters for his middle school’s basketball teams were announced.
For several of the Denton school district’s swimmers, the district meets are either the first of three steps towards the state meet or an opportunity to improve their individual times.
Ryan boys basketball coach Bryce Overstreet was suspended for the Raiders’ next three District 5-5A games and placed on probation for three years, the University Interscholastic League ruled Wednesday.
The University Interscholastic League’s state executive committee will discuss an alleged rule violation by Ryan coach Bryce Overstreet.
FORT WORTH — Justin Griffin scored a game high of 20 points for the Guyer Wildcats, who improved to 6-1 in District 5-4A after defeating Fort Worth Brewer 37-34 on Friday night.
FORT WORTH — The Guyer Lady Wildcats picked up their fourth shutout of the season with Mikayla Renfroe at goalie in an 8-0 rout of Saginaw on Friday night.
For six of the next 10 days, Ryan senior Corbin Forest will step on a stage — not a metaphorical sports stage but one he painted black.
When Ryan senior Nick Jones knocked down a 3-pointer with about 26 seconds left in Tuesday night’s game against Coppell, he didn’t celebrate. He turned around, slightly hung his head and jogged down the court. There wasn’t much joy to be found on the faces of the Raiders.
LEWISVILLE — The Ryan boys opened District 5-5A play with a 43-42 overtime loss to Lewisville on Friday night.
Ryan coach Bryce Overstreet stalked down the court in his navy blue shirt, hands on his hips, as his team practiced getting past a full-court press in one of the many items on the agenda for Thursday’s practice.
Four days after Ryan opened district play with a loss against the unofficial favorites to win the district, the Lady Raiders replaced the zero in their win column in convincing fashion.
The Ryan Lady Raiders had a chance to gain a big win against a depleted roster and the presumed favorites to win District 5-5A.
