Sports

A full week of sports were rudely interrupted by a freezing spell that came in on Thursday and hung around for the weekend. Dripping Springs had three major events scheduled for the campus that had to be tweaked. Anytime you spend time scheduling outdoor events for February you are open to such treatment. Seldom does one get to compete in comfortable weather regardless.

It is a good sign as to the depth a program has when the JV teams also do well in numbers and points scored. The Comal ISD Relays was a good start to this season. The JV girls overpowered the field and the boys were competitive as well.

Track got off to a successful start for Dripping Springs as they competed in the Comal ISD Relays. Both divisions battled Smithson Valley for the title with the boys taking the championship while the girls fell just a few points short. The Tigers were headed up by double gold medal winners Brant Melton and Gage Groce. Likewise, Karsten Bobb kept the Lady Tigers in the mix with two golds.

Drip lacrosse started off their weekend at home with a win on Friday night against Episcopal Houston. The cold night started sloppy and the Tigers found themselves down 5-2 with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter. That’s when the proverbial switch flipped. “We changed things up on defense. We stopped the back door cuts and giving them opportunities on the crease” said Goalkeeper Kaiden Grupp. Grupp ended the night with 7 saves in cage and took home the team hammer. After the change, the defense didn’t allow a goal in the final 34 minutes.

After squeezing out a victory against district foe Hays Johnson, the Lady Tigers headed out to College Station to play in the NFCA Lead-Off Classic to quickly get more good opposition to prepare themselves for the rest of the season. They would split their six-game set and come back home to take on perennially strong New Braunfels Canyon in another district game.

The Dripping Springs wrestling teams had cruised through the first two levels of the playoffs with ease; however the UIL State Championships held in Berry Center in Cypress over the weekend were a different story. The competition, as expected, was tough and talent close.

Merrily, merrily we roll along could well be the Dripping Springs soccer programs theme song. There can be very little to be unhappy about these days. Both the boys and girls teams have turned the corner and are heading home to the district title. They went through the first half undefeated in district play and no indication that will change in the next 3 ½ weeks. Instead of the games getting closer, the two teams keep scoring more and more.

Drip Lacrosse took the field Thursday night in front of a strong crowd, despite the blustery cold weather. Before the game, the team and its fans stood in silence to honor the memory of their former teammate, Taden Frickel. This would be their first time to face off at home without Frickel. The team noted “it is in Taden’s honor that we play this game. To us, we honor him by HOW we play this game. We will play like Taden would; full speed, full of grit, and with a huge smile on our face.” Coach Bill Cafferata shared that “Taden had an incredible gift of bringing everyone together, and because of that gift, we must continue to lean on each other as we keep stepping forward.” The Frickel Family joined the team in their pregame meal. Following a powerful rendition of the National Anthem, the Tigers channeled their emotion on to the field. Senior Gideon Schlab wore the #16 jersey in recognition of his play in the previous game against Allen.

It is an unusual situation for any sport to begin with a district game but that is exactly what happened to the Dripping Springs softball team. The number of teams dictate this. The Lady Tigers return seven starters, including their top two pitchers from a district championship team. Even though they had five scrimmages under their belts, the start was not as smooth as one might expect. On this cold and windy night, DS struggled to a 5-3 win over Hays Johnson. No matter it is a district win and the sharpness will come.

The waters got a little rougher at the state level for the Dripping Springs swim team held at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. Members of the team were entered in nine events. Anna Hoskovec lowered her 500 free record in the prelims with a time of 5.05.14. The girls 200 Free Relay team lowered their own school record twice in the meet and the same members of the 400 Free Relay won bronze. At the end of the day the Lady Tigers were ninth in state and the Tigers were 36th. This was the third time in school history that the girls team has placed in the top ten.

The Tigers opened their 2022 campaign Wednesday night against Smithson Valley. Junior Walker Wright carried the hammer into the season and donned the #16 in honor of former teammate, Taden Frickel. Each game this season, a player will earn the right to wear number 16 and attempt to bring the passion, energy and intensity that Taden brought to every game.

The season has not been kind to the Lady Tigers basketball team as they could not improve their firepower. They would finish the season with a 9-26 record and 4-12 in district. As we have mentioned before they had at least a half dozen games theirs to win. Despite giving the effort, it just did not culminate in consistent play for a complete game. With the move up to 6A next year, it is obvious the Lady Tigers will have to be willing to take a monumental step up in skill development to have the season they will need to compete. Basketball is one of those sports that you do not have to spend a fortune on to become good. Only time. Get your hands on a ball, find a gym, a park court or a driveway with a goal and spend hours practicing good fundamental skills in all phases of the game. Ballhandling, rebounding and accurate shooting. In the day those individuals were called “gym rats.”