Sports

A League of Their Own, Once Again

byDestiny Lewis

Abby Moore, catcher for the Arlington High School baseball team, finally has a route to play professional ball.
For the first time in more than 70 years, women in the United States will have a professional baseball league built for them.
The league held its first-ever player draft Thursday, streamed live on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
More than 100 draft-eligible players from 10 countries were in contention, along with thousands of young girls who suddenly have a future in a sport that once shut them out.
Moore, 18, had already built a résumé that positioned her as one of the youngest serious prospects in the inaugural draft.

Rooftop Soccer Aims to Build Community Above Downtown Austin

byLuke Lawhorn

Austin’s soccer popularity can be seen through the sold-out crowds for its Major League Soccer team, Austin FC, and the strength of its high school soccer programs. Austinites also have a thriving network of pickup games running in parks. In a country where medical experts report people are losing fitness and a sense of community, Vanta Athletics is striving to keep the two together.
Vanta is Austin’s first and only rooftop soccer facility, available for memberships for anyone 18 or older. The field, which sits on top of a parking garage at 300 San Antonio St., was built in two days by its founders, Sam Clark and Tanner Friesen, last August.

With New Swim Coach, Longhorns Say They’re Having Fun, Ready to Return to National Glory

byLuke Lawhorn

Bob Bowman took over for longtime Texas swim coach Eddie Reese last April after nine years at Arizona State and winning the men’s national championship last season. Though his primary role is the men’s head coach, Bowman is serving in a newly created position as the director of swimming and diving, meaning he oversees the women’s side as well. 
Veteran swimmers like Sticklen have felt his influence across both teams. 
“Having Bob here and having his energy and competitiveness and the fire that he brings, it does seep over in our side,” Emma Sticklen said. “I always think that we are a better team when both teams are having fun.”

Plonsky’s Decades of Dedication to Texas Athletics to be Honored in Sports Hall of Fame

byLuke Lawhorn

Chris Plonsky, UT’s executive senior associate athletics director, is set to be inducted this month into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco for her 48 years in college athletics, including 37 at Texas.

With UT Recruit Leading the Way, Westlake Volleyball Reaches New Heights

byLuke Lawhorn

Westlake High School senior Lily Davis could see how close the Chaparrals were to finally getting over the hump. They had won two of the first three sets over Cibolo Steele on Tuesday night at Lehman High School  and were on the verge of advancing to the Texas UIL Class 6A Region IV volleyball final.
Before the fourth set, the University of Texas volleyball recruit gathered her teammates in a huddle to remind everyone of the work they had put in over the last three years.
For Davis, the all-time Westlake kills leader and gold medal winner in the FIVB U19 Beach Volleyball World Championships,  the victory showed just how far she and her teammates had come in their high school careers.

Texas Goalkeeper’s Work for Others Nets SEC Community Service Honor

byLuke Lawhorn

Like the rest of the University of Texas student-athletes, Megan Hogate received a bunch of Nike athletic gear when she stepped on campus in fall 2021. After watching the shoe boxes pile up in her closet, she decided to do something with them. She would recycle them into Valentine’s Day boxes with heart-filled messages for children at the Dell Children’s Medical Center.
Hogate’s Valentine initiative was just one of many volunteer and community outreach efforts she’s undertaken, earning her recent recognition by the Southeastern Conference to its annual women’s soccer Community Service Team — the first time Texas, a new SEC member, has placed an athlete on the team. She is one of 16 student-athletes chosen for the honor highlighting “an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts.”

Sole Mates: How Running Clubs Are Stepping Up When Dating Apps Stumble

byLuke Lawhorn

Sarah Spitler was ready to give up on dating apps after feeling nothing special was coming from her matches.  “I just felt they weren’t working for me,” she said.
Then as the COVID-19 pandemic eased and people resumed social interaction, Spitler found the Austin Beer Runners group, where she met Matt Russo, a computer engineer.  Their running club meeting led to three years of dating and now plans for a wedding in March.
They join a growing number of people finding social connection in running clubs. According to a research article from the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, couples who work out together can improve their relationship. 

Former Longhorn Peyton Stearns is Making Mark in Pro Tennis 

byCorey Smith

Since winning the NCAA women’s singles tennis championship for the University of Texas at Austin in May 2022 — the first UT athlete to do so — Peyton Stearns has been excelling on the professional circuit

The Mason, Ohio, native has climbed to 89th in the world rankings, and has won nearly twice as many matches as she’s lost, 113 wins and 66 losses, and has compiled more than $295,000 in prize money. 

Former UT Hoops Walk-on Hopes Graduate Assistant Gig Leads to Coaching Career

byBrandon Jenkins

After Tristan Licon earned a surprise spot on the Longhorn basketball team as a walk-on, he is ready to hang up his jersey for good and complete his initial goal of being a graduate assistant.
Graduate assistants for an athletic team are similar to university teaching assistants. The position is designed for students pursuing a master’s degree, many of whom want to pursue a coaching career. 
“You need to go somewhere where you can learn the business,” said Drew Valentine, current head coach of Loyola-Chicago who first started out his career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State University. “The graduate assistant experience was great for me because I got to see firsthand how a program was run at the highest level.”

Texas Relays, the Largest Predominantly Black Event in Austin, Returns

byKevin Malcolm Jr.

For the first time in three years, more than 5,000 high school, college and professional track athletes and tens of thousands of spectators from around the country came together for the Texas Relays.

Longhorn Women’s Basketball Greats Return to Say Goodbye to Erwin Center

byBrandon Jenkins

Some of the pioneers of Texas women’s basketball came to the Frank Erwin Center to say goodbye one final time to the home of the Longhorns for the past 46 years

How Dallas Became a Hotbed of High School Basketball Recruiting

byBrandon Jenkins

When the 24 McDonald’s High School All-American basketball players were announced Jan. 25, five members of this year’s elite class were from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Only once in the 44-year history of the all-star game have five players from one metropolitan area been selected.