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EAGLES’ PRIDE
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2015-2016
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A third consecutive 10-win
playoff season and deep
postseason push to the state
football semifinals, along with a
stretch of strong state tournament
results from track and field, golf,
wrestling and swimming, have
propelled St. Thomas to a second
straight TAPPS Ed Burleson All-
Sports Award, the sixth straight
year STH has led the state’s 5A
boys in total points.
“What means the most to
me is that we’ve established
ourselves. The high-arching
strategy is working. It’s a great
run of sustained results and all
our sports again contributed
points in that overall total. We
genuinely value what all our
student-athletes contribute. It’s
not loading up resources so that
only the higher-profile programs
can be successful,” Athletic
Director Mike Netzel said.
The Eagles opened the athletic year
with a third district football title
since Tim Fitzpatrick took over the
program in 2012, improving their
record to 30-5 and extending the
win streak at Hotze Field inside
Granger Stadium to 20 consecutive
games.
What followed was the latest
in a long series of 5A state
championship contending
results, first a third-place finish
for wrestling with Coach Tim
Clarkson, a third at state swimming
with Coach Bob Perkins, a third at
state golf with Coach Billy Tuten,
and a second at the state track and
field championships with Coach
Nathan Labus.
STH Basketball with Coach
John Kwok advanced to the
Super Regional final with the
program’s first playoff win in three
years. STH Baseball followed its
2014 state title in the first season
with Coach Ryan Lousteau with
an area title, narrowly missing
the Eagles sixth straight state
tournament.
Factor in the best lacrosse
campaign in STH history,
punctuated by a first-ever district
title and first-ever playoff win,
in the second and final season
with Coach Jeff Brown ...
plus a resurgent rugby season
orchestrated by Jim Wolfinger and
Brett Mills which returned the
program to the state’s elite ... and
the Eagles can once again lay claim
to the premiere private school
athletics program in the state. This
program is supported by a training
staff led by Chris Valdez with the
valuable association with Memorial
Hermann Sports Medicine.
“We raised the bar a number of
years ago, new expectations for
each and every sport. We had to
find the right people to lead it. I
feel confident with each and every
guy heading our programs. They’re
driven, want to take the results to a
higher level. But without the right
mix of student-athletes, it simply
won’t work. The academic rigors
here are second to none in the
region if not the country. There
are no shortcuts, no exceptions. It’s
just setting the standard on and off
the fields and courts, is living the
standard,” Netzel said.
TAPPS All-Sports Trophy Sixth Straight Year
INSIDE EAGLE ATHLETICS