Lake Highlands High School has long been considered an athletic powerhouse, and the 1992-1993 season has been no exception. It’s not easy to win both the football and boys’ basketball championships in a highly competitive District 11-5A.

Names like Ryan Smith, Corey McLane, Philip Dawson, Sea Lonergan and Sheldon Croomes won’t soon be forgotten. Who can ever forget Dawson’s long-distance field goal to beat Richardson as time expired?

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Although there really are too many other memorable sports moments and athletes to name, Becky Wendt and her soccer teammates battled Plano all season, as did the boys’ team. David Brummel brought a great work ethic to the track team, as did Eddie Powell to the mat. Sophomore sensation Dawanna Allen showed great potential on the track and Tatraes Cooper led the girls’ basketball team in scoring.

Here’s a wrap-up of the 1993 spring season.

Boys’ track

On April 14-15, the Wildcats took aim for their fourth consecutive district championship, but instead had to settle for third place. Coach Buzz Andrews pointed out that this was the first year since 1986 that the team hadn’t placed first or second. Nagging injuries to Dexter Ford, Kent Laster and others kept the Wildcats from reaching their potential.

Still, several performed with enough power and speed to finish near the top. Ford finished second in the long jump with a leap of nearly 22 feet. Senior field expert Eric Martin threw a season-best 51-8 in the shot to place second, and added a respectable third in the discus with a heave of 142-5.

Senior Derrick Martin was a model of consistency with a trio of third-place finishes in the mile relay, individual quarter-mile, and the sprint relay. Andrews calls Martin the “star of the meet” for the Wildcats.

The district meet did come with a certain element of controversy. Corey McLane qualified for regionals in the 200, but a rules technicality prevented him from participating in his favorite event, the 100. And Andrews is still steamed by a ruling for a re-run of the half-mile after Lake Highlands’ Brad Grundy crossed the finish line in first. David Brummel also finished third and fourth in the two-mile and mile runs, respectively.

Girls’ track

In what Andrews describes as a rebuilding year, several girls stood out for the Wildcats. Dawanna Allen cruised to a swift 59.0 quarter in winning the district title, then cut a full second off her time to run a season-best 58.0 and earn an eighth-place re-finish. Alissa Ferguson also finished second in the district quarter-mile with a 60.2 time.

Allen also anchored the final leg of the mile relay that took the district crown. Jean Weaver, Shirikii Robinson and Ferguson ran the first three legs of the race. The versatile Allen also qualified for the regionals in the long jump with a leap of nearly 33 feet, a distance that she surpassed in the regional meet. “Dawanna has the talent to be good in just about any event,” Andrews says.

Erin Aldrich, a ninth-grader at Lake Highlands Junior High School, has Andrews waiting in the wings for the years ahead. Aldrich high-jumped 5-11 in practice and 5-8 in a meet this year. Andrews says the second-place finisher in the Southwest Conference meet jumped 6-0, and the high school District 11-5A champion is under Aldrich’s best jump already.

Baseball

Coach Jay Higgins led his young team to an 8-6 district record and a 15-11 overall record, good enough for a fourth-place finish in District 11-5A. Higgins says that his club’s .320 season batting average is the fifth-highest in school history.

First-team all-district honors went to Casey Smith, who hit .500 for the season and led the team in most offensive categories. Not surprisingly, multi-talented Ryan Smith was also a first-team selection with a .338 season average and a team-high 11 stolen bases.

Along with Casey Smith, who merely raised his batting average about 200 points from his sophomore season, the year’s most pleasant surprise was the district’s sophomore of the year, Kenny Henry. Henry hit .352 and tied Ryan Smith for the team lead with 21 runs batted in. Second-team all-district honors also went to pitchers Blake Newsome and Brian Thompson, who combined for a 9-1 record.

Team awards handed out at the All-Sports Banquet May 17 included Most Outstanding Wildcat, Casey Smith; Most Improved Wildcat, Blake Newsome; Mr. Hustle, Kyle Goldstein; and Most Outstanding Sophomore Wildcats, Kenny Henry and Che Hendrix.

Boys’ golf

Lake Highlands used consistency to earn a fourth-place finish in the district tournament. John Inabnett, Dan Crump, Aaron Stewart, and Charles Criswell combined for a two-day total of 639. Inabnett had a season-best round of 74 on the first day. Three of the four leading Wildcats this season are just sophomores, so next year could be a chance for the team to improve their fortunes even further.

Miscellaneous

Sea Lonergan was recently honored by being named first-team Texas Association of Basketball Coaches’ Academic All-State…1991 LHHS graduate and former hoops star Anita Maxwell has earned a spot on the West team for the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival in San Antonio, beginning July 24. She averaged 19.2 points and 10.3 rebounds during her fabulous freshman season at New Mexico State…Senior Becky Wendt has signed a women’s basketball letter of intent to attend Northeast Colorado…Coach Higgins’ annual Lake Highlands Baseball Camp for boys and girls ages 7-13 will have summer sessions for June 1-11, and June 14-25. For reservations call 341-0815.