2016 High School Sports Fall Recap
Cathedral, San Elizario, and Coronado dominate the 2016 El Paso area sports scene
El Paso area athletes continued to shine during the 2016 fall sports season. Cathedral High School became the first eleven man football team in the El Paso area to ever win a state championship by winning the newly created TAPPS Division 5 state title. The Irish also won a team state championship in Cross Country Track as well as an individual title in that sport.
San Elizario won its third straight Class 4A State Cross Country Championship joining Hanks High School and Cathedral High School as the only area schools to win multiple state titles in consecutive years. Hanks has won three straight Class 5A State Girls Wrestling Championships while Cathedral is off the charts with 30 straight swimming titles. Coronado High School didn’t win any state championships but the Thunderbirds dominated the El Paso area in Volleyball and Team Tennis.
Canutillo High School had an undefeated regular season in football before falling to Abilene Cooper in the Area Round of the playoffs. Bowie High School enjoyed its’ best football season since 1971 going 9-1 before losing to Parkland in the Bi-District Round of the state playoffs. I will cover all the fall sports in more detail in their individual chapters but for now let me expand on the championships won by Cathedral High School and San Elizario High School.
San Elizario High School, under the leadership of Coach Cesar Morales, won its third straight Class 4A UIL State Cross Country Championship. San Elizario scored 51 points which was 42 points better than Andrews. Erik Arambula led the way for the Eagles with his 2nd place finish in a time of 16:02.09. Other team members for San Elizario were David Ceballos 12th place, Adrian Contreras 15th place, Ulises Cardoza 18th place, Carlos Pargas 26th place, Antonio Diaz 39th place, and Miguel Garcia 57th place. The Eagles have several runners returning next year but Arambula, Cardoza, and Garcia were all seniors. A fourth straight title may be hard to achieve but San Elizario has a good nucleus returning.
Cathedral High School won the TAPPS 5A Boys Cross Country State Championship scoring 63 points to edge out Antonia College Prep’s 79 points. The Irish were paced by Brandon Seagraves who finished in first place with a time of 16:23.30. Other team members and there finishes were Pedro Espinoza 10th place, Stephen Stresow 14th place, Ronaldo Lopez 15th place, Ian Smith 25th place, Daniel Maes 46 place, and Eric Magallanes 62nd place. Cathedral is a young team so look for a repeat performance in 2017.
Cathedral Wins El Paso Area’s First 11 Man Football State Championship
Cathedral High School under the leadership of Coach Hampton Hurt became the first team in the El Paso area to win an 11 man state championship in football when they defeated the Village 37-14 to capture the TAAPS Division 5 title.
Cathedral had competed in TAPPS Division 1 prior to this year but dropped to the newly created Division 5 prior to the start of the 2016 season. The Irish started the season 6-0 which was the first time in school history that Cathedral advanced that far into the season without a loss.
The Irish suffered through a three game losing spree before returning to winning form just in time for the TAPP’S state playoffs. The Irish defeated TMI Episcopal 30-18 in the first round of the playoffs. Cathedral was led by senior quarterback Chris Lightbourne who completed 16 of 36 passes for 193 yards and 1 touchdown. Senior running back, Alejandro Mandujano , led the ground attack for the Irish with 26 carries for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns. Senior receiver Chris Frazier, caught 7 passes for 104 yards and 1 touchdown.
Next up for the Irish was a state championship match up with the Village. Cathedral easily defeated the Village 37-14 to capture the school’s and the El Paso area’s first 11 man state title in football. Lightbourne, Mandujano, and Frazier led the way once again. Lightbourne had a stellar performance completing 22 of 41 passes for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns. Mandujano carried the ball 21 times for 123 yards and 1 touchdown. Frazier was on the receiving end of passes for 101 yards and 1 touchdown. The 2016 season was a great one for the Irish. The team was senior dominated so a repeat performance could be hard to achieve.
Congratulations to Cathedral and San Elizario for their team state championships and also to Brandon Seagraves for his individual state championship. Special congratulations to San Elizario for their third consecutive state championship and their team captain, Erik Arambula for his silver medal performance narrowly missing out on defending his individual state championship from 2015. Both high schools have made the El Paso area very proud.
