From high school to college to the professional ranks and even internationally, 2021 was a big year for East Texas sports.
Here is a look back at the year it was for East Texas teams, athletes and coaches.
TYLER JUNIOR COLLEGE
National championships are nothing new at TJC. The school added four more in 2021 to make 66 total for the athletic program.
The TJC Apaches baseball team won their sixth national title thanks to a two-run home run by former Brook Hill standout Miguel Vega in the bottom of the eighth inning in the title game against Niagara County (New York). Vega finished with a school-record 21 home runs and was named the NJCAA Division III Baseball Player of the Year.
On Oct. 7, it was announced that the TJC baseball program is moving to NJCAA Division I.
The TJC Apache Ladies tennis team won their 20th national title in program history.
The TJC Apaches tennis team won their 18th national title.
The TJC Apache Ladies soccer team won their fifth national title with a 2-0 win over Salt Lake (Utah).
The TJC football team, like many sports, had multiple seasons. They played a spring season. And then in the fall, the Apaches won the Texas H.O.T. Bowl and was the only Texas team ranked in the final NJCAA poll.
The TJC Apache Ladies basketball team reached the NJCAA National Tournament for the 14th time.
The TJC volleyball team played in the third-place match at the NJCAA National Volleyball Tournament.
The TJC Apaches golf team advanced to the national tournament.
The TJC Apache Ladies golf team advanced to the national tournament.
Mike Marquis, the Iowa native who brought success to the Tyler Junior College basketball program on and off the court, has been named to the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Association Hall of Fame.
Kevin Vest, in his second year at the helm of the Tyler Junior College athletic program, has been named National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Athletics Director of the Year.
JAMARION MILLER
In Tyler Legacy’s 41-40 win over undefeated Garland in bi-district, Miller became the program’s all-time leading rusher.
Miller finished with 4,908 career rushing yards, breaking the program’s all-time rushing mark of 4,748 yards set by Tyrone Ross.
Miller had committed to Texas on June 28. On Thanksgiving, Nov. 25, Miller announced that he was flipping his commitment to the University of Alabama, where he eventually signed on Dec. 15.
CHAPEL HILL FOOTBALL
The Chapel Hill Bulldogs got fourth in district and then reeled off four playoff victories to advance to the state semifinals.
Chapel Hill defeated district champion Kilgore 41-35 in double overtime at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in the third round.
Chapel Hill lost to Austin LBJ 38-35 on a 7-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs started a freshman quarterback (Demetrius Brisbon) and freshman running back (Rickey Stewart).
Mount Vernon, Waskom and Timpson also advanced to the state semifinals. Gilmer played for the Class 4A Division II championship and lost to China Spring.
BULLARD SOFTBALL
On Aug. 14, 2019, Megan Dobrinksi, who was the Bullard head softball coach at the time, passed away after a battle with cancer. The Lady Panthers’ home field is named in Dobrinski’s honor.
Julie Murry was named as the Lady Panthers’ new head coach, and the team got off to a 13-3-5 start in 2020 before COVID-19 forced the season to come to an early end.
On Jan. 14, Holly Fults — mother of Bullard sophomore Hadi Fults — also passed away after a battle with cancer.
As the start of the season neared, Bullard’s returning RBI leader and starting first baseman Emma Lambert was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy.
The Bullard Lady Panthers went on to win 32 games and advanced to the state softball tournament for the first time in program history. The Lady Panthers fell to Liberty in the Class 4A semifinals, 4-3.
Rains won its second state softball title with an 11-5 victory over Diboll in the 3A championship.
Hallsville also advanced to the state tournament and lost to Barbers Hill 6-0 in the Class 5A semifinals.
MALAKOFF BASEBALL
Malakoff head coach John Adair was in his final season as a head coach after 37 years total and 32 at the high school level. Adair announced his retirement before the season began.
At the state tournament, the Tigers won in the Class 3A semifinals 4-3 against Gunter on a walk-off single by Brandon Nations in the bottom of the seventh inning.
In the championship, Malakoff scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take an 8-7 win over Corpus Christi London as Adair’s son, Bryson Adair, crossed the plate for the winning run.
Rusk and Hallsville also made the state baseball tournament.
The Eagles, led by Vanderbilt pledge JD Thompson, made the state tournament for the first time in program history. On the way, Rusk won a one-game playoff against China Spring 3-1 in 13 innings.
Rusk advanced to the Class 4A title game with a 6-3 win over Sinton before falling to Pleasant Grove, 2-1, in the 4A championship.
Hallsville lost to Barbers Hill 2-1 in the Class 5A title game.
Bullard’s Hagen Smith threw three straight no-hitters and finished with seven no-hitters, which tied a single-season state record and ranks No. 3 all-time nationally. Smith, an Arkansas signee, finished the season with a 0.19 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 73 innings and was named to the Max Preps All-America Team and the Baseball America All-America Team.
Thompson was chosen to the MaxPreps Underclass All-America Team, while Adair was named to the MaxPreps Small School All-America Team.
OTHER EAST TEXAS TEAM SUCCESS
The All Saints Trojans won their 14th TAPPS state tennis title, and the Lady Trojans captured their 13th state crown.
The Grace Community Cougars won the TAPPS Division II state swimming and diving championship in San Antonio.
The Grace Community School Lady Cougars captured the TAPPS 5A State Track & Field Championship.
Brook Hill made its fifth consecutive appearance in the TAPPS Division II state softball tournament.
Martin’s Mill girls basketball, Grapeland boys basketball and Tatum boys basketball all played in state championship games at the Alamodome in San Antonio. It was the fourth appearance in the state title game for Martin’s Mill in the past five seasons.
Lindale girls basketball game won its first playoff game since 2013 and advanced to the third round.
The Cumberland Academy boys soccer team reached the playoffs for the first time in program history.
The Bullard girls soccer team advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time in program history.
On the individual side:
Frankston’s Ja’Miyah Burton and Union Grove’s Maya Huffman both won girls state powerlifting titles. Tyler Legacy’s Kahlil Montague and Brownsboro’s Harley Sanders were boys state powerlifiting titles. Whitehouse’s Caleb Bolay set the state record for the bench press in the 220-pound weight class in Division 1. The previous record was 450 pounds. Bolay had a bench press of 500 pounds.
At the UIL state track and field meet, Big Sandy’s Michael Jitjaeng took home the gold in the Class 2A boys discus with a distance of 183 feet; the Mineola 1,600-meter relay team of Brady Shrum, Jaxon Holland, TJ Moreland and Morgan Waggoner won gold with a time of 3:22.42; and Harmony’s Jenci Seahorn took gold in the Class 3A girls triple jump with a distance of 37 feet, 11.5 inches.
Martin’s Mill’s Mia Nixon took first place in Class 2A at the UIL State Girls Golf Tournament.
All Saints freshman Sidney Robertson won the TAPPS 4A State Golf Tournament.
Athens senior Micah Swann won the Class 4A boys race at the UIL State Cross Country Championships Saturday at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock.
Troup’s Lindsay Davis struck out 26 batters and tossed a no-hitter in a 1-0 win over West Rusk.
Bishop Gorman head girls basketball coach Jon Froelich was named the TABC Private School coach of the Year.
EAST TEXANS IN THE PROS
Former Whitehouse standout Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to their second consecutive Super Bowl.
Former Brook Hill standout A.J. Minter pitched in the World Series and helped lead the Braves to a title.
Kilgore’s Steven Torrence won a historic fourth consecutive NHRA series championship.
Parker Bates, a former Tyler Lee standout and All-American at Louisiana Tech, was selected in the ninth round of the MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals with the 259th overall pick.
Taylor Broadway, a former Tyler Junior College and Mississippi standout, was picked in the sixth round of the MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox with the 185th overall pick.
The late Gladewater native Winston Hill, who died in 2016, was posthumously selected for the centennial class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a 15-year career.
Former All Saints standout Aston Francis signed with the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League.
EAST TEXAS AT THE OLYMPICS
Flint’s Mackenzie Brown qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in archery.
Brown placed fourth in the individual archery competition.
Brown and the rest of the American women’s archery team earned a No. 3 ranking before falling in the quarterfinals. Brown also competed in mixed archery with Brady Ellison and were seeded No. 2 but were upset by Indonesia in the Round of 16.
UT Tyler basketball player Patrick Samoura played on the Czech Republic basketball team at the Olympics.
Branson Ellis, a graduate of Tyler Legacy High School, competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the pole vault and tied for eighth
Ellis won the NCAA national title in pole vault for Stephen F. Austin with a height of 18-8.25.
QUARTERBACKS PLAYING GOLF IN TYLER
Tony Romo, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, and Johnny Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner at Texas A&M, joined a record 10 prior champions in the 51st Higginbotham Texas State Open at The Cascades Golf & Country Club.
Romo missed the cut at even par through two rounds. Manziel finished 14-over through two rounds.
TYLER ISD
The Tyler Legacy boys basketball team won a district title for the first time since 2006 and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
After going 34 years without a district title, the Tyler Legacy girls basketball team won its second straight district crown.
Tyler Legacy’s Chase Fields, Jordan Smith, Griffin Baker and Sam Eckert advanced to the UIL Swimming and Diving State Meet.
Tyler Legacy boys soccer player Noe Robles tied the program record of 25 goals in the regular season set by Shawn Tatham in 1994.
The Tyler Legacy boys track and field team won the District 10-6A title.
The Tyler Legacy softball team advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
The Tyler High Lions won their first district tennis championship since the 1950s in the spring. Tyler won the boys title with 37.5 points, followed by Whitehouse (35). On the girls’ side, Whitehouse won with 65 points, followed by Tyler (17.5).
In the fall, Tyler quarterback Eli Holt passed for more than 600 yards in the Lions’ 62-55 loss to Tyler Legacy. He tossed seven TD passes.
UT TYLER
UT Tyler is officially a Division II program. The official acceptance by the NCAA came on July 9.
UT Tyler volleyball advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament before falling to West Texas A&M in the South Central Regional semifinals.
COACHING CHANGES
Tyler High boys basketball: Cedeno Clark left; Alum Justin Johnson takes over
Whitehouse football: Marcus Gold left for Wylie East; Kyle Westerberg takes over
Whitehouse boys basketball: Brent Kelley left for Wylie East; Michael Ostlund takes over
Whitehouse girls basketball: Adam McMahon left; Jay Fitts takes over
All Saints boys basketball: Brian Jones left; Eddie Francis takes over
All Saints girls basketball: David Sanders left for Tyler High; Marsha Phillips takes over
Bishop Gorman football: Brady McCoy left; Daryl Hayes takes over
Grace Community football: Norm Thompson left; California collegiate coach Ben McEnroe takes over and then leaves; Steve Parsons takes over
Brownsboro football: Greg Pearson left; Lane Connot takes over
Kilgore football: Mike Wood left; Clint Fuller takes over
Henderson football: Phil Castles left; Othell Robinson takes over
Bullard boys basketball: Heath Fults left; Dean Nuckolls takes over
Bullard girls basketball: Barry Gill left; Kendell Redd takes over
Grapeland baseball: Former TJC, UT Tyler standout and Brook Hill, Bullard head coach Brock Lemire takes over
North Texas volleyball: Former John Tyler standout, Tyler Legacy head coach Kristee Porter takes over
UT Tyler women’s basketball: Jeannette Mosher left; Rebecca Alvidrez takes over
COACHING MILESTONES
Longtime Van High School tennis coach Melissa Wells, a Lindale native, was named to the Texas Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Tyler Legacy baseball coach James Boxley picks up his 400th career victory.
Martin’s Mill girls basketball coach Tommy Cross picks up career win No. 500.
Laneville boys basketball coach Tracy Kincade, a former Troup standout, picks up career win No. 300 in Troup’s Glen Evans Classic.
White Oak volleyball coach Carolee Musick picked up career win No. 800.
TJC soccer coach Steve Clements picked up career win No. 500.
Bullard boys basketball coach Dean Nuckolls picked up career win No. 400.
OBITS
Mal Fowler, an all-state running back at Van High School who later coached his alma mater to a state football championship.
Bill Coleman, longtime Tyler ISD coach and educator.
Janice Mulford, an all-state basketball and volleyball standout at Bullard High School who was a star who helped bring TJC basketball to national prominence and later became one of the top volleyball coaches in the state at Van.
Ted Thompson, an Atlanta High School standout who was a 10-year NFL veteran with the Houston Oilers and member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and served as the general manager of the Green Bay Packers from 2005-17.
Tim Johnson, Tyler Legacy assistant football and basketball coach.
Pete Lammons, a Jacksonville native who went on to win football championships with the Texas Longhorns and New York Jets.
Darwin Crawford, a four-sport letterman who was all-state in football and track for Bishop Gorman.
Leon Black, a basketball standout at Martin’s Mill and the University of Texas and a basketball coach at Van, Lon Morris and Texas.TWITTER: @BrandonOSports
