Over the weekend, the Westlake Rugby Club headed north to Irving to play in the Texas State High School Rugby Tournament. The Chaps ended a great season by playing in the finals on Sunday afternoon and grabbing a second place trophy. They were beaten in the finals by St. Thomas Houston, one of the best high school rugby teams in the nation.
Getting to the state tournament was no easy task but the Chaps continued their string of four undefeated years in District Cup play and entered the state tournament as one of the favorites. The Chaps showed why they were one of the favorites in the Saturday morning semifinal match against Dallas Jesuit.
The Westlake ruggers started strong against the larger Jesuit team and the speedy Chaps loose forwards made a number of breakaway runs. Wing forward Charlie Swann got the first try after picking up a loose ball and making a long, weaving run into the try zone. This was followed up later in the first half by a try from 8-man, Justin Miller who took advantage of some good second phase play to pound the ball into the try zone. Miller had a number of bone-crushing runs throughout the match and his power running posed a real problem for the Jesuit loose forwards.
With a 10-0 lead, it looked like Westlake might run away with the game but a plethora of penalties slowed the Chaps down. Also, a spectacular run by the Jesuit hooker made the score 10-7. A late first half penalty kick by Alex Rees gave Westlake a 13-7 cushion at half time.
The second half remained a defensive struggle until an amazing 90-yard run by Justin Miller essentially broke the back of Dallas Jesuit. Jesuit had been poised to score themselves until Miller picked up a loose ball, plowed over a couple of the Jesuit forwards and then out ran the rest of the team for the long try. Alex Rees added a conversion to make the score, 20-7. Jesuit had a last second try to make the score 20-12 but it was too little too late and the Chaps had earned their way into the state championship match on Sunday.
The finals match on Sunday was a different affair.
Westlake was pitted against one of the best high school rugby teams in the nation. St. Thomas Houston was not only undefeated but they were ranked 5th in the entire nation. Westlake, ranked 24th in the nation, had not played St Thomas in 2012 so the Chaps were curious as to whether St. Thomas deserved their lofty national ranking.
It turned out that St. Thomas was as good as advertised.
The Sunday finals match opened up under beautiful clear skies with excitement in the air as the two best high school rugby teams in the state of Texas squared off against one another. St. Thomas struck first with a quick try. However, Westlake then struck back with one of the best plays of the season. Winger Alex Rees streaked down the sideline and just before a likely tackle, Rees hit a perfect grubber kick into the try zone and then outran the Jesuit backline to pounce on the ball for the score. Rees then added the conversion and Westlake had a 7-5 lead.
At this point, St. Thomas began to put on a show that was truly impressive. The St. Thomas forwards rucked and mauled beautifully and kept the Chaps on the defensive for the remainder of the match. When the St. Thomas forwards weren’t advancing with their second or third phase play, the St. Thomas backs were running wild against the Chaps backline. The Chaps had played great defense all year long with superb tackling, but St. Thomas came at them so often with so many different looks that the Chaps defense was overwhelmed, and St. Thomas scored 42 unanswered points to win the state title with a convincing 47-7 win.
Despite the lopsided score, the Chaps never gave up and they played aggressively the entire game. Westlake’s two first team All-State players, hooker Drew Nelson and scrum-half Justin Brown (also backline MVP), were all over the field and were seen urging the team on until the bitter end.
Coach Jason Spodick praised the boys after the match and congratulated them on a very successful season.
“The boys played their hearts out and made it to the finals of Division 1 rugby in the state of Texas,” Spodick said. “That is a great achievement, and I’m very proud of them. I’m also very proud of the way they handled the defeat to St. Thomas. They kept hitting and scrapping, and they never gave up. We’ll get them next year”.
Back line coach Aaron Cahoon was also proud of the Chaps team.
“St. Thomas played an almost perfect game, and I congratulate them,” Cahoon said. “There is a reason why they are considered one of the best teams in the country. We just need to keep working and elevating our program. We are losing some great seniors, but we’ve got a core of underclass men and Westlake Rugby will be a force over the next couple of years.”

Gaddis will return to color commentary for Fox Sports Southwest, joining Lincoln Rose and Nicole Neuerburg to broadcast the tournament held at the University of Texas’ McCombs Field.

For those wanting to catch Gaddis’ commentary, Fox Sports Southwest is airing the Class 4A and Class 5a title games. The Texas Channel (available to Time Warner Cable digital cable customers in Austin on Channel 888) is broadcasting the 1A, 2A and 3A title games as well as all semifinal games. Games on the Texas Channel will also air on FoxSportsSouthwest.com.

Then, a one-hour spotlight highlight show recapping the tournament will run at noon June 23 on FSS.

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Lindsey Harris was named to the TASCO all-state second team, and she also landed on the all-region II first team along with teammate Katherine Noonan.

Teammates Christy Goldberg and Hannah Meyer were named to the all-region II second team.

Furthermore, six players were honored as TASCO academic all-state – Sarah Case, Alexis Erthal, Caroline Furst, Harris, Noonan and Rachel Quigley.

The Westlake boys soccer team reeled in some more honors after its highly successful season and trip to the state tournament.

Senior brothers Walker and Tucker Hume were both named first team all-state and first team all-region, and in addition senior Brien Twomey was named second team all-region.

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Both junior second baseman Aaron Black and senior center fielder Lewis Guilbeau were unanimous selections to the all-district first team after their strong seasons.

Senior pitcher Carson Viglione, junior third baseman Gordy Taylor and senior designated hitter Corbin Benavides landed on the first team as did sophomore Tate Shaw in the first team utility spot.

Senior shortstop Hayden Ross made the all-district second team as did junior outfielder Alex Cabezas, while junior catcher Zach Suarez was named honorable mention.

Also, 12 Chaps made the academic all-district list – Chris Bybee, Daniel Gremaud, Sean LaBaw, Cameron Bishop, Ryan Cunningham, Duncan Brown, Black, Ross, Viglione, Guilbeau, Cabezas and Shaw.

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Boosted by the returning core in the secondary and linebacker units, the Chaparral defense was definitely the dominant side during the annual Red-and-Blue scrimmage.

Bennett Huddleston pulled in two interceptions for the Red team while each side had numerous sacks on the day. The Red team offense broke through for a score and two-point conversion at the end of the contest to give the Red side the win, 31-30. First came a 25-yard touchdown reception by Chris Canter from soon-to-be starting quarterback Jordan Severt, capped by a two-point conversion from Elliot Condos for the final tally.

“It’s been fun to watch our defense really come together,” coach Darren Allman said. “Man, they are flying around. We’ve got a lot of good speed on defense and a lot of guys that like playing the game. We’ve got some hitters, so it’s going to be an exciting defense to watch, one that could potentially force a lot of turnovers.”

The defense had an advantage as offense is still being implemented throughout the spring, while play calling during the scrimmage wasn’t always predicated on what the defense was showing or lining up in, putting the offense in some tough, but advantageous for learning, spots.

“We know coming off of the field we’re better offensively,” Allman said. “We’re going to play a lot of good defenses, maybe some that are bigger but not very many that are better or much faster.”

A lot will be riding on how the O-line come together during the summer and August practices, as the line had good stretches but generally were a little behind the defense.

“Still comes down to blocking and tackling and that’s probably where we need to improve the most – up front,” Allman said. “We know what we need to make the most improvement on quickly is the offensive and defensive line, primarily the offensive line because a lot of those guys are just young … We could go from it being a concern to it being a dominant offensive line if we’ll just go have a good summer and come back ready.”

Defensive display

Westlake will rely a lot on speed and smarts this season, lacking in size what some of its Class 5A opponents will bring to the field.

Noah Thompson, Carsten Hood, Michael Edwards and Brandon Irick were among those that looked sharp in the scrimmage, along with Dalton Brown, who missed last season due to injury, but that’s just the tip of the linebacker iceberg for Westlake.

Combined with standouts in the secondary safeties Jack Meredith and John Dodd and the Chap cornerbacks, depth won’t be an issue for the team going into the fall.

“Between the linebackers and secondary, we have 10-12 starters for just nine spots,” defensive coordinator Jeff Joseph said.  “We better get a lot stronger over the summer, and we’ll get some work doing 7-on-7 catching and covering receivers.”

The Chaps defense was quicker to spots and off the line during the scrimmage, limited what the offense wanted to and could do throughout the matchup. Younger players such as freshmen Hudson Hall and Breckyn Hager got closer to filling big roles as well in the shifty, speedy 3-4 orientation.

“We had a little leg up there with a lot of our experienced guys coming back,” Joseph said. “We’re pretty versatile on defense, we don’t have a lot of size – we’ve got to find ways to use that as an advantage for us. More side to side, lateral action to stop people from getting up hill. We’re never going to have very big kids, which is why the 3-4 suits us.”

Matthew Andreo also had an interception in the game for the Blue team.

“The turnovers are very important for us, it’s a big thing to have quality defensive backs,” Joseph said. ”We’ve done a few different things with personnel groups on the field because we have so many small guys for more nickel and dime packages.”

Bolstering the team’s district – and state – title chances is going to be predicated on the defense, something that is strongly supported from all sides.

“First and foremost what we learned was how quick our defense is,” offensive coordinator Jeff Rhoads said. “I’ve been on that side as an offensive coach where your games are 44-42, that’s not any fun. I don’t think it’s any question our head coach’s reputation (Allman) is a strong defensive team. Even as an offensive coach I applaud that priority. I’m thankful for what our staff does and our defensive staff.”

Offense on the uptick

Going from handling the ball in one sport to another, Jordan Severt has shown why his point guard skills translate well into the quarterback spot as he solidified his grasp on the starting job. The defense was able to limit Severt’s effectiveness as they barged into the backfield and hung right with the offensive weapons.

Lining up in front of him, Bobby Dwyer looked good transitioning into the center role while tackles Judge Finley and Garrett Willis continue to improve daily.

“We made some mistakes but Jordan’s been pretty consistent and has gotten better all spring,” Rhoads said. “His biggest asset is he’s really smart. He’s tall and all that, but he’s really smart and has good vision back there.”

A few players missed the scrimmage for various reasons, including the likely starting backfield of Keith Carter and Alex Chavez, but Severt showed an ability to find open receivers Brandon Box, Harrison Lines, Patrick Elliot and converted receiver to tight end Zach Dansby.

“We didn’t really have a lot of expectations for that spot,” Rhoads said of the tight end. “We moved him there and he did it very unselfishly because we only use a tight end 30, 40 percent of the time and he’s committed to it. He can already run and catch, if he gets a little bigger and gets better at blocking, even in a spread offense they discount the tight end and H-back but those two positions are very important to our offense.”

Though the offense was a step behind the defense on the day, the offensive line showed the progress it made during spring practice, while the battles between receivers and secondary showed the Chaps’ athleticism.

“Offensively I know we got better up front and that always takes some time to jell there,” Rhoads said. “We got some young receivers, some experienced receivers but I feel good about where we’re at right now. I wish we had another 18 days, but frankly, I’m pretty tired and the kids are, too.”

Kicker Michael Barden showed how he’s going to be a huge part of the offense with his strong leg, and that’s going to be an asset for the Chaps to keep posting points as the defense keeps the score low.

“We cross the 50-yard line and he’s fixing to put it through the uprights,” Rhoads said of Barden’s range. “He’s a hard worker, consistent and puts in the practice time. I am fired up about him.”

Allman also praised the incoming senior kicker.

“Our kicking game is going to be strong, Barden is going to be a real asset,” Allman said. “He’ll be a good weapon for us.”

Ray Eells tossed a touchdown pass to Robert Dutton for the red team and a lengthy gain by Sean Rollings on a scramble for more than 60 yards was negated by a holding penalty for the Blue team.

The Blue team took a short-lived lead with a touchdown run by Hank Dickerson to hold a 29-23 advantage before the Red team’s final series to win it.

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Photo by Roy Mata
Nicole Summersett thrusts her body high into the air and over the bar during her bid for a state championship Saturday.

Elevated expectations had Nicole Summersett sure she could keep rising, but she felt the sting of disappointment, even as a freshman first-time competitor, at the UIL State Track & Field Championships Saturday.
Summersett stayed with the top competitors up until the bar was raised to 12 feet, where she came up just shy of advancing on to another round.
With a final successful jump of 11’6” to tie for seventh, the Westlake freshman feels that her next trip to the state meet – hopefully her next three trips – will result in a higher vault with the lessons she took away from this season.
“I did good, but I’m disappointed,” Summersett said. “I felt like I could have had 12 if I fixed one thing.”
With a nagging knee injury leading up to the state meet, Summersett injured both of her hamstrings the practice prior to state, possibly because of compensating for the other injury.
Summersett said she had a little tightness, but the distances of her standards – which is the distance of the bar (not the height) as it can be moved closer to or further away prior to a jump – were a little off on her last attempts.
It’s one of a couple tweaks she’ll have in mind as she ramps up training to return to Mike A. Myers Stadium again in a year.
“I think my standards were pushed back a little far, and I didn’t have as much energy as I could have going in,” she said. “It made it hard to get loose today.”
Westlake girls track coach Chris Carter and vaulting coach Bert Bonnecarrere were visibly proud of Summersett following the event, which was won by Desire Freier of Justin Northwest, with a 12’9” jump. There were four repeat competitors at this year’s event from last season, when a vault of 11’6” would have tied for fourth place.
“She’s at the state meet – that sums it up,” Carter said. “She might be disappointed, but she’s among the best in the state. I’m proud of her. I definitely think for her this is the end result; this is where she wants to be the next three years, right back here climbing up, where next year she betters what she did this season and starts thinking about being a state medalist.”
She cleared the jumps of 10’6”, 11’0” and 11’6” in her first attempt, but couldn’t quite get all the way over at 12’6”.
Summersett had a season-high – and school record – jump of 12’4” earlier in the season, and believes she can meet and eclipse that next season with her year-round training and approach.
“It went really well for me being a freshman and everything,” she said. “But next year, I’ll try as hard as I can and do my best – don’t change anything.”

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