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Sports
40 February 2023 | prestonhollowpeople.com Sports MEDLEY SWIMMER LOOKING TO MAKE HISTORY FOR HILLCREST
Townview senior hopes to qualify for fourth state meet and earn a medal
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By Todd Jorgenson
People Newspapers
Katherine Yao has never been a student at Hillcrest High, but she’s one of the most decorated swimmers in school history.
The senior at Townview Center, the gifted and talented magnet school for Dallas ISD, is attempting to use her gifts and talents in the pool to make a fourth consecutive appearance at the UIL state meet in February.
The vibe you get is different. Katherine Yao
Yao lives in the Hillcrest attendance zone, which enables her to compete for the Panthers since Townview does not have an athletics program.
She has qualified for state in each of the past three years in the 200-yard individual medley, which is a challenging combination of all four strokes — backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle. She placed fifth as a freshman, sixth as a sophomore, and eighth last year.
Katherine Yao, a senior at Townview Center, has represented Hillcrest High School at the UIL state swimming meet for three consecutive years. COURTESY PHOTOS
“I have a really complicated relationship with the IM,” said Yao, who takes a similar lovehate stance with her best leg, the butterfly. “I like swimming it, but because I swim it so often, I fail in that event more than in any other event.”
Her goal is to reach the medal podium on Feb. 18 in Austin, which would make her just the second Hillcrest swimmer to accomplish that feat. Rebecca Brandt won gold in the butterfly in 2015 despite attending Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
Yao said she hasn’t been fully healthy for the state meet in those previous appearances, so she’s optimistic about 2023. She tries to focus on the clock and let the results take care of themselves.
“Swimming isn’t just about winning meets or medals. It’s also about improving my time,” she said. “It’s like competing with yourself.”
Yao has been drawn to the pool since her father put her in a floatie when she was less than a year old. When she was 8, she joined a competitive swimming club, later switching to the nationally prominent Dallas Mustangs in 2014.
“It’s taught me how to be disciplined,” she said. “I was a more laidback type of person, but it encouraged me to be more competitive.”
Yao hopes to swim in college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she’s been accepted and plans to major in biochemistry.
However, competing with the Panthers has always held special meaning, especially as she’s taken on a leadership role in a growing program that has spawned multiple regional qualifiers in recent years.
“I help them improve their strokes and teach them how to swim faster. It’s a different dynamic,” Yao said. “The vibe you get is different.”
Speaking the Truth: ESD Senior Following Family Legacy Into College Soccer Instead of Texas, Truth Byars and younger sibling Treasure are heading to SMU
By Todd Jorgenson
People Newspapers
Soccer is a sport of goals, and Truth Byars has achieved most of hers, ever since spending countless hours on the sidelines watching her two older sisters.
She’s followed in the footsteps of Tatyana and Trinity, reaching the same elite level to earn a Division I college scholarship. But instead of continuing their legacy at the University of Texas, Truth is staying closer to home at SMU.
The senior striker at the Episcopal School of Dallas is the middle child among five soccer siblings. She signed with the Mustangs in November along with younger sister Treasure, who plans to graduate from high school early to enroll in the same class as Truth.
“Our sport was soccer. We were all going to play,” Truth said. “I always used to go to their games. That’s kind of when my parents knew.”
Truth might be the most soft-spoken of the siblings, but she has made plenty of
ESD senior Truth Byars verbally committed to SMU as an eighth grader and signed with the Mustangs in November.
SHAWN WALTHER/CHARISMA PHOTOGRAPHY
noise as a playmaker with the ball at her feet for the Solar club team and at ESD.
She was a key offensive player last season for the Eagles, who finished just behind eventual SPC champion in the North zone standings and placed fourth in the conference tournament.
“She was a player we could count on. She does really well under pressure,” said ESD head coach Jana Hopson. “This year, she isn’t able to play, but I look at her like a coach figure. She knows the game so well, and I respect her vision.”
Truth has been sidelined this season while she recovers from surgery to repair a torn knee ligament. She expects to return
SPC WINTER MEET
Dallas schools will host conference championships in three sports on Feb. 9-11. They include:
Boys basketball (Greenhill) Girls basketball (ESD) Boys soccer (ESD and St. Mark’s) Girls soccer (Greenhill) Wrestling (St. Mark’s)
to the field in time for the start of SMU’s fall season.
“I’m sad about it, but I have to stay positive because injuries can be more mental than physical,” she said. “It’s good to know that I’m still part of the team.”
Meanwhile, Trinity was named the Big 12 offensive MVP last fall after scoring 17 goals for the Longhorns. She also is a member of the United States under-20 national team.
“When I was younger, I felt like there was pressure to be as good as my sisters, not from my parents but from within myself,” she said. “Now it’s more like competition.”
Truth and Treasure, a midfielder, have played together on various teams for the past several years. But what about the possibility of competing against Trinity at the college level?
“It would definitely be a good matchup,” Truth said.
