SJA Athletics Newsletter February 2024

ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER

V

TINOVILLARREAL‘99 ATHLETICDIRECTOR

Our Athletic Department’s philosophy is that our student athlete’s pursuits on the field should be equally measured with those off of it. To that end, a Bloodhound athlete should pursue personal growth through academic work, team experiences, and as an ambassador of our school. The department strives to maintain an outstanding athletics program, conducted in a manner of our Marist faith.

Thank you for being a member of the 101 Club. I hope you remain engaged in our Bloodhound sports and continue to support SJA as we shoot for the stars through life’s difficulties. On behalf of the many athletes we thank you for your unwavering support and spirit Go Bloodhounds!

E T I C D E P A R T M E N T VOL.

-

NEWSLETTER A T H L

II

FEBRUARY 2024

Letter from our AD 101 Club Swimming 1848 Boys Basketball Girls Basketball Athletic Boosters Powerlifting Soccer Tennis Baseball Track and Field Golf Coaching Staff Booster Club Social Media 02 3-4 05 06 07 08 09 10 11-12 13 14 15 16 17-18 19-20 21

PLATINUM MEMBERS

Jaime Garza Cristy Ortiz

Sholom Gorovitz

Victor Reis

Claudia Pirtle Ethan Salazar

Tom Cepeda

SILVER MEMBERS

Emilio Hernandez

John Cowen Kyra Hudson

Terri Cristiano Mauricio Ibarra

Luigi Cristiano Ernesto Knosel

John Edge Joe Lopez

LuisPablo Rhi

Javier Rivera

Michael Rodriguez

Karina Saldivar

RobertShaun Saunders

Gonzalo Garza Manuel Martinez

Alvaro Garza Ramiro Munguia

Jim Starkey

Nick Tipton

Estibaliz Gonzalez

Jorge Green

Marvo Guajardo

Michael Gutierrez

John Ortiz

Beth Pace

Jorge Puig

Jaime Torres

Eddie TrevinoJr

Kay YoungEzell

Alfonso Zolezzi

BRONZE MEMBERS

Katy Abete Perla Garza Paul Marian

Nora Anderson Humberto Garza Rex Martin

Maria Arellano ErnestoG Garza Jorge Martinez

Marsha Atkinson Nicolas Garza Daniel Matar

Felipe Barrera Meme Garza Dulce Meyer

SandraM Betancourt Alfredo Garza Carole Montemayor

JuanJose Camorlinga JorgeR. Garza Rafael Munguia

Hugo Cano

VictorH Gonzalez Terry Murphy

Joanna Cappella Jeff Gowen Martin Olguin

Andy Cedillo Betty Gross Dolores Olguin-Trevino

Miguel Contreras

Pedro Coronado

Edith Guerra Antonio Ortiz

Adrian Guerra Karla Paez

Armando Covarrubias Mark Guerra Daniel Perez

Robert Daniels Hector Guerra Iran Perez

Eliseo Davila Alejandro Guerrero Sergio Puig

Maria DeCoss Peter Harris Claudio Reyes

Luis DeLaGarza John Herrera Hortencia Rios

Adrian DelPozo John Herrera Amy Rodriguez

Isaac Escamilla Michael Hoskins Cesar Rodriguez

Hector Escobar Ronnie Humphreys Lalo Rodriguez

Jennifer Esparza Wale Ibarra Marisela Rodriguez

Alejandro Farias

Kristi Jones

Gloria Schlatter

Ricardo Filizola Donnie Jones Enrique Serna

Humberto Flores

Ruben Leal

Houston Simmons

Gerald Gabbert Eddie Leandro Phillip Steffy

Venissa Gallardo

Chad Lentscher Jose Trevino

Javier Gallegos

Vanessa Garcia

Joseph LoGiudice Arturo Trevino

Samuel Lucio Bertha Ukoli

Mike Garcia Samuel Lucio

Ingrid Vicent

Homero Garcia Carlos Luna Raul Villanueva

JuanCarlos Garcia Gabriela Luna Teno Villarreal

Patricia Zamora

SWIMMINGWRAPSUPAT STATEMEET

SAN ANTONIO- The Bloodhounds were led by first year coach Rodrigo Elizondo. In his first year, the boys relay team qualified for the state meet in San Antonio. Sebastian Green, Jorge Gonzalez, Raul Gonzalez and

Allen Hobbs made up of the Boys 200 Yard Free Relay. The team finished 10th at state with a 1:51.29 time. “The swim team’s performance this year was a great start to this new path of something special and we showed progress,” Elizondo said.

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

Thank you to TheOfficial BloodhoundTailgate

*AllgamesshownonBigScreenTV’s

BOYS BASKETBALL

BLOODHOUNDSSEASON ENDSINAREAROUND

HOUSTON-The Bloodhounds overcame a slow start, but managed to finished 3-1 in the final four games. 10th year coach Sammy Lucio led the Bloodhounds to a playoff berth for a ninth time under his watch.

SJA fell to Second Baptist in the first round of the postseason and finished the season (14-15,6-6) The Bloodhounds will lose just one senior in Lucas Cristiano and will return a bulk of the team next season.

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

GIRLS BASKETBALL

LADYHOUNDS’WRAPUP STELLARSEASON

VICTORIA- The Lady Bloodhounds season ended in the TAPPS 5A Region Final against Second Baptist. SJA finished the season (25-10,11-3). The Lady Bloodhounds were ranked 5th in the state via TCBA.

This year the team was led by senior Regina Tovar and freshman Seanah Mireles. SJA will lose Tovar and Eva Frady to graduation. Along with Mireles, Olivia Wood, Mia Villarreal will return as starters. Sarah Pirtle, Clara Frady, Regina and Mariana Martinez will return next season.

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

Thank you to OFFICIALSPONSOR oftheSJA BLOODHOUNDS

POWERLIFTING

POWERLIFTING WRAPSUP2024

BROWNSVILLE- SJA wrapped up their season at the Port Isabel meet. The Bloodhounds did not qualify for the regional meet. At the PI meet, Hunter Rendon placed third and Jesus Osio placed third. Earlier this month, at the Brownsville Veterans meet, Diego De La Cruz placed first, Osio finished third

and Juan Coello placed fifth. At the Riverview meet, Osio placed second, Coello placed fourth, Alex Morton placed sixth, Jonah Gomez finished in fourth, Patricio Garza finished in fourth and Humberto Flores placed third. “This year powerlifting has returned to SJA and it was an eventful season,” Torres said. “We have a young team and we learned so much together.”

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

SOCCER

SJAADVANCESTO

2NDSTRAIGHTSTATETOURNEY

BROWNSVILLE- The Bloodhounds secured their fourth straight district title with a 3-1 win against TMI and their sixth straight area title after a thrilling 5-3 win over Second Baptist in the area round. Saint Joseph will now have a rematch with San Antonio Christian in the regional final. “We wanted to show everyone who we really were,” said Diego Saldana. “We were

down in the first half and that was not us” SJA beat SACS 2-1 in the region final and will now face TMI in the state semi finals. SJA has reached the regional final in 2015,2016 and 2022. went 11-1 in play and were led by strikers Claudio Torres and Saldana.Torres was third in the RGV with 23 goals and Saldana finished second in the Valley with 29 goals.

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

SOCCER S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y 13 15 16 20 21 22 23 15 16 18 19 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 15 16 22 23 23

TENNIS

SJATENNISWRAPSUPBUSY FEBRUARY

BROWNSVILLE- The Bloodhounds competed in three tournaments in the month of February. In their first meet in Brownsville, Fran Gamez placed first in the boys singles while Nicole De La Garza placed first in the consolation bracket. At their second meet, also in Brownsville, Gamez placed first in boys singles, De La Garza and Julieta Vilafranca placed first in girls doubles and Juan Carlos Cardenas and Renata Escobar placed fourth in mixed doubles.

At their latest meet, Gamez placed first yet again in boys singles, Felipe Barrera also won first in boys singles, Jorge David Guevavra placed second in boys singles, Frankie Wood placed second in boys singles, Luisa Fernada Montelongo placed first, Bianca Cardenas and De La Garza placed second in girls singles.

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

BASEBALL

PONCE,CANOSETTO GUIDESJAIN2024

BROWNSVILLE- The expectations are high for the 2024 season. Long time coach Stevan Najeria fields a team with experience and boats a deep lineup. Gael Ponce will serve as the teams ace, while his battery mate Emilio Cano will provide defense from behind plate. Last year

the Bloodhounds went (1010,6-6 The Bloodhounds will look to get passed the first round after last years 32 loss to Lutheran South. Saint Joseph is fresh off a tournament win. Their next stop is the Mercedes Knights of Columbus Tournament. They kickoff district play March 12 against San Antonio Christian at Paul Urban Field.

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

TSJATRACKANDFIELDIN FULLSWING

BROWNSVILLE- The Bloodhounds competed in three meets in the month of February. At the Bobby Morrow Relays, Robert Guerra placed fifth in Shot Put, Alondra Loya placed first in the Discus and sixth in the Shot Put. Nicole Richer placed first in Pole Vault. At the Yellow Jacket Relays, Loya placed first in the Discus, Richer placed second in Pole Vault and Grace Gowen placed fourth in the 100M Hurdles and fifth in the 300 M Hurdles. Loya broke the All-Time Brownsville record that was set in 2014 by Yesenia Baili from Pace with a140' 3". Loya completed a throw of 141'” Loya also broke her own record.

D S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

GOLFRETURNSFORTHE 2024SEASON

VICTORIA- The Bloodhounds teed off their 2024 season earlier this month. SJA first tournament of the year was rained out halfway through the tournament. Alex Cortez returns for his second year as head coach and fields a veteran club in 2024. “We just lost one kid to graduation from last years team,” Cortez said. “We are excited to get our season going and we have players with experience and that is going to help this year.” Up next SJA will compete in Mercedes. Their district meet will be April 15 in Victoria.

GOLF S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

COACHING STAFF

StevenNajera HeadCoach Baseball SantiagoMoodyIV AssistantBaseball Coach IsraelBarela AssistantBaseball Coach AssistantBaseball Coach TeddyLopez Head TrackandFieldCoach MoniqueCarre JRHigh TrackandField Track andField Track andField AndrewSoto TrackandField Coach ReyCortinas TrackandField Coach OscarGarza HeadTennis Coach FabricioMasso AssistantTennis Coach NickGarza LouieTijerina EstebanPruneda

S A I N T J O S E P H A C A D E M Y

COACHING STAFF

AlexCortez EdgarTovar HeadSoccer Coach HeadGolf Coach

BOOSTER CLUB

The Purpose of the SJA Athletic Booster Club is to promote athletics at Saint Joseph Academy in an atmoshere that is consistent with the mission, academic and athletic philosophy of Saint Joseph Academy. The Athletic Boosters support this purpose primarily through fundraising.

2023-2024EXECUTIVEBOARDOFDIRECTORS

Jaime and Renata Garza

Stephany Luna

Ingrid Vicent

Luigi and Terri Cristiano

Maryana Martinez

Vero Garza

Karina Saldivar

Genaro Martinez