March 2024 Athletics Newsletter

State Champs

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!

PLATINUM MEMBERS 101CLUBMEMBERS

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

Marco 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

Thank you to TheOfficial BloodhoundTailgate

SJATEXASSTATECHAMPIONS

23 State Champions24

SOCCERWINS1STEVERSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP

ROUND ROCK - The Saint Joseph Academy Bloodhound Soccer team earned back to back trips to the TAPPS state tournament held in Round Rock Multipurpose Complex on March 7-8 2024. After winning their 4th straight District Championship and three straight comefrom-behind victories in the playoffs; coach Edgar Tovar’s team found themselves back in the State championship game. Last season the team fell short 2-0 to Dallas Legacy Christian but this year would was a different story.

The Bloodhounds captured the schools 1st ever State

Championship after a 65th minute goal from senior captain Diego Saldana. The goal was enough to propel the Bloodhounds to a 1-0 win over Austin St. Michael’s.

Upon arrival to Brownsville city limits the boys were escorted by Brownsville PD and Constables all the way to campus where they were received by fans, family and mariachi’s.

The City of Brownsville recognized the team for becoming the 5th team in City history to be State Champions.

County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. will also honor the Bloodhounds with a county proclamation next month.

POSTSEASONACCOLADES

GIRLS BASKETBALL

POSTSEASONACCOLADES

BOYS BASKETBALL

Thank you to OFFICIALSPONSOR oftheSJA BLOODHOUNDS

TENNIS

GAMEZPREPSFORTHREE PEAT

BROWNSVILLE- A Warrior, competitor and fierce are just a few words to describe senior Fran Gamez. The senior who has already hoisted two straight state titles in tennis, will look to cap off his legendary career with a third straight state title. “I have worked on sharpening my game and I feel I have had a great year and I’m ready for district and state,” Gamez said. The senior plays for his father and grandfather who also played tennis. Fran began playing when he was four years old. “I played soccer for a few years but tennis has always been my passion.” He said. Gamez sees tennis as an outlet outside of the everyday world. “It is my mental outlet,” Gamez said. “I’m a hard worker and I take it serious.” Gamez has rolled through the competition in the RGV and has positioned himself to make yet another run at a state title. Gamez will begin his title defense at the district meet in San Antonio April 2nd followed by the state meet in Waco, April 16.

BASEBALL

SJAAIMSFOR

SECONDHALFSURGE

BROWNSVILLE- The Bloodhounds snapped a four game skid and wrapped up the month of March with a much needed 11-1 win in five innings over Laredo St. Augustine. The offense used a four run first and a six run fifth inning to seal an 11-run outburst. Emmanuel Mendez paced the Bloodhound offense with a two hit day at the plate, while freshmen Axel Gonzalez threw five strong innings. Gonzalez yielded two hits and one unearned run. SJA will now head into the midpoint of the season 1-4. “Picking up this win to close out the first half was huge for us,” said head coach Steven Najera. The 11 runs was a season high in district play. Their second highest was a nine run performance in a loss at St. Mary’s Hall. The offense has now scored 20 runs in their last two games. In their first three games the offense managed three runs. SJA will now shift their focus to the second round of district play starting April 2 at home against Victoria Saint Joseph followed by a Friday showdown with first place San Antonio Christian.

TRACK AND FIELD

LOYA,RICHERSHINEAT MEETOFCHAMPS

PHARR- The Bloodhounds sent only two athletes to the finals at this years Meet of Champs. Sophmore Nicole Richer and Senior Alondra Loya competed with the Valley’s best and neither of them disappointed. Loya topped La Sara’s Xiomara Rodriguez with a mark of 140-10 during her final throw to bring home the gold. “I think today was really nice, I felt I did good and I was consistant and that has been the goal this whole time,” Loya said. “Staying consistant is a big part about being a thrower.” Richer also brought home the gold in the pole vault, outlasting McAllen High’s Molly Blackwell with a vault of 10-09. “I did great, I could have done better but overall it was a great experience, I did win it, I had fun and I competed with some great vaulters.” For the first time since 2007, SJA brought home two Valley Champions. At the Fear the Spear Relays in Santa Rosa, the Girls team placed first with a total of 71 points, while the boys finished in fifth with 42 points. Seventh grader Jimena Duran continues to turn heads. The youngster has set five SJA records and recently brought home five gold medals at the Port Isabel meet earlier this month.

GOLFRETURNSFORTHE 2024SEASON

BROWNSVILLE- The Golf team competed in a Mercedes meet earlier this month.

Silvia Martinez placed third at the meet. “The experience I gained at the tournament motivated me to keep improving for district,” Martinez said. “I had a great opportunity to learn and get stronger for district, I had a great time competing as well.” On the boys side, Caleb Zimmer and Ian Meyer both show a promising future that has head coach Alex Cortez excited. “We have three seniors back and along with our underclassmen,” Cortez said. The district meet is April 15 in Victoria. “The team looks solid and we can make a run at the district title and everyone is 100 percent in.”

FOOTBALL

DELACRUZ&TORRES CALL ATTENTIONOFDIVISION1'S

BROWNSVILLE - Diego de la Cruz (Jr. OL 6'5 232lb.) and Claudio Torres (Jr. WR 5'10 162lb.) have been on the radar of a handful of NCAA Division I Football programs: Marshall University, Rice University, Southern Methodist University (SMU), Texas Christian University (TCU) and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).

Other Division II and III programs have also expressed interest in the duo. While both are juniors and still have one season to play for the Bloodhounds coach Tino Villarreal is excited for the opportunity to have them continue to the next level.

COACHING STAFF

StevenNajera HeadCoach Baseball

SantiagoMoodyIV AssistantCoach Baseball

IsraelBarela AssistantCoach Baseball AssistantCoach Baseball

TeddyLopez HeadCoach TrackandField

MoniqueCarre MiddleSchool TrackandField AssitantCoach TrackandField

AndrewSoto ReyCortinas

OscarGarza HeadCoach Tennis FabricioMasso AssistantCoach Tennis

NickGarza

LouieTijerina

EstebanPruneda AssitantCoach TrackandField AssitantCoach TrackandField AssitantCoach TrackandField

AlexCortez EdgarTovar HeadCoach Soccer HeadCoach Golf

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

JaimeandRenataGarza BoosterClubPresidesnts

Where to find us

@bloodhoundathletics

St.JosephAcademy

Athletics

@bloodhoundathletics

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