Tag: Cinco Ranch High School

Virginia-bound Atkinson more than a star runner
Cinco Ranch senior Sophie Atkinson verbally committed to the University of Virginia earlier this month. (COURTESY PHOTO OF SOPHIE ATKINSON)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

It was during her freshman year that Cinco Ranch senior Sophie Atkinson was dealt an awakening of sorts.

A metatarsal fracture limited Atkinson to two cross country meets during that year. Then she suffered a stress fracture to another metatarsal on the same foot that wiped out her track season.

But after eventually coming to terms with the devastation of two setbacks within months of each other, Atkinson found a wat to move forward. She leaned on her faith. Her focus turned to becoming a better teammate. And, most importantly, she realized there was a lot more to her life than running.

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After lost junior seasons, Arkansas commit Nielson readies for Cinco Ranch finale
Cinco Ranch star runner Heidi Nielson verbally committed to Arkansas on Sept. 9. (PHOTO COURTESY OF HEIDI NIELSON)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

The last year has been quite a ride for Cinco Ranch senior runner Heidi Nielson.

A femur injury sidelined her high school cross country season after an exhausting summer representing Team USA at the Pan Am U20 Championships. Then the novel coronavirus COVID-19 abruptly shortened her track season in mid-March. The global pandemic also hindered Nielson’s recruiting, as she was unable to make visits to colleges or compete in significant events.

“It really sucked,” Nielson said. “The cross country season, I get hurt, and it was like, ‘Welp, there it goes.’ I was still hyped, I was really ready for the track season, and then everything gets shut down. I was so sad. Even now, I’m still, like, ugh.”

Still, it all worked out. A star distance runner since her eye-opening freshman season for the Cougars, Nielson verbally committed to continue her athletic career at Arkansas in an Instagram pledge on Sept. 9.

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STRONG AND AMAZING: Former Cinco Ranch standout Becker beats cancer
Former Cinco Ranch soccer standout Katie Becker poses for a photo after being declared cancer-free on July 26. (PHOTO COURTESY OF KATIE BECKER)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

At barely 20 years old, Katie Becker is no stranger to life-altering adversity.

During her freshman season at the University of Texas-San Antonio in 2018, Becker was forced to medically retire from playing soccer seven games into her collegiate career. After having four concussions as a first-team all-district standout at Cinco Ranch High, she had another during a match against Rice in Houston on Sept. 23, 2018. Doctors and coaches determined that another concussion could lead to brain damage.

And while it was difficult to give up her first true love—Becker began playing soccer when she was five years old, helped Cinco Ranch to two state tournament appearances in high school and earned a scholarship to compete at the NCAA Division I level —it was nothing compared to what she faced a little more than two years later.

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DCTF ranks Katy High 18th on 2020 Texas HS football program rankings
Humble, Tx. Sept 8, 2019: Katy’s head coach Gary Joseph is all smiles after a win in a game with Atascocita at Turner Stadium. (Photo by Mark Goodman)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football ranks Katy High in a tie for 18th overall on its 2020 Texas high school football program rankings released this weekend.

DCTF, in conjunction with PigskinPrep.com’s Jerry Forrest, ranked every high school football program based on relative strength over the course of the last six seasons.

Why six? As DCTF explains: “A six-year sample provides a steady measure of a program as opposed to an individual squad — six years represents one-and-a-half graduation cycles, mitigating the impact of a single transcendent class of athletes. In short: good programs have great teams one or two years, but great programs have great teams spread across a larger swath of time, like six years.”

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Onianwa’s quick rise lands opportunity at Rice
Cinco Ranch junior offensive lineman Ethan Onianwa. (COURTESY PHOTO)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

Cinco Ranch junior offensive lineman Ethan Onianwa recently verbally committed to Rice. It was somewhat of a surprise, considering Onianwa only has 10 games of varsity football under his belt and his recruiting process was stunted by restrictions due to the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

“The current coronavirus outbreak affected my recruiting experience a lot,” Onianwa said. “Due to the current epidemic, I wasn’t able to visit colleges and have coaches come to our spring practices. It most definitely made it harder to learn about programs from the players and coaches there.”

COVID-19 prevented college coaches from going on the road to recruit and closed campuses, which disallowed visits by recruits. It also canceled spring football, a time of the year when college coaches can visit high school campuses to watch practices and talk to high school coaches about players.

Still, Onianwa was able to secure his future in a sport he only started taking seriously in middle school, in large part because he’s a tantalizing physical prospect. Onianwa stands 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds. He’s also only 16 years old.

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Katy ISD releases 2020 varsity football schedules
Katy ISD’s composite 2020 varsity football schedule, along with Jordan High’s inaugural sub-varsity schedule.

BY DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

During uncertain times hungry for any semblance of normalcy due to a global pandemic, some came last week when Katy ISD released its composite varsity football schedules for the 2020 season.

The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, means nothing is sure for the upcoming high school football season. But the UIL and its districts are making any and all plans for when the 2020-2021 school year begins.

The  biennial realignment in February brought little significant change for Katy ISD athletics for the next two school years.

Cinco Ranch, Katy, Mayde Creek, Morton Ranch, Seven Lakes, Taylor and Tompkins will compete in District 19-6A, which has been the norm. Paetow moves up to Class 5A, Division I as its enrollment number is on the brink of Class 6A after just three years of existence. Jordan High, the district’s ninth high school scheduled to open in August to freshmen and sophomores only, will compete in Class 5A, Division II, but won’t have varsity football until 2022. Until then, the Warriors’ football schedule will be a makeshift rendition of mixing and matching opponents.

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