By Michael Adams
Austin Sports Journal
As we turn the page on 2024, The Austin Sports Journal looks back at the stories that defined Austin-area high school sports in the past year.
I believe it is a privilege to report about the high schools in the Austin area. I will enter my 20th year covering sports in Texas in 2025 starting at my humble beginnings at the Palestine Hearld-Press in Palestine.
I’ve seen thousands of athletes in that span experience triumph, heartbreak, resilience and tragedy. I’m honored to get to tell your stories.
More Year-in-Review stories
- Year-in-review: The 25 top Austin-area athletes for 2024 (w/photo gallery)
- Austin Sports Journal top photos of 2024: The year in pictures
Here are the top stories of the year:
Vandegrift cements legacy with 6A state championship win over Southlake Carroll
ARLINGTON – Vandegrift put a stamp on an improbable season with a 24-17 win over Southlake Carroll in the Texas high school football Class 6A Division II state championship game for the school’s first football state title.
The Vipers knocked off one of the state’s most prominent programs at AT&T Stadium the same way they’ve done all season – together.
More football state championship stories
- Westlake ‘humbled’ by North Crowley in state championship defeat
- Photos: Smithson Valley defeats Highland Park to claim 5A-I state title
- Photos: Vandegrift takes down Southlake Carroll in state championship
- Photos: Westlake falls to speedy North Crowley in 6A-I state championship game
Wimberley returns to Texas volleyball royalty, completes reverse sweep to win 7th state title
GARLAND – On her way to being named the Class 4A Division II championship’s most valuable player, Wimberley senior Laney Hennessee repeatedly told her teammates and head coach Misty Fletcher-Remmers, “We’re winning.”
Even when Canyon Randall led 2-0 after the first two sets, Hennessee remained resolute, saying, “We’re winning this game.”
Hennessee and her teammates followed through, completing the reverse sweep to win the Texans’ seventh volleyball state championship. Wimberley (42-3) defeated the Raiders 20-25, 17-25, 25-14, 25-23, 15-9 at the Curtis Culwell Center.
More volleyball state championship stories
- Johnson City rallies to win Class 2A Division I state volleyball championship
- Frisco Wakeland, Hannah Lee too much for Cedar Park in Class 5A Division II state championship
- Photos: Johnson City wins first volleyball state championship
- Photos: Wimberley wins UIL 4A-II volleyball state championship
Rouse reaches Class 5A state baseball tournament, falls in semifinal in heartbreaking fashion
ROUND ROCK –Rouse was minutes from defeating Grapevine and advancing to the first baseball state championship game in school history.
Within seconds, it all fell apart.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the seventh, a routine double play turned into disaster for the Raiders.
An error on Rayner Heinrich’s throw to first on the tail end of a double play was just wide of the glove of first baseman Oscar Salazar, allowing the Mustangs to plate the tying and game-winning run to defeat the Raiders 2-1 in a Class 5A semifinal at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
“Our guys battled and went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the state,” said Rouse head coach Chad Krempin. “I thought we had them, but that’s baseball sometimes.”
The unfortunate part is that the game’s final play overshadowed what were pristine pitching performances from Grapevine’s Dasan Hill, a Dallas Baptist signee, and Rouse’s Gavin Silva, who gave up two hits each.
Stony Point’s historical season reaches the Class 6A men’s basketball state championship game
SAN ANTONIO — Stony Point’s fast-break offense – and state championship hopes – ran into a brick wall.
Plano East (40-0) controlled the tempo in the fourth quarter to prevent Stony Point from making a late run and defeated the Tigers 53-41 in the Class 6A state championship game.
Saturday’s loss at the Alamodome in San Antonio was Stony Point’s second of the season. Both losses of the Tigers (38-2) losses were to Plano East, which defeated Stony Point in a tournament in December.
Josiah Moseley, playing in his final game in a Stony Point uniform, scored a game-high 18 points for Stony Point while going 8-of-17 from field-goal range.
More basketball state championship stories
- Shelbyville pulls away in second half to end Thrall’s historic season in 2A semifinal
- Blue-collar mentality has been the key to success for Thrall in final 2A season (w/video)
- Stony Point gets its wish – a rematch with Plano East in 6A championship
Westlake’s improbable run to the Class 6A women’s soccer championship game ends in nail biter
GEORGETOWN – Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way.
Prosper’s defense allowed very few opportunities for Westlake to attack the goal. Westlake’s defense did the same to the Eagles’ offensive assault.
In the second half, however, Prosper’s Olivia Hess took advantage of one of the few opportunities Westlake (17-5-2) allowed and put a free kick from 28 yards out over the head of goalkeeper Sophia Martin to score the Eagles’ lone goal.
It proved to be enough as Prosper (26-2-2) defeated Westlake 1-0 to claim the Class 6A state championship and complete the Dallas sweep of women’s state titles at this weekend’s UIL state soccer tournament in Georgetown.
More soccer state championship stories
- Flower Mound stymies Vandegrift in 6A men’s semifinal, holds Vipers to 2 shots on goal
- Frisco Wakeland knocks off Glenn in Class 5A men’s semifinal (photos)
- Colleyville Heritage cruises past Hendrickson in 5A women’s semifinal (photos)
- Rouse women take Frisco Wakeland to PKs, but falls to 3-time state champion (photos)
Cedar Park women’s basketball finds postseason magic and carries it to state tournament return
Cedar Park’s women’s basketball team was an upset machine in the playoffs, knocking off district rivals Liberty Hill and Glenn on their way to the 6A state semifinals.
Unfortunately, the Timberwolves’ playoff magic finally ran out.
Mansfield Timberview scored 21 second-chance points Thursday and defeated the Lady Timberwolves 67-35 in a UIL women’s state basketball Class 5A semifinal at The Alamodome in San Antonio.
Timberview (40-1) showed why it was the No. 1 team in Class 5A and bullied Cedar Park on the boards, outrebounding the Lady Timberwolves 51-29. Twenty of Timberview’s rebounds were offensive boards.
Cedar Park (27-12) got a big night from center Kennedy Carlyle, who scored a game-high 19 points and was near perfect. Carlyle was 7-of-8 from field goal range and 4-for-4 from behind the three-point line. The senior also led the Lady Timberwolves on the boards with five rebounds.
Timberview frustrated junior Hope Edwards, who was 3-for-18 from the floor and was held to just eight points after a 19-point performance in the Region IV championship game.
Pole vaulters, triple jumpers and distance runners shine at state track and field meet
Austin-area athletes took home 21 medals at the UIL state track meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Georgetown’s Lilly Muzzy (triple jump) and Joseph Wienen (3,200), Round Rock’s Xavier Drumgoole (triple jump), Cedar Park’s Isabel Conde de Frankenberg (800), Lago Vista’s Swayde Griffin (110 hurdles) and Thorndale’s Carson McCoy (100) all won individual state championships, while Conde de Frankenberg, McCoy and La Grange’s Austen Diggs (100 & 200) double medaled.
The best event for the Austin area was the pole vault and triple jump, where there were three total medalists in the event from local high schools, followed by the discus.
Thrall community remembers track star Avery Koonce after her tragic death
Fromer Thrall track and field star Avery Koonce was found unconscious in her dorm room on Sept. 9 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. She was unable to be resuscitated and declared dead.
Her death remained a mystery until an autopsy revealed Koonce died of the relatively rare bacteria that lead to sepsis. It was reported that the bacteria was found in her blood and her left lung, which showed a history of acute inflammation. While rare, the organism can cause severe toxic shock syndrome that can rapidly progress to death, according to the CDC.
Koonce graduated from Thrall High School in 2024 and was a member of the Air Force Academy’s women’s track and field team. She was an honor student and a standout for the Tigers’ athletic program.
On Sept. 12, the community gathered at Tiger Stadium at Thrall High School for a memorial service to honor Koonce.
More of the top stories of the year
- UIL state women’s golf: Vandegrift overtakes SA Reagan to win 6A title
- Taylor’s Rylee Michna and Westwood doubles team wins state tennis titles
- Westwood wins third-straight team tennis state championship
