It was a busy weekend in Clark sports.  Here’s what happened if you missed it:

Miller places at State meet

SWIMMING

Chelsea Miller, a senior who was the lone Cougar represented at the state meet, placed 8th in the 100 yd. Breast Stroke.  Following graduation, Chelsea can next be seen swimming for Boise State.

BASKETBALL

Cougar seniors end season in Buda

The Bi-District champion boys basketball team finished their season with a tough loss to Austin Bowie 69-56.  The Cougars lead after the 1st qtr. 14-11 after jumping to a 9-2 start.  The 2nd qtr. was mostly Austin Bowie until a flurry of  three pointers by Manny Paz y Puente and Sam Perez brought the Cougars from a deficit to taking the lead into halftime.  The second half, however, was all Bulldogs.  The Cougars finish with a District Championship, a 15-1 district run, a 29-7 overall record, and a bunch of fans who were proud of their efforts.

• PHOTOS
• Austin American Statesman

SOCCER

The boys team came back from a 0-1 halftime score to defeat Jay in the final seconds of the game, 2-1.  They are now 10-1-1 in district and nationally ranked at #34 in the nation by ESPN Rise and #10 in Texas.  The girls team also defeated Jay 1-0.  The win puts them in the playoff chase still, although a couple of other dominoes have to fall their way in order for them to make it to the playoffs.  With four games left, a loss or tie would most likely eliminate them from the first round of playoffs.

BASEBALL
Playing in the Northside tournament, the Cougars went 2-3 against opponents.  The culprit seemed to be cool bats after an 18 run explosion in a win against Roosevelt.  Their record is 3-3 and 1-0 in district.

SOFTBALL

The girls went 1-1-1 against competition in the NEISD tournament.  Overall, Clark Cougar softball is 6-5 and 0-1 in 28-5A.

The Clark Cougars varsity basketball team takes on Austin Bowie  in the 2nd round of playoffs.  Read about the Cougars next foe here.

Clark Cougars

The Clark boys basketball team goes after an Area Championship against Austin Bowie on Friday night at 8:00 in Buda at  Jack C. Hays High School. Bowie defeated Reagan 57-45 on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs finished the regular season in second place in District 25-5A and ranked #14 in the statewide TABC rankings. Clark finished #12 in that same poll.  You can take a look at the Bowie team on their website.

So gas up the car, call your friends and neighbors and head to Buda!

Jack C. Hays H.S. address is 4800 Jack C. Hays Trail , Buda, 78610

Traveling North on I – 35, take the Kyle Parkway/1626 exit, # 215. Travel west on FM 1626 for 1.3 miles. At stop sign turn left onto Kohler’s Crossing and travel 1 mile to stoplight at Jack C. Hays Tr. (FM 2770).

Denny's isn't the only one serving Grand Slams

Clark Varsity Baseball began their 2010 district season with a decisive 12-0 win over Brandeis.  Vincent Salazar pitched to keep Brandeis scoreless, recording 14 strike outs and giving up only 1 hit in 7 innings of play.  Clark bats were alive throughout the game.  The game was scoreless going into the 3^rd inning of play where Brandeis started the inning by walking Ryan Skowronski.  Next up was Hunter McFall who reached base on an error.  Jason Cervantes followed with an infield bunt, advancing the runners, and beating the throw to first, loading the bases for the next batter.  Up to the plate stepped Braden Mattson. With a 2 ball, 2 strike count Mattson hit a grand slam home run over the right field fence, scoring 4 runs.  (continue reading…)

Carlos scores here, delivers hat trick

Pasting the Marshall Rams for a 5-0 win, the JV boys soccer team remains undefeated in district play.  Carlos Sepulveda scored three goals in the game.

The only blemish on the JV record is a tie against Jay.  See more PHOTOS here.

Chelsea Miller headed back to state

Senior Chelsea Miller, who is headed to Boise State after graduation, will once again compete in the state swimming competition this weekend in Austin.  Read more about her story here from our favorite news reporter, Pat Turner.

Elhad carries the Cougars to victory

Behind senior Elhad Emerllahu’s 37 points, the Clark Cougars blew out the East Central Hornets in the first round of the 2010 basketball playoffs 91-66.  Playing at St. Mary’s University on the court he might call his college home, Emerllahu had his way with an over-matched Hornet team.  Jason Brickman posted 25 and Ansley Benjamin added another 18.

The Cougars jumped ahead early but the Hornets shooters heated up and they took a 15-7 lead with three and a half minutes in the 1st quarter.  The Cougars put their own run together and tied the game 18-18 before East Central closed the quarter with a 3 point shot to make it 21-18 Hornets at the end of the 1st.

Clark regained its composure in the 2nd quarter, outscoring the Hornets 25-18 and went up 43-39 into halftime.  The second half was all Cougars as they scored the first 7 points on their way to a 21 point quarter, holding East Central to just 7 points in the 3rd.   With a 64-48 lead starting the 4th, the Cougars kept up the scoring and shut down the Hornet defense for the victory.

Next up for the Cougars, now Bi-District Champs is the Area game against Austin Bowie.   Clark vs. Austin Bowie will take place Friday or Saturday at a site to be determined.

• PHOTOS
• PHOTOS Express News
• ANALYSIS
• EXPRESS NEWS article

The NISD has postponed all baseball and softball games scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 23 for 24 hrs.  Varsity and JV games will resume at the same time and fields on Wed., Feb. 24.

Soccer games scheduled for today will play as scheduled.

Cougars vs. Hornets tonight!

In the final Express News rankings, the Clark Cougars varsity boys basketball team is #2 in the city.  Tonight they begin their quest to be #1 in Texas as they play a first round playoff game against East Central.  Come out and support our District Champions at St. Mary’s University, Greehey Arena at 7:30pm.

The Cougars and Hornets played earlier this season with Clark winning 78-63.  Always a tough opponent, the Hornets are 23-12 on the year in District 27-5A.

It's BACK!!!!!!!!

Offensive coordinator Steve McGhee was named the new Athletic Coordinator and Head Football Coach on February 10th, replacing Lloyd Alexander, who is retiring after 30 years at Clark.  Coach McGhee, a 1988 graduate of  Clark, was kind enough to sit down and discuss his new role and his dream job.

CCS:  What is your coaching resume?

McGhee:  I was at Hobby for two years, then from Hobby I went to Roosevelt for three years…

CCS:  …now was that right after you got out of (The University of) Texas? [where McGhee graduated from],

McGhee:  …right out of Texas where Coach (Mike) Robbins helped me get the job at Hobby.  That was ’93.  So I guess the football season of ’93.  ’94 I was at Hobby.  Then ’95, ’96, and ’97 I was at Roosevelt.  ‘98 and ’99 I was at O’Connor. 2000 and 2001 I was at Reagan.  And then 2002 ‘til (now) I’ve been at Clark.  I coached everything at Hobby, I coached the ends on defense at Roosevelt, offensive line at O’Connor, offensive line at Reagan, offensive line and offensive coordinator here at Clark.

CCS:  All those years, all those great coaches you’ve worked with, what have you learned? (continue reading…)