What’s been your best game?
My tee shots.

What do you like most about playing golf?
I love getting outside and enjoying the weather. It’s just peaceful and quiet after a crazy day at school.

Do you have a favorite pro golfer?
No, I really can’t sit through and watch golf. I can play though.

What goals do you set for yourself when golfing?
My goals right now are to get below a 50 on 9 holes.

How do you prepare for a big game?
I usually play an 18-hole round and practice on the range.

What’s your favorite club?
I love my 3 wood, I can hit it farther than 150 yards.

How has golfing affected you personally?
I feel like it has made me more patient.

Do you plan on golfing in college?
I would love to be able to golf in college if I get the opportunity.

What dreams do you have as a golfer?
I dream of making par on an 18-hole round of golf, that would be so awesome.

Do you have any pre-match rituals?
I always go to the range and putting green to learn how the course acts.

What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you when golfing?
The worst shot I’ve ever made actually ended up going into the hole from 100 yards away.

What’s the most embarrassing moment you’ve had?
I went to a tournament once when my score didn’t count, (it was just for experienced people) and I ended up beating one of our top players and she was kind enough to give me her third place medal.

“I feel like I have to do my best since it’s my last tournament,” senior Xavier Flores said. “Hopefully everyone can go on. I think everyone will do really well.”

They have been preparing for weeks during class and at afterschool workouts. They work on cardio and lifting weights to improve on their skills.

“We practice pretty late and extra so we can get ready,” Flores said. “We have been working out really intense lately. It will help us by being mentally and physically prepared.”

The wrestling team has competed in six meets this winter season. At the latest tournament at Cedar Park, freshman Elise Coleman placed second and senior Peter Negrete placed second in his weight division.

“They have gotten pretty good,” senior Peter Negrete said. “Some I wish had gone better. They will have helped heading toward district.” 

The varsity boys start competition today and continue through Saturday at Vista Ridge. The junior varsity boys and varsity girls will compete all day Saturday.

“It definitely helps to be brothers when playing doubles,” coach Michael Hjort said. “I think that they are more in sync than most and I find it incredible. In fact, the number one doubles team in the world happens to be the Bryan twins, Bob and Mike.”

The twins have more in common with the Bryan brothers than one would think. Like the Bryans, the Ritters also play with different hands. Zane is a lefty while Dylan is a righty. The Ritters have been playing tennis for as long as they can remember, and want to continue playing at least through college.

“I’m not sure about going into the pros, but I’m definitely looking forward to playing tennis in college,” Dylan said.

It’s unusual for freshmen to be the No. 1 team for varsity. But Hjort realized early on, even before school started, that the twins would dominate on the court.

“It didn’t take me long at all to realize that they were good,” Hjort said. “They were warming up for practice one day and I knew that they had tennis promise.”

In order to remain the No. 1 doubles team, the brothers practice harder and longer than they ever have before.

“We practice about an hour and 15 minutes every school day and sometimes on the weekend we go to the courts,” Zane said.

Overall, the brothers practice around 10 hours each week. The competition hits home though, with the boys occasionally ending up in fights.

“If we lose a match, we’ll fight about whose fault it was that we lost,” Dylan said. “But we work it out in the end.”

This year, the Ritters say their best match was against Marble Falls. In tournament play, the doubles team is undefeated.

“They all were awesome,” Dylan said.  “We have just had a great season for far and I hope it continues.”

The team has played in two matches this spring and will hit the court for eight more before the district tournament. Their goal is to be the district champion in doubles, a task that involves beating district rivals Vandegrift and Lake Travis.

“I think that the boys have a good chance for district,” Hjort said. “It is going to be doable and I have confidence in them, but still it will be pretty tough and take their best effort.”

“We had a couple of tough calls by officials,” coach Marlene Blanchett said. “But the team didn’t let that keep us down. I’m proud of how we picked back up and went for first, second and third in several events.”

Of the four swimmers who advanced to finals in individual events, all are continuing to the regional swim meet.

“I’m really excited about the whole regional experience,” senior Andrew Thomas said. “It’s just a lot of fun to be a part of it.”

The top finishes at the meet were Jyna Leckbee who finished second in the 50 freestyle and third in 100 breaststroke. Amanda Alspaugh won the district championship in the 500 freestyle. And Mackenzie Alspaugh won both the 100 yard butterfly and 100 yard backstroke.

“It feels great to represent Rouse,” Mackenzie Alspaugh said. “It’s nice to see all my hard work has paid off.”

The regional meet starts next Friday, Feb. 10 in San Antonio.

“It’s been a total 180 from what we used to be,” junior and team captain Katherine Lugo said. “It’s amazing. I’m really excited for district.”

The team has two more non-district games before district starts next Friday at home against Vista Ridge.

“I think we really have a shot for playoffs,” Lugo said. “Cedar Park and Vista Ridge are both going to be good, but Vandegrift is our greatest competition.”

“I like how physical it is,” Crossman said. “It lets me get my anger out.”

The wrestling team has gained 30 new athletes, bringing the numbers of the team up to 60.

“We’ve gotten bigger and stronger,” coach Brad Bresnehen said. “Our technique has vastly improved.”

Senior Peter Negrete is one of the returning wrestlers, starting his fourth year. He was out all last year, so preparing for this year is hard work.

“There are lots of challenges that you have to overcome [with wrestling],” Negrete said. “You build a bond with everyone.”

One of the three girls on the team, junior Nakiah Richardson, says that it’s not hard being a girl wrestler.

“Some people think girls can’t do it,” Richardson said. “They think it’s a guy sport like football and they don’t have the right attitude towards it.”

The athletes started the season three weeks ago. At the Cap Classic at the Delco Center Nov. 18-19, 27 of 43 the junior varsity wrestlers placed at the JV tournament. In the varsity division, four wrestlers placed. Richardson took first in the 102 lb weight class, sophomore Jemmuel Lacanaria and Negrete both took second in their weight classes, 106 and 138, respectively.  Sophomore Micah Schonfeld was third in the 113 lb weight class and junior Seth Catchpool was fourth in the 138 lb weight class.

The junior varsity team traveled to Georgetown Friday to compete in their varsity tournament. They finished fifth at Georgetown, beating Harker Heights, Pflugerville and Killeen Shoemaker. They lost a close one to Leander 31-27.

“I felt like we gave 110 percent,” sophomore Alex Gaskill said. “We didn’t all get pinned, and we never surrendered.”

In San Antonio on Saturday at the Churchill Charger Classic, three varsity wrestlers placed. Richardson placed second in the 102 lb weight class while Catchpool and Negrete won their weight divisions the 126 lb and 132 lb classes.

“I felt good about it,” Catchpool said. “I beat a state-ranked kid.”

The team is working hard in preparation, practicing every day after school for two hours and lifting four days a week. The team will attend meets throughout December and January to prepare for district, Feb. 3-4. Bresnehen has high hopes for his team, which had one wrestler advance to state last season.

“I’d like to get four to six kids to state,” Bresnehen said. “And several on the podium at state.”

“We’re doing phenomenal,” coach Marlene Blanchett said. “Almost everybody made a personal best and I’m really proud of that.”

Mackenzie Alspaugh won first place in the 200 yard freestyle and in the 100 yard backstroke. Amanda Alspaugh took second in the 100 yard butterfly and first place in the 500 yard freestyle. Jyna Leckbee won fourth in the 100 yard breaststroke.

At the Aggieland Invitational Nov. 12, the  girls team placed sixth overall 28-4A and 5A teams.

“I expected us to do well,” Leckbee said. “But I was real shocked at how good we did and how well we got along and supported each other.”

The girls medley relay placed sixth and the freestyle relay placed ninth. Amanda placed fifth in 200 IM and 2 in 500 freestyle, Leckbee placed third in 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke and Mackenzie placed third in 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.

Four girls qualified to compete at the TISCA meet in San Antonio, Dec. 2-3, where the girls placed in the top eight overall out of 31 schools.

 The girls medley relay placed sixth and the freestyle relay placed fourth. Mackenzie placed fifth in the 200 yard freestyle and seventh in the 100 yard backstroke, Amanda placed seventh in the 200 yard IM and and fourth in the 500 yard freestyle and Leckbee placed eighth in the 100 yard breaststroke and fifth in the 50 yard freestyle.

“I thought we did really well,” Mackenzie said. “Even though we only had four girls. We represented Rouse by beating many 5A school and placing well.”

“It was fantastic,” freshman gold player Marlan Merriweather said. “We only had two losses and we scored 120 points in our first two games.

The JV maroon team was 3-7 overall and 1-5 in district and the JV gold team finished 1-7-1 overall and 0-5-1 in district.

“We definitely need to get better for next season,” junior maroon player Trevor Riek said. “We’re going to work harder and get stronger.”

Varisty Football
The varsity football team wrapped up the season with a 49-32 loss to Vista Ridge, Nov. 4. The team finished the season 2-7-1 overall and 0-6 in district.

“The effort was there, we just needed to finish,” junior Travis Leslie said. “We had opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on.”

Junior Varsity VolleyBall
The JV volleyball team finished district 3-9.

“We put a lot of effort into what we did and in the end our team was good,” sophomore Taylor Lilly said. “Our attitudes were good, but the games didn’t turn out the way we wanted.”

TEAM MEMBERS: 13

ATHLETES TO WATCH: Crysta Haines, Mariah Merriweather, Carrie Kirchner, Korvette Phillips

FIRST DISTRICT GAME: Monday, Dec. 12 against Vista Ridge, 6 p.m.

THOUGHTS FROM LAST SEASON: “We were successful in the first round of district last year, but I think our lack of experience was our fall in the second round, but there’s no excuse this year.”

THOUGHTS FOR DISTRICT: “It’s going to be tough. There are some good returning players on the teams in the district, but we have a shot if we play as a team.”

EXPECTATIONS OF THE SEASON: “When I took this job my goal was to go the playoffs and after four years, we finally have a legitimate chance.”

HEAD COACH: Shane Krause

TEAM MEMBERS: 11

ATHLETES TO WATCH: Matt Martinez, Nick Asbury, Wesley Lewis, Matt DeJohn

FIRST DISTRICT GAME: Tuesday, Dec. 20 at Lake Travis, 7 p.m.

THOUGHTS ABOUT LAST YEAR: “We did well, but we definitely had a lot of room for improvement.”

THOUGHTS FOR DISTRICT: “We’re excited to compete and improve.”

EXPECTATIONS OF THE SEASON: “To have the best season yet and send the seniors out on a winning note and continue to build a great program.”

“We competed well,” head coach Kelly Thompson said. “For their first time they did really well, and especially from their district finishes they had solid standings.”

The state race was held at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock, a route the runners were familiar with after earlier races there this year.

“It’s a hard route because the whole [race] is uphill so it makes it really tough,” junior Andy Mask said. “But we ran the course a lot so we have an advantage at that.”

Belcik and Kastens advanced to state after strong finishes at the regional meet. At regionals in San Antonio, Nov. 4, Kastens finished 10th.

“I felt strong,” Kastens said. “It was a great way to extend my last year of cross country.”

Belcik also finished in the top 10, taking fourth place.

“I wasn’t too happy about getting fourth at regionals, but it showed me how hard the competition is out there,” Belcik said.

Thompson thought regionals was “tough” on his two runners.

“They haven’t seen big races this year and the pace went out fast,” Thompson said. “Luckily, they are talented enough runners to hold on and cover their mistakes.”

DISTRICT
At district, Belcik won the District 25-4A cross country championship, Friday, Oct. 28 at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock. Belcik placed first with a time of 15:45 beating former teammate, Adam Waldum of Vista Ridge, by seven seconds.

“I felt really good [about my time],” said Belcik who transferred from Vista Ridge this year.

Thompson was pleased to have his first district champion in cross country.

“Daniel winning district is awesome for him,” Thompson said. “He set his mind to winning last year and he was able to stay focused throughout the winter, spring and summer.”

Also finishing in the top 25 at district were Kieren Allowitz who took 23rd and Trey Douthitt who was 24th.

“I did a lot better than I thought,” Douthitt said. “We made a lot of improvements from last year.”

In the girls’ varsity race, senior Nicole Kastens took second with a time of 11:54. Her time was five seconds behind Cedar Park’s Brittany Innis.

“The whole race we were right by each other,” Kastens said. “We battled it out at the end, and she just kind of busted it out.”

Three other runners finished in the top 20: freshman Karigan Allowitz placed 15th, sophomore Helena Castle took 17th and Adriana Reyes was 18th.

“Overall, [we did] really good, we worked pretty hard,” Allowitz said. “We had good teamwork; we were very supportive and helpful to each other.”

The girls finished fourth, with the same amount of points as Dripping Springs who ended up third.

“The varsity girls had a good day,” Thompson said. “To lose on a tie is tough. We should have been better prepared and not let it come down to a tie. We were beat by better prepared teams.”

FRESHMAN & JV DISTRICT
In the junior varsity races, Gabriel Lopez was the top finisher for the boys taking 19th, and Mariah Gallegos led the girls, taking fifth with a time of 13:27.

“I was really happy, I worked hard,” Gallegos said. “It was windy and cold, but I worked hard and pushed myself through it. I hope to do better next year.”

In the freshman races, Logan Zipkes was second for the boys and Elise Coleman won the girls’ freshman race.

“It felt like I was running on air,” Coleman said. “It was magical. I didn’t think I would win. My motivation was to get a medal. It felt good. I had great support from my peers.”

District cross country results
Old Settler’s Park, Round Rock, Oct. 28

Freshman Girls
1st – Elise Coleman, 13:22
3rd – Kenna Dekle, 14:45
4th – Savy Escobar, 14:48

Freshman Boys
2nd – Logan Zipkes, 18:27
8th – Michael Belcik, 19:42
10th – Connor Brooks, 20:18
15th – Carlos Ramirez, 21:09

Junior Varsity Girls
5th – Mariah Gallegos, 13:27
14th – Jessica Forster, 14:02
22nd – Justine Franklin, 14:30
33rd – Becca Alvara, 15:20
40th – Stephanie Juranek, 15:55

Junior Varsity Boys
19th – Gabriel Lopez, 19:18
23rd – Tucker Hytrek, 19:43
26th – Aaron Rodriguez, 19:57

Varsity Girls
Team Overall – 4th
2nd – Nicole Kastens, 11:45
15th – Karigan Allowitz, 12:29
17th – Helena Castle, 12:32
18th – Adriana Reyes, 12:33
27th – Stephany Rubalcalba 13:04
32nd – Marissa Naab, 13:13
36th – Annie Wingard, 13:32

Varsity Boys
Team Overall – 5th
1st – Daniel Belcik, 15:45
23rd – Kieren Allowitz, 17:38
24th – Trey Douthitt, 17:39
27th – Jake Tipps, 17:52
29th – Andy Mask, 17:54
39th – Casey McMahan, 18:39
40th – Zach Stevens, 18:42