Shelby County Today

May 30, 2019 - Four Center ISD students competed at the 2019 Gulf District AAU Taekwondo National Qualifier in Houston, Texas on May 4th. Logan Galindo, Jahaziel Figueroa, Rex Payne, and Zac Payne train locally at Self Defense America (SDA) under the direction of Master Tina Roddy.

“All of the students brought home medals in their individual events,” said Master Tina Roddy. “By winning medals in their individual classes and events, all four students qualified to compete in the AAU TKD Nationals and Junior Olympics this summer.”

Students participated in Creative Weapons Forms, Traditional Forms, and Point Sparring. For traditional forms, students have to follow a predetermined set of movements, but for creative weapons forms, students are able to develop their own routine using a bo staff, kammas, or a sword. The other main event was point sparring, participants fight gaining points by landing a technique from a set of allowable kicks and punches.

“Competing is a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of hard work and dedication,” said four-year veteran of AAU competitions and black belt Logan Galindo. “The best part is hanging out with your friends.” 

Logan won gold in both of his events - creative weapons forms and traditional forms. Red belt Jahaziel Figueroa competed in point sparring, creative weapons forms, and traditional forms and brought home the silver in all three events. Rex brought home a gold in creative weapons forms, silver in point sparring, and bronze in traditional forms. His brother blue belt Zac Payne won silver in traditional forms and bronze in weapons forms.

“I like competing in TKD because it’s fun and it helps me learn about myself,” said red belt Rex Payne, “where my limits are and how to push myself.”

“Winning is terrific,” said Logan’s mom Tracie Galindo. “ It definitely shows you that all of the hours of work had a purpose, but, as a mom, I enjoy seeing the support that these young men give each other. They help each other achieve great things and support each other when the judges’ decisions don’t go their way. They give suggestions to each other on how to improve. I love the character that is developed in this program.”

Gulf District AAU Taekwondo National Qualifier was sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), a national organization founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in amateur sports. Taekwondo is one of over 30 individual sports offered within the organization. Local competitors compete in Region 9 and then may qualify to perform at the Nationals event or Junior Olympics in the Summer. Competitors in the Nationals event may be chosen for the National competition team to travel around the world, representing the United States.

East Texas Baptist University’s Wood’s Field Ballpark, Thursday, May 23, 2019 –

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The Shelbyville Dragons were eliminated from the Region III semifinal game in the UIL Class 2A State Baseball Tournament on Thursday. The Dragons lost a best-of-three game series in two games to the Simms James Bowie Pirates.

In Game 1 the Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with scores by Dalton Alford and Duece Schuler.

Shelbyville bounced back to within one run of the Pirates, in the top of the sixth inning, when Cole Ferguson scored after reaching base on a double to centerfield. He later raced home on a single to leftfield by Kaleb Campbell and SHS trailed Simms only 2-1.

Dragon Kolby Parker struck out nine Pirate batters during the complete game loss and only gave up one free base.

Game 2 saw the game go scoreless until Shelbyville took their only lead of the series when a single to centerfield by Trevor Wilbur scored teammate Michael Spears. This gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead which held up until a game-winning 7-run rally by the Pirates in the top of the sixth inning.

This ended the season for Shelbyville and the Simms Pirates, now 19-4 overall will now face the winner of the Woden versus Linden-Kildare game.  The Pirates reached the playoffs as the second seed for District 17 2A. Woden took the lead in the other Region III semifinal series, on Thursday, with a 7-2 Game 1 win over Linden-Kildare at Whitehouse High School.

Shelbyville's season ended with them as undefeated District 23 champions and they posted a 23-7 overall mark.

Tenaha ISD Tiger Den, Wednesday, May 22, 2019 –

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Tenaha High School hosted a college letter of intent signing ceremony for senior students Christasha Suell and Amaya Giles on Wednesday. A crowd totaling about 75 people consisting of family, press, faculty and classmates were in attendance as the girls signed their intention letters to play for Barclay Christian College in Kansas.

In the Midwest Christian College Conference, the Barclay Lady Bears face NCCAA opponents: Arlington Baptist, Dallas Christian College, Manhattan Christian College, and Randall University.

Tenaha Athletic Director Craig Jenkins opened the ceremony and complemented the students on their efforts and achievements.

Tenaha Head Basketball Coach Gary Davison said, “These girls have done everything asked of them and worked hard to earn these honors. They were a big reason we were able to reach the regional quarterfinals this season.”

Friday, May 17, 2019, Rusk Eagle Baseball Stadium -

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The Cushing Bearkats ended the Shelbyville Dragon’s 21-game varsity baseball win streak by taking a 3-2 win in Game 2 with a 2-out rally in the final inning. Shelbyville had taken a 15-1 win in Game 1 and bounced back to take the series with a 7-4 win in Game 3. This advanced the Dragons to the Region III Semifinal round of the UIL baseball playoffs. Saturday’s Game 2 loss was Shelbyville’s first since a narrow 3-2 loss to Alto High School, on March 2, 2019, before district play began.

In Game 2 Cushing gained a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Gabe LeBlanc scored after reaching base on a walk and later scoring on a sacrifice fly by Thane Turner.

Shelbyville took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning when Grady Clay earned a free base after being walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Wilbur deep to rightfield, and Kolby Parker scored later on an infield error,  after reaching base as a hit-batter earlier. This score held up until the Bearkats were down to their last out in the bottom of the seventh, and final, inning. Cushing rallied when Deuce Garrett and Asa Dawson walked with two outs and were driven in to home with a game-winning hit by Bucky Guadarrama.

In Game 3 Kolby Parker gained a lead-off walk for Shelbyville and gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead when Sam Jones doubled to centerfield.

Cushing used scores from Asa Dawson and Alex Aparicio to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Shelbyville regained the lead at 4-2 with scores from Ty Merriman and Grady Clay during a rally in the top of the second inning.

Kaleb Campbell reached on a lead-off walk in the top of the third inning and extended Shelbyville’s lead to 5-2 when he alertly ran home on a Bearkats error.

Thomas Wallace reached base on a walk in the bottom of the fourth inning and helped the Bearkats cut the Dragon’s lead to 5-3 after scoring on fielder’s choice by the SHS infield.

Jordan Boykins legged out an infield hit in the top of the fifth inning and later gave Shelbyville a 6-3 advantage when he scored on a Kolby Parker base hit.

Thaddius Turner scored on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth inning and pulled Cushing to within two runs of Shelbyville at 6-4.

Grady Clay scored the final run of the contest when he reached on an infield hit and later gave Shelbyville a 7-4 lead by rushing home to the plate on a teammates ground-out.

The Dragons now stand at 23-5 and will move on to the UIL State Baseball Region III Semifinal Round Playoffs versus the Simms Bowie Pirates. The Dragons and Pirates will face off at East Texas Baptist University Tigers Ballpark at 5 p.m.on Thursday, May 23, 2019 for Game1. Game 2 will follow thirty minutes after, Game 3, if necessary, will be at noon on Saturday at the same location.