Pictured left to right: Head Coach Bill Wilson; students Johnny Reyes, Easy Anyama, Jose Reyes; and Coach Ryan Gloston

Congratulations to the Stafford High School Football Team for winning this year’s Sportsmanship award for the 2011 football season. The Stafford Spartans were one of five finalists named in the Class 3A/Private Schools division. The awards were decided by the football referees who, after each game, fill out a postcard grading the actions of the head coach, actions of the team, actions of the support groups (band, drill team, fans) and respect for the American flag, and then mail them to the accountant representing The Touchdown Club of Houston.

SMSD Athletic Director and head football coach, Bill Wilson, said, “I am very proud of my athletes and the way they take care of their business on the field and in their classroom. Wins are important, but demonstrating that they are fine young individuals is even more important.” Also in attendance of the luncheon held January 25 at the JW Marriot, Superintendent of Schools, Lawrence Hindt, had this to say, “I am very proud of all our coaches and athletes and the priorities they place on developing academic, social and personal skills. It is rewarding to have outside community organizations such as the Texas Association of Sports Officials and the greater Houston area Touchdown Club recognize our young people for demonstrating respect to others.”

The luncheon also included awards to 4A: New Caney; and 5A: Cypress Lakes. In addition to the annual award program, the Touchdown Club of Houston supports students with scholarships and equipment.

Pictured from L to R: (Back Row) Colleen Lord, Brett Pinfold, Skylar Smith, Simone Manuel, Daniel Graviss, Antoine Marc, Romy Landeck, Erin Yeager, Meaghan Connolly, (Front Row) Asisa Quentin, Jordan Hancock, Kyle Yu, Kaitlyn Swinney, Alicia Finnigan, and Maddie Locus. Not Pictured: Eegan Groome & Madison Varsico

Congratulations to 17 First Colony Swim Team members who traveled to Orlando, Florida from March 14th – March 20th for NCSA Junior Nationals. Overall the team placed 5th combined while the women’s team finished 4th and the men’s team finished 16th.

Leading the way for the women was Maddie Locus who finished 2nd in the 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, and 15th in the 1000 Free ending her short course season breaking 7 GULF records, and 6 FCST team records. Three other teammates contributed to the individual points for the team. Simone Manuel finished 3rd in the 50 Free, 4th in the 100 Free, and 13th in the 200 Back ending her short course season breaking 8 GULF records, and 12 FCST team records. Skylar Smith finished 3rd in the 100 Breast, 5th in the 50 Fly, 8th in the 50 Breast, and 9th in the 200 Breast and 400 IM ending her short course season breaking 6 GULF records, and 11 FCST team records. Romy Landeck finished 5th in the 100 Breast, and 200 Breast, 10th in the 50 breast, and 11th in the 400 IM ending the season breaking 2 GULF records.

On the men’s side, Eegan Groome finished 3rd in the 1000 Free, 5th in the 500 Free and 1650 Free and ended his season with 4 FCST team records including the 1000 Free and the 1650 Free. Daniel Graviss placed 11th in the 1650 Free and 15th in the 1000 Free and finished his season with 2 FCST team records.

Rounding out the team record breakers were Madison Varisco who broke two FCST team records with her swims in the 100 Back and 200 Back, and Brett Pinfold who finished his season with 8 FCST team records including the 50 Back, 100 Back, 50 Fly, and 100 Fly.

FCST relays broke numerous team records and scored big points for the team. The Women’s 400 Free Relay of Simone Manuel, Skylar Smith, Romy Landeck, and Maddie Locus finished 1st with a time of 3:20.50, while the Women’s 200 & 400 Medley Relay (Manuel, Landeck, Smith, Locus), 200 Free Relay (Manuel, Smith, Meaghan Connolly, Locus), and the 800 Free Relay (Smith, Manuel, Erin Yeager, Locus) all finished in 2nd place! Not to be outdone, FCST men made the podium for the first time with their 5th place finish in the 800 Free Relay (Graviss, Pinfold, Antoine Marc, Groome) with a time of 6:44.77! In addition to this relay, the FCST men broke 4 more FCST Men’s Open team records including the 200 & 400 Free Relay (Pinfold, Graviss, Marc, Groome), and the 200 & 400 Medley Relay (Graviss, Kyle Yu, Pinfold, Groome).

On the individual side, numerous swimmers added new National times to their event lineup. Congratulations to Alicia Finnigan, Jordan Hancock, Antoine Marc, Asia Quentin, Kaitlyn Swinney, and Erin Yeager.