Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 321.02
Water Temperature:
59  degrees - top
58 degrees - bottom

Tigers capture trophies at Big D Karate Nationals
Monitor Staff Reports
PAYNE SPRINGS–Members of the Five Tigers Martial Arts studio in Payne Springs won five first-place trophies at the Big D Karate Nationals tournament in Addison March 28.
The youngest Tiger, Carter Weakley, 7, won first place in intermediate forms.
Nathan Te, 11, won first place in beginner forms in the 10-11 age group, and also took third place in beginner weapons.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Members of the Five Tigers Martial Arts studio in Payne Springs show the trophies they collected at the Big D Karate Nationals in Addison March 28. Pictured are (from left, front row) Clay Hinkle, Carter Weakley, Erica Tregre and Addison Tregre; (back row) Nathan Te, Summer Hinkle, Matthew Jackson and Dominique Tregre.

Dominique Tregre, 13, won first place in intermediate forms in the 12-13 age group, and also won first place in intermediate sparring.
The oldest Tiger, Matthew Jackson, 35, won first place in the men’s beginner forms and also took third place in beginner sparring.
Erica Tregre, 10, took second place in intermediate forms and third place in intermediate sparring, while Addison Tregre, 10, took third place in intermediate forms and third in intermediate weapons.
Clay Hinkle, 9, took third place in intermediate sparring, while Summer Hinkle, 14, took third place in intermediate sparring.
Students at Five Tigers Martial Arts learn kung fu, tai chi and Chinese kickboxing from instructor Ellis Beam. For more information, call (903) 425-0138, or check the website www.fivetigersma.com.
 

Tips on avoiding a sunken boat this spring
Special to The Monitor
ALEXANDRIA, Va.–Launching a boat in the spring for a new boating season is normally a happy occasion, but some owners get a rude surprise instead – a sinking.
“While not widespread, sinkings during re-launch at the dock are easily avoidable,” says Bob Adriance, editor of Seaworthy, the magazine from BoatU.S. that helps boaters avoid damage and improve safety aboard their boats.
Here are Bob’s tips to avoid a springtime sinking:
• Hose clamps. Winterizing an engine in the fall often requires the removal of coolant hoses. Come springtime, boaters are in a rush, and the hoses aren’t reattached and clamped properly.
Adding to this, cramped engine boxes mean that the hoses and the clamps holding them sometimes can’t be visually inspected easily. In the spring you’ll need to ensure all of the hose clamps are securely tightened in place.
• Hoses. During the winter, as the water inside them freezes, some hoses can lift off their attached seacock (valve). However, with spring’s warmer temperatures, the water returns to a liquid state, and if the seacock was left open last fall, water can pour into the bilge.
Double clamping with marine-rated stainless hose clamps, inspecting hose attachment locations or keeping seacocks closed can all save you from a spring sinking.
• Spring rains. Combine heavy rains with leaking ports, deck hatches, fittings, chain plates and even scuppers clogged by leaves from last fall, and you have a recipe for a sinking.
Just 100 gallons of water weighs more than 800 pounds, so a boat with a low freeboard only needs to sink a few inches before cockpit scuppers (drains intended to remove water) submerge and water starts to enter the boat.
Larger boats with cracked or improperly caulked fittings located just above the waterline can also inadvertently let water in when they become submerged. Ensure that rain rolls off the boat and not into it.
• Sea strainer. For inboard/outboard and inboard-powered boats, always inspect the strainer for cracks or other damage.
If it wasn’t properly winterized, the intake sea strainer could have frozen over the winter, cracking or bending the inspection bowl.
Plus, if the seacock was left open, the boat will sink as soon as the boat is put in the water.
Boats have also sunk when the seacock was closed over winter and then opened in the springtime, but the owner failed to notice water trickling into the bilge from a freeze-damaged bowl.
• Stuffing Box. On powerboats or sailboats with inboard power, if the stuffing box’s packing material – which seals the prop shaft – is not tight, a steady drip could eventually swamp a boat if it’s ignored.
Remember, the stuffing box should only leak when the prop shaft is turning. Stuffing boxes need to be inspected routinely, regardless of the season.
To learn about more causes of sinkings, or to get your own copy of the quarterly Seaworthy, go to www.BoatUS.com/seaworthy/sinking.
 

Error-prone ’Jackets fall to Van
Monitor Staff Reports
KEMP–The hosting Kemp Yellowjackets suffered from a serious case of stonefingers Tuesday, allowing the visiting Van Vandals too many breaks in an 8-3 loss.
Now 0-6 in District 14-3A baseball play, the Yellowjackets were scheduled to host Wills Point Thursday night.
At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, the ’Jackets will host Eustace for a second-round matchup (their first-round match was moved to Eustace and delayed one day, to March 28, due to wet grounds).

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Kemp baserunner Kyle Kimberling (right) gets back to first base just ahead of the pick-off tag by Van first baseman Marshall Skeeters during the fifth inning of Van's 8-3 District 14-3A baseball win over the hosting Yellowjackets Tuesday.

Following a break for the district track meet, the ’Jackets will resume district baseball at home against Mineola Tuesday, April 21, before traveling to Canton for the second-round and regular season finale Friday, April 24.
Tuesday, the ’Jackets committed eight errors – more than enough dropped balls and errant throws to give a district contender such as the 4-2 Vandals too many chances.
Van opened the contest with two runs in the top of the first inning, but the ’Jackets scored on an RBI single by Dudley Chambers in the bottom of the third to pull within striking distance at 2-1.
At that point, however, the Vandals started pulling away, scoring two runs in the fourth, two more in the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 7-1 lead.
After an eighth Van run in the top of the seventh, the ’Jackets scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Kemp’s Aaron Haessly took the loss, as he and reliever Josh Carr gave up eight hits to the Vandals. Van starter Zach Harrison got the win, as he and reliever Tye Hughes allowed seven Kemp hits.