Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 322.47
Water Temperature:
72  degrees - top
72 degrees - bottom

Dillon, Browning named
Mabank HS top athletes
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK–To the surprise of absolutely no one, seniors Chelsey Dillon and Kolton Browning were named the Mabank High School “Athletes of the Year” during the annual sports awards ceremony Saturday.
It would have been pretty hard to come up with two other candidates, given that both Dillon and Browning were multi-sport standouts and state-level competitors.
A regional qualifier all four years in cross country – advancing to state both as a junior and a senior – and as a distance runner in track, Dillon also was a first-team all-district selection all four years in basketball.
In late March, Dillon signed with Southwestern Oklahoma State University to run cross country and play basketball for the Lady Bulldogs next fall.
Browning, on the other hand, has compiled arguably one of the greatest high school sports resumes in Mabank history.
As a sophomore, Browning stepped into the starting quarterback position in the first district game and went on to gain Newcomer of the Year honors.
He was also a first-team selection in both basketball and baseball.
As a junior, Browning was the district MVP in both football and basketball – an extremely rare feat – and again was a first-team pick in baseball.
Mabank High School moved back up to Class 4A for Browning’s senior year.
While he wasn’t the district MVP, he was the Offensive Player of the Year in both football and basketball, and likely will be a first-team pick on the all-district baseball team, which hasn’t been released yet.
Browning holds three of the top four season passing records for the Panthers, along with the career passing record, the school total offense record for a single game (507 yards – 51 rushing, 456 passing in the ’08 season opener against Kaufman) and led all classifications across the state with 401 yards total offense per game as a senior.
He holds the school record with 63 career touchdown passes, throwing 26 as a junior in Class 3A and 28 as a senior in Class 4A.
Back in February, Browning signed with the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and is penciled in as the starting quarterback for the Warhawks.
His parents, Panda and Karl Browning, were also honored twice during the ceremony for their contributions to the MHS athletic program.
The awards capped a lengthy (about three hours) ceremony.
At the opening, athletic director Jimmy Cantrell noted expectations had not been very high for the school’s first year in 4A competition, particularly since Mabank teams were competing against schools which all (but one) had twice as many students.
As it turned out, the football team was a few inches away from going to the playoffs, the boys basketball team was four points away, and the softball team was three or four runs away – not bad for a school that wasn’t expected to compete for the playoffs in any sport.
Despite graduating 12 seniors last spring, a virtually all-new Lady Panthers volleyball team did make the playoffs for the fifth straight year, and with all but a couple of players returning, a sixth playoff appearance looks promising.
Even when MHS was in Class 3A, the Panther teams competed in a 4A soccer district, but this year’s Lady Panthers team secured a playoff berth for the first time in the history of the program (eight years for boys, four years for girls).
What’s more impressive (the audience heard), the soccer playoff berth came in one of the tougher districts around, which featured Lindale boys and girls teams that both advanced three rounds deep.
In addition to the Athlete of the Year awards, each team coach handed out awards, listed below.
Baseball – Panther Pride Award Chancz Sullivan, MVP Kolton Browning.
Boys basketball – Fighting Heart Award T.J. Dally, Sixth Man Award Trevor Peele and Jacob Woodard, Defensive Player Cameron Tucker, Panther Pride Award Tyler Fisher, MVP Kolton Browning.
Girls basketball – Most Improved Ashley Hammack, Offensive Player Sara Springer and Jeanice Mojica, Defensive Player Chelsea Alldredge, Panther Pride Award Lauren Hamilton, MVP Chelsey Dillon.
Cheerleaders – Cheerleader of the Year Whitney Cathey.
Cross country – Boys MVP James Burkhalter, Panther Pride Award Sara Springer and Chelsea Alldredge, girls MVP Chelsey Dillon.
Football – Defensive Back Si Frideley, Defensive Lineman Emmett Simpson, Running Back Anthony Hendrix, Special Teams Michael Blackburn, Linebacker Colton Migura, Offensive Lineman David Cosper, Wide Receiver Brandon Rasco, MVP Kolton Browning.
Boys golf – MVP Jason Delong.
Girls golf – MVP Caitlyn Jones.
Boys powerlifting – Newcomer of the Year Cameron Cantrell, Most Improved Jesse Thompson, MVP Dillon Bramblitt.
Girls powerlifting – Most Improved Josie Fugitt, MVP Rachel Millender.
Boys soccer – Panther Pride Patrick Caffey, MVP Brandon Rasco.
Girls soccer – Entire team for securing first playoff berth in school’s soccer program history.
Softball – Defensive Player Hayley Spurgeon and Ashley Hammack, Offensive Player Lauren Norwood and Alison Castle, MVP Brandie Lander.
Swimming – MVP Sean Ryan.
Tennis – MVP singles Michael Robertson and Kelsey Mitchell, doubles Jacob Beer and Brook Whitkop.
Volleyball – Most Improved Tori Garrett, Defensive Player Hayley Spurgeon, Offensive Player Alison Castle, Heart Award Lauren Norwood, MVP Melody Cook.
Boys track – MVP Tyler Fisher and James Burkhalter.
Girls track – Heart Award Tiffany Helms and Rachel Millender, MVP Chelsey Dillon.

Donovan medals for TAMU
Monitor Staff Reports
COMMERCE–On the second day of the Lone Star Conference track championships Saturday, former Kemp High School standout Kate Donovan medaled for the Texas A&M University at Commerce Lions team.
Donovan, a sophomore at TAMU-Commerce, took third place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, clocking 13:00.13.
At KHS, Donovan was a multi-sport MVP, advancing to state in both cross country and track. She was named the 2006-07 Female Athlete of the Year as a senior.