I am the reporter and photographer for the Tomball Tribune. I'm originally from Ozark, Mo., a growing city between Springfield and Branson. I have been a journalist, editor and political consultant over the years. I am an avid St. Louis Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys fan and a complete karaoke addict.
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Concordia Lutheran High School's Golf Team had a number of all-District honor recipients this season. Pictured are the members of the team (from left) Coach Honeck, Tommy Vicknair, Clint Walkup, Austen Christiansen, Sam Schroeder and Jordan Noack. Noack, Schroeder and Vicnair were all named all-District. Walkup received the Crusader Award, coming in second place at the District Tournament and also earning all-District honors. Sophomore, Austen Christiansen, came in second at the 5A State Tournament and received all-State Honors.
After defeating Spring Woods in an extra game to squeak into the playoffs for the first time in school history, the Tomball Memorial Wildcats shocked high school baseball fans by defeating Milby in the bi-district round of the Texas 4A playoff recently.
Behind some timely hitting and defense, the Wildcats eeked out a 6-5 win to open the best-of-three series against Milby.
Milby was able to get on the board first, plating two runs against Tomball Memorial starting pitcher Jared Sienkiewich. Sienkiewich was able to battle while not having his best stuff, as the Wildcat bats were able to keep pace with Milby.
Sienkiewich left the game with the Wildcats up 6-5 and Dylan Murrell was able to close the door, sealing the win with a 1-2-3 inning.
Milby traveled to Tomball for the second and what would be final game of the series.
Both teams could not push across a run in the first two innings, but Milby broke through after Wildcats starter Kyle Larson drilled their leadoff hitter, who eventually advanced and scored on a two-out single.
The Wildcats answered in the bottom half of the third, however, by loading the bases. They would tie the game on a wild pitch and eventually broke it open with a two-run single by Brady Kainer. Kainer later scored on an error, giving Tomball Memorial a 4-1 lead.
The Wildcats were able to extend the margin to 9-1 by the last inning, before Milby attempted a furious comeback.
A couple of base hits forced Larson out of the game and reliever Brandon Shoemaker was tagged with three quick runs. Some steller defense helped the Wildcats end the rally, as Sienkiewich made a great throw from center field to home plate, catching the runner off guard, who was eventually tagged out in a rundown.
Lefty pitcher Michael Cugini entered the game and promptly struck out the Milby batter to secure the win for Tomball Memorial.
The series win pushes the Wildcats to the area round of the playoffs, where they faced Galveston Ball in a best-of-three games series. The Wildcats were downed in two straight and were eliminated from the playoffs. Look for a full recap in the May 20 edition.
Last year, Abby successfully finished her child-bearing years, producing two lovely kittens that have already been adopted. Now it is her turn to find a loving home. Amazingly frisky while batting balls and toys all around, she is also playful and affectionate with people, rough housing, snuggling and even jazz dancing with you. Her piercing green eyes and fun personality will surely capture your heart! If you would like to give Abby a loving home, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or stop by the shelter. Please contact Abandoned Animal Rescue at 281-290-0121 or visit www.aartomball.org.
Ellisor Elementary won first place in the Magnolia Educators Scholarship Fun Run, while second place went to Magnolia Elementary and third to Nichols Sawmill Elementary. Approximately 300 students and parents participated in the event, which helps provide scholarships to Magnolia ISD graduates who plan to study education in college.
A horrific scene unfolded in a parking lot behind Concordia Lutheran High School, April 16, as crunched metal, pieces of cars and bodies lay sprawled across the pavement. Fortunately the scene was staged, but for many it looked all too real.
Shattered Lives of Tomball staged its annual mock, multi-victim crash scene for students and family of the high school, to bring awareness about drunk driving. "Victims" are either pronounced dead at the scene or transported by both helicopter and ambulance to Tomball Regional Hospital. "Perpetrators" are then transported to jail to face consequences for "driving drunk".
"We try to make it as realistic as possible," said Shattered Lives co-director Kim Garrett. "We go to great lengths to put this presentation on."
After the program, students are transported to an off-location retreat for the rest of the day, where they have no communication with the outside world.
"It's an actual deal with the result of they didn't come home from school, come home from practice, in order to make it real," Garrett said. "They can't call and tell people hey, I'm really ok."
The next day the students participated in a mock memorial service at Concordia Lutheran, where the entire student body sees a video that shows footage from scenes of the crash, hospital and the Tomball jail.
Tomball Police, Tomball Fire and Northwest EMS actually respond to the scene and work it as a real accident, providing training for the departments as well.
"It shows that the coordination between the agencies is like a symphony," Tomball Police Chief Robert Hauck said. "There are a lot of moving parts."
Beyond that, Hauck said the program provides a very inportant and humbling experience for participants.
"It's important because it heightens awareness of driving under the influence for both students and parents," he said. "It's a demonstration about how tragic the loss of life really is, especially when it is due to the poor decisions of others."
Tomball Fire Chief Randy Parr agreed.
"It shows how dire the consequences of one bad decision can be," he said.
Tomball Regional Hospital also uses the program as an active training event, as the "victims" are brought into their emergency room, overloading them with multiple trauma victims at one time.
"This is an opportunity for multi-agency cooperation to test our response with EMS providers in a mass casualty situation, so that we can better serve our providers," said Tomball Regional's emergency room director Michelle Henderson.
Parents have to travel to the emergency room and actually watch the doctors and nurses attempt to save their children. Many of them had to watch, as the decision was made to stop treatment and their children were pronounced "dead".
"It was a very real and sobering experience," said Pat Harrison, whose daughter Tess played a victim. "It kind of put everything into perspective."
Harrison said the message was well received among his daughter and her friends.
"I think the message is very well received," he said. "I had a discussion with my daughter and some of her friends about it and the entire experience was emotional."
The students that participated agreed.
"It was really realistic to be honest," said Concordia Lutheran senior Jay Stracke. "It was heartbreaking. I could hear my parents crying and I realized how easily life can be taken from you."
Senior Lauren Soule made a plea for people to think about others before making the choice to drink and drive.
"I'd like to tell people to think twice the next time," she said. "It will have an impact on people who do not want to be a part of your choices and it's not fair to them or their families."
For a photo gallery of this event, please visit our Flickr page.
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