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LC-M golfers Cassie Grizzaffi, Montana DiLeo and Isabella Ihle -
Orangefield won the Silsbee Powerlifting meet. -
Kenneth Lofton Jr.
Golf
The Southern Texas PGA (STPGA) released its schedule for the upcoming 2022 season beginning March 14 at the Beaumont Country Club and finishes July 18 in Orange at Sunset Grove Country Club.
The Little Linksters Program is the introductory program for Junior Golfers ages 6-12; the Junior Links Program is for Junior golfers, ages 13-18, who are either new to the game or for those who would like to gain more experience before playing in the Junior Tour; the Junior Tour program is designed to give skilled junior golfers the opportunity to compete in professionally run tournaments; and the Srixon Prestige Tour, which is for juniors ages 13-18, is the most competitive program from the STPGA for highly skilled players with tourney experience.
The mission for STPGA is to create lifelong golfers by fostering programs and tournaments for juniors of all skill levels.
The remaining schedule is April 13 at Henry Homberg Golf Course; YMBL Tournament June 6-7 at Bayou Din; June 14 at Henry Homberg Golf Course; June 20 at Wildwood Golf Course; June 27 at Beaumont Country Club; June 28 at Country Club of Texas (Brentwood); July 5 at Babe Zaharias Golf Course; and the Bruce Lietzke Tournament at Idylwild Golf Club on July 11-12.
The LC-M girls golf team is off to a hot start to the season. The Bears won the Lady Panther Invitational at Chambers County Golf Course on Jan. 27 in Anahuac with a score of 391.
Senior standout Montana Dileo also won first place with a round of 79 while teammate Neely Wozniak finished second with an 84.
The team then finished third in the Hardin-Jefferson Invitational at Idylwild Golf Course on Jan. 31. DiLeo came in first place for the second consecutive tournament.
Powerlifting
The Orangefield boys won the Silsbee Powerlifting Meet on Jan. 27 with multiple first place finishes in their respected weigh class including Kenson Dubois (123 lbs.), Hayden Dwyer (148 lbs.), Achilles Garcia (198 lbs.), Hunter Ashworth (242 lbs.) and Coby Coulter (275 lbs.).
Two Lady Bobcats also earned gold medals in Cassidy Childers (114 lbs.) and Jaliah Hawthorne (220 lbs.).
Basketball
Port Arthur Memorial graduate Kenneth Lofton Jr. was one of 30 players named to the Mid-Season Watch List for the 2021-22 Lute Olson National Player of the Year award, announced CollegeInsider.com.
Lofton, a junior, is currently averaging a double-double while leading Louisiana Tech in scoring at 16.7 points per game and in rebounding at 10.8 boards per game. His rebounding average ranks ninth in the country while his nine double-doubles ranks sixth. He is also shooting 55.7 percent from the field, which ranks first in Conference USA.
He has won the Conference USA Player of the Week honors twice and is one of only two players in Division I to post multiple 30-point/10-rebound games. He had a career-high 36 points to go along with 17 boards at NC State in November and had 31 points and 14 rebounds in a win at Santa Clara on Dec. 4.
Lofton is also the only player in Division I basketball with at least 325 points, 200 rebounds, 40 assists, 20 steals and 20 blocks in 2021-22 season.
The Lute Olson Award, which is presented annually to the top player in Division I College Basketball, is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson.
Lamar Cardinals
The men’s and women’s track teams competed at the Houston 65 and Super 22 Invitational on Jan. 28-29.
On Day 1, the Cards’ top performance came from freshman Yasmin Austridge, who broke the 5-minute mark in the mile in 4:55.37, which was 9 seconds faster than second place finisher Marine Garnier of Georgia State.
Day 2 would see LU record a pair of first place finishes.
For the third meet in a row, freshman George Wheeler was the victor in the 3,000-meter run. His time of 8:05.84 was not only a new personal best, but was also 7 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. More importantly, Wheeler set the meet record for the fastest time in the event, which had been previously held by Eliud Njubi of TCU in 2001 with a time of 8:10.17.
The other first place finisher came from the men’s high jump as freshman Elijah Jackson leaped 2 meters to claim the gold medal.
The indoor season will continue in two weeks when LU will make their third trip to the University of Houston on Feb. 11.
The women’s basketball team (10-8, 5-4) will return to the home court at the Montagne Center on Thursday, Feb. 3, against UT Rio Grande Valley (8-13, 4-5) at 7 p.m