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Ty Chambless -
Eli Coward and Raul Ramones -
Brandon Crisp
Baseball
USA Baseball named the final 18-man roster for the 2022 12U National Team, one which includes Ty Chambless of Bridge City. The announcement comes following the conclusion of 12U National Team Trials, which was held from June 27-July 1 at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary, North Carolina.
The 12U National Team will next compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup, which is scheduled to take place from July 29-Aug. 7 in Tainan, Taiwan.
Track and field
Eli Cowart and Raul Ramones of Lumberton recently competed in the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF) Regional Track Meet.
Coward placed first in the 400-meter run and was fourth in the 200, qualifying for state in both.
Ramones finished second in the 3,200 to qualify for state. He also was sixth in the 1,600.
They will both attend the TAAF Summer Games of Texas on July 21-24 in Corpus Christi.
Golf
More than 600 top young golfers are competing in the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida. The tournament will bring together some of the world’s most talented young competitors, many of whom have the potential to become leading collegiate and professional golfers in the future.
Reece Williams, of Beaumont, in the 12-13 age division, is competing for the championship through July 20. Reece is the son of 5 Under Golf Center President, Austin Williams.
Former champions and top finishers of the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship include PGA TOUR members Jonathan Byrd, Jason Day, Bill Haas, Jeff Overton, and LPGA members Stacy Lewis, Brooke Pancake, Brittany Lincicome and Lexi Thompson. A number of other well-known professional golfers have participated including Ernie Els, Nancy Lopez, Davis Love III, Michelle McGann, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
The STPGA hosted the two-day Bruce Lietzke Junior Classic on July 11-12 at Idlywild Golf Club. Local winners were Grace Dai of Beaumont (Girls 13-14, score of 55) and Chase Ion of Sour Lake (Boys 13-14, 136).
The third annual Babe Zaharias Open at the Beaumont Country Club is underway and features golfers from the Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT), which includes last year’s winner, Julie Aime. The tournament will boast a $15,000 guaranteed prize for the winner as well as $80,000 in total purse money. The championship round is slated for Saturday, July 23.
Lamar Cardinals
Brandon Crisp was named the new head volleyball coach for Lamar University announced Jeff O’Malley, director of athletics, on July 15.
“I am very excited to welcome Brandon as our next head volleyball coach,” said O’Malley. “He has a long and distinguished career at multiple levels of the sport. He has been a key figure in rebuilds at several schools across the country. We look forward to the future of Lamar volleyball under his direction and we are eager for him to get started.”
A coach with nearly 30 years of experience at the collegiate, international and club level, Crisp has left a paper trail of success in his wake. He has made coaching stops at Dallas College Eastfield (head coach), East Carolina, Fordham, UC Riverside, California Baptist and Southern California, as well as spending three years with USA Volleyball.
Crisp comes to Beaumont from Mesquite, Texas, where he led one of the top junior college programs in the country. Crisp posted a 140-84 (.625) overall record during his time at Eastfield, a mark that included an 82%-win percentage in conference matches.
A former NJCAA Division III Coach of the Year, and three-time NJCAA District Coach of the Year, Crisp guided the Harvester Bees to five Top 20 national rankings, including four top-10 finishes and the 2017 NJCAA National Championship during his time in Mesquite. Crisp’s charges just missed winning back-to-back national titles when they recorded a national runner-up finish in 2018.
“I would first like to begin by thanking Jeff O’Malley, Associate AD Helene Thrill, Assistant AD Moses Dupré, and everyone on the committee for putting their faith in me and giving me this opportunity,” said Crisp. “I’m extremely excited to be the next head volleyball coach at Lamar University. I’m looking forward to joining this amazing family as we return to the Southland Conference and be the best we can be, both on and off the court.”
Lamar’s women tennis program continues to strengthen its roster for the future as Margarita Nikonorova (Spain) signed a National Letter of Intent to play tennis and continue her education at LU.
Nikonorova joins a talented signing class that already includes Megan Do (Nederland, Texas, Emma Shasteen (Floda, Sweden), Saloni Tamang (Kathmandu, Nepal) and Femke Tjon-A-Joe (Western Michigan transfer).
“Margarita is a great addition to an already strong signing class,” said head Coach David Wong. “We are very excited about the direction of this program. Margarita is another very talented player who brings a strong skill set to our program, which has a strong core of veteran leadership infused with some youthful talent. They are excited to get the year started, and we’re excited to start working with them.”
Nikonorova comes to Beaumont after serving as the assistant captain of the Canadian Davis Cup team.
During her time as a junior player in Madrid, she climbed into the top 30 Junior World ITF rankings by the age of 18. She was also coached by the same individual who coached players who advanced several grand slam tournaments, including Roland Garros (Wimbledon and U.S. Open). Ranked among the top 200 players in Spain, Nikonorova has also played in numerous ITF, European national and regional tournaments.