Sports

By Art Dlugach COMANCHE--"Bend, don’t break," was the Jackets’ rallying cry, August 27, at Comanche. Bend? Bend?! The body of a contortionist selected for the next edition of Ripley’s Believe it or Not didn’t bend as much as Llano did before pulling out a no-break 18-12 win in the season opener. "We escaped,"

By Art Dlugach WIMBERLEY-- It’s a start—a real good start for Marcos Vallejo, the Llano High junior who may be the only athlete in Texas upset with an All-State year. And he was just that in 2009, but he didn’t achieve the triumphs he thought he should garner, and others questioned him, too, about his drop-off from his freshman campaign. So, with the prologue behind us, we’ll tell you Vallejo finished a fine fifth in a field of 114 talented youngsters& ...

By Art Dlugach The opposition continues to be tough, and the Llano High volleyball team continues to have a tough time collecting victories, but an easy time collecting post cards. The Fugitive wasn’t on the road this much. The latest journey began August 24 and ended six matches later on August 28. Vs.

By Art Dlugach It seemed like old times. Well, not real old. Samantha Lopez was the first Lady Jacket to find the finish line at the Wimberley cross country meet, and twin Amanda was the second—and not too far behind. Samantha was eighth overall in a terrific field of 112, and her time for two miles was 13 minutes, 18 seconds.

By Art Dlugach It may not be Game 7 of the World Series, but Game 5 in volleyball offers great excitement, especially for those of us who may never play in or see that decider in baseball. Llano went to five with Killeen Shoemaker, August 17, and captured a thriller to end a long, thrilling night, 16-14. “I was surprised,” head coach Shawn Sweeten admitted, “surprised we pulled it out after being down two games to one,” on the road and against ...

By Art Dlugach It has come to my attention that the lead paragraph in last week’s chronicle of news was not easy to understand. This was strange to me considering the Shakespeare Society had approved it. Wishing always to improve, here’s this week’s version for you to digest: THE FOOTBALL JACKETS PLAYED WELL, VERY WELL, AGAINST A FINE SOMERSET TEAM, AUGUST 19; A VAST IMPROVEMENT WAS DISPLAYED IN CONTRAST TO THE SONORA SCRIMMAGE.

By Art Dlugach Two words sum up the Longhorn football preseason: "What about?" What about Garrett Gilbert? What about the sometimes-maligned running game? What about the loss of Jordan Shipley? What about the exit of talented defensive guys, and what about the status of the ones left behind? These may be legitimate questions, but some of the preseason rankings have already offered flattering answers.

By Art Dlugach Identical twins. Not quite identical on the race paths of Central Texas, but awfully close. They’ve advanced from freshman upstarts to the leaders of the cross country team. They are just juniors, but there are no seniors on the squad, and they might be at the head of the class, or first to the wire, in any case. Samantha and Amanda Lopez are impossible (or nearly impossible) to tell apart and, more important, tough competitors to outrun. "We trie ...

By Art Dlugach If you’re the kind of person who goes to the back of the book to see the ending when you’re on page eight, you’ll like this lead. Well, not the content, but your suspense glands won’t be overused. The scrimmage was not pretty; there were times it bordered on nasty.