Several SMCISD student athletes and those involved in other extracurricular activities received recognition by the Board of Trustees at its regular meeting in late May.
As part of the honor, the San Marcos CISD High School showcased the students in its VYPE magazine.
“If you’re involved [in extracurricular activities] … at any school level, the success rate of your experience is high. Tonight’s going to tell that story,” San Marcos High School Athletic Director John Walsh said. “Eight team sports and six of the eight team sports have qualified at the state level.”
The magazine features students in activities ranging from mariachi to the Mountain Bike Club, and every sport available at the school. The purpose of the magazine is to inspire younger students, he said.
“It’s for our elementary kiddos. We put two in every classroom in the city, just so they can look at it and get a visual of what they might want to do. It’s not just athletics, it’s a little bit of everything,” Walsh said.
He noted that athletes at the high school are scholars, as well.
“There’s 46 students in the top 10%. Forty-one of them are represented in this magazine, whether that’s fine arts to athletics or CTE [Career and Technical Education],” Walsh said.
San Marcos Powerlifting Coach Kristal Haralson shared the accomplishments of students who participated in that program.
“We had a very successful season this year. For the boys, we had two state qualifiers, both seniors, represent us at the Boys State Championships in Abilene, Zach Decker and Ezequiel Davila. For the girls, Ezra Mendez represented San Marcos at the Girls State Powerlifting Championships in Frisco and placed third in the state of Texas,” Haralson said. Mendez squatted 460 pounds to receive her third place win.
“These three girls and the San Marcos wrestling team have been quite successful for several years. They actually placed as a team, 14th in the state this year,” Wrestling Coach Garvin Smith said. “Nevaeh Banda took 5th place in the state this year. She’s a three-time state qualifier, a district champion and a regional champion. Kaylynn Martin is a twotime state place winner, three-time state qualifier and a district champion. Anisa Moreno is a 4th place state placement this year, district and regional champ. So these girls were well-seasoned in the state of Texas in high level competitions.”
Head Track and Field Coach Marvin Nash said he wanted to highlight the accomplishments of one student in particular.
“I am very, very proud to get to brag on Exavion Harris. Since I met Exavion his freshman year, he was just a highly skilled athlete, naturally gifted, but he’s also brilliant. That’s something that stood out immediately when I met him. He’s well spoken. He takes care of his academics. He’s quiet. He’shumble, but he competes harder than anyone that I’ve ever had the privilege to coach,” Nash said. Harris was involved in many sports and extracurricular activities including varsity football, varsity basketball, varsity track and field, and choir.
“He’s done it all and exceeded all expectations in everything he’s ever done. I’ll talk about his accolades in track and field because we’re here celebrating a 4th place winner in triple jump. He is also the reigning AAU national champion in the triple jump, so one of the best in the nation in what he does. Probably what I’m most proud of is that he’s won an opportunity to compete in track and field at Lamar University,” Nash said.
The Special Olympics had a successful year as well.
“We had a great year competing in three sports. We do bowling, basketball and track and field. Our team is made up of 19 athletes from the following campuses: Crossroads which is our 18-plus program, San Marcos High School, Miller Middle School, Goodnight Middle School and Rodriguez Elementary. The athletes represented the Rattlers with pride and brought home gold, silver and bronze medals, as you can see with all the bling out there. As well as many ribbons. I want to recognize the athletes that are in attendance tonight. We’ve got Joseph Roppolo, Angela Perez, Tyler Murken, Anthony Cordova, Xavier Jackson, Mary McGovern and Abraham Ortega,” Special Olympics Coach Amy Loveless said.
The high performing San Marcos High School basketball team was also recognized.
“We had a great playoff run,” Boys Basketball Head Coach Dan Miller said. “I just want to give you one stat. Yes, we did win district. We’re really proud of it. We have four guys going to play college basketball. We did win our district, but the stat that we found out is that, with 38 wins, we won the most games of basketball in 6A, 5A, 4A, 2A and 1A throughout Texas.”
Team members are Ezequiel Davila, Jayven Cofer (Coffeyville Community College), Abel Trevino, Kai Lee, Malik Presley (Vanderbilt University), Isaiah Deleon, Kaden Gumbs (Texas State University), Cash Good, Zyair Jolivette, Mateus Perkins (signed with Concordia University in Austin) and Jaidyn Brown.
