It’s hard to believe that it’s that time of year again. Cross country is getting ready for the district meet and basketball is starting up. Our Port Aransas High School (PAHS) and Brundrett Middle School (BMS) athletes are getting ready to be in full swing, and we won’t look back until June. I know that the kids and the coaching staff are excited and ready. I would like to take this opportunity to update you on a few things that are going on in the athletic departments on both campuses.

I am very excited to say we are returning all of our coaches from last year and I am also excited with the direction the athletic department is headed. We can all look forward to a very successful season for every sport.

Let me reacquaint you with the returning coaches and their assignments.

Javier Mendoza is our BMS cross country, BMS girls basketball, BMS track and assistant PAHS track coach.

Brian Flack will coach BMS boys basketball, varsity baseball and BMS baseball.

Stephanie Cowen is our varsity girls basketball and varsity track coach at PAHS.

Joe Kocurek is our PAHS varsity boys basketball and junior varsity (JV) baseball coach.

Kris Jones will be the PAHS JV boys basketball, PAHS and BMS golf coach.

His wife, Ginger Jones, will be the PAHS JV girls basketball and PAHS assistant track coach.

Dante Cage will be the tennis coach for PAHS varsity and JV as well as BMS.

Christine Kreutziger is the assistant PAHS softball coach.

Jeanice Martin is the BMS cheerleading coach and has also started a sixth-grade pep squad.

Nona Hendricks and Sherri Bujan have teamed up to coach the PAHS cheerleaders.

I am the athletic director as well as PAHS varsity and JV cross country, PAHS varsity softball and BMS softball coach.

I know we are going to have a busy year, but I am very confident in all of our coaches. I know that they will do an excellent job. If you ever need to talk to any of the coaches, please feel free to contact us at school.

Now, I’d like to take this chance to talk, or brag a little, about our cross country kids. We have 28 PAHS runners and 30 BMS runners who have been running every day after school and every weekend since school started. PAHS actually started working out on Aug. 8 with two-a-days and they have logged a lot of miles to get to this point.

We are now in the final stages of the season, the part we have been working hard for and looking forward to. Our district meet is scheduled for Oct. 24 at West Guth Park in Corpus Christi, followed by the regional (Oct. 5) and state (Oct. 12) meets, if we qualify. The regional meet is at the University of Texas at San Antonio; the state meet is at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.

The top three teams and top 10 individuals at each meet will move on to the next round (only varsity athletes can advance).

Once again our cross country kids have stepped up to the challenge. They have been working “their tails off ” to make themselves one of the top teams in South Texas and the state. Quite a few of these kids have been running on their own or in groups since June. As a result, our girls and boys will be favored to win heading into the district meet. Our girls will be going for their seventh straight district championship and boys will be looking at reclaiming the title.

If we can stay healthy and run our best when it matters, both teams can be very successful at district and beyond. I am looking forward to watching these kids compete and seeing how this season turns out.

Coaches and athletes alike are expecting another strong year for Marlin athletics. The athletes are working hard in practices and are putting in a lot of time on their own. We are hoping to at least match the success we had last year, if not improve on it. We would appreciate all of the support we can get from the parents and community.

Steve Reaves is Port Aransas ISD athletic director and coach.