Yoemen Sports Network

It was known at a young age that Nikolas Keratsopoulos had a special talent.  13 years ago - when Keratsopoulos was just four years old - he was first introduced to the game of golf while out at the Cameron Country Club with Uncle Gary.  

Uncle Gary noticed something special about the youngsters swing, and well, he was absolutely spot on. 

Keratsopoulos, who is now a junior with the Yoemen, will be making his third consecutive appearance at the state golf tournament from Grey Rock Golf Course in Austin on Monday and Tuesday.  

As a freshman, Keratsopoulos came onto the scene in a big way.  Most first-timers would be glad to just make an appearance at the state level, but this one competed and competed at a high level, ending tied for second before settling for the bronze medal after a two-hole playoff.  

Cameron’s Za’Kara Bryson was ever so close to advancing to the state track meet in 2017. As a junior, she finished in third place at regionals in the 100 meter dash, just one spot short of a trip to Austin.

Bryson was determined to push past that mark in 2018 - her senior season. Bryson took that next step, not only winning gold in the 100 meter dash, but also advancing to state in the 200 with a second place finish at regionals two weeks ago in Waco.

“This year, I proved that I could get better,” she said. “Last year, I didn't believe I could get back to my old self after getting hurt. This year, I pushed forward and put my mind to it.”

It has been a long, hard journey to get to the state meet for Bryson. Whenever she was not working over the summer, she was at the track.

Since entering high school, Cameron’s Davion Bynaum has simply been one of the fastest tracks stars in 3A. The junior was poised to make his first trip to the state meet last season as a sophomore, but it was not to be. The times were there, but unfortunately the health was not. For a good portion of his freshman and sophomore campaigns, Bynaum was sidelined with nagging injuries, hindering his ability to fully showcase his skills.

That is now in the rear view mirror, and the speedster is ready to show the entire state exactly what he can do in Austin following three gold medals at the regional track meet a few weeks ago.

“The years I had those injuries I fell into a slump,” he said. “I saw at the end of the year that my times would have made it to state and actually medaled. This is my first year going, and every year I have either got hurt at area or district. It feels good to overcome those challenges.”

There were some good moments and some not so good moments in Cameron’s opening week of 7-on-7 league play last Thursday. The Yoemen started strong, easily getting by Caldwell, 20-0, but signs of rust showed in the final two loses to Hearne, 25-18 and La Vega, 8-0.

The mixed bag of results was not too big of a surprise to Yoe football coach Tommy Brashear.

“The kids are down on their performance tonight. In some areas they should be down, but they did some good things, too. I was probably a little more disappointed in the argument amongst ourselves. I was much more upset with that than anything we did on the field.”

Just this past week, Houston Harris qualified for the state tournament in tennis, while the Yoe boys and girls golf teams both clinched their spot at state. That would have been considered a major success for most athletic programs, but the ride was not over. On Saturday from the regional track competition at Hewitt Midway, Cameron capped off an excellent week for the athletic program by sending a total of one girl and four boys to the state track meet in Austin.

Za’Kara Bryson will be advancing in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes, while Davion Bynaum will also be advancing in the two same events. In addition, the 4x100 team consisting of DJ Daniels, Bynaum, Za’Korien Spikes and Iverson Westbrook also took gold.

The Yoe athletic program has plenty to be proud of in its rich tradition of excellence. Right at the top of that group is Lady Yoe golf. There are very few programs and players that can say they get to compete for a state championship on a yearly basis, but that has now become the norm for the girls in maroon and grey. Last Wednesday and Thursday, the Lady Yoe joined the boys by punching their ticket to the state tournament by finishing in second place at regionals from Brenham.

Cameron finished with a two-day total of 787, and was 21 strokes ahead of third place Central Heights, which is also moving on. Rockdale cruised to the tournament championship with a 740.

Team totals: 1. Rockdale (740), 2. Cameron Yoe (787), 3. Central Heights (808), 4. Keene Smith (810), 5. Clifton (823), 6. McGregor (826), 7. East Bernard (827), 8. Teague (860), 9. Rio Vista (884), 10. East Chambers (920), 11. Buna (973), 12. Danbury (993), 12. Leon (993).

7 on 7 season begins today

The preparation for the start of the 2018 football begins today as the Yoemen host 7-on-7 league play from Yoe Field. Play will begin at 5:00 and each team in attendance will play three games. Teams participating in 2018 include Caldwell, Hearne and La Vega. Marlin and Thrall had competed in previous years. Cameron will host the league over the next three weeks while also starting competition in state qualifying tournaments. Cameron will be in their first tourney of the year next Saturday with the McClenan County SQT. The Yoemen will be competiting in pool play in Robinson. We will have a full preview of that tournament in next week’s edition of sports.  

Moore signs to run track

There have been high and lows for this year’s Yoe baseball team, but on senior night, it was all positives as the Yoemen took down Academy in extra innings, 11-10. With the bases loaded and two out, junior Jale Walzel scored on a wild pitch.

Cameron, which finished 20-3A at 5-7, was a long-shot to make the playoffs entering play before the game.

The Yoemen needed to first beat Academy, have Jarrell lose to Lexington and have Rockdale upset Rogers on the same night. That all came to fruition, but Cameron still needs Jarrell (5-6) to lose to Rockale (1-10) on Tuesday to force a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot out of the district.

First-year head coach Hector Delgadillo and his players definitely know there were some opportunities that they let slip through their fingers earlier in the district schedule.

Yoe golf clinches spot at state

After day one at the regional golf tournament, Cameron was on the outside looking in at a state berth. The Yoemen sat in sixth place with a score of 366, 12 strokes behind Rockdale, who sat in the third and final advancing spot.

The Yoemen simply did everything the could on day two, trimming 27 strokes off their first round score, for a two-day total of 705. It proved to be enough as Cameron leaped a total of three spots to finish third to earn back-to-back trips to the state tournament.

Day one team scores: 1. Altair Rice (344), 2. Pollok Central (346), 3. Rockdale (354), 4. Central Heights (358), 5. Groesbeck (365), 6. Cameron Yoe (366).

Final team scores: 1. Rockdale (683), 2. Pollok Central (689), 3. Cameron Yoe (705), 4. Altair Rice (737), 5. Clifton (744), 6. Central Heights (745), 7. Groesbeck (746).

This past week, athletes from districts 19-3A and 20-3A made the trip up to Whitney for the area track meet. Cameron was well-represented heading in the meet, and had a number of members advance on to regionals, which will take place this Friday and Saturday at Hewitt Midway. Field events will begin at 9:30 am on Friday morning, with things continuing back on Saturday at 9:00 am.

Davion Bynaum finished first in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.87, and also won the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.59. Kadrian Hammond place fourth in the 400 meter dash at 51.90, Dondrick Moore was third in the long jump at 20-11.75, and the 4x100 relay team consisting of DJ Daniels, Bynaum, Iverson Westbrook and Za’Korian Spikes will be advancing with a second place finish at 42.91.