Category: Sports

By Jayson Larson/TVCC Public Information

Trinity Valley Community College welcomes the public to the 6th Annual National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Rodeo! The rodeo will be held Feb. 7-8.

Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. each evening at The Henderson County Fair Park Complex with slack beginning at noon Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday. Each night during the rodeo performance, children can compete in a Calf Scramble to win prizes.
All proceeds generated by the rodeo are given back to the students to further their education.

General admission tickets are $5 each and may be purchased in advance at Lone Star Western Wear in Athens, or on the night of the performance at the gate. Free admission will be given for those with a current TVCC ID.

Each NIRA member college has its own club composed of student members and sponsored by a faculty adviser who supervises the club’s activities. Each year, a men’s team consisting of six members and a four-member women’s team is chosen from each school. These team members travel to the regional rodeos competing against other NIRA member schools. Those not chosen for the team may compete on an individual basis and still be eligible for all prizes except those given to the team. The top three contestants in each event from each of the NIRA’s 11 regions qualify to compete in the CNFR. The top two men’s teams and women’s teams also qualify from the regions.
Coming from as far away as Louisiana, the event will feature approximately 400
contestants representing 20 colleges and universities including: Hill College, Southwest Texas Junior College, McNeese State University, Trinity Valley Community College, Northeast Texas Community College, Lone Star Community College – Montgomery, Panola Junior College, Texas A&M University, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas A&M University – Kingsville, and Wharton County Junior College.

Several local hotels are offering competitive rates for rodeo competitors and families. Please contact the Holiday Inn Express, Best Western Royal Mountain Inn, and Super 8 to learn more. Don’t forget to mention that you’re with the TVCC Rodeo event to receive these special rates.

Our sponsors who make this possible are: Living For The Brand Cowboy Church, Henderson County Farm Bureau, Athens Bank, Kevin Lilly’s McDonalds, Citizens National Bank, Red Line Power Equipment, Best Western Plus, Holiday Inn Express, Super 8, ETMC EMS, Bent Bucket Ministries, Mark Roberts D.D.S., Miars Enterprises LP, Southside Feed, Reynolds New York Store, Mills Feed, First State Bank, Ag Power Inc., KCKL, Whataburger, Texas Farm Credit, Champion Genetics, TVEC, Heritage Land Bank, Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart, Lone Star Western and Casual, Athens Cleaners and Laundry, Prosperity Bank, Henderson Veterinary Clinic, Athens Tractor and Equipment, Athens Equine, Action Cattle Company, Spencer Hardware, East Texas Ag Supply, Athens Lumber and Supply, and Morton Small Animal Clinic.

TVCC press release

Trinity Valley Community College head women’s basketball coach Elena Lovato has been named the 2013 Collegiate Coach of the Year by the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame.

Lovato will be presented the award on Sunday, Feb. 23 at the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame Banquet. Due to a scheduling conflict, she will be represented by her parents , Ernesto and Frances Lovato.

In her first full year at the helm of the Lady Cardinals in the 2012-13 season, Lovato, a native of Albuquerque, NM, guided TVCC to the NJCAA championship, which capped a 36-1 season (36-0 on the court). The title was the second straight for the Lady Cardinals and seventh overall.

Lovato is in her second tenure at TVCC. She served as an assistant coach in the 2009-10 season, serving as interim head coach the last 11 games. She was 9-2 and led the Lady Cardinals to a Region XIV Tournament championship and national tournament berth.

She spent the 2010-11 season as head coach at Grayson County Community College, leading the Lady Vikings to a 32-4 record and fifth-place finish at the national tournament.

After spending the 2011-12 season as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska –Omaha, she returned to TVCC.

Lovato and the Lady Cardinals are currently ranked No. 1 nationally with an 18-1 record. She is 95-8 as a head coach (63-4 at TVCC) going into Wednesday night’s game at home against San Jacinto.

Before arriving at TVCC for her first tenure, she was an assistant at the University of Houston on Joe Curl’s staff in 2008-09. Prior to Houston, Lovato spent one season as a graduate assistant at Pittsburg State, in Pittsburg, Kan.

In addition to her experience at the collegiate level, Lovato also has coached at the high school level, serving as the head junior varsity and assistant varsity coach at Buffalo High School in Buffalo, Mo. While coaching at BHS, she also spent one year as a physical education teacher at Buffalo Prairie Middle School, earning 2007 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year honors.

She also has coached and taught at Menaul High School in her hometown of Albuquerque, where she served as interim head girls’ basketball coach as well as assistant boys’ coach.

Lovato also has an experience in sales, after working from December 2003 to March 2006 in private business.

As a player, Lovato started her collegiate career at West Texas A&M, where she played for two seasons (1997-99) before transferring to Missouri Southern State to play her final two seasons, earning team captain and MIAA Newcomer of the Year honors in 1999-2000.

Following her collegiate career, she played in the Puerto Rican Women’s Pro Basketball League for two years. In 2001, she earned First-Team All-League honors, averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds per game. In 2002, she averaged 18 points and eight rebounds per game. In 2002, she also played for the Chicago Blaze of the National Women’s Basketball League (NWBL).

Lovato received her bachelor’s degree in university studies from Missouri Southern State in May 2005 and graduated from Pittsburg State with her master’s degree in physical education in May 2008.

By Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information

The Trinity Valley Community College basketball teams are setting the pace early in the Region XIV Conference basketball race.

The No. 1-ranked and two-time defending NJCAA champion Lady Cardinals are 15-1 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. The No. 18-ranked Cardinals are 16-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play.

Both teams are scheduled to be in action Saturday. The Lady Cardinals travel to Jacksonville and the Cardinals make the long trip to Beeville to play Coastal Bend. Both games have 2 p.m. starts.

Next week, both teams will be on the road Wednesday against Kilgore. Doubleheader action begins at 5:30 p.m. Then, on Saturday, Tyler will be at Cardinal Gym for two games, starting at 4 p.m.

Here are the conference standings going into Saturday’s games:

WOMEN

TVCC 4-0

Tyler 3-0

Blinn 3-1

Kilgore 2-2

Paris 2-2

Angelina 2-2

Panola 1-2

Jacksonville 1-2

Bossier Paris 0-3

 

MEN

East Zone

TVCC 6-0

Kilgore 4-1

Paris 4-1

Navarro 3-2

Tyler 3-3

Panola 3-3

Bossier Parish 1-5

South Zone

Lamar St.-PA 5-1

San Jacinto 3-2

Lee 3-2

Blinn 2-3

Angelina 1-5

Jacksonville 1-5

Coastal Bend 0-6

The 2013 Southwest Junior College Football Conference and regional champion Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals will be recognized at an upcoming basketball game at Cardinal Gym.

The sixth-ranked Cardinals will be recognized at halftime of the TVCC-Paris women’s game on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

The Cardinals, who are riding an eight-game winning streak, are 9-2 going into the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 7. They will face 8-2 Mesa Community College at 11 a.m. at Bulldawg Stadium in Copperas Cove.

Tickets for the event are $8 (general admission) and $18 (reserved) and are available at the TVCC field house. Tickets at the gate will be $10 and $20.