Sports

The Running Eagles continued their season last week, competing at the Brook Hill Warrior Invitational on Sept. 2.

The Varsity boys team finished in second place out of 10 teams. Jonathan Bourquin led the way finishing 5th overall in a time of 19:12. He was followed by Wilson Null in 8th, Garrett Stapleton 10th, Gage Bullard 19th, Trent McCarver 29th, and Kevin Pagel 44th.

Darby Pruitt finished 2nd overall in the varsity girls race with a time of 13:48. For the JV girls, Jade Spencer finished 4th overall with a time of 16:19, Haylee Terry 13th, Eve Dial 15th, and Shelby Wycough 18th.

The High School Running Eagles will compete on today (Sept. 7) at the Midlothian Invitational.

The Junior High Running Eagles had a great day with the girls winning the competition overall. Mia Nixon was 2nd overall with a time of 14:04, Lana Stapleton 10th, Amari Welch 15:59, Megan McMahan 19th, and Peyton Behrend 22nd.

The Canton Eaglettes were able to stay close to home last week, welcoming the Whitehouse Lady Wildcats for a non-district matchup Aug. 29. The Canton high school program finished 1-3 overall against Whitehouse in four total matches played during the night between the varsity, JV and freshman levels.

The Lady Wildcats’ varsity team got off to a fast start against Canton, taking each of the first two sets for a commanding 25-23, 25-12 lead over the Eaglettes. Canton played its best set of the night in the third, forcing a fourth set by outpointing Whitehouse 25-22.

With the possibility of a fifth set looming, Whitehouse bounced back to close out Canton in four by taking the final set 25-14.

Play between the two programs' JV teams was extremely competitive as Whitehouse managed to outlast their Eaglette counterparts 25-23, 16-25, 20-25.

Virtually every volleyball program that calls Van Zandt County home made its way to Edgewood last weekend with Canton, Edgewood, Fruitvale, Grand Saline and Wills Point all participating in the third annual Back to School Dig-Fest Aug. 24, 26.

Canton would finish tournament play with a 3-3 record overall, finishing as runners-up in the consolation portion of the Championship Bracket.

The Eaglettes opened tournament play with pool play Aug. 24, competing against teams from Hawkins, Lone Oak and Paris for a spot in either the Championship or Consolation Brackets.

Canton managed to bounce back from a rough start to their tournament run, registering wins over both Hawkins and Lone Oak after a morning loss to Paris to finish second overall in Pool A.

The performance was good enough to advance the Eaglettes to the Championship Bracket alongside Edgewood, Grand Saline, Keene, Life Waxahachie, Paris and Wills Point.

The Canton Running Eagles competed at the Waxahachie Invitational August 26, battling less than ideal conditions and competing runners during their first meet of the season.

Coach Marta Morgan stated, "I'm so proud of all the runners and their effort and times. The cooler temperature really helped."

The varsity boys started the season off with a first-place team finish out of ten participating teams. Jonathan Bourquin led the way finishing in 7th with a time of 17:57. Wilson Null was 11th in 18:16, Garrett Stapleton 13th in 18:42, Matthew Hook 17th in 18:59, Kevin Nixon 18th in 19:05, and Gage Bullard 25th in 19:17.

In the varsity girls division, Madeline Null finished first overall with a time of 12:39 and Darby Pruitt was 11th in 13:38.

The Canton Eagles wrapped up their preseason with a scrimmage against the Kaufman Lions at Norris Birdwell Stadium Aug. 24, getting in their final reps before traveling to Brownsboro Sept. 1 for the first week of non-district play.

Canton enters play against the Bears coming of a 7-4 season in 2016, including a season-opening 56-34 win over the Lions at home. Weather would prove to be a key factor in last season’s matchup between the two teams as inclement weather across East Texas caused kickoff to be pushed back to Saturday afternoon.

Once play began, Canton and Brownsboro players were faced with hot, humid conditions. The high-powered Canton passing attack would go on to help win the day for the Eagles with Hunter Moore going 25/34 for 380 yards and 6 touchdowns while also adding another score on the ground. The receiving duo of Zach Brown and Tanner Moore combined for 24 receptions, 330 receiving yards and 5 TDs.

The Canton Eaglettes shouldered a heavy workload during the season’s first week, hosting Quinlan Ford Aug. 8 before undertaking the longest road trip of any local team by traveling to Austin to compete in a field of nearly 40 teams at this year's Jason Landers Invitational Tournament.

Canton finished the grueling season-opening stretch with three total wins out of eight matches played, beginning with a three-set sweep of Quinlan Ford in both team’s season opener.

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The Canton Eagles will take a giant step closer to opening the regular season this week, hosting Mt. Vernon Aug. 18 and Kaufman Aug. 24 in a pair of scrimmages to prep for the season opener Sept. 1.

Mt. Vernon should provide a solid test for the Eagles, coming off a season in which they finished 5-5 overall with a loss to White Oak in the bi-district round of the playoffs.

The Tigers will bring plenty of experience with them to Canton, returning eight starters on both sides of the ball.

The Canton Eagle football and Eaglette volleyball teams continued to grind away this week, working towards the start of their respective regular season with two-a-day workouts Aug. 7.

The Eaglettes, having started two-a-days back on Aug. 1, will open their regular season first by hosting Quinlan Ford Aug. 8. Canton will make its first tournament appearance beginning this weekend, traveling to Austin to take part in the Jason Landers Invitational Tournament Aug. 10-12.

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Coach Liz Ramsey and the Canton Eaglette volleyball program enjoyed the highest of highs and the lowest of lows over the past two seasons, going from a team that won a district championship in 2015 to one that missed the playoffs entirely in 2016. Those growing pains were to be expected, however, due largely to the exodus of eight senior players from the district championship winning team and the number of Canton players receiving their first serious playing time at the varsity level.

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With the 2017 season officially in the books for all District 13-4A baseball teams, coaches released their list of Superlative and All-District honorees.

Not surprisingly, Canton, which won first place overall with a perfect 10-0 record, dominated Superlative recognitions. The Eagles nearly ran the table in Superlative recognitions, winning at least a share of five out of six honors.

Van, which won four out of its final five district game to qualify for the playoffs, earned a share of one Superlative honor and a First Team All-District nod.

Superlative honors included:

-MVP: Hunter Moore, Canton

-Offensive MVP: Simon Miller, Canton

-Defensive MVP: Johnnie Krawietz, Canton; Jacoby Bogue, Van

-Pitcher of the Year: Jake Conner, Brownsboro

-Newcomer of the Year: Tyler Massey, Canton

-Coach of the Year: Jeff Priest, Canton

Players earning All-District First Team honorees included: