Meet the candidates for Texas Female High School Athlete of the Year for 2022-23
By Buck Ringgold | Lead photo by Tom Dendy
Now that the 2022-23 school year is in the books, let’s take a look back at some of the top female athletes in Texas.
Here now is a list of candidates for the SBLive Texas Female Athlete of the Year.
This list is in alphabetical order. If anyone else should be on it, let us know by emailing andy@scorebooklive.com or tagging us on Twitter or Instagram @SBLiveTx and state your case.
Tara Ahmadi/Sofia Mazzucato, Sr., Houston Memorial (tennis)
The tandem won the Class 6A doubles title, rallying from a 6-2 loss in the opening set to take the next two sets, 6-4 and 6-3. The pair also claimed straight-set wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Mazzucato will continue her tennis career at Xavier University.
Eleanor Archer/Morgan Rose, Sr., Amarillo High (tennis)
Archer and Rose claimed the 5A doubles championship with a three-set win, prevailing 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. For Archer, a Washington University-St. Louis signee, it capped a sterling high school career in which she won her fourth title, also winning state in singles and mixed doubles.
Jalynn Bristow, Sr., Holliday (basketball)
A 6-foot-2 forward, Bristow averaged 25.8 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.6 steals and 1.8 blocks as she helped lead Holliday to the Class 3A state title. The Iowa State signee was named the MVP of the 3A title game, as she had 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, along with 14 rebounds and three blocks in a 58-47 win against Fairfield.
Ava Brown, Sr., Montgomery Lake Creek (softball)
Brown, a University of Florida signee, helped lead the Lions to their second straight 5A state championship. She went 27-0 with a 0.53 earned run average, striking out 292 batters in 172 innings. Brown, who gave up one hit and struck out 15 in Lake Creek’s 5A title-game win, finished her high school career with an 81-0 record and 830 strikeouts.
Saniya Burks, Jr., Rice (basketball)
Burks averaged 33.3 points as she led the nation in scoring this past season, recording 1,231 total points. She scored at least 23 points in all 37 of her team’s games. Burks, the District 18-4A MVP, now has scored 2,706 points in her career.
Bella Campos, Sr., Flower Mound Marcus (soccer)
Campos scored 26 goals and 15 assists as Flower Mound Marcus claimed the 6A championship. The Texas Girls Coaches Association’s Player of the Year and a Colorado School of Mines signee, she had four goals at the state tournament, including both of her team’s goals in the title game.
Campbell Chase, Jr., Dallas Woodrow Wilson (swimming)
Chase won her third straight 200-meter individual medley championship at the UIL 5A state meet, winning in a time of 1:58.88, which also set a new 5A state record. She also took silver in the 100-meter breaststroke. Chase is a Texas commit.
Elise Clift, Jr., Mansfield (swimming)
Clift took gold medals in the 200 and 500 meter freestyles at the UIL 6A state meet. She won the 200 in a time of 1:47.44 and the 500 in a time of 4:46.20. She also took bronze in the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.
Kennedy Fuller, Jr., Southlake Carroll (soccer)
A midfielder, Fuller set a school record with 55 goals, scoring three or more goals in 11 games, while adding 26 assists. A North Carolina commit, Fuller won every game but did not play in Carroll’s lone loss, to Flower Mound Marcus in the 6A Region I final, because she was participating with the United States under-16 national team in a tournament in France.
Taytum Goodman, Jr., Earth Springlake (track/cross country)
Goodman set three state records at the Class 1A state meet by winning the 800-meter run (2:16.29), the 1,600 meters (5:04.92) and the 3,200 meters (10:56.53). She also claimed the Class 1A cross country individual championship last fall with a time of 11:11.20.
Abigail Gutierrez, Sr., Pearland (softball)
A Texas-Arlington signee, Gutierrez led the Oilers to the 6A state title as a pitcher. She went 26-1 with a 1.39 ERA, striking out 191 batters in 145 1/3 innings while holding opponents to a .146 batting average.
Jensin Hall, Sr., Frisco Heritage (softball)
Hall, who is headed to Ivy League institution Dartmouth, threw 10 no-hitters this season. She went 24-3 with a 0.45 earned run average, striking out 379 batters in 172 2/3 innings. She had 10 or more strikeouts in 21 games.
Morgan Howard, Sr., Colleyville Heritage (volleyball)
A senior setter, Howard registered 1,449 assists and 329 digs while even recording 122 kills. In the 5A title match, she had 51 assists and 17 digs and was named the MVP as Heritage won its first-ever state title. The Louisiana-Monroe signee finished her career with a school-record 4,321 assists.
Jaylee Jenkins, Jr., Rosehill Christian (golf)
Jenkins dominated the field at the TAPPS 3A state tournament, winning the event by 12 strokes with a two-round total of 66 and 69. She also helped the Eagles claim the team title.
Maelynn Kim, Sr., Katy Seven Lakes (golf)
A University of Houston signee, Kim won the District 19-6A title and then, after having tied with two other competitors with a two-day total of 140, nailed a 10-foot putt on the 18th hole to win the playoff for the 6A state championship.
Meghna Arun Kumar, So., Argyle (tennis)
Kumar won her second straight state title, taking the 5A championship with a 6-1, 6-2 win while dropping just one game in her first two matches at state. She won state in 4A as a freshman before Argyle moved up to 5A in the offseason.
Juliana LaMendola, Sr., Coppell (basketball)
The 6-foot-1 senior guard helped the Cowgirls to a 38-3 record and their first-ever trip to the state tournament. An Indiana signee, LaMendola averaged 17.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Lauren Lewis, Sr., Prosper (track)
The Texas signee won her second straight 6A title in the 400-meter dash, winning the event with a state-record time of 51.45, breaking her own record of 51.83 that was set at the area meet. Lewis also won the 6A 200-meter dash with a time of 23.43.
Theresa McCullough, Sr., Grapevine (soccer)
McCullough, a forward who is heading to Baylor, had 33 goals and 20 assists while being named the co-MVP in District 7-5A. She scored Grapevine’s lone goal in the 5A state title game, converting a successful penalty kick in a 1-0 win against Frisco, the Mustangs’ first title in program history.
Alexis Montes, Sr., El Paso Eastwood (wrestling)
Montes, who missed her entire junior season with a knee injury, bounced back in a big way as a senior. She finished 23-1 and took the Class 6A 120-pound weight class with a 5-2 victory in the championship match.
Olivia Moreno, Sr., Austin Bowie (wrestling)
Moreno won her third state wrestling championship with a 1-0 win for the 6A 126-pound class. She finished her senior season 36-0 and was named the Class 6A Most Outstanding Wrestler at state.
Taylor Nunez, So., Universal City Randolph (track)
Nunez set three state records at this spring’s Class 3A state meet, winning the 100-meter dash in 11.44, the 200-meter dash in 23.42 and the long jump, measuring 20-2.5. She was also part of the 400-meter relay team that took first as Randolph claimed the team championship.
Mackenzie Plante, Sr., Dripping Springs (volleyball)
An outside hitter, Plante was named MVP of the 6A title match as Dripping Springs swept Katy Tompkins. The Tennessee signee had 14 kills, two blocks, four digs and three aces in the championship match. She finished her career with 1,535 kills, 1,254 digs, 179 aces and 150 blocks.
Arianna Roberson, Jr., San Antonio Clark (basketball)
The post player averaged a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, along with four blocks as she was named the District 28-6A Defensive Player of the Year. She was also the MVP of the 6A title game, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in Clark’s 42-37 win against DeSoto.
Jasmine Robinson, Jr., Allen (wrestling)
Robinson captured her third straight state championship by pinning her opponent in 1:17 to claim the 6A 152-pound division. Next season, she will be bidding to become the fourth female wrestler in state history to capture four state crowns.
Jada Scott, Sr., San Antonio Johnson (swimming)
Scott, who is headed to continue her swim career at Alabama, won both the 50-meter freestyle (22.42) and the 100-meter breaststroke (1:00.59) at the 6A state meet.
Catherine Shen, Fr., Houston Bellaire (tennis)
Shen won her district and regional matches and also won her three state matches in straight sets, capped by a 6-1, 6-2 win in the final, to become just the second freshman to win the Class 6A state tournament and was also the first Houston Independent School District girls tennis player to win state in 33 years.
Chloe Sirkin, So., Grapevine (golf)
Sitting in third place after the opening day of the 5A state tournament, Sirkin shot a 70 on the final day, including a three-under 33 on the back nine, to claim the 5A title by one stroke. She also birdied the 11th, 14th and 16th holes.
Desirae Spearman, Sr., El Paso Hanks (softball)
Spearman led the nation in home runs with 30. The New Mexico State signee hit .688 with 101 runs scored, 69 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. She also went 25-2 in the circle with a 1.37 ERA, striking out 271 batters in 147 1/3 innings.
Macaria Spears, So., Plano Prestonwood Christian (volleyball)
Spears, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter, led her team to a 40-1 record and the TAPPS 6A state title as she recorded 544 kills, 225 digs, 65 blocks and 50 aces. It is the second straight season Spears has been part of a state champion, having won state at Flint Hill (Va.) her freshman year before relocating to Texas.
Lexi Tuite, Sr., Celina (soccer)
Tuite scored 64 goals and 17 assists as Celina became the third girls soccer team to achieve a perfect season, going 29-0 and won its second straight 4A title. The Northern Colorado signee also became the first girl to score five goals in a state tournament game, doing so in Celina’s 8-1 win against Stephenville in the 4A championship game.
