Rockwall Jacket Athletes of the Month

Each month, the Jacket Backers, Rockwall High School’s Booster Club selects student athletes who are nominated by their coach for Jacket Athlete of the Month.  For the month of February, Lauren Piper, Ashley Brand, AJ English, Hannah Merrill, Caden Garner, River Hill, Emma Santoro and Ainsley Hergert were each nominated by their coaches and selected as Jacket Athletes of the Month.

Lauren Piper, Junior Midfielder for Girls Soccer is an asset to the team.  “She has produced 6 goals and two assists in District play.  As a three year letterman, she does an excellent job of reading the field and helping direct play. In addition to soccer, Piper excels in academics carrying a high GPA.” States Coach Garcia.

Ashley Brand, Junior Guard for Girls Basketball is a captain for our varsity team and a 3-year varsity player.  “In the month of February, she shot 63% from the floor, shooting 40% from 3's.  Her constant encouragement and positive attitude helped propel this team through adversity.  She is always an hour early before practice to put up shots, getting to the gym at 5am.  She has done a great job loving and serving her teammates this year.  She not only excels on the court, but also in the classroom ranking in the top 2% of her class!” shares Coach Brewer.

Hannah Merrill, Senior Swimmer is a great Team Captain.  Coach Partenheimer adds, “She also just finished up her senior season with a great regional meet.  Next year, she'll swim for Georgia Southern University.”

Mateo Canales, Senior Forward/Midfielder for Boys Soccer was nominated by Coach Bowles who says, “Mateo is a natural leader that leads by example. Easily one of the hardest working players on the team. He makes everyone around him better. He is leading the team in assists (7) and is 2nd on the team with (8) goals. He has a very bright future ahead of him and will be very successful at the next level.”

Ainsley Pemberton, Freshman Softball Pitcher was chosen by Coach Acosta who states, “In only her freshman year, Ainsley has pitched just over 35 innings and has earned 60 strikeouts.  She works hard, is respectful and humble.  She is versatile and is able to contribute in many defensive positions as well as offensively.  Her maturity and drive will continue to contribute to many successes this season and in the future.”

Amanda Kearns, Junior Beam & Floor Specialist for Girls Gymnastics is a true asset to the varsity gymnastics program.  “She is a real go getter and gives 100% in everything she does.  Amanda always has a positive attitude and is such a blessing to coach.” Shares Coach Tyson.

Emma Santoro, Freshman Middle Distance Runner is only a freshman and in her first meet of the year put on a show to remember.  Coach McCrary adds, “She placed 2nd in both the 800 & 1600 with some impressive times.  The highlight of the day that everyone will remember for quite some time was her anchoring the 4x400 relay.  Emma received the stick in first place but quickly was passed by Plano East after the first 100 meters.  Emma just finished running the 1600 just about 15 minutes prior to this race.  Emma stayed within 12 meters of the Plano East Runner.  On the final straight away, Emma just let lose every bit of energy that she had left and started gaining ground on the girl in front of her.  With 5 - 6 meters left before the finish line, Emma passed the Plano East girl, giving the RHS Quartet the victory.  Emma is a very special young lady with a ton of heart and grit.  I can't wait to see what Emma has in store a Lady Jacket the rest of this year and for years to come, if this past weekend was any indication, I bet there will be a lot of excitement along the way.”

River Hill, Senior Distance Runner for Boys Track competed in his first meet of what will be his final season as a Yellow Jacket putting on a great show.  “River won both the Mile and the 800.  In the 800 River set a personal best time of 1:58.09 seconds.  River is a very important part of our success as a team and has been the last 3 years.  River is starting off hot and has his sights set on his first trip to Austin in May.  Stay tuned for more exciting news about River Hill.” says Coach McCrary.

Caden Garner, Junior for Boys Golf was nominated by Coach Watkins.  He exclaims, “Caden is a hard worker that has led the Jackets in scoring in our first 2 tournaments of the spring.  We hosted the Todd Freeman Memorial at RGAC on Feb. 5-6 and Caden shot 81-78 in very cold and windy conditions.  Caden also led the team in scoring for the Fall Semester.”

AJ English, Junior Swimmer was nominated by Coach Partenheimer who said, “AJ finished a great year with a great regional swim meet.  He had great individual swims and 2 great relay swims too.  He's done great things this year.  I'm very excited for next year.”

Ainsley Hergert, Sophomore for Girls Golf is only in her 2nd year of playing golf.  “Her hard work has helped her secure a spot on the varsity squad.  In our first tournament of the spring she had our second best score.  Ainsley is a hard worker with a bright future for the Lady Jackets” shares Coach Watkins.

Congratulations to each of these Rockwall High School Athletes!

The Jacket Backer Booster Club is a non-profit association formed to maximize fundraising efforts for Rockwall High School Sports, and other charitable activities that promote the development of good character, high morale, and maximum effort.

For more information on how you can support, vote and promote Rockwall High School’s Student Athletes visit the Jacket Backers website at https://www.jacketboosters.com/ and be sure to follow all of our athletes’ accomplishments on Facebook or Twitter @RHSJacketBacker.

It’s a Great Time to be a Jacket Backer!!!