![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
Top Quarterback to Play… Baseball?
All-District Football MVP commits to Play Baseball at Texas State University
Awaiting the ball, junior Ryder Hernandez gets set for a pitch. Recently, Hernandez committed to continue his baseball career at Texas State University. “Texas State gave me an opportunity and they were the first school to do that for me. I felt that [Texas State was] a great fit, so I gave them my commitment now and not have to go through the recruiting process for another year.”
January 29, 2020
Not many high school athletes get the chance to continue their respective sports careers, and for the ones that do, offers do not normally start to fuel up until after their senior season. For junior Ryder Hernandez, the wait is already over. Hernandez has committed to play baseball in college at Texas State University.
“Texas State gave me an opportunity and they were the first school to do that for me. I felt that [Texas State was] a great fit, so I gave them my commitment now and not have to go through the recruiting process for another year.”
Most recognize Hernandez’s name from Friday nights at Gupton, as he quarterbacks for the Timberwolves in the fall. He earned the District 11-5A All-District MVP and set many records while leading the team to the third round of playoffs.
“I didn’t receive any football offers, but multiple schools offered for me to play baseball,” Hernandez said. “Baseball is my passion and I want to move forward with that.”
Now that the football season is over, Hernandez has the time to improve his craft in the dirt between second and third base, as the varsity starting SS. With committing to play at Texas State before his senior season, a ton of work will be put in this season and next so his offer will stand and the coaches will not be disappointed.
“As I said before, [Texas State was] the first school to believe in me and want me to be in their program,” Hernandez said. “After visiting the campus and talking to the coaches there, it felt like a great fit.”
The reigning All-District MVP will be back in the fall of 2020 to keep playing football as well as he has since he threw his first touchdown pass as a freshman in the playoffs. He said that he plans to keep working hard in the off season and put up an even better senior season so his football career can end with a great season.
“Many people question if I’m going to play football next year,” Hernandez said. “All I tell them is that I’m just going to go out and play football just like I always have.”
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901-600x400.jpg)
