There was plenty of sports to cover in Kendall County in 2024 and some of the news even made national and international headlines.
Here’s a look back at the top sports stories that came out of Kendall County in 2024.
Elizabeth Leachman
Boerne Champion’s Elizabeth Leachman ran before a national television audience after she competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer. The junior was the only high schooler in the field and placed 26th overall.
Leachman has made a name for herself in the running world after she also won individual state titles in UIL cross country and track (1600 and 3200) and set the national outdoor 5,000-meter record for a high schooler at the Texas Relays last spring.
Leachman set at least three national records in the 1600 and 3200 at various meets and set a national record at the Indoor Nike Nationals in the 3200.
This past November, Leach returned from California where she defended her Foot Locker national championship after winning it for the second year in a row and has become the most accomplished individual high school athlete to come out of Boerne.
Boerne Little League The Boerne Little League team made national and international news in 2024 as well.
Boerne made it all the way to this year’s Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where they played for the national title and finished second to a team from Florida.
Boerne then played in the international third-place game and finished behind Venezuela to come in fourth in the world.
There were watch parties at several restaurants and bars all around town as the people of Boerne caught Little League fever.
Once they returned home, the Boerne little leaguers received a water cannon salute at the airport, had a police escort all the way from San Antonio and went straight to a parade in Boerne.
Despite a steady rain that fell that day, 5,000 fans lined the streets to honor the team and a video of the parade on the Boerne Star’s Twitter or X page drew 500,000 views from around the world.
Jason Tabansky
Boerne resident Jason Tabansky drew his share of national and international headlines after he earned a gold medal at last summer’s Paris Paralympic Games in archery.
Tabansky only qualified for the 2024 Paralympics because somebody ahead of him dropped out with an injury.
He made the most of the opportunity and claimed gold in the W1 competition with a score of 134-131 over the top ranked shooter in the world from China.
After winning gold, the medically retired Army veteran received a hero’s welcome with a ceremony at Veteran’s Plaza on Main Street in Boerne where local and state dignitaries either appeared in person or relayed messages that were read aloud at the event.
Stan Leech
Boerne ISD AD Stan Leech was selected for induction into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame last August. He will be inducted at a ceremony in May, 2025, as part of the annual Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Clinic.
Leech won 833 games in a coaching career that included 22 years at Boerne High and another 10 years at Champion.
Leech, who has been with the district for almost 40 years at this point, made state basketball appearances with the Greyhounds in 1990 and 2008.
He currently serves as the AD, a position he’s held for the last 25 years.
Boerne High vs.
Boerne Champion
After coexisting in the same town for almost 20 years and never competing in most sports, the UIL finally put Boerne High and Boerne Champion in the same district for athletic competition.
Both the BISD high schools are classified as 5A for this year and next.
Except for football, the Greyhounds and Chargers will compete in all the other UIL sports as district opponents, and so far, the contests have drawn good attendance numbers.
The volleyball matches and basketball games have all been near capacity as the Chargers and Greyhound clashed.
Boerne High football
The Boerne High football team had another deep playoff run. After playing for the 4A DI state title in 2022, the Greyhounds were one round short of making it back to the championship game, this time as a 5A DII school. The Hounds went five rounds in 2024 before getting knocked out by Richmond Randle in Waco.
The BHS football program has only won three regional titles in its 100year history, with two coming in the last three years, along with one they had in 2004.
Also, BHS head coach Che Hendrix and the rest of his staff were picked to coach in the 2024 San Antonio Area All-Star Football game held in the Alamodome last January.
100 years of Greyhound football
Speaking of football, the Greyhound football program celebrated its 100-year anniversary this past fall.
Boerne High began playing football in 1924 and held a special ceremony before a game this year where every Greyhound football player still living was invited.
About 100 former players showed up and every decade was represented from as far back as the 1950s through the present.
Former players received a special commemorative medal marking 100 years of Greyhound football.
Coaching milestones Several area coaches reached coaching milestones in 2024. Some of those were Geneva School of Boerne girls basketball coach Aamir McCleary, who reached 100 wins last spring.
Also, BHS baseball coach Geoff Curtin reached the 100-win milestone, while Greyhound football coach Che Hendrix claimed his 100th career win.
At Champion, Kelly McDaniel earned her 100th win in volleyball, while Charger tennis coach Joey Cantu topped them all after Cantu reached 400 career victories.
Gold-medal performances
There were several gold medal performances by local high school athletes at state competitions.
Elizabeth Leachman won three golds in UIL events in cross country and track, while Geneva golfer Jace Hulett won the TAPPS individual state title for second straight year.
Boerne High’s Kendall Lemm wins gold in the high jump and it marked only the second time a gold medal had been won by a Greyhound female athlete at the state track and field meet.
Champion had several swimmers earn gold after the girls 200-yard medley relay of Kate Deykin, Kate Canales, Cameron Kellogg and Cora Skoog won gold while the boys 200-free relay of William Tolar, Jake Canales, Will Harrison and Bexon Harrison came in first place as well.
Kate Friesenhahn
Geneva School of Boerne’s Kate Friesenhahn was named the TAPPS 2023-24 4A Female Athlete of the Year.
Friesenhahn, now a senior, received the award at the end of the last school year last June and said she had no idea she had even been nominated.
She is a five-sport athlete and plays soccer, volleyball – indoor and sand – golf and softball.
There was a lot of streaking going on
The Boerne boys had won 49 straight district basketball games until the streak ended earlier last month. They started that streak after a loss that ended a 44-game win streak, so basically, they went 93-1 during those 94 games.
The BHS boys also won their seventh straight district title in basketball in 2024 and their 12th in 15 seasons.
The Greyhound boys soccer team has won six district titles in row and their district-win streak is at 47 as they prepare for league play.
However, the longest win streak in the district belongs to the Champion boys cross country team that has won 17 straight district titles.
Since the school opened in the fall of 2008, the Chargers have claimed every district championship.
State appearances and regional titles
Several local teams made it to state and earned medals or won regional titles.
The Champion water boys water polo team made its third straight appearance at state, while the Lady Chargers made their first appearance at state and both earned bronze.
This past fall, the BHS boys cross country team moved up from 4A to 5A but didn’t miss a beat as they finished second in the state.
The Geneva girls basketball team won its fourth straight regional title and finished third in the state, while the Geneva girls soccer team placed second in state to earn silver medals.
Geneva’s Brady Chandler, who set a school pole vault record, finished second at the TAPPS state meet in that event.
The Boerne High girls basketball team won the region for the third time in four seasons and played at state and picked up bronze medals .
At the state swim meet, the BHS girls (4A) and Champion girls (5A) both finished third overall as several girls and boys earned individual medals.
The Champion boys track team won the 2024 regional meet for third time in four seasons.
Finally, the Boerne High boys and girls soccer teams won their respective Region IV-4A titles and both finished second at state to earn silver.
Boerne’s Jason Tabansky with the gold medal he won at the Paris Paralympic Games. Tabansky is joined by some of the Boerne Little League team members, who received their share of national attention in 2024.
Star photo by Kerry Barboza
C h a m p i o n ’s Elizabeth Leachman with coach Jenny Breuer at the Olympic Trials where Leachman raced last summer.
Submitted photo
Boerne High’s Kendall Lemm with the gold medal she won at the 4A state track and field meet. Lemm is only the second female athlete at BHS to win gold at the state track and field meet.
Star photo by Kerry Barboza
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