National Runner-Up in Flag Football
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — A co-ed intramural flag football team representing Tarleton State University has much to celebrate this week after returning to campus as national runners-up.
The team of undergraduate and graduate students advanced to the title game at the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association’s (NIRSA) Championship Series National Flag Football Championship hosted by the University of West Florida in Pensacola but were defeated, 40-19, by a team from the University of North Texas on Jan. 6.
The Tarleton Texan co-recreational team completed its NIRSA national championship series appearance with a 3-3 record before finishing as the second-place team in the nation. In addition to the team’s runner-up title, undergrads Caylee Matocha and RyLee Hellman were named to the All-Tournament Team after Hellman led the division with 11 flag pulls in tourney play.
“I am very proud of this team and how they represented Tarleton State University,” said London Anthony, coordinator of Intramural Sports for Campus Recreation. “Their teamwork and sportsmanship stood out amongst the competition. After a long drive and rough start, the team was able to come together and rally to make it to the championship game, exemplifying what it is to be a Tarleton Texan.”
The flag football team won its co-recreational league title and went 3-0 in the local playoffs during the regular fall season at Tarleton to qualify for the NIRSA Region IV tournament hosted by The University of Texas at Austin, Nov. 9-11, finishing in third place. From there, the team punched its ticket to compete in last week’s NIRSA national championships.
In Pensacola, Fla., Tarleton played six games and defeated Angelo State, 22-18, in the semifinals before facing UNT in the title game and falling 40-19. Of note, the Tarleton Texans were the only flag footballers to score against UNT in their six games at the national tourney.
NIRSA flag football is an 8-versus-8 team format with four-quarter games comprised of 12-minute quarters played on a regulation 7-on-7 field.
Members of Tarleton’s national runners-up flag football team include:
• Reilly Junge, senior nursing major from Glen Rose
• Britney Deering, senior kinesiology major from Marble Falls
• Molly Fenoglio, junior kinesiology major from Benbrook
• Baylee Hill, senior agricultural economics major from Georgetown
• Mariah Goehner, senior kinesiology major from Little River Academy
• RyLee Hellman, junior nursing major from Pilot Point
• Jacob Shelby, Dec. 18 graduate in business administration from McKinney
• James Studdard, senior kinesiology major from Hutto
• Jacob Enis, junior manufacturing engineering major from Krum
• Gee Heath, graduate student majoring in public administration from Dallas
• Caylee Matocha, senior nursing major from Hutto
• Colbey Boyd, senior kinesiology major from Forney
• Kaci Bachtel, junior kinesiology major from Fairfield.
Intramural flag football is offered by Tarleton’s Campus Recreation department, along with volleyball, softball, soccer, basketball, sand volleyball, racquetball and dodgeball. For more information on participating in intramural sports, visit www.tarleton.edu/campusrec.
Tarleton, founding member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven education marked by academic innovation and a dedication to transform today’s scholars into tomorrow’s leaders. It offers degree programs to more than 13,000 students at Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian, RELLIS Academic Alliance in Bryan, and online, emphasizing real-world learning experiences that address societal needs while maintaining its core values of tradition, integrity, civility, excellence, leadership and service.
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Contact: London Anthony, Intramural Sports Coordinator
254-968-0763
anthony@tarleton.edu
