2017 was a year to remember in Muenster. The Texas city is about 15 miles south of the Oklahoma border, and in 2017, its public high school did something that no other Texas school has ever done: win three state championships in a calendar year.
That’s right – the Muenster Hornets won titles in 2A baseball, basketball, and football last year. It was a winning year, but also one of loss. On May 20, 17-year-old Cal York died in a car accident. York played on the basketball and baseball teams. His teammates and members of the football team dedicated their seasons to him – and won every game after that.
“We’d never had a state championship in a team sport in Muenster until last year,” says Brady Carney, the head football coach and athletic director at Muenster High School. “It had been over 60 or 70 years since the school’s been open that that never happened.”
The football team changed the design of its helmet to honor Cal York by adding a number 3 with the word ‘Cal’ stenciled in the middle of it.
“It was an outstanding year as far as athletics go, but it was also a year of loss,” he says. “[Cal York] was a great friend to all those seniors especially, and then his dad is the principal here at the high school, Mr. York. He’s always supported these young men on whatever they do and loved them like sons.”
Carney says the three wins are significant, but he doesn’t think the teams are done with their winning streak.
Written by Jen Rice.
