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STEPHENVILLE — Tarleton State has hired a rising star to lead the next era of Texan Track and Field and Cross Country. Tarleton Athletics announced last week they have tabbed Bobby Carter as the next head coach of the programs. Carter joins the Texans after spending the last eight years as an NCAA Division I assistant track and field coach, including four years at the Power Five conference level. He served the last three seasons at Arizona (2021-24), three seasons at Navy (2018-21), one season at Oral Roberts (2017-18) and one season at Nebraska (2016-17). "Bobby Carter has a tremendous reputation and we were impressed by his knowledge, charisma and potential during our process of choosing the right candidate for our head coaching position," Vice President and Director of Athletics Steve Uryasz said. "Coach Carter's up-and-coming career path matches our own department's rise to national prominence, and he brings instant credibility to our track and field and cross country programs." A two-time All-American himself while competing at Nebraska from 2009-14, Carter has guided six First Team All-Americans, 132 conference finalists, 115 conference medalists and 29 conference champions across his coaching career. "I am honored to be the next Track and Field and Cross Country head coach at Tarleton State University," Carter said. "As the head coach, I am committed to guiding this program to the best of my abilities and also ready to win some championships with our dedicated staff, alumni and student athletes. I would like to thank Vice President Steve Uryasz for this opportunity and for believing in me. I look forward to leading and inspiring our athletes to achieve their highest potential, both on and off the track and contributing to the rich tradition of athletic excellence at Tarleton State." Carter spent the last three years as Arizona's jumps and multis coach. The Wildcats credited Carter for helping "lift the jumps and multis to newfound heights in the national picture," guiding several student-athletes to some of the top marks in program history and competition at the NCAA Championships. Just two weeks ago, Carter had a Men's 4x100m team compete in the NCAA Championships at Oregon, where they advanced to the NCAA Finals after shattering the school record. The 4x100 relay team ran a program record 38.75-second finish on Day 1, besting the previous school record of 38.85 seconds. Carter also had a student-athlete advance to the NCAA Championships in both the long jump and triple jump, qualifying on a best long jump of 25-4.75 and triple jump of 52-2.5. The same student-athlete won the Men's Triple Jump at the Pac-12 Championships in mid-May. In his second season in 2022-23 with Arizona Track and Field, Carter and the Wildcats had a Second Team All-American long jumper. The men's track and field team finished 18th in the USTFCCCA National Rankings. The Wildcats were ranked by the USTFCCCA as high as seventh in the women's long jump and ninth in the women's triple jump nationally. In his three years at Navy, Carter coached jumps and helped guide the program to seven Patriot League team titles. In his final season, Carter coached three All-Conference athletes on the road to the program's third consecutive Outdoor Conference Championships sweep. Carter coached two all-conference student-athletes in the long jump and triple jump, plus coached three to school records. "Bobby Carter is a young, smart, energetic and very knowledgeable coach," Texas Tech Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Wes Kittley said. "He has been coached and mentored by the great Gary Pepin, former head coach at Nebraska, Joe Dial, former head coach at Oral Roberts, and Fred Harvey, the current head coach at Arizona – three coaches who I have admired for years. So, he definitely is ready for this challenge. He has worked himself up through the ranks and is ready to be a head coach!" In his lone year at Oral Roberts, Carter helped develop six All-Americans, 14 conference champions and 10 school record holders. Before making his way to Oral Roberts, Carter coached at Nebraska, his alma mater. He was responsible for four All-Americans including the USATF Junior Outdoor Triple Jump Championship winner with a mark of 53-2.25. Carter was an elite athlete himself, competing for Nebraska in the long jump and 4x100 relay. He was a two-time All-American, finishing 12th in the long jump at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships and seventh at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships competing as part of the 4x100 relay. During his time at Nebraska, Carter also earned scholar athlete distinctions. Bobby Carter and his wife Nataly have three sons, Maiyan, Kobe, and Maasai.

Stephenville native Jarrett Stidham is in the running for the starting quarterback position for the Denver Broncos, as reported by several media outlets.

Honing their skills

STEPHENVILLE — For the first time in program history, Tarleton State Athletics earned fifth place in the WAC Commissioner's Cup, posting 92.7 points in 2023-24, their final year of NCAA Division I reclassification.

STEPHENVILLE — Shirts that celebrate Tarleton State Baseball winning the WAC championship are now on sale, with limited availability. There are two versions of the Texan Baseball championship shirts, each listed at $29.99. There is a purple design featuring the Tarleton State logo, and a grey shirt featuring the Western Athletic Conference logo. The shirts are being sold at the Tarleton State Bookstore, and online, the purple shirt found here, the grey shirt found here. Tarleton State Baseball completed an unprecedented task just weeks ago — becoming the first baseball program to win a conference tournament during NCAA Division I reclassification. The 5-seed Texans won the WAC Tournament in Mesa, Arizona, knocking off 4-seed California Baptist in dominant fashion 9-1 in a winner-take-all nightcap at Hohokam Stadium. This marked the third conference tournament championship by the Texans in their NCAA era (2018, 2014), as they posted their most postseason wins since 1992, going 5-1 throughout the WAC Tournament, all of this with a first-year head coach, Fuller Smith. The Texans finished their 2024 campaign 32-29 after their WAC Tournament championship, their most wins in a season since 2018 (35).

Former Stephenville High School athletes Eli Hiitola, Luke Wilson and Caitlyn Skiles played in the Tony Daniel Big Country FCA All-Star basketball games held June 8 in the Brownwood Coliseum.

STEPHENVILLE — Tarleton State Football's 2024 scheduled has been altered, with four changes announced Monday to the previously announced campaign. Changes occurred as Stephen F. Austin announced plans to return to the Southland Conference on July 1. Tarleton State will no longer play SFA in 2024. Tarleton's four changes are all surrounding United Athletic Conference games. The first change will be on Sept. 21, as the Texans will travel to take on North Alabama in a United Athletic Conference matchup. Tarleton State and North Alabama were previously not scheduled to play this upcoming season, and the Texans were originally supposed to play at West Georgia on Sept. 21. Now, the Texans will go back to Florence, Alabama, where they won 43-28 in 2022. That game will kick off at 6 p.m. CT. Tarleton's final three games were also altered. Now, the Texans will play at West Georgia on Nov. 9, they'll host Abilene Christian in Stephenville on Nov. 16, and they'll play their regular season finale at Memorial Stadium against Central Arkansas on Nov. 23. Previously, the Texans were supposed to host Central Arkansas on Nov. 9, play at Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 16, and host Abilene Christian on Nov. 23. The new UAC schedule for all teams features eight conference games, four home games and four road games in a full round-robin format for each of the league's nine member institutions. The revised schedule was a product of flexible and open-minded work by the league administration and member institution's leadership in response to SFA's departure. The focus of the revised slate centered on accommodating expressed protected dates from each institution, maintaining the balanced eight-game conference format, attempting to keep similar location sequencing from the previous schedule and mitigating as many travel plan disruptions as possible. The updated full schedule can be found at https://tarletonsports.com/sports/football/schedule. Season tickets are on sale and can be purchased at https://tarletontickets.universitytickets.com/w/packages/PackageDetail.aspx?PackageNewID=182

Eleven Stephenville Yellow Jackets — led by superlative selections Mason Weyers and Kutter Stone — were voted to the 2024 All-District 6-4A Baseball Team selected by the district coaches.

In a hard-fought, three-game playoff baseball series, there are usually multiple turning points.