Here’s a sportswriter’s trade secret: It’s all relative.

Here’s what I mean. My colleague Jason Orts and I sat at a table near the University of Texas campus in mid-March, eating hamburgers and feeling lucky.

That’s because we had just witnessed Robinson finishing off a state championship the Rockets very much deserved, and in a couple of hours we were going to find out if Midway could do the same.

The moments

Some bitter, mostly sweet (top to bottom): Midway's playoff loss on the final play and Johnny Tusa's retirement, along with state titles for Gatesville golfers, Chilton's Gabriella Dominguez, Midway and Robinson girls' basketball, Whitney's Wren Bonner and Reicher football.

(Michael Bancale photo)

---

(Rod Aydelotte photo)

---

(Duane A. Laverty photo)

---

(Rod Aydelotte photo)

---

(Duane A. Laverty photo)

---

(Duane A. Laverty photo)

---

(Rod Aydelotte photo)

---

(Rod Aydelotte photo)

---

We had winners to cover and compelling stories to tell and tasty burgers, and I had a chocolate milkshake.

I tell you the truth, there will be sportswriters covering the NBA finals this week that will long for that kind of confluence of good vibes.

And that’s what I’ll remember when I think of the 2008-09 high school sports year, which came to an end last week with Gatesville playing in the state softball tournament and a herd of Central Texas athletes bringing home state track and field medals.

Part of the thrill of my job, apart from watching great games and meeting a lot of cool people, is putting the events into my own words. But along the way, my colleagues and I use the words of the players and coaches involved to tell the story the best we can.

Looking back on a fantastic year, I can’t think of a better way to relive it than to revisit some of those in-the-moment quotes.

So here’s the very best bulletin-board material from the last nine months:

* “I thought we had an amazing second half,” Midway football coach Kent Bachtel said. “They showed a lot of character and class. Those guys never quit. I thought we had the game won.”

The fact that Midway reached the Class 4A Region II final surprised many and delighted Panther fans. Midway had to go through Waco High, Ennis, Waxahachie, Forney, Texas High and Highland Park to get there.

Then the Panthers overcame a 21-7 halftime deficit to send the game to overtime tied at 35.

Midway running back John Hubert capped a spectacular season by skirting the sideline for a nine-yard touchdown run, giving the Panthers the lead in overtime.

But Longview answered with a touchdown, then quarterback Aaron Johnson put the ball down on the goal line for the winning two-point conversion, though Midway fans insist he was down before the ball broke the plane.

* “It does feel a little sweeter to win back-to-back titles when you’re a senior,” Reicher quarterback Kenneth Cluley said. “I’d like to see the percentage of kids who have done that. We had a chance to make Reicher history, and we did it.”

Cluley came back from a midseason broken leg to help the Cougars win their second straight TAPPS Division III state title.

As for Reicher history — it actually marked the third time in program history that the Cougars have won back-to-back championships. It also gave the school eight football state titles.

* “Be who you are,” Waco High football coach Johnny Tusa said. “Believe in what you believe in. You can take suggestions, but you’ve got to make decisions and you can’t be wishy-washy about it.”

Tusa, the Lions’ only coach since three schools consolidated to form Waco High in 1986, left the school with a 181-87-2 record.

And he definitely did it his way.

* “That makes it sweeter than anything,” Robinson senior point guard Ashley James said, “knowing that we went through the hardest road to get here and we could still finish it off.”

Robinson defeated Argyle, 49-33, in the 3A girls’ basketball state championship game. To get there, the Rockets went through No. 1-ranked Diboll and No. 2-ranked Bullard in their regional bracket.

* “It was so much fun,” Midway senior point guard Krissica “Spoon” Harper said. “I’ve always waited for this moment, and the coaches had us so prepared for this. Before the game, (coach Teri Morrison) told us to go out and have fun. I was so nervous before the game, and then after I was thinking, ‘Why was I so nervous?’ It was so natural for us to go out there and win.”

The Pantherettes seemed to be having a good time as they obliterated Mansfield Timberview, 50-27.

Midway left no doubt it was the top team in 4A, and might have been the best in any classification.

* “I’m excited to have my own record in 1A and to have my name there four times,” Chilton senior golfer Gabriella Dominguez said. “It means all my hard work has paid off all these years.”

Athletes rarely achieve perfection, and I’m not sure Dominguez would describe her high school career as perfect — she’s awfully demanding of her golf game. Nonetheless, you can’t do any better than four straight individual state titles while lowering the 1A scoring record by 10 strokes.

* “Once I passed it and knew I won it, the pressure was off,” Whitney sophomore pole vaulter Wren Bonner said. “I was just out there to have fun and do my best. I was pretty much just getting some jumps in and some looks at the bar when I got to 13. Whenever I got that, I was on cloud nine.”

Bonner gave perhaps the most exhilarating performance of the state track meet Saturday as she delighted a large crowd at the pole vault pit. After claiming the 3A girls’ gold medal with a vault of 12 feet, she raised the bar to a state record 12-7 and cleared it on the first try. Then she mixed in a little drama by taking two attempts before finally clearing 13-0.

Having already upped her personal best and the 3A and Central Texas records twice, Bonner took a shot at 13-4. Though she didn’t come close on the first try, Bonner barely grazed the bar her second and third attempts.

Still, she walked away from the pole vault pit with a big, well-earned smile.

* “I don’t think it has quite sunk in yet,” Gatesville sophomore Jake Truss said. “We’re state champions, you know.”

Perhaps it’s understandable that Truss and the Gatesville golfers didn’t exactly jump around and hug each other after they claimed the 3A golf state title. They had just finished a five-hour round of golf in 90-degree heat, which is a pretty good test of endurance.

Come to think of it, that’s not a bad metaphor for the end of another school year. And, all things considered, it was pretty great.

You know?

cconine@wacotrib.com

757-5711