High School Sports

By SHANE STARK
Staff Writer

Harmony’s Renesia Wilburn is no stranger to coaching honors.

She’s earned a career slam — in the same school year.

Last fall, Wilburn was named Coach of the Year on the Tyler Morning Telegraph’s All-East Texas volleyball team. Now she’s Coach of the Year on the All-ET softball squad.

The accolade follows a season in which the Lady Eagles reached the state tournament for the first time in school history. Wilburn has guided the volleyball team to state the last two seasons.

“It was something that our kids had been wanting to do,” Wilburn said of state in softball. “You have to work hard all these years to build a group of girls that can execute and do what you need them to do, and this year it finally fell into place.”

In addition to the current players and fans, Wilburn dedicated the state berth to former Harmony teams that finished short. Having coached the softball team since 1994, Wilburn said a big weight has been lifted.

Following the regional final, “I had parents come up to me that had daughters on the other teams,” Wilburn said. “I told them that this was not just for this team, but for all the others too.”

Wilburn, whose Lady Eagles finished the year 36-10 and fell to East Bernard in the state semifinals, said the state experience was different than in volleyball. Five players are on both teams.

“The girls that played volleyball compared to the girls that played softball, they’re different,” said Wilburn, adding that “The first year we went in volleyball, no one thought we would go. Then we went and the next year there was a lot of pressure on us.

“In softball, the year before we got beat by Woden (in the regional semifinals). We kind of felt like we had the potential to get back into the same situation this year.”

Once the Lady Eagles reached state, Wilburn wanted the players to remain calm throughout the experience.

“They know how much pressure there was there,” Wilburn said. “I think that may have gotten to us at the state tournament, for some of them. When we walked out on that field, I tried to make it as calming as all the other games were. We kind of kept the same routine.”

Notes: Wilburn has been All-East Texas Coach of the Year in volleyball two straight seasons.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Harmony’s Renesia Wilburn was named All-East Texas Coach of the Year.
(Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero)