La Feria Sam Houston Elementary Wins Girl’s State Chess Title

The La Feria Independent School District hosted the Texas Girl’s State Chess Championships 2016 on Saturday, September 24. The tournament was held at Sam Houston Elementary, 500 N. Beddoes Rd., and was open to all girls grades Pre-K through 12th who attend Texas public or private schools. This year 129 girls competed, including 33 from the La Feria ISD. This total was up from 79 last year and 65 the year before. Individual and team awards were given in 5 sections; K-1 (Kinder – 1st grade), Primary (2nd and 3rd grades), Elementary (4th – 5th/6th grades), Middle School, and High School. There were a total of 15 schools that entered teams, in addition to individual players from other schools.

In the K-1 section, La Feria Sam Houston Elementary won the State Championship by one point over Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School from McAllen. Individual results for Sam Houston Elementary students were as follows: Michelle Abrego 4th place, Victoria Gutierrez 6th place, Zayda Treviño 7th place, Carolina Eusebio 8th place, Emily Hunt 11th place, Celeste Lopez 13th place, and Keira Fernandez 14th place.

In the Primary section, Sam Houston Elementary placed 5th as a team. C. E. Vail student Harley Fuentes placed 9th individually, and Sam Houston student Faith Chavarria placed 20th individually. Also representing Sam Houston in the Primary section were Amber Gutierrez, Clarisa Cruz, Azura Zamora, Aundrea Santillan, and Alliana Briones. Representing Sanchez Elementary in this section was Abigail Guerrero.

In the Elementary section, Sam Houston Elementary placed 4th as a team, just 1 ½ points out of first place. Dominguez Elementary was the 5th-place team. Individual results were as follows: Sam Houston’s Kathya Lopez placed 7th, Celeste Medrano from Dominguez placed 10th, and Mikayla Medrano from Sam Houston finished in 18th place. Also representing Sam Houston in this section were Dora Mendez and Kassidy Ruiz. Also representing Dominguez was Sydney Reyna, Cassandra Garza, Caitlyn Pinto, Isabel Lara, Madison Reyna, Dakota Valdes, Mariah Patlan, Brisa Arizoca-Diaz, Janeth Malaquias, Estrella Torres, and Johannah Treviño. Representing Sanchez Elementary in this section was Madelyne Mendoza.

There were no La Feria ISD girls in the Middle School Section. In the High School section, La Feria High School’s Daniela Alejo finished in 14th place.

This is just the beginning of the 2nd year for the district-wide Chess Program in the La Feria Independent School District. The LFISD Chess Program is under the direction of Chess Coordinator Russell Harwood, who also provides instruction at all the regular campuses. The coaches for the individual campuses are Howard McNutt (LFHS), David Chairez (W. B. Green JH), Ernie Garcia (Dominguez), Julie Dale (Sanchez), Melva Hager (C. E. Vail), and Melissa Vallejo (Sam Houston).

The Girl’s State Championship tournament was organized by Victor Bailey, who was also the Chief Tournament Director. Remy Ferrari was the Pairings Director. The tournament was sanctioned by the Texas Chess Association and rated by US Chess.