SPECIAL SIGNING DAY | Kilgore sends six to Jacksonville College athletics
Spring signing days are always busy, but rarely ever – never – are all of the signees going to the same destination.
Did we say ‘never’?
Well, almost never.
This time, it’s a special occasion.
Kilgore High School’s guests of honor for Thursday’s particular signing day were six members of the class of 2024 that are all headed to one destination: Jacksonville College.
One of them, Zachery Gutierrez, is headed to JC to run both cross country and track and field for the Jaguars. And another, Yailenn Rojo, is on his way there to continue to be what he’s been at KHS: one of the best managers / student trainers possible.
Gutierrez was a big gun on a very-good cross country team at Kilgore, coached for many years by Phillip Lane and this year by Hector Peralez – also Kilgore’s boys soccer head coach.
Gutierrez did run at the UIL State Cross Country Championships at Old Settlers Park with his team one of his four years at KHS, and was at the regional qualifying meet all four years as a Bulldog. He was a regional qualifier in track and field in three of his four high school seasons.
And the other four are names that are familiar to Kilgore boys soccer fans.
Jacob Contreras, Chris Martinez, Jaime Vasquez and Jose Vasquez are all a part of a KHS Bulldogs soccer class that will forever be remembered for helping the team return to the University Interscholastic League’s State Soccer Tournament at Georgetown’s Birkelbach Stadium.
They finished with a 25-3-2 overall record this season, having scored 119 goals, giving up just 20, and went 14-0-1 at home. They won their district championship again (16th) and went 13-1 in district – that loss was at Center, and along the way in the playoffs, defeated No. 1-ranked Jacksonville, 1-0, in Henderson.
They finished with the state’s bronze medal, having lost in the state semifinals, a 1-0 loss to Boerne at Georgetown on April 10.
Since then, Martinez played in the TASCO All-State Game, where Peralez was also in his first season as the head coach.
Former Kilgore coach Tom Wait, a longtime East Texas high school coach, is now the head men’s soccer coach at Jacksonville College, and he’s trying to build a program there. The Jags finished the 2023 season 1-13-2. They compete in a tough conference against names like Tyler, Angelina, Blinn, Trinity Valley and Northeast Texas.