Congratulations to Ursuline’s Belle MacFarlane. In Waco yesterday, she won the high jump and the 300-meter hurdles in the Class 5A division of the TAPPS state track meet. And she contended for a third championship, finishing second to teammate Dominique Hever in the 100-meter hurdles.

Bachman Lake — a little bit smelly, a little noisy, and sometimes a little sketchy — is home to the Dallas Rowing Club and several private schools’ rowing teams. On Saturday, the annual Bachman Shootout Regatta will be held at the lake! Hockaday, ESD, St. Mark’s, Ursuline, and many others will journey to my favorite artificial lake to race their little hearts out. As a member of the Hockaday crew team, I can assure you this will be one very exciting regatta! Everyone should come out and support a school, or possibly just feel a little fancier than normal.

Erin Maxwell hit a short jumper with four seconds left to lift Ursuline to a 44-43 win over district rival Bishop Lynch in the TAPPS Class 5A basketball state championship game Saturday in Mansfield.

The Ursuline Bears and Covenant Knights will both be playing in the TAPPS state basketball semifinals today.

In the girls Class 5A semifinals, Ursuline (20-15) will play TAPPS 1-5A rival Plano John Paul II (24-9) at 6 p.m. at Mansfield Timberview. In the boys Class 2A semifinals, Covenant will take on Houston Beren Academy at 2 p.m. at Fort Worth Nolan.

Ursuline split the regular-season series with John Paul II.

The winners will move on to Saturday’s state championship games. The girls’ title game is at 4 p.m. at Mansfield Summit.

The Covenant School will play in the semifinals of the TAPPS Class 2A basketball tournament this weekend. The Knights’ opponent should have been Houston’s Beren Academy. But, as Corbett Smith reports in today’s Dallas Morning News, the tipoff time of 9 p.m. Friday was not workable for Beren, an Orthodox Jewish school that does not play between sunset Friday and sunset Saturday.

Beren appealed to TAPPS to move the game up to 3:30 Friday afternoon, but the request was denied. Even if that accomodation had been made, however, Sabbath rules would have prevented Beren from playing in the championship game, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday. Beren’s berth in the semifinals goes to Kerrville Our Lady of the Hills, which lost to Beren in the regional final.

Meanwhile, in the Class 5A girls tournament, the Ursuline Bears have a semifinal matchup with Plano John Paul II at 6 p.m. Friday.

Ursuline Senior Kathleen Crossland’s ceramic sculpture may make your stomach turn, but it has received accolades and was recently accepted into the 15th Annual National K12 Ceramic Foundation Exhibit.

Titled “It’s What’s for Dinner,” Crossland’s sculpture was selected out of 1134 total entries. Only 150 ceramic pieces will be shown. The exhibition will be in Seattle during the National Council in Education for the Ceramic Arts conference March 27-30.

Ursuline's soccer team has done it again. (Photo: Mark Lund)

The TAPPS soccer finals were delayed by rain in San Antonio yesterday, but Ursuline and Parish Episcopal eventually won state championships. Coincidentally, each squad duplicated the score from its semifinal match.

In Division II, Parish dominated Houston Northland Christian by a score of 6-0. In Division I, Ursuline secured its 22nd consecutive state title by outlasting Houston St. Agnes, 2-0.

The Ursuline Bears are gunning for their 22nd consecutive state soccer title. (Photo: Mark Lund)

The TAPPS soccer championships are being contested in San Antonio this weekend. In this morning’s semifinals, Ursuline and the Parish Episcopal girls both recorded victories.

In Division I, Ursuline blanked Bishop Lynch, 2-0. In Division II, Parish smoked Dallas Christian, 6-0.

Both championship games are scheduled for 10:30 tomorrow morning. Ursuline will face Houston St. Agnes, a 2-1 winner over Fort Worth Nolan on Friday. Parish will take on Houston Northland Christian, which beat San Antonio Christian, 3-0, in the semifinals.

Parish soccer players celebrate a goal against Westbury Christian. (Staff photo: Chris McGathey)

The TAPPS soccer quarterfinals get under way in about 90 minutes, when Ursuline takes on San Antonio Incarnate Word at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. Ursuline, which competes in Division I, has won 21 consecutive state championships.

Meanwhile, in Division II, Parish Episcopal’s boys and girls teams have both made it to the quarterfinals. The girls will play Tomball Concordia Lutheran at 2 p.m. Saturday at Killeen’s Leo Buckley Stadium, followed by the boys’ game against San Antonio Christian.

ESD hosted a talent show last night for those involved in the diversity club DADYO, which consists of students from the big seven schools: ESD, Jesuit, Ursuline, St. Mark’s, Hockaday, Parish Episcopal, and Greenhill.

Sharon Bales, ESD’s DADYO coordinator, said the talent show will become an annual event since all the schools participated and the students had a wonderful all inclusive spirit.

Teachers from each school judged the competition, and the winner, Daniel Park of ESD, won for his acoustic guitar solo of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Second and third place included students from Greenhill and St. Marks that showcased their musical talents with guitars, bongos, tambourines and vocals.