Pegasus News Sports 2008: Top performing athletes from Dallas-Fort Worth

by Erin Rice

North Texas is a hotbed of sports-hungry fans and aficionados. It's no wonder in such a ravenous region that some of the nation's, and the world's, finest athletes called Dallas, Fort Worth, Denton and everywhere in between home. While our teams had some difficulties pulling it together in 2008, there were a number of stellar individual efforts to keep our sporting metro proud.

Below we recognize the top local athletes, both players on professional teams and solo competitors, who shined just a little brighter than everyone else in 2008.

10. Randi Miller (Olympic Wrestling) - An Arlington Martin graduate, Randi Miller initially wanted to go out for the basketball team. But at 5'2", basketball wasn't really in the cards, so she tried out for wrestling instead. By her senior year, Miller took second place in state. Now, she's third in the world. After being defeated by Kaori Icho, a 19-time world champion, Miller won her next two matches to take bronze in the Women's Freestyle 63kg division at the Beijing Olympics.

9. Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) - Though fans have at times questioned various aspects of Dirk Nowitzki's athletic persona ("he's lazy," "he doesn't have heart," "he makes bad decisions"), when you look at the numbers it's undeniable: Dirk is a godsend to this franchise. In 2007-08, he was second in scoring among NBA forwards. Despite a rough start this season, Dirk is currently third in scoring, and second if you count only the forwards. With a 2008-09 average of 26.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game thus far, Nowitzki has eight 30+ point games, recording a season high 46 points on December 13.

8. Scot Drucker & Kieran Mattison (Grand Prairie AirHogs) - It would be difficult to pick just one of the leading pitchers for the Grand Prairie AirHogs baseball team as a top performer since they both performed very similarly according to the stats. Drucker finished second in pitching in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, recording eight wins, a 2.41 ERA, and allowing 78 hits over 93 innings pitched. Third in league pitching was Mattison who recorded 9 wins, a 2.42 ERA, and allowed 62 hits over 86 innings. Their combined efforts made Grand Prairie third in team pitching and helped the first-year club gain a championship berth, beating out the veteran Fort Worth Cats to do so.

7. Jessica Springer (Dallas Diamonds) - The most successful Dallas team by far in 2008 is the one you've most likely not yet heard of. The Dallas Diamonds women's professional football team had an undefeated season, beating their opponents in the IWFL by an average of 48.8 points per game until the championship, in which they beat the Chicago Force 35-29 in overtime. Captain Jessica Springer helped her team achieve a league leading 242.7 rushing yards per game, gaining personal stats of 707 yards gained and 13 touchdowns (more than one per game) during the regular season.

Springer took third place in two pre-season IWFL bonus competitions, bench pressing 150 pounds for 23 consecutive reps and running a 4.88 second 40-yard dash. A special needs teacher for Keller ISD, she played basketball for Texas Woman's University before trying out for the Diamonds more than six years ago.

6. Jeremy Wariner (Olympic 400M) - Though he trains in Waco, Wariner was born in Irving and calls Arlington his hometown. There were high hopes for a repeat of his Athens 2004 Olympic performance, when he took home double gold, winning the 400M and 4x400M. With mentor and manager Michael Johnson by his side, Wariner made a much-criticized decision to part with longtime coach Clyde Hart. The move was ever more scrutinized after he conceded 400M gold to teammate LaShawn Merritt. But Wariner would get Beijing gold in the 4x400M relay, and though it's less than was expected, a silver and a gold ain't too shabby.

5. Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas) - Whether Kenny intends to stay or go play in Europe has been a question mark all year. But what's unquestionable is how vital he was to the FC Dallas offense in 2008. Cooper stormed into the year scoring 18 goals in the regular season. He was in contention for the Budweiser Golden Boot, a distinction awarded to the highest scoring MLS player, until the final game against the L.A. Galaxy. Cooper eventually finished second to Landon Donovan's 20 goals. By year's end, Cooper was named to the MLS Best IX and in honor of his effort since 2007's season-ending broken tibia, he was recognized as the 2008 Comeback Player of the Year. Despite a letdown year for FC Dallas as a team, Cooper had the most decorated season of his career.

4. Will Pettis (Dallas Desperados) - For the second consecutive season, Will Pettis won the Arena Football League's revered Ironman of the Year award. The Dallas Desperados standout is a wide receiver, defensive back, and kick returner. In 2008, he was also named to the AFL All-Ironman team for the fifth time. Pettis leads the Desperados franchise in career receiving and set an AFL record on May 23, becoming the first player in league history to score four different ways in one game (rushing, passing, receiving, and an interception return). Despite his stellar efforts, the Desperados suffered their second consecutive, season-ending upset loss. Extra upsetting considering the current lack of a league to play in.

3. DeMarcus Ware (Dallas Cowboys) - Papa John's commercial notwithstanding, DeMarcus Ware isn't necessarily the first (second or third) Cowboy you mention when you talk about America's team. This is Texas, after all. We're into scoring points. But while the offense has been busy crying and hurting themselves, Ware has diligently plugged along. He got his 20th sack of the season against the Ravens on December 20th and not only leads the league in sacks, but is the first Cowboy to reach the milestone since they started recording sacks in 1982. Ware is only three sacks away from breaking the NFL regular season record, and though he's never recorded more than 1.5 sacks against Philadelphia, he has three three-sack games thus far in 2008. Going into Sunday's game, Ware has 80 total tackles and six forced fumbles.

2. Josh Hamilton (Texas Rangers) - A highly successful season was perhaps a blessing and a curse for Texas Rangers center-fielder Josh Hamilton. While it's great to have glowing accounts written about you in all the papers, most reporters couldn't help but talk about his troubled past. But his story of overcoming the odds increased the odds of winning for this previously maligned local team. Hamilton batted .304 in 2008 and lead the American League in RBIs with 130 (second in all of MLB). He was twice named the American League Player of the Month, in April and May, and finished seventh in AL MVP voting. This year Hamilton was also named to the AL Silver Slugger team, won the AL's Outstanding Player in the Player's Choice Awards, and was voted Rangers Player of the Year by local media.

1. Nastia Liukin (Olympic Gymnastics) - For two weeks this summer, gymnast Nastia Liukin became an international household name. Heading into the Beijing Olympics, the expected standout on the women's gymnastics squad was Shawn Johnson. With two very different approaches to the sport (Johnson: short, muscular, explosive; Liukin: long, lean, graceful), it was Liukin who surprised the Chinese women and her own teammate when she claimed the All-Around gold after Team USA turned in a disappointing second-place performance. Rounding out her medal count with a bronze in the floor exercise, a controversial silver on uneven bars, and a silver on beam, this Parker County resident was third in total medals won for the U.S. behind swimmers Michael Phelps (8) and Natalie Coughlin (6).

Liukin, the daughter of two former Olympians, won her All-Around gold exactly 20 years to the day after her father, Valeri Liukin, won gold medals in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. With nine medals won in world competition, Liukin has tied the record set by Shannon Miller.

*I was unfortunately unable to find free-use pictures of Springer, Mattison, and Drucker.

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