Sachse incoming junior Josiah Alvarez makes a save during a penalty shootout against Naaman Forest. Alvarez was named the District 9-6A Goalkeeper of the Year following the conclusion of the season. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Sachse has been a beacon of success over the years, and the Mustangs continued to add to their success during the 2025-26 school year.
The Sachse News is proud to introduce the first installment of a three-part series celebrating the best teams, athletes, moments and performances from this past school year. The categories and winners for the second annual C&S Media High School Sports Awards were chosen by sports editor David Wolman, with winners being published over three weeks.
Part 1 (July 16) includes the Biggest Story, Breakthrough Moment, Newcomer of the Year and Best Team
Part 2 (July 23) will highlight the Best Game, Best Finish, Biggest Upset and Multi-Sport Athlete of the Year.
Part 3 (July 30) will wrap up the series with Coach of the Year, Most Improved Athlete, Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete.
These are the winners of the first installment of the series.
Biggest Story: Creel takes Garland ISD athletics leadership role
Creel is entering his 30th year with Garland ISD, but he will have a new job title.
Creel was approved as Assistant Director of Athletics on Monday, June 2. He will fill the position that was held by Mike Williams, who retired.
Creel, who spent the previous 10 years as principal of Sachse High School, posted a “Final Creel Reel” on the school’s X (formerly Twitter) page, in which he informed the community and staff of his decision.
Breakthrough moment: Mustangs sweep District 9-6A cross country titles
Sachse has enjoyed plenty of success over the years in cross country, but it had been nearly a decade since both the boys’ and girls’ teams had claimed first place in the district meet in the same year.
That drought ended last October.
Both the Sachse boys and girls captured the district championship, marking the first time since 2016 that both teams had won district championships during the same year. The boys scored 31 points, while the girls tallied 35.
The Mustangs also crowned an individual champion as incoming junior Dominic Richardson won first place in the boys’ race with a time of 15:55. Samuel Ledbetter (third, 16:13), Sadiki Mburu (seventh, 16:29), Henry Lesley (eighth, 16:31), Roman Rabel (12th, 16:48) and Ozzy Heredia (15th, 17:00) all finished in the top 20.
The Lady Mustangs placed six runners in the top 12, led by a second-place finish by Abigail Leonard (18:40). Arora Dinh Ngo (fifth, 19:54), Alicia Payne (seventh, 20:12), Kaitlyn Herrera (10th, 20:25), Adeline Moss (11th, 20:33) and Maicen Keefer (12th, 20:34) also ran for Sachse.
Leonard and Ledbetter qualified for the state meet.
Newcomer of the Year: Josiah Alvarez, boys’ soccer
Coming into the season, Sachse head coach Shane Montgomery wasn’t sure who was going to be the team’s starting goalkeeper.
Alvarez shared playing time early in the season before being named the full-time starter. He took on the challenge and turned it into a strong sophomore season, helping lead the Mustangs to their first district title in five years.
Named the District 9-6A Goalkeeper of the Year, Alvarez backstopped a stingy Sachse defense that surrendered 15 goals in 23 matches. Alvarez finished 13-2-4 with 12 shutouts and allowed eight goals in 21 appearances while making 52 saves.
Best Team: girls’ soccer
One year after making a rare appearance in a regional final, an experienced Sachse team made more history on the pitch.
After going a perfect 16-0 in district play to win an undefeated district title, the Lady Mustangs became the first girls’ soccer team from Garland ISD to make the state semifinals. Sachse began its historic playoff run with a 3-1 win over Tyler Legacy, topped Duncanville in a shootout in the area round, avenged last year’s loss to The Woodlands in the regional semifinals, beat Grand Oaks 4-0 in the Region II-6A Division I final before falling 2-1 to Keller in overtime in the fifth round.
Sachse dominated on both sides of the ball. The Lady Mustangs allowed just 12 goals all season and posted 18 shutouts while averaging 4.7 goals per match and scoring 132 times in 28 matches.
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