Midway High School

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Midway High School is a 5A high school in the Midway Independent School District, which serves the Waco, Texas area. Although the school is located in southwestern Waco, most students live in the suburbs of Woodway and Hewitt. Up until the fall of 2003, Midway High School was located on Hewitt Drive in Hewitt. The newly constructed building is a few thousand feet away, in the city limits of Waco. The previous high school is now used as Midway Middle School, which is in the city limits of Hewitt.

The ethnicity breakdown of Midway is approximately: 64.8% White, 17.1% Hispanic, 11.6% African American, 4.3% Asian, 1.0% Native American, 0.1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 1.1% two or more ethnicities. In 2011, the school was rated "Academically Acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.^[2]

Athletics

Boys and Girls Basketball Midway High School and its late superintendent were known as pioneers in the development of girl's basketball in the state. The M.T. Rice Holiday Tournament, which features elite boys and girls teams from across the state and country, is one of the oldest and largest basketball tournaments in the state. Under the direction of legendary coach Reggie Davis, Midway won the 4A State girl's basketball championship in 1994. Davis is one of the few coaches in Texas history to guide both a boys team (the Midway Boys in 1973) and a girls team (on multiple occasions) to the state tournament.

Track & Field In 2008, the Midway High School mile relay team won the 4A state championship with a time of 3:16.09. In 2011, Annie Rhodes won gold in Girls Pole Vault at a height of 12'6". Head Boys Coach is Kenneth Wiethorn. Head Girls Coach is Ronny Boles.

Swimming In 2010, Midway's Will Chandler won state gold in diving. Emily Neubert won back-to-back state gold in the 100yd Butterfly and 50yd Freestyle in 2010 and 2011. Head Swim Coach is Dan Marlin.

Football In the 2011-2012 school year the football team went 8-2 in the regular season and went to the playoffs. In the 3rd round they defeated Denton Ryan High School 19-7, the year prior Denton Ryan had defeated midway in the 3rd round 19-10. They defeated John Tyler 51-20 to reach the state final where they lost to Lake Travis High School 22-7. It was Lake Travis's 5th strait state title in football

State Titles

• Baseball - ^[3]
  • 2003(4A)
• Girls Basketball - ^[4]
  • 1955(B), 1969(2A), 1973(2A), 1975(3A), 1976(3A), 1994(4A), 2009(4A)
• Girls Cross Country - ^[5]
  • 1982(4A)
• Boys Soccer - ^[6]
  • 2002(4A)
• Softball - ^[7]
  • 1998(4A), 2010(4A)
• Girls Track - ^[8]
  • 1975(3A)
• Volleyball - ^[9]
  • 2007(4A)

State Runner-Ups: Baseball - 2005(4A), Girls Basketball - 1977(3A), 1990(4A), Girls Soccer - 2004(4), Softball - 1996(4A), Football - 2011(4A)

New Programs

Midway High School added a new robotics program in 2010. During the 2010-11 school year, Midway High School adopted team 4707 of the First Tech Challenge. The team was originally mentored by Brady Gibson, and Elisibeth Crane. The team competed in the San Antonio regional competition in March, placing 1st in qualifiers but not advancing on to Nationals, and then competed in the Killeen regional tournament in April, placing 1st in qualifiers and 1st overall to advance to the state competition in Lubbock. The team went on to compete in the State Competition and was eliminated during the Finals of their division. The team 4707 will return for a 2011-12 season and there will also be another team that will be added on in the coming year as well.

The new MHS Astronomy Club, established in 2011, has already received abundant media attention for the portable, inflatable planetarium. The only school district planetarium in Central Texas was a grant from the Midway ISD Education Foundation to Teacher Elizabeth Walker.

Although FFA and Agriculture studies are not new to Midway, the growing program is adding a renovated ag barn in 2012. The MHS ag program has tripled in size in just a couple of years.

Lone Star Cup

In 2011, Midway ranked in the top 10 of UIL's Lone Star Cup for the fourth year in a row, raking second place for the second time.^[10] The Texas Lone Star Cup is given by the University Interscholastic League (UIL) and is based on a school district’s combined academic and athletic achievements.

In addition to strong athletics and academics, Midway was named "One of the Best Communities for Music Education" by the NAMM Foundation four straight years.^[11]

Midway High School on television

Midway High School was the setting of the 2006 teen drama series Texas Cheer Moms on The Learning Channel.^[12]

Notable alumni

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• Brian Barkley. Major League Baseball relief pitcher^[13]
• Zach Duke, 2001 graduate, Major League Baseball pitcher - Arizona Diamondbacks^[14]
• Casey Fossum, 1996 graduate, Major League Baseball pitcher - New York Mets^[15]
• Ryan Harlan, 1999 graduate, 2011 USA Outdoors runner-up; 2006 USA Outdoor runner-up; 2007 NACAC Champion; Two-time USA Indoor champion (’05, ’06); 2004 NCAA champion; 2000 National Junior champion^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Midway ISD Website
• Panther Nation News site
• Midway Panther Football Booster Club Website