By David Wolman
Plano East’s girls basketball team will enter the upcoming season with one returning starter.
That’s why head coach Derrick Richardson was eager to see how well his team would mesh at the TABC Girls Showcase in Bryan.
Although the Lady Panthers went 0-3 at the Showcase, they gained valuable experience.
The Lady Panthers opened with a 36-30 loss and then came up three points short in a 58-55 loss to Pflugerville Weiss.
Plano East concluded the Showcase with a 79-44 loss to Houston Kinkaid.
Robinson averaged 27 points, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Julia Elwo had a 10-rebound game. Kamaria Marcy, a move-in from Kansas, averaged 6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Emma Shafer averaged 5.2 points, 2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals. Gabby Archer, Alexis Wong and Meerah Azhar all played quality minutes.
“I feel like we got a lot of good out of the weekend,” Richardson said. “We saw some flashes of what I think we can be.”
Plano East was without incoming sophomore Olivia Woods, who missed all of last season with an injury and continues to battle a knee injury.
Richardson is hopeful that Woods can resume basketball activities in mid-to-late July.
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By David Wolman
Dasan Harris committed to the University of Oklahoma baseball team as a walk-on out of Plano East despite being nationally ranked and holding offers from multiple Division I programs.
Harris concluded his junior season at OU as a national champion.
Oklahoma dominated No. 5 North Carolina 13-2 in Game 3 of the championship series on June 22 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska – lifting the Sooners to their third national title and first since 1994.
Harris, a 2023 Plano East graduate, went 2-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored in the series clincher. He drove in a run with an RBI single that he hit into left field in the eighth inning for a commanding 10-2 Sooners lead.
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By David Wolman
Plano East recently completed its spring sports season and the Panthers experienced plenty of success in its final season in District 6-6A.
The Murphy Monitor will look back at the accomplishments of Plano East’s baseball, softball and track and field teams.
Baseball
Challenges were aplenty for the Panthers – most notably having to play their home games at Naaman Forest and Rowlett high schools because of recent construction at Plano East High School to renovate the baseball and softball fields.
Plano East also brought in a new head coach with the hiring of former Naaman Forest coach Carey Willingham taking over the reins.
A 3-1 start to 6-6A play had the Panthers firing on all cylinders. However, Plano East proceeded to drop in the district standings following a five-game losing streak in the middle of 9-6A play. Although Plano East rebounded with a four-game winning streak, the Panthers had their playoff aspirations cut short by Allen in the final week of the regular season.
Plano East finished 18-12 overall and 7-9 in District 6-6A. The Panthers went 10-3 during non-district play, highlighted by a 4-3 win over a Tyler Legacy team that won 27 games and was a regional finalist.
Graduation will take a hit on Plano East as it lost 14 seniors from this year’s team, but they will return six underclassmen who logged significant playing time.
Softball
One year after making the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and reaching its first regional final since 2012, the Lady Panthers set high goals for this year.
Despite losing four key seniors to graduation, including pitcher Jadyn Dawson, last year’s 6-6A MVP, Plano East leaned on seven starters and also welcomed three varsity newcomers who were ready to make their mark.
Everything came together at the start of district play for the Lady Panthers. Plano East was 5-4 through nine games and in postseason contention. However, a rough stretch of play in which the Lady Panthers lost four straight games to Plano West, Prosper, McKinney Boyd and Rock Hill proved too much for them to overcome, and Plano East came up just short in its quest for a second consecutive playoff berth.
The Lady Panthers finally ended that losing streak with an 8-6 win over Plano, followed by a 13-3 rout of McKinney. Plano East was competitive against Allen in its final game of the season – a 2-1 Lady Eagles win.
Plano East finished with an 8-15-2 overall record and a 7-9 district record.
Incoming sophomore catcher Emerson Bailey, who was named the District 6-6A Utility Player of the Year, finished with a .342 batting average with 25 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Defensively, she committed five errors on 81 total chances for a .938 fielding percentage.
Track and field
Caitlyn Tran and Malachi Terry saved their best for last, qualifying for the Class 6A state meet for the first time, with Tran earning a berth in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles and Terry in the boys’ 200-meter dash.
Tran persevered in one of the toughest districts and areas to earn her first-ever state berth in the hurdles, earning her way into the state meet after placing second in the Region I-6A meet at the University of Texas at Arlington. At the state meet in Austin, Tran, an SMU signee, placed fifth with a wind-aided time of 13.90. She broke the school record three times.
Meanwhile, Terry, a New Jersey Institute of Technology signee, broke the school record in the boys 200 twice and qualified for state after placing second in the regional meet with a time of 21.06. At the state meet, Terry improved on that time and finished eighth with a 21.05.
Plano East’s girls’ 4×100 of Lauryn Bowen, Liana Wright, Ce’Niyah Brown and Kosi Ngadi placed third in the regional meet, while its 4×200 of Bowen, Ngadi, Brown and Sophia Sawyerr took 11th.
Wright also placed sixth at regionals in the 100. Kourtney Houston was sixth in the shot put and 10th in the discus. Maya Shariff placed 10th in the 800. Naomi Williams placed 11th in the triple jump.
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By David Wolman
Plano East enjoyed a breakthrough in multiple sports during the 2025-26 school year.
The Lady Panthers soccer team advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2008, the boys’ soccer team made its first postseason appearance since 2018, and Jake Li became the first male golfer from Plano East to qualify for the regional tournament since 2012.
The Murphy Monitor will take a closer examination of each sport and highlight their individual and team success.
Boys soccer
Plano East turned to a familiar face to try and get the Panthers back into the playoffs after barely missing in each of the previous two seasons.
Head coach Justin Bailey and his coaching staff had the Panthers firing on all cylinders, with the reward being their first postseason berth in nearly a decade.
The clincher was a 2-1 road win over Plano on March 6. The Panthers were forced to play from behind after the Wildcats scored on a breakaway in the 16th minute. Brandon Cazeault scored in the 30th minute to level the score at 1-1. Following a one-hour delay for lightning in the area, the Panthers took the lead for good after Myles Dennis scored on a header.
Plano East had its chances in a Class 6A Division I bi-district playoff match at Coppell, but the Panthers were unable to find the back of the net in a 2-0 loss. Kolby Lee had Plano East’s best scoring chance. He beat three Cowboy defenders on his own, but he couldn’t get a clean shot away.
Following the conclusion of the season, Garrett Caldwell was named the District 6-6A Co-Goalkeeper of the Year.
Girls soccer
Head coach Cristy Cooley felt that the Lady Panthers needed “just a taste” of the playoffs to fully realize their potential.
Plano East got that taste last year when it qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.
Although the Lady Panthers’ season ended in the bi-district round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs after losing 4-1 to eventual state champion Coppell, Plano East was just getting warmed up.
Fast-forward to this year and the Lady Panthers went three rounds deep in the postseason.
After earning a defensive-minded 1-0 victory over battle-tested Hebron in bi-district, Plano East put forth a dominant effort in front of its home fans during a 7-1 rout of Arlington Martin in area.
Backed by dueling hat tricks from Alexa Perreira and Lauren Delapaz, Plano East scored the game’s final six goals after the Lady Warriors had tied the score at 1-1 during the 18th minute.
In the regional semifinals, Plano East saw a late rally come up short in a 3-2 loss to eventual state runner-up Keller.
Following the conclusion of the season, Delapaz was named the District 6-6A Co-MVP and Cooley was tabbed the district’s Coach of the Year.
Golf
Plano East has experienced plenty of success in golf over the years, especially on the girls’ side, highlighted by a state runner-up finish by Meagan Winans in 2021.
However, advancing a male golfer past the district tournament had been a struggle over the past decade.
That drought finally ended this year.
Incoming senior Jake Li overcame a rough start to earn third place in District 6-6A with a score of 147, becoming the first male golfer at Plano East in 14 years to qualify for regionals.
Li carded a double-bogey score of 6 on the par-4, hole No. 1 on the first day of the two-day event. However, the Plano East junior quickly regrouped, and he didn’t have a double bogey for the rest of the tournament.
Carter Cox (21st, 160), Surya Sastry (35th, 167), Rayden Lee (39th, 168) and Grant Rae (41st, 169), Kristian Leask (41st, 169), Mason Le (54th, 176), Rohan Sukesh (54th, 176), Blake Work (54th, 176) and Zachary Jordan (86th, 211) also competed for Plano East at the 6-6A tournament.
At the regional tournament, Li shot a 3-over 151 to finish in 29th place.
On the girls’ side, Plano East finished in 10th place at the district tournament.
Michelle Phan (27th, 182) led the charge for the Lady Panthers, followed by Hannah Tong (40th, 197), Saydee Vo (45th, 206), Haley Nguyen (63rd, 225) and Georgia Martin (65th, 228).
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By David Wolman
It was a banner year for Plano East.
The Panthers enjoyed success across the sports spectrum, including in winter sports.
The Murphy Monitor will take a closer examination of boys and girls basketball, swimming and wrestling.
Boys basketball
Matt Wester’s final season as Panthers head coach proved to be another successful one.
Despite losing the team’s all-time leading scorer and current Texas State forward, DJ Hall, to graduation, the Panthers fired on all cylinders.
Plano East won a share of the District 6-6A title and finished with a 27-8 record. It was the fifth straight season of at least 20 wins for the Panthers.
Defense was the catalyst for Plano East’s run to the district title. The Panthers held opponents to an average of 47 points per game.
Senior point guard Jayden Parker fueled Plano East’s defensive efforts, earning 6-6A Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts.
Plano East was unable to keep pace with Coppell in a 69-56 bi-district playoff loss.
Girls basketball
One year after Plano East made a historic run to its first-ever appearance in the state semifinals, the success continued for the Lady Panthers.
Fueled by a stingy defense that held opponents to an average of 48.4 points per game, Plano East finished 28-8 overall and perfect 16-0 in District 6-6A play to capture an undefeated championship.
Although the Lady Panthers’ season ended after a hard-fought 50-44 loss versus eventual Class 6A Division I state runner-up Flower Mound in bi-district, it was another big year on the court for Plano East.
Plano East had a total of eight players earn nods on the All-6-6A team.
Incoming junior guard Arianna Robinson claimed individual MVP honors after averaging 26.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals.
Swimming
Plano East incoming senior William Prasetyo outlasted a tough field at the Region II-6A meet at the Lewisville ISD Westside Aquatic Center to earn second place in the 200 free with a personal-best time of 1:41.99.
At the state meet, Prasetyo finished 20th in the 200 free preliminaries with a 1:42.77.
Prasetyo was one of several Panthers who swam at the regional meet. He, Ben Tran, Paul Chu and Winston Le placed seventh in the 200 free relay and eighth in the 400 free relay. Le added an eighth-place finish in the 100 fly and 11th in the 200 individual medley, while Chu took fourth in the 100 breast and 14th in the 100 free.
On the girls’ side, Emma Looney placed seventh in 1-meter diving. Skylar Garris finished in 11th. Abby Wesneski placed seventh in the 100 backstroke and teamed with Kaitlyn Vo, Christine Bui and Purbaaz Chahal to earn 11th in the 200 medley relay, while Malini Mulford placed 11th in the 500 free.
Wrestling
After missing the cut for the state tournament by one win during his freshman and sophomore seasons, Plano East incoming senior Bilal Habib earned fifth place at 106 pounds at the Class 6A state tournament at the Berry Center in Cypress.
Habib finished his junior season with a 30-5 record and won both the District 6-6A and Region II-6A titles at 106 pounds.
Cameron Tran (113 pounds), Ian Garcia (165), Andy Santamaria (190), Jacob Caranfa (138) and Daniel Hartai (150) also qualified for the regional tournament.
On the girls’ side, Jessica Mathew won the district tournament title at 155 pounds. Natahlia Iztep took third at 115 pounds and Sania Kasturi captured fourth place at 125.
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By David Wolman
Dasan Harris and the Oklahoma Sooners baseball team have already knocked off No. 2 seeded Georgia Tech and No. 15 Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
Harris and the unseeded Sooners will look to continue their postseason magic in the NCAA World Series. Oklahoma draws No. 7 Alabama in the opening round at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 13 from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. The game will be televised on ESPN.
The Sooners are making their 12th all-time appearance in the World Series and second appearance in five years.
Oklahoma advanced to the World Series after crushing Kansas 13-2 Monday in Game 2 of the Super Regional in Lawrence, Kansas.
With the score tied 1-1 in the second inning, a six-run bottom half of the second fueled the Sooners’ offense and turned what was a close game into a rout. Harris, a 2023 graduate of Plano East, broke the deadlock with an RBI single through the left side of the field. Harris later punctuated OU’s dominant efforts with a two-run home run in the sixth inning for a commanding 12-1 lead.
Harris delivered in clutch situations at the plate for the 38-22 Sooners throughout the Super Regional.
In OU’s 8-1 Game 1 win on Saturday, June 6, Harris plated the game’s first run with a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning. Harris finished the series with three hits and four RBIs. The Sooners’ next six runs came courtesy of three home runs. Brendan Brock increased OU’s lead to 8-0 with an RBI single in the seventh.
Harris has driven in 10 runs during the NCAA Tournament and has 23 RBIs this season.
Oklahoma rallied from deficits of 8-2 and 7-2 to stun Georgia Tech 15-8 and 8-7 (10 innings) in the final two games of the Atlanta Regional. In the June 1 winner-take-all game, Harris lined an RBI single into center field to give the Sooners a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Tech rallied with seven unanswered runs to take a 7-3 lead in the top of the sixth.
However, OU refused to see its season end. The Sooners rallied with three runs in the seventh before tying the score at 7-7 on Jaxon Willits’ RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. Dayton Tockey capped off the wild comeback with a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 10th.
Harris has appeared in 55 games for Oklahoma during his junior year, making 31 starts. The Plano native has an impressive .362 average and .986 OPS with four homers and 23 RBIs. He’s also a weapon on the basepaths for the Soooners, as he is third on the team with 18 stolen bases. At Plano East, Harris was an All-District and All-State talent.
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By David Wolman
Plano East has made the decision to hire from within in its search for its next head boys basketball coach.
Michael Godwin, the lead varsity assistant during the last four seasons, has been promoted to head coach – a decision that was announced on the X account of Plano East athletics director Tony Benedetto on Saturday night.
Godwin takes over for Matt Wester, who announced his resignation on May 5 and was hired to the positions of JV boys basketball coach and varsity assistant for the Lake Highlands Wildcats.
Wester spent 15 years with Plano East. He joined the program as an assistant coach in 2012 and was promoted to head coach six years later. He turned around a struggling program that finished with just five wins in the year prior to him being promoted to head coach.
Godwin has been on the sideline for the most dominant run in Plano East history. The Panthers went 105-20 over the last four seasons, including a perfect 40-0 record and the team’s first-ever state championship in 2024. This past season, Plano East finished 27-8 and clinched a share of the District 6-6A championship.
Godwin has worked his way up the coaching ladder in Plano over the last decade. He guided the Otto Bobcats from 2014-18, winning a city championship in 2018, then was promoted to Plano East and served as the junior varsity coach from 2018-23.
Prior to his time at Plano East, Godwin worked as an assistant coach at Parish Episcopal School and was the head coach at North Dame Catholic High School in Wichita Falls.
As a player, Godwin was a four-year varsity letterwinner and a first-team, all-district selection at Rockwall High School. He went on to play at Midwestern State University and was a three-time Lone Star Conference champion.
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By David Wolman
For the second straight summer, Plano East incoming junior guard Arianna Robinson will compete for the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.
After a four-day tryout in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Robinson earned a selection on the U17 National Team on May 24. The 12-member team selected from 46 trials participants, was selected by the USA Basketball Women’s Development National Team Committee and will reconvene for training camp in Colorado Springs in early July. The team will then travel to Brno, Czechia, for the 2026 FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup, July 11-19.
Last year, Robinson helped lead the U16 National Team to gold in the 2025 FIBA U16 AmeriCup. Robinson played a significant role in the United States’ domination. She averaged 9.7 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.7 steals in six games played.
The blue chip recruit has also been a dominant force ever since she first stepped onto the court for Plano East.
Robinson averaged 23 points and seven rebounds per game during the Lady Panthers’ historic run to their first-ever appearance in the state semifinals as a freshman, and she built on that success as a sophomore.
The 5-star recruit poured in a whopping 26.4 points as a sophomore, as Robinson helped lead Plano East to an undefeated district title, in addition to scoring a team record 40 points in a win against Prosper Rock Hill while also becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer.
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By David Wolman
Baseball and softball coaches in District 6-6A recently cast their votes for the all-district team, and a total of 14 players from Plano East were honored on that prestigious list, seven from the Lady Panthers softball team.
One of the youngest players for the Plano East softball team, freshman catcher/infielder Emerson Bailey, was tabbed the district’s Utility Player of the Year. Bailey finished her first season in high school with a .342 batting average, 25 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Defensively, she committed five errors on 81 total chances for a .938 fielding percentage and was credited with 57 putouts and 19 assists.
Junior infielder Kayleigh Miller, sophomore shortstop/outfielder Chloe Lee and senior pitcher/infielder Savannah Leonard were placed on the second team. Junior right fielder Avery Hopper, junior center fielder Julia Wilson and junior utility La’Courtnia Butler were chosen to the honorable-mention team.
Miller hit a career-best .323 with 20 hits, 15 RBIs, seven doubles and one home run while fielding at a .903 rate. Lee batted .333 with 20 hits, 20 runs, 15 stolen bases and seven RBIs. Leonard had a .333 batting average with 22 hits, 20 RBIs, six doubles and one home run while striking out 74 in 94 innings.
Hopper drove in 10 runs and scored 17 runs. Wilson finished with a .314 batting average with 11 RBIs, six doubles, three triples and was second on the team in stolen bases with 10. Butler scored 12 runs and collected 12 hits with seven RBIs in her first full season playing varsity softball for the Lady Panthers.
In addition to their dedication and hard work on the field, Bailey, Hopper, Lee, Leonard, Miller, Aisha Nawaz, Audrey Hopper, Ella Anderson, Gina Martin, Jayla Taggart and manager Jade Coleman were rewarded for their efforts in the classroom as they were named to the academic all-district team.
The Plano East baseball team had seven players earn their way on the all-district team.
Senior outfielder Landon Weeks was a unanimous selection on the all-6-6A first team. Senior Landon Leedy, sophomore Ben Stultz and junior Kellan McWhinnie were placed on the second team at pitcher. Junior outfielder Xavien Salas cracked the second team in the outfield. Junior left-handed pitcher Diego Moran, junior right-handed pitcher/outfielder Colt Wisniowski and senior shortstop Tristan Parker were selected to the honorable-mention team.
Weeks capped off a standout high school career by finishing second on the Panthers in batting average (.354), in addition to 20 runs, 10 RBIs and 11 walks. Parker led Plano East in batting average (.372), hits (35), RBIs (22) and runs (23).
Salas drove in eight runs, scored seven runs and finished with a .255 batting average.
Pitching was also a strength for Plano East.
Leedy finished 4-3 and surrendered 22 earned runs in 42.1 innings and had a 3.63 earned-run average.
McWhinnie was on the mound for a team-high 55 1/3 innings, struck out 52 in 55 1/3 innings and surrendered just 16 earned runs.
Stultz struck out 22 in 16.2 innings against 13 hits and 10 earned runs.
Moran went 2-3 and allowed 14 earned runs in 23.1 innings with 22 strikeouts. Wisniowski also had a strong season on the mound, allowing 10 earned runs in 27.1 innings with 15 strikeouts.
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By David Wolman
Plano East had two runners compete at the Class 6A state meet in Austin last Saturday.
Senior Caitlyn Tran placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a wind-aided time of 13.90. Senior Malachi Terry took eighth in the boys 200-meter dash with a 21.05.
Tran finished her senior season as the area 5-6A/6-6A champion, qualified for state after taking second in the regional meet and broke the school record in the high hurdles three different times.
Terry broke the school record twice in the 200 and qualified for state after placing second at the Region I-6A meet with a time of 21.06.
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