Many residents of Caddo Mills watched on TV as Bennett and the Longhorns captured the national championship.
" I think it is a super cool thing," said Caddo Mills athletic director Kodi Crane. " It is something that our kids can look up to. For someone from Caddo Mills to have that amount of success is a really, really neat thing. Our community has taken a lot of pride in it.”
Crane first spotted Bennett ' s outstanding athletic ability before she joined the Lady Foxes. He saw Bennett compete in a track and field meet as a freshman at Sunnvyale.
" She is an unbelievable athlete," said Crane. " Even from a really young age you could tell she was a really gifted athlete.”
Bennett has been a part of girls athletics since the seventh grade.
" I was involved in volleyball, basketball, track, softball and golf," she wrote.
Bennett’ s high school career in softball started as a freshman at Sunnyvale. She batted a team-high. 635 with 10 doubles, five triples and seven home runs. She scored 41 runs, drove in 27 and stole 24 bases. She earned all-state honors and the district Newcomer of the Year award.
She also ran on Sunnyvale ' s 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relays that advanced to region.
Bennett transferred to Caddo Mills where her softball team in 2020 went 18-3 before the season ended early because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She batted a team-high. 627 with eight doubles, two triples and four home runs. She scored 43 runs, drove in 21 runs and stole 47 bases to rank among the national leaders.
She also played as a sophomore on the Lady Foxes ' vol-
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