Isabella Ortega and Yanelle Munoz each won individual Class 6A state powerlifting championships and led Wylie High to its second consecutive team title this spring, earning them Co-Best Female Athlete honors in the final installment of the C&S Media High School Sports Awards.
The Wylie News published the third and final part of the awards series Thursday, July 30, with categories chosen by sports editor David Wolman. The installment also named boys' soccer coach Scott Dillon as Coach of the Year, junior Kennedy Butler as Most Improved Athlete, and senior Zach Alsahli as Best Male Athlete.
Two champions, one dominant team
At the Texas High School Women's Powerlifting Association Class 6A state meet in Edinburg, Ortega won the 132-pound division with a combined 1,005 pounds across the squat, bench press, and deadlift. She also set a state record with a 275-pound bench press. Munoz captured the 181-pound title with a combined 1,050 pounds.
Together they anchored a Wylie squad that scored 45 points, topping the runner-up by more than 20, according to a Wylie ISD announcement. The Lady Pirates had 10 medalists total.
"They started preparing for this victory as soon as last year's competition ended," AHMO Iron head coach Katie Hathaway said in the district's March 24 release announcing the championship. "As back-to-back State Champions, they've set a standard for future athletes to continue this winning tradition."
Both lifters had already dominated at the Region 6-6A Meet in Prosper, where Ortega earned Best Squat, Best Bench Press, and Best Lifter on the light platform, and Munoz earned Best Bench Press on the heavy platform.
Dillon honored as he steps away
Dillon earned Coach of the Year after guiding Wylie boys' soccer to an 18-3-6 record and the program's first regional semifinal appearance. The Pirates made three straight playoff berths under Dillon, who took over a program that hadn't reached the postseason for more than a decade before his tenure.
In 2024 and 2025, Wylie fell in one-goal bi-district losses to Rockwall. In 2025-26, the Pirates broke through, advancing past bi-district for the first time under Dillon despite replacing 25 of the team's 54 goals from the prior season through graduation.
Dillon stepped away from the program after 12 years. Wylie ISD announced Armando "Mando" Jimenez as his successor on Monday, May 18.
Soccer stars Butler and Alsahli recognized
Butler, a Mississippi State commit, jumped from 18 goals as a sophomore to 31 as a junior and was named District 9-6A Offensive Player of the Year. She scored two overtime goals in a 3-1 bi-district playoff win over Rockwall-Heath and added the fifth goal in a 5-1 area-round rout of Waco Midway.
Alsahli scored a team-high 21 goals with three assists after netting just six as a junior, earning District 9-6A MVP. He recorded at least two goals in seven games, including a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Rowlett on Friday, February 27. In the playoffs, he scored twice in a 5-2 bi-district win over Rockwall-Heath and twice more in a 6-1 area-round victory over Duncanville.
The three-part C&S Media awards series, which ran July 16, July 23, and July 30, concluded the 2025-26 athletic year at Wylie High.
