They proved it Saturday in Georgetown, competing in the UIL Regions 18/26 Marching Contest. Burnet, the last group to perform Saturday night, received First Divisions from all the judges.

The young men and women in the Bulldog Band and Highlandettes are truly a class act, said Mike Lewis, head director for the Esprit de Corps. There is a lot of competition to be the best performing group within our region, and I think Burnet really nailed it Saturday night.

Judges for the contest were Dr. Charles Trayler, Cliff Franklin and Mike Henderson.

Culled from the rating sheets is is a selection of the judges' comments:

Strong performance! Good tone quality from all sections! Good woodwind texture! Very nice percussion! Many music moments in your performance; well done! Minor concerns with fundamentals! Show design! Wow! Super job (drill team)

Really good players; good sounds! I enjoyed your playing. You are indeed fortunate to be a part of such an outstanding program. Some phasing problems. Lots of energy/variety/color/visuals. Congratulations!

For more on this story see the Burnet Bulletin

The 2008 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, the nation's premier collegiate indoor tennis tournament, is the second of three national championship events for college tennis this season. The first events - the Riviera/ITA Women's and D'Novo Men's All-American Championships - were held earlier this month, and the third event is season-ending NCAA Championships in May. The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships feature a 32-player singles field and 16-team doubles field for men and women, including: qualifiers from these Wilson/ITA Regional Championships held across the country, the ITA National Small College champions, top performers from the ITA All-American Championships and at-large card selections made by the ITA National Tournament Committee. Overall, more than 7,000 players from nearly 600 schools participate annually in the ITA Regional and National Intercollegiate Championships. Wilson/ITA Southwest Regional Championships Field

Baylor, Houston, Lamar, LSU, North Texas, Northwestern State, Rice, SMU, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M, TAMU-Corpus Christi,Texas State, Texas Tech, UL-Lafayette, UL-Monroe, UT Arlington, UT El Paso, UT San Antonio

The rain flooded the pumps at the stadium causing the pumps to stop working. This could have been a catastrophe for the Red Raider faithful. The SMU game was scheduled for 6 pm Saturday the 13th. The Lubbock Fire Department was called in on Friday to remove the water away from the pumps enabling technicians to fix the pumps. Once the pumps began working the water drained from the field in less than 45 minutes. Practice was held as usual. The grounds crew even added water on Saturday to wash off the flood residue prior to kick-off. The Game Goes On!

The Cajuns can thank project contractor M. D. Descant, Inc., for finding a replacement installer at the last minute, and Carter Construction and 35 Sports Systems for taking on a job they called twice as difficult as a normal turf installation.

"It's been a challenge," said Lance Ellis of 35 Sports Systems. "You're probably doing double the work here that you would on a regular field."

"We didn't run from it when we saw the challenge," said Gary Carter of Carter Construction. "We want them to be proud of this field and we take a lot of pride in what we do. I'm hoping that's why we got this job."

The Descant group contacted Carter Construction only two weeks ago when an earlier-arranged turf sub-contractor withdrew because of conflicts with other projects. That group would not have been available until mid-August, well after UL's scheduled football report date of Aug. 3.

UL athletic officials, notably head football coach Rickey Bustle, were less than pleased with those prospects, but Descant was able to secure Carter's services. Their company, based out of Fort Worth, began work last Thursday, and by Wednesday morning all of the floor surface was covered.

"There's still a lot of work to do, but we're really glad that Dwight (Descant) was able to get someone to come in," Bustle said. "They worked really hard to get them here, and it looks like they're on track to be done."

Carter said he anticipates the field to be fully installed by Monday. University crews will paint the field and the logos next week when installation is completed.

"We got the opportunity to come in," Carter said, "and we wanted to help out the university since they were looking at a deadline. The general contractor (Descant) and the university have been very helpful, very cordial and very cooperative. We wouldn't be at this stage without them."

The turf was taken out of the Louisiana Superdome after the 2004 Sugar Bowl, when LSU beat Oklahoma 21-14 on Jan. 4, 2004, in the BCS national championship game. Since then, the large rolls have been stored in barns behind Blackham Coliseum.

The difficulty of the job increased exponentially because the ground rubber that stabilizes the plastic grass blades - recycled automobile tires reduced to the consistency of sand - was already embedded in the turf.

"We knew it was used, but we had no idea what condition it was in or how it was stored," Carter said. "Having the rubber in isn't right or wrong, but it makes it extremely heavy."

A five-yard-wide strip of turf, sideline to sideline, normally weighs 1,200 pounds without the rubber filling, Ellis said. The turf used in UL's building weighed almost 12,000 pounds for a similar strip since it already included much of the rubber material. "That makes it extremely hard to put down and line up," Ellis said. "We pretty much faced every obstacle you can imagine. It was a difficult first couple of days ... we were doing a lot of trial and error."

Carter said that and the time constraints were why he brought in Ellis, a turf specialist from Dothan, Ga.

"Even though it's used, it's still top of the line turf," Carter said. "The Superdome has pretty much the exact same style that's here, and being indoors it should last for a long time."

"The turf itself is fine," said Ellis, who estimated the turf was used for less than 20 games while in the 'Dome. "It's kind of like a used car that didn't have much mileage on it. It sat in storage longer than it was played on."

Workers were trimming seams on Wednesday and were scheduled to begin the gluing process and refilling the rubber by week's end. Carter said he hoped to bring in machinery to top-dress the field over the weekend.

"It will look nice and be very serviceable," he said. "It won't look brand new because it's not, but it will be safe and serviceable. There won't be any restrictions on what they want to do on the field."

A native of Fort Worth, Cynthia graduated with a business degree from TCU in 1980 and joined the family business, building houses and remodeling shopping centers for Sabine Valley Construction Co., founded by her late grandfather, C.P. Hadley.

She picked up different construction skills with her marriage to Carter, 48, a mechanical engineer and graduate of Texas Tech University who helped design, among other aircraft, the F-16, the B-22 and the 747.

I kept saying that with his knowledge and background and my experience building houses, we ought to do this together, she says.

In 1997, the couple launched their sports field construction company. Cynthia oversees daily operations as president; as vice president, Gary manages the technical side.

Carter, who is on site for every project, says the precision work is what attracted him to the sports field industry. Coming from the aircraft industry, I've always been interested with the operation precision work, he says. “I saw an article in a trade magazine about laser-controlled machines being used to build sports fields. I came home and told Cynthia we needed to get that on our equipment. We didn't even have a job yet for it but we were ready, he laughs.

An eye for detail Working directly with school districts, universities, municipal parks and recreation departments, Carter Construction builds all types of athletic fields, focusing on surfaces that encourage maximum safety, improved play and aesthetic beauty. Beginning with the excavation of the site, they do it all: laser grading, irrigation and drainage, grass installation, concrete flatwork, stadium construction, bleacher installation, and dugout and concession building.

Our success stems from our desire and ability to provide the best product possible, and that desire is evident to the customer from the top, and includes every one of our employees, says Cynthia Carter. We've been fortunate to hire and retain employees that are second to none. Many have been with us almost since inception and we wouldn't be here today without them.

During the 2006 state high school playoffs, 26 games were played on six of Carter's fields, including two title games.

Some of the company's artificial turf projects include Jones Stadium and the NCAA Soccer Complex at Texas Tech, Fouts Field at the University of North Texas and Gopher Stadium in Grand Prairie.

Natural turf projects, which require special attention to drainage and overall maintenance, include the softball fields in the Arlington and Colleyville school districts and the baseball and soccer fields at The Parks at Texas Star in Euless.

Working directly with school districts, universities, municipal parks and recreation departments, Carter Construction builds all types of athletic fields, focusing on surfaces that encourage maximum safety, improved play and aesthetic beauty. Beginning with the excavation of the site, they do it all: laser grading, irrigation and drainage, grass installation, concrete flatwork, stadium construction, bleacher installation, and dugout and concession building.

Drainage, Carter says, is the most important factor in building a field, whether artificial or natural.

Our football field drains better than any field I've ever seen, says Tim Buchanan, Aledo's athletic director. The foundation is the most important factor in a field and Gary went out of his way to ensure ours was the best. He's a perfectionist. It was like he owned the property himself. For construction, that's very uncommon.

Currently the company, which has 30 employees, is working on an indoor football practice field at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, its first out-of-state project.

The couple says their next goal is the biggest yet: they'll be bidding on the Cowboys new stadium and hope to get the nod.

What makes a good sports-field builder is the eye for detail and being almost artistic, Cynthia Carter says. You either have it or you don't. Gary has it, that eye for detail and quality and that's what helps us stand apart.

Contact Dillard at bdillard@bizpress.ne