Marble Falls High principal reflects Lone Star Cup finish

CAPTION: Marble Falls High School Principal Patrick Hinson (left), Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Jeff Gasaway and athletic director and football head coach Keri Timmerman huddle after a road game during the 2025 season. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

With Marble Falls High School finishing 28th in the 2025-26 Lone Star Cup, its principal explained the importance of that result.

The Lone Star Cup is a University Interscholastic League competition where each member’s extracurricular activities can earn points based off finishes. Those points include academics, fine arts and athletics.

Patrick Hinson, the campus principal, just completed his third year, arriving from Blanco High School after a stint at Lake Travis and Pflugerville. He said the Lone Star Cup is a talking point during meetings involving many different educators in different specialties. Most of those meeting have included Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Jeff Gasaway, Assistant Superintendent Stan Whittle, athletic director and football head coach Keri Timmerman, assistant athletic director and boys basketball head coach John Berkman, and Hinson.

“We talk a lot about it in just about every faculty meeting,” the principal said. “We made that a point of emphasis, especially this last year. I think Dr. Gasaway even wrote it into the superintendent goals if I’m not mistaken with the board. It was a point of emphasis for us that we wanted to be more well-rounded, that we wanted to get more kids involved. We wanted to get more programs to be successful.”

Hinson brought back one activity last year that isn’t UIL sanctioned – the high school fishing club, which began more than a decade ago and then stopped before Hinson arrived.

During the conversation, Hinson spoke about the campus activities that he has witnessed during the last school year and often has the best seat in the house because he sometimes drives the bus that takes the students, their teachers and directors to the events. He noted what makes the Lone Star Cup attractive is because the scoring comes from so many different arenas. Two Marble Falls activities earned the most points – the one-act play’s state championship and the boys soccer team winning the Class 4A Division I Region IV title to advance to the state semifinals. Both made school history with their finishes.

“We wanted to get more programs to be successful,” Hinson said. “Because that’s really the only measuring stick out there for school-wide stuff. We talk about testing, we talk about (end-of-course) scores and we can talk about (college, career and military readiness) and while those things are all good, there’s a lot more that goes on on the campus. And if we can be competitive in all those other things, then that’s reflected on that Lone Star Cup. And I’ve always thought that we had the ability out here to be competitive. And we just had to be focused on it and more aware of it.”

The principal said some Marble Falls teachers may not have known about the Lone Star Cup, but that has changed. And he pointed out those who are involved in the UIL academic competitions strive for the same results as their colleagues in the other parts of campus.

“And so hopefully in the next couple of years, that’ll start earning us some points,” he said.

In short, the Lone Star Cup is an award that spotlights the talents of many and showcases the very best on a campus.

“I think it highlights the success and the hard work and dedication of our kids and our coaches,” Hinson said. “When you’re able to highlight those successes, then that just breeds more success. The expectation is to be competitive, to be on the winning side of things. And a campus and a community is always more excited when you’re supporting winners versus non-winners. And so if we have a way to measure that and the beauty of the Lone Star Cup is that fine arts is a part of it, athletics as a part of it, academics is a part of it. I wish choir could be a part of it. I haven’t figured out yet why the state doesn’t have choir there, because if choir was in there, we’d be higher.”

While Hinson, who also was a coach and teacher before he went into education administration, enjoys winning as much anyone, he noted the importance of having activities that bring students to school.

“Most kids don’t come to school for English, social studies, math or science,” he said. “They come to school because they want to be in athletics, they come to school because they want to be in choir, theater, band. They want to come because they want to be a part of the art program. They come because of welding or construction. Not every kid but most kids, and so the more things I can create and have opportunities for kids to be a part of, the more likely we are to keep them coming to school and enjoying school. And I’ve said from day one I want kids that are proud to be Mustangs. And so if that means we start a fishing team, then we’re going to start a fishing team. Whatever it takes to get our kids involved and engaged with school, I’m willing and happy to help promote that.”