By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions cross country runners are progressing with their preseason workouts as they prepare for their first meet of the season.

“We’re slowly working our way up to the race distances we’re going to be running,” coach Tate Thompson said. “We’ve been doing more segment training, hills and things like that, instead of just running miles and miles. We’re trying to build up their endurance right now, trying to get ready to compete at this first meet.”

Albany runners will open their season Sept. 1 at Haskell.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions volleyball team capped a productive opening week of the season Saturday by claiming the Gold Bracket championship of their own Albany Summer Slam Tournament.

All three Albany teams beat Olney Tuesday, with the varsity winning their matches 25-14, 25-7, 25-17. Details will be reported next week.

The girls will host Eastland on Friday, with the varsity starting the action at 4:30 p.m.

The first district game is against Ranger at the local gym. on Tuesday, Aug. 24. The JV2 will start at 4:30 p.m.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions got their first taste of outside competition Friday with a controlled scrimmage against the Coleman Bluecats at Coleman’s Hufford Field.

The Lions get their final preseason test Thursday (tonight) against the Hawley Bearcats at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium, with action starting at 6:00 p.m.

Coleman scored the only touchdown of Friday’s scrimmage early in the proceedings before defenses took over the rest of the way.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Lady Bulldogs opened their volleyball season Tuesday with a 3-1 victory on the road against Loraine.

Moran pulled away to win 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 25-16.

“We played pretty well for the first game of the season,” Lady Bulldogs coach Joe Hise said. “We got up and stayed mentally strong through the third and fourth sets.”

Hise lauded the team’s mental approach in closing out the match after splitting the first two sets.

“They stayed up and were loud,” she said. “They stayed mentally high and were very scrappy.” 

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions football team has moved on to the next phase of its preseason with the commencement of full-contact workouts, and the players will cap their second week with their first intersquad scrimmage.

The Lions will visit Coleman on Friday for a controlled scrimmage in their first taste of outside competition.

Head coach Denney Faith said donning full pads for the first time is something of a new beginning to the preseason.

By Sam Waller

The field for the Albany Golf Club’s Labor Day tournament is almost full with just one spot remaining.

“I’m full up in the afternoon and have one spot available in the morning,” Golf Club board member James Waters said.

The two-person scramble is scheduled for Sept. 4-5. Entry fee is $160 per team. Morning entries will tee off at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with the afternoon group starting at 1:30 p.m. The field will then be flighted for Sunday’s round.

Waters said a waiting list will be started if the last spot is filled.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions began their volleyball season Tuesday evening at Breckenridge after a weekend of scrimmages. Now, the Lady Lions face another busy weekend as they host their Summer Slam tournament.

The local girls won their opener against Breckenridge Tuesday night 25-23, 25-22, 25-15. Details will be reported next week.

Albany played four scrimmages last week, taking on Benjamin and Lingleville on Friday and Mineral Wells and Paradise on Saturday.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs began preseason practices in football, volleyball, and cross country on Monday in preparation for the upcoming school year.

Lady Bulldog volleyball season begins Tuesday, Aug. 10 with a match at Loraine. The Bulldog football team kicks off its season Aug. 27 at Benjamin.

Football

Coach John Hughes started the week with the bare minimum six players, but has already seen that number increase and expects more players to join the team.

By Sam Waller

Albany cross country coach Tate Thompson welcomed five runners this week for the start of training for the upcoming season, and he hopes to add to that number before district competition.

Thompson said he will have four girl runners and two boys to start the season.

“The last couple of years, we haven’t had boy runners,” Thompson said. “There are not a whole lot of boy runners in the district, so that’s going to give us a good chance of advancing those two guys.”

By Sam Waller

Fans of the Albany Lions and Lady Lions athletic programs will have the chance to meet this year’s athletes at the All-Sports Athletic Booster Club Hamburger Supper, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Monday, Aug. 9 at Bank Park.

In addition to the introduction of football and volleyball teams and cheerleaders, attendees may purchase a hamburger meal for $8.

High school athletes and coaches eat free of charge.

Along with the hamburgers and chips, cheerleaders will make homemade ice cream, which will be available to everyone.