By Donnie A. Lucas

Workouts for softball and baseball have started in the last week, with track practices starting Monday for high school.

With basketball season still in session, there will be some overlap especially on the boys side. The Lady Lions will play their final game of the season on Friday, but the boys’ varsity has a game next Tuesday and then will move on to the playoffs.

The softball team is scheduled to open the season on Saturday in Snyder for a four-team scrimmage starting at 10:00 a.m. They will also play at 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

By Sandy Morris

Albany High School athlete Wesley Estridge continues to have an exceptional season at area powerlifiting meets, improving his state ranking after posting a personal best last week. 

Estridge traveled to Snyder Jan. 28 to compete in his third powerlifting event of the year, bringing home two gold medals.

The Albany senior won first place in his Super Heavy Weight (SHW) division and was named “Outstanding Lifter.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

Three of the five junior high teams ended the season on Monday with wins over Stamford.

Both girls teams won in Stamford, with the White team wrapping up a 7-2 season and the Red team finishing with a 5-3 record.

The White team earned a 41-14 victory over Stamford.

Albany 11 10 4 14 - 41

Stamford 4 0 1 6 - 14

Scoring for Albany were Kaisley Bartee 1, Caroline Chapman 10, Mimi Ivy 4, Alli McDaniel 4, Avarie Myrick 8, Cheyenne Hebel 2 and Bralee Clark 12.

The Red team picked up a 40-10 win.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Three Albany volleyball players have been selected for positions on the Texas Sports Writers Class 2A All-State team.

The annual recognition was released Jan. 30 for the 2020 volleyball season.

Junior Sarah Beth Cotter was picked for first team middle blocker.

Two seniors were also honored with third team selections, including Alli Hill at middle blocker and Torie Fuentes at the libero position.

By Sandy Morris

Registration continues for Albany Little League teams, including T-ball, Coach Pitch, Little League Majors and Minors, Intermediate, and Junior League, and will end on Monday, Feb. 8.

Students at Nancy Smith Elementary had forms sent home last week, with the deadline to return registration forms by the Feb. 8 deadline.

Junior high students will be able to pick up forms in the school office. Completed paperwork needs to be returned to the school by Feb. 8.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lion basketball team split games last week with district teams, with the regular season coming to an end on Friday.

Albany traveled to Anson on Tuesday, suffering a 69-34 loss to fall to 3-8 in district action.

The final game on the schedule pits the Lady Lions against the visiting Lady Bulldogs from Stamford on Friday. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. The JV game will follow at 7:15 p.m. in the auxiliary gym.

The varsity girls traveled to Hamlin on Jan. 22, bringing home a 49-37 win.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lion basketball team suffered a second district loss to Cisco on Friday, but is still holding on to a third place finish in the district race at this point.

Albany traveled to Anson on Tuesday, defeating the Tigers, who were previously the district leaders, 59-54. Details were not available at press time but will be reported next week.

By Sandy Morris

Three local 4-H teams competed at the Annual Food Challenge on Wednesday, Jan. 27 in San Angelo. 

The local club took two junior teams and one intermediate team with all three teams placing in the competition.

The intermediate team members of Landon Kreitler, Connor Smith, and Rowdy New placed sixth with an appetizer dish, with Chinese wraps being the key ingredient.

By Sandy Morris

The Albany Volunteer Fire Department honored member Jeff Hill with the 2020 Firefighter of the Year merit award at the monthly meeting on Monday, Feb. 1.

According to chief Kyle Tischler, the members of the fire department nominate the individual for this award whom they believe has best met the five following qualifications:

The firefighter must not be on probation.

The firefighter must have shown to be highly active in the department through meetings and fire/emergency calls.

By Sandy Morris

Pick-up dates for the February distribution of the commodity food program will be Thursday, Feb. 4 and Friday, Feb. 5.

Certified eligible families in Moran should pick up their monthly commodity food at the Moran City Hall between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4. 

Albany families who have been certified as eligible for the February food distribution program may pick up their food on Friday, Jan. 8, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the rear door of the JP office.