Numbers for this year’s “Running Man” were down from last year’s 237, and the 2016 all-time high of 303 participants, and organizers are pleased with the decrease. 

“We are trying to limit it almost exclusively to Albany students and alumni,” said Feed Store executive director Tisha Wilkins. “We want this event to be primarily for our local students.”

Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes representative Paul Johnston gave a devotional, and then explained the rules of the game before the 173 runners left to be transported to their dropoff zones. 

Adventure, the chance to bring home a trophy buck or gobbler, meat to fill the freezer, quality time in the outdoors on a beautiful fall day, and/or the thrill of the hunt are available for everyone with a legal hunting license and place to hunt when deer and turkey season opens on Saturday morning.

General seasons for both north Texas deer and turkey run from Nov. 3 to Jan. 6, and the legal shooting hours for all game animals and non-migratory game birds in Texas is the period from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. 

Receiving a bye in the first round of the playoffs, the Lady Lion volleyball team will face off against the Miles Lady Bulldogs in the area round playoff Saturday at Brownwood High School.

Albany lost the area title to Miles last year in a close game, and are hoping to change those results in this year’s matchup. 

The 2A bout is set for 5:00 p.m. at Gym 2, with Albany serving as the home team. Tiicket prices have been set at $4 for adults and $2 for students.

An FCA fundraiser is planned prior to the last home football game against Hamlin on Friday, Nov. 9, with another event to take place during the game itself, according to Paul Johnston, who works with both schools as the area FCA representative.

An FCA tailgate meal will feature pulled pork sandwich, chips, drink, and cookie for a free-will donation.

The fundraiser will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the back door of First Baptist Church and will continue “until we run out of food,” said Johnston.

The Lady Lion basketball team will open the season when Albany hosts Newcastle a week from Saturday, Nov. 10 at 10:00 a.m. 

Both varsity and JV games on listed on the schedule, but whether there are two games depends on the success of the volleyball team in the playoffs.

The team hosted Throckmorton and Munday on Tuesday, Oct. 30 for scrimmages, but the Nov. 6 regular season opener against Hermleigh and Merkel have been cancelled because of volleyball playoffs, according to head girls coach Tate Thompson.

The junior high Cubs picked up a pair of victories last Thursday in Cross Plains.  The teams will play at home Thursday (today), hosting the Haskell Indians. The seventh grade will take the field at 4:00 p.m., with the eighth grade following at about 5:15 p.m.  The eighth grade Cubs took their game to the wire in Cross Plains, holding the Buffaloes out of the end zone as time ended to preserve a 20-14 win.  Tye Edgar ran in a Cross Plains fumble to open the scoring, running the ball 50 yards for the tally. The conversion attempt failed.

The Albany Fall Ball team, made up of third and fourth grade baseball players, finished the season 6-1. 

“We beat two teams from Southern, Jim Ned, and three Dixie teams,” said coach Anthony Ceder. “We got to play at ACU, but we lost in the semifinals to a great Dixie team.”

Players on the team included Aiden Vickers, Lyle Wheeler, Graham Ceder, Colter Edgar, Pecos Duke, Bennett Neece, Ace Vickers, Cole Richards, and Jakobi Word. 

“It’s been a blast,” said Anthony Ceder. “And the kids have played hard and have been successful.”

The Lady Cubs ended the volleyball season last week with a pair of wins over Ranger.

The seventh grade easily defeated Ranger’s seventh grade 25-2, 25-7.

Kiana Roberson led with 31 serves, including three aces, followed by Robin Lucas with six that also included three aces. Sidney Russell had four serves that scored.

“This has been a great season for these girls,” coach Ginger Norton said. “They won the Hawley tournament and were runner-up in Graham.”

The eighth graders won 25-9, 25-14.

Kami Norton Richey, originally from Albany, was honored as a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year at the organization’s annual awards banquet held Oct. 28 in Indianapolis.

The top 30 national honorees and nine finalists were picked by an NCAA committee from a pool of 154 conference honorees.

It was perhaps a tougher game than expected for the Albany Lions when they hosted Cross Plains last Friday, holding on for an 18-10 win to remain undefeated in district play.

But the win locked the Lions into the District 7-2A playoff picture with two more games remaining in the regular season.

Albany will travel to Haskell this week for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff in Indian Stadium.

Haskell is entering the fray with a 1-2 district record, with hopes of hanging on to the possibility of a playoff spot.