Sports

New athletic director, football coach named

Body
At a specially called meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 28, the Alpine ISD Board of Trustees, in closed session, approved the hiring of Coach Andy Smith to serve as the next Athletic Director and Head Football Coach of the Alpine Fightin’ Bucks.
Alpine ISD Board of Trustees approved the hiring of a new athletic director and head football coach last night at a specially called board meeting. Alpine welcomes Coach Andy Smith, wife Adrian and daughter Gemma Lou to the Alpine Fightin’ Buck family. Pictured in front are Dr. Adrian Billings, Mary McCallister, Haley Babb, Niki Ahrens, Eddie Natera, Adrian Smith and daughter Gemma Lou. In the back are Joe Portillo, Dr. Michelle Rinehart, Jimmy Morris, and Coach Andy Smith. Avalanche photo by JT Maroney

Lady Bucks go 2-2 at Coahoma Tournament

Body
With just one scrimmage under their belts, the Alpine Lady Bucks hit the road to Coahoma last Thursday and Saturday, playing four games in two days and coming away with a split – winning two and taking a loss in two games.
Coach Chris Virdell and the Alpine Lady Bucks are set for their first regular-season home game on Friday at 5 p.m. against Wink. Photo by Shawn Yorks

Alpine Bucks track and field teams to compete Saturday

Body
The Alpine High School Fightin’ Buck track and field team will officially begin their season this coming Saturday in Fort Stockton at the Comanche Relays. Back in January, the track team competed in their first ever indoor track event in Lubbock at Texas Tech, but their official season does not begin until this weekend.

Bucks warm up for bi-district with win at Sanderson

Body
With second place in District 4-3A secured and the bi-district battle with Dimmitt set, the Alpine boys basketball team hit the road to Sanderson last Friday for a warmup game before this past Tuesday’s bi-district match in Denver City. The Bucks did a few things differently and played what coach Aaron Hardwick said was one of his team’s best defensive games in a 76-44 win over the Class 1A Eagles.
Logan Smith was named district 4-3A First Team All-District. Photo by Shawn Yorks

Bucks gearing up for Bi-district playoffs

Body
Heading into Tuesday’s regular-season finale at Odessa Compass Academy, the Alpine Bucks had won seven of their last eight games and secured second place in District 4-3A behind Tornillo who, at 29-1 overall, rolled to the district championship and is poised to make a deep playoff run. But the Bucks are a very different team than they were at the beginning of district play – the team is at full strength with key players recovering from early injuries – giving the Bucks just the boost they need at just the right time.
Evren Martinez, 0, reaches for the ball in this Dec. 17 file photo against El Paso Mountain View at the Fort Stockton tournament. Martinez suffered an injury over the Christmas break and missed about a month, but is now back in action at full speed, just in time for Alpine’s playoff run. Photo by Shawn Yorks

Lady Bucks open softball season Thursday in Coahoma

Body
The 2023 edition of the Alpine Lady Bucks have a lot of questions to answer. Since the Lady Bucks finished the 2022 season with a 14-2 loss to Littlefield last April 28, Alpine has a welcomed a new coach to school – Chris Virdell – and Virdell has not only led a month’s worth of practices while coaching the Lady Bucks basketball team to the playoffs this week but has only seen his softball team play in a full game situation against an opponent other than themselves.
Kody Hawkins stands ready to beat the runner in Friday’s pre-season scrimmage against Pecos at the Sul Ross softball field. The Lady Bucks head to Coahoma for a tournament on Thursday to open season play. Photo by Shawn Yorks
Subscribe to Sports