ABILENE — Area athletes got off to a successful start at the Region I-3A track meet, combining to collect 13 medals and earn nine automatic berths to the state track meet during the event’s first day Friday at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
With expected overnight storms pushing all field events to Friday, male competitors from the Big Country Preps coverage area tallied seven total medals — four golds, a silver and two bronzes — while area girls athletes claimed six medals, earning two of each shade.
The big winner Friday was the Wall boys, who accounted for five of those medals on their way to an early lead in the team race. The Hawks, who earned 42 points take a 22-point lead on second-place Idalou, will try to close out the team championship when the meet continues at 2 p.m. Saturday with the running finals.
Clyde softball has been overdue for landing a Big Country Preps Player of the Week award and senior pitcher Kaycee Bingham has just ended the drought. 
At the Class 1A level, where it is common for athletes to participate in multiple sports at the same time due to a lack of numbers, individuals who excel in different disciplines are invaluable. 
CHINA SPRING — Gracee Cooley drained a pair of free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining Tuesday to fuel the Jim Ned girls to a thrilling 40-38 win over Winnsboro in the Class 3A Division I state semifinals and help the Lady Indians to their first state championship game since defeating Poth for the Class 2A title in 2008.
Munday’s Caisen Lee isn’t the first freshman to whom we’ve given our Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award. But during the basketball playoffs, it is indeed a rare occurrence. 
LUBBOCK — Not since 2012 had perennial girls basketball power Jim Ned captured a regional championship — a span of 13 years that saw the Lady Indians reach nine regional tournaments with three losses in championship games and six others in the semifinals. Toss in two regional quarterfinal losses and one in the area round and you have a remarkable run of success that was usually capped by an annual regional heartbreak. 
COLEMAN — Four quarters of tough defense and 27 points from Abilene Christian signee Riley Grohman were enough to push the Jim Ned Lady Indians past Comanche, 51-32 in a 3A DI area round clash on Friday at Coleman High School. 
WALL — With a chance to lock up the District 6-3A title on the line, the Jim Ned Indians had to clear a familiar hurdle to get there — their archrival Wall on the Hawks’ home floor. 
TUSCOLA — Jim Ned swept a varsity doubleheader on Friday at Bill Thornton Arena to maintain a hold on first place in both the girls and boys District 6-3A races. 
Back-to-back double-doubles in two dominating efforts were enough to give Gorman junior Delila Crain our Big Country Player of the Week for the week ending Saturday, Jan. 18. 
The fact that Riley Grohman is our Player of the Week should surprise no one, considering she was named to our All-Big Country Preps team last year. But when you toss in her stats — an all-encompassing set of numbers — it makes even more sense. 
Stephenville 47, Canyon Randall 7 — Ryan Gafford threw for 198 yards and three scores and Sawyer Wilkerson rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns to help the Yellow Jackets to a rout of Randall. 
Only a year removed from running a ground-based flexbone option attack, the Wall Hawks have managed to put that approach in the distant past with a remarkable effort through the air in 2024.