Sports

Buena Vista’s Gabriela Sanchez led the Lady Longhorns to a state title in 2021 as freshman.

This year, the sophomore earned individual hardware at the state meet by cutting her time by 20 seconds from her previous performance on the grandest of stages.

Sanchez placed sixth at in Class 1A on Nov. 5 at the state cross country meet, leading her team to a ninth-place finish. The underclassman crossed the finish line of the girl’s two-mile race in 12 minutes 52 seconds.

Junior Ali Jackson showed improvement throughout the season as Fort Stockton’s top cross country runner in 2022.

The upperclassman concluded her junior campaign by setting another personal-best mark at the state cross country meet on Nov. 4 in Round Rock.

Jackson placed 41st in Class 4A, an improvement of 11 spots from a year ago. Jackson finished the race in 12 minutes 40 seconds.

Veteran Fort Stockton High School coach Lea Daggett began a new chapter in his FSHS coaching career Saturday in Kermit, leading the Fort Stockton Prowlers varsity girls basketball team to a 63-46 win over the host Yellowjackets. 

Daggett has coached softball, golf and a multitude of middle school teams in the span of 16 years in Fort Stockton, but Saturday was his first regular-season game as head coach of the varsity girls basketball team. 

And the Prowlers responded with a solid win over the District 4-3A Yellowjackets. 

For the first time in 15 years, the Panthers finished the regular season with a 9-1 record.

Fort Stockton accomplished the feat with a 44-7 win over Fabens (2-8) on Nov. 4 in their regular season finale near El Paso.

The Panther defense allowed one first down in the first half and the offense found their rhythm after two scoreless drives to start the game. Fort Stockton scored on four consecutive drives to end the first half with a 29-0 lead.

The Buena Vista Longhorns are set for the Class 1A Division 1 six-man playoffs after capturing the District 6 championship on Nov. 4 with a 56-8 victory over Marfa.

The Longhorns take on O’Donnell (4-6) and the game takes place Friday at Borden County School, about 32 miles east of Lamesa or 155 miles from Imperial.

The Panthers junior varsity squad concluded their perfect 10-0 season with a 54-6 victory over Fabens on Thursday in Fort Stockton.

Fort Stockton finished their 2022 campaign by outscoring their opponents 236-46. The Panthers had three shutouts during the season.