Local Sports Headlines – Buffaloes Start Spring Football with New Coach

The Hunter Hughes era begins Friday at 4 p.m. as the West Texas A&M football team begins spring workouts at the practice fields at the Buffalo Sports Park.

Hughes was hired in December as the 28th head coach in WT football history and came to Canyon after a very successful career as the defensive coordinator at Colorado State-Pueblo. WT is scheduled to have 15 practices during spring camp, including the spring game scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 22 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.

- The West Texas A&M softball and baseball teams are back home this weekend for Lone Star Conference matchups. The 12th ranked Lady Buffs host Midwestern State beginning at 5 p.m. today at Shaeffer Park while the 3rd ranked Buffaloes take on rival Eastern New Mexico. The Buffs are 18-4 on the year, while ENMU is 21-5 on the year and winners of six-straight. Tonight's opener is set for 8 p.m. at Wilder Park.

- More district play is set for today in high school baseball. Among the games, is the second 3-5A meeting between 11th ranked Amarillo High and Canyon. The Sandies edged the Eagles 4-3 in 13 innings earlier this week.

Other games include Palo Duro at Dumas, Randall at Caprock, and Tascosa is at Odessa Permian. There is also a full schedule of softball games today.

- The Amarillo Relays track and field meet gets underway today at Dick Bivins Stadium. Action starts today at noon today and will continue through Saturday.

- Caprock boys soccer team has moved into the round two of the 5A playoffs with a 4-1 win yesterday over Lubbock High. Tascosa boys lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to El Paso Montwood in a 6A Bi-District match in Odessa. Neither team scored through regulation and two overtimes before the Rams finally won it on penalty kicks.

More local soccer teams start the playoffs today. Palo Duro and Caprock girls get to play at home. PD hosts Monterey and Caprock takes on Lubbock Cooper. The Palo Duro boys team faces Abilene Cooper at Wolfforth Frenship. Amarillo High teams play a doubleheader against San Angelo Lakeview at Lowrey Field at Plains Capital Park in Lubbock. The AHS girls play at noon with the boys taking the field at 2 p.m.

- Two top seeds advanced in the NCAA Basketball Tournament last night, as did a number eleven seed.

Kansas and Gonzaga won Sweet 16 games in different fashion. The Jayhawks rolled past Purdue 98-66 while the Bulldogs pulled out a 3-point win over West Virginia 61-58. Also winning was third-seed Oregon. The Ducks won a thriller over Michigan 69-68.

11th-seed Xavier continued its Cinderella run with an upset of West 2nd seed Arizona 73-71.

Four more Sweet 16 contests will be played tonight. Top seed North Carolina faces 4th seed Bulter in the South Region, plus 2nd seed Kentucky meets 3rd seed UCLA. In the East Region, 3rd seed Baylor collides with 7th seed South Carolina followed by 4th seed Florida against 8th seed Wisconsin.

- The NCAA Women's Tournament begins Sweet 16 play tonight. Tops seeds Notre Dame and Baylor are both in action.