Junior Arin Rice placed first in the 1600 meter race and second in the 800 meter race by one-one hundredth of a second and will represent Canyon in Austin next Friday and Saturday in the state meet.

“It’s always an honor to move on to state,” Rice said. “But I do wish that I had a teammate going on with me.”

Rice said that she had been sick earlier in the week and was skeptical about how she would perform at the regional meet.

“I was happy that I actually qualified, because it was actually a really bad day for me racing,” Rice said.

Rice competed at the state meet last year and placed first in the 800 meter race and third in the 1600 meter race.

“I expect to run pretty fast times at state,” Rice said. “I am hoping to break the state meet record in the 1600.”

Juniors Grant Glaze and Jace Vessels rocked the mound Friday night with Glaze pitching the first four innings, and Vessels closing out the final inning.         

“It was good to go out with a win,” Glaze said.  “We just wanted to start playoffs off with a good start.”

 Senior Austin King said that they are not going to take their first round match up with Wichita Falls Rider lightly, but that they are going to continue to play their own game.

“They’re going to be a good team,” Glaze said. “We are confident and will have to play hard. We will just try to win the game of baseball.”

“We played great against Caprock,” sophomore third baseman Jaci Castagnetta said. “We played with a passion, a purpose, and a fire to win.”

The Lady Eagles will travel to Randall today to battle against the Lady Raiders for the second time at 4:30 p.m.

“Playing Randall the first time showed us what needed to improve on and I think we have,” junior first baseman Kati Krause said. “We know what to expect for this game.”

 “Amarillo Relays will be tough competition,” Coach Aaron Fuller said. “It’s probably the second toughest tournament in the panhandle behind the Sandie Cup.”

Their district tournament is April 4 and 5 at the Austin Tennis Center in Amarillo.

“I’m confident our district tournament will go great,” Fuller said. “I think we’ll surprise some people and win some divisions we’re not expected to.”

“We’re not looking too much into our ranking, we are just considering it another number and will worry about it when the time comes,” senior Colton Baker said. “We feel confident about our team this year, we’ve been working hard, and we’re looking forward to showcasing our talents this year.”

The boys will face Hereford tonight at 5 p.m. at Connor Park.

“Today is just another game and we are just looking to go out and kick some Whiteface tail,” senior Austin King said.

The NFL investigated and punished the New Orleans Saints for a bounty program four men ran. Head coach Sean Payton, offensive coordinator Gregg Williams, assistant head coach Joe Vitt and general manager Mickey Loomis ran a system that rewarded players for big hits and injuries to opponents. Payton will serve a one-year suspension, Williams is banned indefinitely, Vitt will serve a six-game suspension and Loomis will serve eight games without pay. On top of their discipline, the Saints organization will pay a $500,000 fine and lose second-round picks in this year’s NFL Draft as well as next year’s. Commissioner Roger Goddell will review Williams’ status at the end of next season.

The end of Year of the Quarterback now sees Offseason of the Quarterback as the Indianapolis Colts’ release of Peyton Manning let him negotiate a contract with the Denver Broncos. They signed Manning for a five-year, $96 million deal. In turn, the Broncos traded 2011 starter Tim Tebow to the New York Jets for future draft picks. The QB situation among the Jets now becomes crowded as Tebow files in line with No. 2 Drew Stanton and No. 3 Greg McElroy behind starter Mark Sanchez. Sanchez signed a three-year extension this offseason, so it is unlikely the Jets’ front office will eat his contract to start Tebow.

The upcoming NFL Draft saw an interesting pick trade as the Washington Redskins traded three of their early selections to take the St. Louis Rams’ No. 2 pick. They appear to set themselves up to take Stanford prospect Andrew Luck or Baylor graduate and Heisman winner Robert Griffin III, whomever the Colts pass up for their No. 1 choice. That in itself is a question the Colts will answer April 26 as both continue to showcase their talents for Draft scouts.

More updates will come as more offseason events take place.

The varsity boys’ basketball season ended with a rematch against the Palo Duro Dons to determine which team would advance to playoffs. The Eagles lost 48-53, ending in fifth place with an 8-6 record in district play and a 20-12 overall record.

Canyon began their season strong with a win over Randall, and a win over the Caprock Longhorns, 54-39.

They then faced back to back losses by the Plainview Bulldogs and Frenship Tigers, making their district record 2-2.

The Eagles, however, bounced back with three straight wins against Dumas, Palo Duro, and Hereford.

The boys then faced Randall for the second time and came back to Canyon with a disappointing loss of 79-65.

The 5-3 Eagles moved on to beat Caprock for the second time, 61-42, but also fell again to Plainview and Frenship.

Canyon then snuck out a win against Dumas with a final score of 52-51 but  suffered a defeat to the Palo Duro Dons.

Canyon played their last district game in Hereford and came away with a 59-35 win. Their play-off chances were determined by a Randall and Palo Duro match up. After a Raider last-second win, the Eagles were scheduled to face the Dons for a third and final time in a play-in game. The fourth place Dons went on to lose their first round play-off game to Little Elm, 56-70.

“We were all really disappointed that the season had to end before play-offs,” sophomore post Dylan Douglass said. “We weren’t ready to accept that our season and time with the seniors was over.”

Many may recall Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona, when the famous “Helmet Catch” led to the Giants’ 17-14 victory, the only loss on 2007 New England’s record. In more recent history, the Giants also won 24-20 over the Patriots back in Week 9. Now with a chance to get back at New York, the Patriots seek revenge in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

A lot about this playoff  looks similar to the one four years ago. Once again, the New England Patriots (13-3 in the regular season) took the AFC’s No. 1 seed (though Green Bay had the best record this time around) and made their way through two playoff games to punch their ticket.

Once again, the New York Giants (9-7) just slid into the playoffs, and then proceeded to knock off everyone in their path. In the NFC title game, Lawrence Tynes again kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime on the road to win another date with the Patriots.

The only injury to report is Rob Gronkowski, tight end for New England. He suffered a high ankle sprain earlier in the week and was limited in practice Thursday. He remains questionable for Sunday’s game.

Both sides have high offensive strengths they need to establish early on. Rob Gronkowski is still questionable for the game (high ankle sprain), but each day his chance of starting looks better. The Pats’ offense was second in the league for passing offense, their primary attack, but second-to-last in pass defense. The Giants were fifth overall in pass offense, but 29th in pass defense. Both teams are not strong rushers as they finished in the bottom half in rushing offense (the Giants were last), so any rushing game that gets off the ground could make the difference.

This showdown looks to produce another close contest. New England loves to stay ahead. New York loves to come from behind. In each game they’ve played to make it and in their overall records. Stick around the whole game since you might miss something otherwise.

My prediction: Patriots 38, Giants 34.

They faced Caprock last Friday and came away with a 44-32 win over the Lady Longhorns.

Continuing their winning streak, the girls went up against Plainview this Tuesday night. Canyon added yet another win with a score of 44-30.

The Lady Eagles will travel to Frenship tomorrow. Freshmen begin at 4:30 p.m., JV at 7:30 p.m., and varsity at 6 p.m.

The Eagles faced Burkburnett Saturday morning and defeated them 13-6. They battled the Vernon Lions that afternoon and snuck out a win, 10-9.

“Those were two big wins for us,” Coach Aaron Fuller said.

Canyon will travel to Texas Tech this Saturday to play Abilene Wylie.