MAIDEN — Watauga head football coach Ryan Habich has built the Pioneers’ football program on the cornerstones of hard work and discipline. When the Pioneers lack either or both, the results can be disappointing.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Former Appalachian State receiver Malachi Jones was named the Arena Football League’s Offensive Player of the Year Aug. 9.

TAYLORSVILLE — Watauga’s football team was the top choice in a preseason poll by media who cover the Northwestern Conference to win its second straight league championship.

BOONE — As with any prep football coach, Ryan Habich has had several positions to fill for the 2019 Pioneers because of seniors graduating or because of players not returning to the program.

BOONE — The Watauga boys’ soccer team officially began the defense of its Northwestern Conference championship with tryouts on Aug. 1 at Jack Groce Stadium.

NEW ORLEANS — Three members of the Appalachian State volleyball team were named Preseason All-Sun Belt, the conference announced Aug. 6.

BOONE — Watauga’s cross-country teams are generally fixtures at the top of the Northwestern Conference standings for both boys and girls.

BOONE — The 2019-20 athletic season for Watauga’s High School athletic teams officially began Aug. 1.

BOONE — Watauga’s football team has worked its way through a spring and a summer filled with conditioning, weight lifting and learning the Pioneers’ defensive and offensive schemes.

CHAPEL HILL — A carousel of head football coaches will be making their debuts with their new teams this Aug. 31.

BOONE — Watauga’s volleyball team, as a group, knows the record they’ve posted lately.

BOONE — When Watauga graduate Sam Sappington made a visit to Lenoir-Rhyne looking for a chance to run track for the Bears, he did not have any plans for playing football at the university.

NEW ORLEANS — The Sun Belt Conference has announced the men’s basketball schedule for the upcoming 2019-20 season.

BOONE — The skies of Western Watauga County will have plenty of flying objects in them from July 28-Aug. 3.

BOONE — Watauga boys’ track and field standout Luke Drummonds simply was following a family tradition when he signed a letter of intent to run track at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

WILMINGTON — The 11-under Equip baseball team’s season will last at least one more week.

SAN FRANCISCO — Former Watauga standout infielder and pitcher Ryder Jones was released by the San Francisco Giants July 21.

GREENSBORO — Former Watauga safety Jackson Greene used his skills as a quaterback in his final game as a prep football player.

BOONE — The Watauga football team has seen its share of volunteer workouts this summer. Watauga coach Ryan Habich said the Pioneers are about to take a big leap toward building for the 2019 season when those sessions end.

BOONE — Be it baseball or football, when Ethan Greene was a student-athlete at Watauga, he was a gritty competitor who didn’t give an inch to an opponent in the batter’s box or a defender on the football field.

LINVILLE — Those who ran in the Grandfather Mountain Marathon July 13 were greeted with an early start at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Those who got to MacRae Meadows at Grandfather Mountain were greeted with an enthusiastic crowd welcoming them to the finish.

If the West’s All-Star men’s soccer team — which faces the East’s All-Stars at MacPherson Stadium in the Bryan Park Soccer Complex in Greensboro on July 16 — needs offense, Watauga’s Jair Alvarez is a good place to start.

LINVILLE — Johnny Crain did not turn in a record performance when running The Bear road race July 12, which kicked off the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.

BOONE — Watauga safety Jackson Greene is in a final transition in his young football career.

BOONE — Tasha Wilson was already serving as an assistant coach with the Watauga softball team. On July 8, Wilson will get a chance to run a program of her own.

BOONE — Ethan Greene was one of the leaders of the Watauga baseball team as a player, most notably as the team’s top pitcher during his season.

STATESVILLE — The Equip 11-under baseball team won the 11-under Western N.C. Cal Ripken State Championship June 30 with a 4-3 victory over East Rowan in the finals.

BOONE — Former Appalachian State guard Ronshad Shabazz will play for the Philadelphia 76ers’ summer league team June 29.

RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper signed House Bill 389 into law on June 26, which will allow state universities to sell beer and wine at athletic venues on game day.

BOONE — Wilkes beat Watauga 17-6 in the finals of the 8-under Tar Heel League 2019 District Softball Tournament played June 27 at Industrial Park Fields.

BOONE — The Watauga 10-under all-star softball team extended its season with a 14-1 victory over Hickory in the District 2 Tar Heel Softball All-Star Tournament held at Industrial Field.

BOONE — Watauga’s varsity instructional level baseball team cruised to a 10-5 victory over visiting Burke County, a team comprised of players from four Burke County prep programs.

BOONE — From the prep level to its youth teams, it’s no secret that Wilkes County is known for having outstanding softball teams.

BOONE — The Watauga Blue All-Star 12-under baseball team closed out the Will Dicus Memorial Baseball Tournament, at least at the Watauga Parks and Recreation Complex fields, with a 9-4 victory over Crosstrain, a team based in Wilkesboro, on June 23.

BOONE — The Equip 9-under baseball team took a 5-1 victory over the Lenoir Ravens June 23 at Watauga High School in the final round of the Will Dicus Memorial Baseball Tournament.

VALLE CRUCIS — Winning the Blood, Sweat and Gears bike ride is becoming a tradition for Michael Bissette.

LENOIR — Watauga’s Legion Post 130 softball team struggled at the plate against Caldwell County Post 392’s pitching staff in a doubleheader played at Hibriten High School.

BOONE — Jerry Pearson of Blowing Rock traded the lead with Greg Brown of Mountain City, Tenn., several times to win the 25-lap Street Stock Feature at Mountain View Speedway June 15 before pulling off a last-lap pass for the win.