By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — How do you spell E-F-F-O-R-T? By whatever spelling, it was clearly on the faces of the Watauga and Liberty Bell middle school track and field athletes on March 10, in an early season meet hosted by Watauga High School.

There were runaway performances as well as “close-as-close-can-get” finishes. Relay races are always exciting and always with the risk of dropping a baton. But this early season competition was more about establishing personal benchmarks to improve upon for the rest of the season. Ultimately, in the Watauga culture, it is about individual growth as much as it is about winning. Not everyone can finish No. 1, but everyone can finish with a personal best.

BONUS PHOTOS below Results tables.

All photographic images by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

GIRLS DIVISION

Visiting Liberty Bell Middle School swept the first six spots in the Girls 800 Meters and did well in the middle distance relays but otherwise it was the Watauga District middle school team’s day.

In one of the most thrilling finishes of the afternoon, Watauga’s Kate James Moore nipped unattached Maia Carter, both seventh graders, at the finish line by the narrowest of margins. Moore crossed the line in 5:46.51 while Carter stopped the clock at 5:46.64, producing a near photo-finish.

Perhaps one of the more remarkable stories of the day was fourth grader Lila Carter placing No. 4 in the field of 12 mostly seventh and eight graders.  Although well off the winning pace, the younger Carter shows a lot of potential with her 6:34.74 finish ahead of so many older runners.

Watauga was especially strong in the sprints, including fielding seven 4×100 relay teams (28 sprinters) to sweep the event.

Ember Honeycutt, a Watauga eighth grader, finished No. 1 in the grueling 400 Meter sprint, almost a full two seconds ahead of Liberty Bell sixth grader Tatum Schnelle.

There must be something “springy” in the sixth grade water at both schools, because the top three spots in the Girls Long Jump were swept by sixth graders, including No.1 Sadie Gilbert of Liberty Bell (11-05), No. 2 Hannah Reule of Watauga (11-03), and No. 3 Schnelle (10-01.25).

A pair of Watauga athletes captured the top two spots in the Girls High Jump: No. 1 Charlotte Rosenbalm and No. 2 Honeycutt, both clearing 4-10.

In outscoring Liberty Bell, 90-28, Watauga excelled in the sprints, hurdles, relays, throws and jumps, while the visitors showed out in the distance races, as a team.

BOYS DIVISION

Watauga eighth grade Sean Rea finished more than 30 seconds ahead of his nearest rival in the Boys 1600 Meters race, punctuating a 70-49 team win over visiting Liberty Bell Middles School on March 10, hosted by Watauga High School.

The afternoon started on a good note for the local boys with three 4×800 Watauga relay teams taking the top three spots. The day got even better in the Boys 110 Meter Hurdles, with eighth grader David Ballenger-Peter leading a pack of six Watauga runners sweeping the top six positions.

Liberty Bell’s Anaury Edwards finally got the visitors a first No. 1 finish in the 100 Meter Dash, but Watauga still all but dominated the event in taking the next 12 positions in the field of 30 student athletes.

Watauga also dominated the 4×100 relay, sweeping the top six spots and seeing the first three relay teams cross the finish line in under one minute. Sawyer Blackburn immediately followed in capturing the grueling, 400 Meter Dash, almost eight seconds ahead of the next competitor in the field of 14 athletes.

A quintet of sixth graders made a splash in the Boys 800 Meter Run, led by Liberty Bell’s Isaac Abram in the No. 1 position with a time of 2:42.23. Eighth grade teammate Bruce Hunter was No. 2 (2:46.20), followed by a pair of Watauga sixth graders, Montgomery Morgan (No. 3, 2:53.46) and Landon Everett (No. 4, 3:02.89).

Liberty Bell’s Anaury Edwards was the only visitor entered in the Boys Long Jump, but certainly showed well as the No. 1, leaping 17-10.50. Watauga eighth graders Stephen Thang (No. 2, 15-01.50) and Nakhi Miller (No. 3, 14-10.50) led a dozen Watauga entries in the event.

BOYS DIVISION RESULTS

GIRLS DIVISION RESULTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS PHOTOS

All photographic images by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

By David Rogers. WATAUGA COUNTY — In school-based, middle school basketball on Nov. 18, Cove Creek proved much more than the Blowing Rock boys and girls teams could handle, the Raiders’ girls winning 50-10 and the boys, 68-28.

Size matters in basketball and Cove Creek’s combination of height and athleticism won the day. In other middle school action, Green Valley’s girls surprised Hardin Park, 18-14, while the GV boys prevailed in a 41-40 thriller.

Parkway’s girls ran away from Valle Crucis, 23-6, but the Valle Crucis boys won the night vs. Mabel, 45-17.

The Watauga District teams both had big nights vs. Providence Academy, the girls led by Mia Mitchell (14 points) and Sophie Stull (10 points) to a 41-30 victory.

The Watauga District boys had a closer game but still won 53-46, seeing three players in double figures, including Isaiah Shreve (18 points), Jaden McInnis (13 points) and Joaquin Miranda (10 points).

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — After Isaiah Shreve knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half — three in the opening minutes of the first quarter — and East Carolina could not respond, the Watauga District middles school boys team seemed bound to run away with this Oct. 29 season opener.

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article (click any image for slide show mode)

Shreve poured in a game-high 14 points in the Wolverines’ dominating, 41-9 win, with teammate Jaden McInnis’ 12 points close behind. Where Shreve mostly worked the perimeter, McInnis put up most of his numbers inside the paint.

McInnis combined with fellow forward Nathan Koontz to dominate inside play with a distinct size advantage vs. the Falcons. For the most part, the duo controlled the boards.

SELECTED SCORING

• WAT – Isaiah Shreve: 14 points
• WAT – Jaden McInnis: 12
• WAT – Parker Williams: 5
• WAT – Joaquin Miranda: 4
• WAT – Nathan Koontz: 3
• WAT – Colt Farthing: 3
• EA – Bentley Pollard: 3
• EA – D J Spears: 3
• WAT – Avery Tester: 2
• WAT – Scott Ballenger: 2
• WAT – Wilson Henline: 2
• EA – Nijual Waters: 2
• EA – Kendall Jenkins: 2
• EA – DeShawn Aberado: 1

BONUS PHOTOS

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — With a game-high 20 points, East Alexander Middle School Girls outpointed the Watauga District Girls, 43-16 on Oct. 29 in Lentz Eggers Gym.

It was the Watauga team’s first game of the season after only three practices, so the result was not unexpected against a team with a distinct size advantage.

Led by seventh grader Kate Moore, the Watauga girls were scrappy enough but have not yet developed the “chemistry” to know one another on the court nor the team passing skills necessary to overcome a size advantage. Moore recorded a team-high seven points.

SELECTED SCORING

• EA – Heavenly Craig: 20 points
• EA – Kennedy McLain: 6
• EA – Chloe Moose: 4
• EA – Lennox Price: 3
• WAT – Mia Mitchell: 2
• WAT – Ciena Cohen: 2
• WAT – Josie Roaden: 2
• EA – Leighton Bingham: 2
• EA – Ava Hamby: 2
• EA – Jayla Johnson: 2
• EA – Reese Dagonhart: 2
• EA – Riley Hall: 2
• WAT – Tatym Gragg: 1

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. KERNERSVILLE, N.C. — A No. 4 team finish by the Watauga District girls cross country team in what is regarded as the middle school state meet on Oct. 19, brought a lot of happy smiles to the faces of storm-beleaguered harriers who had to spend a lot of the last three weeks training alone or in makeshift sessions.

In the Girls Championship race, the Watauga girls were led by seventh grader Kate James Moore’s No. 13 overall finish out of the 121 athletes qualified to run in the Girls Championship event. Eighth grade student-athlete Sophia Stull crossed the line in the No. 25 position, with Eva Hannon No. 70, Hannah Reule No. 72, and Merritt Powell No. 91 to round out the top five Watauga scorers.

Moore crossed the finish line of the 2-mile course with a time of 12:28.9, good enough for No. 6 among school based runners (not including club teams), and just eight seconds out of second place in the tight finish. Stull was scored No. 11 in the school-based division, Hannon No. 33, Reule No. 34, and Powell No. 51 to account for Watauga’s 135 team points.

Cuthbertson Middle School was the No. 1 team, followed by Marvin Ridge MS (No. 2) and Weddington (No. 3). Watauga was one of 11 schools with at least five runners in the field for team competition.

In the Boys Division, the lone Watauga middle school harrier in the Boys Championship was Blowing Rock’s Sean Rea, who finished No. 58 overall and No. 34 among the school-based teams’ runners. The Boys Championship race featured 145 qualifying runners.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — In falling behind 7-0 in the first set of the Watauga Middle School Volleyball Tournament championship final, you had to wonder if No. 2 seeded Hardin Park had brought their “A” game in facing No. 1 seeded Parkway on Oct. 19. The Golden Eagles gradually battled back, losing the set, but then prevailed to take the second and third sets for a 2-1 win (12-25, 25-18, 15-9) over the Patriots.

FULL TOURNAMENT SCORES AND BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article (click any image for Slide Show Mode)

“It has been our ‘M.O.’ all season,” said Hardin Park head coach Andy Eggers afterwards. “We seem to be a slow starting team but a good finishing team. I told the girls after the first set that they couldn’t do anything about changing that result, so they simply had to focus on the next one. They did just that.”

Outside hitter and middle blocker Adeline Tate enjoyed a couple of constructive visits to the service line for Hardin Park and was pleased about her team’s performance.

“I think we did really good, but so did Parkway, too. It was a tough game. I am really glad we got to play this tournament. With the hurricane and school being out, I thought our season was going to be over,” said Tate.

As evenly matched as the teams were this season, it was fitting that Parkway won the regular season championship and Hardin Park was able to claim the tournament championship. Parkway head coach Susan Hemric echoed everyone’s thoughts in how special it was to be able to play the tournament.

“We were so excited about playing this tournament,” said Hemric. “Win or lose, it was a great way to get the girls back together, to be a community. That was a true championship game. Both teams played to their potential. Today, Hardin Park made fewer errors.”

Eggers, who doubles as the middle school athletics coordinator for Watauga County Schools, said it was important to get the tournament in after the hurricane.

“We wanted to give all the teams and opportunity to close out their seasons as normal as possible. A lot of these girls have gone through a lot of stuff because of the storm damage but they pulled together and decided they wanted to have this tournament. It is a good thing for the student athletes as well as for the community, to take some steps back to normalcy.”

Eggers indicated that classes are due to come back in the school district on Thursday, Oct. 24, ending the holdup because of school buses inability to operate.

“I think they are going to have community stops rather than the more door-to-door schedules run previously. There will probably be a lot more students dropped off in the car lines at the individual schools,” said Eggers.

FULL TOURNAMENT SCORES

Round 1

• No. 1 Parkway – bye
• No. 4 Cove Creek def. No. 5 Blowing Rock, 2-0 (25-21, 25-22)
• No. 3 Green Valley def. No. 6 Mabel, 2-0 (25-10, 25-20)
• No. 2 Hardin Park def. No. 7 Valle Crucis, 2-0 (25-5, 25-6)

SEMIFINALS

• No. 1 Parkway def. No. 4 Cove Creek, 2-0 (25-5, 25-21)
• No. 2 Hardin Park def. No. 3 green Valley, 2-0 (25-10, 25-10)

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

• No. 2 Hardin Park def. No. 1 Parkway, 2-1 (12-25, 25-18, 15-9)

BONUS PHOTOS

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Tryout dates were announced on Oct. 16 for the Watauga District middle school boys and girls basketball teams, as well as a new District middle school dance team.

“The District basketball teams will begin tryouts on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24,” explained middle school athletics coordinator Andy Eggers. “Tryouts will be held both days at Hardin Park School. The girls team tryouts will be from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and the boys team tryouts will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Everyone trying out should make sure they are registered in Family ID for the District team and have a current physical posted online.”

Eggers also announced the formation of a new District dance team.

“We are pleased to also announce a new sport to our middle school program,” said Eggers. “This year, we are having a middle school dance team. The District middle school dance team tryouts will be Oct. 23 and Oct. 24 at Hardin Park School, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. All candidates trying out should make sure they are registered in Family ID for the dance team and have a current physical posted online.”

Any questions should be directed to Coach Eggers by email, at eggersa@wataugaschools.org.

Eggers added that the school-based basketball team team tryouts will be announced and organized by each school, individually. For more information about the school-based teams, Eggers said, “Please reach out to your coach, PE teacher or principal at your school.”

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Exacting a measure of revenge after a Sept. 10 loss to Parkway, Hardin Park survived an overtime loss in the first set to rebound and take the next two sets on Sept. 24, defeating the Patriots, 2-1 (24-26, 25-10, 16-14).

SEE BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM (click on any image for Slide Show Mode)

Although Hardin Park seemed to take control in the second set, the third set was another nailbiter in going to overtime, with the Golden Eagles coming out on top, 16-14.

“It was a good night,” Hardin Park head coach Andy Eggers told High Country Sports after the match.

In other tri-team matches at Hardin Park on the day, Parkway rebounded to defeat Cove Creek, 2-0 (25-21, 25-22), then Hardin Park swept by the Raiders, too, 2-0 (25-16, 25-8)

Around the county:

• Blowing Rock def. Valle Crucis, 2-0 (25-23, 25-18)
• Green Valley def. Bethel, 2-0 (25-17, 25-7)
• Mabel def. Bethel, 2-0 (25-12, 25-22)
• Green Valley def. Mabel, 2-0 (25-21, 25-8)

BONUS PHOTOS FROM HARDIN PARK VS. PARKWAY

All photographic images by David Rogers for High Country Sports

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Both Valle Crucis and Blowing Rock had their moments, but by the end neither could defend against a more athletic and better skilled Hardin Park volleyball team on Sept. 12. The tri-meet hosted by the Eagles saw them sweep past the Rockets, 2-0, then finish the night with a 2-0 sweep over Valle Crucis. Blowing Rock had a tougher time against Valle Crucis in the first set, but then mustered a decisive win in set No. 2 to complete the sweep, 2-0.

BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM (click on any image to launch Slide Show Mode for full size)

Around the county, Parkway dismantled Bethel, 2-0, then dispatched Cove Creek, 2-0, before the Raiders took out Bethel, 2-0. In the evening’s only dual meet action, Green Valley doubled up on Mabel, 2-0.

SCORES

@ Hardin Park

• • Hardin Park 2, Blowing Rock 0 (25-11, 25-13)
  • Blowing Rock 2, Valle Crucis 0 (25-22, 25-7)
  • Hardin Park 2, Valle Crucis 0 (25-12, 25-14)

@ Bethel

• • Parkway 2, Bethel 0 (25-6, 25-14)
  • Parkway 2, Cove Creek 0 (25-13, 25-20)
  • Cove Creek 2, Bethel 0 (25-12, 25-8)

@ Mabel

• • Green Valley 2, Mabel 0 (25-13, 25-22)

BONUS PHOTOS