By David Rogers. LENOIR, N.C. — Taking 12 of the top 15 places is a good way to win a conference cross country championship. Watauga did just that and then some on Oct. 16 at the Lenoir Aquatic & Fitness Center course.

Pioneer senior Will Bradbury continued his dominance in the Northwestern Conference, picking up the win over 5,000 meters in 16:11.75. Teammate Grady Gates, a sophomore, finished second in 16:55.59 and junior Calvin Zwetsloot made it a 1-2-3 Watauga sweep by finishing No. 3, in 17:12.74.

South Caldwell’s Bryce Corpening was the only thing standing between Watauga and a perfect score (a sweep of the top 5 places) when he crossed the line at No. 4, only a a fraction of a second behind Zwetsloot, in 17:13.09.

James Bostrom (No. 5, 17:21.96) and Elliott Taft No. 6 (17:27.10) completed the Watauga team’s scoring as the top five finishers from the school but Zeke Walker (No. 7), Samuel Rex (No. 8) and Levi Anderson (No. 10) all placed in the top 10.

An Alexander Central senior, Griffin Duncan, crossed the line at No. 9.

Among the 68 athletes competing in the men’s race, Watauga easily had the largest contingent. Other Pioneers among the early finishers included Jonah Norris (No. 12), Andres Roman (No. 13), Isaac James (No. 14) and Holden Womack (No. 15).

TEAM SCORES

TOP 40 – NORTHWESTERN CONFERENCE MEET

By David Rogers. LENOIR, N.C. — With a 1-2-3 sweep and eight of the top 10 finishing spots, Watauga’s women’s cross country team dominated the 3A/4A Northwestern Conference championships on Oct. 16 on the Lenoir Aquatic & Fitness Center course.

The 5,000-meter course saw Pioneers from all four classes in the top five, including senior Annabelle Stewart (No. 1, 18.26.14), freshman Cali Townsend (No. 2, 18:29.61), junior Janie Beach-Verhay (No. 3, 19:11.13) and sophomore Lainey Johnston (No. 5, 21:12.00).

The Pioneers had 11 runners in the top 15 and 16 in the top 25.

TEAM SCORES

TOP 40 – NORTHWESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — With only one blemish on its 2024 season record, Watauga’s junior varsity volleyball team extended its winning season on Oct. 15, defeating Alexander Central, 2-0 (25-19, 25-14), in Lentz Eggers Gym.

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article. Click any image for Slide Show Mode

Sophomore setter Ava Zaragoza spread around the kill opportunities in tallying 15 assists on the night. Middle blocker Rae Coffey was credited with a team-high six kills, while sophomore outside hitters Julia Rowan and Hannah Adams recorded four kills each. To round out the kill party, freshman outside hitter Kira Beasley and middle blocker Addie Stough contributed three apiece.

Much of Watauga’s offense came at the service line, with no less than five Pioneers credited with aces. Sophomore libero Graycie Collins posted a team-high five aces, while Zaragoza added a pair and one each from Rowan, and freshman defensive specialists Kelbey Windish and Madison Plemons.

Now 10-1 on the season, the Pioneers’ JV squad will get a chance to exact revenge for their only loss of the season on Thursday, Oct. 17, vs. Ashe County. The undefeated Huskies’ JVs clipped Watauga on Sept. 25, 2-1.

SELECTED STATS VS. ALEXANDER CENTRAL JV

• Graycie Collins – 5 service aces, 5 digs
• Rae Coffey – 6 kills, 1 block
• Ava Zaragoza – 15 assists, 2 service aces, 2 digs
• Julia Rowan – 4 kills, 1 service ace
• Kira Beasley – 3 kills, 3 digs
• Gracie Brown – 3 assists, 1 dig
• Addie Stough – 3 kills
• Hannah Adams – 4 kills
• Jillian Martin – 3 digs
• Madison Plemons – 1 service ace, 1 dig
• Kelbey Windish – 1 service ace
• Giana Clark – 1 kill
• Alaina Portero – 3 digs

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Visiting Alexander Central may well have upset the North Carolina 4A playoffs apple cart with a win over heavily favored Watauga on Oct. 15 at Lentz Eggers Gym, 3-1 (17-25, 28-26, 25-21, 25-19).

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article. Click any image for Slide Show Mode

The host Pioneers defeated the Cougars in Taylorsville, 3-0, on Sept. 16, but the roles and outcome were reversed in the latest encounter. Watauga took the first set and at times looked to have control in the second before the wheels seemingly came off and allowed Alexander Central to fight back for an all but unlikely overtime set win at 28-26.

Hitting errors and serve receive errors plagued the Pioneers throughout the night but especially in the third and fourth sets. Down by more than 10 points in the final set, Watauga finally started to gel and battled back fiercely to make the loss more respectable, but could not overcome the large early deficit.

With the win over Watauga, Alexander Central has reeled off five straight Northwestern Conference victories since a Sept. 18 loss at South Caldwell. In the interim, they have defeated Hibriten (Sept. 23, 3-1), Freedom (Sept. 25, 3-0), South Caldwell (Oct. 9, 3-1), Hibriten (Oct. 10, 3-1) and now Watauga.

The Cougars are led by junior outside hitter Hallie Harrington, freshman outside hitter Reagan Pierce, senior middle blocker, Emily Haas, and junior setter Makayla Williams.

“First, I have to give credit to Alexander Central because they played an incredible game,” Watauga head coach Kim Pryor said afterwards, in opening her post-match remarks. “They have some great athletes who stepped in and played very, very well.”

The veteran Pioneer head coach acknowledged her team’s inconsistencies.

“We played up and down,” Pryor admitted. “We got huge leads and let them go, giving Alexander Central the opportunity to finish that. It is kind of a picture of what we have been through for the past couple of weeks, up and down, having to stop and then restart in the middle of our season. Those can’t be excuses for us. We have to use the adversity, including this loss, to spur us on and into the playoffs.”

Speaking to the fourth set rally that came up just a little bit short, Pryor had nothing but praise for her charges.

“This is a resilient (group of players),” Pryor said. “Again, I can’t tell you how proud I am of what they have endured, the mentality of having to start up practice again, not having everybody here in the gym, yet. It has been hard, but it can’t be an excuse. We have to be tougher and we will be as we move forward. Life can hit you hard. We just have to make the most of it in the time we have together on the court.”

Classes are still not in session after Hurricane Helene ravaged through the western North Carolina mountains. Watauga High School principal Scott Strickland advised High Country Sports that the school district is still awaiting clearance from the North Carolina Department of Transportation to operate school buses on the roads around the county, because of the damage to so many streets, roads and highways.

Watauga has one more regular season volleyball match before a probable invitation to compete in the North Carolina 4A playoffs. That will be Thursday, Oct. 17, vs. conference rival Ashe County. The Pioneers were swept by the Huskies on Sept. 25, in West Jefferson. Now 8-8 overall, 5-2 in Northwestern Conference play, the young and rebuilding Watauga side will be looking for a measure of revenge against Ashe County (17-1, 7-0).

Currently, all three Northwestern Conference 4A teams are ranked among the top 32 in North Carolina’s 4A West, according to MaxPreps, with potential to earn a playoff spot: Watauga (No. 18), Alexander Central (No. 24) and South Caldwell (No. 32).

SELECTED WATAUGA STATS VS. ALEXANDER CENTRAL

• Emma Pastusic – 18 kills, 2 stuff blocks, five service aces, 18 digs
• Grace Twillery – 16 kills, 3 service aces, 1 dig
• Lainey Gragg – 42 assists, 12 digs
• Lilli Combs – 15 digs
• Caroline Childers – 20 digs, 1 kill, 2 assists
• Kora Knight – 4 kills, 2 stuff blocks
• Hadleigh Windish – 5 kills, 1 assist, 2 digs
• Grace Phelps – 3 kills
• Addison Parker – 4 digs, 1 service ace, 1 assist
• Kaitlyn Darner – 5 digs
• Ashlyn Smith – 1 kill, 1 dig

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A scrappy South Caldwell team gave Watauga just about everything they could handle on Oct. 14, but the Pioneers finally prevailed in four sets, 3-1 (25-17, 20-25, 25-23, 25-17).

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article. Click any image for Slide Show Mode

With a little more than two weeks off because of the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Helene in the High Country and much of western North Carolina, a little “rust” was expected.

Outside hitter Emma Pastusic provided the power for the Pioneers on the night, with 21 kills, but the time off was evident as she was frequently long on her kill shots and credited with an uncharacteristic 11 hitting errors. The junior also tallied a pair of critical service aces, 2 stuff blocks, and 16 digs.

Watauga setter Lainey Gragg served up a whopping 46 assists on the night and was also credited for 5 digs and a kill.

Senior defensive specialist Kaitlyn Darner also enjoyed a big night, with a game high 24 digs and had several serving streaks to get Watauga on top. She was credited with two service aces.

“In the final set, we finally started playing Watauga volleyball,” said Pioneer head coach Kim Pryor after the match, before adding, “There aren’t many times that a team has to stop playing for more than two weeks in the middle of the season. We got a little practice in last week, for voluntary work, but we never had a full team, for many reasons.

“The resilience of our girls…,” Pryor added. “I am just so proud that they were able to take that big long break and come back. Not only did they have to stop playing, they had to watch their community go through (the ravages and destruction of Hurricane Helene). They volunteered. Every single one of them (helped) their friends and their community. I am just so proud of what they had to endure and what they did tonight.”

For Pryor, the team is about more than volleyball.

“I love the family we have on this team and that we can lean on each other during this time. Some of them had houses flooded. We had the road to our house washed out and had to use a neighbor’s driveway to gain access. Several of us have only gotten power restored in the last three or four days,” said Pryor, then pointed out, “On top of it, we were in about the third week of school — but no school.”

Pryor also had an even larger message.

“I am proud that I work in a school system where every single student and every single staff member was accounted for. They did that in a systematic way and to get that email announcement that every single kid, every single teacher and support staff member was safe… That was pretty neat.”

Most of North Carolina was unaffected by the storm and the schedule for the state playoffs for volleyball were not modified. Pryor said that the Northwestern Conference administrators did a really good job in figuring out what matches were important for the state playoffs’ seedings.

Although they could have played as many as eight matches before the playoffs, but the Northwestern Conference concluded that was too many to fit in before the playoffs start on Oct. 22. Watauga will have just two more matches before playoffs, the first on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at home vs. Alexander Central and the second also at home on Thursday, Oct. 17, a much anticipated rematch vs. regional rival, Ashe County.

South Caldwell, Alexander Central and Watauga are the three 4A schools in the Northwestern Conference, so those matches were vital to make up for purposes of seeding. Ashe County is a 3A member of the conference, but swept Watauga, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) on Sept. 25, as Helene was arriving.

Watauga is now 9-8 overall after a rigorous non-conference schedule and 5-1 in Northwestern Conference play. Except for the loss to Ashe County and dropping a set on Oct. 16 to South Caldwell, the Pioneers won by 3-0 sweep against all other conference opponents. At Alexander Central on Sept. 16, Watauga won in straight sets, 25-12, 25-19, 25-19.

SELECTED MATCH STATS FOR OCT. 14 VS. SOUTH CALDWELL

• Lainey Gragg: 46 assists, 5 digs, 1 kill
• Kaitlyn Darner: 24 digs, 2 service aces
• Caroline Childers: 16 digs, 1 service ace, 1 assist, 1 kill
• Emma Pastusic: 21 kills, 2 stuff blocks, 2 service aces, 16 digs
• Grace Tillery: 12 kills, 1 dig
• Kora Knight: 8 kills, 1 dig
• Hadleigh Windish: 6 kills, 1 assist, 6 digs
• Lilli Combs: 10 digs, 3 service aces
• Addison Parker: 2 digs
• Ashlyn Smith: 3 kills, 4 digs
• Bella Wade: 1 service ace

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A brace apiece by Ben Myers and David Ganley, with single goals contributed by Curtis Sevensky and Alex Aguilar were just what the High Country soccer gods ordered for Watauga men’s soccer on Oct. 14 at Jack Groce Stadium. The Pioneers showed only a few indications of “rust” after more than a 2-week layoff caused by Hurricane Helene, soundly getting by Freedom to start Northwestern Conference play with 6-1 win.

“It was a 6-1 win,” said Pioneer head coach Josh Honeycutt afterwards. “I don’t think we should have (allowed) the goal and we should have scored more goals, but a win is a win. The first conference game and the first game back after a weird couple of weeks off, I’ll take it. That said, there are definitely a few things we can do better.

“We did improve in the second half,” Honeycutt added. “Our quality of play was much better. If it had been that way for both halves, it would have been a different game.”

Asked about how the unexpected time off affected his team’s overall fitness, Honeycutt didn’t balk.

“We were able to get back to practice last week and try to get back into some semblance of game shape,” the coach said. “As you know, for us fitness is huge. It is key. It is one of the things that we try to be better at than everybody else so we can play longer and better late in a game. We’re not quite there but definitely having that one week of practice helped.”

Assists on the night were credited to Lucas Hamilton, Sevensky, Aguilar and Myers.

On being able to get back to playing soccer after enduring the storm and its aftermath, Honeycutt gave a lot of credit to his players as well as the community.

“I can’t express enough how excited I am for these guys to get back to something more normal,” said Honeycutt. “It’s good for these kids and I appreciate the school, the school board, and the athletic director and everyone else involved to get things back in place, so they can get back to some normal life. For the most part everyone came out of it pretty unscathed, though obviously there were a lot who lost power like everyone else.

The Pioneers will see Freedom again on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in Morganton. Due to the impact of Hurricane Helene, the match has been moved to Mountain View Elementary, 805 Bouchelle Street, Morganton. The junior varsity match is slated for 4:30 p.m., the varsity match to immediately follow.

BONUS PHOTOS