All four conferences of which Burke County’s high schools are members recently announced their all-conference volleyball teams, as voted on by league coaches.
The only county team to win a playoff match, league champion Draughn claimed all three Western Highlands 1A/2A Conference awards as senior setter Allyson Auton was named offensive player of the year, junior outside hitter Bailey Mozeley was named overall player of the year, and Triniti Lambert won coach of the year honors.
Auton tallied team-highs of 396 assists and 67 aces plus recorded 128 digs and 11 kills this fall, while Mozeley produced a team-high 191 kills to go with 182 digs (250 service receptions), 47 aces, 10 blocks, and nine assists.
Lambert led the Lady Wildcats to a share of the Burke Bash county title, 15 overall victories, and an 8-0 start to league play, winning the award in her first season on the sideline at her alma mater.
Draughn’s Macy Auton, Lyrical Edwards, Bella Whitson, Kylie Corpening, and Peyton Brewer joined Mozeley and Allyson Auton on the All-WHC team.
In the Mountain Foothills 7 1A/2A, Patton’s Hannah Huggins, Anna Lynn Ripley, and Carly Setterlind were each named all-conference. (Huggins and Ripley last week were also named all-region selections.) Conference and state champion Polk County swept the individual awards, with Mia Bradley being named defensive player of the year, Morgan Yoder offensive player of the year, and Molly Hill coach of the year.
Kaitlyn Hagmann was Freedom’s lone selection on the All-Northwestern 3A/4A Conference team, joined by honorable-mention picks Ava Whitaker and Emma Buchanan. The NWC individual award winners’ list was not available.
And East Burke’s Addy Fortenberry and Hermione Garro were named to the All-Catawba Valley 2A Conference team, with teammate Ashaunah Reinhardt Phillips on the honorable mention list. Maiden’s Elly McClough and Bandys’ Bayli Bryan were co-players of the year, and Bandys’ Carlee Belk was coach of the year.
The CVAC also recently announced its girls tennis and golf all-conference teams, with EB senior singles conference tournament champion Braelyn Stilwell earning player of the year honors in tennis.
Stilwell enjoyed a perfect regular season in singles and lost just twice at regionals and once at state, reaching the semifinals at both. She was joined by EB’s Macy McNeil on the All-CVAC team, while Eric King of Bandys was named coach of the year.
No Lady Cavs’ golfers were named All-CVAC; conference champion West Lincoln swept the individual awards as Melony Hoffman was player of the year and Matt Lytton was coach of the year.
And the WHC announced its all-conference tennis team, with Draughn coach Kelsey Houser claiming her third consecutive league coach of the year honor. DHS’ Aubrey Childers, Maria Medrano, Sasha Duckworth, and Peyton Dale were named to the All-WHC team. Player of the year details and names of NCSSM-Morganton All-WHC representatives were not available.
NOTE: The remainder of the Burke County high school all-conference fall sports lists will be announced as they are released by conferences and/or member schools.
ADMs posted for NCHSAA realignment
The NCHSAA realignment committee last week posted its final average daily membership (ADM) numbers, which will be the sole determining factor for which schools play in which classifications for at least the next two school years starting in August 2025.
The current realignment will divide the state’s high school athletic teams into eight classifications for the first time ever (up from four) in addition to setting new conferences.
Freedom (1337) will be a 6A school, East Burke (893) will be 4A, Patton (776) and Draughn (686) will be 3A, and NCSSM-Morganton (300) will remain in the 1A classification.
With numbers and classes now in place, the NCHSAA will likely announce its first draft of statewide conference realignment next month. After an appeals process, a revised draft will come out in February 2025. Realignment is then expected to be finalized the following month (March 2025).
Still to be determined is whether the new conferences will be effective for the typical four-year cycle or be reset every two years as per a recommendation from the NCHSAA’s bylaw task force committee this past spring due to more schools likely changing classes with double the number of current classes in place.
For the full list of ADMs, visit shorturl.at/ohPsu.
EB’s Morrison commits to Pfeiffer
East Burke senior softball player Kyndal Morrison on Nov. 7 on her X account announced that she was verbally committing to Pfeiffer University to continue the sport.
“First off I would like to give all the glory and honor to God because without him this couldn’t be possible,” Morrison wrote. “Next I would like to thank my dad for always pushing me to be at my best and my mom for being my No. 1 supporter. … I would also like to thank my family, coaches, and teammates who have helped me throughout this journey. They have played a huge role at where I’m at today.
“Lastly, I would like to thank Coach (Monte Sherrill), Coach (Alexis) Walter, and the rest of the Pfeiffer softball staff for giving me this opportunity.”
Morrison this past spring as a junior was named all-county, all-conference, all-district, and all-state as the versatile shortstop/centerfielder/catcher posted a team-high .441 batting average while also leading the Lady Cavaliers in runs (19), doubles (11), and stolen bases (15).
Pfeiffer finished 45-4 overall in 2024, including a 16-2 mark as NCAA Division III USA South Conference champions. They went on to finish NCAA Tournament Regional runner-up.
Cavs LB Fox receives first offer
East Burke senior football player Jordan Fox has received his first collegiate offer, he announced via Instagram on Nov. 7.
Fox, a linebacker, shared a photo stating that his offer came from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio along with the caption, “Just the beginning.”
Fox last fall ranked second in the county with 94 total tackles (61 solo). He totaled nine tackles for loss including two sacks and added three passes defensed and one fumble recovery in an all-county first team and all-conference honorable-mention season.
In the eight 2024 games for which EB statistics were available on MaxPreps, Fox had tallied a team-leading 83 tackles (51 solo) including eight for loss with one sack, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one interception, and two passes defensed. Fox had a three-game stretch late in the season in which he notched at least 15 tackles in each contest.
Capital is currently 0-9 (0-8 in NCAA D-III Ohio Athletic Conference).
Bigfoot climbers compete again
The Morganton-based Bigfoot Climbing Gym youth team recently enjoyed another strong showing at its second regular-season USA Climbing Youth Bouldering Association (USCA) qualifying event as the Ruckus Climbing Gym in Greensboro hosted a competition on Nov. 2.
Bigfoot Gym’s Coraline Morrow placed second in her female under-13 age division; Mason Legault was fourth place in male under-17; Julian Huber and Brooks Clark each placed eighth in female under-15 and male under-13, respectively; and Adelei Morrow was 14th in female under-17.
The Bigfoot climbers were back in action in Winston-Salem on Nov. 9 and host the final regular-season event on Dec. 7. The local event is expected to draw about 500 people over competition sessions starting at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m, said gym owner Julie Cross, and there will also be a collegiate competition that day at 6 p.m.
The following day (Dec. 8), folks from around the community are invited to try their hand at the same climbing setup at the Christmas Crusher from 1-5 p.m. For more information on the team of the upcoming event, visit bigfootclimbinggym.com.
Silver Creek hosts two tournaments
Silver Creek Golf Club hosted two tournaments on Nov. 7, the annual Steve Foster Memorial fundraiser and the Morganton Recreation Department’s first ever nine-hole Glow Golf par 3 tournament.
The team of Bob Blankenship, Jeremy Lemaster, Harry Patton, and Keith Rhyne won the Steve Foster tourney, with the team of Leonard Causby, Casey Rogers, Tim Vess, and Tim Abernathy taking second place. Individually, Rhyne and Anthony Vallini tied for first place at 6-over par.
Chase Holland and Chad Davis won the par 3 tournament by seven strokes with a score of 4-under 50. The teams of Vallini/James Pittman and Lemaster/Charles Jennings tied for second, and closest-to-the-pin honors were claimed by Cory Shank (Nos. 1, 8), John McCormack (No. 7), Greg Crump (No. 9), Davis (Nos. 14, 17), Holland (No. 15), Jennings (No. 16), and Vallini (No. 18).
Paul Schenkel can be reached at 828-445-8595 or paul@thepaper.media.
