News-Argus top 10 stories from 2013
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 1, 2014 1:48 PM
State championship runs. A call to the "Big Show." An amazing program turnaround. Coaching changes.
All those significant moments -- and more -- occurred with individuals and teams in the News-Argus readership area during the past 12 months. It's almost impossible to compile a top-10 list in what was yet another banner year of competition on the high school, collegiate and professional levels.
The most-surprising story took place on New Hope Road. A group of confident football players banded together, revived a community that starved to support a winning team and posted the best year in program history.
So we start with Eastern Wayne as the top story from 2013.
Not even five months ago, Warriors head coach Bubba Williams expressed concerns about his team during the inaugural Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference football rouser.
Williams had athletes at the skill positions, but lacked lineman.
Born into a football family, Williams and his coaching staff searched for the right combinations. They put the athletes in positions where they could be successful, overcame some key injuries and guided the team to a program-best 5-0 start.
The Warriors finished 11-3 and lost to eventual state champion Havelock in the eastern regional title game.
"Now we see what it takes to get to the next step, so we've got to get that done," Williams said after the season-ending defeat. "You can't take anything for granted. You never know what's going to happen. You never know who is going to be in military school.
"Everybody has to go back to work and get better from top to bottom."
Now, the next nine:
2. James Kenan football,
WCDS girls' tennis
The Tigers stayed focused on their ultimate goal all season, while the Chargers pulled off a miraculous comeback on a breezy, fall afternoon.
James Kenan's biggest challenge was itself and worked harder to get better in practice every day. It had to fend off critics' charges about dominating opponents and not having its starters on the field for four quarters during conference play.
West Montgomery expected to present a challenge in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-AA state championship game. The No. 3-ranked and once-beaten Warriors raced to a 14-7 first-quarter lead.
But Kenan reeled off 35 unaswered points and claimed its first state crown since 2007. The Tigers have three total in program history.
WCDS lost to perennial powerhouse Statesville without its No. 1 player, Gianna Democko, in mid-September. Democko sat out with a broken foot for more than a month, and her teammates responded in dominant fashion.
The Chargers reeled off 12 consecutive victories to set up a rematch with the No. 1-ranked Lions in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A dual-team finals. Statesville held a 4-2 advantage in total matches won until Democko, Meredith Roethling and Jennifer Potts pulled off the unthinkable.
All emerged victorious in dramatic fashion. Potts secured the state-championship point for WCDS, which claimed its first state title since 1996 and seventh overall in program history -- all with Joann Logan as head coach.
3. Connor Jones, Nick Quillen
Two of the county's most-decorated individual athletes concluded their respective careers as a state champion.
Jones three-peated as the NCISAA 1-A boys' cross country champion the same week he won the prestigious Bill Kemp Invitational on his home course -- Waynesborough Park. The soft-spoken senior emerged the first-ever athlete in Wayne Christian history to win three state titles in any sport.
Quillen, who graduated from Rosewood, successfully defended his 120-pound crown during the NCHSAA 1-A wrestling championships. He set the program and county record for career wins (211), and signed a national letter-of-intent to wrestle at UNC Pembroke.
4. Rob Wooten
The Fremont native finally lived his dream.
Wooten got "the call" and spent the final month in the "Big Show" with the Milwaukee Brewers after playing most of the season at Triple-A Nashville.
The right-hander fashioned a 3-1 record and 3.90 earned run average in 27 2/3 innings of work. He logged 18 strikeouts, walked eight and held opposing teams to a .257 batting average.
5. Johnny Frasier
The heralded running back from Princeton High School had an unforgettable, record-breaking campaign on the gridiron.
Frasier shattered numerous single-season school records that stood for more than three decades, and set a new state mark of his own. The most-notable records were rushing touchdowns (45), total touchdowns (50), rushing yards (3,042), points in a season (318), points in a game (50), total offensive yards (3,597) and all-purpose yards (3,872).
Princeton finished 9-4 and lost to eventual state champ James Kenan in second-round play of the NCHSAA 1-AA playoffs.
Frasier was named the 2013 News-Argus Offensive Player-of-the-Year.
6. Eastern Wayne girls' basketball
"Defense wins championships" might not have been the Warriors' mantra last winter, but they certainly harassed opponents into plenty of mistakes with constant pressure from the opening tip each game.
Turnovers led to points.
Those points eventually led to a program-record 28 wins and a first-ever appearance in the NCHSAA 3-A eastern regionals. Eastern Wayne endured a season-ending loss to Chapel Hill.
7. Rosewood wrestling
Off to its best start during Bill Edmundson's tenure as head coach, Rosewood surpassed the 500-win plateau as a program during the 16th annual Terry Pilkington Memorial Duals.
The Eagles' 500th win came against Charles B. Aycock.
Rocky Mount turned out to be victim No. 501.
Amazingly, Edmundson is the lone coach in Rosewood athletics to never experience a losing season.
8. Eric Reid
Taking his own advice of "education first, athletics second," Eric Reid stepped down as Goldsboro High's varsity head football coach earlier this month.
Reid guided his alma mater to 61 victories, six playoff appearances, four conference titles and a trip to the NCHSAA 1-AA east championship game in 2009 in seven seasons.
"It just came to a point where I felt I needed to get some things together in my life," Reid said. "I preached to them about furthering their education and doing the right thing, and that was something I hadn't accomplished. I knew I had to go out and complete my journey, and they've been my motivation.
"I am truly thankful for my 14 years at Goldsboro and the seven that I have been head coach. I feel like I've been truly blessed to be able to come back home, and coach at my alma mater."
9. CBA coaching changes
Toward the end of last December, a major turn occurred in the Charles B. Aycock athletics department.
Athletics director Charles Davis and principal Dr. Earl Moore found themselves in need of a head varsity football coach when Randy Pinkowski resigned to fill the vacancy at Clayton.
Steve Brooks took over the football program.
But that was just the beginning.
Davis and Moore hired Ryan Wells as the new varsity girls' basketball coach, officially named alum Emily Burke as the head volleyball and softball coach; and brought Tod Morgan back to Wayne County to guide varsity boys' basketball program.
10. Goldsboro Tennis Association
A tradition-rich tennis town, Goldsboro played host to a North Carolina USTA event for the first time in at least two-plus decades.
The Goldsboro Tennis Association earned the bid to host the 2013 N.C. Singles League State Championships, a three-day tournament that enabled more than 400 players from 80 teams to compete for titles in numerous adult divisions.
Proceeds are expected to help fund next year's state tournament in Goldsboro and programs generated through the GTA.
"The money we raise will help create youth tennis programs and after-school programs, and help revitalize some of these parks and I think that will have a lasting effect on our community," said Michael Boothman, head tennis pro at Walnut Creek Country Club.