A LOOK BACK: Top News-Argus stories of 2015

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on January 4, 2016 1:48 PM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

Imagine driving down Interstate 40 and just before your turn, you see red-and-white lights flashing, hear horns blaring and notice people standing and cheering on an overhead bridge.

You take the exit, make the left-hand turn and realize it's all for you.

That was the reception North Duplin's softball team received more than half a year ago after it won the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A state softball championship.

That wasn't all.

The players' bus moved to the front of a police-escorted caravan down Highway 117 toward Faison. When the team arrived there, coach Ricky Edwards stopped the bus and the players filed off one by one. They received high-fives, hugs and cheers from family, friends and faculty for an achievement that had never occurred in school history.

In fact, it was just the third state title in North Duplin athletics history -- and the FIRST by a girls' team.

"I've never been part of anything like that," said Edwards, who was a near-unaminous selection as the 2015 News-Argus All-Area Softball Coach-of-the-Year.

That was just one of many memorable moments of 2015.

And we start with a tie.

1. TWO TEAM STATE CHAMPIONS

Sophomore right-hander Rylee Pate earned Most Valuable Player honors as North Duplin defeated Hiwassee Dam, 2-1, in the best-of-three championship series contested on the UNC Greensboro softball diamond.

Pate threw 12 complete games during 18 starts inside the circle for the Rebels, who posted a single-season school-record 20 wins -- including 13 shutouts.

North Duplin didn't allow a run until it met Pinetown Northside in the best-of-three eastern regional championship series. The Rebels swept the Panthers, 2-0.

On sun-splashed Halloween afternoon, 11 white-clad gentlemen took the pitch at Ben Forbes Field in Wilson in search of an elusive treasure -- the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association Class 1-A state soccer championship.

Wayne Country Day had been in that position twice before, in 2001 and 2006, but could never bring home the prize.

They weren't denied this time.

The Chargers shut out The Oakwood School, 4-0, giving the athletics program a state title in four different boys' sports along with baseball, basketball and boys' tennis.

They did it in dominating fashion, too.

Guided by eight seniors, WCDS concluded the season with nine consecutive shutouts and 18 overall -- both single-season school records. The Chargers' defense surrendered just nine goals, another single-season school record.

And those 18 shutouts belonged to senior goal keeper Patrick Hall, who earned a spot on the NCISAA 1-A all-state team.

WCDS ended the year 21-1-2 overall -- also a program-best, single-season record.

2. WE'RE STATE

CHAMPIONS, TOO:

• Her fingernails painted in Aycock blue, Courtney Warner stretched her legs, settled into the starting blocks and raced into the Golden Falcons' track and field record books.

The East Carolina signee became the first-ever CBA female athlete to win five individual state champions -- four in outdoor track and one indoor track. According to records researched through the NCHSAA and NCprepstrack.com, Warner has the second-most individual state crowns by a Wayne County athlete.

Warner ended her career one shy of tying the mark by Eastern Wayne alum Mason Chenier won three NCHSAA state 3-A crowns in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. Chenier signed to swim at perennial national power Auburn University, but eventually joined the Army and is currently at Fort Bragg.

• Kaleb Taylor watched his Rosewood teammates fall by the wayside all afternoon during semifinal-round action in the NCHSAA 1-A state wrestling tournament.

The junior broke the trend.

Taylor defeated western regional champ Todd Self, 3-1, in overtime. He became -- at the time -- just the fifth individual state champ in Rosewood history and second in wrestling.

And Taylor is just the 22nd grappler in Wayne County's illustrious history to return home as a state champ.

• Maybe Taylor became an inspiration.

Junior Marquail Al-montaser captured the 110-meter hurdles state title during the season-ending NCHSAA 1-A outdoor track and field championship meet.

The foursome of Airic Murray, Quan Joyner, Montonio Wheeler and Zack Barnes secured the 1,600-meter relay state title. They broke the tape in 3 minutes, 29.46 seconds.

They all join Jamie Hollingsworth, long-distance runner Jessica Hietpas and Bob Cooke as state title-holders in track.

• To no one's surprise, Wayne Country Day seized its third consecutive NCISAA 1-A women's dual-team tennis championship, and ninth overall in school history.

Senior Margaux Pope earned the championship point at No. 1 singles that capped a 5-1 win over Kerr-Vance Academy.

Also, the Chargers accomplished the the feat with their third different head coach, Blake Vail, in the past three years. Joann Logan guided the 2013 squad, while Michael Boothman coached the 2014 group.

3. A COACHING MILESTONE:

Jose Serrano's game-ending strikeout gave University of Mount Olive head baseball coach Carl Lancaster his 1,000th career win -- a 12-10, nail-biting road victory over in-state foe Catawba.

Lancaster became the fourth active head coach and 14th overall in NCAA Division II history to reach the 1,000-win plateau.

Emotions nearly overtook the Lancaster, who has spent nearly three decades building one of the nation's most-respected Division II programs that churn out All-Americans and professional baseball draftees like a factory on a yearly basis.

"There ain't many things better than seeing your skipper get a cooler full of water dumped on him," Stantonsburg native and then-UMO senior Tyler Farmer said at the time.

4. WAYNE CHRISTIAN FOOTBALL

Dressed in dark blue jerseys with red numbers outlined in white and carrying a bright green sign that read #GibbyStrong, the Wayne Christian JV football team took the field for the first time in the school's 30-year history.

They lost to Bethel Christian that night.

The Eagles, directed by head coach Victor Young and assistant coach Scott Pender, eventually ended the year with a 3-4 worksheet. They dedicated the season to their teammate Will Gibson, who was diagnosed with lymphoma during the preseason.

"We made history," Young told his team after their season opener.

"These guys -- win, lose or draw -- whenever they come back, when they're 40 or 50 years old, they'll be able to say they're first team ever to play football at Wayne Christian. So that's the most-important thing from tonight."

5. UNFORGETTABLE CALENDAR YEAR

Opponents who traveled to Seven Springs during the 2014-15 calendar year, found it difficult to escape "The Swamp" in victorious fashion.

In fact, it rarely happened.

The Gators seized Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season championships in four sports -- men's soccer, men's basketball, baseball and women's soccer. Basketball and women's soccer each became a first-time conference champion.

The soccer team won No. 7 in the past nine years.

The baseball squad picked up its second Carolina crown and advanced to the eastern semifinals for the first time in school history.

6. McCOLLUM'S LEGACY

Let's stay in Seven Springs and talk about a softball player who etched her name in the record books.

Current Campbell University freshman Rachel McCollum, in just two seasons, set seven school records with the Gators -- batting average (.776), plate appearances (122), runs scored (67), hits (66), RBI (50-plus), extra-base hits (45) and home runs (18).

McCollum set the NCHSAA state single-season batting average record (.806).

"I just wanted to be a team leader and just play my best ... play every game like it was my last," said McCollum, who was named the 2015 News-Argus Softball Player-of-the-Year.

"I just worked every at-bat (and) took it one game at a time. This season was my best season in high school out of all four years. It was better statistically ... a good year."

7. HAMILTON'S BLOCK PARTY

Drive into the lane against 6-foot-4 Naheria Hamilton and two things will happen -- either your shot gets blocked, or she out-muscles you for a rebound.

The Eastern Wayne senior set two records for single-game blocked shots (19) and single-season total blocks (174). The single-game mark is second-best in the state, according to the NCHSAA.

Earlier this season, Hamilton pulled down a school-record 27 rebounds in a come-from-behind road victory against county rival Goldsboro.

Hamilton signed with Coastal Carolina University.

8. DECORATED ATHLETE

Zach Darden's fantasy became reality.

The Wayne School of Engineering alum became the first-ever athlete to sign a Division I scholarship -- a national letter-of-intent to swim at East Carolina University.

Darden concluded his prep career with four medals -- three silver and one bronze -- in three NCHSAA 1-A/2-A championship meet appearances. He was the state runner-up in the 200 individual medley (IM) as a sophomore, third in the 100 free as a junior and finished state runner-up in both the 50 free and 100 butterfly as a senior.

"I was pretty happy with both of the swims and have kind of made peace with the outcome," Darden said before he signed with ECU. "One of the things I can say about this year is that I left it all in the pool and have no regrets.

9. LONG-TIME COACH STEPS DOWN

After two-plus decades of molding the Eastern Wayne men's and women's soccer programs into perennial conference and postseason contenders, Jorg Wagner stepped down as head coach in late July.

During his tenure that spanned 794 games, Wagner guided the Warriors to numerous accolades on both the men's and women's scenes. His squads combined to win 11 league championships in the Mideastern 4-A and Eastern Carolina 3-A conference ranks.

On the men's side, his 1999 team advanced to the final four and his 2000 team logged a program-best 21-2 worksheet. His last 14 women's teams have participated in the NCHSAA playoffs.

Wagner made his announcement via email.

He said to his former players "thank you for your dedication and your loyalty, thank you for the long hours of training, thank you for the good times and the hard times and, most importantly, thank you for allowing me the privilege to here you call me 'coach'."

10. RECORD-SETTING YEAR

Eddie Maldonado thought it could happen.

But the Rosewood High boys' soccer coach kept his "inner expectations" to himself.

Then he watched the Eagles enjoy their best season on the pitch.

Rosewood won a program-best 17 games, finished second in Carolina 1-A Conference play and advanced to the NCHSAA eastern 1-A semifinal for the first time in program history. The Eagles' phenomenal run ended with a road loss at Wallace-Rose Hill, which won the 2013 and 2014 state championships.

"Dag-gone we had a great run," said Maldonado, who hugged his four seniors -- Ethan Chapin, Zack Barnes, Hayden Amodeo and Jordan Price after the game. "I can't be prouder of that team with the run that they put in, you know?"